------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's see, basically what I'm supposed to say here is that I am poor and 
that all these fine characters are not my property.  Yessiree...  *sigh*  
I made a standard disclaimer page and I really should use it.  blah blah 
blah...  ^^  Anyway, welcome to Moving On... chapter 2.  mwa ha ha...  
It's been awhile since I wrote part one but heh heh...  wait until you 
figure out how long it's going to take me to write part 3 or somethin'.  
Think exponential growth, ppl!  ^^  j/k.  Oh yeah, even tho, these 
people are A LOT older (give or take 300 or so ^^), I'm still going to 
write their character as if they were still, I dunno, however old they 
are now.  ^^  I don't know if that counts as OOCness, tho.  0_o

Also, I'd like to give credit to Hitoshi Doi 
(http://www.tcp.com/doi/smoon/index.html) because I had to use a small 
translation from his site.  Thank you!

Feel free to eml me about questions, or just to comment or 
constructively criticise.  However, I _do_ prefer to be unflamed.  ^^;;;
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Moving On... - Chapter 2
by Ali (minakoali@yahoo.com)
http://geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrine/3281/


Part One: 

The view was vast...eternal.  It stretched farther than the eye could 
see and it went on further where the eye could not.  Endless streams of 
stars streaked by sometimes leaving an almost glittering stripe pattern 
across the windows.  Planets, from small jewels to vast gas giants went 
past and would be there always to be passed again.  It was beautiful.  
It was thought provoking...it was absolutely and irritably boring...

Usagi shifted in her seat again and arched her back a little to 
unstiffin some of her muscles.  It was great not to be in the queenly 
gown she wore almost everyday but even the comfortable clothes she wore 
still couldn't keep her from being weary.  The trip would be at least 
three days long and Usagi finally realised how bored she was going to 
be...after a good 6 hours of Slayers reruns and nothing but a lot of 
space to look at.  

She was so tempted to just teleport herself right there, just to get off 
the boring ship.  Of course, her teleportation was just something her 
self-proclaimed bodyguards couldn't do and she wasn't about to leave 
them behind.  But teleporting would feel pretty good, just about now..or 
maybe even back to Earth.  The queen sighed and thought of Chibiusa and 
how much she had wanted her to go on this trip.  

No, she thought, I'm not letting everyone down because I can't handle 
one small vacation.  

Finally, Usagi decided to do something to abade her restlessness for the 
moment.  Eat.  

An evil gleam came to the queen's eye and the mischevious smile never 
left her face as she walked towards the door.  The whiz sound that the 
door made indicated that Usagi, eater extraordinaire had left to wreak 
havok upon the ship's cook and kitchen.  

					   ***

"One more time!"  

"No."  

"Come on...best two out of three."  

"No.  You've lost, fair and square.  One game only and I'm sure I'll 
have plenty of laundry waiting for you when we get back home."

Minako collapsed on the ground backwards in defeat.  Should have never 
made that bet with Haruka...and for basketball of all sports.  She 
should have known better, the girl was a good foot taller than her.  

"Pleease?" she said, making a final attempt.  

Haruka just laughed in response and ruffled Minako's hair.  "No."  

With that, Haruka grabbed the basketball and began to do some practise 
lay ups.  It was, as expected, perfect in form and style and the sandy 
blonde senshi knew it as she turned around and let a half-grin, half-
smirk expression appear on her face.  

Minako's eye twitched a little.  For a minute, one glorious and precious 
minute, she considered love-me-chaining Haruka to the outside of hull of 
the ship for the rest of the trip.  It would certainly quench her thirst 
for revenge and would definately make her trip to the Starlights' planet 
more enjoyable.

Oh, she thought rubbing her face in exhaustion, Don't tempt me.  

Finally, Minako got up and sat or rather slumped on the bench.  She 
rested her head against the cold, steel wall getting even more exhausted 
watching her fellow senshi play.  

She can still do all that, she thought, after a full game of one on one.  
Then Minako's eyes lowered in slight annoyance.  Guess I really _do_ 
suck at basketball.  She had actually tried to get some time alone with 
the senshi of Uranus but she had gotten a little carried away with the 
prospect of getting a chance to drive Haruka's car (that is, if she 
won...which she didn't).  

Well, she thought, After that crushing defeat of mind, now's a good time 
as any to talk to Haruka...especially when she's being so cocky, she 
added to herself unconsciously.

"Haruka-san," she said, getting her friend's attention, "Why are you 
going on this trip?  When everyone had agreed to it, you immediately 
volunteered to accompany Usagi-chan.  In fact, you insisted upon it even 
though all of us thought Ami or Rei should have gone."  

Haruka stopped midstride and looked at her.  Minako knew she was 
pondering whether or not to tell her the truth.  When Haruka wanted to 
keep something secret, she did.  This was just like how she always stood 
by her beliefs.  Even if Haruka was wrong, she'd still do whatever she 
thought was best.  

The older senshi turned around and began dribbling the ball towards the 
net.  

"To protect the Queen, of course." Haruka replied as she made a shot 
from where she stood.  

Swish.  

Minako sat up a little and her instincts that her friend wasn't telling 
her the entire truth.  Haruka was about to make another shot when Minako 
decided to confirm her suspicions.  

"Shouldn't it be, 'To protect the Queen from Seiya-kun?'" she quipped 
wittily.  

The ball flew out of Haruka's hands for the shot.  

Hit.  Bounce.  Bounce.  Bounce.  

Haruka literally spun around as the basketball rolled back to her feet.  
Her face was a little flushed but at that moment, Usagi walked 
in...looking extremely pleased with herself.  

"Hey guys!" the queen said cheerfully, "I brought us all a snack."  

Minako got up and nearly dove for Usagi.  She had forgotten how hungry 
she was.  "Food," she cried, gulping down the iced tea in Usagi's hand 
and reaching for the sandwiches.  

Usagi nearly stumbled backwards. "Wow...what have you guys been doing 
here?"  

Minako reached for a second sandwich.

"Getting my laundry done," Haruka said with a slightly smug look on her 
face.  

Minako choked and started making gagging sounds.  She coughed a little 
more and began pounding on her chest to force all the food down.  

Usagi raised one of her eyebrows.  What on earth?, she thought.  

She became even more confused when Minako turned around and stuck her 
tongue out at the taller blonde.  At this, the older woman had laughed 
some more and sat beside Usagi taking slow gulps from her own water 
bottle.  When everything had quieted down, Minako explained to Usagi 
what had happened with a few occasional glares at Haruka.  However, much 
to Haruka's relief and as a crucial part on the prevention of being 
maimed by Usagi, Minako had completely avoided the part of the 
conversation concerning Seiya.

"Haruka-chan!" Usagi lightly reprimanded, "That wasn't very nice."  

Haruka laughed a little.  "Hey...fair is fair.  Minako-chan agreed to 
it."  

Minako looked as if she was in some angsty CLAMP manga or at least a 
title character in one of those Shakespearean tragedies.  Usagi swore 
she heard Minako mutter something about tomato juice and never getting 
the smell out.  Usagi couldn't help but feel sorry for her.  

"Tell you what..." she said turning around to look at Haruka, "How about 
I play against you and if I win, then you can release Minako from 
her...er...laundry duties."  

For some reason, the word slavery seemed to pop into her head.  

Haruka moved her head closer to Usagi until they were about an inch 
apart.  It was a half-teasing and half-flirtatious guesture that Usagi 
was used to.  

"What's in it for me?" Haruka replied in a deep voice, her eyes shining 
a little.  

Usagi moved forward and pressed her forehead against Haruka as a 
challenge.  "I don't know, what do you want?"  

"All my speeding tickets gone and immunity from speeding tickets for at 
least a year so long as I don't hurt anyone."  

Usagi laughed.  Go figure Haruka would quickly use the opportunity to 
abuse Usagi's authority.  "Wow, all that against the loss of a weeks 
load of laundry.  Fine but I get to add more to the bet.  Let's see..."  

"Haruka-chan has to be nice to the Starlights for the rest of the trip!" 
Minako blurted and laughed nervously when Haruka glared at her.  

Instinctively, Minako shrunk behind Usagi but... the damage was done.  

"That's great, Minako-chan!  I'd never have thought of that one," the 
queen laughed good-naturedly.  "So, is it a deal?"  

Haruka's glaring eyes never left Minako's face.  "Deal."  

The older senshi stood up and reached for the basketball that she had 
left on the ground.  

"Wait," Usagi said, "Who said we were playing basketball?"  

Haruka blinked curiously at Usagi.  "Then what do you want to play?"  

"Oh, it's really more of a test of skills, really?" Usagi said, a 
mischevious gleam in her eye.  

"What type of skill?" Haruka asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously.  

"Oh, nothing, really."  Usagi smiled sweetly.  

It was a little _too_ sweetly for Haruka's liking and she definately 
knew it wasn't nothing.  

"Really," the queen replied as if reading her mind, "Nothing at all."

With that sentence, the queen grinned evilly at Haruka and she could see 
Minako grinning along with her.  

"So, what are we playing with?" Haruka said, afraid she had entered the 
deal a little _too_ quickly without knowing all the consequences.  

"Oh, nothing." Usagi replied, using that same voice as someone who was 
just about to confidently win a million dollars, "Just with...this."  

Haruka raised her eyebrow and the queen only grinned some more as a 
round disk spun on her finger.  

					  ***
One hour later...

"One more time!"  

"No."  

"Come on...best two out of three."  

"No, Haruka-chan.  You've lost, fair and square.  One game only and I'm 
sure I'll have plenty of time watching you do that laundry when we get 
back home."

Haruka glared some more.  "You like, making me eat my own words, don't 
you?"  

Minako's smile grew even further.  "You bet I do."  

Usagi laughed good-naturedly.  "Alright, you two, that's enough."  

The two quieted down and Minako looked especially pleased.  With expert 
precision, Usagi tossed the frisbee into the storage room.  "You know 
what?" she said, after the disk disappeared from site.  "I'm getting a 
little hungry.  I think I'm going to get something to eat."  

Haruka paused.  "Again?"  

Usagi stopped walking towards the door.  "Never you mind that."  

"And besides," she added with a grin, "You should have expected this by 
now."

With that, she ran out the door and towards the kitchen...again.  


Part Two:

Usagi threw her nightgown over her head and stiffled a yawn.  So far, a 
full day had gone by since Haruka's embarassing and classic defeat, and 
it had gone by quickly...with the exception for the times Haruka decided 
to bring up the topic of a rematch.  Honestly, she could be so stubborn 
sometimes.  

Automatically, Usagi looked out of the large window of her small 
quarters and was about to make a comment about it being night already 
when she reminded herself that she was still in space.  She had to give 
a little credit to herself...it did look like night.  The only 
difference was, was that there was no moon to light up the sky.

For some odd reason, she pulled a chair towards the window.  There was 
something different about the space that she stared at before.  There 
weren't any planets that zoomed by and the craft was travelling at a 
slower speed so that there was no longer a striped pattern appearing.  
It wasn't just that, it was also the feeling Usagi was getting.  
Something that was a constant in her, down in the deep, dark crevices of 
her heart.  Emptiness.  

The view from the window...was a void.  Just a lack of matter with the 
occasional faint glitter of a star lightyears away.  



*flashback*



Usagi felt exhausted and sort of melded with the bench as her head hung 
back so that she could see the stars.  The stars were a unique 
distraction from all the softball she was forced to play and well...  
she never thought that watching the stars with Seiya would be so 
enjoyable.  

"Every living thing on this planet has a glittering star inside their 
bodies," he continued to explain.  

"A glittering star?" she couldn't help but repeat.  

Seiya sort of let his eyes penetrate towards the heaven as if he were 
searching for something far away that no normal human eye could see.  

"They say this in a place far away," he continued, "Everyone has one. 
The stronger the star is, the brighter it glitters... Yours is 
glittering exceptionally bright."


*end flashback*



Usagi's eyes widened.  What on earth was wrong was she thinking?  First, 
she thought of how empty she felt and then all of a sudden, she was 
thinking about her days in high school.  

"I really need some sleep," she said, tossing herself onto her bed.  I 
must be _really_ losing it.

Muffling about not watching anymore reruns of Slayers through her bed 
sheets, Usagi reached out and grabbed from under her pillow her locket.  
Opening it, like she did almost every night since Mamoru died, she let 
its melody fill the room and before the song was over, Usagi lay fast 
asleep.  

'Good night, Mamo-chan' were the last thoughts in her head.  



					****



She just had to do it, didn't she?  Of course, there were fifteen 
minutes before the space craft arrived and she just _had_ to have a last 
minute snack.  Now, full in the stomach and apparently still airheaded, 
she was sprinting for dear life, in her queenly gown no less, towards 
her seat.  

"Couldn't resist, could ya, kitten?" she heard Haruka mirror her 
thoughts.  

She just laughed and stuck out her tongue.  

With barely any time left to spare, Usagi made it back to her chair in 
time so that the space craft could safely make its descent towards the 
planet.  As each moment passed, she couldn't help but feel a little 
excited.  She hadn't seen the Three Lights or the princess (if she still 
_was_ a princess) in, quite literally a millenia.  It was enough to make 
one forget that this trip was pretty much a forced vacation.  

I wonder what they're like now, she thought to herself as she watched 
the scenery through her window change from a dark, sparkling void to a 
light blue atmosphere with fluffy white mist spread across it.  

Minako was sharing similar thoughts and gazed intently through the 
window.  She was also wondering whether or not Haruka would actually 
keep her end of their deal.  All she could do was wait and hope for the 
best.  

After a few more minutes, the craft stopped moving and the pilot came 
out to greet the three.  Minako grinned a little, he was cute.  His face 
was naturally cheerful looking and his eyes seemed to be slit as if his 
face had a permanent happy expression on it.  

"Hope you enjoyed the flight," he said rather cheerful, "We should be 
back in about a week to pick you up and if you'd like, please fill out 
these evaluation forms to tell us how we performed.  This way we can 
improve our performance a great deal."  

In an almost peppy manner, the pilot handed out the forms with matching 
pens (they had a little chain at the top with a miniature aircraft toy 
attached to it) and walked back out with a small skip in his step.  He 
reminded everyone of a VERY happy and stereotypical cheerleader.  

Maybe, Minako thought, eyes twitching again, he's not _that_ cute...

Another few minutes went by and the pilot, happily, of course, took the 
evaluation forms away and showed them out the door.  At the end of the 
long, sleek hallway was the hatch and all three followed the pilot 
towards it.  

With a strong twist and a big push, the pilot opened the hatch.  The sun 
shone brightly in the sky and their eyes had to adjust to the sudden 
increase in light.  They squinted a little but nonetheless, stepped out 
of the hatch onto the planet of the Three Lights.  

End Part 2 


(well, technically, chapter 2 but you know what I mean. ^^)



YAY!  Chapter 2 is done!  YAY for Ali!  *lol*  Really, this is an 
achievement, I've never done a series fanfic before and now...it's 
officially a series because there are, and I repeat, TWO chapters.  See, 
I find pleasure in simple things.  ("Simple pleasures for simple 
minds...")  yeah...  

Anyway, I never knew how much fun it was to tease Haruka and mind you, I 
hope you don't get the impression that I don't like her because I really 
do.  ^^  

Finally, I'd also like to thank Erin/Rose for reminding me that this 
fanfic existed (see, I wrote the first part a LONG time ago) and asked 
me when the second part was coming out.  *has flashback of Ali 'gulping' 
at the screen nervously*  So thanks!  And thank you for all those people 
who reviewed the fic.

Bubye, yo.  I shall do a funky dance away from my computer now.  ^^

Completed: 06.08.01