Your "lemon" bad opening paragraphs make my fanfics look really tame! Well,
I can't really help it. It's a G-rated mailing list and it's a G-rated
show... doesn't mean the romance can't be steamy, I just can't get... um...
that.. detailed.

Anyone who's read "As The Rose Turns" should be able to figure out why I
named this "Face to Face" after the fact. There's a lot more than that,
though...

Now, about my other fanfics (Black Ice #1-#4), unless I get more than four
or five people requesting them by e-mail I won't re-post them or send them
to the remailer. I used to e-mail my fanfics to people all the time, so I'm
used to it, within reason. I'm set up to make it easy and fast. Anyway,
enjoy, and I hope for some more C&C when you feel like it.

JB

"Face to Face"

The fire burned with searing heat, moved with an angry ferocity.

This was a sacred place in the Temple, where the sacred flame responded to
the probing of a Shinto priestess, Hino Rei. Her face was tense, her eyes
shut firmly as she concentrated on her thoughts. Mystic spiritual energy
flowed through her, and through the fire. She continued the sacred ceremony,
attempting to call to the world beyond.

All this was necessary because the Sailor Senshi had to learn about their
enemies. Yet this was something Rei preferred to do alone. She needed all of
her strengh, without the slightest distraction. Their enemies were well
hidden, and knew the identities of three of the Senshi already. To even the
odds, Rei had to discover what she could.

---

The runes of the mystic circle burned bright with emerald light.

He had to concentrate. It was time for him to consult the wisdom of the
universe to reveal the secrets of the Senshi. Sitting crosslegged behind the
sacred circle, staring at the vague images forming within, he concentrated,
a scowl forming on his face... and waited.

Then his eyes opened, sharply, surprised.

---

Her eyes flew open. She sensed a presence...

---

Across time and space, beyond the realm of the normal senses, they gazed
into each other's eyes. Neither knew who each other was. Both had their
suspicions. They could feel the other's heartbeats, beating almost in
unison, held at a strangely slow pace by their individual meditation.
Neither truly knew what was happening. Then, slowly, they realized the
truth, and only then did the connection break.

---

She gasped, "What was that?"

---

"So... another searches the skies. I must be careful."

---

Rei tried to get more of a reading, but was exhausted. She couldn't see
anything. Finally, Rei collected herself and went to her room, where she
promptly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

---

Though Mina was sleeping quite peacefully, her alarm clock went off. With
reflexes that would put a martial artist to shame, she slammed her fist down
on the alarm clock, turning it off. Artemis, asleep on the floor, yawned.
The floor again. They weren't on good terms at the moment. Mina struggled to
get her eyes open; she was lying on her stomach, moving slowly. Then she
turned around, raised her arms lazily, and opened her mouth for a long,
satisfying yawn. Then she got up and put on her slippers. She turned around
to look at the window. "Oh, darn." It was raining steadily.

---

Meanwhile, at Amy's house, Amy herself was preparing to go to school. She
was busy with her computer, trying to make some sense of complex
calculations. She didn't have the time, though; "Amy, dear, you almost
forgot your lunch," her mother told her from the kitchen. Amy walked into
the kitchen, snatched her lunch, and picked up her computer. Amy walked
through the front door, picking up her umbrella on the way.

---

A little later, or rather, _late_, Serena was running through the storm,
which suddenly got worse, holding her umbrella above her with her right
hand, grabbing her homework with her left. Luna was running just behind her,
saying to herself, "Oh, I just know I'm going to catch cold from all this
dampness. Yuck." Serena was panting as her shoes sprayed water over her
ankles with each passing stride. 

Not far away, another looked on as Serena sped by, himself with an umbrella
to protect himself from the rain. He walked away, though he still watched
intently.

Serena stopped cold by a comment from someone nearby, so close it startled
her: "Hey, Meatball Head!" Her lips curled into a huge grin. She turned
around, seeing her one and only Darien smiling back at her. "Kind of rainy
day, don'tcha think?" he said. Continuing, he said, "Mind if I walk you to
school?" Well, was SHE going to say NO? No way! "SURE!" She folded her
umbrella, and nuzzled up to Darien under his black umbrella. "Oh, Darien,"
she said softly. Well, Darien thought, she was entitled to a little
sweetness. Then they went walking toward school.

After a while of listening only to the droplets of rain hitting the hard
pavement continuously, Serena had something to say, something that had be
bothering her. "Darien," she said, "There's something I need to tell you
about..." Darien glanced at her, having no idea what she might say. She was
serious, he could tell. "Um, I had this dream... in it, we were back on the
Moon. You were the Prince, and you were dancing with a Princess, except...
it wasn't me..." Darien gasped. "And I was there watching you two kiss, and
it was horrible... Darien?" She looked up, and saw that Darien was very
surprised for some reason. Slowly, he gathered his thoughs, and stammered,
"I... had the same dream." Now Serena gasped.

---

The dark figure clenched his fist. The mission had to be aborted. At least
this phase. No way was he getting close enough.

---

"But..." Serena muttered, "what does it mean?" Darien said, "I don't know...
that's why I was worried. I wanted to make sure you knew that nothing will
ever keep us apart."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that."

Serena and Darien turned to see who said that - it wasn't them, and it
wasn't someone they knew, or so they thought. A woman, dressed elegantly in
nice light dress, not sailor-style like Serena's but like a real lady's,
with a beautiful pink umbrella. Her entire dress was mostly pink, although
the bottom half was a deeper shade of red. They could not see her face yet.
The woman slowly raised the rim of her umbrella, to reveal her face.

Serena, Darien, and Luna, who was not far behind, were completely short of
breath, for staring them in the face was a perfect mirror image of Serena
herself... older, but of such precise ressemblance that there was no doubt
who or what this was. This was the clone, different from how Luna remembered
her as a duplicate of Sailor Moon. Luna found that this woman looked a great
deal like the old Queen Serenity. That brought back many memories, good and bad.

To Serena, it was like looking into her own face, as she would imagine
herself, yet as she was not... a true lady, a princess. To Darien, it was
the woman from his dream, a frightening image that threatened to tear him
away from the girl that he loved. Yet this woman looked so much like her...
it was too unreal. Yet he was unmoved, and said in a stern voice, "What do
you want?"

She looked at him for a moment, longingly. Him, of course, if she was going
to be honest with heself. She couldn't _say_ that, of course. It was a
thought...

The woman said to them, in a sweet, disarming voice, "Why, the Silver
Crystal, of course. That is the only thing that you possess that matters to
me. Would you be kind enough to hand it over?" Darien replied, "You're not
getting that crystal. Now, leave us _alone_." Serena glanced upwards at
Darien's stern face, as the latter stared directly at the clone. "My, my,"
she said, "quite arrogant, aren't you?"

She stole their breath again when she made the bold claim, "I am Princess
Serenity. I am the rightful wielder of the Silver Moon Crystal and Heiress
to the Moon Kingdom." Luna couldn't take it anymore. "Moon Kingdom! The Moon
Kingdom was destroyed long ago, and you are NOT Priness Serenity." The woman
looked down at Luna, somewhat surprised. This wasn't something she was aware
of, and she had only the vaguest idea who this was. Undaunted, she
continued, "With this Crystal I will use it to serve my Master's wishes, and
will rule a new Moon Kingdom." She looked back to Darien, saying, "If you
desire, you, handsome one, may join me. I know who you are. You know you
want to be a Prince again." Serena looked back to her Darien, somehow
doubting him, somehow finding truth in her claims. But Darien was beyond
this woman's words. "No." The clone was taken aback by the bitter rebuke.
"Serena is the one I love. Nothing will ever change that. You'll never get
the Crystal. I won't let you. Now beat it." Darien stood without expression.
Serena felt strange, somehow.

The woman was outraged. She pulled her left hand back, and attemted to slap
Darien backhanded, but her hand was intercepted by his long before it
arrived. Darien's hand firmly grasped her wrist. The woman's face changed to
one of shock, and she shook, struggling, saying, "Let go of me!" Darien let
go. Then he walked forward, pulling Serena with him, pushing past this
woman, saying, "Come on, let's go." Serena followed. Luna, surprised, also
followed, as the cloned woman was left behind. Soon, Darien and Serena were
gone, with Luna following in the rain.

Serenity shook, with outrage, shock, and fear. Her eyes became moist. She
began, softly, surrounded by the rainfall, to cry... only then did she run off.

Before running far, she ran into the man who was but a shadow in the
background earlier. She began to cry on his shoulder... he consoled her.

He was a large man, much taller than a normal person, with broad shoulders.
He was dressed in a light grey suit, with black shoes, and a western-style
shirt. He had a face with firm features, and long hair, hair which appeared
to the casual observer to be a blend of grey and green, though it was also
dark. Here, he was a pillar of support.

Serenity said to him, while still crying softly, "I know it's silly.. but I
wanted him to like me." The man said, to her, "He was a jerk. You shouldn't
bother with him." "I know," she sobbed, "but I have feelings for him.." he
said, "It's only natural. We have to concentrate on getting the Crystal, and
it will be much easier to get it when she's alone." She looked up at his
face, a question on her face. He told her, "Not to worry. The second phase
of the plan has yet to begin. We'll get that crystal. I promise you..."

---

Rei was very surprised when Chad knocked outside her room and told her that
she had a visitor. Who could it be at this time of day? She really should
have been getting to private school, but she had something very important to
do first. She went to the front, and saw Lita taking her shoes off, placing
her dripping umbrella on a hook on the wall. Lita defenitely should be
getting to school by now. So Rei asked, "Lita, what are you doing here?"Lita
was still bent over, and she looked up briefly, and said, "Well, I was going
to school, but I wanted to drop by first. You were doing a fire reading,
right?" Rei said, "Thanks for remembering. No one else came." Lita said,
"Well, I can't really blame them, it's pouring out there. So, what's up?"

So Rei explained the situation. "When I tried to read the sacred flame last
night, I felt a presence far away, someone else - I think he was doing the
same thing I was." Lita asked, "Are you sure it's a he?" Rei said, "Yeah,
I'm sure. It's in his aura. It must be one of the Enemy. Well," she
continued, "I tried again this morning, hard. I'm sure something's going on
later today, something having to do with Serena. I think she might be in
trouble... Lita, can you keep an eye on her?" Lita beamed, and said with an
enormous smile, "Sure thing!" She opened her eyes and looked straight ahead,
her right hand clenched in a fist, a serious look on her face: "I'm Sworn to
defend the Moon Princess no matter what! If any enemy comes near, boy,
they're gonna get it!" Rei smiled. Lita was perfect for the job.

Well, she thought, maybe perfect was a little strong... after all, the only
reason she was asking was because she had to get to private school... oh,
no! "I've got to get going! See ya, Lita!"

---

It was an uneventful morning, although the school year was ending soon, and
this meant that there were going to be a lot more tests. Not nearly as
important as the exam to get into high school, but still a gauge of how much
a person had learnt, so it was important to do as well as possible to get a
consistently good grade. Or, more to the point, to move forward and not
flunk entirely. Serena had a lot of work cut out for her; so did Lita, since
she had been falling behind in a couple of subjects. Mina was managing,
although she was no fan of tests. At all. Rei got by through sheer
willpower. Amy worked really hard, but of course was much smarter and was
always on top of the subjects. She was working hard to help everyone else,
because she knew that with hard work she'd do just fine. She had to maintain
her standards, though, if she was going to become a doctor - and get a
scholarship in the process.

So the morning passed, and the rain stopped pouring. 

The afternoon was mostly uneventful as well, although Luna and Artemis had
quite a discussion, hanging out around the Temple for no better reason than
because, now that the rain had stopped, it was a nice, isolated, and open
place, without many people in the outlying areas.

---

"So," Luna began, "that's how it happened." She had just related the story
of the clone confronting Darien and Serena, that morning. Artemis began by
saying that it was amazing how bold she was. Luna replied, "I think she
actually had feelings for Darien." Artemis thought about that, and, lying
down comfortably among the flowers, curled in the warm sunlight, he replied,
"Well, in a way, that makes sense to me. If she really is a clone of Serena,
they probably have a lot in common." "Like Darien?" Luna asked. Artemis
didn't know much about the situation, so he took a wild guess. "If she has
feelings for Darien, that would make her jealous of Serena. It sounds like
she's not evil to the core, though... that's just a guess, but maybe she has
more in common with Serena than she's prepared to admit."

Luna said, "What I find very disturbing is how much she looks like Queen
Serenity. She looks just like what Serena will look like when she's older.
If she's more mature, will she be stronger?" Artemis replied, "Without the
Crystal, no, of course not. What can she do? Besides, her body might be old,
but she's only been around for what, days? Her mind has to catch up. I don't
think she can do it that fast." Luna finished the thought, "The longer this
goes on, the stronger she'll be." Artemis nodded.

"So," Artemis continued, "We have to be on our guard. But what about Serena?
They know who she is. If they want the crystal, they'll go after her." Luna
replied, "I know. I'm worried about that. Do you think she should move out
for a while?" Artemis thought about that, and nodded again, "That's a good
idea, for her own protection. But we have to find out about our enemies."
Luna went on, "Well, for one thing, who's behind this? Jadeite wasn't strong
enough or bright enough to set up something like this alone. Someone's
behind him, and these so-called Dark Senshi." Artemis replied, "Yes,
something's behind this. I'm not completely sure the Senshi can handle
it..." Luna's ears perked up. "Well, what I mean is, we should work on their
training, because they're going to need it." Luna agreed.

---

After school, the Sailor team met back at the Temple, where Luna and Artemis
were waiting for them. (The grass was too wet to go to a nearby park and sit
down.) Everyone was amazed at how Serena met the clone face to face.

"But," Mina said, "what's really bothering you about it, Serena? You haven't
been telling us everything." Amy and Rei were surprised at this. Maybe she
was right, but saying to her that she hadn't been - "Well," Serena said,
"I'm just bothered by the way Darien treated her for some reason. He was
very cold, heartless, even. I got a bad feeling about it, like it...
frightened me." For quite a while after this, no one said a word.

Then Rei pitched in. "Serena, he was just protecting you. He really cares
for you," she said, but Serena said back to her, "No, it's not that; I know
he does. It's just... oh... well, it's really not important. Luna," she
said, "do you really think I can move out? Where?"

Lita said that Serena could stay in her apartment. Well, she couldn't stay
at Darien's; her parents would freak. Amy offered, too, saying that it's a
nice place, but Serena didn't want to impose. Lita was alone, and they
should get along just fine. (Well, if not, at least there weren't any
parents around, so no one could complain but her.) "Okay," Serena said
finally, "I'll do it."

---

After the others left, Amy was speaking to Rei.

"Rei," she said, "I'm going to try to use my computer to find out what the
Dark Senshi are up to." Rei agreed, saying, "I've been trying to use my fire
readings the same way. It's a good thing Lita's going to keep an eye on
Serena." Amy asked what Rei had discovered. Rei said, "There's a lot of
interference... so I can't get a clear picture, but... maybe you can find
out something, try to figure out where they're coming from." Amy somehow
doubted she could do much; she said that "I don't have a lot of information
to go on. Not yet, anyway. We need to have some place to start." Then she
had an idea. "Why don't you start with this Frost character? You should be
able to get a reading." Darn. Rei had forgotten all about that. "I still
won't forgive that guy for turning us against Serena like that! How dare he
get in our heads!" Amy nodded. "I still don't know how he did it - he must
have ambushed Christopher and I."

Rei said, "What about that guy? What's going on between you two?" Amy said
that she hadn't seen him lately.

---

As Mina was heading home, she caught a glimpse of someone across the street,
someone who seemed vaguely familiar...

"Hey!" she yelled.

The young man turned around. "Mina!" he said. "Hi, Alex!" she said. She
waited to cross the street; he stayed where he was. When she got her chance,
she went over to meet him.

"Hi," she said in a smile that would melt an iceberg. "What, going around
town all by yourself?" He thought that was rather forward. Hmm. This might
be his lucky day. All work and no play... "Hey," he said, "let's do lunch
sometimes." Mina was rather happy at this. "Well, how about I take you out
to dinner tonight? Nothing fancy, just at a local place." Mina said she
couldn't, that her parents would have supper prepared and she couldn't go
out. But later... "How about an ice cream later tonight?" Mina said that
would be wonderful. They agreed on a time and place, and said goodbye.

---

Later, that evening, Serena was bored. She didn't know what to do. She
finally convinced her parents she should move out over the weekend, claiming
that it was mostly to help her study. If she hadn't had Lita with her, she'd
have never gotten away with it. (It probably was because Lita had given her
mother a couple of cooking tips first!) So, everything was okay, for now...

But she was bored. She wanted to go out.

The phone rang in the background. "Serena!" her mother yelled to her, "It's
that guy, Darien!" Serena's smile spread to her ears. She squealed, "Ooh,
it's Darien!!! YES!YES!YES!!!" Luna asked, "Don't you have to study?" Serena
told her, "Oh, there's PLENTY of time for that! Coming, muffin!" she said as
she skipped and hopped out of the room toward the phone.

She snuggled up to the reciever, sat down, and said in her most
princess-like voice, "Yes?"

"Hi," Darien said. "Would you like to go out tonight?" Was that a
QUESTION??? "SURE!!!" thinking, "YESSSS!!!" and hopping up and down (not
much, but quite anxiously). Darien told her to come to a nice restauraunt;
he'd be waiting for her. He said to come right away. So Serena said goodbye,
hung up, and grabbed her coat, and was leaving. She told her mother she was
going out with a friend. (White lie? ^_-)

Luna ran after her, jumping in front as she was just leaving the yard. Luna
said to her, "You're not running off alone, are you?" Serena said there was
nothing to worry about, that Darien would protect her. Luna said that wasn't
the point, that she shouldn't run off alone, especially now. Serena asked
Luna if she was coming along. Luna said she was, just to keep an eye on
them. "Alright," Serena said, "I have my communicator and I'll be careful.
Now, you stay out of the way like a good kitty while I go have a date with
my true love. OKAY?" Luna agreed, still doubting the wisdom of this plan.
Serena began to run off. Luna yelled, "Wait for me!" and ran off after her.

---

'Darien' hung up.

"Well," she said, "that was effective." "She will fall into our trap
perfectly." The woman was known to the Dark Senshi as Bishoujo Kamen, or
Pretty Mask, Bishoujo Mask for short. She was indeed beautiful, though she
never showed her lovely face. Frost turned to her, taking his blue-white
gloves off the phone. Then, knowingly, wickedly, evilly, he smiled.

---

To Be Continued!!!