Hey, Minna0-chan... been a while, ne? ::grins:: Well, I'm back... nothing major, 
mind you, but I hope you'll enjoy it. 

Since today (the 8th of August) is my Birthday, here's my gift to all of you! 
Think of it as a party favor ^_^ This is a short story, a little Usa/Mamo WAFF 
and, onegai, I need feedback! 

Btw. This fic is dedicated to my wonderful 'imouto-chan' Kawaii... because she's 
so cute, sweet and supportive. Arigato, my dear!^_^

Legal Disclaimer: Has Naoko-sama noticed Demando is missing yet? Noo.... Do I 
want to keep Demando? Yes...   Do I want to call attention to myself by saying 
Sailor Moon is mine? Nooo... 

Personal Disclaimer: As Patch-chan and TLP-kun have recently pointed out, there 
is an army frequently residing in my kitchen. I'll let that speak for itself. 
^^;

Ps. Thanks and chocolate covered Mamo-chans go to my wonderful betas, Antigone 
and Shana. (sorry I didn't wait for the second reply, Shana... ^^;)

-------------------------------------------
Stand On My Own 1/1
by Meredith Bronwen Mallory
mallorys-girl@cinci.rr.com
-------------------------------------------

 Only pure adrenaline gave Sailor Moon the will to keep running as she
hurried once more down the crystalline steps of the palace and into the
frozen gardens. She hadn't slept since they'd come here, to this distant,
frightening future, almost two days ago, Usagi realized with some disbelief.
There had been an opportunity for sleep, but each time she closed her eyes,
she was taken back to that horrible room, deep within the network of
Demando's palace. She would see herself there, in her minds eye, almost
having given up hope that her Tuxedo Kamen would come to the rescue, almost
*believing* Demando when he said that there was no way out. With a shudder,
Usagi wrenched her thoughts away from her nightmares. She needed to focus.

  Chibi-Usa was missing, and the countless number of ills that could have
befallen the little imp flashed relentlessly in Usagi's mind. Though they
fought like sisters, she knew the truth, that she cared deeply for
Chibi-Usa, the same way the younger girl cared for her. And she knew also,
that she would never forgive herself should anything happen to her future
daughter.
 "Chibi-Usa!" she called out desperately, "Please, answer me!" A cold, dead
wind was the only reply she received, as it blew through the garden of
icicle flowers. Then, she felt it. Like a heartbeat, pulsing beneath her
fingertips, a darkness brighter than light rushing towards her as she stood
there, helpless as a child caught in the sights of an oncoming train. She
didn't know what it was, but it scared her more than words could say.

 She stood completely still in that dead garden, and waited for that dark,
all-knowing *something* to pierce the stillness that had consumed Crystal
Tokyo. Nothing came, there was only that horrible sense of dread and
anticipation, as though some part of her responded to the darkness'
mysterious call. And that frightened Usagi more than anything in the world.
Carefully, she took another step forward, and the sound of her feet
crunching against the ice covered walkway was like an explosion. She
listened carefully once more, becoming more and more uncomfortable with each
passing moment. Where were the other senshi? Frantically, she tossed her
gaze from pathway to pathway, hoping that one of her friends would appear,
but it was all for naught. For a moment she wished desperately that she
could just run to her Mamo-chan and bury herself in his arms, to hide from
this pulsing darkness. She wanted to yell, scream, call out to someone, but
she couldn't even manage to swallow past the lump in her throat.

 Night had fallen over the frozen Earth, poisoned and choking on the dark
energy bred by the Black Moon's jakokuzuishou. The moon rose high in the
sky, closer to Terra than was natural in Usagi's time. For a moment, she
stood there staring up at it's luminous form, it's beauty only heighten by
the cold night air, imploring, begging it to help her. Something, a phrase,
floated through her mind, but when she tried to understand it, it was gone.

 She heard it once. A heartbeat. Then it came again, and again, faster and
faster and faster until she was breathing in time with it, panicked and
short, gasping for air. It was wild, it drew her in towards it's frenzied
motion, until she was blindly following it, down unfamiliar pathways and
deep into the heart of the destruction that had once been the Earth's most
precious city. She saw nothing during her long flight through the gardens,
save a few brief flashes of underbrush, and the eerie sight of darkened
branches rustling above her. She was consumed, she was possessed, she was a
madwoman, she was... there.

 It stood at the center of what looked to have once been the rose garden,
it's very presence seemed to mock the moon that hung in the sky, and the
towering hulk of the Crystal Palace, rising in the distance. It shouldn't
have been there, but it was. The portal to the Negaverse.

***

 Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter burst through the heavy door leading to the
Main Control Center, wild fear dancing in the eyes of each. Instantly, the
occupants of the room turned their heads, and Mars could see the exhaustion
written clearly on the faces of each. Luna and Artemis rested wearily on one
of the unused control panels, helping King Endymion search the surrounding
area for the power signature that would indicate Chibi-Usa's where abouts.
On the other side of the room, Tuxedo Kamen leaned against the wall, rubbing
his temples. For a moment, Jupiter swore she could see a tear gleaming
behind his domino mask, but quickly dismissed the idea.
 "Did you find her?" both King and warrior asked at once. In another
situation, either of the girl's might have been amused, but now they merely
shook their heads sadly.
 "Usagi's missing too now," Mars added, unable to keep the fear from
coloring her tone. From his resting place in the shadows, Tuxedo Kamen's
head shot up.
 "What?"
 "We can't find Usagi," Jupiter clarified, "Ami and Minako are looking for
her now, but.." she shrugged helplessly, casting her green eyed gazed from
man to man, searching for the answers in each version. Without so much as an
explanation, Tuxedo Kamen was up and moving, no doubt off to recover his
beloved Usako, but something stopped him. King Endymion's voice rang out
loud and clear in otherwise silent room.
 "No," he said, then softer, more quietly, "This she must do on her own. She
needs to learn to save herself." It wasn't an explanation, it was a command,
and while for a moment it looked like Tuxedo Kamen intended to disobey, he
slowly turned around and went back to his place amongst the shadows.

***

 Eyes wide with shock, Usagi gazed helplessly at the gapping hole of
darkness. It was calling her, saying that she must enter, and face what lay
within. Almost without her willing it too, her body took a step forward,
then another, and another, until she was walking inside the cave, unable to
believe what she was seeing. As soon as she fully within, her transformation
simply melted away. She could feel it, like drops of water running down her
arm, and stared in horror at the Juuban school uniform that now clothed her
youthful body. She tried to turn around, run back into the 30th century
night, but her feet were rooted to the spot, she could only move forward. In
the distance, she swore she heard the sound of her own laughter.

 There were people gathered in the cave, like some type of court for
royalty. Helplessly, Usagi gazed on them all. She knew each and everyone one
of them, but it was funny how she couldn't remember what they looked like,
once she glanced away. The crowd parted for her, the further in she got,
until she was all alone, surrounded by fog and mist as her traitorous feet
led her towards some unknown destination.

 And there it was, in the center of that horrifying cesspool of darkness
that ranked of nothing but death. Beryl's throne, situated at the center of
everything, so that the entire Negaverse revolved around it and it alone.
Usagi's thoughts raced along the impossibility of it all. Beryl was dead,
the Negaverse had been destroyed.. then what was she doing here?

 There was someone seated on Beryl's throne, and though the area around it
was littered carelessly with shadows, Usagi could see that the figure was
clothed in a cloak of the finest silver silk. The hood of the garment had
been pulled over the person's face, so that all Usagi could see was the
flash of brilliant blue eyes, lurking in the darkness. Protectively, she
cradled her henshin brooch to her chest. Though somehow, she knew it was
useless, the ginzuishou lay within, and the figure on the throne extruded an
aura of threat she had never encountered before.

 With all the suddenness of a freak hurricane, the cloak dropped soundlessly
to the floor. It was Usagi's terrified gasp that sounded in the throne room,
like thunder in her own ears. The woman who extruded such feelings of pure
evil, the woman who sat on Beryl's throne, was none other than Usagi
herself.

 Usagi saw the reflection of herself, matured and beautiful as she has
sometimes wished herself to be, when she saw the lustful stares other women
directed at her beloved Mamoru. Her beauty went beyond description; nearly
six feet tall, with the kind of commanding presence Usagi had sometimes
envied Makoto and Rei for, the mouth was fuller, redder, more promising. Her
curves completely filled out and her hair a cloud of gold. Every feature was
idolized, every beauty Usagi had ever even dreamed of was raised to a
horrifying perfection.

 The other Usagi was clothed in the dress Demando had put on her when she'd
been kidnapped, but she wore it proudly, like a Queen. Something black and
dangerous glittered in her aquamarine eyes.

 Instinctively, Usagi took a step back, her eyes transfixed on the most
shocking detail of all. The inverted black crescent moon that lay embedded
on the Empress Usagi's forehead. Fearfully, she clutched her henshin brooch
tighter.
 "Yes," the Empress said, laughingly almost, "Bring that over here, you must
give it to one of us." It was then that the shadows around Beryl's throne
disappeared, drawing back like a curtain, and Usagi could see the other
occupants of the room.

 Princess Serenity sat on the floor near the throne, weeping into her hands,
heartbroken over the loose of her Prince, who lay fallen at her feet. It was
then that Usagi saw the bloody sword, hanging from a silver chain that
hugged the Empress' waist. With a sickening turn of her stomach, Usagi knew
that the Empress had killed the Prince. On the other side of the throne,
Usagi could see herself, before Luna had come to her and asked her to
shoulder the task of being Sailor Moon. The other girl lay propped up on her
elbow, staring lazily off into space, caring neither for the Empress'
commands, or Princess Serenity's tears. And lastly, Usagi saw Sailor Moon,
curled up at the Empress' feet, beaten and submissive as she had never been,
even at her lowest moment. Behind the throne, lay Mamoru, trapped in a block
of ice and embedded in the wall, like some type of decoration. He was dead,
and she, the Empress, was free of him at last. Had she been able to at the
time, Usagi would have cried.

 "Bring it here," the Empress said again, her voice like smoke and honey.
Unable to disobey, Usagi took a step forward, her soul shaking within it's
moorings "You must give it to one of us," the Empress repeated, making a
mocking gesture towards the other versions of herself.

 Slowly, Usagi drew the brooch away from herself, cupping it between her
hands, offering, though she wasn't sure to whom. Had she been looking, she
would have seen the expression of anticipation that grew in the eyes of her
Empress counterpart

 Who could she give it too? The other Sailor Moon was weak, beaten and
sobbing in her hopelessness... the Empress could take the brooch from
easily. The other Usagi wouldn't know what the brooch was for, and she was
too wrapped up in her own little dreams to give a damn about the real world.
Princess Serenity was still crying, and Usagi knew from experience that she
was too heartbroken to care. That left only the Empress, who wasn't even an
option. Still the Empress extended her beautiful hands, with their manicured
fingers and soft, cool skin, ready to except the ginzuishou. Almost
mesmerized, Usagi held the brooch out...

 And at the last moment snatched it back. She saw herself, accompanied by
the spirits of her friends as she sent Beryl back to the depths of hell,
where the evil Queen belonged. She saw herself, fighting along side Tuxedo
Kamen, herself, running down the street and into Mamoru's arms.. and she saw
herself struggling in Demando's grasp, unable to give up though part of her
mind whispered that it was all in vain. She looked at the Empress and saw
all the petty things that her adolescent heart had ever wished for, not
really thinking that such things were granted. But in the Empress, she saw
her one most important attribute was lacking. Compassion.

 Quickly, Usagi cradled the ginzuishou to herself like a mother would a
child, meeting the Empress' chilling gaze head on.
 "No," she said softly. The sound carried in the large room, echoing back to
her with a force she had not imagined, "No," The Empress looked taken aback,
and Sailor Moon raised her eyes. The Lazy Usagi gave her attention, and even
Princess Serenity stopped her crying to listen. "I don't have to give it to
any of you. It is mine, to do with what I will." And with that, she turned
on her heel and walked out of the throne room, out of the cave, and into the
moonlight.

 It was good to stand in the open air, even if it was stale and cold. It was
good to see the moon shinning brightly in the sky, to know that Mamoru and
her friends were waiting for her in the palace. Usagi felt her senshi fuku
reform around body, smiling. And it was good to feel the weight of the tiara
against her forehead. With a low moan, the cave crumbled behind Sailor Moon
as she kept walking. But, above the din of falling rocks and crystals, she
could have sworn she heard the Empress' laughter, floating tantalizingly on
the cool night air. But she did not look back.


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@@@THIS MEANS IT'S FEEDBACK TIME ^_^@@@