Second Chances - Chapter 1 by Athena nikita@sgi.net Hi there! well it took long enough but I've finally got the ball rollong on this fanfic. Be kind, it's my first. Now for a few heads up so you can follow my story without going "Huh???" OK.... 1.) I've changed the story of Rini around to fit the story the way I needed it to. 2.) Obviously, I also made Serena and the Scouts older than what they really are as well (I'm too old to remember what it's like being 14!) Therefore I decreased that age difference between Serena and Darien too, it's only 4 years now. 3.) There are abbreviations like ISC = Imperium Silver Crystal, SM = Sailor Moon, TM = Tuxdedo Mask, etc. 4.) I did not check out any of my information pertaining to the FBI...all of my knowledge is from watching too much t.v., so it's not intended to be realistic. All the standard disclaimers apply, I didn't create Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi did, so please, no lawyers! But this story is mine and I have been inspired by many of the stories that I have read over the last year, so this is not intended to bumm any of them. Finally a big thanks to Razzz!!! Girl you are the best!! If you're out there at Penn and are reading this, please e-mail me with your new address and let me know what you think. I know, I changed it. Oh and, PLEASE PLEASE finish "First Love!!!" I'm dying to know what happens! Thanks, Love and Peace!!! Athena! **************************************************** The petite woman with long blonde hair that easily pooled beneath her in her seat sighed as she stared out of the window of the plane. Serena Tsukino was coming home..and she was terrified! She just wasn't sure what to expect from her old friends. Would they notice she changed? Would they take her seriously now or would they still think that she was the same irresponsible flake that she had been seven years ago? She sighed again as she thought back to when she had decided to leave. Serena had left Tokyo after high school to go to school in the States. It had been a tense and depressing time in Serena's life when she left. Her friends, the Sailor Scouts, all felt that Serena was a huge irresponsible failure, never making it to scout meetings on time or taking their battles against the negaverse seriously. Always whimping out when things got rough. They thought that she was a poor excuse for a leader, not to mention a princess! Then there was Darien, her supposed 'soul mate', who had broken up with her for no reason, at least that she could see. And even after all this time, she still didn't know why Darien had suddenly changed his mind towards her. Everything had been perfect one minute and then in a blink of an eye, or a flash of pink, pink hair that is, everything changed. Rini came and Darien all of a sudden couldn't stand the sight of her! To make matters worse, he directed all of his attention towards Rini, a pain in the ass eight year old, who came from the future. No one really knew why Rini came, one day she just appeared and then a year later, she left. Serena had been in the middle of her senior year at the time and she thought that everything was going to be o.k. again between her and Darien, but it wasn't. Once Rini left, she didn't have a reason to see him anymore and soon he stopped 'running' into her altogether. Occasionally she saw him at the arcade talking to his best friend, Andrew, that worked there, but he always acted as if she wasn't even there. Serena reluctantly accepted the fact that it was over and that she needed to move on. That's when she applied for school in the States. She had been accepted to Georgetown University in Georgetown, MD and there she studied psychology. It was hard at first being away from her family and friends, but soon, she didn't mind. In fact, she excelled in all of her courses since she didn't have distractions like the negaverse to deal with. She had finished her undergrad in just three years since she took classes in the summer too. She got her Master's and got accepted to join the FBI. That's where she has spent the last two years of her life, in Quantico, VA. Now she was a profiler in the FBI and had been assigned to the Tokyo Field Office which was the reason for why she was returning to Japan after all these years. 'It's amazing,' she thought to herself as she looked out into the nothingness that surrounded the plane, 'I haven't been bothered by the negaverse since I've left here. I wonder why? I mean, the only contact I've had with any of the scouts, in a sailor scout capacity that is, was Sailor Pluto.' She'd never forget the night that she had met Sailor Pluto. It was late, probably around midnight and she had been studying for a midterm during her final semester of her undergrad program. She had begun to dose a little when all of a sudden, there was this blinding light inside of her dorm room. It was as if there was a white doorway that had materialized out of nowhere. She remembered reaching for her broach to transform when she suddenly remembered that she didn't wear it anymore. She remembered being frozen, just waiting for whatever it was to come at her and she was totally defenseless. That's when Sailor Pluto had come through the time portal and stood smiling before her. Serena had been in awe. She couldn't remember ever seeing such a beautiful person before. Then Sailor Pluto had said, "Hello, my queen." with a slight bow. Serena had continued to gaze upon her with huge awestruck eyes and squeaked out. "Uh, hi. Who are you?" With a tender smile Pluto explained, "I'm Sailor Pluto, my queen, and I am the guardian of time." "Sailor Pluto? Guardian of Time? I don't get it. There are no more Sailor Scouts...... are there? Why didn't Luna tell me about you?" "Luna didn't tell you, because she believed that I was only a legend. In the past, I've only ever reported directly to your mother. You see, as Guardian of Time, I am only allowed to leave the entrance to the Gates of Time only in the cases of extreme importance. And I have come on a very important errand." "You have?" "Yes, I'm here to train you." "Train me? What do you mean?" "You have not achieved your full potential yet, my queen, and I am here to show you how to use the powers that will awaken in you this night. For you are now twenty one and the full powers of the Moon and the ISC are bestowed upon you now." "But I don't feel any different." "You will, you just are not yet attuned to your new powers, but you will be. For your future and that of the world's, including Rini's, you must learn now!" At the mention of Rini's name, Serena's eyes had shifted away. Pluto had caught the look on Serena's face and continued. "My Queen," "Serena." "Very well, Serena, I am not supposed to share the future with anyone, including you, but since you've already met Rini, I don't see the harm in sharing with you who she is. You see Serena, she is your daughter." "My WHAT?????!!!!" "Yes, she is the daughter of you and King Darien. I sent her to you a few years ago because evil forces had attacked and the future you felt that she would be safe with the you in the past. At the time, I hadn't agreed with you, but in the end, it had been the right decision." Serena had sat there speechless, trying to take in everything that Pluto had just told her. Rini, her daughter? This had been a lot to stomach. Then Pluto had spoken again with the Time Gate opening up behind her, "Now Serena, I will come back in two days time to begin your training." she handed Serena a small key like the one that Rini had wore and had said, "Take this key. If ever you need me, just hold the key and call out "Gate Key Power!' and a time portal will open for you and bring you directly to me." Then she had stepped through her own portal and disappeared. As Pluto had promised, she came back and began to train Serena. The first order of business had been to change her uniform. Now her Sailor fuku was white with a trimmed in black, with a silver bow. She now wore heeled shoes that had thick ribbons that laced around her ankles. She still had her trade mark hair do, which she no longer wore everyday, except instead of red globes she had silver ones and silver crystal in her tiara. Her only weapon now only consisted of a large glaive that had a crescent moon at the top of the staff. The staff stood a little taller than she and the ISC rested in the base of the crescent moon. Next Pluto had taught her all about her new powers. Now she teleport without the other scouts. All it took was a thought. Her new attacks were even more powerful than her last. She now had an attack that could distort reality enough to stun its recipient. It was called Moon Distortion Strike and was executed by striking her glaive on the ground once and by calling out the attack at the same time, distortion waves were sent out from the glaive in a silver light. Her second most powerful attack was the Crescent Moon Glaive Destruction. This one was again carried out by using her glaive. She merely called out the attack and slashed her glaive at her intended target. The glaive would glow bright and then send out a blinding crescent moon that would vaporize the target. But her most powerful attack, one that Pluto had warned her to use cautiously because it would drain most of her energy and she'd be too weak to continue the battle, was the Crescent Moon Beam Smash. When this attack was performed, her tiara would disappear and the crescent moon insignia would appear and flash on her forehead. Then a beam of energy would erupt from the sky and channel directly to her insignia, which she would in turn direct into the ISC and her target simultaneously. It had devastating effects. It was even more powerful than the attack that had been used to kill Beryl and she promised to use it only in dire situations. 'Dire situations!' she now thought as she chuckled to herself as she looked out the window of the plane again and saw nothing but endless sky below her. Her movement caught the attention of the man sitting next to her. His name was Marcus Montgomery. He was a beautifully elegant man, tall, broad shoulders and shoulder length hair that was the color of pure snow. His most striking feature however were his eyes. They were an ice blue that were known to send people running for cover when his piercing gaze was directed at them. At one time, not too long ago, he and Serena had been lovers. He was a field operative for the FBI. Serena had met him there during her first few weeks of training. Marcus had been a seasoned agent for the bureau who happened to work out of Quantico. Their affair had been a secret one for fear that Serena would get kicked out of the program and had continued until about six months ago when the others showed up. The others being the other three generals. As it turned out, Marcus was a general as well. What kind of general? Why a royal general of Prince Darien! And not just any old general, but the general, Malachite, head of Prince Darien's guard. Once Marcus realized who Serena was, he had broken off the relationship saying that he could not betray his prince this way. Serena had thought that it was crazy and stupid, especially since Darien didn't want her anymore, but she went along with it, especially since the others agreed with him. Now Marcus had gotten himself assigned to the Tokyo Field Office as well, so that he could continue his "protection" of the princess along with the other three generals. But secretly, he hoped to be reunited with the lovely Venus as well, his love from the Silver Millennium. Now he turned towards Serena and said, "What's so amusing, little one?" she turned to him and smiled at the pet name given to her by her "Guardians" as the generals like to refer to their duty. "I was just thinking about Pluto." "AH yes, the lovely and mysterious Pluto. I was always surprised that she never warned you about us." "Marcus, you know about her rule about revealing the future." "True. Very true." he said turning back to his book. "So..are you sure that those bone heads managed to find us a decent place to live? Not to mention employment for themselves?" she asked referring to the other three generals. Marcus laughed and said, "Yes, little one. How many times do I have to tell you that? They rented a large five bedroom home in an affluent suburb and they've already started their new jobs." "O.k., but they'll remember to come and get us, right?" "Serena, if we were relying only on Jason, we'd be in trouble. But Michael and Greg will make sure we're picked up." "Well...alright." she answered reluctantly and picked up her headphones and tried to fall asleep. ***************************************************** Later at the airport, four excited girls stood waiting by the customs gate for their friend to arrive. Raye, Ami, Mina and Lita had all shown up to surprise Serena when she arrived. Mina fidgeted nervously as her impatience got to her. "God, their plane landed a half hour ago! This is killing me!! What could be taking so long?" "Oh come on Mina! You know how long it can take going through customs. First you've got to get your bags and then they have to check them. It's a big pain." Lita said to her exasperated. "ARRGGHH!!" Mina huffed out as she flopped herself back down in the hard plastic seat in the waiting area. Across the way, three distinguished men sat, also waiting for the same friend. But they were busy staring at the girls across the way. Finally, the man with short blonde hair and laughing blue eyes said, "My, but isn't she beautiful?" "Who?" his friend with long auburn hair said. "That one. The one with the long black hair. Perfection. Pure perfection." he said with a mixture of admiration and lust. "I don't know. I'm partial to the tall brunette. Now that's beauty!" "You both are wrong. That shy little creature with the blue hair is the most stunning." Both men turned to gape at their friend, then the auburn haired man said, "What? Well to each their own, I guess. I wish that customs would hurry up already." he said looking at his watch, "I've got some drawings to look over tonight." These were the other generals. The man with the short blonde hair was Jason. Jason Fielding. He was an architect and had managed to get a job with the best firm in Tokyo and was already considered the most talented at the firm. But what Jason was more talented at was being Jedite, one of Prince Darien's royal guards. He was always getting into more trouble with Serena than he was protecting her. The two were like two children who constantly needed scolded if left to their own antics too long. The auburn haired man was Michael LeBeau. He was from Quebec, Canada and therefore spoke fluent and flawless French that made women swoon in the aisles. He had deep blue eyes and a muscular build with an impeccable taste for art and fine wine. He was also a fashion designer. His fashions were coveted around the world, so he simply set up an office in Tokyo. But his most exclusive customer that wore just about every design he came out with...his princess and he'd follow her anywhere. Finally, there was Greg Bower. He was a smaller man with long blonde hair and green eyes. Greg was too smart for his own good. He was a scientist and always had his face plaster to some computer or book. Greg landed a job with the bureau as well as a forensic scientist and he, Serena and Marcus often worked on murder cases together. All three really just showed up more or less on Serena's door step at different times over the last six months. The five had instantly bonded and had pretty much been inseparable since they met. It was finally decided about four months ago that they would relocate to Tokyo and rejoin the others. Serena had been extremely reluctant, but in the end, had been persuaded by Pluto that it was unavoidable for the future. Meanwhile in customs, Serena and Marcus were standing at a customs officer's table with the bags out, FBI credentials open and guns out. This was the hold up. The officer was verifying their credentials. Serena looked at Marcus and said to him in English, "I hope this doesn't take too much longer, I'm starving!" Marcus laughed and said, 'I know what you mean. The food on that flight was awful!" Finally the customs officer hung up his phone. He apologized for making them to wait and told them that they were clear. Serena and Marcus gathered their stuff, closed their bags and left. They each only had one large hang up bag, since they shipped their other belongings earlier in the month. Serena was struggling with her bag and her carry on when Marcus reached over and took her heavy bag from her. She smiled gratefully at him and continued out to the waiting area over to where the thre other generals were waiting. "Hey guys, could that be her?" Mina asked pointing to the blond woman in blue jeans and a mid thigh length black leather jacket that belted at her slim waist. "It could be, but where are the meatballs?" Lita said. "Yeah, there's no way she got rid of those meatballs." Raye said. And Ami who couldn't stand it anymore yelled out, "Serena! Hey Serena! Over here!!!!" waiving madly at the blonde. Serena stopped and looked in the direction that she heard her name being called. At first she didn't see them, but then all four girls were yelling and waving. Serena screamed, dropped her carry on bag and ran towards her friends leaving Marcus and the others staring after her. Finally, Jason sighed, grabbed Serena's discarded bag, slung it over his shoulder and began to walk after her, saying sarcastically over his shoulder, "Gee, do you think she knows them?" Meanwhile Serena got to Ami first and threw herself into the girl's arms. Then the other three were there and they were all screaming, laughing and crying. Basically making such a scene that everyone around them stopped to look. They were also so absorbed in their greeting that they didn't see the four men who came up to stand behind Serena, until finally Greg spoke up. "O.k. Serena. Lower the decibels please! You're going to get us kicked out of here!" The girls all stopped at once and stared at the four men hovering over Serena. Serena merely laughed and said, "Chill out, Greg! I haven't seen them in over seven years!!!" "Well that answers that question. You do know them." Jason said laughingly. "Of course I do! These are my friends! You know the ones I've known forever ! If you know what I mean." she said looking up at her guardians waiting for it to dawn on them exactly who her friends were. Then it did and one by one, slow grins spread across each of their faces as they eyed the girls up. Finally, Raye came forward and said in her usual demanding manner, "Serena, just who are these guys? You actually know them? And why are they hovering over you?" "Guys, these are my friends from America, Greg, Marcus, Michael and Jason." she said point to each one and then pointing to each girl, "Guys, this is Ami, Mina, Lita and Raye, who's a tad rude." "Am not!" "Are too!" "Not!" "Too!" and a tongue war began. All three girls groaned and Michael said, "I can't believe it! It's like watching Jason and Serena fight." Then Lita looked up at him and said, "You mean she does this with other people?" he smiled and nodded. Lita's knees began to shake. 'God, he's so cute! He looks just like my old boyfriend!' Ami and Mina were busy staring at Greg and Marcus when Serena finally said, "Hey, how did you know that I was getting in today? I wanted to surprise you tomorrow at the temple." Raye, who just noticed Jason managed to get out, "I asked your mom. She said that she was dying to tell someone." "Oh, o.k." Then Serena realized that nobody was paying attention to her and she laughed as she looked at them all gawking at each other and said, "Well if you're done burning holes into each other, I'd like to go. I'm starving!" This seemed to make everyone realize at once what they were doing and a lot of blushing took place. Finally, Marcus cleared his throat and said, "O.k. little one, we'll go." "Little One?" Mina asked hesitantly, automatically thinking he was Serena's boyfriend. But Serena laughed and said, "Yeah, they all call me that. I guess because I'm so short." Mina loudly sighed with relief, and immediately began blushing again. Serena laugh and linked her arm through Mina's and Ami's and began walking towards the exit. "So what's been happening lately? Anything new? Any gossip?" and finally, a little shyly, "How's Darien? Have you seen much of him?" This question made all four girls stop and they all looked at each other. "What? He's not hurt or anything...is he?" "Uh Serena, umm.....I don't know how to tell you...ummm...." Mina began and Ami gently finished, "Serena, Darien's getting married."