Author's Note: So, I used to be this big fan of Sailor Moon when I was a kid. Now, like 15 years or more later (ugh, I feel old), a TV channel here starts showing it again, and of course I got hooked on it all over again. Already back then, Uranus and Neptune were my faves, and since my muse is a fickle thing, it is not really a surprise she coughed up a story idea for those two. The theme of it was kinda surprising to me, but I hope I can do the show justice.

Disclaimer: None of this is mine. Just borrowing it for a while to play around, then I'll put it back!

Call of the Wild

The night smelled of death and blood and terror, the crackling of the flames the only sound audible at first. Only to someone who would take a moment to listen closer, the other sound was becoming clear, the small wails of a terrified child; and not too long after, dark shapes were drawn in by the noise, padding closer to the wrecked car on all fours, only straightening up on two when they had gotten close enough to see, their shapes changing and shifting as they took in the wreckage.

"The child lives", one of them pointed out what they all could hear anyway, "what shall happen with it?"

"We can't just kill it", another one said, yellow eyes flashing as he looked from the wreckage to his mates, "but it is not one of us."

"That can be changed", the tallest of them said, ignoring the gasps from his mates, "as you all know."

"It might still die then", another one cautioned, "it would be a mercy to kill it now and spare it the pain."

"No", the tallest of them snapped, a distinctive growl in his voice, "we will not kill this child. Take it."

For a moment, the others looked as if they wanted to argue; then, they complied, one of them gingerly stepping closer to the burning wreckage, mindful of the flames as he wrenched the back door open with a powerful pull, the child only wailing louder in response, the helpless cries of a baby who had no inkling of what was happening.

"Shush, little one", he mumbled, carefully reaching into the car, still weary of the fire; the baby hadn't been hurt in the crash, not even a hair singed, but the flames were spreading quickly, and his kind feared fire. If anyone else had told him to get the kid, he would have refused; there was no way to refuse the tall man though, and thus, he did as he had been told, acting with exceeding care, mindful of his strength as he opened the seat belt.

Then, he took hold of the crying child. He lifted it out of the car, away from the flames and from the harm they might have done. And destiny shattered.

"Deep… Submerge!" The attack didn't come with as much fervour as it usually did, not after Neptune had used it for the seventh or eighth time in a row now; still, the monster didn't go down, but kept screeching at her, the leap she had to perform to get out of harm's way when it threw another attack at her not as powerful and wide as her jumps had been mere minutes ago.

Breathing heavily, she clenched her fists, telling herself that there was no time for weakness now, that she had to get rid of this thing before it might hurt anyone; the monster screeched at her again, then forced her to leap out of the way once more as another attack followed it, the ground breaking and smoking when it hit.

Gritting her teeth, Neptune called upon her power once more, feeling the energy crackle against her hands as she yelled out her attack; the glowing bright ball of energy shot from her palm, and this time, it finally was enough, the monster letting out a terrified cry before it vanished into nothingness, leaving only one of the strange capsules they seemed to come from behind, a heavy breath coming from Neptune again as the capsule broke open and a tiny, oddly shrieking shadow emerged from it, vanishing into nothingness seconds later.

At least, Neptune reflected, no one was around to watch the brief moment of weakness she now allowed herself as she slumped down to the ground, ending up on her knees; momentarily, she felt so tired that she was sure she would just fall asleep on the spot, an easy target for anyone who might be after her, now that the monster had been vanquished.

Again, the strange sensation that this was wrong filled her while she forced herself to her feet again; she couldn't tell why, but simply knew that she wasn't supposed to do this alone, that there should have been another one with her, the tall, shadowy figure she saw in her dreams, standing by her side and fighting all those battles with her.

Trying to ignore the weariness which had come over her limbs, she forced herself to her feet, momentarily staggering, then regaining her balance; she took a moment to glance around, just to make sure that no other monster would pop up from God knew where, then got moving, her steps slow as she looked for a spot in which she could change back.

To her relief, such a spot was quickly found, in form of a more or less hidden doorway in a small side alley; the transformation back to her regular, civilian form didn't take long, but losing all the extra energy being a Sailor Senshi granted her had taken its toll on her, and she had to fight to stay on her feet, telling herself that surely, it wouldn't be fitting for someone of her fame and fortune to be found snoring away in a dingy side street.

Get a hold of yourself, Michiru, she mentally prep-talked herself, not giving in to the urge to grab the wall for support as she got moving again, just make it to the next café or something, take a seat there and get a cold drink, and it'll be alright. Or perhaps some coffee, a little pick-me-up.

The mere thought gave her strength, and she straightened up as she kept walking, her head held high; to anyone who didn't know her, she might have appeared arrogant, but someone who did know her well would have seen the tiredness, the strain her life put on her, fighting monsters almost daily and doing it all on her own.

This is wrong, the young woman thought to herself as she kept moving, spotting the sign of an arcade up ahead; normally, this wouldn't have been her first choice for rest, but from what she could tell, it was the nearest place with an option to sit down and have a drink, something is wrong, you are not supposed to do this alone. You never were.

While she entered the arcade and moved to the counter, ignoring the two girls squabbling over something there, she thought of her dreams again, of the figure she saw in them; she never saw the other woman's face, her features always hidden in shadow, but only ever could make out her silhouette, a tall and lean form, still strangely familiar, despite how little she saw of her whenever she dreamt of her.

At first, those dreams had been rare, happening maybe once or twice a month right after she had been awakened and had accepted her destiny as Sailor Neptune; now though, a few months later and after she had followed the call of the sea to Tokyo, she had them every single night, and more often than not found that she had been crying after waking up, tears drying on her cheeks and on the pillow.

"Hello", the voice of the young guy manning the counter tore her out of her musings, his unexpected addressing of her almost making her flinch, her instincts still alert so shortly after the battle, "can I get you something? Or do you want change for our machines?"

"Coffee", she gave back, adding a "please" at the last moment as she remembered her manners; if he had noticed her brief lapse of etiquette, he ignored it, merely nodding before he turned away from her to prepare her drink, leaving her alone with her thoughts once more.

Briefly, Michiru was grateful that apparently, the young man only wanted to do his job and didn't try to hit on her; after such an exhausting battle, the last thing she needed was a man trying to woo her, the mere thought making her roll her eyes – before a shriek reached her ears and she immediately tensed, suddenly sure that another attack was following, her heart speeding up as she felt a flash of fear, asking herself if she'd be able to handle it, exhausted as she was.

Then, she realized that it had been one of the two girls shrieking, and that an attack wasn't the reason for her cry; by now, the two of them had moved from the counter to one of the arcade machines, a racing game, Michiru noted, and apparently, one of them had failed at the game quite spectacularly, hanging over the steering wheel now while the other one was laughing gleefully and claiming that she'd be Formula One Champion soon.

For a moment, Michiru allowed herself to be envious of them, of their carefree and obviously happy lives; ever since she had accepted her calling, her carefree days were over, but at least, she knew that now, she had found her purpose in life, something the two blonde girls clearly still were looking for, with their biggest worry perhaps the next test at school or their parents cutting their allowance for whatever transgression they were found guilty of.

To her dismay, as she watched them, the feeling of wrongness came over her again, this time so strong that it send a shiver down her spine; and for just a second, it seemed as if one of the girls, the one with little talent for the game, set apart from any crowd by her hairstyle in form of two freakishly long pigtails, was feeling something too, her posture briefly going rigid as she glanced around, almost as if she expected something to happen.

For just the blink of an eye, her gaze met Michiru's, and during this split second, the aqua haired girl felt strangely drawn to the other one; then, the blonde girl's eyes moved on, and the feeling was gone, only the wrongness remaining, the feeling that something which should have happened wasn't happening, that a connection which should have been hadn't been established.

"Your coffee, Miss", the young man's voice distracted her yet again, prompting her to turn and look at him; at her questioningly raised eyebrow, he told her how much she owed him, and after she had paid, she focused on the cup of black liquid, refusing to give him even the slightest opening for small talk, a tactic which worked well since he just hovered there for half a minute, then drifted away again, giving her some peace and quiet.

Holding back a sigh, not wanting to attract his attention again, Michiru took a careful sip of the hot coffee, briefly closing her eyes as she dark liquid warmed her; and then, she found herself watching the two blonde girls again, asking herself why all of this felt so wrong and if there was anything she could do to make it right.