I'm twenty years old. My birthday is June 30. I can tell you that. Lots of people have that
birthday. Lots of people are that old.
If only I could be one of those 'lots of
people'.
I don't know what happened. I'm hiding from
myself, in a country that I call my own, but has
turned against me in my eyes, although no ones knows
it. Not even the country.
Or maybe not. Maybe I'm just being paranoid.
Probably.
All because I saved someone's life.
It wasn't my fault. I saw her.
And I saw it.
My destiny tells me one thing.
That I am to fight.
So, I fought it. And I saved her.
It's not my fault that woman didn't want to
be saved.
It's not my fault that she tried to kill me.
She did a pretty good job of it. With a blade
I didn't know she had. She was very experienced with
that blade. If I'd lost any more blood from those
cuts, I would have died. One more drop, I'm sure.
But I lived.
But she didn't. I heard later she committed
sucide. I'm not going to tell you her name. It's not
that important. Like I said, I didn't even know her.
Just some stranger.
Some thanks.
Anyway, I suppose you can keep my secret. My name is Tsukino Usagi. I was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Tsukino Kenji and Ikuko. I have a little brother: Tsukino Shingo.
None of them know what happened. To them, I
just feel on some barb-wire.
To my closest friends, I was recklessly
fighting a dangerous monster-- a youma.
To my Mamoru, I was being the little ditzy
girl again.
If only they knew.
My daughter, she knows. Because she was there
beside me. My savior. The one who was able to stop
the blood in time.
She's not really my daughter, yet. She's from
a time in the future where I rule as the Neo-Queen
Serenity.
She knows everything about me.
She knows I'm really a super-genius.
She knows I'm not who I look.
She knows me.
I love her for that. She never questions who
I am or what I do. I have no secrets from her.
She is Sailor Moon.
I am Eternal Sailor Moon.
It's really ironic how fate can love you one
minute and throw a bullet at you the next.
I've got scars. But thankfully, with Mamoru's
absolute vows of chasity until we're married, I'm
able to keep most of them hidden.
Hardly any of them are on the lower part of
my arms. I'm able to wear short sleeves. And for
those on my face and legs, I use make up. it's the
putty kind, made to cover up scars. It works wonders,
but I can't wear a bathing suit.
That's why I'm always 'sick' or 'busy' when
we all get together to go swimming. The putty washes
off with water.
But Chibi-usa insisted I have no scars when I'm
Queen. Because I wear bikinis all the time and she
has never seen any.
I've figured that one out. Magic. I suppose,
if I was just a bit more powerful, I could do it.
But I'm not that strong....
Yet.

[Excerpt of "Indifference", by Black Beyond.]