Dreams & Memories By: Tisha Pain. Searing pain coming from all sides of her. It hurt so much she couldn't think. She couldn't breathe. She desperately tried to suck in any air that she could but instead heat and fear filled her lungs. She tried to scream but it came out in a raspy cough instead. She looked up to see a pair of familiar purple eyes looking at her. Still struggling for breath she reached a hand out to the girl. The purple of the eyes almost burned through her as they examined her for a while before the girl turned. Seeing her friend betray her, she grasped at her throat as she felt herself suffocating. She choked as she vainly tried to force her lungs to work. With a piercing scream Usagi was jerked from her nightmare. She sat up in bed and breathed deeply for a minute. She looked up to find Luna looking at her. "Usagi, are you all right?" She savored the feel of breath as she continued her heavy breathing. "Oh my God Luna, it was so real." "It was just a dream. Calm down Usagi-chan." Usagi shook her head. "I know it was a dream but it was almost like I knew it was the truth even though it *was* a dream." "What do you mean, what was true?" Usagi bit her lip at the thought of what she had just said. She couldn't believe a dream. Not a dream like that. She shook her head. "Rei-chan. She saw me...dying...and she turned away." Luna got up and climbed onto Usagi's stomach. "Usagi, you know it was only a dream. That would never happen. I'm ashamed of you for believing it. Now go back to sleep." Usagi only sat there and bit her lip again. "Luna...I'm afraid to go to sleep." Luna sighed. "Usagi, dreams are only dreams. If you're going to believe that so easily you wouldn't want to know some of the dreams I've had." Usagi swallowed. She knew Luna was right. Mamoru believing his dream was what put both of them through a lot of pain for a long time. She knew it would be bad to believe her dream. But she couldn't help think about how desperate she had felt. As if she were really dying. And then Rei was her only hope, and then she had been alone to die...Usagi shook her head and lay back down. Wanting to sleep just to get the thoughts from her mind. Luna watched her worriedly for a second and then lowered her head onto her paws, letting herself fall back into a deep sleep. ••••••••••••••••••• Usagi had slept through the remainder of that night without any more dreams. It had just been some strange thing her subconscious mind had thought up. All day at school she tried to put it behind her. She knew they had a meeting today and she didn't want to appear weak, not again. The bell rang and Usagi picked up her books and waited at the front of the school until Makoto and Ami had joined her. They walked toward the temple quickly, with less casual talk than normal. Makoto noticed how Usagi was acting and decided to question her. "Usagi, are you okay?" Usagi looked at her, raising her eyebrows in question. "Of course, I'm fine." Makoto shrugged and realized that they were already at the temple. Rei and Minako were already waiting and they all sat down, discussing various things. They hadn't had any enemy attacks for a while so there wasn't anything important they had to cover. Luna was quieter than normal as she watched Usagi. She noticed how the girl averted her eyes often, especially when Rei looked at her. She didn't believe a simple dream could have this kind of affect and started to worry that it could be something more. For some reason she didn't want to tell the others though, it seemed almost like she would be betraying Usagi. She sighed as she thought about her charge. At first it had seemed the biggest job in the world but now Luna loved Usagi like a daughter and a sister combined and she couldn't stand the thought of the girl being hurt. She just had to hope for the right words to cheer her up. ••••••••••••••••••• "Usagi, you've been kind of distant today. Are you okay?" Usagi took a deep breath as she took down her hair and gently brushed out the knots. She hated having Luna question her all the time so she decided to act like she was fine. And she was, she thought. She *should* be fine. It was only one dream, and she *did* know that. But when she saw Rei she had gotten flashbacks to the dream. She shook the thoughts from her head and came to one resolve. It *was* only a dream and there was nothing to it. "I'm fine Luna. I think I'm just tired since I didn't get much sleep." Luna sighed in relief. She had never even considered that, but it did make perfect sense so she took is as a good enough excuse and dropped the subject. ••••••••••••••••••• It was a dark room. She stumbled helplessly, clawing toward anything to hold on to, looking for a way to light a path. She couldn't even see her hands. She stepped on something sharp and realized she was barefoot. Her heart beating faster, harder, she got on her hands and knees to feel her way in the dark. A familiar voice rang out and echoed through wherever she was. "Minako?" She called loudly, her voice quivering with fear. Minako suddenly appeared ten feet in front of her. It seemed like Minako was glowing, like she had the light to conquer the darkness. "This way Usagi, come here." Usagi got to her feet and stumbled toward her friend. She felt her foot slip and her heart stopped beating as she felt herself fall. She landed with a loud thud and felt pain sliver up through her whole body. Her left leg burned like fire and she clutched it. She looked up to see Minako. She couldn't make her out well in the dark. "Minako-chan, help me! My leg hurts!" She heard laughter echo all around her and saw that the silhouette of Minako was gone. Usagi started to cry, feeling hopeless. "Minako?" She received no answer and screamed the name again, a very loud, painful scream, that still received no answer. Usagi woke up and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She glanced at Luna, who was still asleep at the end of the bed. She laid back down and tried to think about a reason she'd get such dreams but couldn't come up with one. She closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep. She tossed and turned for an hour before falling back to sleep. But it wasn't a peaceful sleep. She had two more dreams. Each time Ami and Makoto abandoned her as well, maybe even put her in danger in the first place. Usagi managed to not wake Luna, but her head felt jumbled, confused. She couldn't understand what would make her think such things so she just tried to forget it all together. To be continued