This story is about Makoto Kino and Ken from sailormoon.  It takes place in an 
alternate universe since there are no senshi but the other characters do appear 
later on in the story.  Makoto and Ken meet at the age of 11 and 12 and this story 
follows them from childhood up into early adulthood.  This prologue is written from 
Makoto and Ken’s point of view, but the rest of the story will be narrated.  I based 
this story on the song by Sade Adu, “By Your Side”.  Oh, and by the way this is my 
first fanfic so please don’t flame me to bad.

I do not own sailor moon. Sailormoon and its characters are owned by Naoko Takeuchi.
"By Your Side" is written and performed by Sade Adu.

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“By Your Side”

You think I’d leave your side baby
You know me better than that
You think I’d leave you down when you’re down on your knees
I wouldn’t do that
I’ll tell you you’re right when you want
And if only you could see into me

Oh when you’re cold
I’ll be there
Hold you tight to me

When you’re on the outside baby and you can’t get in
I will show you you’re so much better than you know
When you’re lost and you’re alone and you can’t get back again
I will find you darling and I’ll bring you home

And if you want to cry 
I am here to dry your eyes
And in no time
You’ll be fine

You think I’d leave your side baby
You know me better than that
You think I’d leave you down when you’re down on your knees
I wouldn’t do that
I’ll tell you you’re right when you want
And if only you could see into me

Oh when you’re cold
I’ll be there
Hold you tight to me 
Oh when you’re low
I’ll be there
By your side baby
		
by,
		Sade Adu
*********************************

Makoto:
	I was 11 years old when I first met Kenneth Williams.  It was a warm 
October day, when I first moved to Tosako, a little suburb outside of Tokyo, and 
I wasn't happy about it at all. I didn't want to leave my friends and the only 
home I knew to live in some boring little suburban town.  I hadn't even seen the
house yet, but my parents were convinced that I would love it.  
	"Why didn't anyone ask me if I wanted to move?"  I had asked my parents a
 million times over the past two months, but they always answered with "Because, we 
always wanted to raise you in a nice little suburb.  That’s how we both grew up."  
Well if they wanted to raise me in the suburbs, why didn't they move to one when I 
was born.  But no, they had to wait until I was eleven and used to the hustle and
 bustle of the big city.  I don't think I could fall asleep with out hearing the sound 
of a police siren.  But like the old wise saying goes "life is unfair". 
	I sat in silence through the entire ride to our new home.  I stared out the 
window to get a good look at my new neighborhood.  It was very clean with lots of
 trees and lawns on every house.  So far it wasn't so bad, it even had a really big 
mall. My father stopped the car suddenly and turned around to look at me.  "Makoto, 
were almost there so I want you to close your eyes."  He said with a really 
cheesy smile.  I sighed.  I was in no mood to play his little game, but I decided 
to be a good daughter and go along with it anyway.  I closed my eyes and imagined 
the house being some little tiny shack that had an outhouse for a bathroom.  I 
really hoped it was like that so I wouldn't have to like it.  I was determined 
not to like it. 
	My father parked the car and I felt my heart beating faster and my palms 
started to sweat.  He opened the door on my side and helped me out of the car.  
"Put her over here honey.  That way she can get a really good look."  I heard my
 mother say.  I felt my self being dragged to the spot my mother told my dad to 
put me in.  "No honey, how about over there I think shell get a better impact of
 the house over there."  I felt myself being dragged to yet another spot.  "No, maybe 
we should get a little closer to the house."  I had enough of being dragged around. 
 What difference would it make where I was standing.  I opened my eyes to put an 
end to all of this.  
	I looked up at the house and was speechless.  It was a small white
 Victorian styled house with a big lawn.  It was the most beautiful house that 
I've ever seen.  "It’s so beautiful."  I let myself say.  I turned around and 
hugged my dad.  He picked me up and swung me around.  "I knew you'd like it."  
He said victoriously.  I ran to my mother and gave her a big hug.  "Thank you Mommy."
  My mother had a big smile on her face and almost looked as if she were going to 
cry.  "What are we waiting for.  Let’s go inside!"
	Once inside I ran to the back door to get a good look at the backyard.  
It was huge, even bigger than my apartment in Tokyo.  It even had a gazebo.  I 
sat down on the little white bench and looked up at the clouds in the sky.  I 
remembered the game that that Minako and I use to play back home.  Minako would look
 up at the clouds and say what they looked like.  She was a very silly person who
 could always put me in a good mood.  Even looking at her could make me smile.  She 
had the silkiest long blond hair and ocean blue eyes that always seemed to sparkle.  
She was my bestfriend for as long as I could remember.  We meet the first day of 
Kindergarten and were inseparable ever since.  The day before I left we made a 
pact to always be friends, and I promised her that I would call her the night I 
moved in.

	I missed her.  I missed her a lot.  I didn’t realize I was crying until a 
warm tear ran down my cheek.

Ken:
	I was 12 years old when I first met Makoto.  I was a shy, skinny, 
lanky kid who was often teased for being a mama’s boy.  I had little friends in 
school and was constantly being picked on by bullies.  I guess it was the clothes
 that my mom picked out for me that made them pick me out of the crowd to be there 
punching bag.  Or maybe it was my glasses and the fact that I liked science class
 too much.  What ever it was I was determined to be cool, or at least stop being
picked on.  I remember channel surfing one day and coming across a basketball game. 
 I don't know what it was that made me stick to the channel since I never paid much 
attention to sports before, but I watched it.  
	I watched the way the crowd cheered after number twenty-two made a basket.  
 That’s when it hit me.  If I want to be cool, I should be a basketball player.  
The next day I went to the mall and brought the first basketball that I saw.  My 
mother left my fathers old makeshift basketball court up in the backyard, even though
 he left us two-years ago.  Perfect I thought.  I threw the ball into the basket 
and missed.  I tried again, and I missed again.  I kept trying to make the basket 
but kept missing.  I became so frustrated that I threw the ball over the fence into 
the yard of the empty house next door.  
	That’s when I heard the words I would never forget for the rest of my life. 
 "Who threw that ball at me!"

Makoto:
	I was crying my eyes out thinking of Minako.  I guess that’s why I didn't 
see that ball coming right at me.  It hit me in my head and I fell to the ground.  
The pain in my head almost matched my aching heart.  I stood up and looked around.  
I saw the basketball on the ground and put two and two together.  "Who threw that 
ball at me!" 
 I screamed.  Who ever threw it was going to get it.  I was in no mood to be bothered.  
	"I threw it!"  I heard a squeaky little voice shout over the fence.  I opened
 the fence door and there stood the geekiest kid I had ever seen.  He had blond hair 
and blue eyes just like Minako, but he wore glasses that covered his eyes.  He wore 
Khaki shorts and a blue sweater.  He was what I always imagined a surban kid to be.

Ken: 

The girl on the other side of the fence looked as if she could chew me up and spit 
me out if she wanted to.  She had brown hair and emerald eyes that looked a little 
red, like she was smoking something. She wore a black T-shirt with the letters NIN 
on them, ripped jeans, and dirty white sneakers.  She was the meanest looking girl I 
have ever seen.  "Do I look like a basket!"  She growled.  I felt like running but my 
feet were planted to the ground.  I decided to act like a man for once and not run 
away from the situation.  "My shot was off."  I said with the squeakiest voice I 
ever made.  I was sure that she was about to punch the crap out of me, but instead 
she started crying.  I was shocked, I didn't know that bullies could cry.  She wasn't
 just crying but she was crying uncontrollably.  Her sobs were loud and her body shook.  
I almost felt like crying for her.  I took my hand and wiped away some tears from her 
face. She opened her eyes and looked at me with shock.  I took my hand away from her 
face and thought my hand must have been possessed, because I would have never thought 
of doing something like that.  Bad hand, bad.  
	I was sure she would tell me how grossed out she was because I touched her 
face, but she gave me the biggest and the most beautiful smile I have ever seen.  Her
 eyes even seemed to sparkle.  I felt my face get warm and my head became light.  

Makoto:
	When Ken touched my face, it was as if the pain in my heart was lifted.  I can't
 explain it, it may sound cheesy, but it’s true.  My face put on the cheesiest smile 
it could manage and I felt warm inside.  We introduced ourselves and my mother came 
out the back door into the yard.  She told me to help her unpack and told Ken to come 
over later for dinner with his family.  

Ken:  
	I told my mother about Makoto and our dinner invitation.  She said that she 
was happy that I made a friend. Later that night I met Makoto's parents and we talked
 over dinner.  I learned Makoto would start going to my school on Monday, but she 
would be in a different grade.  My mother told Makoto's family that she and my father
 are from America but moved here after marring then divorced two-years ago.  
	After dinner Makoto took me up to her room.  It was messy with lots of boxes 
filled with stuff all over the floor.  I went into one of her boxes filled with books
 and picked one up.  It was "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok, my favorite book.  "You like 
the Chosen too."  I said enthusiastically.  Makoto smiled "I love the Chosen.  It made 
me cry because it was such a beautiful story of the human spirit."  
"I feel the same exact way.  Did you read the Promise yet." I asked.  "No, not yet.  
I just read the Chosen last week so I haven't had a chance to read the sequel yet."  
She stood on her bed and put a poster on her wall.  It was a poster of Tama Dango, 
the basketball player from the Bears.  "Don't tell me that you love Tama Dango too."
I couldn't believe that we had so much in common.  "Okay, so I won't say anything."  
She said smiling.  "Are you kidding.  Dango is like my idol.  I worship that man, I 
even want to get the number twenty-two tattooed to my butt." Makoto kissed her poster. 
 "That was a bit too much information."  I said while shaking my head.  She jumped off
 her bed and punched me in the arm.  "Its true!"  She hit pretty hard for a girl, but 
I decided to play it cool and act like I was fine.  I was feeling pretty confident so
 I decided to take a long shot and ask her if she liked Star Wars.  I was looking for 
someone to talk to about Star Wars besides my pin pals from conventions.  "Um, do you 
like Star Wars?"  She gave me the strangest look and I regretted asking her.  "I love
 Star Wars!"  I felt my face crack a gigantic smile.  "This is just too weird.  We have 
too much in common.  Its almost like we were destined to meet eachother or something." 
 She said.  I felt my face turn red.  "Yeah, I guess so."  
	That night, we talked about Star Wars, Dango, and Chaim Potok.  I never really
 was able to open up to anyone like I was able to open up to Makoto.  We talked until
 my mother called for me to come home, and that was 2:00 am.  She asked me to go to 
the movies with her the next day.  That night when I went home and laid in my bed, I 
thought of Makoto and feel asleep with a smile on my face.

Makoto:
	
That night I laid in bed and thought about Ken.  I thought of what we talked about and 
the next day when we'll go to the mall.  I thought of how we meet, and how it was just
 like the way Danny and Reuven meet in the chosen.  I thought of how Ken could be a 
friend to me, like Danny was to Reuven.  With that thought, I feel asleep with a smile 
on my face.  I didn't realize that I forgot to call Minako.

**************************************
	
How did you like it, well go on and read the first chapter.  Anyway tell me what you 
think.
Email me at ariel_7_1_7@yahoo.com
Akilah