It was a night like most other nights in the Tsukino household. The hour was
late, and one-by-one, the family members trundled off to bed. Usagi yawned
unabashedly, as she slowly made her way to her bedroom. "Good night,
everyone", she offered, in a voice that revealed more fatigue than
enthusiasm. "Good night, Usagi," her mother echoed from down the hall, "Have
sweet dreams."

Usagi shut the bedroom door behind her, sighed lazily, and looked longingly
at her bed. Suddenly, she stumbled. "Whoa!", she cried, as she struggled to
regain her balance. "I must be more tired than I thought. I'm falling asleep
on my feet!" She managed to giggle, in spite of herself, but the wisp of
levity quickly turned to alarm, as she felt the room start to spin and sway
around her.

It was as if she were being pulled in several directions at once. She vainly
tried to steady herself. "Waaaahhh!!", she cried, as she was hurled across
the room, "What's happening?!" She had no opportunity to cry out a second
time. Suddenly she felt herself spinning through the air, enveloped in a
darkness that was as absolute as it was frightening. She was paralyzed. She
could neither move nor speak. After what seemed an eternity, the spinning
stopped, and the darkness was broken by a soft glow in the distance.

"Where am I?", she queried in a whisper.

She reposed on a cold, rocky landscape that offered a stark contrast to the
warmth and softness of the room she had just left. The nearby glow appeared
to brighten. She squinted, struggling to make out the details of this dim
light that was now approaching her. She gasped, as she observed a pair of
eyes amidst the curious glow that drew ever closer.

"Sailor Moon," announced a low, soft voice from the midst of the light, "I
have been waiting for you..."

"What?!" said Usagi, she was completely puzzled. "Who... Who are you?"

"My name is Dark Serenity." replied the girl. She looked just like Princess
Serenity, ignoring the black moon sign on her forehead and sharp endings of
her sleeves. "I take my power from the things that afraid you. In other
words, I'm your nightmare! I feel so powerful now, wanna see why?"

"I don't understand! What..." shouted Usagi.

Without allowing the blonde to finish her sentence, Dark Serenity began to
speak: "Because Dark Cage is full of energy, with the Sailor Souls
surrounding it; look and see..." Images of dead Sailor Senshi started to
come from the cage one by one. All of them had miserable expressions on
their beautiful faces. A mixed expression of danger, fear, trust and hope.

"You are weaker... You feel so lonely... You have lost your hope, strength
and courage!" added Dark Serenity with a determined look on her face.

Usagi was shocked! She never expected such a thing at that time, the day
before her 17th birthday. She should be preparing for the b-day party with
her friends! Her body was shaking with anger. "What did you do you my
friends?!" she cried.

The mysterious Dark Serenity kept on making a confusing speech: "The more
strength you lose, the more power I get. You can't affect me, but I can
defeat you."

Usagi burst out of anger: "In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!" She
roused the Silver Crystal and said those magic words: "Silver Crystal Power,
Transform Me Into The Princess Of The Moon!". Pink ribbons surrounded her
elegant body, and she transformed into Princess Serenity.

There was a determined look on Princess Serenity's face, even though she
still felt lonely and puzzled. "I am going to end this battle!" she said,
looking straightly into Dark Serenity's evil eyes that had no gleam.

Dark Serenity laughed devilishly. Her self-confident behaviours made the
Princess become even weaker. "Silver Crystal Power!" she shouted, trying to
get rid of her thoughts.

Surprisingly, all of her attack was sucked my the dark lady. "What?!" said
the Princess. "It can't be..."

The evil rays that came from Dark Serenity's eyes were disturbing the
Princess of the Moon. She looked coldly at the princess: "As long as your
fears surround you, you can do nothing but give me even more power."

Poor angel was about to lose her conscious, but she had to stay alive to
save her friends' souls from the Dark Cage. "What kind of an enemy are you?"
she said. "Whatever I do, it doesn't work! Why? Tell me why!"

Dark Serenity opened her arms widely, as if trying to stuck the Princess in
her evil embrace. "I'm your nightmare, little princess." said the dark lady.
"I'm a reflection of the things that afraid you!"

"Silver Crystal Power!" shouted Princess Serenity with her lost effort; but
it didn't matter.

Dark Serenity was standing in front of her. "Hahaha! You are bewildered..."
she said. "Your fears are increasing by the time passes. Your nightmare is
approaching Serenity, your nightmare is approaching!"

Princess Serenity was fighting the confusing thoughts that were filling her
mind. "My fears? My nightmare?" she said, in a low voice.

Meanwhile, Dark Serenity started to move her black ribbons towards the
Princess. "Open your heart to me!" she said. "I'm going to fill your weak
body with darkness."

"...So what are my fears? What makes me frightened?" whispered Princess
Serenity. Those confusing thoughts started to cloud away. "In my past life,
my friends and my love had been very important for me. It was scary when I
even thought about losing them. Still it is..."

Suddenly, she moved her head up and shouted at the dark lady with a
determined look on her face: "...Now, I understand it. I found the answer!"

"What answer?!" replied Dark Serenity, she seemed a bit frightened.

The Princess looked self-confident. "As long as I'm with the people I love,
nothing can go against my might!" Dark Serenity couldn't say anything...

"I will transmit all my power to my friends." said Princess Serenity. "With
the power of Silver Crystal, they can shatter the Dark Cage and be free
again!.." She stopped talking for a while and looked at Dark Serenity. She
was in the same mood as the Princess was in a few minutes ago. She moved her
head again and kept on talking: "Then we'll be able to defeat you...
Together!"

One more time, Dark Serenity gained her evil character. "No! You'll not!"
said the dark lady, obstinately. Her obstinacy might occur again, but at
that time nothing could match the light of hope in Princess Serenity's
heart. "We will!" the princess replied with a brave look on her face.

"Silver Crystal Power!" yelled the Princess with all of her strength. Her
white gown transformed into pink ribbons. A few seconds later, those ribbons
dissapeared. She was wearing nothing but a crescent moon sign on her
forehead. She transmitted all her power to the souls of the Senshi. She
closed her eyes, and started to pray...

"My friends, I need you! Please help me! I give you my power; please set
yourselves free and give me your love! I know, you'll be here soon..."

"This is enough fun..." said Dark Serenity with a cold voice. She made her
attack: Dark Moon Deadly Kiss!

Suddenly a golden sword came and blocked Dark Serenity's attack. The dark
lady was surprised... All the Senshi were there! Princess looked behind her
and saw Sailor Uranus holding her sword. Sailor Neptune was standing near
her. "Uranus!" she screamed with happiness.

"You didn't think that we'll leave you alone, did you?" said Sailor Neptune.
On another side, there were Sailor Venus and Sailor Mars looking at her
gladly. "I promised we'll always be together, remember?" said Sailor Mars,
enjoying the sight of her best friend. Then Usagi heard the voice of Ami.
Holding Sailor Jupiter, "Thank you princess, for giving us your power. Now,
it's our turn..." she said, winking at Serenity. Sailor Pluto and little
Sailor Saturn were there as well. "We'll give you our love to make you even
more powerful." added the guardian of time, making the Princess even more
happy.

"No longer I have fears, they're gone. I believe in you, I trust you; and
together we'll destroy the darkness with our love!" said Princess Serenity.
The existence of her friends made her gain her energy back. Dark Serenity
was watching everything, confused.

Sailor Uranus attempted to hold her Princess' small hand. "It's time to
combine our powers, princess." she said. "Now, I believe in your strength,
too. Give me your hand..." Than she turned to Sailor Neptune. "I need
someone to hold my other hand... A person who can fill all the empty spaces
in my soul..." she added. Neptune's dark blue eyes were gleaming with joy.

Everyone held each other's hands. "Eternal Cosmos Power!" they yelled,
combining their powers. A huge ray of light rised from Silver crystal, being
followed by the beams of other crystals. They met at the center of the
circle, and pierced into Dark Serenity's body. She yelled with pain, and
fell on her knees. She started to fade away.

"There's nothing you can't succeed when you believe in your heart. Now, I
know that you are the one who has the most courage." she said. "The proof I
had to find is standing in front of me..."

The Princess was quite surprised to hear that kind of talk from Dark
Serenity. "Proof? What do you mean?" said Princess Serenity, suspiciously.
The dark lady was still alive. "I completed the job I was supposed to finish
up with. I foun the proof." said Dark Serenity. "I..." It was very hard to
keep on talking...

With all of her pureness, Princess Serenity screamed: "You sacrificed
yourself just to prove that..."

"...you'll be a good queen. As long as you have this courage, you'll be a
good queen." said Dark Serenity with her last breath and faded away. "You
aren't really evil, are you?" the Princess cried. "You were just..." She
couldn't say the rest of the words, as she understood that the dark lady had
already disappeared. She started to cry, silently. Sailor Mars walked
towards her and held her shoulder. "Come on, it wasn't your fault. You did
what you had to do." she said. "Now open your eyes and see the reality. A
new future is waiting for you, Serenity!"

-

Hey, are you still curious about what happened the next day? Ami, Rei,
Makoto, Minako, Michiru, Haruka, Setsuna and Hotaru celebrated Usagi's
birthday with gorgeous presents, of course! But the best present was the
surprise of Mamoru. He returned back from America for three days, to make
Usagi happy. Usagi felt wonderful... The birthday party was great!

What about Chaos? Probably Serenity had to face other enemies... But that's
not a big problem, I suppose. Chaos can be born again and again, but she
will return it back to our hearts with her courage. There will always be a
light of hope in our hearts besides Chaos...



A fanfiction by Ozgu Oksuz (08/21/2001)
EMAIL: ozgu1985@hotmail.com
SITE TITLE: Soul Of The Wind - Sailor Moon Fanart & Fanfiction Studio
SITE URL: http://www.geocities.com/ozgu1985