'A Special Birthday' by Amanda Rose Rated G Hello everyone!!!!!!! I started writing this story way back in October when I first got access to the Internet. Unfortunately I tend to be a little unmotivated when it comes to finishing stories I start and completely forgot about it. (Maybe I was suffering from repression . . . we just talked about defense mechanisms in my health class today.) Anyway, I guess I found the inspiration to finish because my birthday was last Saturday (July 18- I'm officially 16 now) and this story is about birthdays. 'A Special Birthday' is told from Reenie's point of view. I guess it fits into the Sailor Moon time line sometime after the Supers series but I don't really know that much about the details around that time so if I get some of them wrong please forgive me. This is my first fanfic so I would love to hear comments, flames or whatever (I always enjoy getting mail that doesn't include: if you don't send this to 900 people within two minutes . . . ) My e-mail address is Ladeebg718@aol.com. A special thanks to one of my best friends, Mara DRT who is going to be a world famous author and who explained to me how to copy and paste this to an e-mail message. (I'm too afraid of blowing up my computer to figure things like that out for myself.) Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Sailor Moon Characters. For the characters I made up, I know that you've probably heard similar names used in other stories. If so, I apologize for being unoriginal in that respect. Well that's it for now. I hope you enjoy the story!...Amanda ***** My mother always told me that a little girl's eighth birthday is the most special day of her life. I would ask why and she of course would say that I would find out when that day came. From the time I was four till seven all I could anticipate was my next birthday when I would be one year closer to finding out Neo Queen Serenity's special mystery. You can imagine my frustration when I found myself on the June 1st before my eighth birthday 1000 years away from Crystal Tokyo and my marvelous birthday surprise, which I was convinced a that point of time would be a dragon or a unicorn or some other animal I could keep as a pet. To make matters worse, no one seemed to be aware of the fact that my special birthday was approaching except me. You see, I was born on June 30th, which is my mother's birthday. Unfortunately that also meant that it was her younger self, Serena's birthday. Now don't get me wrong, I always loved Serena. We may have fought constantly but most of it was just to annoy one another. She was still my mother and I had the highest respect and love for her. It was just that I had the unbelievably bad luck to be staying with her right in the middle of the preparations for her 'Sweet 16'. Surprisingly, she hadn't wanted a party but the scouts insisted upon it. I admit now that the day at Raye's temple when Serena declined their suggestions was not one of my sweeter days . . . ***** "...and there'll be tons of music and dancing and cake and . . . ," Mina babbled excitedly. Serena got a thoughtful look in her eyes before interrupting Mina's unending tirade. "You know, I don't think I really want to have a party this year. I already have something planned for June 30th." This reminded me of my special birthday coming up and a whole range of emotions built up inside of me. "Yeah she probably wants to hog Darien all for herself!", I blurted meaning to tease Serena but homesickness managed to find its way into the words making them sound somewhat scornful. Darien, who was sitting between his girlfriend and me, blushed angrily while Serena's thoughtful expression was replaced by a distant and sort of hopeless one. He saw her strange look and came to her defense for once. "Serena is allowed to hog me as much as she wants on her birthday, Reenie." "What do you mean you don't want us to plan a party?", Lita asked bringing everyone back to the topic at hand. "I mean you love music and dancing and of course I'll make the cake. If not on the 30th than another day. You are going to be 'Sweet 16' and we want it to be special for you." "She just said that because she knows you'll plan one anyway," I chimed in, beginning to feel left out and jealous that all this talk was about Serena and not me. "Reenie!" When Darien yelled at me, I realized that I had been pushing the limit on everyone's tolerance. I looked at Serena and wondered why she was being so quiet through all this. Normally she would be screaming her head off at me by now. Raye, always the boss, chose this moment to put her two cents in. "Don't be ridiculous Serena. You are having a party and it will be on June 30th, the day of your sixteenth birthday and that's that. I'll call your mom later to tell her that everything is settled." And that was the end of that. ***** After that things changed from their normal hectic pace to one of chaos. Since the defeat of Mistress 9, sailor business had been reduced to helping the police with bank robberies and petty crimes. Venus (in Sailor V form) and Artemis handled most of these cases leaving everyone else, including Haruka, Michiru, and even Setsuna free to throw themselves wholeheartedly into the party preparations. The plan was perfection! Unfortunately, everyone had a different idea of what perfection was. Serena had offered to take me to the park every day during the second week in June but had been forced to cancel each time because one person or another couldn't agree on the type of tablecloth to use or something silly like that. Once we were two blocks away from the park when . . . ***** "SERENA!!!!!!" You could have heard Raye scream her name from three miles away! "Uh-oh," sighed Serena. "Here comes the Balloon Brigade." That was our nickname for Raye and Haruka's decorations committee. "Should we run?", I asked. Her eyes lit up. "On three! One . . . Two . . . " "SERENA!" Nuts! Almost made it. "Haruka thinks that the streamers in the restaurant should be blue to match the tablecloth but I think RED would be a much better contrast of color. Tell her that I'm right. It should be RED!" "I'm telling you it should be BLUE! Red would make it bright enough to be a circus!" Of course they would want to use their own scout colors. "Blue would make it sad and boring! Tell her Red Serena!" "Blue Serena!!" "RED!!!!" "BLUE!!!!" "RED!!!!" "BLUE!!!!" "They sound like the fairies in Sleeping Beauty," I whispered to Serena and she giggled. "It's a good thing they don't have magic wands," she whispered back. "BLUE!!!!" "RED!!!!!" "SERENA!!!!!!!!!!!" Both of their faces were flushed bright red from yelling. "Why don't you just use purple?", she asked. She had already acted as a mediator between the Lullaby League (Mina and Michiru's entertainment committee), the Food Flock (Lita and Setsuna), and the Planner People (consisting of Darien and Amy who were in charge of making all the arrangements with the restaurant and such). I could tell that she was tired of listening to everyone trying to explain their side. Even Serena has her limits "Maybe...," said Haruka, "but we need your help deciding on a couple of other things because she is too stubborn to agree with any of my suggestions!" That started a whole other argument between the two of them. I swear Haruka and Raye together are worse then Raye and Serena! "Reenie, do you mind?" I knew that she wanted me to say yes but Haruka and Raye had heard her ask me and were both giving me a look that said 'you'd better not screw this up or else'. I gave into fear and told Serena that I didn't mind her ditching me again. I was supposed to go straight back to Serena's house but I decided to go to the park by myself instead. I was very lonely and decided at that moment that I was going home to Crystal Tokyo for my birthday. ***** I ran back to the Tsukino house and up to my room. I pulled the time key out of its hiding spot. "TAKE ME HO . . . " I was interrupted by a knock on the door. Sammy poked his head in. "Hey Reenie, I thought you went to the park with Serena. Anyway, since you are here, do you want to come shopping for Serena's present with me? I don't have any idea what to get her and I thought that maybe you . . . " "NO!!!," I screamed and I started to cry. Sammy gave me a strange look and then left. DAMN!!!!! He had ruined my one chance to get home without anyone noticing. I tried activating the time key again but of course Pluto had felt my first attempt to open the time gate and by that time had blocked it. I was beyond upset. Even Puu, it seemed, had forgotten my birthday. I lay down on my bed and started sobbing uncontrollably. I don't know exactly how much time passed but I was so hysterical that I didn't even notice when he came into the room and sat down next to me on the bed. "Reenie," he said softly. I turned around and climbed into his open arms. My sobbing grew quieter as he gently stroked my back. "Setsuna told me that you tried to use the time key today. She was angry that you hadn't told any of us before you tried to return to Crystal Tokyo." I knew that he was going to scold me so I snuggled deeper into his arms. He sounded so much like King Endymion at that moment. He was even using my father's infamous method of chastising me. My mother had dubbed this method 'the umbrella approach' because it was as if his hugs were giving me some shelter from the stern meaning in his words, just like an umbrella in a storm. When I glanced up though, I saw the 19 year old face of Darien Chiba looking down at me with concern. There was a touch of hurt in his features which made me realize what I had tried to do and I felt incredibly guilty. "I know you must be homesick sweetie. Especially now that Serena and I haven't been able to spend much time with you, but you should have told someone that you were going to leave. Can you imagine Serena coming home to find you missing? Half of the Tokyo Police Department plus eight very worried Sailor Suited Soldiers would be out combing the city for you by now!" "Does Serena know?," I asked guiltily. "Setsuna and I didn't tell her," he answered uncertainly. That didn't necessarily mean that she didn't know anyway. Generally I think my mother knows a lot more about things than she lets on. Serena might not have developed all of her powers yet but in this case she was no different than Neo Queen Serenity. "I'm sorry," I said, too ashamed to look him in the eye. He tilted my chin up so I would have to face him. " It's all right Reenie. But June 30th will be a special day for all of us and if you are not there you might miss something important." He smiled as I yawned. "I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow." He walked out of the room but an air of mystery remained. Darien seemed so sure of something. What exactly I didn't know but I guessed that I wouldn't find out until 'the big birthday bash'. As the exhaustion from my hysterics began to hit me, I heard Serena and Darien talking outside my door. ***** "Is she okay now?", Serena asked softly. "Yes, she was just a little homesick that's all." "Oh...well anyway thanks for saving be from the Balloon Brigade this afternoon. I think those two are the worst out of all of you!" "Hey! Amy and I aren't that terrible!" "Sure you aren't Darien," she laughed. "Oh I'm going to stop by your apartment around three tomorrow so you can help me finish IT okay?" "Sure meatball head! That sounds good. I'll see you then okay? (Silence that was probably due to a kiss) Goodnight." "Goodnight Muffin." ***** IT? What was IT? This opened a whole load of questions for me but at that moment my exhaustion won over my curiosity. I was almost asleep when I vaguely remember Serena coming into the room. "Small Lady, I'm so glad that you are going to be here on our birthday. I promise you that it will be the best day of your life. Goodnight little one." I don't know if she was aware that I had heard her but what she said put my mind at ease. Someone did remember! I fell into a deep and happy dream-filled sleep. ***** After that, the days flew. I too began to throw myself into the party preparations mostly helping Serena keep the peace between commitees. I didn't forget what either Darien or Serena had said and by the time June 29th rolled around, my curiosity was overflowing but I knew better than to ask. I would just have to wait one more day. That night though I was overcome with a wave of homesickness once again as I awoke from a dream about Crystal Tokyo and all my friends at home. I tried as hard as I could to muffle my sobs with the pillow. It apparently didn't work because Serena ran into my room and gathered me up in her arms. "Shhhhhh . . . ," she soothed. "It's okay sweetie, don't cry." "I'm sorry for waking you up," I mumbled through my sobs. "Oh that's okay. I was going to wake up in a little while anyway. Happy 8th birthday Reenie!" My sobs turned into quiet hiccups. "How did you know?," I asked. She just smiled that mysterious smile that my mother had mastered. "Come, I have something for you in my room." I followed her into her bedroom where she took two objects off her night stand. One, I saw was her star locket that when opened would play a beautiful song but only for her and Darien. The other was a small wrapped box. Looking down at her locket she began to speak to me as if she were telling a story. "The year that I turned eight, a war was going on in a nearby galaxy. My father, King Orion, had traveled there in an attempt to establish peace talks. My mother, Queen Serenity was very worried about him and I guess she transferred that worry onto me. Whenever I wasn't with her, I was heavily guarded. My father's peace talks weren't going well so he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to come home for my birthday. There was a huge ball planned and everyone was excited but I knew it wouldn't be the same without my Daddy. I was getting ready when I heard a knock at the door. Lo and behold, It was my father! He had made it! I threw myself into his arms and he carried me into the ballroom, my arms still tightly fastened around him. Later that night, during the party, my parents pulled me over to the side. My father told me that I had been a very good girl and that I had taken great care of Queen Serenity while he was gone and my mother told me that she never would have been able to handle his absence if I hadn't been there. She also said that she was proud of me for dealing with the strict rules that she had made me follow lately, and then the two of them gave me this . . . " Serena looked down at her star locket and her eyes misted over. "King Orion did not make it to my next birthday. He was killed at one of the meetings when one side opened fire. I'll always remember my 8th birthday, though, when both my mother and father praised me for being such a big girl and gave me a gift of their love. This is a gift of love from me and your father." She handed me the box and I opened it without saying a word. When I saw it, I gasped. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. IT was a gold locket in the shape of wings. Connecting the wings was something that looked like a mirror but when I picked it up a beautiful lake appeared and a soft tune began to play. "Darien and I are very proud of you," she whispered. "You are the bravest girl I have ever known and the greatest gift I could ever receive is having you with me to celebrate your special birthday." "What is the song that it is playing?" "It is your song. One that comes from your heart. Right now it sounds similar to the song that plays in the star locket because the wings were made with the same power of love that causes our song to play when we touch it. The music will grow more beautiful as you get older and when you fall in love someday the song will become whole." I ran into her arms. "I love you Mommy!" "I love you too Small Lady." I smiled up at her. Her prediction had been right. That day was the best day of my life. ***** The party that afternoon was a lot of fun. Truthfully I don't remember much about it besides the food being great. (Thumbs up for Lita and Setsuna!) I also remember the cake being dedicated to both of us. It said 'Serenatimes two' (kind of corny but it made me even happier). That night though Serena said to me that Queen Serenity and King Endymion probably wanted to see me on my birthday so I prepared to go home. It was a very sad good-bye and I must have stood there hugging Serena and Darien for an hour but eventually I let go. As I had expected, there was a party waiting when I got back to Crystal Tokyo but I don't remember much about that either. What I do remember though was the smile on my parents faces when they saw me carrying the golden wings in my tiny hands. Standing together they looked just like their younger selves and I recall running into their arms and telling them how much I loved them. ***** Knock. Knock. "Are you ready yet Serena?," I hear Andromeda, Chibi-Venus, call excitedly from outside my bedroom. "Almost" "Well, hurry up! You don't want to be late for the best birthday party you'll ever have!" She definitely inherited her mother's enthusiasm! Especially when it comes to parties! "I'll be there in a few minutes, you can go without me if you want." "Okay. I'll see you downstairs." Sigh. Today is my 16th birthday. It has been eight years since that wonderful moment with Serena. The song that the locket plays is very different from the one that played the first time I touched it. It sounds less and less like the star locket every day especially now that a new heart has begun to add its melody as well. Hmm . . . Helios . . . The only reason that I'm excited about tonight is because I will get to dance with him. I have shown him the golden wings many times and he finds it ironic that my locket is in the shape of wings and he has wings when he becomes a Pegasus. I, on the other hand am not sure how much of it is really irony. Like I said before, Neo Queen Serenity should never be underestimated because sometimes she seems to know things that no one else does. Helios knows what the locket means to us but he doesn't know the story behind it. He won't find out either until the day when it is time for me and him to combine the love in our hearts to make a beautiful locket that we will present to our daughter on her special birthday.