Being the Guardian of the Gates of Time sometimes had its advantages. When her Princess and her guardians had been killed and subsequently sent to the future by Queen Serenity to be reborn and have a second chance at life, she had been able to find them immediately, relief overwhelming her for a brief moment before she could pull herself together. They had made it, successfully reborn to start a new life.

She knew that she was breaking a rule by finding them, she should have waited however long it took, but she couldn’t help herself, wanting, no, needing to know that they had made it, especially her Princess, the one she loved from afar, never having met her or known her like her guardians did. She was determined that if her guardians could no longer care for her, then she, the Guardian of Time would do so from afar. Part of her knew that what she was doing was foolish - she was forbidden from intervening in time lines - but it made her feel better all the same.

Over the years she would watch them grow and learn; feel their triumphs with them and weeped for their sorrows. She watched them grow into young ladies, so similar to the beings they were in the Silver Millennium, yet at the same time, they were different, growing up into wonderful young ladies.

It made her wonder if she should die and reincarnate, would she be the same as she was now? Would she still have her memories? How much were the lack of the memories from their previous lives allowing the girls to become who they were today? If they had them, would they be the same as they were before? There were so many questions, yet no way for her to get answers.

At least without experiencing it myself. She had her duty; it was the guard the gates, to stop those who would wish to destroy time lines from doing so. She was the perfect choice, being the daughter of Chronos, the God of Time, to take on this duty.

What would her father think of her now? Having gone to sleep some centuries prior when the mortals on Earth’s belief in the old Gods had waned, she felt his absence keenly, the only one who would come to visit her in her lonely post.

Perhaps one day in the future, she would get a chance to meet her Princess and be a part of her life. The future was always full of possibilities.

“Why?! Why do you think this time will be any different?!” Luna choked on her words, her grief intense as they both stared at the blonde in odangos sitting and laughing in the park, surrounded by friends. They had found the Moon Princess once again, and again fate had already reunited her with one of her guardians.

“We have to believe,” Artemis’s voice was low and compelling, his green eyes focusing on reborn Venus; they would awaken her first – maybe if they didn’t awaken the Princess it would be different this time. Maybe if they kept her in the dark they could find the Silver Crystal first, could keep her identity a secret, and she could survive to face the evil that already stirs to combat them.

“It’s pointless!” Luna cried, turning her head aside as tears fell to the dirt beneath their paws.

Artemis watched her silently, wishing he knew better how to comfort her; she had always been closer to the girls. While both their places had been at Queen Serenity’s side, he served in official capacities as direct advisor, ambassador, and, occasionally, valet, while Luna’s place had been beside the Princess and her guardians, preparing the next generation for their turn. This chain of events – of finding them, attempting to prepare them, and inevitably losing them was taking its toll on her. If he could spare her this pain… But he needed her, and she him. It was cruel to expect her to face this fate time and time again, but she knew things about these girls’ souls that he did not. She knew how they thought, how they would react, how to gently persuade them; his understanding only scratched the surface. While they found them together, introduced themselves together, returned their memories together, it was she who watched after them as he researched the enemies steps and movements, and when the day came that the girls were overcome, she alone knew all the differences between this reincarnation and the last, and mourned the girls rather than the chance. He had noticed these past few times that she had been pulling back from them, afraid to love them as she had on the Moon; she was losing hope that they would overcome the enemy and live fulfill their destiny. Maybe she was beginning to believe that this was their destiny – that Queen Serenity’s final wish had been overruled by Beryl’s curse, and the girls were doomed to find each other and die, over and over, the Moon Kingdom left to weather and crumble with age, never again to know life. But he couldn’t believe that – he wouldn’t believe that. Queen Serenity’s willpower was stronger than Beryl’s, her cause greater, her death nobler – in the end she had to win the day. In the end, her daughter would ascend the throne of the Moon, and set this wrong to right. Their kingdom would be rebuilt and Metallia would be a thing of the past; his Queen would be honored as the heroine she had always been, and remembered. He refused to accept that the only people to remember her were the two of them, when she deserved so much more. Hardening against Luna’s distress, he turned his gaze back to the girls on the bench – the others were leaving; now was their chance. “It’s only pointless if we have given up before it has begun,” he stated with finality, and broke through the cover of the bush to approach the two blondes.

“Oh look!” the princess cried happily, her white-gloved hands grabbing Venus’s frill-covered elbow excitedly, “It’s a white cat! Look at his little crescent mark! How charming! Come here, kitty!” her smile filled him with familiar warmth – the smile was her mother’s. He continued toward her, but turned his gaze to Venus, who watched her companion fondly.

“Look there, Bunny! A little black kitty’s coming over to see you, too,” Venus commented, her lighter blue eyes focusing behind him.

This time would be different. They’d adopt a different strategy, and this time they would survive.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Mars?” Artemis asked as Luna approached, her light gait resounding in his ears.

“She accepts, but does not like the idea of disincluding Serenity,” Luna replied, her tone disapproving, but not of Mars. “None of them do – I don’t. It’s just odd, Artemis! Like we’re all keeping a secret from her. She deserves her memories! She deserves to be part of this!”

Artemis’s mood fouled. “We’ve talked about this, Luna. This time needs to be different – if the Princess does not know who she is, she could survive longer. Especially with everyone else watching over her. Remember last time? She went to face an enemy alone, to spare her guardians - it could have just been that incarnation, that culture of pride that had been nurtured into her from those birth parents, but that cost us! The battle was lost ere it began and the guardians fell soon after. We can’t have that happening again!”

“Then let us train her!” Luna barked back.

They both froze, staring at each other; neither could believe what she had just said. A beat passed. Artemis needed to figure this out – either to convince himself that it could be done, or convince Luna that it could not. “Train her with what? She does not have the powers of a senshi and we have not found the Silver Crystal yet!” but… maybe…

Luna stared at him, her blue eyes vibrant, “There are other ways to fight!”

Artemis scoffed, “Like what? Martial arts? Could you train her to be proficient with a sword within the next few weeks, Luna? Could you train her with a bow and arrow before the enemy engages?” his sarcasm was hurtful, but he had to convince her to follow this plan – there was no other way. Unless… no. Not in this lifetime. He sighed deeply, “The last guardian has been found – the enemy will not hesitate as it has been doing!” his statement ended in him snapping, “Keep the Guardians on alert, keep Serenity in the dark; she may live longer.”

Luna stayed silent, seeming to bite her tongue. Without another word, she turned and ran off.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Luna stopped directly reporting to him after that, in protest and hurt, no doubt. Every time someone came up on him his heart swelled with hope that it was her, that he could apologize, and then sunk as he placed the footsteps as human rather than feline. She had been sending Venus, who, apparently, was the only guardian not to hate him for his decision. On the contrary, she almost supported it. She agreed with him that, based on their retellings of their previous incarnations, keeping Serenity out of the fight was the way to go unless they somehow met her when she was younger to start her training then. Without the powers of a senshi, putting her anywhere near danger would risk not only her life but the lives of her guardians, who would undoubtedly be distracted by her involvement.

They spoke quietly whenever they met; she would report on their training, on their morale; when Luna and Artemis had awakened them, they had regained all memories of their time on the moon, and while it made them feel complete, Venus reported that memories of their own demise depressed them, made them worry ever-more for Serenity, made them mourn their old lives, and question their new. It cast a shadow over their dealings, and having been told of their previous incarnations and how they had failed to protect her over again, there was a touch of hopelessness among them. Artemis listened closely; the more they met, the more he got to know and respect Venus; while she reported that the others were weighed down by the knowledge of their past, she seemed to be strengthen by it. Their conversations turned to his duties, and the difficulties of monitoring and researching without connection to the Moon’s supercomputer.

As battles became more frequent, their conversations became more candid. In Venus he found an ally who understood him and their goals, who could distance herself from the immediacy of their situation to see the big picture. She saw that, without the Silver Crystal, ultimately they would lose, but the other side would not win, either. It was a stalemate – time after time, when they had died in their previous lives, the Dark Kingdom faded when they could not find the Silver Crystal they needed to resurrect Metallia.

Then it happened; the Princess died, killed in the crossfire, and in the aftermath the senshi followed her into death. Artemis could only watch as the cycle restarted, but already ideas for the next opportunity simmered in his mind, based in conversations between himself and the leader of the guardian senshi. He and Luna traveled the world, her grief palpable; she didn’t have to say it – he knew she did not agree with his choice to leave Serenity in the dark. Next time, though, it might not have to be that way.

All he needed was for humans to develop computer technology; then he could move forward with this plan that he and Venus had cooked up together. This time, Serenity wouldn’t be left in the dark… Luna would. With the Mauan mind connection, he could erase her memories of the past, even make the Silver Millennium foggy. He could use a computer to interface with the Moon’s supercomputers and fabricate a transformation device for the Princess that would give her senshi-like powers, accessing remnants of the Silver Crystal energy that must run in her blood. Luna would train her and the other senshi without knowledge of their past, so their morale would not start out so low, and the Princess would be trained to defend herself so as to be an asset rather than a distraction. And Venus would serve as her decoy, as she suggested. She alone would receive all of her memories from the Silver Millennium; she would work with him in foiling Dark Kingdom plots, giving the others time to mature and grow into powers they, without their memories, would be discovering ‘for the first time.’


Maybe this time…

The Silver Millennium had always glowed silver, but this time the color was dull.

Ash hung in the air, piled atop debris and covering bodies of those slain in battle. She stood alone in front of her love—her first and only love—with a gaping wound in his chest.

A sword protruded from the center of it.

She thought she was screaming—his name, perhaps—but it was all so silent. She could feel the words formed upon her lips, though.

Endymion.

He’d died protecting her. Beyond him were strewn more familiar bodies; that of her guardians. One in blue, one in red, one in green, and one in orange. Each one staring lifelessly to the sky, still shocked by the impossibility of what happened, of this one thing nobody saw coming.

Her kingdom crumbled in the background.

And in front of her stood the witch, tears streaming down her cheek, too. That was possibly the most shocking thing of all.

“Look what you made me do,” her bitter voice accused. “You made me kill him.”

No. That wasn’t her fault. Endymion had jumped between them. It was the witch’s sword that killed him! She had no part in this, no part at all.

That was not true.

“It’s all your fault,” the red-haired woman swore, sounding anguished and broken. “You stole him from me. And you killed him. It’s all your fault.”

Usagi woke up with a gasp. She instinctively turned to the mirror beside the bed, and for a second she could have sworn she saw Serenity’s face looking back at her. Her dress was bathed in blood as red as the fabric was white.

This time Usagi jolted backwards so violently that she practically fell on top of Mamoru.

“Mmh… Usako?” he stirred, confused when he saw her ashen face. He blinked and sat up, immediately alert. “What is it? Is there an… enemy?”

Usagi was staring at the mirror, but in the next moment she buried her face in his chest, trembling. Automatically, he put his arms around her, waiting patiently until she spoke.

“Just… a bad dream, Mamo-chan,” she finally managed to whisper. “Just a bad dream.”

He looked carefully at her. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

She was quiet for a while, and again, he patiently waited.

Finally she looked up at him and sighed. “I s-saw… Serenity. I was Serenity.”

He paused, not quite understanding. “What part of it was upsetting?”

“I saw you—no, Endymion. Being killed in front of me. And Beryl… she told me it was my fault. Your death… the senshi’s deaths… Silver Millennium falling… an entire civilization ruined…” her voice caught as she grasped his arms as if they were her life raft. “All that blood… it’s on my hands.” She suddenly pulled her hands back and looked down at them as if seeing them for the first time. “I’m the reason everyone was killed in Silver Millennium.”

“Usako, no,” Mamoru shook his head vehemently. “How could you think that? It was Metalia. And Beryl. They were the ones that destroyed your kingdom.”

“Yes, but…!” Usagi seemed distraught, beyond any consolation. Mamoru had never seen her this upset before, not even in all the battles she had faced as Sailor Moon. “I brought the death upon us. I started it all. If I’d never fallen in love with you… If I never broke god’s rule that says no one from the moon and earth can be together… Don’t you see? I cursed us. With my selfishness, with my ignorance… Beryl said I stole you from her—”

“Usako, stop. Endymion was never hers to begin with,” he said firmly. His eyes were gentle as he looked into hers, a soft smile on his lips. “You can’t steal someone’s feelings. He was meant to be with Serenity.”

“You mean meant to die with her. And destroy both of their kingdoms in the process.”

He took a deep breath and, after hesitating for a moment, spoke once more. “Usako, you are not Serenity. Even if it was her fault, it isn’t yours. That blood isn’t on your hands, because you’re not her. Neither am I Endymion.” He paused, then added softly, “For the longest time, I struggled with this. I never told you, but… You know I didn’t have—and still don’t have—my own memories. From this life. All I had, ironically, was Endymion’s. His memories plaguing my dreams. Telling me to find you, and the Silver Crystal. This indescribable urge to fight as Tuxedo Mask and help you whenever you need me. Obviously, I don’t resent him for that, because it led me to you. But…” he bit his lip, something Usagi had never seen him done before. He seemed conflicted, and she realized that he was truly telling her something he had never planned to tell anyone. Mamoru looked at her again, and admitted with a bitter smile, “I did resent him for taking control of my life when I already had so little of it in my grasp to begin with. It felt like…” his gaze turned faraway, out into the night. “Like my life wasn’t mine at all.”

Usagi’s thoughts about Serenity evaporated as she realized exactly how Mamoru felt all this time. She had never seen it—of course she never did—but now it all made perfect sense. Of course he would feel that way.

“So I know how it feels, Usako. But you are not her. And at least you have your own memories to reinforce that. You have your own childhood. You have a perfectly happy past. You were not responsible for the destruction of any kingdom or any lives. You… are better than her, Usagi Tsukino. Better than Serenity.”

Usagi’s eyes widened in surprise at his last words, and warmth settled in her heart. She smiled, holding his hand to her cheek. “Thank you, Mamo-chan. That… that means more than you can ever know.”

He simply nodded, being what he did best; the rock that she needed to hold on to in the storm.

She thought for a moment, of the dream and the ghost that haunted her, and looked back into his eyes. “Mamo-chan… are you…” She paused, the words seemed to physically struggle to get out. He waited, and she tried again. “If I am not Serenity and you are not Endymion… do you think we truly are together because we want to be, and not because of them?”

“Of course.” His answer was so immediate and so sure, Usagi felt like she might cry in relief. “They might have brought us together, but what we did from that point on was up to us. I chose to love you, Usagi Tsukino. Not Serenity. I don’t know if I’ll love Serenity, if she were here right now with me.”

That seemed easy to say, but Usagi chose to believe it.

She slowly lay down again, snuggled close to him, her back to his chest. His arm slung over her protectively, as if he could ward off nightmares that way.

It took Usagi a long time to glance in the mirror again, but this time when she did, all she saw was herself.

I am not her, she repeated to herself as she closed her eyes, blanketed with a new peace with the knowledge.

A damp wavelet of blonde hair stuck to his forehead as he looked out over the city. It was raining. It always seemed to rain here, especially on these kinds of nights, when memories came to haunt him. He looked down at his hands, still somewhat surprised to find them flesh and blood. Though it was two weeks ago, he remembered every moment of the day when Endymion and the princess finally found a way to return them, an endeavor he still did not feel deserving of. But suddenly becoming tangible again brought a whole new set of problems. The Senshi, their joint history, the heartbreak, it all came crashing down upon them all.

At first he and the other men had kept apart, just trying to cope. And then each had adjusted in his own way. Every time it rained he thought of her, of her gentle voice and kind eyes. That was why he hated and loved the rain so much. Each drop was a bitter medicine and he found himself standing in the thick of it, soaked to his boots. Did she remember him? What was she thinking about right now? He remembered the good times but he also remembered those eyes full of shock, pain, and reproach. He breathed in sharply and squeezed his eyes closed, trying to block the unwanted memory, but it was there inside his head nonetheless. Gods did it hurt to remember those eyes. He trembled slightly, unsure if it was only the rain that moistened his cheeks.

Lightning arced across the sky and suddenly he could not stand it another moment. He needed to see her. He needed to see her eyes just once more, even if from a distance. Recklessly he ran out into gray rain soaked streets, letting his feet take him where he knew she was. His heart pounded in his chest as he found himself outside of her window.  Over and over he willed himself to ring the doorbell. His feet refused to move. His body trembled and he cast his gaze upward, powerless to do more and paralyzed by fear. It was almost funny, one of the heavenly kings terrified by a doorbell. How far he had fallen.

Bleary eyes looked at the alarm clock. It was only twenty minutes later than the last time she had glanced at it. Sleep was a fleeting muse these days, fickle and begrudging ever since his return. Every time she thought about him, her mind went all disorganized. She could hardly follow the flood of thoughts and emotions. It was most untidy. She sat up, letting a sigh fall from her lips. Her mind was spinning into overdrive again. Mamoru had forgiven them, and Ami supposed she had too. Why then did she keep away from that whole part of town for fear that he might bump into her?

What was he doing right now? Did he think of her? Did she want him to think of her? The thought made her feel both terrified and excited. Ami rubbed her eyes, frustrated that she could not coax logic out of her sleepless mind. It was an impossible mess. Who am I kidding? He’s busy with his duties. There is no way he is spending any time thinking about me. I’m not even the same person I was then. It’s better this way…isn’t it?

Her face felt hot and flush. She was suffocating. Springing from her bed she cracked the window open and took a silent gulp of fresh night air. Her entire body became rigid as her eyes registered what they were seeing.  She wanted to duck. She could still get away before he saw. But she was frozen, a blue haired cameo in the glass.

Like a mirage he saw her and his knees threatened to mutiny beneath him. I can’t do this! I need to get out of here! If she had not seen him, he could slip away and never come back, but their eyes met for a second and it was too late. He stood frozen, a deer in blue-eyed headlights. And then she came away from the window and his heart fell nearly to his feet. Dismissed, finally his limbs obeyed him and he sagged against the wall, reeling. At least…at least I know now. He had seen those eyes again, and they had passed judgment. Zoisite gathered himself, crushed but determined to bear it honorably. It was the least he could do. “I understand” he whispered and pushed off from the wall, ready to begin the long wet walk home.

A click from behind him made him turn. Standing outside, barefoot with tousled hair, stood a blue haired goddess in the rain. She still had the doorknob in her hand, and an uncertain look in her eyes as if she might disappear. “Wait…Don’t leave yet please.” Her quiet voice spoke clearly but softly. It was a simple request. There was no pleading in her voice. She took a few steps away from the door and Zoisite watched the rain begin to slick down her hair and glisten on her face.

He faced her, trying to speak but unable to find words, so many things needing to be said and he could not utter a sound. She too appeared to be at a loss, unsure of where to go with this new bold act in the rain. When they finally found speech it was in unison, one talking over the other.

They shared an awkward laugh, his blue haired mystery motioning for him to go first.

“I am so sorry. I never got to tell you that. Mercury, Ami, I am so sorry for hurting you. Words don’t even express it. Even if you can’t forgive me. I know I don’t deserve it…but I just had to see you. I’m sorry, I should not have disturbed you.” He fumbled for words, his voice shaking with the tempest of emotion that raged within.

She interrupted. “No I…I forgive you. I, I understand. Zoisite…” It felt strange to say that name. “You’re going to give yourself a migraine getting this upset…” Her eyes flashed with concern, though she could hardly remember where she knew that from.

“You remember that?” He chuckled lightly though it fell flat on the awkward tension. He swallowed, overcome by her concern for him.

“I remember a lot of things.”

“So do, maybe more than I want to.”

“I think I understand. What about our memories? Are they…a burden?”

How could he explain? Those memories were an exquisite pain, one he would never surrender for all the world. “Never” he said with conviction.

A thrill went through her. Could it really be that he still treasured their memory? But things were different now. “How are you, um, adjusting to everything?”

Zoisite called on the last shreds of his courage. She might have forgiven him, but was there even a shred of their former love left? He had to know. Gods how he longed to simply hold her. “That depends. A lot has changed. But the question is, where does it leave us now?”

He had read her mind and cut to the heart of all she had been trying to figure out these past two weeks. She was flustered and caught off guard, something she was sure would never have happened to the Mercury of old. She knew she was but a pale reflection of the legendary senshi that once was. Her inadequacies rose up before her. “I am not the same as before. I will probably never be like she was, or I was…reincarnation is confusing. But the point is I want to, I mean I’ve thought about it, but I could never fill her shoes.”

Zoisite thought about his own inadequacies, the sleepless nights when guilt and remorse kept him up, the fact that he had not fully figured out yet how to make a living in this world and was still reliant, like the others, on their princes’ kindness. Any confidence that he had in himself was overshadowed by that dark chapter. Who was he kidding? He wasn’t Zoisite the shittennou. He hadn’t earned that title back yet, at least not by his standards.
“What makes you think I can fill my own shoes?” he said with a wry smile. “I think we should just throw away the shoes and dance barefoot in the rain. That is, if the new Ami isn’t embarrassed to be seen dancing with me….?”

Ami could not help but smile. Leave it to Zoisite to say something poetic and spontaneous. That was just like him. And Ami knew if she said yes that he would do it too. It would be more than just dancing. It would be the opening of a new chapter in both of their lives. Well, she thought, she was already out of her shoes….

Hey guys! Welcome to the new Writing Contests for the Writing and Role playing Guild, hosted by yours truly! 

The purpose in these challenges is to have fun, to help improve your writing skills and to challenge yourself. I'm going to explain a bit of how this all works. 

But what's in it for me? That's a great question! If improving your writing skills isn't enough, we also have prizes! All participants and the winner will receive a little button they can display in their signature. Please check out the signature rules to see where you are allowed to put them in your signature.
The prize stickers go from 1 win all the way up to 20! I'll give you a little sample below:


Pretty cool huh? We can thank Sailor Mercury for her lovely graphics! You can also collect them all! 

So how does this work? I'm glad you asked! On the first of each month, I will announce a new writing theme! You write your entry, which needs to be kept secret from everyone, and send them to me via PM. On the 22nd of each month I will post all the entries received and I will open voting and you get to vote on your favourite entry! The entries will remain anonymous until it is time to announce the winner! There are rules so you do need to keep reading!

The Rules


 Entries must be 1500 words or less. 
 Entries must be rated PG-13 or lower. 
 Entries must be related to the theme, but they can be interpreted however you like. This means the themes are pretty wide and have lots of room for interpretation! 
 Entries must be newly created for this contest. 
 There are two submission categories! One is Sailor Moon Themed and one is Non-Sailor Moon Themed.  You can submit one entry for both categories! 
 Entries must be kept secret so this means DO NOT show anyone your work or post it online until after the contest is over! 

This Months Theme: 


That's right! This months theme is Reincarnation!!! 

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to PM me or ask below. 


Remember, all entries are due by November 22nd!