Third Times the Charm.

Summary: In a world where the fight against Galaxia didn't end quite so well Tsukino Usagi in a fit of desperation uses the Ginzuisho in a way she hadn't for almost two years… and wakes up fourteen years old …again.

Chapter One.

Tsukino Usagi knew something was wrong the minute she woke up.

Throwing a hand to silence the small chicken shaped clock as it chirped its version of alarm the girl opened bleary eyes.

Levering herself out of the cocoon of blankets she'd been sleeping in the blond let her feet touch the floor, frowning dazedly at the room, somehow just looking around seemed to add to the wrongness she'd felt waking up.

There was a feeling of helplessness welling up from inside her, one that made her feel as is she were somehow… different, weakened, as if a part of her was missing and locked away so tightly it made her dizzy just thinking about it.

Her head felt muzzy and full of wool, she couldn't think clearly at all, shaking her head for the third time in the last few minutes to get rid of the feeling the blond put a hand to her head, fingers absently carding through her hair to remove the small ribbons tied into the long ponytails to stop them from tangling while she slept.

Fighting against the urge to just crawl back into bed and let whatever was wrong with the world this time sort itself out the blond slipped out of bed and padded softly across the room. Opening her door and shuffling across the hall the girl fumbled with the handle of the bathroom door and let herself in, heading over to the sink to wash her face.

Usagi managed to wash her face, brush her hair and stumble back to her room before something caught off guard.

"MOM! WHERE'S MY SCHOOL UNIFORM?" the blond called down to her mother, slightly peeved, there was no way in hell she was going to wear her junior high uniform to school.

She'd done that once when a Youma had ripped the back of her shirt before she'd had a chance to transform and had to spend a humiliating two days waiting for the school shop (the one open only for a single day of the week) to open before she could replace it.

It had fit… barely… her poor boyfriend had nearly walked into a wall the first time he'd seen her wearing the old thing and had promptly bundled her into his own jacket to save her the embarrassment, ignoring the cold weather in order to keep her comfortable.

Her cheeks heating up at the memory of the way he'd gently wrapped it around her and the way he'd glared at everyone who so much as looked in their direction to laugh made her squirm, the moment had made her fall even harder in love with him.

'It would so be worth wearing this stupid uniform again just to get him to act that way again… protecting me from everyone laughing at me' she thought to herself absently, picking at the sleeve, Usagi jumped at the sound of her mother's voice answering her earlier question.

"Your uniform should be where you last left it… oh and do hurry up and get ready you're going to be late again!"

Rolling her eyes the girl eyed her uniform, the clock and the amount of time she had left and came to a quick decision, pulling it down off the hanger and shrugging it on. Speeding down the hall and making a quick dash into the kitchen for her lunch and a slice of toast.

Slipping her shoes on and shoving her lunch into her bag the girl ran for the door, hoping that just this one time she'd be on time for school just this once… not realizing anything was wrong beyond her uniform, or that she'd missed the fact a certain black cat had failed to wake her up as she usually did and the strangeness of being able to fit into a uniform that the last time she'd checked, hadn't fit properly in two years.

She had no idea she'd thrown herself further back in time than she'd ever had before.

Instead of being sixteen years old and in high school, she was fourteen for the third time in her life, and she had no idea…

She also ignored the fact that she was the only one of her friends running in the same direction, and the fact that she hadn't seen any of them at all yet, assuming that they were already at school. She shrugged aside the odd looks she got from the kids at the school gate when she went skidding past them, marveling over the fact that she was so early.

Yes, yes. So she was wearing the wrong uniform again. So what?

It was only when a girl she'd never met before had come up to her, asking for her to move because she was sitting in her seat that the fog in her head disappeared and she realized where she was.

Exactly where she was. The date scrawled in chalk on the black board seemed to be burned into her mind.

"Ah… g… gomen! Heh heh, silly me I… uh… thought this was my…my… brother's classroom…" she stuttered, sweating lightly as she giggling nervously, 'Nice save!' she thought to herself, jumping out of the seat and backing her way to the door "Sorry for the confusion!"

Dropping a hasty bow she fled, eyes wide and her face burning hot enough to boil her brains, the displaced sixteen year old turned fourteen year old plastered herself to the first available alleyway wall outside the high school and cringed. Her toes curling in her shoes in embarrassment.

"God that was so stupid!" she hissed to herself, clutching her bag to her chest. "Yeesh it only takes me walking into a school I don't attend to figure out what's going on!" she muttered angrily, stomping her foot. "And here I was worrying about being …" she stopped, calmly lifting the sleeve of her long sleeved winter uniform to study the small watch strapped to her wrist and promptly went white.

"… late…"

OoO

In another part of town where Usagi should have been, attracted by the noise coming from where he'd parked his car a certain black haired boy, suddenly making startling sense of just what the three little boys crouched in a circle were playing with, rushed over to the small group.

"Oi what are you doing to that poor cat!" Mamoru snarled, taking a step into the parking lot, scooping up the addled feline as they took off, settling the cat into the crook of his arm as he juggled his books into a better grip.

"Damn it, what are they teaching kids these days!" he muttered angrily, soothing the poor thing as it started trying to claw its own face, the black haired boy blinked as he caught sight of the two band-aids stuck crosswise to the fur on its face.

Tisking angrily, Mamoru shifted his grip on the cat and before digging into his pocket for his keys, opening one of his car's doors and dumped his books in. Seating himself down in the seat he sat the cat down on his lap and muttered again, this time at how cruel kids could be as he gripped the edge and pulled the thankfully loose band-aids off, smiling down at the cat as it blinked up at him as if seeing him for the first time.

Soothing down the fur messed up by the band-aids Mamoru only had enough time to take in the gold crescent moon on its forehead and its wine red eyes before it leaped out of reach to stand staring at him from at least a parking space away.

History changed…

OoO

Prologue end!

I had to get this effing fic out of my head! Even if I write no more of this than at least I've exercised the Sailor Moon demon that seemed to have taken residence in my head.

If you want an update just ping me and I'll write something more.