Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Something to Stay Awake For ❯ The Truth and Destiny ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two: The Truth and Destiny

The morning after the weird dream, Chibi Usa felt absolutely terrible. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time she had felt so worn out. She hadn't been able to go back to sleep at all after waking up, and she spent the entire night tossing and turning in her bed, pondering her dream, playing it over and over again in her mind. Had it truly been real? Were the Sailor Senshi really alive? Was the black cloud actually returning? And was the Earth really in danger? Was it all just a dream that her want for her family and friends had made up? Her longing for everything to be like it once was suddenly was canceling out every logical thought in her mind, and she just couldn't stop herself from thinking, "What if Sailor Uranus had really visited me and told me something true?" Confusion made her head spin. She had so many unanswered questions, and she didn't know it then, but she about to get some helpful assistance.

Finally, after a very restless, long night, Chibi Usa drifted into an uneasy sleep around seven o' clock a.m., completely forgetting that it was Wednesday, and that she had to go to school. Her big, red eyes gradually shut, and after an hour of turning the dream over in the back of her mind, sleep completely took her, and she snored loudly into her pillow, letting exhaustion consume her. Slowly, all worries left her mind, and she began to sleep peacefully.

"Heavens! She acts just like her mother!" Chibi Usa abruptly woke up and tumbled to the floor at the familiar British voice. With a sleepy groan, she looked up from her place beside her bed to see three cats, one black, one white, and one lavender, with yellow crescent moons on their foreheads sitting on her window sill. She immediately completely woke up. With a gasp, the young woman quickly stood.

"Chibi Usa!" Diana, one of the guardian cats, squealed, jumping from the window. The innocent, friendly kitten, which for some reason hadn't grown in eleven years, pounced onto Chibi Usa, knocking her back down to the floor. She purred happily, nuzzling her friend's neck with her tiny nose.

Chibi Usa simply lay there on the floor with her mouth open in shock, taking it all in. Maybe what see had experienced last night had only been a dream, but right now was most definitely real. Right now, with her blankets tangled around her, the back of her head throbbing from hitting the floor, and her small guardian cat's weight pressing down on her chest, she knew she wasn't asleep. This was certainly no unusual dream, and the three guardian cats, which she had thought dead for eleven years, were really and truly there. After all this time spent wondering and hoping, she finally knew the truth. Luna, Artemis, and Diana were alive and well, and all three were gathered around her. Chibi Usa blinked.

"Oh, Diana! Luna! Artemis!" Chibi Usa cried hysterically, bursting into delighted tears and sitting up so quickly Diana went tumbling into her lap. She grabbed the cats in a flash and cradled them in her arms, squeezing them tightly, hugging them as if she would never let go. She had never been so thrilled to see anyone, ever. All her weariness melted away.

After a few minutes of Chibi Usa's crying and squeezes, the black cat started to struggle. "Stop it! The Earth is in danger, and you're sitting around hugging a bunch of cats!" Luna hissed, finally getting away. She jumped gracefully to the floor, turning her brilliant blue eyes up at Sailor Moon's daughter.

"Yes! You need to get to work!" Artemis chimed in, crawling out of the embrace and leaping down next to Luna.

Chibi Usa dropped Diana back into her lap and stroked the little kitten's silky, light purple fur, as she gave the two older cats a confused look. "What are you guys talking about?" She questioned, her mind floating back to her dream. She drew in an excited breath, despite her mind screaming at her for continuing to believe her family and friends were alive. But she couldn't help hoping.

Luna and Artemis exchanged shocked and confused expressions. "You mean that Sailor Uranus didn't visit you in a vision last night?" Luna asked, worry clouding her usually calm eyes. Chibi Usa's mouth dropped open in astonishment. How did the guardian cats know about her dream?

"Yes…but how did you know?" Chibi Usa inquired, a bewildered look on her pretty face.

At this, Diana took a break from purring and piped up. "`Cause we all had dreams too!" The tiny kitten meowed, rubbing her little head against Chibi Usa's stomach. Her human friend looked down at her. "We know `bout Onihiko, the hornets, and the plan to destroy Earth. They told us everything!"

"You do?" Chibi Usa cried, mouth agape.

"Uh huh! Sailor Saturn told me everything! And Sailor Neptune visited Papa and Sailor Pluto came to Mama!" Diana mewed, playfully batting curly strings of Chibi Usa's pink hair.

"And…Sailor Uranus called on me. That's all the Outer Senshi. But why didn't my mother or any of the Inner Senshi come instead?" Chibi Usa asked, very confused "Onihiko is not stupid. He knows which senshi are the most powerful. He keeps a great amount of control over the strongest senshi, so the Inner Senshi, especially your mother, can't get away." Luna began, but she let her husband continue.

"But the Outer Senshi aren't as important. Onihiko doesn't really keep an eye on them like he does you mother, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Jupiter." Artemis finished.

Chibi Usa nodded and drew in a deep breath. This was so much to take in! The dream, seeing Sailor Uranus and the guardian cats again, the information, Onihiko, everything was just so overwhelming. And on top of all of that, she had to save the world, and she never before had to deal with that kind of responsibility. It felt like her head and heart were trying to explode from all the thoughts and emotions, while her body was impatient to rescue her family, and her common sense was telling her that Onihiko could kill her and she had to be careful. Then there was that nagging at the back of her head telling her the Earth was her first priority. It was different in a dream where you could just wake up if things got too tough, but this was reality. It was a lot to handle all at once.

"Where have you been all these years?" Chibi Usa abruptly asked, snapping out of her troubling train of thought. Luna and Artemis's faces suddenly filled with sadness, and they turned their gaze to the window. Diana immediately stopped purring and bowed her tiny head, letting out a small sigh. It was obvious that their past had been just as bad as hers.

"After Onihiko kidnapped the Sailor Senshi and killed your father, he brainwashed us. For eleven years, we all thought we were just regular cats. We didn't remember the Moon Kingdom, your parents, the Sailor Senshi, the fight for love and justice, you, or each other. Our memories were completely gone." Artemis whispered.

"We would have dreams of our past, but it meant nothing to us. Our memories were right there, played before us as we slept, but we were too dense as ignorant street felines to understand." Luna sighed, shaking her black head.

"And for eleven years, you were all alone! If we would have paid attention to our dreams, we could have been together! But we were stupid! It's all our fault you were alone, Chibi Usa! If the Outer Senshi hadn't restored our memory, you'd still be by yourself!" Diana cried, her tears matting down her fur. She buried her tiny head in Chibi Usa's blanket.

All of the guardian cats' voices and eyes were filled with sorrow and regret. Luna, Artemis, and Diana thought it was their fault that Chibi Usa had lived the life she had. How could they assume that? They had been Onihiko's victims just as much as she had. What was in the past they couldn't help, but they could be there each other in the future. With them there, the situation Chibi Usa was in so much bearable and understandable, even if she still had many unanswered questions. She told them this, and they gave her smiles.

"You're right, Chibi Usa! Besides, what are we doing rolling around in self-pity while Onihiko is planning to destroy our beautiful planet? Your mother worked so hard to protect it." Luna said, recalling the situation and her favorite senshi. Luna had been Sailor Moon's guardian cat, and thinking about her made a sad smile appear on the black cat's face.

Chibi Usa nodded, and for a few moments everyone was silent. Outside, the birds chirped happily and the wind blew through the trees. Inside, the air conditioner hummed and the old house creaked and groaned. In the kitchen, the fridge buzzed and the facet dripped. With the guardian cats there with her, everything seemed so perfect, so normal. It almost felt like she was nine again, living a child's carefree life. She let the midmorning silence envelope her, despite the threat of Onihiko looming over their heads like his ominous black cloud of hornets. For once, that terrible aching in Chibi Usa's heart had stopped, and she didn't really feel all that lonely. Compared to the last eleven years, life was perfect, but of course, with the pink-haired girl's luck, that happy silence didn't last long.

Suddenly, a deafening boom sounded, rattling the entire house.