Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Time's Test ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Sunlight beamed brightly down like a physical thing, crashing violently down amongst the tall, slender spires that made up the city only to then be torn asunder on the graceful needle points and blaze across the sky in dazzling rainbows, which in turn were diffused by the faceted structures into a permanent, romantic haze of multi-hued light above the heads of the milling citizens going about their lives in Crystal Tokyo.

It felt silly to look upon this marvelous beauty and feel nostalgic, but that was nonetheless the feeling in Makoto's heart as she strolled down a teeming sidewalk, hands in her pockets.

So strange to feel nostalgic about the old angular constructions of glass and steel that reflected harshly the sun back to the heavens, and the crunch of dirt and the occasional patch of loosened pavement underfoot. Strange to miss the squat, squared-off edifice that she'd walk to every morning to get her head filled with gossip and friendly chatter, and perhaps even some scholarly information if she didn't keep her guard up.

Then she heard a high, squeaky voice, and glanced under her baseball cap's brim to see a little girl with a pink balloon clenched in one fist talking with her father, a man in a suit with a receding hairline. Makoto thought with a chuckle. Something bumped her hip, and she stepped aside to allow a boy run past her, hot on the heels of the one who had collided with her. She could make out chattering gaggles of uniformed schoolgirls walking by, pointing and giggling at laughing gaggles of uniformed schoolboys. She could make out harried businessmen streaming by at a clipped pace with their briefcases at their side and their watches on their mind.

A wry smile grew slowly on her face as she neared the local coffee shop. As she approached, a familiar pair of deep, azure eyes landed on her and twinkled in joy. Makoto took a hand out of her pocket to wave a casual hello to her longtime friend, and Ami swiftly tapped the shoulder of another girl with long blond hair tied up in a truly unforgettable fashion--though with all the copycats, it was hardly remarkable now--who was busy yelling with yet another old friend. Rei was just in the middle of rolling her eyes at Usagi when she, too, caught sight of their approaching comrade. Usagi looked put out to have her splendid argument cut short so suddenly, but she walked forward to greet Makoto as well. She heard a call from behind her and turned her head to see Minako running up from behind.

They walked into the coffee shop, and as Makoto turned her eyes up on more time to the fractured sun, she felt better, relieved to know that while time might be able to go about and change their cities to gems and their klutzes to queens, the feelings in their hearts remained through it all.