So when Sailor Moon Crystal came out, I was still really having issues in my personal life. I decided to write a fic about what would happen if I had woken up the next day after our fight in Sailor Moon Crystal-Episode One. There is language, but only in the first line. I will censor it as best I can, but the rest, enjoy!

Warning, the events here are not exact to the episodes, since I'm not acting out Usagi's actions by the book, but there are still spoilers!!

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Chapter One:

“You are so stupid!” His bad breath washed over me as I felt his spit splatter against my face. He jabbed his finger at me and was standing far too close, yelling at the top of his lungs. “Listen here you bitch, you are a worthless piece of crap, you’re lucky I don’t drag you out of here by your hair and beat some sense into you!”

I was cowering in the corner of my bedroom looking terrified and shrinking away, wishing I could melt into the walls behind me. The man yelling at me was my fiancé. He was furious because I had forgotten to feed our one year old daughter. She was to eat three times a day, she had eaten twice, but either I had forgotten her last meal, or skipped her second. I couldn’t remember and I often have trouble remembering important things like this. Regardless, she was happily sleeping in her crib and I was getting ready for bed when he asked me when she’d eaten last. I couldn’t remember fast enough and he had come to the conclusion that I was starving our daughter.

“You know what? C’mere!” he shouted, grabbing my arm and throwing me toward the bedroom door. I stumbled away from him down the hallway, and he was already too close again, he pushed me. I tried to catch my balance, but I tripped over my too-long Mario themed pajama bottoms and crashed to the ground. I tried to scoot away, but he was already on top of me. He grabbed me by the elbow and ripped me up, grabbing me hard by my arms; I knew there would be bruises. I was so terrified I started screaming hysterically, bracing myself for the feeling of fists, waiting to feel my body start to break under his blows. He’d never hit me before, though calling me names and belittling me like this was nothing new, nor was the way he screamed and spat at me.

Instead of attacking me further, he pushed me up against the kitchen sink, looking at me like I was a lunatic while I screamed. I ceased my wild shrieks and broke into fearful sobs. I couldn’t hear what he was saying over my beating heart, but the next thing I knew he was declaring that we were breaking up.

Yes. I thought. Thank God. Yes. Please leave me.

But my next words didn’t follow that logic. Instead I heard myself telling him I’d be better, that we weren’t breaking up. I’d be a better mother and a better person and try harder to remember things. I took him to my room and we made love. Though I felt there was no real love to make anymore. I wept, not because I was sorry, and not because I loved him or felt relieved. I wept because I was betraying myself. I was choosing to stay with this abusive man. I wasn’t allowed to sleep until nearly four in the morning. I was to be at work at 7:45. I went to sleep feeling empty and broken; closing my eyes to precious darkness.

So quiet, peaceful. Suddenly there were stars. I was drifting quietly through a starry night sky, I passed celestial giants, planets, supernovas. The whole universe was before me. Then, someone was running. A princess, I could see her white gown, her long hair. I couldn’t see her face, but she was so beautiful. I thought I heard screams and smelled smoke in the distance; she was running toward someone I couldn’t see. She called out something, but I couldn’t hear her. Her voice was the muffled chime of a bell. I heard it again, clearer now.

“Usagi!”

I jolted awake. I was late! I had overslept! Why hadn’t my alarm gone off? Morning light poured into the room, it had to be at least 8 o’clock. I tore myself out of bed and then froze. This wasn’t my room.
I turned as my gaze settled upon a familiar comforter decorated with bunnies and crescent moons, then drifted to the cute alarm clock, the desk, the closet. The room was neat and smelled sweet. I walked to the window and looked out, spotting a mountain in the distance. I had only seen pictures of this particular mountain, but it was unmistakable. I was looking at Mt. Fuji. I was in Japan?

“Usagi, wake up!” I heard a woman’s voice call from downstairs, the same voice that had woke me from my dream. Usagi? I knew that name. I ran to the vanity and looked in the mirror, unable to stop the shrieking gasp that came from my mouth. My skin was perfect, porcelain, not a single pimple or pour in sight. My short, wavy brown hair was soft, long and blonde, decorated with bows and pulled up in perfect odango pigtails. And my eyes, my hazel green eyes were now a wide sparkling deep blue. I was, or at least I looked like fourteen year old Tsukino, Usagi. Could this be real? Had I woken up inside an anime? I pinched myself, and it hurt. Stunned my mind went blank.

Almost immediately I thought of my daughter. Where was she? If this was real and I was here, was my baby waking up to an angry father and a missing mother? Or maybe the real Usagi was waking up in my nightmare? My heart broke for that. If he was frustrated enough with me he’d really be frustrated with Usagi. It was impossible for me to know what was going on or how life was unfolding back in my reality.

I looked down at myself, I was wearing my tank top and my too-long Mario pants. My arms were still throbbing with bruises. Last night had still happened. Was I dead? Was I in a coma? Suddenly I realized just how long my legs were as well as a few other things about Usagi’s physical form. Not only was I taller and my skin lighter, the rest of me was smooth too, a little too perfect.

Now, I’ve always been thin, so the transition to a teenage anime body was not hard to get used to…but it was the new and unfamiliar weight of a couple of things on my chest that had me gaping. All my life I’d been flat, a AA at best. Usagi was at least a C cup and as if in a trance, I wondrously I poked one of my new breasts. Soft. Real. I squeaked and flailed, spinning around and accidentally turning back to the mirror to see Usagi’s likeness staring at me in complete shock while still managing to look flawlessly pretty. So this was what it was like to be a real-life anime girl.

“Usagi!!” called the voice again.

“Uh…Okay!” I said meekly, my voice was shy, but also…Japanese? I spoke Japanese? Sure I knew a few words and phrases, and my thoughts were in English, but my voice was coming out in Japanese. This was a lot to take in. Maybe I should stay in today?
What episode was I in? Judging by my dream, this was the first episode, but was I in the manga or the anime? Maybe I was in the reboot? Regardless, I knew what was supposed to happen next. I was, or rather Usagi would get ready, get her lunch and rush out the door. Should I act the part? Nothing was happening with my just standing around looking surprised. So I turned to her closet and opened it. There, her middle-school uniform hung waiting. I took off my clothes and folded them, neatly placing them on the floor in the back corner of the closet. They, and my pentagram necklace were the only things from my world I had left. I hadn’t worn a bra to bed in my world, even so it would have been too small for me now. So I turned to Usagi’s dresser, curious and embarrassed I looked for the proper garment. I found a selection of frilly white anime bras. At least it was nothing too over-the-top, this was Sailor Moon after all. But somehow it was a little too real just then. I couldn’t help but stop to look at myself, feeling like a pervert for knowing this was Usagi’s body, but I was currently the one living in it and had never had breasts before. It was a strange sort of selfish satisfaction to see that a bra fit me properly. In fact, seeing the bra fit perfectly, literally as if it was drawn on, pun intended, and I felt my heart beating faster with sheer giddy delight. Usagi had a cute selection of anime undies, but I decided to keep my own on and instead picked out a pair of white socks.

Weird that I actually had to think about these sort of things, even as my daughter flashed through my mind once more. Last night I was a 24 year old mother in an abusive relationship and suddenly now I was anime girl 14 year old Tsukin, Usagi, who was also the superhero Sailor Moon.

I tried on the uniform, it was weird that the shirt was a little short, I felt like if I lifted my arms too high it would show my stomach. And the skirt sat too high, far up over my belly button, it was uncomfortable, but in the mirror it looked perfect. I took all the bows out of my hair and bushed the long pigtails. I didn’t dare attempt to remove the odangos, no need to fix what didn’t need fixing. No need for make-up either, or a shower for that matter. What was left to do, eat? Was there time? Probably not. Plus sitting around this weird house with Usagi’s mother sounded uncomfortable to say the least. Better stick to the script.

I took a deep breath and opened her door, tentatively I stooped to pick up the school bag resting by the door and walked out into the hall. A few steps away way was the stairway, so I approached them and began to descend. Suddenly I lost my footing on the smooth wood flooring and slipped, landing on my bottom and falling down the stairs. In reality, this would hurt a lot. But while I was reeling by the time I hit the bottom, the pain was hardly registering. Not nearly the way my arms still hurt, and I was thankful this outfit was long sleeved. I stood up and looked for the kitchen, rubbing my rump.
There was the aqua-haired woman sitting at the table reading. Her back was to me and she didn’t look up. I knew what happened in the anime, Usagi ran in scolding her mother for not waking her sooner, got her lunch and ran out again. I could see the small bento waiting on the table in front of her mother but was apprehensive about getting it. Wouldn’t a normal person rush in and start asking her what was going on? If things played out like any movie I’d ever seen where this sort of thing happened, she’d either turn into a monster or act like I was crazy. Neither seemed appealing. So instead I quietly rushed in, head bowed.

“Th-thank you for lunch!” I said quietly and rushed back out, my words flowing out in flawless Japanese. I quickly pushed myself toward what I thought was the front door and stopped again. I didn’t know how to get to school, I didn’t even know if any of this was real. Maybe the whole world would disappear. Maybe I’d wake up in the real world all of the sudden, maybe I’d simply open the door and walk into Mordor, the possibilities were endless.

“Be careful!” Called Usagi’s mother.

“Hai!” I called, relieved she hadn’t seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary, and then after a moment, “Um…how do I get to school from here?”

“Don’t be silly Usagi, I’m not falling for that. Now go to school or you’ll be late!”
I’m already going to be late, I thought. Still, I figured it was best not to push, hopefully I’d see someone else in a familiar uniform and just follow them. I put on Usagi’s shoes and slipped out the door.
Well, there I was, I was still in Japan. Still in the dream, or whatever it was. Yeah. It had to be a dream, possibly the most realistic dream ever. So I chose a random direct and started walking. I knew that the next milestone of this episode was seeing Luna for the first time. I knew I’d be going the right way if I saw her, she’d either be being attacked by children, or laying on the side walk waiting to be stepped on by a hurried Usagi. Either way, if I found her, I knew I’d be on the right way to school.

As I walked, I took a moment to explore my feelings. It was strange, going back to middle school. I was passed all the immaturity, the stereotypes, the bullying. I was a grown-up for the most part, being ruled by parents and teachers was a thing of my past. Then again, this was an anime school, not a real school. Real problems and cliques probably weren’t going to be something I’d have to worry about. Suddenly something squished under my foot and I gasped, jumping back-rather than falling on my face.

“Luna!” I exclaimed as I recognized the black cat at my feet. I fell to my knees and picked her up, holding her at arms-length. “Please don’t scratch me!” I said, know that if I was living in the Sailor Moon Crystal version of the story, the next thing she would do would be to scratch my face. Anime or not, that would hurt a lot. She looked at me curiously and then proceeded to claw at the band-aids on her head.

“Right,” I said, and peeled them off, smiling to see the familiar crescent mark. She then jumped on my head and up onto the half-wall bordering the side walk. She eyed me with a stunned and curious expression. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a group of girls across the street wearing the same uniform as me.

“Find me later!” I called to her as I took off after them, knowing she would. If anyone knew anything, Luna surely would! She could tell me what was going on! But right now, things had to go in order if I was to get anywhere. Doing my own things would make the future too unpredictable, in more ways than one. It was best to do things right.

So I arrived at Juban Middle School and my feet suddenly seemed to know where to go leading me to Usagi’s first period English class. I knew I’d be made to stand in the hall for being late, and I knew there’d be a test with Usagi’s name and a large red 30 percent drawn on its top corner. I pulled open the door to the class and was not surprised when I was redirected to stand in the hall, just as I predicted.

My stomach growled, it was amazing how hungry I really was. No wonder Usagi had given in and decided to eat her lunch. Instead, I slumped against the wall and pulled a long pigtail over my shoulder, running the strands through my fingers. My hair was so incredibly soft, and I paused to examine my nails, they were perfect and looked manicured, funny how things could look both animated and real at the same time.

I thought of my daughter. Would I ever see her again? Maybe she would appear in this world with me somewhere? None of the characters I could imagine from the show were young enough to be her, not even Chibi-usa. I felt tears sting in my eyes and I clutched my pentacle through the fabric of my shirt.

Suddenly the classroom door slammed open and I stood straight, turning to see the familiar failed test in front of me.
“Tsukino-san, what were-eh,” The sensei stopped short, eyeing my expression, “you don’t have to look so depressed. Maybe if you didn’t sleep so much you’d get better grades. Look at this!” she said, pointing to the score.

“I’m sorry Sakurada-Sensei. I’ll try harder next time.” I said with a bow. She looked surprised for a moment and then thrust the paper at me. I took it and was invited back in for class. Since I was thinking in English, surely it would be easy enough to fix Usagi’s bad English grade. I surprised the senei several more times throughout class and made a few students whisper about me. After that I figured it was best to stop showing off and blend in. Then it was time for lunch break where I pulled out the tiny bento to eat.

“Usagi-chan, late again? Really?” I looked up to spot a familiar red head. It was Naru. “At least you didn’t sneak your lunch again in the hall.”

“Uh…yeah.” I answered. Her face looked worried.

“How was your exam Usagi-san?” asked another familiar face, the nerdy looking Umino, if his spiral-eye glasses were weird enough as a cartoon, they were really weird in this surreal world that was halfway between animated and real, “I didn’t prepare much this time but…” he raised the test with it’s bright red 95 percent score at the top looking both smug and embarrassed at once.

“I’ll do better next time.” I answered, popping a bit of whatever-it-was into my mouth from my lunch. It was good.

“Exams are like games to me,” he responded, ignoring my comment,

“Games?” asked Naru, “You’re really annoying.” She said tossing up her hands and walking away to her desk, “I can’t believe he scored more than me.” From my desk, I could see she had gotten an 85 on her test. Not knowing what else to say I finished my lunch and suddenly Naru returned to my side, holding her bag.

“Want to go get some juice and head outside for a break?”

“Sure,” I said, packing up. I followed her, watched her obtain a box of orange juice from a vending machine and proceeded to copy her and then we met up with a few other girls outside. They started talking and I focused on the juice. I was full, the juice was sweet, just like you’d expect. This was still far too real to be a dream.
“By the way, have you heard about the robbery at the jewelry shop?” said a girl with long black hair to the rest of us, “So many crimes these days.”

I had to suppress a sarcastic grin, depending on how long this dream lasted, there’d be a lot of crime and other weird things going on around here.

“That’s terrifying,” Naru answered.

“But Sailor V caught all the robbers,” chimed Umino.

I knew who Sailor V was. In the episode, I remembered that Usagi didn’t. I knew that my next line would be to feign ignorance, but I stayed quiet.

“Some say she’s a police officer in disguise,” he added naturally, as if he hadn’t expected anyone to question him.

“I can relate to the robbers a bit,” answered the dark-haired girl.

“I know right?” said a short-haired brunette next to me, “Jewelry is shiny and gorgeous!”

I smiled, feeling I should say something,
“Naru-chan’s family runs a jewelry shop, in fact, I think they are having a big sale right now.” I said, looking at her.

“Really?” answered the brunette.

“Uh, Yeah,” she nodded, smiling, “But, how did you know that Usagi-chan? I haven’t said anything.”

“Um..I saw it in an advertisement.” I lied. The girl seemed to accept that however.

“I’ll have to drop by later then,” said the long haired girl.

“I know I’ll be there!” I said, a little too excited, but no one seemed to find it out of character. I’d have to fight a monster there. But first I’d have to become Sailor Moon, and before even that, I’d have to talk to Luna. Surely she’d know something about getting back home. Not that I wanted my old life and boring imperfect human body back, but I did want my daughter.

After school the four of us followed Naru to the Osa*P jewelry store. I let the other girls fawn over the jewels, in the window and then followed them inside. I couldn’t help giving her mother a stern look, was she a monster yet? Probably. She stared at me an extra second before greeting Naru.
“Are these your friends?”

“Yes,” answered Naru.

“It’s crowded, but see if you can find something you like,” she said to us, “I’ll give you a special discount!”

“Really?” said the black haired girl who took off with the other unnamed brunette toward the jewels. I wasn’t going to stick around. I knew all the jewels were cursed. And even if they weren’t, I knew I didn’t have enough money for anything. I was lucky bum a few yen off of Naru for the juice box earlier.

“We never have sales like this,” said Naru to me, looking worried, “I wonder what my mom is thinking.”
I watched her mother directing the crowd, even as she paused to grin darkly. Monster for sure, but there was nothing I could do about it now. I walked back outside and turned to make my way to the arcade. I didn’t know how to get home anyway from here, or anywhere else in town, but that had to be close by, right?

I walked a few steps and crashed into a familiar tuxedo-clad man. “Hey, you ran into me bump-head, are you trying to give me bumps too?” He said.

I stared up at him, as an anime character, I always thought he was kind of cute, but this was something else. He looked exactly the way any fan girl would expect he would look if he were real. I couldn’t say anything, just stare. So this was Mamoru. And I hadn’t thrown my test at him to get his attention. If I hadn’t turned the wrong way out of Osa*P, I might have forgotten about meeting him all together at this part. With this morning, and the violent events of my lover from last night, I couldn’t think about having a crush. Who knew how long this would last anyway? Suddenly I remember that now that I was Usagi, it meant I was a virgin again too. I’d never had sex, nor had I ever given birth to my daughter. I realized suddenly that the stretch marks that had faded so nicely on my real body were utterly absent beneath my uniform.

My face flushed red and I forced myself to utter, “They aren’t bumps.” Gathering the courage to look him in the eye, a thing I found really difficult to do with my fiancé back in reality. I watched his expression change and his pupils shrink behind his sleek sun glasses. I couldn’t move or think or do anything. I didn’t know what to do. Did attraction work the same way here? How did I look to him? Did he know who I was? Frozen, to took some serious effort to force myself to walk past him feeling his eyes on my back as I walked on.

Heart pounding, I did was Usagi did. I hugged my bag to my chest and just followed the side-walk away from Osa-P toward the arcade. I spotted the Sailor V poster outside the shop and knew I was in the right place. I quickly disappeared inside. I didn’t have any money to play anything, but I could still walk around.

Miraculously, though I shouldn’t have been surprised, someone left some yen on top of one of the Sailor V games. So...of course I popped into the machine as if it was mine and started to play. Maybe Motoki would know how I could get home.
I kept loosing, not knowing how to play this Sailor V game at all. It wasn’t long before he approached me and helped me win against the enemy. He smiled at me, and I opened my mouth to ask him for directions when he suddenly turned to look at something. I turned too, and there was Luna. I forgot she appeared here. Wonderful! Maybe she knew where Usagi’s house was?
“Ah, this cat,” said Motoki, “she’s been wandering around these past few days.”

“She’s mine,” I blurted out.

“What? And you let her walk around town?”

“Well, I…uh..” I wasn’t sure what to say.

“I guess that makes sense,” smiled the blonde older boy. He reminded me a little of my fiancé when he was younger, back before he turned into such a raging violent jerk. I felt myself rubbing the bruises on my arms through my sleeves. “You live nearby, still, you should be careful letting her out like that. The kids around here can be cruel.”

“Ah, yeah…” I looked at the cat, who stared at me, “Well we’d better be going! Thanks for helping me with the game!”

“Sure!” He said as I got up and quickly grabbed Luna and made a quick exit.

“Don’t say anything,” I said quietly, walking outside and around the corner, trying to find somewhere private. Luna squirmed out of my arms until I was forced to drop her. She gave me an odd look and took off running. “Wait!” I called and ran after her. She disappeared around a corner and I stopped to catch my breath, looking up to see the very house I had left this morning with the name “Tsukino” written on the name plate by the front gate.

Well, I was right, this lead me home. It had been an entire day now in this fantasy world. What would my fiancé be doing right now? What about my daughter? I had no way to know, but I looked forward to finally getting to talk to Luna.
I walked in the door,

“I’m home?” I all but whispered. What if the real Usagi had come home first?
“Welcome home Usagi,” answered her mother. “Umino stopped by a minute ago while I was sweeping the steps. He said he got a 95 on his test, what about you?” I didn’t bother taking off my shoes. I knew what was coming.

“I got a thirty, but I’ll do better next time,” I said, not bothering to show her the test. I watched the rage boil in her eyes, and I she was shouting the famous ‘don’t come home!’ line before I could do anything. Next thing I knew I was standing outside. I just sat down and tucked my knees up under my chin.

Then came Usagi’s little brother, Shingo,
“You got kicked out again huh? I wish I had a smarter sister.” He said, glaring and going inside. I rolled my eyes. Even if he wasn’t really my brother, and even if this whole thing was a dream that was still annoying.
I looked around, decided to try and sense the world as a real thing, really take it in. The air was scented as night air is. I could smell the warmth of the day fading from the concrete. There was no breeze and it was odd that I wasn’t cold. In reality, as soon as the sun set, I was always cold. So for the outside temperature to be absolutely perfect was unusual, then again I really needed to stop comparing my experience to reality because there was nothing “usual” about this at all.
Eventually, her mother let me in.

Usagi would have taken a nap, but as I entered her room, the first thing I did was rush to the closet and fall to my knees. There, my clothes still lay neatly folded and waiting. I didn’t know how to feel about that, relieved? Sad? Angry? Happy? I stared at them and after a moment, I sighed.

Standing I looked around her room. Everything was so organized and nice looking, curiously, I poked around her vanity. She had some makeup, bows, bobby pins, but why bother? Her face was already flawless, makeup might actually make it look weird rather than more beautiful. Blinking, I sat down at her desk, still holding her school bag and opened it. While Usagi took a nap instead of doing homework, there was no way I could sleep; not to mention back in my world, I was a college student and a very good one. I could easily do Usagi’s homework. Piece of cake.

By the time I finished all of it, I hardly noticed a small black figure appear at the window, but when I did,
“LUNA!” I exclaimed, rushing to the bedside, “Luna, I’ve been wanting to talk to you all day!”
She looked at me with both suspicion and curiosity,

“How do you know my name?” She asked.

I sighed,
“This is a long story, and it doesn’t make any sense, but just hear me out. Yesterday I was a 24 year old mother in an abusive relationship. I got into a fight with my fiancé, and went to bed, look, I even have bruises!” I pulled up my sleeves to showed her the black and blue hand-shaped prints where he had grabbed my arms, “I had brown hair, and hazel eyes, and when I woke up this morning. I was Usagi! I don’t how or why, but I was hoping you could help. I’m not the real Usagi, I don’t belong here.”

The looked thoughtful for a moment, she believed me, good.

“I’ve been tracking your energy for days, nothing has changed. Even if you are from another world, you are the one I’ve been searching for, and right now, you’re the only one who can fight the evil in our world and find our princess. That still doesn’t explain how you know who I am, or how you know who you are. If you are from another world, how would you know
anything about being here?”

It occurred to me then that Luna didn’t have all of her memories yet, she couldn’t know everything about space and time travel. But part of what she said struck home. I have always been a believer, that things happen for a reason, and if you end up in a bad situation, it’s because you are meant to learn something from that situation and nothing will change until that lesson is learned, not matter how hard you fight, or pray. So, if I was the only one who could save the princess, real Usagi, or not then nothing about being in this world was going to change until I learned whatever lesson I was meant to learn by being in this world, by being Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon, Guardian of love and justice.

“In my world,” I began slowly, thinking of how to answer, “This story, the story of Sailor Moon and the senshi are told in manga and anime, there’s even a version that was done as a live-action television series. I know how the story goes, I know what happens for the most part. But recently, they came out with a new version of the anime, and I think we are living that version, so I’m not sure how everything goes. But I know you’re about to give me broach or a compact that will allow me to transform into Sailor Moon, and I know who the other senshi are, and I also know that right now, my friend Naru is in danger and we have to go save her. And…I know that Usagi...me, that I am the-“ I stopped there, if I told her Usagi was the princess, I’d have no way to prove it, not to mention I didn’t know how to become the princess or if I would even be able to transform into Sailor Moon. “The main character…”

Luna nodded, considering all I had said,

“In that case, there’s no time to lose. Take the broach,”

The crescent shape on her forehead began to glow, and then before her ins a sparkling glimmer appeared the compact. Now, whenever I had seen this particular prop for a cosplay, it always looked like a toy, a big plastic, bulky toy; but this actually looked valuable, engraved gold with real jewels. I picked it up and it felt magnetic, as if it were vibrating ever to very slightly with an energy I could just barely sense. I realized the magnitude of what was about to happen. Either nothing would happen, or I was about to know what it was like to transform into a magical girl, into Sailor Moon!
“Repeat after me, Moon-“

“I know what to say,” I said, interrupting her, “I just need a minute,” I was breathless, staring at the thing. I took a deep breath, thrust it into the air and said the magic words,

“Moon Prism Power, Make Up!”

All at once I felt like I was swept up in a dream. I was filled with a feeling somewhere between what it’s like when you’re about to be kissed by your crush and going over the first hill of a roller coaster. The soft angel-feather touch of the ribbons that solidified into the tight fit of the leotard, the burst of her bow, the caresses of the ribbons that became boots and gloves, the choker, the hair accessories, the ear rings and the tiara, and the skirt. As the transformation finished, it was similar to the feeling of getting out of a warm bath, the last rush of hot water falling from your skin. And there I was, my room filled with sparkling mist that faded quickly.
I had to catch my breath and look in the mirror.

To say I looked like the perfect cosplay would be an insult, this was pure magic. I blinked and then gave myself a serious look, I heard Naru’s call for help, turned to Luna and said,

“Let’s go.”

I approached the window, time to practice those impressive anime-jumping skills. I hesitated at the height, but gather my courage and left to land painlessly crouched on the ground. I began to sort of think of myself as the dark-haired girl from Madoka Magica, all serious but also really powerful. I took off running, remembering the way to Osa*P.

I burst in the door, my tiara already in my hand and charged. I saw Naru fall out from a doorway inside with the monster closing in.

“Moon Tiara Action!” I shouted, tossing the thing. The enemy shattered before she even knew what hit her. Naru stared from the pile of ash to me and back again,

“Who-?” She said,

I smiled, knowing what I got to say and the pose I got to strike,

“I am the pretty guardian of love and justice, Sailor Moon! And in the name of the moon, I shall punish all evil!” –So it wasn;t exact, and the villain had no idea who I was before she died, but I wasn’t about to get chased by zombies around the room and cry like a baby before doing anything. Naru nodded and then fainted.

Luna looked at me, stunned that it was over so quickly. “So you already know how to use the tiara. There is more to you than meets the eye Sailor Moon.”

My mouth opened to correct her with my real name, but then I just smiled. “Her mother is tied up in the basement, I should free her,”

“I didn’t find what I came for, but I found something much more interesting,” said the voice of Tuxedo Mask.

Feeling cocky I followed him outside and shouted after him, “We will meet again Tuxedo Mask!” He looked at me for a moment and then disappeared into the night.

I ran back inside and found Naru’s mother unconscious in the basement, I untied her and her eyelids fluttered. I quickly made my exit, leaving them both there.

Back at Usagi’s house, I used the anime-jump to get back into her room. I wasn;t sure how to change back, so I just touched the pendant and focused on letting go of the transformation. The lovely warm rush of excitement and feather-soft ribbons enveloped me and vanished, leaving me in Usagi’s school uniform once more.
What an adventure.

I set Usagi’s alarm extra early, changed into her Pjs and went to sleep.

Chapter 2.
The next morning her alarm went off and I was able to pull myself out of bed. While I was tired, the feeling of groggy tiredness was not nearly as strong as it was in reality. I didn’t even feel like I needed coffee, which was astounding as I hadn’t have a coffee-free morning since I was pregnant with my daughter. With a sigh, I made my way to the bathroom, taking several wrong turns into Shigo’s room and then her parent’s room.

I ran the bathwater and took out her Odangos, making careful not of how the hairstyle was undone in the hopes I could achieve it once more. Wash my hair first, then soak in the bath. It was early enough, there was plenty of time. I tried not to think about home, about my baby, and the jerk she was with. I wondered if maybe there was a copy of me there, going through the motions as I would normally, maybe it was as if nothing had changed back home.

Bath finished, I dried her hair, which normally would have taken a lifetime with how long and thick it was, but it dried in minutes and thankfully back in its Odango shape without much trouble. I carried the Pjs back to her room, pink towel wrapped around me.

I was used to rewearing clothes many times being too poor to clean them regularly, I had a trick of leaving them to air out all day so they didn’t smell, unless I had really sweated in them. Now, my underwear I had worn from reality until now smelled like dirty laundry, but the Pjs still smelled sweet. My best guess was that body odor was something that had to be written into a character otherwise they would generally smell clean and good. So I put the still-clean pjs away, and hid the underwear among my other clothes from my reality.

Now to choose clean clothes from Usagi’s dresser and her uniform, then I headed downstairs for breakfast. Everyone was still asleep so I began the search for food. I knew enough about cooking to make some scrambled eggs and toast with a glass of milk, and instead of a fancy bento, just some fancy-cut sandwiches with salad. Luckily Usagi’s mother was so organized, I found everything easily.

I had much lunch ready and was just sitting down to eat when Usagi’s mother wandered in, she was startled to see me,
“Usagi-chan! You’re up early,” she commented in astonishment, “made yourself breakfast and lunch and even washed the dishes!” She stared at the freshly washed pan I had used to cook the eggs. “I’m in shock! Are you feeling okay?”

Just then Shingo walked in,

“What’s the matter?” he asked snidely when he saw me, “Forget to set your alarm so you stayed up all night?” I just stuck my tongue out at him, and he mirrored the action, making himself some toast.

I ate quickly as her mother began to thumb through the morning newspaper, washed my breakfast dishes and went to the door,
“I’ll be going now,” I said, slipping on her shoes, picking up her bags, and walking out to see Luna waiting for me and she walked with me.

Smiling and feeling accomplished, I couldn’t wait to stun the teacher with completed homework and an early-show to class. I didn’t normally like being a show-off, in reality, I was just as lazy as Usagi, but here in the world of Sailor Moon, I had more energy and wanted to use it to my advantage.

Sure enough the sensei was surprised to see me, even more surprised when I handed her my completed homework and in English said, “Good Morning Miss Sakurada Sensei. It’s good to see you,” And took my seat. She gaped at me a moment, looked over the paperwork,

“Now that’s what I like to see Tsukino-san! Some effort! Keep this up and you just might pass the big test!”
Right. I remembered that soon there would be some big test, the scores would show and Ami would have the best score in the school; we would meet the next senshi. I glanced around as the classroom began to fill, some of the students noticed me and whispered to each other. Naru entered and looked absolutely shocked.

class began and by lunch hour, I could tell she was dying to tell everyone what happened. Her version of the story said there was a robber and someone named sailor moon had saved her and her mom, but she couldn’t remember if it was a dream or not because she had fainted. They were filing a police report, but nothing seemed stolen and there were no signs of foul play. I just smiled and let the rest of the day pass.

Unlike the original anime where several more antics and baddies appeared all the time, the next week passed in easy quietness. No monsters, nothing. I kept an eye out for Ami, but could never find the proper opportunity to talk to her. She was always too far ahead of me in the hall, and I would lose her in the crowd, or I would spot her reading, but get pulled away from a teacher or friend. Eventually I gave up trying to contact her sooner than intended.

On a day off from school, Naru invited me out to lunch and then out for some Kareoke. I agreed and had a lot of fun. She was a really good person, kind and funny. I hadn’t been allowed to have friends like this or to go out and have fun like this since I had chosen to date that guy back home. We went back to her house for dinner and finished the night talking and laughing in her room. I suddenly felt so free. But around 9 o’clock, I reluctantly excused myself to go home. With school being the next day, I told her I wanted to study and get there on time for the big exam. In reality, I knew I’d stay there chatting all night, or maybe I’d tell her the truth if I didn’t leave right away. I decided that Naru really was a treasure worth protecting, even if she was just a side character, she was the first person I really was able to call my friend in person, even if the honor of her friendship technically belonged to Usagi and not me.

I took the test, it was surprisingly hard, even with my college experience, it was still rather difficult, the next day I was really surprised (and so were many other people) to see my name ranked number 5 in the school. Then, just as expected, there was Ami’s name at the top. Naru gave me a big hug,

“Usagi-chan! You did even better than me! Look, I’m number 7! Congratulations, your hard work paid off!”
I hugged her back, “No, no, congratz to you! That’s a big achievement, your mother will be so proud!”

“Yours too!’ I said,

“We should go get ice-cream and celebrate!” She exclaimed

I gasped, “We should!”

“Did you attend the Crystal seminar?” I heard Umino chime.

Ah right, that’s my next target.

“Hm-mn,” I said shaking my head, just studied really hard.

“I heard Mizuno-san was scouted to be a student there,” he replied.

“She still studies while her scores are perfect on her exams?” asked the names short-haired brunette friend. I decided I really needed to ask her name. I wondered if some of the random “extra” characters nearby really had names and personalities aside from on screen characters.

Usagi was supposed to ask about the location of this seminar, I couldn’t remember and hadn’t been by the arcade since the day I first awoke into this world, maybe it appeared somewhere else?

“Where is this Crystal Seminar?” I asked anyway, knowing I would have to go there.

“By the arcade,” answered Umino, “It’s expensive to go there, but her mother is a Doctor.”

“She is a genius and her family is rich,” interjected the friend with long dark hair, “I envy her.”

“But she looks too cool and acts kind of unfriendly.” Said the short haired friend.

“I’ve never seen her with any friends,” added Naru. I didn’t have anything to say. We all filed into a line where we could
get a print-off of our scores and it was time to leave.

After school, I stopped Naru,

“Hey, instead of ice cream, why don’t we go to the arcade? I want to bring Ami with us.”

“Eh? That really smart girl?”

“Yeah, I mean, I heard she has no friends, so we should bring her. She deserves to celebrate too.”

I knew we’d have to go to the arcade in order for Luna to slip us our transformation pens, but I got so caught up in
finally having a best friend that I forgot the whole reason I was here. I didn’t want to blow her off.
So we were walking together when I spotted Luna and Ami.

“Hey it’s that girl,” said Naru, “the genius from class 5. Now’s your chance, go see if she wants to come!”
“Hai!” I answered and walked over to her.

“You’re so fluffy,” said Ami, talking to Luna.

“Hello!” I greeted cheerfully, forgetting who I was, “Um…how are you?” I asked.

“You are?” responded Ami, looking a little flustered.

“Ah, I mean, that’s my cat,” I said, “I hope she didn’t startle you.”

“Not at all! She suddenly came down from the sky!” answered the bluenette, “I thought she was an angel.”

I just smiled, and Ami seemed to get embarrassed anyway. “What am I talking about,” she said, “I’m sorry,” She offered
Luna back to me, looking adorably ashamed.

“It’s alright,” I said, reaching to take Luna. My hands brushed against hers, it was like electricity. She startled and
looked at me. I wanted to tell her I knew what she saw, the palace at the moon kingdom, but it wouldn’t seem to fit if I said so just then.
I couldn’t help sharing Usagi’s opinion of her, she was just adorable.

“You’re Mizuno-san from class 5 right? I’m Usagi Tsukino from class one, and this is Luna,”
“And I’m Naru Osaka, also from class one,” chimed my red headed friend, suddenly beside us, “Usagi, I didn’t know you had a cat.”

“Ah, yeah, she followed me home last week, so I’ve been taking care of her. Anyway, Mizuno-san, we were wondering if you’d like to go with us to the arcade, to celebrate our high scores!”

She looked perplexed, but still happy. No one had ever invited her anywhere for anything other than to a school to study, had they?

She agreed.

Next thing I knew I was at the controls of the Sailor V game once more, it wasn’t so hard, but the controls were definitely not like anything I was used to and I lost. I sighed, and Motoki appeared,

“Hi Usagi-chan,” he greeted,

“Hi Motoki,” I answered, smiling. Realizing I was acting a little too easygoing.

“Your friend?”

“My name is Ami Mizuno, nice to meet you,” bowed Ami.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Motoki Furuhara.” He answred.

“You should try this,” I said to the bluenette, and stood up from the seat.

So she did, and she was good, attracting the attention of others in the arcade, I rooted her along awkwardly, but happily, as did Naru. When Ami won the battle against the dragon boss, I couldn’t help copying Usagi’s congratulatory hug.
“Mizuno-san I knew you’d be good at this! You’re amazing!”

-click-

The prize dropped out of the game machine.
“It’s a beautiful pen!” she exclaimed after examining it. It was then it occurred to me I’d have to act like Usagi in order to get mine, there’s no way I could get a high score like Naru’s. Why couldn’t Luna have just given me the pen earlier?

“Er, I want one too!” I said, hitting the machine awkwardly, I wasn’t used to acting immature like this.

“Usgai-chan..” commented Motoki, trying to tell me I should stop, but thankfully the pen appeared and I took it.

“Ah,” was all I could manage before I blushed deeply at acting like a fool. Motoki laughed, I assumed he thought my
expression was cute.

“You can have it, don’t worry, just don’t hit the game again?” I smiled.

“You are too funny Tsukino-san,” said Ami while Naru giggled.

“Heh,” I could feel my face was still hot, “you look pretty when you smile Ami-chan,” I said. Not that I didn’t think she really was cute, but the compliment felt like I was flirting with her. It felt wrong, not wrong as in some moral argument about sexuality, but because in my relationship with my jerk fiancé, flirting had serious repercussions involving a lot of shouting, suspicion and ultimately being forbidden to see the person ever again.

The girl startled again,

“Sorry, I called you Ami-chan, you can call me Usagi,” I added, knowing that often the honorifics were very important in Japan. The sudden switch from a formal one to a more endearing term would be shocking,
“Okay,” she said as she spotted the clock. “Ah I have to go,”

“To the crystal seminar right?” I asked, and let her answer. She was going there every day because she wanted to be a doctor.

“Mn, see you there tomorrow,” I said. “I heard they were going to shut down soon, I can’t go today, but I’m going tomorrow you should go get all the studying in now you can get!”

Ami looked stricken once again and Naru spoke up,

“Where did you hear that?”

“I just know these things,” I laughed. Both girls seemed to think I was nuts, but Ami seemed more concerned.

“Then I’d better hurry, see you!”

Ami left, and Naru and I ended up going for ice cream after all. I felt bad that she had kind of been a third wheel during that time with Ami, but she didn’t seem to mind.

The rest of the night, and the next day were as usual. It seemed I was falling into a pretty good school routine. School let and everyone was in the common room by the lockers. Naru and I met up with our nameless long haired friend, I was still too embarrassed to ask for identification when Naru offered we go out for ice cream again, all three of us.

“Kuri-chan,” waved the black haired girl to the so-far nameless brunette friend of ours. Ah, so that was her name. Kuri. But she was pre-occupied, brain-washed by the seminar.

“She’s going to the Crystal Seminar too,” Explained Naru,

“Everyone goes there these days,” said the long-haired girl.

“I’ll be going tonight or tomorrow,” I said, not really lying, “to see what the big deal is…”I said.
Naru smiled,

“So dedicated to your studies all of the sudden, I’m proud of you.”

I smiled back, “I’m going to see if I can find Ami-chan, I’m sure she’ll come get ice cream with us. She’s probably in the library.”

It was an excuse, I knew I’d find her, invite her, and then she’d suddenly go zombie and wander off. Luna approached me as things played out exactly as I said.

“It’s the disk,” I said to the cat, “We go to the seminar and destroy the monster that gave it to her. Then the spell will be broken.”

I still had to meet up with the friends, but I decided not to go out for ice cream with them. I told them Ami said she wasn’t feeling well and that I would go check on her. After all, I told them, it was probably my fault from taking her out yesterday.

I walked by the seminar and almost transformed right there and took her out, the woman handing out the cds. But how would I explain this in public? If I was to ever unlock Luna’s memories, things had to stay at least mostly connected to the script.

The monster handed me a flyer and I glared at her, taking it. She looked surprised but then smiled and turned to continue handing them out. I stood there and started to walk away toward a garbage can.
…wait…

Instead I toss it behind me knowing a certain tuxedo-clad man would appear, in spite of Luna’s protests about littering.
“Hey bun-head, I’m not a trash can.”

I turned around looking smug, but he leaned in too close. “Your cat,” he said, making me blush with his nearness, “It was talking wasn’t it?”

“Maybe she was, maybe not. It’ll be your business soon enough.” I said. I knew that right now, Mamoru wasn’t yet a good guy. He could easily work against me until much later. He couldn’t be trusted yet, even if I knew I could help him with his dreams about the crystal and the princess. I felt bad walking away, maybe I could tell him everything? But what if he fell for me the way he fell for Usagi? This wasn’t real, I couldn’t let him have feelings for me could I? I shook my head, best not to think about that yet. Maybe I’d learn my lesson and go home before that was even an issue?

At home, I didn’t bother examining Ami’s cd. She had left it in the library, but I knew it was a brainwashing disk.
“Let’s go rescue Ami.” Lune nods, looking serious. We head back to the Seminar and slip around back. Oh yeah! I think as I see the guards.

“The pen!”

Luna doesn’t have time to tell me how to use it before I shout “Moon power, change me into a gorgeous doctor!” Saying a line from the original anime.

“I swear, do you even need me?” asks Luna.

“Of course I do,” I giggle.

I give my urgent excuse to the guards and hurry inside. As I approach the stairs, the world seems to suddenly plunge into night time. It’s dark, save for the glow of computer screens in endless rooms. I burst through the door or the only one with shouting people behind it.
“Ami-chan!” I say, as Luna jumps on the woman’s face, forcing her to unhand the bluenette.

“Who are you?” asks the disguised Youma as Ami picks up her pen.
I smile with a quirky attitude,
“Moon Prism Power, Make up!!”

The wonderful, sweet feeling of ribbons and transformation, and then I’m standing there in front of them both.
“I’m the guardian of love and justice, Sailor Moon! And in the name of the moon, I shall punish you!”

The teacher, allows her youma form to show.

“Don’t get in my way!” she shouts, forcing an attack at me, and successfully ruining my cockiness. The paper attack hurts a lot, like getting hit all over with hail. Eventually I’m pinned to the wall and the monster came at me.
“Stop it!” calls Ami, as suddenly her pen lights up in a flash of magical energy.
Luna speaks up, startling the bluenette, instructing her on how to transform.

At her instruction, Ami shouts her famous transformation line.

In a flash of light, she stands there as Sailor Mercury. So that’s what it looks like when we transform from an outside perspective.
“Is this me?” as asks herself after giving an impressive introduction line about repentance.
“It’s as I suspected! You’re intelligence, you can be our brain! Sailor Mercury, I was looking for you! Time to fight back!”
I suspect that Ami is acting on instinct, her old self as her past life showing through telling her who she is as Sailor
Mercury and how she immediately knew how to attack when Usagi needed to be told.
“Mercury Aqua Mist!” She shouted, unleashing a mighty mist into the office so thick it was impossible to make out the desks and computer screens anymore.

The monster was lost in confusion.

“Do it now sailor moon!” Called Mercury. Again, I guessed her past-life memories must take over when she transforms. She
knows everything-wait, she knows!

“Mercury, I call, struggling, I need to know, do you remember the Moon Kingdom?”

“There!” the youma was suddenly flying toward me, claws cutting me free from the paper trap attack. I move out of the way, before her fist smashed into the wall.—or I thought they were claws. In fact, I was being rescued, whisked out of the way in a pair of strong arms.

He smelled so good, and I couldn’t help being a little flustered, I turned red and my face felt hot. He set me down on woosy legs.

“Come on, Sailor Moon. Finish her.”
I shook myself into focus.

“Moon Tiara Boomerang!” I said, throwing the bladed, tiara-disk at the youma, who disintegrated.
I looked back for Tuxedo Mask, but instead Mercury appeared.

“Mercury, Luna,” I said, feeling embarrassed about my question earlier, “Look, I know that we sailor Senshi each come from their respective kingdoms. I’m from the Moon kingdom, but I don’t remember anything else. I was just wondering if you know anything about that…”if she did, maybe she would know about my appearance in this world.

“I don’t know,” answered Mercury, while Luna shook her head, “It’s like I was just saying what came naturally.”
I accepted that touched my broach and turned back. Ami did the same and we left the seminar as if nothing had even happened. It was still daylight in there, for all anyone else knew, we really had jsut gone to the seminar and came out when it was done.

“I wonder how I transformed with that pen from the arcade,” she asked.

“I wonder it too,” said Luna acting proud.

“Luna…it was you,” she said,

“Ami-chan, let’s stay friends.” I said, deviating only slightly from the script, “We’re going to need each other a lot more now that we are both senshi.”

“Okay, I have a lot of questions. Let’s go home and have a meeting.” She took my hand with a smile and I felt warm as she
pulled me off down the street. I wasn’t sure how many answers I’d have for her, but it felt good to have another friend.
I still missed my daughter, and had no idea what was going on, but while this lasted, I was having a lot of fun.