Under a Crystal Moon By Lady Sylver ___________________________________________________________ Chapter 5 Rena walks into the office of her agent. He motions for her to sit as he finishes his phone conversation. As he hangs up the phone, he looks up at her. "You had a wonderful concert last night, Rena darling." "You only call me darling when you are up to something, Josh." She glares at him. "You hurt my feelings, Rena." He looks at her with a pair of hurt green eyes. He sighs as he sees she's not in the mood. "All your concert dates have been booked." He hands her a piece of paper with all the dates. She reads through the list. As her eyes fall on the last concert date, tears come to her eyes. "Josh, we discussed this and we agreed that I would not go to Japan." A tear runs down her cheek. "I know, but they love you there, Rena." He gives her a sympathetic look. "We can't change it. I'm sorry." Rena stands up and begins to walk from her agent's office. "Maybe it was time you go back there. I don't know what happened, nor do I want to know. All I do know is that fate and destiny have a funny way of doing things." He shouts after the retreating form. ********************************************************* Minako and Makoto walk through the mall. As they pass the music store, they see the sales person putting up a new window ad. The ad is of a young woman with long, flowing, light blonde hair. The background is a soft pink color and the dress she wears is a long black dress. On her face she wears a white mask of feathers that is adorned with black sequins. A pair of bright blue eyes glows from behind the white mask. "She's pretty." Minako says in a daze. "I wonder why she wears a mask?" Makoto asks as she looks toward Minako. "She's the newest singing sensation from America." An annoying male voice screeches at them from behind. Minako and Makoto turn to look at the owner of the voice. "Gurio!" They yell in unison. Curiosity gets the best of her. Minako knows that Gurio always knows a lot of information about things. "So, what do you know?" Makoto turns and glares at Minako. She just shrugs in defense. "Well, she just came onto the scene about a year ago. Her songs are all sad and depressing, but they have a strange effect on people. It's been reported that after a concert, people seem to hold their loved ones closer and dearer then before they went." "So, why does she wear a mask?" Makoto curiosity now gets to her. "There are two rumors about that. The first says that she is disfigured like the guy in 'The Phantom of the Opera.' The other says that she just doesn't want people to know who she really is. Like she's hiding her identity from people." Minako grabs Makoto's arm and drags her into the music store. Gurio follows them in. As they enter the store, he gets their attention. "This is Reanna's song 'Once, Long Ago.'" Minako and Makoto stop and listen to the haunting melody and the voice of the singer. Their eyes fill with tears as the lyrics to the song dance to their ears. Minako walks over to where the compact discs are and grabs one. The title of the compact disc is "Forever in My Heart." The cover is black. In each corner sits a rose of a different color. At the top left corner sits a blue rose, a red rose sits in the upper right corner, the bottom right holds a green rose, and the lower left holds a yellow rose. In the center of the cover sits a crimson rose and a pink rose intertwined. A white butterfly flies away from the roses. On the back cover is the list of all the songs written in black on the white mask that Reanna wears. Minako begins to read the titles of the songs as she stands in line. "Makoto, this song sounds interesting." "What's the name of it?" "It's called 'Under a Crystal Moon'" "Let's head to Raye's after you get it. If the rest of her songs are like the one we just heard, I'm kind of curious." Minako nods in agreement. "Just to let you know," Gurio comes up behind them again, "She's suppose to be in concert here in a couple of months. At least that is the rumor. Minako and Makoto exchange glances before they head to the temple. *********************************************************** Tears run down her face as she leaves the building. She runs down the path that leads to the pier. The one place that she has found sanctuary since coming here. She looks out across the ocean toward the place that she once called home. She leans against the railing, allowing her tears to drop into the ocean below her. Her hair whips against her as the wind blows. The salt air fills her lungs as she sobs. She slowly drops to the ground as she sobs. "I'm not ready to go home." She whispers in between sobs. A hand comes to rest on her shoulder. A soft, sweet voice carries on the wind to her. "I told you when I saw you before, that you would have to go home one day." Rena looks up into a pair of reddish brown eyes. "Usa, it was you that night." The woman nods her head. Rena throws her arms around the woman and pulls her close. "I have missed you, Usa, but I can't go back to them." Tears run down her face again. "They are better off without me." "I am sorry you feel that way. I guess that the Sailor Senshi truly will be ended." Chibi Usa stands and begins to walk away. A portal opens in front of the woman. "They do miss you, Usagi." She says as she enters the portal. "They miss you more then you know, Mama." She whispers to herself as the portal closes. Rena sits with her back to the pier. Her knees are pulled up to her chest and she has her head buried there. The tears keep flowing until she feels a hand come to rest on her shoulders. She looks up into a pair of dark brown eyes. He sits down next to her and pulls her close. "It's okay, Rena." A tear makes its way down his face as he holds her close. ********************************************************** Minako and Makoto run up to the temple. They see Ami and Raye sitting on the steps talking. When they look around to see who else is there, they see Mamoru helping Yuuichirou with chores around the temple and Chibi Usa in the temple yard playing. "Good, they are all here." Minako says as they approach the temple. "Raye, can we borrow your CD player. You have to listen to this new CD I bought." "Who is it?" Ami asks with a tone of curiosity in her voice. "She's a new singer from America. Her name is Reanna. We heard one of her songs at the music store. What was the name of the song, Makoto?" "Gurio said it was called 'Once, Long Ago.' It's sad, but so beautiful." Mamoru walks up as he sees Minako and Makoto approach in a hurry. "What's up, you two?" Chibi Usa runs up when she sees Mamoru nearing the temple stairs. "I just bought a new CD by a singer from America. There is an ad of her hanging in the music store. She is so beautiful and mysterious." Minako turns the CD over and shows them the mask. "She wears the mask all the time, so no one knows what she really looks like." Makoto looks up at Raye with pleading eyes. "At least play this one song that we are curious about. It's called 'Under a Crystal Moon.'" Raye puts her hand out to Minako and takes the compact disc from her. She walks into the temple followed by the others. She puts the compact disc in as the others sit down around her room. As the music begins to fill the room, they all listen intently. By the time that the music dies away, all four Senshi are in tears. Mamoru sits unmoving. He stares at the speakers that once housed the lovely melody that had filled the room. Tears stream down his face as he feels the empty spot in his heart, mind, and soul where his Usako once resided. Chibi Usa crawls into Mamoru's lap and puts her small arms around him the best that she can. He feels four hands come to rest on his shoulders. He looks up into four pairs of sympathetic eyes.