Hi everbody!  My name is Jendra.  If you like reading standard disclaimers,
feel free to read the following.  If you don't then just read the third one, 
you need the information.  I'd planned to post this Saturday but wasn't able 
to get on the newsgroups until this morning.

Standard Disclaimer #1  I didn't create most of these characters.  I know 
it's a shock but it's true.  They were created by Naoko Takeuchi, and 
copywrited by her, DIC and others I don't know.  I own one character in this
story, I'm sure you can figure out which one.  It would be very hypocritical
of me to say you can't use mine without permission, when I am using theirs.
I would like to know about it though.

Standard Disclaimer #2  This is my first fanfic.  Don't throw it away just
because of that please!  There has always got to be a first fanfic or there
would never be any seconds.  C and C's are most definately welcome at 
Jendra@aol.com.

Standard Disclaimer #3  This is an alternate ending to Sailor Moon R.  I am
one of those unlucky people who only got to watch the NA dubbed.  This picks
up where the NA leaves off.  Although I do know what happened, I am trying
to forget it.  However, last names are Japanese as are royal names.  I like
them better.  BTW, this one has no action.  So sue me.



Sailor Moon Universal

Chapter One:  A new player

"Waah!!  I am going to be so late!  Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

It was another normal day in the Tsukino household.  Less than five minutes 
after the yell that was heard two blocks away, a young girl came running out 
the front door.  She was about fourteen years old, a fairly pretty girl with 
big blue eyes and blonde hair that fell down in two ponytails from balls on 
top of her head.

She tore down the sidewalk, passing slower walking pedestrians with muttered 
apologies.  She turned the corner without losing speed.  

WHAM!  She picked herself up apologizing and was about to continue when she 
noticed who she had bumped into.

"Darien!  I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going.  I suppose you're 
going to turn around and walk away now, aren't you?"  She sighed.

"Actually Serena, I did want to talk to you."  Darien replied.  He was a 
young man about twenty years old, with black hair and blue eyes that looked 
quietly down at the girl in front of him.

"Y..you did?  W..hat about?" *Oh, please let him say that he wants me back.  
Please..please!*  Serena looked up with hope shining clearly in her eyes.

Darien knew what she thought and hated to hurt her even more, but he had no 
choice.  He looked away from her hopeful eyes, not wanting to see the shine 
leave them when she heard what he was going to say.  "With the Four Sisters 
healed, Rubeus hasn't tried anything for awhile, so I am going to take a 
vacation.  I have already gotten permission from work to take as long as I 
want and I am leaving in a couple hours."  Without meaning to he looked into 
her eyes again as he said the last few words.  Her eyes were still shining 
but now they were shining with tears instead of hope.

"H..how" she gulped, trying to hold back tears, "how long will you be gone?"

"I have a month's vacation saved up, I might take all of it."

"Why?" and now her voice was almost quiet "Why are you leaving?  Is it 
because of me?"

"I just have to get away from everything for a while.  It doesn't have 
anything to do with you." he lied with a straight face.  In truth, it had 
everything to do with her and the dreams of her death in the future, but as 
always he couldn't tell her that.  It was his decision and he needed the time
to be sure he was making the right one.

Serena struggled to hold in the tears that were threatening to burst forth.  
She had already learned that crying wouldn't make him change his mind.  
Still, she couldn't stop two tears from trickling down her face.  She brushed
them off quickly and tried to find another way to convince him to stay.  
"What about Reenie?  Are you just going to leave her?  What if Rubeus tries 
to get hold of her again?"

Darien was no longer looking at her.  His eyes had darkened in pain when he 
saw the tears, and he did not want her to see what the thought of leaving was 
doing to him.  "The Sailor Scouts can take care of her until I get back,"  
he announced. "Besides, it would do you good to fight on your own for awhile.
Look, I didn't tell you to debate about it.  I am going and it's final.  I 
don't know when I will be back and I don't even know where I am going.  Just 
tell the others, especially Reenie, good-bye.  I'll see you when I get back." 
Darien turned around and left without another word.  Much longer and he would
be crying as well.  In fact, a lone tear fell from his eye as he thought of 
the girl he was leaving behind.

Serena stood staring after him for a long moment.  This time she didn't try 
to stop the tears that were falling from her eyes.  *Oh Darien, why won't you
tell me what I did that was so wrong?  Why do you feel the need to get away 
from me so badly you're leaving town?*

Serena started running towards school again.  The tears in her eyes made her 
bump into more people than usual, but this time she didn't even notice.

Serena managed to get to school only five minutes late.  She ran into the 
classroom with her eyes still clouded with tears.  She didn't notice the 
cleaning supplies a janitor had left in the corner of the room.  Her foot 
landed on a brush and she lost her balance.  The rest of the class, very 
used to Serena's klutz attacks, braced themselves for the crash.

It didn't come.

Startled, everyone looked toward the back of the class.  Serena was still 
standing, clutching the arms of the new boy who had entered just before her. 
He was as tall as Lita, with golden blond hair that almost touched his 
shoulders.  Even in the boys' uniform, he looked well muscled and almost 
classicaly handsome.  All the girls in class were sighing in envy that Serena
got to be so close to him.

"Thank you" Serena said quietly looking up into eyes as blue as her own.

"You're welcome" the boy answered as he helped her sit down.  "You should be 
more careful."

"Travis is right, Serena"  Miss Haruna said from the front of the classroom. 
"You 'should' be more careful.  You should also be earlier.  You are tardy, 
'again'!  However, I'll let it pass this time because I haven't taken 
attendence yet."

Serena's (and most of the class') mouth dropped open.  Miss Haruna wasn't 
going to give her detention?!  Was there something wrong?

Molly leaned over and whispered "She's got a date tonight."  That explained 
it.

"Now" Miss Haruna announced, "We have a new student today.  Travis will you 
come up and tell us a little about yourself?"

Travis walked to the front of the class.  "My name is Travis Watson.  I am 
fourteen years old and just moved here from Virginia.  I was born here but 
we moved away when I was two.  I am very glad to be here and look forward to 
making new friends and getting good grades."

"Thank you Travis.  I hope you do, as well.  Now it is our habit to give new 
students a guide to show them around the school and explain how things work. 
Who would like to be Travis's guide?"  At Miss Haruna's question, every girl,
except one, and half the boys raised their hands.  "Travis why don't you pick
your guide?"

"Okay, Miss Haruna."  Travis looked around at all the eager faces and 
focused on the one girl who did not have her hand raised.  Serena sat 
quietly, not paying attention.  It was obvious by the look on her face that 
her mind was a million miles away.

"Hi!" Travis said to her.  Serena jumped as she was abruptly brought back to 
earth.  "Serena, isn't it?  Why don't you show me around?"

"I wouldn't be very good company today,"  Serena said, "you should pick 
someone else."

Molly and the other girls gasped in disbelief.  Molly whispered over, "Are 
you crazy?  The guy's a hunk!"

Serena and Travis ignored what was going on around them.  They stared at 
each other for a long moment when Travis suddenly grinned.  "What, my lady?" 
he asked, bowing low.  "After saving you from the terrible brush monster,  I 
get in reward not even a moment of your time?  My heart grieves that one so 
fair could have so little of gratitude."  As he placed his hand over his 
heart, he recieved the applause he was looking for.  Serena laughed out loud 
at his overblown acting and agreed.

"Are you sure Travis?"  Miss Haruna asked.  "Serena is not exactly the best 
student in the world."

"I'm sure she will do fine as a guide.  Unless, of course, you don't wish me 
to choose her?"

"It's your choice.  Please move your desk next to hers for today."  Miss 
Haruna was not exactly overjoyed by Travis's choice, but at least he wouldn't 
be taking away the attention of someone who could actually get some good out 
of the class.  However as the morning passed, Miss Haruna noticed something 
unusual.  Every time Serena started to doze off, or drift into a daydream, 
Travis would gently pull her attention back to the class.  He would ask her 
a question just as she was about to zone out, or occasionally poke her.  
When Serena tried to eat her lunch at ten o'clock, Travis grabbed it and 
pulled it out of her reach.  In fact, with Travis's help, Serena made 
it to lunch not only awake, but attentive as well!

At lunch, Travis gave Serena her lunch bag and left to look around a little 
on his own.  Serena went outside where Amy and Lita were waiting for her.  

"I saw you with that new boy Travis.  He reminds me of..."

"My old boyfriend!"  All three chorus together.

"I noticed that he actually got you to pay attention in class.  I didn't 
think anyone could do that!"  Amy said without looking up from her book.  
"You might actually start to get good grades if he can keep it up."

"Ha Ha Amy.  Very funny."  Serena said through a mouth constantly working at 
her lunch.  "I noticed that even you had your hand raised.  I thought boys 
took your attention away from studying."

Amy blushed lightly.  "He seemed like a good student and I thought we 
could talk of schoolwork.  That's all"

"Well if you want to talk to someone about schoolwork, why don't you talk 
more to Melvin?  He likes schoolwork too."  Serena and Lita laughed at the 
expression on Amy's face.  "Not your idea of a fun date, huh?"

"What are you doing this afternoon?" Amy said, obviously trying to change the
subject.  

"Travis asked me to show him around the town after school and I said I would.
Where do you think I should take him?"

"Trying to make Darien jealous?"  Lita asked laughingly.  She had just been 
making a joke and was very surprised at Serena's reaction.

Serena exploded.  "As if I care what that self-centered jerk thinks!  He 
doesn't want to see me anymore, and I don't want to see him either!"

With that, Serena burst into tears and ran off into the schoolyard.

"There must be something very wrong."  Lita said worriedly "She didn't even 
finish her lunch."

"It's just this break up with Darien.  It's made her even more emotional 
than usual."  Amy replied quietly.  "Just leave her alone right now."

"I hope your right."

WHAM!  For the second time that day Serena slammed into a person while 
running.  For the second time she got up murmuring apologies.  And for the 
second time she looked up to see someone she knew.  This time however the 
blue eyes she looked at were clear and smiling.

"Do you have a reason for running into me all the time or are you just 
trying to get to know me?"  Travis waited for Serena's smile, but this time 
it didn't come.  His smile faded as he saw the tears constantly dripping down
her face.  "Serena, what's wrong?"

"Nothing" she gulped.  "Nothing's wrong."  With that, Serena took off running
once more.  

Travis stared after her for a long moment.  Then he started to follow her.

He found her in a secluded corner of the school yard.  She was curled up 
against a tree, sobbing.  

"Serena" he said softly "is something wrong?"

"I told you nothing is wrong.  Just leave me alone."  The words were 
difficult to understand through the sobbing, but Travis understood what she 
meant to say.  

"Serena, if you tell me about it maybe I can help."  Travis was very worried, 
now.  In just the few hours he had known her, he had found her to be good 
natured and light hearted.  Even taking her lunch hadn't made her mad at him.
Seeing her like this was awful.

"I said 'Leave Me Alone'" she shouted, turning quickly.  She moved so quickly
that Travis barely even saw the hand that zipped toward him.  He certainly 
didn't have enough time to do anything.  

WHAP!!  Serena stared in disbelief at the handprint that had suddenly 
appeared on Travis's cheek.  "Oh, I'm sorry, Travis!  I didn't mean to hit 
you.  I was just angry.  Oh, please don't be mad at me, please.  I didn't 
mean it, really."  WAAH!  This time her crying was her normal wail, not the 
soft sobbing that worried Travis and would have worried any of her friends if
they had heard her.

"It's okay, Serena.  I shouldn't have bothered you when you said you didn't 
want to see anyone.  I just thought that you needed someone to talk to.  I'm 
the one that's sorry."  With that Travis stood up to leave.

"No, Travis, wait.  I guess I do need to talk to someone."

Travis sat down next to her.  "Boyfriend trouble?"

"Yeah.  How did you guess?"  Serena looked up at him.  She wasn't wailing 
anymore, but tears were still running down her cheeks.

"I remember how I felt when Jessica broke up with me.  It felt like 'I' was 
breaking up."  Travis's eyes grew distant as he remembered.  "I didn't want 
to talk to anyone, was mad at everyone, and blamed myself for everything.  
Sound familiar?"

"Very.  See, Darien and I were meant to be.  It was fated, we both knew it 
and we loved each other more than anything else in the world.  At least, I 
thought we both felt it.  We were getting along great, and then..." Serena 
trailed off.

"And then?  What happened?"

"I don't know.  One day I bumped into him and he said we couldn't see each 
other anymore.  He said he just didn't love me anymore." Serena's crying 
grew harder and she barely heard Travis's next question.

"Did he tell you why?"

She turned to him quickly, causing him to flinch back slightly.  He still 
remembered the last time she moved so quickly.  Serena didn't notice.  "No, 
he didn't.  He just said he didn't love me.  And...and every time we meet he 
turns around and walk away, like he doesn't even want to see me.  But..."

"But?"

"But, every time I need him, whenever I'm in trouble, he'll be there.  If 
I'm in danger, he'll be there to save me.  Always."  Serena wasn't looking 
at Travis anymore, her eyes distant as she thought back.  "I know we had 
some problems.  A lot of people thought he was too old for me.  Especially 
my father.  I once introduced Darien as my friend instead of my boyfriend 
because I knew how my father would react.  I was right too.  Daddy doesn't 
think I'm old enough to have a boyfriend my own age, much less one who is 
six years older."

"Six years?"

"Yes, he's twenty.  And no, he isn't to old for me.  Between the two of us, 
age has never mattered."  Serena sat and thought for a long moment before she
started speaking abruptly. "I know I'm immature, and I get bad grades, and 
I'm clumsy, and lazy, and I eat too much."

"Did he tell you that?"

"No, of course not.  I knew he felt it sometimes, I could see it in his 
eyes, he would get annoyed with me, but it was never for long.  He would 
just smile and we would go on.  Raye is the one who keeps telling me about 
it."  Serena was surprised at how easy it was to talk to him.  This was a 
guy she had only met this morning and yet she was telling him things she 
had never told her best friends.

Travis thought for a long moment before he asked his next question.  He too 
was surprised at how easily she was speaking to him. *I guess its true what 
they say about it being easier to speak to someone you don't know.*  "What 
hurts you the most about breaking up with him?"

Serena's pause was even longer than Travis's as she tried to find an answer. 
"I think it's the fact that he never told me why.  One day everything was 
wonderful, the next he couldn't stand to be within sight of me.  And he never
gave me a reason why.  'What did I do?'" she shouted to  the air.  "What did 
I do wrong that made him stop loving me?  Is there something wrong with me?  
Something he only saw after he got close to me?  What did I do?"  By the end 
of this speech she was whispering, caught up in questions she didn't know the 
answer to, she had almost forgotten Travis was even there.  Until he started 
to speak.

"Don't!" his voice was almost harsh as he barked out the word.  Serena looked
up in surprise and stared at his hard face.  "Don't take all the blame on 
yourself.  It's the easiest way I know to fall into depression.  It isn't all 
your fault.  It's not even mostly your fault.  Don't let yourself fall into 
that trap."

"What do you mean?  How is it a trap?"  This didn't make any sense to Serena. 
It had to be her fault, whose else could it be?

"Thinking like that makes you doubt yourself, believe me, I know!  It sounds 
to me like this Darien was being a real jerk."

"Heh!" Serena said, very indignant.  "Only I am allowed to call Darien a 
jerk!"

"Okay, okay"  Travis laughed, happy to see Serena returned to normal.  "One 
last question, alright?"

"What?"  Serena said, still annoyed at the slight to 'her' boyfriend.

"What happened today to make you cry like that?  Is today the day he broke up 
with you?"  Travis cursed himself as he saw her face fall.

"No, he broke up with me a month ago.  Today, he told me he was leaving on a 
vacation.  He says its not because of me but I know he's lying.  He's going 
away because I've been bothering him so much."

Travis just looked at the downcast girl for a long moment.  "Serena" he said 
quietly, "it is not your fault.  Repeat that with me."

"What?"  Serena couldn't believe the way Travis was speaking, as if she were 
a child Reenie's age.

"Come on, say it.  'It is not my fault'."  Serena still looked at him as if 
he was crazy but repeated it.  "It is not my fault.  There!  Happy!"

"When you believe it you will be a lot happier.  Trust me.  Now come on, 
we're going to be late back to class."

"Oh no!"  Serena wailed.

"Now what?"  Travis asked.

"I didn't finish my lunch!  I'm so hungry!  WAAH!"  Serena's wail got softer 
as she ran for her lunch.

"I have the feeling she's back to normal."  Travis chuckled quietly to 
himself as he watched her run.  Then he stopped.  "Hey, I didn't eat either!"

If anyone had been watching, they would have been very surprised.  When 
necessary Travis could eat as fast as Serena!  He could also rival her in 
the amount of food he ate, a feat that it had been declared absolutely 
impossible for a human being to do!

Serena and Travis both rushed to their seats just as the bell rang.  Miss 
Haruna was about to tell Travis to move to another seat because it seemed 
that Serena was a bad influence on him, when she remembered the good 
influence Travis was, and decided to leave it alone.  During the rest of the 
day she was very glad of her restraint as Travis managed to keep Serena's 
attention on the class.

After school, Serena said good-bye to her friends and asked that everyone 
meet at the temple after dinner because there was something she needed to 
tell them.

"You're going to tell us how your afternoon with Travis goes, aren't you?"  
Lita said teasingly.  She was a little apprehensive after the last time she 
teased Serena, but although Serena looked a little sad she came back easily.

"I really doubt you would be interested in the places we go.  I mean you 
already know the interesting places around here.  No, this is kind of 
important though.  Please make sure that Mina and Raye are there as well.  
I'll bring Reenie."

Amy looked at her seriously.  "I notice that you and Reenie are getting 
along better, is there a reason for that?"

"Yes but I'm not going to tell you what it is!  There's Travis, I gotta go. 
Bye!"  And with that Serena ran off.

"Any idea what it's about, Amy?"  Lita asked the genius of the group.

"We'll know after dinner.  Can you tell Mina? I can get Raye, but then I have
to do my homework if we're going to meet after dinner.  I don't want to lose 
any study time."  Lita sighed as she agreed with Amy's plan.  None of the 
others truly understood why Amy, the one girl who could get straight A's even
without studying, felt the need to study more than anyone else in class.

Serena caught up with Travis outside of the school.  "Where did you want to 
go first?" she asked.  "We can go to the arcade, the mall, the skating rink, 
the chess palace, or just look at the highlights."

"Actually, my lady" falling back into his joking mode, "My dearest wish would
be to sit 'neath trees of green, on grass so thick and watch the children 
play."

Serena thought about that for a long moment.  "Do you mean you want to go to 
the park?"

"Indeed, fair one, thou hast found the answer to my every prayer, for I have 
not felt the blessed sun upon my face in far too long.  Is there perhaps a 
placid pool of tranquillity to gaze upon as well?"

"Why do you talk like that?"  Serena asked, exasperated "and if you mean a 
lake, yes there is."

"What you don't like my quasi-formal mode?  I am hurt to the quick!"  Travis 
somehow managed to look dejected even as he smiled.

"It sounds stupid, and it's hard to understand." Serena started walking 
toward the park even as she spoke.

"If you think it's hard to understand, you should try to speak it.  It can 
tie up your tongue faster than anything I know."

"Then why do you speak like that?"

"Because it's fun, of course.  Why else?  Now, you did say there was a park 
with a lake, didn't you?  And we are going to be doing what I want to do 
today, aren't we?"  Travis was looking around as they walked.  Not only did 
he want to know the way to the park, but he wanted to make sure she didn't 
suspect what he was going to do.

"Yes, of course, it is your first day after all."  They had reached the front 
entrance to the park.  It was exactly as Travis had wished, with green grass,
trees, a lake and children playing. 

Travis led the way to one of the picnic tables with a good view.  "What if we
don't get to see everything today?  Will you show me around tomorrow as 
well?"

"I suppose I could.  Now what do you want to do?"  Serena sat down and put 
her bag next to her.  She was not expecting what he did next.

Travis sat down, put down his book bag and got out his homework.  "Well, what 
are you waiting for?  We can't go anywhere else until we do our homework."

"WHAT!"  Serena screeched, causing several kids to look up from where they 
were playing.  "What do you mean homework?  I thought we were going 
sightseeing?"  

"We are going sightseeing.  After we do our homework.  You did promise we 
would do what I want today.  And right now I want to get my homework done, 
so I don't have to do it later."  Travis was grinning inside as he said this.
He figured she hated doing homework and was greatly enjoying her reaction. 

"Look, how about if I go do some things on my own while you're doing your 
homework.  I'll come back in about an hour, okay?"  Serena couldn't believe 
that Travis actually wanted to do 'homework'!  Not only that, but he expected
her to do it too.  Homework was only supposed to be done at the last moment 
and put off forever if possible.  That was her philosophy.

Obviously, it wasn't Travis's.  "No way.  You said 'we' would do whatever I 
wanted today.  That means 'you' have to do your homework too.  Don't worry, 
I'll help you, but we're not leaving here until we are both finished."  
Travis grinned openly at the look on her face.  He didn't really want to do 
his homework, but he was having fun forcing her to do hers.  Besides, 
studying was always more fun if done together.

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"  Serena's voice was resigned.  
"Well let's get it over with."

"Let's start with math."  Travis said as he opened his math book.

"Math?  I hate math.  It never makes any sense.  Like this problem.  
3b + 7 = 28,  I mean, what is b and what are you supposed to do with it?  
Amy tried to explain it to me, but I just can't understand."  Serena sighed 
in disgust while looking at the problem.  She really 'had' tried to 
understand when Amy was explaining it to her.  She was tired of getting bad 
grades all the time.  It just didn't make any sense.

"There are only two things you've got to remember when doing these problems," 
Travis said.  "Number one is to get the letter by itself and number two is 
to always be fair to both sides."

"What does that mean?"  Serena said, still staring at the deadly problem in 
front of her.

"Number one means that your answer will have the letter on one side and a 
number on the other.  Number two means that what ever you do to one side, 
you have to do to the other.  Take this problem.  You have to get the letter 
by itself.  What is the letter?"

"B obviously. Not even I am that dumb."

"Just making sure that you are paying attention.  Now to get the letter by 
itself you have to get rid of the numbers.  Let's start with the seven.  
Looking at the problem, how would you get rid of the seven."

"Throw it away"  at Travis's glare Serena looked at the problem again "Minus 
it?"

"Very good.  Now what is rule Number two?"

"Um...be fair?"

"Very very good.  Now if you are going to subtract seven from the left side 
what do you do to the right side?"  Travis was watching her carefully as he 
asked this question.  He knew she could get the right answer if she believed 
she could, but she was so used to not being able to do it that she didn't try.

"Subtract seven!"  She looked to Travis to make sure she was right and then 
wrote out the problem once more 3b+7-7=28-7.  "Now to do the subtraction.  
Um..seven minus seven is zero, right?"  she looked once more at Travis to 
make sure she was doing it right.  "And twenty-eight minus seven is..um..
twenty-one!"  And she wrote out the new problem 3b=21.  "Now what?"

"What do you think you have to do next?"  When she looked blank, he asked.  
"What is rule number one?"

"Um..Be fair?"  One look at his face made her start thinking again. "Put 
the letter by itself?  So I have to get rid of the three.  I subtract 
it?"  Somehow Serena had the feeling this was not the right answer and that 
feeling was confirmed when she looked at Travis.

"What does a number next to a letter mean?"  Travis asked.  Serena still 
looked totally confused.  "It means multiply.  This actually says three 
times b.  So how do you get rid of a multiplied number?"

Serena thought about it for a long time.  She almost asked him for the 
answer, but one look at his face convinced her that he wouldn't help her 
with this part.  *Okay, think Serena.  If you subtract an added number...
then you're...um...doing the 'opposite'.*  Without thinking she cried out 
"Opposite!"

Travis's smile covered his face.  "Exactly right!  And what is the opposite 
of multiplication?"  *Come on Serena I know you can get it*

Serena didn't even stop to think, she knew.  "Dividing.  You divide 'both 
sides' by three, right?"  At Travis's nod she finished the problem 3b/3=21/3.
b=7.  "So b=7, yes?"

Travis reached over and hugged her.  "I knew you could do it.  Now do the 
next one and remember the rules."

Serena repeated to herself *Get the letter by itself and be fair, I can do 
this.*  She did the next one and yelled out loud when she got it right.  Then
and there she stopped complaining about doing the homework, even English.  
Travis was able to explain it in ways that actually made sense and they 
worked in companiable silence for over an hour.  A silence broken only when 
Serena asked a question or Travis explained a concept.  With Travis's help, 
Serena managed to get all her homework done, and even managed to understand 
many of the concepts that had totally blown her mind.

"How come I could never understand this when Miss Haruna or Amy explained it?"
Serena asked after they had put everything up.

"I don't want to say anything bad about them, but from what I saw today, 
Miss Haruna doesn't really believe you can do it.  You don't either.  With 
that attitude, it's no wonder you couldn't understand.  Amy tends to talk 
over your head, doesn't she?"

"I guess she does.  She doesn't mean to, she just can't help herself.  She 
thinks that way, so of course she talks that way." Serena sighed as she 
thought of her friends and then she brightened.  "Won't they be surprised 
when they find out I've done all my homework already!"

Travis laughed with her.  "I bet you can't wait to see their faces!"  He 
agreed.  "Anyway, now that we've finished our homework, I guess that means 
we need to start sightseeing.  Don't you agree?"

"Great! Let's start with the arcade.  You do like to play video games, don't 
you?"  Her voice made it clear that she felt video games were very important.

"I love them," he agreed truthfully, "bet I can beat you on any one you care 
to play."

"You're on!"

An hour later, they left the arcade.  Serena looked a little down.  "I can 
not believe you won every single game."

"I told you I could beat you.  In fact, I believe I said I 'bet' I could beat
you.  I guess that means I get a forfeit."  Travis grinned.  He seemed to be 
doing that a lot today.

"Wait a minute!  I didn't agree to bet anything."  

"You said, and I qoute 'You're on'.  That sounds like agreeing to a bet to 
me.  And since we didn't specify anything before the games, I get to choose 
what my prize will be."  As he looked at Serena, he could see that she agreed
with his reasoning, but was not at all happy about it.  "So your forfeit will
be having to show me around town every day after school until I've seen all 
the good parts."

"That won't be so hard."  Serena said immediately brightening then dimming 
again.  "Does that mean we'll be doing our homework together every day too?"

"Indeed it does.  Do you really mind?"  Serena thought about it for a moment,
and how well she'd done with his help and shook her head.  "However" Travis 
continued.  "That means that your time after school is mine, not Miss 
Haruna's.  No detention's are allowed, so I'll be by to pick you up at 7:00 
tomorrow morning."  He braced himself for an explosion.  He got one.

"WHAT!  WHAT DID YOU SAY!  7:00!  NO WAY!  THERE IS NO WAY I AM GETTING UP 
THAT EARLY! NO WAY!  DO YOU HEAR ME!"  Serena yelled at the the top of her 
lungs.  She had very loud lungs.  

Andrew came out of the arcade to see where the siren was coming from.  He 
walked up to Travis.  "What did you say to her?"

"I told her I was going to pick her up at 7:00 tomorrow morning."  Andrew 
grinned.  Then Travis spoke again.  "If you're not downstairs by 7:10 I'll 
come up there and pour a gallon of water on you."

Something extraordinary happened.

Serena shut up.

In the silence that followed, all that could be heard was Travis's final 
words.  "I'll see you in the morning.  Don't you need to be home for dinner 
soon?"

That night at the Tsukino house.

"Hey, meatball head, who was that boy I saw you with in the park?  I saw you 
hug him. Is he your new boyfriend?"  The little girl with pink hair and red 
eyes smiled as she spoke these words.  She knew how Serena's father would 
react to them.  

"Boy! You were hugging a boy?  Who is he? And why haven't we met him?  It's 
not that Darren or whatever his name is, was it?  Because he's way too old 
for you!"  Serena's father continued on like this for several minutes before 
Serena could get a word in edgewise.

"His name is Travis Watson, he's the same age I am, today was his first day 
at school and I was his guide.  I was hugging him because after he conned me 
into doing my homework this afternoon, he showed me an easy way to do my math 
and I got one right all by myself.  In fact, I got all my homework done and 
he said that all the ones he checked were right!  And by the way Reenie, why 
were you spying on me?"  Serena sat backed and waited for the information to 
filter through to her family.

Her father "Fourteen, huh?  I suppose that's all right."

Her mother  "You did your homework and got some right?  I'm so proud of you!"

Her brother, Sammy "He must have done all the work if you got one right!"

Reenie "I was not spying on you.  Why would I want to spy on someone like 
you?  You never do anything interesting."

"Daddy, you wouldn't let a strange boy into my bedroom, would you?" This was 
an answer Serena was very interested in hearing.

"Certainly not.  You're not allowed to have a boy in your room until your 
married.  Why would you even ask?"  Mr. Tsukino was a little worried.  He 
knew his daughter was growing up, but he had no intention of letting her 
grow up too fast.

"Because Travis said that he was going to come by to pick me up at 7:00 
tomorrow morning and if I wasn't down by 7:10 he would come up and dump 
water over my head.  But since you won't allow a boy into my bedroom, I don't 
have to worry do I?"  Serena was very pleased with herself for thinking that 
up.  She soon became less pleased.

"He thinks he can wake you up and get you to school on time?  In that case, 
I think I can make an exception for him.  After all he would only be in there
for a few minutes."  Reenie and Sammy burst out laughing at the expression 
on Serena's face.  Even her parents let out restrained chuckles.  Serena 
looked like she had just bitten into a lemon.

"Look at the time.  I've got to get to the temple.  C'mon Reenie, you need 
to be at this meeting, too."  Serena left quickly barely hearing her mother's
"Be back before full dark."

As they walked, Serena asked Reenie how much she had seen, the week before, 
when the four sister's were healed.  "If you're asking if I know that you're 
Sailor Moon, yes I do."

"Bet that surprised you, huh?  Was there anything about it you wanted to ask 
me?"  Serena looked down at the munchkin who walked by her side.  All though 
they had started out as enemies, Serena had always felt a deep liking for the 
child.  Not that she would tell anyone, of course.  

Over the last few weeks, Serena had been adding up the facts about Reenie, 
the answer she came to was a very surprising one.  However the more she 
thought of it, the more she liked it.  Serena looked down once more at the 
child she was almost positive was her daughter.  Everything added up, the 
crescent moon, the family hairdo, even Luna Ball, who looked almost exactly 
like Luna.  Serena had decided not to say anything to anyone until she knew 
for sure, but already she loved the little girl and had started showing that 
love when they were alone.  Reenie, for her part, had found someone who 
understood her, in the older girl.  From the very beginning, she had felt a 
bond with Serena, but she was stubborn too.  Both she and Serena had decided 
not to change anything in front of the others, but when they were alone their
hands would clasp if they weren't paying attention and both would pretend not 
to notice.  It was their secret and they were not yet ready to share it with 
anyone else.

"Why won't you let me have the crystal?"  Reenie finally asked the question 
that had been building inside her for the last few days.  "It's the only 
thing that can save my mother."

"I know sweetheart, but I need it to fight.  If I gave it to you it would 
leave this time defenseless.  It would do your mother no good in the future 
if the present is destroyed."  Serena looked into Reenie's red eyes.  "Do 
you understand what I mean?"

"I guess so.  But how will I save her?  I have to save my mommy!"  Reenie 
started to cry as she thought of the mother she had left behind.  Serena 
pulled her into the shadow of a tree before dropping down and enveloping her 
in a hug.

"Look Reenie.  I promise you this.  Are you listening?"  Reenie nodded her 
head.  "When Rubeus and his evil is defeated, then we will all go with you 
to save your mother, and I'll give her the crystal myself.  Okay Reenie?"  

Reenie's tears dried up as she looked into Serena's eyes and saw that she 
meant every word she said.  "Promise?"

"In the name of the moon, Reenie.  And that is a promise I will never break. 
Now let's get to the temple before we're later than usual."

To be continued...
--------------------

Well, that's the end of it.  I hope you enjoyed it!  If so, tell me!  If not,
tell me why!  See you later!

               Jendra
Hello, again.  This is Jendra at Jendra@aol.com with part 2.  All disclaimers
still apply, except the one about no action.  There is action in this.  C & C
still very, very welcome.  If you want to know what happened in part one, 
read it.  Enjoy!

Sailor Moon Universal

Chapter 2:  Maturing?

Serena and Reenie set off for the temple once more.  Anyone watching would 
have noticed they walked a little closer together.  When they noticed the 
temple getting closer, they moved a little farther apart and grinned at each 
other.

Then it started.

"I still say Travis is your new boyfriend."  Reenie yelled as she suddenly 
raced towards the temple.

"He is not!  Get back here you little spore!  You're supposed to stay with 
me!"  shouted Serena as she chased after her.  

"Serena's got a new boyfriend!  Serena's got a new boyfriend!"  Reenie 
caroled to the other girls gathered in front of the temple.  "I even saw her 
hugging him!"  she announced.

"Come back here you little fungus!  He is not my boyfriend!"  Serena's 
annoyed voice followed soon after.

"Oh is he why you're late this time, Meatball Head?"  Raye asked 
sarcastically. "You called this meeting, the least you could do would be to 
show up on time." 

"I am not late!  I said to meet after dinner and we just got through. So 
there!"  Serena put up her nose and smirked.

Raye didn't hesitate.  "Well if you didn't eat enough to choke a horse, you 
could have been done and ready at the same time as the rest of us."  The 
other girls and two cats sighed.  They knew what was going to happen next.

"WAAH!  Why are you always so mean to me, Raye?  I had a really bad day."  
Serena's wail hit full swing as the cats covered their ears.

"Lower the decibals, Meatball Head!  If you went around hugging strange 
guys, your day couldn't have been that bad.  Of course it would have to be a 
strange guy, the boys that know you certainly wouldn't bother!"

"At least I have a guy to hug.  The only one you have is Chad, and you're 
too stuck up to hug him!"  And Serena stuck out her tongue as she got that 
dig in.

Raye immediately stuck out her tongue too and they got into a silent tongue 
war.  The others sighed once more, they were very used to these happenings.

Reenie decided to break it up.  "She hugged him because he was helping her 
with her homework and she got one right.  In fact, she did all her homework 
and he checked it and said she did it 'all' right."  Reenie laughed at the 
stares she was getting from the others.  She knew how they felt.  Serena 
actually doing her homework 'and' getting it right!  Unbelievable!

"No way!"  Raye yelled, breaking the tongue battle.  "I refuse to believe 
that you actually did your homework."

"It is a little difficult to imagine."  Amy agreed.

"That's wonderful, Serena, maybe your finally growing up."  That was Luna, 
the black cat was so surprised that she forgot Reenie wasn't supposed to 
know about her.

"It would be about time."  Raye commented.

"Raye,"  Mina exclaimed, "if Serena is actually starting to get interested 
in her schoolwork, we should encourage her."

"Guys," was Lita's addition to the conversation "that's all well and good, 
but I want to know what happened with Travis today."

Serena was laughing with Reenie at everyone's expression.  She calmed down 
to explain.  "He conned me into doing it.  It was not my first choice, but 
he's very good at simplifying things so I can understand.  Boy, is Miss 
Haruna gonna be surprised in the morning."

"Yeah, especially since you're gonna be on time for the first time in your 
life.  Get this everyone, Travis is coming by to pick her up and if she's 
not awake he's going to go up and pour water on her.  And Serena's father 
gave his permission."  Reenie gleefully told the others.  Raye, Mina and 
Lita burst into laughter at the thought.

Serena looked annoyed for a moment, then smiled.  "But Reenie, you sleep in 
the same bed as me.  That means you would get wet too."  Even Amy, Luna and 
Artemis couldn't help laughing.  It was obvious Reenie hadn't thought of 
that.

"Enough playing around girls,"  a male voice announced, "Serena must have 
had a reason for calling us together, and it was not to talk about her new 
boyfriend."

Serena's face lost all semblance of mirth.  "You're right Artemis.  I called 
this meeting to talk about my old boyfriend.  He

"Look Meatball Head," Raye interupted, "we're not going to help you get him 
back, so you don't even need to bother to ask.  If that's all, I need to get 
back to work."

"If you would listen, pyro," Serena shot back "you might learn something.  
Like the fact that I would have a hard time winning him back when I can't 
even see him.  He took a vacation, starting this morning and he doesn't know 
when he will be back.  And if you don't think that the fact that Tuxedo Mask 
isn't going to be around for awhile, important Scout business, then I guess 
I don't need to be here and you can get back to work.  Amy, Lita, I'll see 
you in the morning.  Come on, Reenie."

"Wait a minute."  Reenie cried running after Serena, "What did you do to 
him? I know it must be your fault he left.  If you weren't clinging to him 
all the time, he wouldn't have left.  Why couldn't you jus..."  was the last 
thing the people at the temple heard as the two girls left.

Unfortunately, it was not the last thing Serena heard.  Her face just got 
sadder and sadder as Reenie went on and on.  Finally, she did what she 
hadn't done in almost a week, she yelled at Reenie and meant it.  "Enough! I 
don't want to hear anymore about it.  Just go home fungus, I'm sure you're 
old enough to find your way there by yourself."  With that Serena turned 
and ran into the small playground they were just passing.  She turned 
quickly, but not before Reenie saw the tears running down her face.  

"I'm sorry, Serena, I didn't mean to make you cry."  Reenie whispered, then 
her face screwed up and she started running the other way, Luna Ball 
following after her, and tears pouring from her eyes.

"So, all alone little Rabbit?"  a sneering voice called down at her.

"Rubeus!  Ho..how did you find me?"  Reenie's trembling voice was clearly 
heard by the black cat behind her.  Luna had been following her two
charges back from the temple.  She had seen them split up and wanted to 
go to Serena but knew Reenie was the one most likely to get into trouble.  
As she heard Reenie's words, she turned and took off at full speed in the 
other direction.  She knew that the only chance Reenie had was her ability 
to find Serena in time.  She ran back to the playground where they had split 
up and started yelling.  "Serena!  Serena!  Where are you, Serena?"

"What do you want Luna?"  Serena's resigned voice came from the darkness 
beneath the trees.  "I suppose you're going to yell at me for leaving Reenie 
alone, right?"

"There's no time for that!  Rubeus has found Reenie again!"

"Where?"  Serena cried out as she started to run in the direction Luna had 
come from.  She pulled out her locket and yelled "MOON CRYSTAL POWER".  The 
transformation was over almost as fast as it started, but it was still too 
slow for Serena.  She knew it was her fault Reenie was all alone and her run 
got even faster as a bolt of white energy split the heavens.  "Reenie's 
energy!  She must be really scared."  She pulled out her communicator.  
"Everybody, Reenie's in trouble again, transform and get over here."

As she was putting up her communicator, she reached the clearing.  Rubeus 
was still gloating over the helpless child.  "So you think the Sailor Scouts 
will be here to save you, do you?  I really doubt they'll get here in time.  
Well it's time to go."  With that he floated down towards Reenie.

"Hold it right there, Negatrash," a voice called out from the darkness.  "I 
am Sailor Moon, Champion of Justice, and protector of innocents like this 
one.  In the name of the Moon, I Will Punish You!"  And as she spoke the 
last words, she jumped down in front of Reenie and pointed at Rubeus.

"Sailor Moon, you're here!"  Reenie cried as she ducked behind her savior.

"Of course I'm here.  I promised I always would be" she smiled as she spoke 
to the munchkin, then her voice got hard as she turned toward Rubeus.  "Why 
don't you just give it up?" she asked.  'The Sailor Scouts will never allow 
you to get your hands on her, and your assistants have returned to the side 
of good!  You're all alone, so just give up."

"Never!  I will never give up.  The Wiseman has entrusted the capture of the 
Rabbit to me and I will 'not' fail!"  Rubeus didn't notice Sailor Moon reach 
for her tiara and whisper the words "MOON TIARA"  Unfortunately before she 
finished, "Droid Robotica, come forth!"  As the Droid stepped forward, 
Rubeus laughed "Destroy this pathetic Sailor Scout and bring the Rabbit to 
me!"  With that Rubeus teleported back to his ship, hanging cloaked in the 
night sky and watched through a viewing portal.  

Sailor Moon changed her target as Rubeus left.  "MAGIC" she cried as the 
magical discus flew towards the unsuspecting droid.  Robotica seemed to be 
living metal.  Covered in a dull silver sheen, she looked extremely powerful.
An impression that was increased when red laser beams shot from her eyes, 
impacting the tiara in midflight and destroying it.

"Is that the best you can do?"  her cold voice asked unemotionally.  She 
started walking towards the two girls.

Sailor Moon stared in disbelief.  She was about to start running when she 
heard a sniffle behind her.  Her resolve firmed, but wavered as she saw 
Robotica's eyes turning in her direction.  She grabbed Reenie and threw them 
both in the opposite direction as the laser beams that had targeted them 
blew up the tree behind their last position.

Reenie looked up at Sailor Moon from where they lay in the dirt.  "Sailor 
Moon, your tiara is back," she said happily.

"Yeah, it always comes back," Sailor Moon fell silent as she rolled them to 
another position.  "I wonder...Reenie will you do me a favor?"  Reenie's 
earnest nod was all the answer she needed.  "I'm going to throw my tiara 
again.  As soon as I take it off, start counting.  I need to know how long 
it is until it reappears.  Can you do that?"

Reenie waited until they moved once more, the lasers impacting behind them.  
"Of course I can, I won't let you down!"

Sailor Moon reached for her tiara again.  "MOON TIARA MAGIC"  Halfway to the 
droid it was destroyed.  "How long Reenie?"  Saior Moon asked, conscious 
that she had not heard the little girl count.

Reenie gulped, "None, it never left your head!"

Sailor Moon stared down at Reenie, so shocked that they almost got hit by a 
laser beam, before she snapped out of it.  "So, I wonder how many it can 
hit."  Then she started throwing. "MOON TIARA MAGIC"  "MOON TIARA MAGIC"  
"MOON TIARA MAGIC"  disk after disk raced towards the droid.  It hit the 
first four but the fifth one got through, slicing its arm, the eighth one 
impacted its body and weakened it a little.  However, after ten attacks in 
a row, Sailor Moon didn't have the energy left to form another one.  The 
droid sensed this and started towards the helpless girls.  Sailor Moon did 
the only thing she could think of, she threw herself over Reenie and wailed. 
The droid stepped closer, "The Rabbit is mine.  The master will be pleased."

"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND"  came from the darkness.  "JUPITER 
THUNDERCLAP ZAP"  followed immediately.  The voices were almost lost in the
roar as a stream of fire and a disk of lightning impacted the droid.

"Finish it Sailor Moon"  Mars cried out "What are you waiting for?"

"Right!"  Sailor Moon answered getting unsteadily to her feet. *I hope I 
have enough energy to do this* she thought hazily as she pulled out her 
scepter.  "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION"  and she sent the last of her energy 
at the droid. It collapsed into a pile of dust.  

"You saved me, Sailor Moon, thank you"  Reenie said as Sailor Moon quickly 
sat down in exhaustion.

"Thank 'you' Reenie for your help."  She looked away.  "I'm sorry I left you 
alone.  I

"You left her 'alone'! How could you?"  Mars' voice cut through their 
conversation like a knife.  "I thought even an airhead like you could be 
trusted to do something as simple as walking her home!"

"Yes, Sailor Moon," Sailor Mercury agreed, "that was very irresponsible of 
you."

"We did kind of expect better than that, Sailor Moon.  You knew that Rubeus 
was still after Reenie, why did you leave her alone?"  Sailor Jupiter said.  
That hurt a lot worse than Sailor Mars' words.  Jupiter was one of the 
people that could usually be counted on to back Sailor Moon no matter what.

"Look guys, give her a chance to explain, maybe she did have a good reason," 
Sailor Venus didn't really believe it, she knew their leader as well as the 
rest of them, but felt that somebody had to defuse the situation.  She got 
some unexpected help.

"Yes Sailor Moon, it was very irresponsible,"  Luna's voice was closely 
followed by her appearance.  "But, I would like to congratulate you.  You 
actually concieved and carried out a plan!"  To the other Scouts.  "She 
figured out that she could have more than one tiara in the air at a time.  
She sent so many at the droid that it couldn't compensate and several got 
through to hurt it."  The other Scouts looked on in disbelief.

"Very good, Sailor Moon, maybe you are maturing a little."  Mercury said.

"Not bad, Meatball Head, but maybe if you weren't so lazy you could have 
done some actual damage."  Mars' voice was still sarcastic.  "Look at you 
sitting on the ground like that.  Why don't you get up?  Your mother is 
going to be wondering where you are."

"Why are you always so mean to me?  You try thirteen full strength attacks 
in two minutes and we'll see how tired you are.  And it wasn't such a great 
plan Luna, it failed didn't it?"  Sailor Moon powered down and started 
stumbling home.

"Yeah, why are you always so mean to her?"  Reenie asked.  "She saved me 
again and it was my fault she left.  I didn't mean to hurt her like that,"  
she announced to the others as she ran to catch up to Serena.

"Maybe we were a little hard on her." Mercury agreed.  "I'm going to 
apologize in the morning."

"Me too," Jupiter agreed.  "Besides, I want to know if Travis can actually 
get her up on time!"  Everyone laughed as they split up to go home.

In a ship, orbiting above Tokyo, Rubeus watched as the scouts left the range 
of his vision.  He turned from the mirror where he had been watching the 
fight.  "So Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts don't always get along, huh?  
I wonder if that can be used to my advantage.  Tuxedo Mask didn't show up, 
either."  He turned to a summoning portal.  "Master" he called.  Soon a man 
dressed in a dark robe that covered all of him except the skeletal hands 
holding a globe appeared.

"What is it Rubeus?  Dare I hope you have captured the princess, or at least 
a crystal point."  The Wiseman's voice was deeper than what would be expected
from a person his seeming age.

"Unfortunately not, Wiseman.  I but called to tell you that your plan seems 
to be working.  Tuxedo Mask did not show up for the fight tonight.  Those 
dreams you have been sending him must have worked."

"Don't suppose.  If he doesn't show up within the next week, then you can 
suppose.  I am very happy that it seems to be working, however, that is not 
a good enough reason to summon me."  The Wiseman's eyes seemed to glow from 
beneath the hood.  "It is important that I am not distracted from the fight 
in the future."

"Indeed, Master, I did have another reason."  Rubeus's voice grew slightly 
afraid, he did not like asking favors.  "Watching the Scouts after they 
defeated my droid, I noticed that they seemed to fight often with Sailor 
Moon.  In fact, they were questioning her leadership ability.  I was 
wondering if you could place dreams in their minds that would make them 
doubt her even more.  If we could break up the Sailor Scouts they would be 
easily defeated."

The Wiseman seemed to think for a long moment.  "It sounds like a good plan. 
And it would not take much power."  He thought some more.  "Very well, it  
will take me about a week to craft the dreams.  Have a droid ready, a week 
from today, and I will give them the dreams as they fight.  I hope they 
dream well for the next few days.  Their dreams after that will certainly 
not be." Rubeus and the Wiseman laughed at the thought.  The Wiseman faded 
away until all that was left was the echo of his evil laughter.


The next morning at the Tsukino house

DING DONG!  The front doorbell rang at exactly seven o'clock.  Mrs. Tsukino 
opened the door.  Standing on the doorstep was a young man.  "Well, hello, 
you must be Travis." she said smiling.  "Serena said you would be coming by 
this morning, why don't you come in and I'll see if she's awake."

Travis smiled back at Serena's mother.  "Try telling her I decided to add 
some ice cubes to the water, just in case," he said grinning.  "That will 
probably get her up!"

"It might, indeed."  Mrs. Tsukino agreed.  She could tell that she would 
like this boy, even though she was a little surprised at how well he seemed 
to know her daughter.  She seated him on the couch as she went upstairs.  

Mr. Tsukino came into the room.  "So you're the young man who actually got 
my daughter to do her homework, hmm?  Why did you want her up so early?"

"Well sir," Travis said, with no hint of his usual joking manner, "I bet 
Serena that I could beat her on any game she chose at the arcade.  I won, 
and her forfeit is that she has to show me around town every afternoon this 
week. So I told her that her time was mine and not Miss Haruna's and I would 
be by to make sure she didn't have detention."

"Do you like my daughter, Travis?"  Mr. Tsukino asked, still serious, 
although he had smiled at Travis's explanation.

"She's a very nice girl and fun to be with,"  Travis answered carefully.  
"She's my first new friend in this town and at the moment I need 'friends'." 
He stressed the last word carefully and Mr. Tsukino understood.

"Yes," he agreed, "friends are always a nice thing to have."

From upstairs a voice was heard, it was a voice that had very rarely, if 
ever, been heard at this time of the morning. "ICE!  I'm up, I'm up!"

Five minutes later Serena came downstairs.  She glared at Travis.  "Are you 
happy now?  I'm up."  She stomped into the kitchen. 

"Hey," he answered, "think of it this way, at least you have time for 
breakfast."

"That's right, Serena" her mother calmly said "now sit down before it gets 
cold.  Travis would you like something to eat?"

"I don't want to impose."  Travis said declining.  Unfortunately his gesture 
was negated when his stomach grumbled.  Loudly.

"It won't be any imposition."  Serena's mother answered.  "It sounds like 
you need some food in you, didn't you eat before you came over here?"

"Um, no"  Travis mumbled "Ikndforslt"

"What was that,"  Serena's mother asked. "I couldn't quite hear you."

"I said, I kind of overslept."  Serena burst out laughing, spraying food 
over half the table.

"Serena please don't laugh with your mouth full."  Mrs. Tsukino corrected as 
she placed a plate full of food in front of Travis.  "I understand you just 
moved here, Travis, where from?"

Travis waited until he swallowed before answering.  "I lived in Virginia 
from the time I was two, but I was born here."

"Why did you move back?"  Travis was quiet for several seconds.

"My parents died in a terrorist attack in Iran and my new guardian lives 
here."

"Oh, I'm sorry Travis, I didn't mean to bring back bad memories."  Serena's 
mother looked embarrassed at having asked so sensative a question.

"Actually, I barely knew my parents, I was raised by the staff until I was 
five and then I went to boarding schools."  Travis hurriedly stuffed more 
food into his mouth.

"Boarding schools!  And so young too.  I guess you're parents were very busy 
people."  It was almost a question, but not quite, leaving it entirely up to 
Travis whether to answer or not.

"Father was a diplomat, he went all over the world.  However, it was made 
very clear to me when I was younger that even if they had lived in the U.S. 
I would still have been in the boarding schools."  At the expression on 
Travis's face, Mrs. Tsukino decided to stop asking questions.  Serena was 
not that sensitive.

"Why?"  Serena asked after swallowing her food.  Her mother tried to hush 
her but it was too late.

"Several reasons, I think."  Travis answered quietly, forgetting his 
breakfast for a moment.  "Number one, I'm adopted and they never let me 
forget that the only reason they adopted me was because Father needed an 
heir.  They said I should be thankful that they had taken me in and not to 
expect anything except a home and name from them, but that that should be 
enough for anyone."  He looked at his watch.  "We need to leave soon if we 
want to be at school on time," he said to Serena.

They both gave their attention to their food, and the rest of the family 
looked on in disbelief at the amount of food they could eat in five minutes. 
Sammy commented on it, "He can eat as much as Serena."

As they finished, Travis said "Go get your homework, Serena then we can go."

"Homework?  Where did I put my homework?  I've got to go look for it."  With 
that Serena ran upstairs and the sounds of a room being torn apart could be 
heard.  Travis shook his head and dropped it into his hands.  

Mrs. Tsukino laughed as she looked at Travis.  He looked like a picture of 
dejection.  "You get used to this if you spend much more time with her.  Be 
proud, you may not get her to school in time, but you 'were' able to get her 
to do her homework and wake up.  No one else has ever managed that much."  
Her voice got serious again, "I'm sorry she asked you to talk about your 
past.  She can be a little insensitive at times."

Travis smiled at Serena's mother.  "If I hadn't wanted to answer, I wouldn't 
have." he answered.  "Besides she talked about herself yesterday, it's only 
right I do the same.  I'll tell you the rest tomorrow morning, okay?"  

Just then Serena ran down the stairs with her homework clasped in her hands. 
She grabbed her lunch and Travis's hand as she ran through the kitchen.  
"ThanksforthedeliciousbreakfastMom.Gottogoorwe'llbelate."  And they ran out 
the door and down the street.


-------------------------
That's all for now.  What will the dreams be and will they work?  Find out in
chapter 3 Dreams and Disclosures

Talk to me people, what do you think?  Especially about the fighting, I know
it needs some work.  Help me out here.  E-mail suggestions to Jendra@aol.com

Hello all!  And welcome back to Sailor Moon Universal.  If you want to read 
the standard disclaimers that go with this chapter, read Chapter One.  If you
want to know what happened before, read Chapters One and Two.  If you want to
understand what is going on, read all the chapters, including the ones that I
haven't written yet.  And if you want to tell me what you think, then E-mail
me at Jendra@aol.com


Sailor Moon Universal

Chapter 3  Dreams and Disclosures


The week following Travis's arrival was relatively quiet.  Relatively.


"I suppose it's too much to hope you have your homework, Serena."  Miss 
Haruna said without paying too much attention as she passed her.

"Here it is Miss Haruna!"  Serena grinned as she turned in the papers it had 
taken her so long to find that morning.

"Very good, Serena!  And I noticed you were on time this morning, I hope 
your habits are improving!"  Miss Haruna started muttering to herself as she 
turned away *Serena being on time 'and' doing her homework?  The world must 
be coming to an end.*

                         *
"Hi guys"  Serena called out as she dragged Travis up the steps of the 
temple.  

"About time you showed up, Meatball head." Raye called from the steps.  "I 
didn't think even a new boyfriend could get you here in time."

"Travis, you've met Amy and Lita, these are the rest of my friends, the 
blonde is Mina and the sarcastic one is Raye."  She walked up to Raye as she 
spoke "And he is NOT my boyfriend!"  She shouted into her face.

"Okay, okay, sheesh" Raye muttered.  "You sure spend enough time with him."

"Mreow"  came commandingly from the white cat on Mina's shoulder.

"Oh, yeah" Serena said, "he's Artemis."

"One question, Travis" Mina asked winningly "Would you really pour water on 
her?"  Everyone listened intently for an answer.

"Of course!  I must do all in my power to save her from the dreaded 
detention."  Travis announced in ringing tones.

"Not again," Serena sighed.

"I'm surprised you'd want to spend so much time with the hyena, here."  Raye 
said.

"Hyena?  You dare to denounce the fair lady's honor by describing her as 
such an uncouth beast?  En garde!"  He picked up a branch and waved it 
around like a sword.  Everyone laughed.

                         *
"No Serena," Travis said patiently, "Canada is not a state in the United 
States its an entirely different country.  Look, try to remember it this 
way."

                         *
"Hello Mrs. Tsukino, is Serena up?"  Travis asked as he walked in the door.  
Early morning breakfasts at Serena's house had become common.

"I'm afraid I wasn't able to get her up this morning, Travis."  Mrs. Tsukino 
said as she walked in from the kitchen.  She was interested to see if Travis 
would do as he had threatened.

"Do you have a pitcher?"  Travis asked grinning.  She grinned as well as she 
handed it to him and showed him Serena's room.  Mr. Tsukino added his grin 
to the group as he saw Travis outside his daughter's door with a pitcher of 
water.  Travis went in.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
KKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

"YYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW
WWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!" 

"Sorry, Luna, I didn't see you there."

                    *
"Actually they needed an heir to get money from my grandfather's will.  Most 
people weren't aware that they weren't my real parents."  Travis announced 
to the Tsukino's at breakfast.  "Time to go Serena.  Do you have your 
homework?"

"It's right here."  Serena announced as she gulped down one last piece of 
toast and they left.

"Your mother seems to get a little uptight whenever I talk about being 
adopted.  Do you know why?"  Travis asked as they walked to school.

"She's probably afraid I'll figure out that I'm adopted.  She's never said a 
word about it, so I think she doesn't want me to know.  Of course I've known 
since I did a family tree in third grade."  She smiled at Travis, "It 
doesn't take a genius to realize it is not possible for there to be a blond 
in the family when there hasn't ever been one before."

"You could be a mutation." 

Serena stuck out her tongue at him.  "I found my adoption papers two years 
ago when I was searching for my birthday present."

"It doesn't bother you?"  Travis asked seriously.

Serena answered just as seriously.  "Families are made of love, Travis, my 
family loves me.  Nothing else matters."  Then she spoiled her suddenly 
mature pose by giggling "Besides as long as the others don't know, I get to 
be the only one with a normal family."

                         *
"WHOA!  What a cool house!  And you live here all alone!"  Serena stared in 
awe at the mansion that stood in front of her.

"Most of the time, when my guardian is out of the country.  He trusts me."  
Travis fell back into his joking mode.  "Follow, fair lady as I show you my 
humble abode."

                         *
HA HA HA HA HA HA HEE HEE HOHHOHOHO!  Travis shook his head.  *Now I know 
why Raye called her a hyena, she does laugh like one.  Reminder to self, 
next time hide the comics.*

                         *
"What is that?"  Serena screeched.  She ducked behind Travis as a large 
falcon dropped down onto his upheld wrist.

"This?  This is a golden falcon.  He's my guardian's.  His name is Apollo."
Travis looked at the cowering girl.  "Don't be such a baby, he's not going 
to hurt you.  Just...don't tell anyone about him, okay?  I don't think its 
quite legal to have one of these."  However it was obvious that Serena had 
already forgotten about the falcon.  

"How come you always call him your guardian, instead of by his name?"  
Serena asked quizically.  "I don't think I've ever heard his name, isn't 
that weird?"

"I just didn't think it was important."  *Besides I didn't want you to get 
into another wailing fit*  Travis took a deep breath, threw Apollo into the 
air, shot a warning glance at Luna, who was trying her best to stay out of 
the falcon's eyesight (having heard that falcons had been known to eat 
kittens) and said it.  "His name is Darien Jacobson."

"Darien?  WHHAAAAAAAAHHHHH  I miss my Darien!  When is he coming home?"  
Serena immediately started crying when she heard the name.  Apollo, who had 
been circling, screeched and flew straight away from the awful noise.  
Travis had covered his ears even as he said the name.  After only a couple 
days, he knew the response he would get if anything reminded her of her ex.

                         *
"Hi Reenie,"  Travis said as he saw the distinctive pink hair and floating 
ball of the child in front of him.  "I thought you weren't supposed to be by 
yourself."  Several times over the past week, Serena had been required to 
watch Reenie and Travis knew of her fear of letting Reenie be alone, 
although he had never gotten the exact reason from her.  

"Hi Travis,"  Reenie replied, the two had become friends over the early 
morning breakfasts.  "I thought 'you' weren't supposed to be by yourself, 
from the amount of time you spend with Serena." 

"Serena had a meeting with the other girls this afternoon.  Do you want to 
do something?"  Travis slowed down so the little girl didn't have any 
trouble keeping up.  "There's that ice cream place just down this hill, you 
do like ice cream, don't you?  Besides, then you can brag to Serena that you 
got me to buy it for you.  I'll bet she would be jealous."

"Yeah! Let's!"  Reenie didn't hesitate as she skipped along next to Travis.  
She knew Serena trusted him, and for once Reenie agreed with her.

                         *
"91!!!!  I got a 91!  YAHOOOO!"  Serena threw her arms around Travis.  
"Thank you! Thank you!  I couldn't have done it without you!  YES!!  I can't 
wait to show this to mom."

"I know you're glad of the grade, Serena and it 'should' make you proud, but 
please save the shouting until you get out of school."  Miss Haruna said 
just as the last bell sounded.  She sat down quickly once the students left 
the classroom.  She couldn't believe it either.  She had checked the test 
three times and seperated Serena and Travis before the test.  *I was right 
on Tuesday! Serena was on time every day this week, had her homework and it 
was right, 'and' got a B on a test.  The world 'is' coming to an end!*


Sunday Afternoon  A space ship above Tokyo

"Rubeus" a voice called from the darkness. 

"Yes Wiseman?" a second voice answered as Rubeus turned from the portal he 
had been watching.  

"I have the dreams ready, send down your droid." The Wiseman chuckled as he 
waved his hands above his ever present crystal ball.  Things had been going 
well in the future, the protectors of the Crystal Palace were losing energy, 
they wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.  Even if this didn't destroy 
them in this time.

"Droid Hurrica,"  Rubeus called forth a new droid.  "Go down to Earth and 
destroy the Sailor Scouts."

"Yes Master," a breathy voice answered as the blue skinned droid turned into 
a miniture tornado and flew into the middle of downtown Tokyo.  "We can 
watch from this viewing portal."  Rubeus said moving to one of the archways 
that looked down on Tokyo.


Raye and Mina were window shopping.  "Good thing Serena isn't here,"  Mina 
said passing a chocolate store.  "We would never get her out of there."

"Ain't that the truth," Raye agreed, "Where is she anyway?  Still in bed 
trying to sleep off a week of getting up early?  I would've thought you'd 
ask her to join us."

"I did,"  Mina announced, "when I saw her at '8:30' this morning.  You know 
we should give Travis a medal, he had actually talked her into going jogging 
this morning!"

"I think she's spending way too much time with Travis.  For a girl who's 
sure she can't live without her 'one true love' she sure didn't waste any 
time finding a new guy!"  Raye's sarcasm covered over a true feeling of 
betrayel. She had given Darien up to Serena because she knew that they were 
meant to be together.  To see her with another boy after 'that' anguish was 
a little much.

"They do seem to be together an awful lot, don't they?  In fact she's going 
over to his house this afternoon, that's why she's not with us.  I did hear 
something interesting about him, though.  Wanna hear it?"  Mina looked at 
Raye out of the corner of her eye.  Although Raye pretended to be above such 
things because she was a priestess, Mina knew Raye was almost as big a 
gossip as her and Lita.

"What could be interesting about him?"  Raye asked grumpily.  "Is he 
incredibly rich or something?"

"Actually, yes he is, he lives in one of those mansions on the hill and he 
lives there practically alone.  But that's not the interesting thing."  Mina 
was smiling to herself.  She was going to make Raye beg for this tidbit.

"What else could possibly be interesting about him?  Let me guess, he has a 
girlfriend he hasn't told Serena about and she's going to get her heart 
broken again?"  

Mina looked sharply at Raye, it sounded like Raye almost hoped for that to 
happen.  *Nah, couldn't be.  She was just being sarcastic like usual.*  "I 
heard, from a very reliable source, that when Travis eats at the Tsukino 
house, he eats as much 'and' as fast as Serena!"

"You're kidding! That's not possi.." Raye was stopped by sounds of screaming 
from around the corner.  "This sounds bad, we'd better check it out."  The 
two girls peeked around the corner.  "Another droid, oh well, we've had a 
week without one, I was actually getting a little bored.  I was afraid 
Rubeus had given up.  You'd better call the others, I'm going to give this 
Negatrash a piece of my mind."

"MARS STAR POWER"

"Wait up, Mars!" Mina exclaimed as she pushed the 'all call' on her 
communicator.  "There's a droid attacking downtown, me and Mars are already 
here and will hold it until you get here."  She pulls out her transformation 
wand.  "VENUS STAR POWER"


In a house on a hill, Serena looked in disgust at her watch as it beeped.  
She had been in the middle of an excellent video game, and the beeping had 
made her die.  She sighed.

"What's that, Serena?  Did you have something to do that you forgot about?"  
Travis asked interested.  If her watch alarm could always get her attention 
like that why didn't she use it more often?

"Um...yeah!  Something I forgot, you know my memory.  It's very important, I 
got to go.  Look I'll see you in the morning alright." Serena babbled as she 
ran out the door.

Travis looked after her for a moment, then saw Serena's books sitting next 
to him on the couch, they'd planned to do some studying later.  *I'd better 
get these to her or she'll use not having them as an excuse for getting a 
bad grade.*  He set off after her.

He reached the front door in time to see her look around carefully.  
Surprised by this, he watched from the window as she looked around once more 
and raised her hand to her face.  *She seems to be talking to her wrist?  I 
know she's weird but this goes a little far.*  Then he just stared in shock 
as he heard the last words she spoke.

"I'll be right there.  MOON CRYSTAL POWER"  Travis stared in utter disbelief 
as the transformation overtook her.  Where Serena had stood was now a girl 
dressed in a shorter version of her normal school uniform, but this was no 
ordinary girl.  Even in America, Travis had heard of the Sailor Scouts.  He 
was an avid fan, collecting all the information on them he could, and the 
idea that clumsy, forgetful Serena! was Sailor Moon was impossible to 
believe.

As Sailor Moon ran out the front gate, Travis followed.  He didn't plan to, 
he hadn't even thought about it, but his brain had been knocked for a loop 
with the new information and his body took over and ran after the receding 
Scout.

Travis heard the sounds of battle coming from in front of him.  Sailor Moon 
had just blasted around the corner full speed, but Travis had regained 
control of himself by this time and stopped at the corner to peek around it. 
After looking at the destruction that had already been caused, he was very 
glad he did.  The other Sailor Scouts were already there; faced off against 
a weird monster with blue skin, white hair and no legs.  Where her legs 
should be there was a twister.  As he watched, a blast of air came from her 
hands and hit Sailor Mars.

"Mars!"  Sailor Moon cried out.  "You're going to pay for that, Nega-slime!  
I am Sailor Moon, Champion of Justice!  For disturbing people and ruining 
shopping trips, I will punish you!"  She stood there thinking for a moment 
"Oh, yeah, I knew I had forgotten something.  In the name of the Moon I will 
right wrongs and triumph over evil.  And that means you."

Travis dropped his head into his hands, the Scouts weren't much better.  
"About time you showed up, Sailor Moon!  What took you so long?"  Travis 
looked up sharply at that, he knew that voice, had heard it say almost those 
exact same words before.  *Raye!  Sailor Mars has 'got' to be Raye!  Nobody 
else talks to Serena like that.  Then the others must be, yep there's Amy as 
Mercury, Lita is Jupiter I should have guessed, and that leaves Mina as 
Venus. I 'cannot' believe this.*  He sat back to watch the action.

"MERCURY ICE STORM SPLASH"  Mercury called out, power coming from her hands 
in a visible wave of cold.  The droid started spinning faster, creating a 
wall of wind in front of her, the ice storm hit Hurrica's wind wall and left, 
faster than it came, heading straight at Sailor Moon.  When the cold hit 
her, she was thrown backwards, her skin turning almost as blue as the 
droid's from cold.  "Oh, Sailor Moon, I'm so sorry!"  Mercury cried out as 
she ran over to her frozen friend.

"You're gonna pay for that, monster."  Sailor Mars yelled at the droid, 
"Let's see how you deal with fire!  MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND"  she 
shouted and circles of fire headed straight for the droid.  Unfortunately, 
the droid had no more trouble with fire than she did with ice.  In a repeat 
of her earlier move, the wind wall came up and the fires were deflected ... 
at Sailor Moon!  Mars desperately tried to call back her flames as they 
arced towards her leader.  To no avail.  Sailor Moon's screams attested to 
that.

Mercury pulled Sailor Moon behind a collection of garbage cans as she 
desperately tried to find out how much damage had been done.  She was very 
surprised at what she discovered.  The two attacks had pretty much canceled 
each other out!  The ice attack had not had enough time to really freeze her 
before the fire had thawed her out, and the ice in her system kept the fire 
from doing much damage.  Although she was in a lot of pain, it was nothing 
dangerous!  Sailor Mercury sighed in relief.

"Mercury, how is she?"  Sailor Jupiter called out as soon as she reappeared. 
Behind the corner, Travis waited as breathlessly for the report as the 
Scouts did.  It had been all he could do not to go running to try to save 
her when he saw her attacked.  He would have gone to her, if he didn't know 
that all he could do would be to distract the Scouts at a time when they 
needed all their attention on the enemy.  He drooped in relief as he heard 
Amy's answer.

"She'll be fine.  The two attacks reacted favorably with each other and 
cancelled each other out."  Sailor Mercury came forward as she spoke, her 
computer and visor working to find a weak spot in this monster before anyone 
else got hurt.  "Sailor Venus, try your attack at her, you're attack is 
solid so the wind wall shouldn't be able to stop it.  I would suggest, 
however, that everyone else get ready to jump, just in case."

"All right.  VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE"  The chain was caught up in the wind 
wall, but instead of shooting back out just circled the droid.  When the 
droid dropped the wall the chain collapsed inward, catching her and dropping 
her to the ground.

"Now!" Jupiter cried using her own technique before Hurrica could recover.  
"JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP" was quickly joined by "MERCURY ICE STORM SPLASH" 
and "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND."  The three attacks hit the droid one 
right after the other.

"No," the droid screamed, "you can't kill me!"  She tried to get her wind 
powers back up but before she could "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION" and a beam of 
light turned her into dust.

"Sailor Moon, are you okay?" Sailor Mars's voice was uncharacteristically 
worried, but Sailor Moon didn't notice.  

"Yes, I am, no thanks to you!  I know you don't like me much, 'pyro', but 
you didn't have to fry me!"  Sailor Moon turned around and walked away 
wailing.  

"Huh, try to be nice and what does she do?"  Sailor Mars muttered, turning 
back to the others.  "Aren't we supposed to be shopping?  Let's get to it."

"I wonder why the droid was here,"  Mercury muttered to herself.

"What did you say, Mercury?"  Jupiter asked as she seperated from Mars and 
Venus, who were trying to find somewhere to detransform without anyone 
seeing them.  

"I said, why did that droid attack like this.  It wasn't after energy, it 
wasn't after a particular place, and it wasn't after Reenie.  It doesn't 
make any sense."  Mercury still had her computer out trying to scan 
'something' that would make the attack make sense.

"Who cares why it was here.  As Sailor Moon would say, it's moondust, so 
why worry?"  Sailor Jupiter pulled Mercury away from the scene as more 
people came out of hiding.  "We need to get out of here before people start 
asking questions.  Let's go."


In the floating spaceship

The Wiseman was staring through the viewing portal in disgust.  "Blast!  
Sailor Moon wasn't in sight for long enough to me to get a fix on her.  The 
others will start dreaming tonight.  It should be enough."  He turned to 
Rubeus.  "Hit them and keep hitting them, I want them more on edge and 
paranoid.  The dreams will turn them against Sailor Moon, so try to put her 
in situations that put her in a bad light."

"As you will, Wiseman."  Rubeus bowed as the Wiseman disappeared back into 
his own time.  "I think I will give it a few days for the dream to get 
settled in and so I can call forth enough droids when the time is right."


Back on Earth

Sailor Moon turned the corner, fuming over Mars's incompetence, then stopped 
dead in her tracks.  "Hi, Tr...I mean is there something I can do for you, 
sir?"  she stammers.

"Hi, Serena, you left your books at my house, so I thought I would just 
return them."  Travis's grin looked like it would split his face, while 
Sailor Moon just looked totally shocked.  

"Serena?  I don't know what you mean.  My name is Sailor Moon."

"I saw you transform, Serena.  You shouldn't have done it in front of my 
house if you didn't want me to see."  Travis's grin turned to shock at what
happened next.

"Sailor Moon, you shouldn't have just walked away like that!  You know it 
wasn't Mars's fault..."  Luna stuttered to a halt as she saw why Sailor Moon 
was standing  there.

"Is it my imagination, or did Luna just speak?"  Travis said while staring 
at Luna with a shocked expression on his face.  Sailor Moon started laughing.
"It's not that funny."

"After the way you scared me!  It is that funny!  Sorry, Luna, I checked to 
make sure no one was watching but I obviously missed him.  He saw me 
transform."  Sailor Moon stepped into a nearby alley and Serena stepped out. 
"Why don't you explain things to him, Luna?"

Luna sighed and began, "It all started a thousand years ago..."


That night the Scouts dreamed.  The Wiseman had done his job well, he didn't 
know enough about the Scouts to create a dream for each of them, so instead 
he gave them an idea and let their own subconcious create the dream.

Raye dreamed...The Scouts , except for Sailor Moon, were in a fight with a 
new droid composed entirely of shadows.  They were fighting as hard as they 
could, but the monster didn't seem to feel any of their attacks.  Suddenly 
it attacked, a wave of darkness spun out of its very being and hit Venus as 
she was powering up for another attack.  Then Sailor Moon appeared and 
easily destroyed the monster.  She explained that she had been playing this 
really cool video game at the arcade and couldn't come until she finished.  
Then Sailor Mercury announced that Venus was dead.  Mars shouted, "It's all 
your fault,  she wouldn't be dead if you weren't so lazy and irresponsible!  
I refuse to have someone for a leader who doesn't care what happens to us!"

Raye bolted awake.  *Don't be silly, she's not 'that' irresponsible, is she?*

Amy dreamed..."I'm sorry, Ms. Mizuno, your test scores simply were not high 
enough to get you into the top colleges.  You should not have spent so much 
time with that Tsukino girl, she really brought your grades down." Serena 
responded "What's the big deal?  It's not that important." 

"It's all your fault, Serena, if I hadn't had to spend so much time getting 
you out of trouble, I would be able to get into the college I wanted to.  
Now I'll never become a doctor!"  Amy screamed to an uncaring Serena. 

Amy woke up.  *Serena doesn't bring down my grades that much, does she?*

Lita dreamed...The Sailor Scouts were in the middle of a fight.  A droid had 
attacked the mall and Ken, as well as several other civilians, were caught in 
the middle.  The Scouts were doing a good job and it would only be a few 
more minutes until the droid was destroyed.  Sailor Moon was hiding behind 
Jupiter as she got ready to throw her own attack.  "JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP" 
As the last sylable left her lips, Sailor Moon had one of her infamous klutz 
attacks, tripped over her own feet and knocked into Jupiter, throwing off 
her aim.  Lita watched in utter disbelief as elecricity hit the group of 
civilians and they screamed.  A minute later, Sailor Moon finished off the 
droid.  By then it was too late.  Jupiter rushed over to her best friend and 
held his lifeless body.  Her face was covered with tears as she screamed 
"It's all your fault!  If you weren't so clumsy, he would have been okay.  
It's all your fault."

Lita opened her eyes, she could feel the tears still pouring down her 
face.  *It was just a dream.  Something like that would never happen, would 
it?*

Mina dreamed...Artemis was sitting looking up at the moon.  "What's the 
matter, Artemis?"  "Oh, just remembering when we led the Scouts up on the 
moon."  "When we led the Scouts?"  "Never mind."  "ARTEMIS!"  "Okay, okay, 
Venus was the leader of the Scouts, that's why you had a guardian.  Hadn't 
you ever wondered why only you and Serena have guardians?"  "So, why is 
Serena leader now?"  "Because she is the Princess, of course, she never 
fought on the moon.  It wasn't considered proper."  "I would be leader, huh? 
Must have been nice."  "You seemed to like it.  But Serena fights now, so of 
course she leads."  "It's all her fault, isn't it?  If she didn't fight, she 
wouldn't be the leader."

Mina dreamed on.

And Travis dreamed...Of a story he had heard, a silver kingdom and a 
princess who was the most important person in the world to him.

Serena dreamed...Of her kingdom and a young prince that she had loved from 
the moment she was born.

Serena awoke.  Her eyes snapped open and she sat up immediately.  *So that's 
who he is!  I've got to talk to him.*  She got out of bed, careful not to 
wake Reenie and got dressed.  Then she picked up Luna and started carrying 
her downstairs.  After a week, getting her homework was automatic, so she 
grabbed it as she went by.  She absentmindedly scribbled a note to her 
parents and shushed Luna.  

Luna was getting a little alarmed at this uncharacteristic action.  She 
looked at the clock as they passed.  *6:00! What is she doing up this early?*
"Serena, is something wrong?"

"No, Luna, I just have to talk to Travis."  And Serena sat off at a jog to 
Travis's house.  She got there and rang the bell.  In less than two minutes, 
the door opened and Travis stood there.  They stared at each other for a long
moment before Serena threw herself into Travis's arms and hugged him like 
she was never going to let him go.  Travis looked like he would be quite 
happy if that happened.  Luna just got even more worried.

Serena finally looked up to see the expression on Luna's face.  Her laughter 
brought Travis's head up as well.  Still, they didn't let go of each other 
as Serena smiled mistily at her guardian.  "What, Luna? You mean you don't 
remember him?"

"Remember him?"  Luna asked, totally confused.  "Should I remember him?  Was 
he from the Moon Kingdom?"

"You could say that.  He's my twin brother, Prince Tranquillity!"

-----------------
Who is Prince Tranquillity? and how come no one remembered him till now?  Are
the dreams really going to break up the Scouts?  Find out next time in... No
forget that I messed up.  We're going to wait for those answers.  What has 
Darien been doing on his vacation?  Find out in Chapter Four  Darien's Quest.

Tell me what you thought at Jendra@aol.com

Hello again, everyone.  Here's my new one and I have some things to say 
before you start reading.  

This story starts one day before the start of Sailor Moon Universal Chapter
One.You know the part where Darien goes on vacation?  This starts one day 
before then.

This story is longer than usual.  I've noticed that my stories tend to be
heavily dialogue driven.  This one is in the beginning and end, but the main
parts are action driven.  Write and tell me how it went.  Once again the 
address is Jendra@aol.com.  I want to thank all the people who have already
written me.  All four of you.

All other standard disclaimers were written in Chapter One, go look at them
there.

Enjoy

Sailor Moon Universal

Chapter Four:  Darien's Quest


The phone rang.

Darien sat up quickly, trying to shake the cobwebs out of his brain.  The 
dream had not had time to go all the way through before the phone had awoken 
him.  He had not had to live through the death of his love again this night, 
at least.  For a moment, he was grateful to the person on the other end of
the phone that had woken him.  Then he looked at the clock.

"Who would be calling at this time of the night?"  he asked aloud.  Then, 
all sleepiness was banished as his mind came up with one reason for a call 
in the middle of the night.  *Something must have happened to Serena* he 
thought fearfully.

"Hello" he asked, almost timidly, as he picked up the phone.

"Hey, Darien, I was starting to think you weren't there!" a cheery voice 
came over the line.  "Why'd it take you so long to answer?"

Darien's mind was trying to come up with a name for the voice.  Once he had 
realized nothing drastic was happening, all he wanted was sleep.  Finally, 
the tone and accent combined into a face.  "Michael"  he said very quietly, 
"I really hope you have a good reason for calling me at three in the 
morning!"  By the end of the sentance Darien was shouting. 

"Three?"  Michael gulped, "I'm sorry, I guess I got the time change mixed 
up. Oh well, now that you're up, don't you even want to know why I've 
called?"

Darien laughed, he never could stay mad at Michael.  Michael had been an 
exchange student last year and the two boys had become friends.  Both felt 
seperated from everything around them, Michael from being so far away from 
everything he knew, and Darien because of the accident so long ago, that 
took away both his family and any memory he might have had of them.  "I 
suppose so, now that I'm up."

"Well, you see, it's this way.  My uncle, you know, the grouchy one with the 
ranch in Colorado, the relative I was always complaining about?  Well, he 
died about three months ago and he left me his ranch!  Can you believe it!  
Me!  And I didn't even like the old geezer.  Was that nice of him, or what?  
Anyway, I called Andrew to tell him about it and he said that you were 
thinking of taking a vacation.  I find that very hard to believe, you were 
always working when I was there, could barely even find time to have fun.  
You know how you were, either studying or working, or occasionly going for 
a jog in the morning.  I mean you could be majorly boring."  

Darien had tuned most of this out and the constant chatter had almost lulled 
him back to sleep.  Michael's chatter tended to have that effect on people.  
Michael's next words snapped him back to full wakefulness.  "Could you 
repeat that?  I was still half asleep."

"I said, do you want to come to the ranch for your vacation.  We got 
forests, and mountains and horses and cows and even our own ghost."  Michael 
was grinning to himself.  It would be good to see Darien again and he knew 
how much Darien liked, what did he call it, oh yeah, parapsychic phenomenon.

"A ghost, huh?  Sounds like fun, but I was planning on starting my vacation 
tomorrow."  Almost before Darien stopped talking, Michael had started again.

"That's no problem.  We can handle you tomorrow.  Just get you a plane 
ticket, call me with the time you're gonna get in at the Denver airport, 
and I'll be waiting for you.  There's not much I can do at the ranch at the 
moment, the segundo handles everything, I just sign the bills.  Come on, say 
you'll come.  I promise you'll have a great time.  This is a great place to 
get away from your troubles.  Nothing ever happens here."

Darien was thinking about Michaels words.  *A great place to get away from 
my troubles?  I wonder if it would be a good place to get away from my 
dreams?* "Look," is what he said, "I'll think about it and call you tonight. 
If I do decide to come, I'll give you my flight information then.  Okay?"

"Okay," Michael said.  "I really hope you come, it'll be great to see you 
again.  It'll be fun, you'll see.  You do know how to ride, don't you?  
Well, even if you don't, you can learn.  You always did pick up things 
fast.  And you've got to see the Anasazi ruins.  They're said to be haunted 
by a guardian spirit..."

"Michael,"  Darien interupted firmly.  "I'll give you my answer tonight.  
Now I need to get some sleep.  I'll talk to you at seven."

"Are you sure that will give you enough time?"  Michael asked, faintly
worried.  He had been sure Darien would come, but he couldn't get everything 
done that quick.  Darien soon put his worries to rest.

"Seven o'clock my time, not yours.  I'm not doing anything for the next 
little while but sleeping.  Good-bye."

"Bye.  Waaiit a minute!  Seven o'clock your time is"  Michael finished his 
sentence into a dial tone, "three o'clock in the morning my time.  Uh oh!"

Darien smiled slightly to himself as he settled back down to sleep.  That 
hadn't been a nice thing to do to him, but Darien hadn't been able to 
resist. He had already decided to go.  It would be nice to see Michael 
again.  He always had been fun to be around.  Darien decided he would call 
earlier as a thank you for waking him from the nightmare.  Darien slid 
gently into sleep and right back into his nightmare.

When Darien awoke the next morning, he was grouchy.  He usually was these 
days.  Nights interupted constantly by dreams of Serena's death, did not 
make for a pleasant sleep.  Although his vacation didn't officially start 
until the next day, he never worked on Sundays and so decided to spend the 
day getting ready for his trip.  He went to a travel agents and made 
reservations to leave in the morning.  However, he would not actually get 
to Denver, until Tuesday morning, Denver time.  He stopped by the arcade to 
ask Andrew to water his plants while he was gone and they talked about the 
trip. Darien also asked Andrew not to tell Serena, or any of her gang, where 
he would be.

He knew that tomorrow would be the hard part.  He would have to tell Serena 
he was leaving.  He worried a little about leaving her and Reenie relatively 
unprotected, but with the decrease in Negaverse activity, he was sure that 
the Sailor Scouts could handle anything that came up.

At seven o'clock that night he called Michael.  Michael didn't even bother 
with a greeting.  "I'm going to kill you as soon as you get here," he 
snarled.  "At least when I called you, it was an 'accident'!"

Darien laughed out loud.  "I'm sorry, I just got the time change mixed up.  
Do you want the flight information or not?"  After giving Michael the 
information, and making him read it back to make sure he had it right, 
Darien allowed Michael to go back to sleep while he started to pack.


The next morning.

Knowing Serena's habits well, Darien waited at the corner in front of the 
arcade.  After another night of bad dreams, he just wanted to be out of 
here, but he couldn't leave without saying good-bye. *Surely it won't do any 
harm.*

Sure enough, Serena came barreling around the corner less than five minutes 
after he got there.  WHAM!  Of course she ran right into him, she always
did.  Darien took a deep breath, and told her.  Her response wasn't as bad 
as he was expecting, but in some ways it was worse.  He was expecting the 
loud wail that announced to the world that she was hurt, instead he got 
quiet tears that she was obviously trying to stop.  The wail he knew how to 
deal with, but watching her try to be mature about something that was 
tearing her apart, was tearing 'him' apart.  His heart was very heavy as he 
walked away and he turned around to watch her run, not seeming to care where 
she was going.  *Good-bye Serena.  Hopefully, by the time I return, I'll be 
able to come to a final decision.  It 'cannot' go on this way.  It's hurting 
us both too much.*  And Darien walked on to finish getting ready to go.


Denver International Airport  Tuesday morning

Darien walked off the plane.  He looked terrible.  He hadn't dared sleep on 
the plane in case the nightmare came back and he would wake everyone up by 
shouting in his sleep.  Instead he had spent the flight thinking about 
Serena, worrying about Serena, worrying about Reenie, and reading up on the 
Anasazi people.  Not exactly a comforting flight.  He looked around.  It 
wasn't really necessary.  It was very hard to miss Michael.  He was standing 
in the lounge, jumping up and down like a kid Reenie's age, instead of a 
young man of twenty.

"Darien!"  he shouted, "Hey Darien, you look awful man, didn't you get any 
sleep on the plane?"  His voice settled down as he got closer.  Their hands 
met in a hearty clasp, then Michael threw his arm around Darien's shoulder 
to guide him to the baggage claim.  Michael was about an inch taller than 
Darien with blazing red hair, dancing hazel eyes and was very muscular.  
Although he said he didn't do much work on the ranch, it obviously wasn't 
because he didn't have the strength.  "I bet you spent the whole trip 
studying, didn't you?  What's this?  A book on the Anasazi?  I knew it.  
You couldn't have gotten an adventure book or an intrigue, could you?  
Noooo, you brought a 'text' book!  We have a small cliff village on my 
property, I'll take you up to see it later this week.  I thought we could 
go skiing for a couple days first.  There's a ski lodge only an hour or so 
from my house that I've heard is really good.  I already got us reservations.
Don't worry that you don't have the right clothes, you can always rent them.
I was going to show you around the ranch today and then we would leave 
tomorrow for the lodge but you look like you would rather spend the day 
in a bed, don't worry I have one for you."

"That'll be fine, Michael,"  Darien smiled tiredly as they waited for his 
baggage.

That's how the week passed, in skiing, reminiscing, laughter and chatter.  
And no dreams.  Darien could hardly believe waking up that morning after 
the first undisturbed night's sleep he'd had in over a month.


On Saturday, Darien and Michael rode up to a canyon on the far end of the 
ranch.  Darien stared in disbelief as he saw the small village built 'inside'
of the cliff.  

Michael grinned at Darien's expression.  He remembered his first reaction to 
seeing the Anasazi town.  Although he had heard of the cliff villages, read 
about them and even seen pictures of them, 'nothing' compared to seeing one 
for the first time.  For once, he decided to keep quiet and just let Darien 
look.  Not that he could do it for long.  "Well, what do you think?  Isn't 
it the most awesome thing you've ever seen?  We're going to go up there 
tomorrow.  There's a camp site not far from here where we'll spend the 
night. Come on, we need to be set up before dark."

Darien tore his eyes off of the impressive sight before him.  He should have 
known that Michael wouldn't be able to keep silent for long.  Darien had 
wished to get to a place without the dreams so he could think undisturbed.  
He'd managed to get away from the dreams, but finding undisturbed time to 
think was proving to be almost impossible.  Michael was always there and 
'always' talking.

The next morning they climbed a very steep trail up to the village.  Michael 
couldn't stop playing tour guide.  "The Anasazi started building these cliff 
villages about fourteen hundred years ago and stopped about nine hundred
years ago.  They left soon after and no one knows why.  You've got to be 
careful up there.  They built underground rooms called kivas.  You need to 
stay on the path, it's known to be safe.  Inside the rooms is fine too, but 
don't go wandering around outside, okay?  We don't want you falling into a 
kiva, they're very deep and you could get hurt."

Darien wasn't paying attention.  His eyes were eagerly roving over the view 
before him.  He walked carefully into the first house they came to.  Although
there was very little left in the room except for dust, his mind filled it 
with people and things.  He climbed the new ladder up to the second story, 
trying to imagine what life had been like for these intriguing people.  When 
Michael realized Darien was caught up in his own little world, he started 
exploring himself.  Even though he had been here before, every time he came 
it was like the first time.

After several hours, Darien finally called out to Michael, "What about this 
ghost you were telling me about?  Didn't you tell me he haunted this mesa?"

"Yeah, he's been seen in that house over there."  Michael pointed to a house,
set apart from the others.  Although the other houses shared walls with each 
other, this one stood alone.  Darien started walking towards the house.  
Michael looked up, suddenly. "DARIEN!  NO!  DON'T WALK THAT WAY!" 

Darien turned to look at Michael in surprise.  It was the worst thing he 
could have done.  As Michael looked on fearfully, the ground collapsed 
beneath Darien and he disappeared with a yell.  "DARIEN!!!"

Michael ran to where Darien had fallen, sure that Darien had at least broken 
a leg, he 'knew' how deep those kivas were.  He called out as he got to the 
edge and got the surprise of his life.  "Darien?"

"Yeah?" Darien called out from the underground room.  "This is interesting.  
Could you send down one of the lanterns?  I'd like to take a closer look at 
this place."

Michael just stood there for a few minutes in utter stupification.  "Don't 
scare me like that!  I'll go get a rope to get you out of there.  Are you 
sure you're alright?"

"Can you get me a lantern, too?  I really want a better look around here and 
the light from the hole in the roof isn't worth much.  And I'm fine."  *It's 
times like these, that I'm glad some of my abilities as Tuxedo Mask can be 
used in this form, otherwise I 'would' have gotten hurt.*

Michael passed down a lantern, as he tried to get into a position to pull 
his friend up.  Darien lit the lantern and looked around.  He called up to 
Michael, "Are you sure this is a kiva?  It looks like there's a tunnel 
leading out of here."  As he looked up to where Michael was standing he 
noticed dust and small rocks falling down from the ceiling.  "Michael! Move 
back!  More of it's going to collapse!"  Michael stepped back and watched in 
horror as the rest of the kiva's ceiling fell down into the hole, totally 
filling it.  

"DDAAARRRRIIIEEENNNNNNN!!!!!"


Darien stood in the tunnel entrance staring out at the dark.  His hand was 
covering his mouth as he tried to breathe through the choking dust.  He had 
lost the lantern as he ran from the room.  He only hoped that Michael had 
been able to move in time.  Even the small amount of sunlight that had come 
through the hole in the ceiling was gone.  

Darien pulled up his shirt collar, to try to block the dust.  *A cape would 
work much better.* he thought as he pulled out a rose and changed into Tuxedo
Mask.  He pulled the cape across his nose and mouth and it did allow him to 
breathe.  

*I was kind of hoping I'd be able to see in the dark in this form.  I guess 
not.  I really need some form of light though.*  Even as he thought it, the 
rose in his hand started to glow.  Tuxedo Mask stared as it brightened 
enough to let him see his surroundings.  

He was standing in a crevice in the rock.  Although it looked as if it had 
been worked upon, it had obviously started out as a natural tunnel.  In 
front of him was completely covered by fallen rock.  Not even his roses 
would be able to get him out that way.

He turned around to look at the tunnel he was standing in.  Up ahead it 
opened up into a larger cave.  He started walking that way.  Just before he 
was about to step inside, his eye was caught by carving in the tunnel wall.  
He looked closer.  Although he would have sworn the runes were a language he 
had never seen before, he understood what they said.

               Your Quest begins here
               This is your last chance to retreat.
               Only those who conquer fear
               Will not meet with defeat.

               Four tests you have to conquer,
               Earth, Air, Water and Fire,
               Yourself, you have to master,
               If to the prize you do aspire.

"Geesh, that's bad poetry.  Well, I can't turn back, so I guess I'll have to 
go on this 'quest'.  It can't be any worse than getting caught in a cave in, 
I guess."  Tuxedo Mask was speaking to himself even as he started into the 
cave.  The cave was fairly pretty, filled with stalactites and stalagmites 
sticking out of the ceiling and floor.  They contained some mineral that 
made them sparkle in the light of the rose.  The cave was also very large, 
the far wall barely in sight and the tunnel entrance in that side just a 
darker blot.

As Tuxedo Mask walked farther into the room, the walls began to shake.  As he
looked up in disbelief, dust started drifting into the room and small stones 
started dropping from the ceiling.  "Not again!" he groaned as he started 
running towards the other side of the chamber.  A little before the middle 
of the chamber, some instinct made him look up.  He gasped in disbelief as 
he threw himself out of the way of the plummeting stalactite.  He was barely 
in time, the rock catching on his cape as he passed.  Instantly, he was on 
his feet again,  this time his eyes on the ceiling instead of the tunnel 
entrance.  Once again, instinct saved him as he jumped over a chasm that 
had suddenly appeared ahead of him.  However his foot landed on a broken 
piece of rock, dropping him to the ground.  

The tremors grew worse.  Stalactites were falling all across the cavern.  
Stalagmites were broken off and rolling back and forth, chasms were opening 
and slamming closed.  Only instinct had saved Tuxedo Mask so far, but as he 
lay winded where he had fallen, he started to feel the way the rock was 
moving.  He jumped to his feet and moved two steps to the left, just 
avoiding getting impaled by a lance of solid rock.  *Well, so far my 
instincts been the only thing saving me, so let's see if it will work if I 
let them guide me.*  He set his body on automatic, trying not to pay 
attention to what was going on about him.  It was one of the hardest things 
he had ever done.  He wanted to flinch from every crash and jump every time 
a chasm slammed shut.  Somehow, he managed not to.  He started running once 
more.  This time chasms he 'knew' were there, were jumped without stopping.  
Roses imploded stalactites just before they fell.  Other roses were thrown 
forward to destroy rolling rocks and other impediments.  

Suddenly, he was there.  He ran through the exit, and stood there panting as 
the cavern collapsed behind him.  "Well, I obviously can't get through that 
way."  He turned to look at the tunnel he was in.

It wasn't a tunnel!  He was in another cave.  This one was slightly smaller 
than the previous one and he looked around it with wary eyes.  However, he 
soon saw that there were no stalactites or stalagmites in this one.  There 
was also no door!  

He searched for minutes, looking for a crack in the walls that would show a 
way out.  He couldn't find one.  He noticed that he was having a hard time 
breathing.  His search became frantic as he searched for a way out, any way 
out.

"Think, Darien, think" he thought out loud.  He knew he couldn't afford the 
air, but needed to hear his own words.  "That last cavern must have been the 
challenge of earth that the poem spoke of.  So this is the challenge of air.
That means there 'has' to be a way out.  You can't make a challenge that 
can't be solved.  Now think."  He was silent for several minutes while still 
prowling the chamber.  He stopped and stared at the rose in his hand.  The 
petals were moving!

*The air is moving 'out'.*  He thought, this time silently.  *There's got to 
be a way for the air to be moving through the wall.*  He stared at his rose, 
but the air current was not strong enough to show a direction.  He pulled 
more roses out of thin air and stripped their petals off.  He then threw the 
petals in the air.  They all moved slightly towards the left wall.  He 
followed the petals, throwing more into the air as necessary, until he had 
reached the edge of the cave.  He dropped to his knees and pressed his hands 
against the wall.  He was gasping, and felt more and more as if he was going 
to pass out.  Then he felt it.  A protuberance in the wall moved as he felt 
over it.  With almost the last of his strength he pushed it.  Air roared 
back into the room as a small passageway opened.

Tuxedo Mask just sat there for long minutes, breathing.  He knew there were 
still two more 'tests' in front of him.  He also now knew the tests could be 
lethal.  He planned to get as much of his strength back as possible before 
he went into the next test.

Finally, he crawled through the small passageway.  It was so small that he 
had to crawl on his hands and knees.  At first he kept his rose light in his 
hands but soon moved it to his teeth.  After almost ten minutes of crawling 
on his hands and knees, the passageway ended.  Suddenly.  Tuxedo Mask yelled 
as he once again felt himself falling.  

SPLASH!!

Once again, Tuxedo Mask lost his breath as he hit the ice cold water of the 
underground river.  He desperately swam for the surface and got his head up 
just in time to see the tunnel ceiling drop even to the water.  He grabbed a 
quick breath and dove.  His head just barely dropped below the water level 
in time and he could feel the roof brush against his hair.  He swam as fast 
as he could in that position, hoping, praying that the tunnel would rise 
before he ran out of air.  The ice water was also getting to him, but he was 
not quite as troubled by the cold as most people would be.

His cape was dragging, slowing him down, so he unhooked it and let it drop 
behind.  He kept swimming, the exertion helping to keep him warm, although 
it was also costing him precious air.  Just as he was convinced he would 
have to stop, he felt open air above him.  He popped his head up and gulped 
the air that had gathered there.  It was a very small indention, but he was 
able to take several breaths before he used up all the oxygen and had to 
start swimming again.

The third of these air pockets was big enough that he could stay there 
comfortably for a short while, as long as the current didn't grab him too 
hard.  It gave him time to think.  *Maybe I'm not doing this right.  All 
I've been doing is going with the flow, there's got to be more to the 
challenge than that.  Maybe if I let my instincts take over again?*  He 
closed his eyes and tried to feel around him, the way he had 'felt' the 
earth moving.  After several seconds, he opened his eyes again, *Well that 
didn't work.*

*Hey, what's that?!  Warmer water?  Where's it coming from?*  Again he felt 
the touch of a warmer current.  He decided to follow it.  He didn't have any 
better ideas.  He set off swimming back in the direction he came from.

The warm current was very small, but Tuxedo Mask managed to keep one of his 
hands inside it.  Of course, one warm hand made the rest of his body even 
colder, but he withstood it stoicly.  More and more of the water was warming 
up, then suddenly, it was gone!

Tuxedo Mask put one hand on the ceiling to hold himself in place.  With his 
other hand he pulled out another rose and started it glowing.  With it 
clenched in his teeth, he turned around and started swimming with the 
current once more.

There it was!  A small side tunnel.  He swam into it, hoping he had chosen 
the right course.  Long before his air started running out again, the tunnel 
opened up.  Tuxedo Mask raised his head.  The rose in his teeth lit up 
another large cavern and a ledge that ran around the edge, only two feet 
above the water.

Tuxedo Mask pulled himself up on the ledge and lay there for long moments, 
just gasping and trying to get his strength back.

Finally, he stood up.   There in front of him was another cave entrance.  He 
sighed as he tried to get ready for the next, and hopefully last, challenge. 
He straightened his tuxedo, and tried to straighten his hat, before he 
realized he had lost it several caves ago.  He sighed again, resigned, and 
walked into the next cavern.

He knew what the next challenge was even before he saw the red flickering on 
the walls and the felt the heat pulsing through the opening.  Fire.  The 
fourth and last challenge.  He walked inside, half expecting the door to slam
shut behind him and was slightly surprised when it didn't.

Inside, was a wall of fire.  It seemed to be burning rock.  There was 
nothing else there for it 'to' burn.  Tuxedo Mask thought for a moment and 
then detransformed into Darien.  He immediately retransformed, not only 
because it was what he had planned to do, but also because it was much 
hotter to his regular form than to his Tuxedo Mask form.  When he 
transformed back, he was dry once more and wearing a top hat and cape.  

He went to the river and filled his cape with water.  Walking back into the 
fire room, he threw the water on the fire.  The fire went out, but before he 
could even congratulate himself on finding such an easy way through, it 
flared up again.  He tried several times, on several different parts of the 
fire with the same results.  The only things he was able to figure from this 
was that the fire was not feeding on anything and was indeed a wall about two
feet wide.

*Maybe if the fire doesn't feed on anything, it won't really burn anything 
either.*  One rose thrown into the fire, turned that theory into ashes.  The 
rose too.

After almost fifteen minutes of trying to put out the fire, he came to a 
single conclusion.  *I'm going to have to go through it.  Nothing else 
works.*  Tuxedo Mask went back to the river and jumped in.  Then he filled 
his cape with water.  With one motion he threw the water onto the fire and 
twirled the cape around to cover his face and hands as he ran through the 
open space in the fire.  The fire sprang back up as he was halfway through, 
but the water on his clothes kept them from burning until he stood on bare 
ground on the other side of the fire.  

Before him was an archway.  This was no tunnel entrance or natural crevice.  
This was an 'archway'.  It was covered in carvings and inlaid with gold and 
precious stones.  Tuxedo Mask just stared for a long moment, then 
detransformed, and retransformed.  He had the feeling he needed to look his 
best before stepping into the next room.  He stepped into the archway.

"Who dares to enter here?"  A voice spoke from out of nowhere.

"Tuxedo Mask!"  Tuxedo Mask answered confidently as he started to walk in, 
only to be repulsed.

"Who dares to enter here?"  the voice came again.

Tuxedo Mask detransformed.  "Darien Chiba."  Darien almost asked and tried 
walking forward once more.  Once more he was repulsed.

"Who dares to enter here?"  the voice sounded as impatient as such a voice 
could.

Darien thought about it for a long moment, staring at the carvings on the 
gate.  He transformed to Tuxedo Mask and continued on until Prince Endymion, 
in his black armor stood there.  "I am Prince Endymion of the kingdom of 
Earth, and I dare to enter here."  he said stepping forward.  This time he 
was allowed through but could only take three steps before being stopped.  
He tried to go on, but found he couldn't move.

"Which are you, you must choose." the voice said almost sympathetically.  
"Who do you wish to be?"

Endymion thought about it for a very long moment.  Darien Chiba was the one 
who belonged in this time, but Tuxedo Mask was the one who fought.  And as 
for Prince Endymion, he was a person of the past who had little in common 
with the present, except the Princess that he loved.  He thought and thought 
and found only one answer that seemed to fit the choice.

"I wish to be myself."  He was not sure the voice would accept that answer, 
but it was the only one he could make.  It simply was not a choice he could 
make, for all of his selves had their place and he could 'not' choose one 
above the other.

The voice, however, seemed delighted with the answer as it announced, "You 
may pass."

Prince Endymion stepped forward into the room that was obviously the object 
of his quest.  The room was even more ornamented than the archway was.  
Light flickered from some unknown source, flickering over the pictures of 
the walls.  Carvings of people, places and things covered the walls.  On one 
wall was an accurate picture of the Silver Palace of the Moon, complete with 
Queen Serenity and her daughter standing on a balcony.  Endymion stared for 
a long time at this accurate representation of the woman he had loved for 
over a thousand years.  His mind went back to the last fight for the Moon 
Kingdom, when she had jumped into the beam that killed him, because she 
refused to leave him.

Other pictures showed various kingdoms, all nine planets, with their royal 
families and Scouts.  *Nine Scouts? Does that mean there are four we haven't 
found or did they not get sent into the future?*  Then he found what was 
obviously a picture of the Kingdom of Earth.  There were three figures 
represented there.  A king, a queen, and a male scout?!  *That's...that's 
me!!  Me, a Scout!  No, I would have known, there aren't any male scouts, 
are there?* he babbled to himself.  

A voice answered his innermost thoughts. "Yes, Prince Endymion, you were 
Sailor Earth.  Tuxedo Mask is not your form as the Guardian of Earth, it is 
your form as the Guardian of the Princess.  It is stronger than your Scout 
form, but do not forget you have the power to transform to Sailor Earth.  
Being Sailor Earth allows you to meld your powers with the other scouts to 
intensify a Sailor Planet attack or to feed the Moon Crystal.  You can not 
do that as Tuxedo Mask."

"You mean in that battle with Metallia, I could have added my powers to 
theirs if I had been able to transform into Sailor Earth?"  Endymion was 
still shocked at this revelation, but was already starting to think of the 
implications.  It was true, he could not help on group efforts because his 
power was too different from the Scouts.  "What do I need to do to 
transform?"  he asked, positive it was the right thing to do.

"Look in the center of the room."  Endymion moved towards the pedastal in 
the middle of the cavern.  Sitting there was a jewel, an opal, a very large 
opal, being around the size of Serena's crystal and whose colors shifted in 
the flickering light.  "Each of the three great kingdoms had a jewel that 
held a great deal of their power.  This is Earth's.  Although people tended 
to give them distinguished names, such as the Silver Imperium Crystal, in 
the beginning it was just the Moon Crystal, as this was the Earth Gem.  As 
Princess Serenity uses her Moon Crystal to transform into Sailor Moon, so 
can you use the Earth Gem to transform into Sailor Earth.  Try it.  You know 
what to do."

Endymion transformed down into Darian.  He took hold of the opal and raised 
it into the air.  "EARTH GEM POWER!"  As he spoke the words the trasformation
began.  Beams of light, green, white, blue, and red came from the opal and 
swirled around him.  When the lights faded Sailor Earth stood there.  He 
wore a one piece pants suit like male gymnasts wear.  His shirt was white 
with black sleeves and his pants were a dark green, his shoes looked almost 
like sneakers and were black, as was his belt.  Instead of a tiara, he wore 
a headband, dark green with the sign of Earth on it.  

Sailor Earth looked down at himself, before speaking to the voice, "Not bad.
What were the colors that came from the opal?"

"They are the colors of the elements, green for earth, white for air, blue 
for water and red for fire."  the voice now seemed amused.  "Now, look at 
the base of the pedastal."

Sailor Earth decided he had better do as the voice said.  At least the 
costume didn't have bows.  That would have been too much.  

At the bottom of the pedastal was a ring.  It was made of gold, carved with 
the signs of the four elements and with an empty setting in the middle.  

"Place the opal in the setting."  the voice said, once again unemotional.

"It won't...Never mind."  Sailor Earth said.  So far the voice seemed to know
what it was talking about, it probably knew this time too.  As he placed the 
opal in the setting of the ring he was surprised as it seemed to shrink to 
fit.  He shrugged and put it on, after detransforming back into Darien.

He looked at the pedastal one more time, and saw words carved where the opal 
had stood.  "What are these?"  he asked the voice that seemed to know 
everything.

"They are the words to a prophecy, read them and remember, they are very 
important to the future of this world, this universe, but they are only the 
first part of the prophecy; others hold the other parts.  Read and remember."
The voice sounded sad, and Darien had the idea he would have to leave 
after he read the words.

"Who are you?  Are you the ghost on the mesa?"  Darien was still curious 
about that.

"I am the guardian of this place.  The opal was placed here a thousand years 
ago, to keep it out of Queen Beryl's hands.  I volunteered to stay and set 
up the challenges.  We hoped that you would come for it, but had no idea how 
long it would take.  I was to stay here until you did, then I would be free 
to leave.  After I felt your rebirth, I traveled often to watch you grow, I 
saw you join the Sailor Scouts.  I did however, often wonder why you didn't 
seem to know each other, and why you didn't come for the Gem."

"We have very few memories of our last life.  They were wiped when we were 
reborn.  I didn't know to come here.  I have no memories of my parents or my 
life here on Earth before the battle."

"Those I can give you."  The voice was excited, "I cannot give you any 
memories of your time on the Moon, but your life here on Earth I know well.  
Do you wish them?"

"Yes!  I would love to remember my parents."  Even as Darien was speaking, 
memories started pouring into him.  Life with his parents as the Prince of 
Earth.  Formal gatherings and informal ones, riding his horse through the 
hills, racing his best friends, learning sword play and diplomacy, playing 
tricks on his tutors and punishments he usually snuck out of, quiet times 
with his parents when they weren't busy with other things.  A fairly normal 
childhood except for the things he had to learn as prince.  How to sit 
through extremely boring audiences without yawning, knowing when a problem 
requires a royal answer or only needs time, making just judgements and even 
occasionaly sentances.  Darien remembered the first time he had to order 
someone's death for treason and his first battle.  Still, all in all it was 
a good childhood and Endymion had enjoyed it immensely, as did Darien when 
reliving it.

Now the voice sounded very tired.  "It is all I can do.  Read the prophecy 
and remember the words."

Darien moved to the pedestal.  The words were in the same runes as the ones 
at the beginning, this time he knew how he understood, remembering his 
lessons.

               Three bloodlines and four crowns
               For Universal Power
               Nine Scouts of five planets
               To stand upon the hour

As Darien stared at the runes, the room dissolved from around him and he was 
in a cave entrance on the edge of the mesa.  From where he stood, he could 
see the cliff village.  *Michael must be worried sick,* he thought as he 
walked towards the village.  He was surprised when he got there.  Michael 
wasn't there, and the kiva had been almost completely dug out.  *That 
couldn't have happened in the short time I was gone, could it?*

Darien walked down to their campsite.  The fire pit looked like it hadn't 
had a fire in it for days.  He shrugged and started walking back to the 
ranch.  

After several hours, he heard a shout.  He looked up to see one of the 
cowboys he had met coming toward him.  "What are you doing on this la... Mr. 
Chiba?"

"What's the matter?  You look like you just saw a ghost."  Darien was very 
surprised at the reaction he got.  The cowboy had turned white when he first 
got a good look at Darien and was slowly backing his horse away.

"Are you sure you're not?"  the cowboy asked nervously.

"Not what?  A ghost?  Of course not.  What's going on?  I thought Michael 
would still be at the mesa, it's only been about half a day since I fell 
into the kiva."  Then he looked at the cowboys face and finished slowly 
"Hasn't it?"

"No, sir.  You've been missing for more than a week.  They tried digging out 
the kiva, but it just kept collapsing on them.  They finally decided you 
couldn't have lived through that and declared you officially dead.  The boss 
already called and told all your friends about it.  They were planning on 
having a memorial service next week, when your friends could get here."  
Darien's face looked sick.  *They told Serena I was dead!  She must be going 
crazy!*

"How far back to the ranch house?  I need to call home and tell them I'm 
okay."  Darien was almost frantic.

"Well, if you're sure you're not a ghost, I'll take you.  We should be back 
in a couple of hours."  Darien thankfully climbed up on the back of the 
horse and they headed back to the ranch.


Michael stared at the approaching riders in disbelief.  He ran outside as 
Darien dismounted and thanked the cowboy and he moved off.  Then Michael 
ran down the stairs and threw his arms around his best friend.  He was so 
moved that he couldn't even speak.  He had spent days searching the village.
He had heard Darien talking about the tunnel, and thought he might have 
gotten in there and saved himself, but after days of futile searching had 
had to give up.  Then came the hardest part of all.  He called Andrew to 
tell him what had happened, because Andrew was the only one of Darien's 
friends that he knew.  He knew that Andrew had the really hard part, telling 
everybody else.

Darien held Michael, sensing how he felt.  Then he pulled away.  Although he 
knew how disturbed Michael was, his thoughts were on Serena.  For Serena to 
have heard of his death like that was awful.  Although the time had not 
been as long for him as it obviously had been for the others, he had had 
enough time on the walk back to finally do some thinking about Serena.  He 
had finally decided.  There was nothing in this world that could beat the 
two of them together, especially now he had the Earth Gem.  He was not going 
to let anything separate them again, not even himself.  He couldn't wait to 
tell her and planned to change his reservations to this week.  

"I need to talk to the people at home, Michael.  Can I use your phone?"

Michael still didn't speak as he led Darien inside.  He thought about how 
his friends would feel if they were suddenly told he was dead and couldn't 
blame Darien for wanting to set everybody straight.

Darien checked the time.  It was five in the afternoon, which would make it 
nine the next morning in Tokyo.  He turned to Michael, "What day is it?" he 
asked, not quite sure he wanted to know the answer.  

Michael looked at him a little strangely, and answered.  "It's Monday.  You 
disappeared last Sunday, and I called Andrew to tell him about it on 
Wednesday."

*So it's Tuesday morning.  Serena will be in school, so I guess I'd better 
call Andrew.*  He dialed.

"Hello. Crown Arcade."  Andrews voice came over the line. 

"Andrew, this is Darien.  Don't panic.  I'm not dead.  I just got lost in 
some caves for the last week."

"This is a joke, right?"  Andrew sounded mad.

"It's not a joke, Andrew.  Michael did tell you that I fell into a kiva, 
right?  Well, when the ceiling collapsed I was able to get into a tunnel and 
spent the last little while wandering around in there.  I just found my way 
out a couple of hours ago."  He stopped to give Andrew time to get used to 
the idea, before asking the important question.  "Did you tell Serena I was 
dead?"

"It's really you, Darien?"  Now Andrew's voice was a mixture of joy, relief 
and disbelief.  "Yes, I told Serena, I told everyone.  She sure seemed to 
take it bad.  She collapsed crying and Travis had to practically carry her 
home.  Since then she hasn't talked about it, but she's not all that sad.  
Of course, she's usually with Travis so maybe he's the reason."

"Who's Travis?"  Darien's voice sounded normal, which surprised him.  He 
felt like he was dying inside.

"Oh, yeah, you never met him.  Well Travis moved here from Virginia about 
two weeks ago.  He and Serena became good friends very fast.  She keeps 
saying he's not her boyfriend, but nobody believes her.  I mean they're 
together 'all the time'.  Especially now that..."

Darien interrupted him.  He couldn't hear anymore.  "Look, will you tell 
everyone that I'm fine, and I'll be back in about a week?"

"You're going to finish your vacation there?"  Andrew said, sort of 
surprised, he would've thought that Darien would wish to come home to 'show' 
everyone that he was alright.

"Yeah, I still have some thinking to do.  I'll see you in a week."  Darien 
slowly hung up the phone and dropped his head into his hands.  *I guess I 
went too far, taking this vacation.  Serena's got a new boyfriend and didn't 
even seem to care that I was dead!  Serena's got a new...I knew I had left 
it too late.  Why couldn't I have decided sooner?  While there was still a 
chance?  Oh, Serena, I love you so much, now I've lost you and it's...all...
my...fault!*

----------------
Well, what did you think?  Now that you've read this, you might have some 
idea of what is going to happen in Sailor Moon Universal, Chapter Five.  
It's called The Twins.  Tell me what you thought.
Jendra@aol.com

You really should learn some about the Anasazi, it's a fascinating story.
Do a search on the term Anasazi and find the web page on Mesa Verde State
Park, it's got some really good pictures of cliff dwellings.

Well here's another one.  I got this done fast, it just seemed to come all
on it's own.  I added the last little bit from three, so you don't have to
go back and reread it.  This one is definately dialogue driven so don't 
expect a lot of action.

All standard disclaimers still apply.  And my address is still the same.
Jendra@aol.com

Enjoy!

Sailor Moon Universal

Chapter Five  The Twins


"What, Luna? You mean you don't remember him?"

"Remember him?"  Luna asked, totally confused.  "Should I remember him?  Was 
he from the Moon Kingdom?"

"You could say that.  He's my twin brother, Prince Tranquillity!"

-----------
"WWHHHAAAATTTTTT?"  Luna screeched.

Travis turned to Serena, "She can howl louder than you on occasion, can't 
she?"

Serena laughed even as she hit him.  "I take it you don't remember him?" she 
asked Luna.

"No, I don't remember him!  If this is some joke..." Luna didn't know what 
to think.  For once Serena was taking news calmly while 'she' was wailing her
head off.  Luna tried to get herself under control.

"I'm not really surprised you don't remember me,"  Travis put in soothingly, 
"I wasn't around much."

"I know."  Serena pouted, "and I hated it."

"Here, let's sit down, and I'll tell you what I remember, Serena can then 
tell what she remembers and we'll see if anything sparks your memory, okay?"
Travis led them over to the couch and the three sat down with Luna on 
Serena's lap.  Travis began.

"Our parent's marriage was not a love match.  It was simply a political 
marriage for both of them."  

Serena interupted, "That's one reason Mother was so determined that I would 
marry for love."

"Serena, do you want to tell this?"  Travis asked sternly.

"Sorry."

"As I was saying, our parents marriage was a political one.  It was made 
solely to ally the Kingdom of the Moon and the Kingdom of the Sun.  In case 
you haven't figured it out yet, our father was the King of the Sun.  Part of 
the alliance concerned the children, the first born daughter would become 
the heir to the Moon and the first born son would be heir to the Sun."

Serena interrupted again.  "Luna, could Mother have planned it so she would 
have twins?  I mean, could she have used the Crystal to make sure of it?"

"I think it's possible, Serena," Luna said impatiently, "but would you 
please be quiet.  I think I'm remembering some of this and I would like to 
hear the rest."

Travis waited until all talking had ceased before he continued.  "It was 
thought best that we stay with Mother the first few years.  I hear that we 
were inseperable during those years.  Then we turned five."  Travis grew 
silent and after waiting a few seconds Serena continued.

"When we turned five, it was decided that we were old enough to start 
learning about our kingdoms.  Tranq had to go to the Sun.  We only got to 
see each other about twice a year.  When we did get to see each other, we 
spent all our time together."  Serena grew silent as well, trying to 
remember times that were still misty.

"I remember," Luna said quietly.  Her mind, too, was caught in the past.  "I 
remember when you were born.  The entire kingdom rejoiced.  When you were 
shown to the people for the first time, everyone thought the Queen had been 
blessed with a pair of angels, you were so good.  They didn't know you very 
well."

"Hey!"  Serena cried out, surprised from her thoughts by what Luna had just 
said.  "What do you mean by that?  For that you can sit on the floor."  And 
Serena unceremoniously dumped Luna from her lap.  

Travis laughed as Luna managed to twist herself to land on her feet.  Then 
he calmed down.  "What 'did' you mean by that, Luna?  Maybe it came out 
wrong?"

Luna washed herself for a few minutes before she decided to start talking 
again.  "You two were total terrors."  Luna said suddenly.  "Especially that 
first night."

"What did we do?"  Serena asked, interested.

"You cried."  Luna said bluntly.  "We tried feeding you, you cried.  We tried
rocking you and walking you, you cried.  We tried changing you, you cried.  
We brought in a doctor because you cried so much.  Normally, a newborn baby 
only cries when hungry, wet, or wanting attention.  You two just cried.  We 
decided to leave you alone, you cried.  Nothing we could do would make you 
stop crying.  We were going out of our minds, sure that something was wrong 
with you."

"So what happened?"  Serena and Travis asked breathlessly when Luna stopped.

"The noise just stopped suddenly.  We all rushed in to see what had happened.
The nurse had been rocking one of you, I think it was you, Tranquillity, 
and accidently put you down in the wrong cradle.  Your crying had made us 
all so crazy that it's not surprising she didn't even notice the cradle was 
already occupied.  When we got in there she was just looking down into a 
cradle that had two sleeping babies in it.  We thought you two had finally 
gotten tired of crying and went to sleep.  So your mother picked up 
Tranquillity to put him back in his cradle.  You both woke up and started 
crying, even though you'd definately been asleep the moment before.  She put 
him back down, you were both asleep, lift him up and you were awake and 
crying.  That's the first time we got a hint of it."

"A hint of what?"  Serena and Travis asked simultaneously.

"You two would 'not' be separated.  You would be the sweetest children in 
the world while together, but try to separate you and you almost went 
berserk."  Luna looked disgusted.

Travis didn't look too happy either.  "I cried!  I can't believe I couldn't 
find another way to make my displeasure known."

"Oh, you did!  After you were two or so, 'you' started the silent treatment. 
You would just sit there, not say anything, and do absolutely nothing.  It 
was so frustrating!"  Luna sounded like she was still frustrated about it 
1000 years later.

"How could you separate us, then?"  Serena asked softly, holding on to 
Travis's arm as if someone was trying to separate them now.

"We didn't have a choice."  Luna said just as softly.  "It could have 
provoked an interstellar incident if we didn't.  Tranquillity wasn't even 
supposed to stay until he was five.  The alliance between the two kingdoms 
had been a necessity, there was bad blood between the Moon and the Sun.  
Your birth had stopped some of that, but when Tranquillity didn't come to 
the Sun, rumors started going around that Queen Serenity was holding him 
hostage, to ensure good behavior.  He had to go.  Though come to think of
it, a war would probably been a lot more fun than those next two months."

Travis decided to break up the solemn atmosphere.  "What I would like to 
know, is who got the bright idea to name twins Serenity and Tranquillity?  
Do you have any idea how often I got teased about that stupid name?  I would 
love to be alone with that person for just five minutes."

Luna looked away guiltily, blushing slightly.  Travis had turned to share a 
laugh with Serena so he didn't notice.  Unfortunately for Luna, for once 
Serena was sensitive enough to notice and looking the right way.  "Luna!  
You didn't!"  Serena said, shocked.

Travis turned to glare at Luna.  "It was 'your' idea?" he asked in disbelief.

"I didn't mean it seriously,"  she exclaimed, backing away.  "Serenity's name
had already been decided, all queens of the moon were named Serenity, but 
there wasn't an inherited name for the sun and no one could decide what to 
call you.  Then you were born and we had to come up with a name quickly.  I 
was just joking with the queen, trying to keep her spirits up and I said 
that it would be cute if you were named Tranquillity, it went so well with 
Serenity and it was the name of a sea on the moon.  How was I to know she 
would take me seriously and really name you that?"  Luna was backing away 
even as she babbled.  Travis was coming after her and he looked very annoyed.
It looked as though fifteen years of being teased over his name had finally 
come to the forefront as he went after the cause of his misfortune.  
"Besides,"  Luna said, "Apollo agreed to it and he had the last say since he 
was your father's representative at the court and was to be your guardian."  
Luna's voice slowed down as she listened to what she had just said.

"Apollo?"  Travis and Serena said in stereo.  Serena still looked a little 
bemused, but Travis looked like he had gotten a revelation.  He ran outside 
with Serena on his heels.

"You don't honestly think its him, do you?" Serena gasped as she followed 
after him.

"What are the chances that my guardian would have a golden falcon named 
Apollo, who 'didn't' have anything to do with me?"  Travis said as he hit 
the steps, his eyes scanning the skies.  He turned around at the "oof".  
Serena was sitting on the steps and rubbing her buttocks as she slowly got 
up.  "Are you alright?"  Travis asked, concerned.

"Yeah, yeah, just another klutz attack.  But didn't Apollo have the symbol 
of the Sun on his forehead, like Luna has the crescent Moon?  And I don't 
remember seeing one on 'this' Apollo."  

Travis and Luna both looked at Serena in surprise.  They had both expected 
her signature wail at the fall, not a calm continuation of the conversation.

When she didn't get an answer to her question, Serena looked up to catch the 
two of them staring at her.  "What?" she snapped.  She got even more annoyed 
when they looked at each other, shrugged and said "Nothing" in exactly the 
same tone of voice.

"Maybe he was reborn like us, instead of being put in a stasis capsule like 
the cats.  We'll never know until we ask.  Come on."  Travis started out 
into the yard. 

He whistled, loud and long, and waited.  The falcon flew straight out of the 
rising sun.  Travis punched his fist up into the air.  *When Uncle Darien 
first showed me Apollo, I did this, and Apollo was going to land, but Uncle 
Darien said that it was the wrong way to do it.  He was right.  If this 
isn't 'my' Apollo, this is going to hurt.*  But the falcon landed gently on 
the upraised fist, mantled his wings, and stayed in place as Travis lowered 
his arm to look him in the eye.

Luna was back in Serena's arms and looking nervously at the large predator 
in front of her.  "Serena was right, he doesn't have the sun symbol, I don't 
think it's him."  Serena and Luna looked at Travis to gauge his reaction to 
that statement.  They were very surprised at the reaction they got.

"You always were quick to jump to conclusions, Luna."  Everyone's head 
whipped up as they looked at each other in shock.  The voice had 'not' come 
from one of them.

They turned to look at Apollo.  He looked back at them with his beak slightly
open, in the closest thing to a grin any of them could imagine on a falcon's 
face.

"It is you!"  Travis said happily.  

"It's nice to see you again, too, Travis."  The falcon said in a slightly 
grating voice.  "At least you know me this time.  And as for why I don't 
have the sun symbol on my forehead?  I just learned to hide it."  As Apollo 
said this his forehead started to glow and the symbol of the sun was 
suddenly glowing there.  Serena looked at Travis and stared.  The sun 
symbol was shining on his forehead as well!

Serena was about to remark on this when she suddenly glanced at the real sun.
"Travis?  What time is it?"

Travis looked at his watch.  "It's seven forty-five.  We're going to be 
late!"  The two of them tore back inside, leaving Luna and Apollo staring 
after them.  They looked at each other for a long moment, then in complete 
agreement said one word.  "Teenagers!"

Miss Haruna had only one word for them when they came in ten minutes late to 
class.  "Detention."


That afternoon at detention

"You know," Serena said, "I'm not sure if even finding out about you makes 
this day worthwhile."

"I know what you mean."  Travis agreed, "Late for school, didn't eat 
breakfast, didn't bring lunch, have detention."

"And no one seems to be talking to me."  Serena finished for him.  "Amy and 
Lita were acting like I was carrying the plague or something.  I didn't even 
get a chance to tell them about us."

"Probably because you were trying to eat their lunch."  Travis said, 
laughing.  "Well if we're stuck here, we might as well get some work done."  
They pulled out their school books and started working on their homework.  

Miss Haruna looked in on them a couple of times, only to see them working 
diligently.  She shook her head as she walked away.  When Serena had come 
in late this morning, she was sure that everything was back to normal.  It 
seemed this was not so.

When Travis finished his homework, he looked over at Serena.  She had a look 
of extreme concentration on her face as she worked a problem.  He took her 
math homework and started looking it over.  When Serena finally finished he 
pointed out a couple of mistakes she had made and she fixed them.

"Serena," Travis asked, "when is your birthday?"

"Nineteen days from today,"  Serena answered without even stopping to think. 
She had been keeping track. "Why, you going to get me a present?"

"In other words, two weeks from Saturday, right?"  Serena nodded.  "The same 
day as mine."

"Is that so surprising?"  Serena asked, puzzled, "We are twins after all."

"We 'were' twins, Serena.  The question is, are we still twins."  Serena now 
looked extremely puzzled, he didn't even wait for her to ask.  "We are the 
same age, have the same birthday and are both adopted.  Do you think we were 
born as twins in this reincarnation, as well?"

"No."  Serena said immediately.

Travis waited.  "No?  That's all you've got to say?  Why not?"

"Because I know my parents, they would not have adopted me without adopting 
you too."  Serena had 'no' doubts about it.

"What if I got adopted first?  'My' parents wouldn't have any qualms about 
splitting us up."  Travis watched Serena as she thought that through. 

"Why don't we find out then?  I know where my adoption papers are.  Do you 
know where yours are?"  Serena asked logically.

Travis just stared at her.  Even with the increase in the amount of homework 
and studying she did, logical thinking was 'not' something he ever expected 
out of Serena.  *Actually, Serenity did think logically every once in a 
while.  Bringing back our memories of each other, probably brought Serenity 
more into the forefront of her mind.*  He realized Serena was waiting for an 
answer.  "I can find them, I think."  He waited to see what else she would 
come up with in this weird mood.  He wasn't disappointed.

"Then I'll go home and get mine while you try to find yours.  I'll meet you 
at your house as soon as I can.  We'll compare the papers and see if we have 
the same parents."  Serena started getting her books together.

"Sounds like a plan,"  Travis agreed as he got up.  "I'm proud of you."

Serena looked after him for a moment as she thought about what he said and 
how she had been acting.  Then she laughed to herself.  *Two plans in a 
little more than a week, I'm doing good.*


At the Tsukino house

*It's a good thing Mom is out grocery shopping, I really don't want to tell 
her about this until I'm sure.  I do feel a little bad about looking in her 
stuff like this, though.*

"Whatcha doin?"  A voice came from behind her.

Serena jumped.  She turned around, standing in the doorway was Reenie.  
Serena smiled at the little girl.  "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course.  I'm not some little kid."  Reenie said, annoyed.

"So can I"  Serena laughed as she went back to looking through the papers.  
*Here it is.*

"I'm gonna tell on you.  You're not supposed to go through your parents 
stuff."  Reenie was apalled that Serena would do such a thing.

Serena noticed.  She knelt down in front of the child.  "Reenie trust me.  I 
know what I'm doing.  What I just got is information about me, there's 
something I have to find out the truth about.  As soon as I do, I'll tell 
my parents, okay?"  

Reenie nodded slowly.  She wasn't completely convinced, but decided to trust 
Serena for a little bit longer.

Serena stood up.  "If you promise not to tell 'anybody' about what you're 
going to see and hear until I tell you you can, then you can come with me.  
Agreed?"

Reenie thought for a long moment.  "I promise."  Reenie said.  Serena looked 
down at her for another minute, before taking her hand and leading her out 
of the house.  Reenie soon figured out where they were going.  She stopped.  
"Serena?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?" Serena answered, distracted by what she hoped they were going to 
find out soon.

"'Is' Travis your new boyfriend?  I mean, I guess I can understand, with 
Darien gone and all, but..."  Reenie trailed off.

"No, Reenie, he isn't.  I still love Darien, I always will.  In fact, I'm 
hoping we'll soon find out it isn't possible for Travis to be my boyfriend."

Reenie looked confused.  "Huh?" she asked, but Serena refused to say another 
word and they continued on to Travis's house.

Serena looked down at Reenie as she thought of a way to get her mind off of 
what they had been talking about.  "Race you to his house,"  Serena yelled 
as she started running.

"Hey, no fair!"  Reenie started running after Serena, but her legs weren't 
as long and she hadn't had as much practice as Serena.  "Luna Ball, slow her 
down."  she cried.  Luna Ball flew towards the unsuspecting girl and between 
her legs, causing her to fall down.  Reenie ran past, laughing.  "That's 
what you get for trying to cheat."

"I'm gonna get you for that one, Reenie,"  Serena yelled as she got up and 
started running again.  By the time they got to Travis's house, they were 
even, and Serena took the lead going up the steps.  She burst through 
the door, turned her head to laugh at Reenie, and ran straight into a large 
body.  The papers in her hand went flying.  She looked up.

Standing there was a man, he was tall, at least six feet, with very short 
brown hair and green eyes.  He was holding Travis's shoulder with one hand 
and staring at the girl who just ran into him.  *That's one weird hairdo* 
was his first thought as he bent down to pick up the papers she had caused 
'him' to drop.  He looked at the little girl standing in the doorway, 
staring at him.  *Maybe it's a new fashion.*

Looking at the man standing in front of her, Serena got to her feet, bowed, 
and started talking.  "Excuse me sir, I didn't see you there, I was just 
racing my cousin, I didn't mean to run into you, I'm really, really, sorry.  
I should have watched where I was going," she babbled.  "Who are you anyway 
and what are you doing in Travis's house?"

"I could ask you the same question, young lady.  I own this house.  My name 
is Darien Jacobson.  Who are you and what are you doing here?"  Darien 
Jacobson waited to hear her answer, he was surprised at the answer he got.

"Don't you dare, Serena."  Travis ordered.  "Now is not the time to start 
crying over your boyfriend!" as she was about to start wailing.  "I'm sorry, 
sir, her ex-boyfriend's name is Darien and anytime she hears something that 
reminds her of him, she starts wailing."  During this explanation, Serena 
tried desperately to stop the wail she had started at his name.  She just 
barely managed to swallow it.  Jacobson, however, had stopped paying 
attention.  He was looking at the boy he was holding.

"I had almost forgotten about you.  You were going to tell me what you were 
doing going through my papers."  He looked at the papers he was holding.  
"Your adoption papers?  Why were you looking for these?"  Serena had bent 
down to pick up her own papers and was looking at them wide-eyed.  As Travis 
looked over at her, she pointed to the papers Jacobson was holding and 
mouthed "mine".  Travis nodded.

"I..just..wanted to know for sure.  Sir."  Travis said slowly.  Before 
Jacobson could ask anything, "I just,  I don't have anybody left, not really.
I mean you're great and all, but I just wanted to know who my parents were, 
okay?  I wanted to know if the day I had always celebrated my birthday on 
was really the day I was born or just something my 'parents' had made up, to 
make my adoption less likely to be found out.  I don't even know if I was 
born with the name Travis."  By the end of this Travis was shouting, and 
tears were standing in his eyes.  It was obvious that he meant every word he 
said.

Serena looked on in sympathy, then looked down as she felt someone sidling 
up to her.  She smiled at Reenie, who was watching all of this with wide 
eyes, and drew her gently next to her, leaving her arm around Reenie's 
shoulders as Reenie held onto her leg.  *I feel so sorry for him, growing up 
with a family that didn't love him.  It's no wonder he wanted to know about 
his first family.*  She stayed quiet, she knew Jacobson had forgotten about 
them, although Travis hadn't, because he was trying to keep her from seeing 
his tears.  She shot a glance behind him, to where Luna and Apollo were 
sitting at a window, looking in.

Jacobson's face had softened as he heard his ward's impassioned speech.  He 
could understand.  He looked at the paper's in his hand.  "Why didn't you 
just ask instead of looking through my stuff?  Never mind, I know, I wasn't 
here was I?  Yes, you've been celebrating the right birthday, Travis. I 
don't think they would have changed that.  As for your parents, their names 
were Trevor and Sarah Aton."

"Trevor and Sarah Aton, sounds nice."  Travis said, even as his eyes were on 
Serena, who was nodding her head, with a gigantic smile on her face.  "And 
my name?  What name was I born with?"  He looked back up at his guardian.

Jacobson looked at the top of the page.  Without really looking at it, he 
read. "Serena Usagi...Aton.  What?"  He stared at the name for a moment, 
until his attention was taken by one of the two girls he had forgotten.

"YAHOOO!  It's true!  It's true!"  Serena was jumping up and down in place.  
Travis suddenly wrenched himself free of the hold Jacobson had on him, and 
ran to Serena.  Picking her up he swung her around into a bear hug.  They 
were both laughing and crying at the same time.  

Reenie and Jacobson looked on, flabbergasted.  Then Jacobson bent down to 
pick up the papers that the girl had just dropped again.  They, too, were 
adoption papers, and the name at the top was Travis William Aton.  He stared 
at the two papers, comparing them for a long moment, then he spoke. "You're..
Twins?" he asked, completely and utterly stunned.

"What?"  Reenie screeched.

Serena laughed.  "I told you I hoped it wouldn't be possible for him to be 
my boyfriend.  And it's not!"

Jacobson was still in shock, but was trying to work his way out of it.  Then 
Travis asked a question.  "Sir?  Which of us was adopted first?  Does it 
say?"  

Jacobson noticed that the girl, Serena?, looked a little worried at the 
question, but he answered it anyway.  "You were, Travis, by about three 
days."

Serena's face cleared up.  "See, I told you my parents wouldn't have 
separated us if they had known.  One more question, while your holding the 
papers, please."  At Jacobson's nod, "Which one of us was born first?"

"Um, this says that Serena was born at 10:47 p.m. and Travis at 10:53 p.m."  
Jacobson looked up at them.  "Will you two stand next to each other for a 
minute?" 

They shrugged and did as he asked.  Looking at them, he could see the 
resemblance, both had high cheekbones and small noses, although Travis's 
weren't as noticable because he was huskier.  Their hair was only shades 
different and their eyes were exactly the same.  The same clear blue, filled 
at the moment with joy.  It was obvious, just from looking in their eyes, 
that they were both extremely happy at the moment.

"I can see it."  Reenie said, also looking at them.  "How come nobody 
noticed it before?  They do look a lot alike."

Travis answered before anyone else could.  "Because no one was expecting it. 
After all, I'm from Virginia and we're from separate families.  No one even 
knows, besides us four and Serena's parents, that she's adopted."  He thinks 
for a moment.  Then he looks at Serena and his Uncle Darien, "Do you want us 
to keep it a secret?  Serena, if you tell your parents, you'll have to let 
them know that you know you're adopted.  And Uncle Darien, if it gets out 
everyone will know I'm adopted."

Everyone grew quiet as they thought it over.  Then Jacobson spoke.  "It 
doesn't matter anymore, if you're adopted or not, Travis.  I don't mind if 
it gets out."  He looks at Serena, "And if she's going to be around for a 
while, maybe you had better call me Uncle Jake instead.  A lot of my friends 
call me Jake so I won't have any trouble getting used to it."  Travis nodded 
grinning.

Serena spoke up a minute later.  "I have to talk to my parents.  They need 
to know.  But I don't think we should tell anyone else until I've talked to 
them, okay?"  Travis and Jacobson nod.  "Reenie?  Is something the matter? 
You did promise you wouldn't say anything until I gave permission."

"I know and I won't, but not even the others?  I thought you didn't keep 
any thing secret from them?"  Reenie looked up at Serena, "And what about 
Darien?"

"No one Reenie, not even the others.  I tried to talk to Amy and Lita about 
what we suspected today, but they weren't talking to me, probably still mad 
about last night.  Besides, this really has nothing to do with them, it's a 
family thing at the moment.  And by the time 'he' comes back, everyone will 
probably know."  Serena thinks for a long moment.  "I need to find time to 
talk to them when Sammy's not at home."

"How 'bout tonight?  Sammy's eating dinner at Bobby's I think."  Serena 
nodded.  It was obvious to everybody that she was already nervous about it.

Travis looked at his guardian, "Do you mind if I eat dinner at Serena's 
tonight?  I know it's your first night back, but I think she needs the 
support."

"I have a better idea."  He said quietly.  "Serena?"

"Yes?"

"I hear that Travis has been eating at your house every morning.  I think 
it's only fair that we return the favor, besides I should meet the parents 
of my ward's best friend, don't you think?  Why don't I invite them over for 
dinner tonight?  It will at least help to put you all on neutral grounds.  I 
think that might be important."

"I think that would be a good idea.  Thank you."  She suddenly grinned.  
"Uncle Jake."


That night

"Thank you for inviting us, Mr. Jacobson.  I'm sorry our son couldn't come 
with us tonight, but he had already made plans."  Mrs. Tsukino said as she 
came through the door. 

"That's alright, Mrs. Tsukino.  Reenie told me he was eating at a friends 
tonight, but since I'm never sure how long I will be able to stay at home, 
I decided to invite you over when I could."  Jacobson said as he showed the 
Tsukino's into the dining room where Travis, Serena and Reenie were bringing 
out the food.

The conversation was light during dinner, focused mainly on Mr. Jacobson's 
job as a photojournalist.  The Tsukinos noticed that Serena didn't eat as 
fast as usual and rarely talked, but put it down to good manners.  They told 
Jacobson what a good influence Travis was on their daughter.  He got a laugh 
out of Travis's form of a wake-up call.

Then dinner was over and it was time.

All through dinner, Serena tried to think of a subtle way to open the 
subject.  She failed, so finally she decided on her usual way, blunt.  As 
her parents sat down on the couch in the living room, Serena asked it.  "Why 
didn't you ever tell me I was adopted?"

She was watching her family as she said it.  Her mother dropped the glass 
she was holding and her father's face got white and tense.

"How did you know?" her mother asked quietly.

"I've known for years, Mom."  Serena said, going to her knees in front of 
them.  "Remember that family tree I did in third grade?  You showed me 
pictures and paintings of all my ancestors.  Not a blond among them.  Even 
at that age, I knew it wasn't possible.  Then a couple of years ago I found 
this."  She reached over from where she was sitting and Travis handed her a 
paper.

Her parents barely glanced at it.  "Your adoption certificate," her mother 
said, even quieter.  "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Do you love me?"  Serena asked.

"Of course we do!  How could you even ask such a thing?" 

Her father than spoke for the first time.  "We loved you the moment we saw 
you, you were only about three months old and looked so little and helpless."

Serena leaned up and kissed her parents on the cheek.  "Then 'this' doesn't 
matter," she  said, pointing to the papter her mother was holding.  "As I 
told Travis, when I told him I was adopted.  'Families are made of love.  
My family loves me.  Nothing else matters.'"

"That's sweet."  Mrs. Tsukino said, looking at her daughter with new eyes.

"Why did you bring it up, then?" her father asked, still unsure about what 
was going on and her reaction.

Serena, who was in a very sensitive mood at the moment, saw it and 
understood.  She squirmed up between her parents, and tried as best she 
could to hug them both at the same time.  She turned around so she was 
facing them again and took their hands.  She spoke forcefully and looked 
them in the eye so they could 'see' she meant it.  "You are my parents.  I 
love you and will 'always' love you.  Nothing in this world or any other can 
change that.  I am 'your' daughter.  I always will be.  Don't ever doubt 
that, please."  There were tears in her eyes as she finished.

Serena's mother hugged her for a long moment.  Tears dripped down her face.  
Somehow she had never expected this.  Sometimes she had nightmares about 
Serena finding out and not loving them because they weren't her 'real' 
parents.  Serena had just put all her fears to rest.  She knew that Serena 
had meant every word she said.  She looked over at her husband and caught 
him watching them with a slightly misty-eyed expression.  "Why?" she asked.

Serena reached back.  Travis again put a paper into her hand and she gave it 
to her parents.  "Look at them," she said, settling back onto the floor.

Her parents stared at the two nearly identical pieces of paper in front of 
them.  Almost simultaneously they raised their heads to look at Travis and 
Serena, and then at each other.  Mr. Tsukino got his voice back first.  
"Travis William...Aton?"

"Once, but I'm Travis Watson now, the same way Serena is a Tsukino.  It's 
your decision now."  As they both turned to look at him, he continued, "If 
you don't want anyone to know that Serena's adopted, that's fine.  Nobody 
has to know we're twins.  As long as we know, it's alright.  You have to 
decide whether we tell anyone else or keep it a secret."

The Tsukino's thought for a long time.  They had kept it a secret because 
they were afraid of how the children would react.  Based on Serena's 
reaction, they had worried needlessly.  They talked quietly for a moment 
before Mr. Tsukino spoke.  "It's fine with us if you want people to know.  
Just give us a few days to tell Sammy and get him used to it and then you 
can announce it to the world."

"How about on our birthday?"  Travis asked.  As they looked towards him 
inquiringly, he continued his thought.  "We could have a double birthday 
party here at the house and tell everyone at the same time."

"That sounds like a good idea, except for the fact that you didn't ask your 
guardian first."  Mrs. Tsukino laughed for the first time in the last couple 
of hours.  She grew serious once more.  "Travis, I want you to think of 
yourself as part of the family.  As our daughter's brother, you are, and we 
would like you to think of yourself that way.  Alright?"

As Travis tried to swallow the lump that had grown in his throat,  Jacobson 
added, "Serena, that goes for you too.  You are welcome here whenever you 
wish.  You can even call me Uncle Jake."

"Does that mean we can have the party here?"  Serena asked.  She grinned at 
Reenie who had been sitting quietly the whole time.  "If the fungus, here, 
doesn't wreck everything by tripping over her own feet."

"I'm not the one who klutzs out, Meatball Head!"  And the arguement they 
started dispelled the rest of the tension in the room.


Several days later

The secret the three kids shared bonded them closer together.  Serena was 
happy about that.  Sometimes it seemed they were the only friends she had.  
The other girls still were barely talking to her and not even Luna could 
find out why.  Because of that, none of them knew about Serena and Travis.  
Wednesday afternoon, the three of them went to the arcade.

"Serena, can I talk to you?"  Andrew seemed unusually serious and Serena was 
worried as they followed him into a back room.  He started, "Early today I 
got a call from a friend of mine in Denver.  Darien went there on vacation."

Serena bust in.  "Something's happened to Darien?"  

Reenie followed.  "He's okay, right?"

"I'm afraid not.  He was exploring some ruins and fell into a pit.  It 
collapsed on him.  They couldn't even find his body.  I'm sorry.  I know 
you liked him."  Serena was just shaking her head as Reenie began wailing.

"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  I don't believe you!  You're lying! Darien's okay.
He's got to be!"  Travis rushed to her as she screamed.  She started hitting 
him on the chest.  "He's okay.  I would know if he was hurt.  He can't be 
dead!  He can't!  He promised he wouldn't leave me alone.  He promised, 
Travis!  He always keeps his promises.  Always!  He's not dead!  Make Andrew 
tell the truth, Travis.  Make him admit he lied.  Please!  Please, Travis!"  
Finally she collapsed to her knees, crying as if her world was destroyed.  
Travis just held her, rocking her, and trying his best to comfort her.  He 
reached out with one hand and pulled Reenie to him and held them both as 
they cried.

Half an hour later, Reenie had cried herself to exhaustion and was asleep on 
the floor of the storeroom.  Travis still held Serena, she still cried.  She 
wasn't wailing anymore, but nothing he could do could stop the endless rain 
of tears.  After making sure she would be alright for a moment alone, he 
went into the arcade to call his guardian.

Andrew came up to him.  "I didn't think it would hit her that hard."

"She loved him," he said simply and then made his call.

Fifteen minutes later, they were at his house.  Jacobson had carried a 
sobbing Serena out to his car, while Travis followed with a still sleeping 
Reenie.  Reenie was laying in one of the guest bedrooms, while Serena was in 
another, still sobbing.  Luna was in there with her and asked for Travis to 
leave them alone for a little while.  He agreed and was now worrying in the 
living room.  He had tried calling Serena's parents, but they had decided to 
go out of town for the night with Sammy, since they knew Jacobson could and 
would take care of the girls and they needed to talk to Sammy alone.

Travis went in to check on Serena.  He was very surprised when he got there.
Serena wasn't in her room.  Luna sat on the windowsill, looking worried.  She
turned to him.  "She got a call.  There's a fight going on at, of course, the
park.  She went, but she's not in any shape to fight.  I'm worried about 
her."  she finished, looking out once more.

Travis didn't hesitate.  "I'm going after her.  I'll tell Uncle Jake that 
she's asleep and not to bother her."

"What can you do?" Luna asked.  You're not a Scout and I don't think you
know how to access your prince powers yet, do you?"

"No, I don't.  But I will do whatever it takes to make sure she gets home
safely."  He turns to leave.

He told Jacobson not to bother Serena and that he was going out for a walk.  
As soon as he was out of sight of the house, he took off running.  Apollo 
found him a moment later.  "What's the matter, Travis?  Unlike Luna, I am not
allowed inside the house.  I saw you carrying Serena inside, is she hurt?"

"Not in the body, not yet, anyway.  We recieved word that Endymion had died
earlier in the week.  She's still in shock and then was called on to fight."
Travis wasn't really paying attention to his words.  He was more interested
in making sure he got to the park.

"That's not possible."  Apollo said.  His grating voice cut through Travis's
thoughts.

"She's Sailor Moon, she's expected to fight.  Why isn't it possible?"  Travis
asked.

"No, I meant Endymion having died and you just getting word.  I remember how
close you three were.  I've seen you limp for a week when he broke his leg.
And you were half a solar system away at the time.  You would have felt his
death, believe me!  I've been watching you and Serena this weekend.  You've 
shown no signs that he's even been hurt."

"Maybe the link doesn't work anymore."  Travis said.  

Apollo shook his head.  Travis almost smiled at the sight.  "How does Tuxedo
Mask always know when Sailor Moon is in trouble?  The link is still active
and 'cannot' work one way.  He's still alive."

"Are you sure, Apollo?  If you're right, it's wonderful news, but I won't get
Serena's hopes up on a possible."  Apollo just looked at him.  "Well you
believe it, so it problably is true.  Why do I have a link with him, anyway?"

"You don't remember?"  At Travis's look.  "I guess not.  You were blood 
brothers.  When you performed the ceremony, you became linked the same way
you and Serenity were."

"I need to tell Serena this.  Here's the park."  He looked towards where 
lights were flashing.  "And there's the fight."

When Travis got to the fight, it was all he could do not to rush in and try 
to help.  The Scouts were having a hard time, fighting a monster made almost 
entirely out of tentacles.  Sailor Mercury was trapped in the droid's hold.  
Sailor Mars was just getting up from where she had been thrown against a 
tree.  Jupiter and Venus were powering up for their attacks.  And Sailor 
Moon was just standing there, not really paying attention.

"VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE" cut the vines off of Sailor Mercury.  She 
fell to the ground.  Travis grinned.  She was still working her computer and 
didn't even seem to notice.

"Do something Sailor Moon!  Don't just stand there." Sailor Mars yelled out.  
Sailor Moon looked up as if she had  been awoken from a dream.

"Oh, alright.  MOON TIARA MAGIC" and she sent a discus toward the droid.  It
wasn't a very high powered discus and didn't do any damage.

"What is the matter with you, Sailor Moon?  That was pitiful!"  Mars yelled.  
"Youre acting like your best friend died."

Sailor Moon just collapsed weeping.

Travis stared up at  Apollo.  "I've got to help them.  I'm the prince of the 
Sun, can't I become Sailor Sun, or something."

Apollo shook his head.  "Not without the Sun Stone, and I'm not entirely sure
where it is."

Travis was about to ask more questions when the action in the clearing took 
up his attention. 

"JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP"  "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND" both hit at the 
same time.  Almost all of the monster's tentacles fell off.  

"MERCURY ICESTORM SPLASH"  "VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE" took off the rest of 
them.

"Now, Sailor Moon!"  Mars called out, but Sailor Moon just lay there, crying.
Mars ran up and slapped her across the face.  As Sailor Moon looked up, 
shocked, Mars said, "You are our leader and you will act like it.  Or we'll 
find a new leader.  Do you understand?"  It was obvious she meant it.

Sailor Moon got to her feet and looked toward the droid.  She took out her 
scepter "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION" turned the droid into dust.  Then she got 
up and walked away.

Travis met her as she left the clearing.  "Are you alright?"

"That's a dumb question.  The man I love is dead and it looks like my best 
friends are turning on me, and you ask if I'm alright?"  she almost screamed.

Travis looked on in sympathy.  "Apollo doesnt think he's dead."  he said 
simply.  As she looked up, he continued, "he says that the link, which always
tells Tuxedo Mask when you're in trouble, works both ways, and that if he had
died you would have felt it."

"Thats true, Princess.  The bond between you two was strong enough, that 
when Endymion got hurt, you felt it up on the moon.  There is 'no' way in 
which you could have not felt him dying while on the same planet."

Sailor Moon thought about it for a very long time.  They were almost back to 
the house by the time she spoke again.  "I do remember.  I felt it when 
Zoisite wounded him.  I just didnt know what it was."  She turned to Travis.
"Do you really believe that he's still alive?"  her eyes were begging for 
reassurance.  Travis gave it to her.

"I do.  Apollo said, Endymion and I are blood brothers and the bond we have 
by that is almost as strong as the one you two have.  And I don't remember 
feeling anything was wrong this entire weekend.  I think, that until they 
find his body, I will not believe he is dead.  You shouldnt either."

"Ill try."  Sailor Moon jumped up to her window.  "Ill try."
-----------

Well, there's another one.  Truthfully, I hadn't expected this one to take 
so long.  Let me change that, I had planned for this one to incorporate
everything that's going to happen in Chapter Six The Sun Stone.  As has 
happened before, it took on a life of its own.  Oh well.  Tell me what you
think at Jendra@aol.com

Hello, haven't seen me in a while, have you?  I said I had to break Chapter
Five into two chapters because it was so long.  Here's the second.  I suppose
I should rewrite the standard disclaimers in here every once in a while, but
they don't change from one fanfic to another, so why bother.  

I want to thank everyone who has written me so far.  The number has gone up
slightly and I need to thank them as much as Sonia who has been with me
from the first.  If you want to join the list, my e-mail address is Jendra@
aol.com

Enjoy


Sailor Moon Universal

Chapter Six

Travis went into the kitchen early the next morning and stopped in shock 
when he saw Serena sitting at the table.  He noticed her dejected expression.

"You stopped believing didn't you?"  he asked so gently, she didn't even 
jump at his prescence.

"I'm sorry," she said in a small voice, "but what if we're wrong?"

"Then we have hope for a few more days, and that's better than nothing.  But 
we're not wrong."  Travis thought for a few moments.  "What happened six 
months ago?" he asked abruptly.

"Huh?"

"Six months ago, I was sitting in class.  I'm told I suddenly fell out of my 
chair.  When the teacher got to me, I wasn't breathing and my heart wasn't 
beating.  They started CPR and three minutes later everything was all right. 
They took me to the hospital and the doctors could find nothing wrong.  My 
heart was fine, my lungs were healthy, even my brain was okay.  They kept me 
for two weeks trying to find out why my body had suddenly decided to die.  
So what happened six months ago?"  Travis said this as unemotionally as he 
could.  He was still a little scared about it.  

Serena started speaking.  "Six months ago was the final battle with Queen 
Beryl.  We teleported to the Arctic Circle and started traveling towards her 
base.  She sent the Doom and Gloom girls after us and one by one the Scouts 
died.  When I was the last one left, she teleported me to her throne room.  
Darien was there.  He had been brainwashed by Beryl and thought I was the 
enemy.  He attacked me."  Here Serena stopped for a moment to try to get
control of herself.  Remembering was still hard for her.  "I tried to heal 
him with the crystal and it didn't work.  I tried knocking him unconscious 
with my tiara and it barely even hurt him.  Finally I pulled out my locket, 
you know my star locket, that you gave me for my birthday, and I gave to him 
before the final battle as a symbol of our love.  I held it out and let it 
play.  He touched it and remembered"  although she had started speaking 
almost like an automaton she was smiling at the remembrance now.  Then her 
voice dropped again.  "Queen Beryl picked up this gigantic rock and threw it 
at us.  Darien managed to shatter it with a rose, but slivers of rock hit 
him in the back as he tried to protect me.  He died in my arms."  Two tears 
were falling unnoticed from her eyes.  "I went out and used the crystal and 
my friends' love to defeat her, then I wished for everything to be normal 
again.  Everyone came back to life with no memories of what had happened.  
We didn't even have memories of each other."

"So it does still work."  Travis said quietly.  "In effect I died when 
Darien did the first time.  Well, I haven't died yet so neither has he.  
Understand this Serena, I will believe him dead when I feel myself die.  Not 
before." He stood up.  "I will believe him dead only when I feel myself die."

"You're right!  He's not dead."  She looked up at him and grinned for the 
first time in almost a day.  It was a small grin, and kind of sickly, but it
was a grin.  "He's not dead."

"Do you really believe that, Serena?"  a voice spoke from in back of them as 
Reenie walked forward with hope shining from her face.  "Do you really 
believe he's not dead?"

"I really believe it, Reenie.  The same way Tuxedo Mask always knows when I 
am hurt, I would know if he was.  He's alive, Reenie.  I don't know why he's 
disappeared, and I am worried about that, but he's alive." she said as 
Reenie stood next to her, looking up.

"I didn't think about that,"  Travis said, worried again.  "Do you think 
someone's captured him?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to think about it.  How about if after 
school, we all go to the mall?"  Serena's eyes had lit up and she started 
talking.  "We could go to that new accessory shop, I hear they have some 
really cool earrings and the ice cream shop and the chocolate shop, and I 
need a new pair of shoes and..." she kept talking as Travis and Reenie 
walked out of the room to get ready for school.

"That Meatball head."  Reenie said disgustedly, "Can't keep an idea in her 
head for more than a minute or two."

"Maybe," said Travis, "but it's nice to see her acting like herself again.  
This new serious Serena was kind of getting on my nerves.  Serena is 
supposed to act like an airhead, nothing else seems right."

Reenie laughed and agreed.  Serena had barely even had a klutz attack since 
Monday.  It was kind of like waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for 
her to go back to normal.

However, over the rest of the day, Travis started to change his mind.  
Serena was taking her airheadedness to extremes.  it seemed like she was 
getting tired of doing the right thing.  Although she had her homework, not 
even Travis could keep her attention on class.  If she answered questions, 
it was with answers that made no sense and showed she was daydreaming.  She 
whispered with Molly and barely got out of getting detention.  The rest of 
the class didn't know whether to be exasperated at her or glad she had 
gotten back to normal.  Even Miss Haruna wasn't quite sure.

After school, Travis didn't even try to get her to do her homework, he just 
took her to the mall.  After a very long afternoon of mall trolling he took 
her home and told her parents  "She's making up for all the airheaded 
behaviour she's missed.  Be warned."

Amy, Raye, Mina, and Lita had heard about Darien.  They wanted to sympathize 
with Serena, but her behavior last night, and today, had convinced them that 
their dreams were probably right.  She didn't care what happened to anyone 
else.  The dreams had been getting worse each night, and although they 
didn't really believe them, sometimes they couldn't help wondering.  They 
didn't tell anyone about their dreams, each of them too embarrased by the 
way they seemed to be doubting her.  But the more they saw her, the more 
they started wondering.

It was starting to get obvious by the fight that night. 

Sailor Moon showed up late and Mercury yelled at her for it.  She tripped 
while running from a solid steel projectile and Jupiter yelled at her for 
being so clumsy.  The more the girls yelled at her, the more distracted and 
clumsy she got.  The more distracted and clumsy she got, the more the other 
Scouts yelled at her.  The droid was almost ignored as the infighting 
between the Scouts got worse.  Finally, Venus called them together.  "That's 
enough everyone!  The more you yell at her the worse it's going to get.  
Let's just take care of this droid and we can yell at her later.  Mercury 
and Mars try to hit it from opposite sides."

It seemed for a moment as if both Mars and Sailor Moon were going to ask who 
gave her the right to give orders.  But they didn't.  "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE 
SURROUND" and "MERCURY ICE STORM BLAST"  hit the droid from two sides.  It 
had been trying to decide which of them to dodge first and managed to get hit
by both.

Everyone turned to stare at Sailor Moon.  Under that unified scrutiny, she 
fumbled forth her scepter and called out "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION" and the 
droid turned into dust.

Sailor Moon looked around at the others.  "I'm not going to stand around 
here and let you yell at me!  I've been good, I've been doing better at 
school and trying to be on time.  So I took one day off, that's no reason to 
yell at me. WHHHAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  Why are you being so mean to me 
today?"  And she started wailing as she jumped out of the area.

"She's got to start taking things more seriously."  Mars said, almost 
snarling.  

"She was,"  Mercury replied distractedly.  "Today she was just acting like 
she used to, we shouldn't have been so hard on her."  *But what if the 
dreams were right?*

Serena went home and collapsed on her bed.  "What is going on with them, 
Luna?  I know I've been more airheaded than usual today, but is that any 
reason for them to yell at me?  Huh?  Is it?"

Luna looked at her for a long moment.  "Mars always yells at you, you never 
seemed to mind this much before.  What happened?"

"It wasn't Raye, she didn't even talk to me.  It was Amy and Lita who yelled 
at me.  And they're still not talking to me at school.  Do... do you think 
Rubeus could have gotten to them?"

"I doubt it's that.  It's probably just that they're a little jealous of how 
much time you're spending with Travis."

"Well then I'll tell them about me and Travis and then they'll understand 
and we can be friends again.  Good, now that that's settled, I can go to 
sleep." And Serena lay down on her bed.  Luna drifted to sleep, only to be 
awoken fifteen minutes later, when Serena sighed deeply, got out of bed and 
started her homework.  

*I've really got to find a way to thank Travis for getting her to do this.*  
Luna thought sleepily as she drifted back into a doze.

The next morning as Travis and Serena were getting ready to leave the 
Tsukino house. Travis asked, "Do you have your homework?"  Not at all 
expecting an affirmative answer.

"Yes, it's right here.  I did it last night before I went to bed."  Serena 
hid a grin at the expression on his face.

Sammy came into the kitchen just then.  He had taken the news about being 
adopted and Travis and Serena a lot better than anyone thought he would and 
now tended to treat Travis as an older brother, who could be as fun to tease 
as his older sister.  "Hey Travis, aren't you sorry you got stuck with such 
a ditz as a sister?  I bet you wish you could trade her in for a better 
model." Sammy laughed. 

Serena turned to Travis, "You were supposed to help me with those signs 
today, weren't you?"

"What signs?"

"The 'brother for sale' signs of course."  Serena said and smiled.

"I don't really think we'd get enough money for him to make it worthwhile to 
make signs, Serena.  Maybe we should just let the word travel at school." 
and Travis smiled back.

"Mom, they're ganging up on me!"  Sammy shouted.

"Serena, Travis, don't pick on your brother like that."  Mrs. Tsukino said 
without thinking.

Travis turned to her and bowed.  "Thank you, Mrs. Tsukino."

On their way out, Serena asked him, "Why did you thank her?  All she did was 
tell us to stop picking on Sammy."

"No, Serena, she said to stop picking on my brother.  She really is starting 
to think of me as one of the family."  Travis looked happy at the thought.  
"Oh, to change the subject.  During that battle, Wednesday night," when 
Serena nodded to show she remembered, "I asked Apollo if it was possible 
for me to become Sailor Sun"

"And he said no, right?" Serena interupted.  "The Sailor Scouts are the 
court of the Princess of the moon, that's why the Earth and the Sun don't 
have any. You weren't part of the Silver Millenium.  Besides there are no 
male scouts."

"Actually what he said was, 'not without the Sun Stone'."  Travis told her.

Serena stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.  "You mean you could become a 
Scout?  That would be so cool.  Where is this Sun Stone?"

Travis stopped as well.  "He doesn't know.  I asked him later and about all 
he could tell me was that it was somewhere in Tokyo."

"Then let's look for it, this afternoon,"  Serena said as she started 
walking again.  "We can look at that new shopping mall down town."

"I don't think we'll find it in a shopping mall, Serena.  This is something 
hidden.  I think."  Travis said chasing after her.

"If you're looking for something, malls are the best place to look, they 
have everything."  Serena said airily.

*Looks like she's started with the airhead business again.*  Travis was so 
busy thinking that he didn't hear Serena's next words.  "What?" he asked, 
even as he thought *Oh, no!  It's contagious!*

"I said, I want to tell Amy and Lita about us, do you mind?  Luna says that 
maybe they haven't been speaking to me because they're jealous of how much 
time I've been spending with you.  Maybe if I tell them why, they'll talk to 
me again."

"Yeah, go ahead."

All that day, Serena tried to talk to Amy and Lita, but could never catch 
them alone.  She was so distracted by that problem, that the class was sure 
she had gone back to her airhead ways.  By the end of the day she was 
extremely depressed.  Being called to fight before they even got to the mall 
didn't help.

The other scouts were already fighting when she got there.  "Hey Negatrash!" 
she yelled distracting it, "I am Sailor Moon, Champion of Love, Justice and 
Shopping.  For messing up my shopping trip, I will punnish you!"  Then she 
jumped down to where the others were standing.  

"You're late, Sailor Moon."  Mars said.  Normally that would be enough to 
send her into a wailing fit, but instead she just looked at Sailor Mars.

"I don't know what's the matter with all of you, but since you won't tell me,
I'll just have to live with it.  But I will not live with you yelling about 
something that's not my fault.  I was halfway across the city when this one 
showed up.  I got here as fast as I could.  Now let's beat it so I can go 
back to shopping."  And she turned away to face the droid.  "MOON TIARA 
MAGIC"  she cried throwing her discus at the droid.  

"Sailor Moon, no!"  Jupiter cried as she did.  Sailor Moon soon found out 
why.

This one looked as though it was a cross between a goat and a human.  It 
also obviously had the ability to hypnotize people and had managed to get a 
large number of people under its spell before the scouts got there.  It sent 
several into the path of the discus.

"TIARA RETURN"  Sailor Moon called out immediately pulling her power from it.
It boomeranged around to land in her hand.

"If you'd listened before you started throwing things around, you would have 
known it did that."  Sailor Mars said almost venomously, "But no, you want to
get this finished so you can go back to Travis.  You don't even care that 
Darien died.  You obviously didn't love him as much as we thought."

"That's not true Mars," she tried to explain.

"Enough talking, we have people to save."  Venus cut in before she could.

"Alright, but afterwards, you are all going to listen to me."  Sailor Moon 
said as she turned back towards the droid.

Mercury had been working with her computer through the whole arguement.  "I 
think I can disrupt the droid's hold on these people." she said finally.  
"It uses sound frequencies from that pipe.  I can set up alternate 
frequencies to break the hypnotism.  But it won't work for long, the pipes 
have got to be destroyed."

"I can do that," Jupiter said confidently, "As long as nobody spoils my aim 
by bumping into me."  Looking directly at Sailor Moon.  Sailor Moon just 
looked confused.

"You might want to cover your ears,"  Mercury said, just before a high 
pitched sound came from her computer and blasted toward the droid.  The 
people around it shook their heads, as if wondering what they were doing 
there and then started screaming when they caught sight of the droid.  As 
they started scattering, Jupiter started her attack.  "JUPITER THUNDERCLAP 
ZAP"  a ball of lightning raced towards the suddenly disorganized droid.  He 
tried calling some of the people in front of him, but no one was listening, 
and then it was too late.  The lightning impacted on his pipes blowing them 
into millions of little pieces.

"Now!"  Venus cried.  "VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE"  slammed the droid against 
a conveniently placed wall.

"You got it!"  Mars shouted "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND" sent the droid 
tumbling to the earth.

"No, he got it."  Sailor Moon giggled.  "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION" finished 
the droid off.

"Nice going Sailor brats."  A voice called down.  

"Rubeus!"  came in four voices.  Mercury was silent, trying once again to 
get a fix on his location. 

"So you beat my Pan droid, let's try this one, shall we?"  Rubeus laughed.  
"Droid Reptilia come forth.  Take care of these Sailor failures and you will 
be well rewarded."

"As you wissssh, Massster."  A voice hissed from the surronding darkness.  A 
large snake, with the head of a human woman slithered from the underbrush.

"Ew, yuck!"  Sailor Moon exclaimed.  "I hate snakes.  They're so slimy."

"Then lets cut off its head."  Jupiter said bloodthirstily.  "JUPITER 
THUNDERCLAP ZAP"  She waited for the lightning to hit.  The droid didn't 
even try to get out of its way.  The lightning hit Reptilia and did nothing. 
"What?!"

"Some species of reptiles can't be harmed by elctricity."  Mercury said 
analytically.

"What are they harmed by?"  Sailor Moon yelled as she tried to jump over the 
tail that was sliding by.  She almost managed it, but the top of her foot 
caught the top of the snakes body and she went sprawling.  Sailor Moon 
wailed in fear as the tail came at her again.  

"VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE"  The chain wrapped around Reptilia's tail and 
Venus pulled.  She had just enough strength to stop the droid from crushing 
Sailor Moon, but she knew she couldn't hold on long.  

Reptilia looked at the nuisance holding onto her tail and opened her mouth.  
Mars tackled Sailor Venus, causing the tail to whiplash.  Luckily it missed 
Sailor Moon, but just barely.  

"Hey, why'd ya do that?"  She started to ask, until she saw the bare patch 
of ground where Sailor Venus had been standing.  

Mars called out.  "Watch out, that thing shoots acid!"  Then looking at 
Sailor Moon, "If you weren't such a klutz, she wouldn't have been in danger 
by trying to save you."  She said with almost as much venom as Reptilia had 
shot out.  Once more, Sailor Moon was left feeling totally confused.

"Most reptiles are cold blooded creatures and can be harmed by cold,"  Sailor
Mercury lectured as she powered up her own attack.  "MERCURY ICE STORM BLAST"
A wave of cold flew towards the droid.  It moved quickly to get out of the 
way but was caught in the tail. 

"My tail!"  Reptilia wailed, "My beautiful tail.  You will pay for that 
SSSailor SSScoutsss."

"In your dreams, monster!"  Mars announced.  She nodded to Venus who was 
standing to one side.

"VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE"  Sailor Venus called out, throwing her chain at 
Reptilia's head.  "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROND" flew out to where they 
expected the droid to dodge to.  Unfortunately they calculated wrong.  
Droid Reptilia was faster than they had expected, ducking under the chain, 
instead of moving to the side.  The fire totally missed her and almost hit 
Jupiter, who was fuming over her inability to get into the fight. 

Jupiter watched the way Reptilia was moving and in a repeat of Sailor Mars's 
maneuver, tackled Sailor Mercury away from the acid suddenly shooting from 
the droid's mouth.  

Sailor Moon had gotten up by this time and was trying to get over to her 
friends.  She decided to try an attack of her own.  "MOON TIARA MAGIC"  sent 
one of her disks towards the droid.  It easily ducked under the projectile 
and turned towards its newest, and it seemed weakest threat.  Sailor Moon 
grinned to herself as the tiara came back towards her.  She suddenly 
remembered an attack she had only used a couple of times before.  Reptilia 
saw where her gaze was and followed it to the disk of light coming back at 
her.  She laughed at such a puny attack as she ducked once more.  At the 
instant the tiara was above her head, Sailor Moon yelled out "MOON TIARA 
STARDUST MAGIC".  Twinkles of light left the tiara, and settled on the 
droid, burning her.  Reptilia screamed.

Sailor Moon yelled out loud in delight that her idea had worked.  She was so 
busy congratulating herself, she missed Reptilia's frozen tail swinging 
towards her and got thrown into a tree.

"Good going, Sailor Moon, a two year old could have evaded that."  Jupiter 
called out.  Although she had winced, and worried, when it happened, once 
she realized that Sailor Moon was alright, all she could think of was how 
clumsy their leader was.  Sailor Moon's next actions didn't help anything.  

"WWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
Why is everyone so mad at me today?  I didn't do anything.  You're all just 
being mean."  

Reptilia was so intent on her suddenly easy prey, that she didn't notice her 
greatest threat gearing up behind her.  Instead of shouting out the attack 
like she normally did, Sailor Mercury whispered "Mercury Ice Storm" as she 
slowly gathered up her energy.  The last word was shouted as she released 
the energy "BLAST".  The wave of cold flew towards Reptilia too fast and too 
unexpected to be evaded.  Reptilia was frozen in place.

"Okay, Sailor Moon, now finish it!"  Sailor Venus said impatiently as Sailor 
Moon kept on wailing. 

"Oh, alright."  She whined.  She stood up and pulled out her scepter.  "MOON 
SCEPTER ELIMINATION".  The droid turned to dust.  "You happy now?"  she 
asked grumpily.

"We'll be happy when you start acting like a leader instead of like a 
spoiled brat."  Sailor Venus said as the other Scouts left the battle site.

"Wait, I wanted to talk to you!"  Sailor Moon called out as she was left 
alone.  "What is it with those people.  You'd think they were mad at me for 
something."  She turned away to meet up with Travis before realizing the 
time.  "Mom expects me home for dinner soon, so I guess I'd better go."


The next morning on the way to Travis's house.

"Artemis, what are you doing here?"  Serena asked as she saw him waiting at 
the top of the wall along her property.

"Well, I haven't seen you or Luna for a while, so I decided to see what was 
going on."  Artemis announced as he jumped down to walk next to Luna.  
"Hello gorgeous."

"Do you promise to keep it a secret?"  Serena asked grinning.  "Unless you 
solemnly swear to hold what you will see a secret in your deepest heart 
until told otherwise, we will be forced to feed you to Mr. Jacobson's 
gigantic cat eating golden falcon."

Artemis grinned at the answer, or at least as best as a cat could.  Then it 
faded, "Even from Mina?"

Serena stopped grinning too.  "Even from Mina.  I tried talking to her and 
the others yesterday, but they wouldn't listen to me.  Has she been acting 
weird to you?"

"No, not really.  She's had a couple of nightmares and has been asking some 
questions about the Moon Kingdom, but nothing major.  Whoa, neat place!"  He 
said as they walked up to Travis's house.

Serena looked at the arrow tacked on the front of the door.  "He's around 
back, come on lets go."

"I was really hoping to talk to you two."  Artemis said, slightly annoyed at 
having to keep silent.

"Don't worry," Luna spoke up for the first time.  "Travis knows all about 
us.  He saw Serena transforming, and then heard me speak.  I can't believe 
we were so careless."  She looked up at Serena who wasn't paying attention, 
intent on getting into the back yard.  "Okay, I can't believe I was so 
careless.  Ouch!"

"I'm sorry, Luna, I wasn't watching where I was going.  I didn't mean to 
kick you.  I guess I'm just careless."  Serena said with a straight face as 
she walked on.  Artemis fell over laughing.

"Hey Travis,"  Serena sang out as she walked in the back gate.  Travis was 
standing there, obviously talking to Apollo.  "Reenie wasn't able to come, 
she's spending the day with Amy."

"Hey twin,"  Travis answered as he gave her a hug.

"Twin?!"  Artemis repeated.

"Why yes Artemis,"  Luna repeated smoothly, as if she had known all along.  
"Don't tell me you don't remember Serenity's twin brother, Prince 
Tranquillity of the Kingdom of the Sun?"  Luna's eyes were dancing at being 
able to one-up her fellow guardian so easily.

"Oh, yeah,"  Artemis replied devilishly, "He's the one you gave that weird 
name to.  I told you not to suggest it to the queen, but you thought it was 
'sooo' perfect."

"Luna!"  Travis almost yelled.  "You told me it was an accident!"

Grating laughter brought their attention back to Apollo.  Artemis walked up 
to him.  "Are you the giant, cat-eating, golden falcon, these two threatened 
to feed me to if I told anyone their secret?"

"I am, but don't worry, I would never eat you."  As Artemis grinned.  "Cats 
taste absolutely awful you know, and don't have enough meat on them to make 
it worthwhile."  Artemis was no longer grinning, but everyone else was.

"This is all well and good," Travis said, "but it's not getting us any closer 
to finding the Sun Stone.  Any ideas on where to look, Apollo?"

"I don't have a clue, Travis."  Apollo said sadly.

"I still say the mall would be the best pla...no, maybe not."  Luna and 
Artemis looked at her.  Serena 'not' wanting to go to the mall?  Then she 
continued.  "There's that big flea market going on this weekend.  Why don't 
we look there.  They have everything."

"I don't think it would be there, but I don't have any better ideas on where 
to look either."  Apollo said, "and unfortunately, I think I'm the only one 
who remembers what it looks like."

"Well, all we can do is try."  Travis said, resigned to spending another day 
with one of the world's most exhausting shoppers.

They set off, with Luna riding on Serena's shoulder, Artemis on Travis's, 
getting caught up on what had been happening, and Apollo flying above them.

When they got to the flea market, Travis and Artemis groaned at all the 
shops they would have to look at.  Serena smiled and looked at all the 
places to shop.  Luna just saw a very long day ahead of them.

"Let's get started," Serena said, rubbing her hands in delight.

Two hours later, Serena had bought and eaten a cotton candy, a piece of 
rocky road fudge and a bag of popcorn.  Travis had had a piece of peanut 
butter fudge, a bag of peanuts, a piece of rock candy,a bag of popcorn and 
a coke.  Luna and Artemis just shook their heads.  Serena had also bought a 
stuffed rabbit for herself, a smaller copy for Reenie, a cute toy train for 
Sammy, two shirts, a skirt, four barrettes, and something she wouldn't tell 
anyone what was.  Travis had bought her a crescent moon necklace and 
matching earings.  They finally left the flea market and while standing 
outside Serena gave Travis the surprise package.  Travis gasped when he 
opened it.  Inside was a necklace.  The pendant was a perfect five inch copy 
of a sword, done in silver with a large topaz on the hilt.

"Thank you Serena.  This is gorgeous."  He said as he took it out and put it 
on.

"I'm glad you like it."  Serena started to say as she was distracted by 
sounds from inside the flea market.  

Luna jumped down to investigate.  She came running back.  "It's a droid.  
It's sucking energy from all of the patrons.  Call the others and get 
changed."   

Serena started to activate her communicator when she stopped.  "No.  If I 
can prove I can take a droid down all by myself, maybe the others will stop 
calling me a coward and clumsy.  I'll do this one on my own."  She pulled 
out her locket before Luna could say anything.  "MOON CRYSTAL POWER"  she 
cried out as she transformed.

Travis watched the transformation without paying any attention to it.  He 
was too busy worrying and trying to find a way to get her to call the 
others.  Then it was too late.  She was gone.  

Apollo came down to see what all the commotion was about.  Travis turned to 
explain.  Apollo didn't hear a word of it.  His eye was caught on Travis's 
new necklace.  "Travis, where did you get that necklace?"  he asked.

Travis was already moving towards the flea market.  He barely heard Apollo's 
question as he tried to find a place to watch the fight and maybe help.  
"Serena just bought it for me."  He reached the flea market in time to hear 
Sailor Moon's speech to the new droid.  The droid looked almost like a 
normal human woman, only it was about two feet too tall and covered in 
jewels instead of clothes.

"I am Sailor Moon, Champion of the Moon.  I fight for Love, and I fight for 
Justice, and I fight for the right of people to go to flea markets in peace. 
In the name of the Moon, I will right wrongs and triumph over evil.  And 
that means you!"

The droid didn't wait for Sailor Moon to finish before it started attacking. 
It pulled jewels off of its clothes and threw them at Sailor Moon.  She was 
so busy posing that she didn't even notice the small gems.  They impacted 
the table she was standing on and exploded.  Sailor Moon went down in a 
heap.  

"I've got to help her."  Travis said, moving forward.  Luna and Artemis were 
trying to keep him back.  "I know I can't do much but I've got to try."

Apollo yelled, "Travis!"  As Travis reluctantly turned back to his feathered 
guardian, Apollo looked him in the eye.  "I've been trying to tell you.  
That necklace Serena bought you holds the Sun Stone!  This is your version 
of a transformation wand.  Do what you have to do!"

The others stared at Apollo for a long moment.  Serena had been right? 
was their first thought. Then the rest of Apollo's sentance started making 
sense as Travis heard Sailor Moon scream.  "What do I have to do?"  he asked 
desperately.

"You know."  Apollo answered, looking at his charge.

Travis nodded slowly.  He did know.  "SUN STONE POWER" he shouted as he 
raised the small sword to the sky.  A light started burning deep inside of 
him, moving quickly towards the outside.  The light grew so bright that even 
Apollo, whose kind had been born with the ability to look directly into the 
sun without blinking, had to turn his head.  When they looked back, Sailor 
Sun stood there.  He wore a one piece pants suit that hugged his body 
tightly.  His shirt was white with soft yellow sleeves.  His pants looked as 
if they were made of pure gold.  He wore ankle boots and a belt of the same 
yellow as his sleeves and a gold headband with the sign of the sun in the 
middle.  At his right side, hooked to his belt, was a white scabbard, 
obviously meant to hold the long sword he held pointing to the sky.  The 
small topaz had grown with the rest of the sword to rival the Moon Crystal.

Travis looked down at his costume.  "Cool!"  was all he said as he sheathed 
the sword and started moving towards the droid.  He knew that the Scouts 
always called out to let the droids know they were there, but he thought 
that was incredibly stupid, so he moved in as silently as he could.  "SOLAR 
FLARE"  he called out as soon as he got close enough.  Bright yellow and 
orange flames leapt from his outhrust hands, hitting the droid in the back.


Meanwhile at the arcade.

Mina and Reenie were playing each other at Sailor V, while Amy was studying 
a book she had brought with her.  Andrew looked at Reenie, slightly 
surprised.  He asked Lita, who was looking at him with hearts in her eyes 
"Do you know what is up with Serena and Reenie?  When I told them about 
Darien, they both collapsed, but it seems, ever since, as if they've 
forgotten all about it."

"I don't know," she answered.  "They've both been spending a lot of time 
with Travis, maybe he has something to do with it."

Raye came up to her as Andrew left.  "I feel something strange, I think we 
need to get out of here."  she said quietly.

"Lots of luck getting those two out of here."  Lita laughed as she pointed 
to the intense game going on at one of the machines.

"I'll get them, you get Amy.  I'll meet you out front."  Raye left to get the 
two gamers.  She had to practically pull them off of the game and got some 
very dirty looks for it.  They went outside.

"Well, why did you get us out here?"  Mina asked impatiently. 

"I feel something evil coming."  Raye answered.  

"You mean something like that."  Reenie asked in a trembling voice, pointing 
back into the arcade.  

The others gathered around to see what Reenie was looking at.  It looked 
like one of the arcade games had come alive.  It was electrocuting anyone it 
could reach.

"Hey, that's the Sailor V game.  Whoever did this is going to pay for using 
'my" game."  Mina cried, looking around quickly before pulling out her 
transformation pen.  "VENUS STAR POWER"

"Stay here out of the way, Reenie."  Amy said getting out her own 
transformation pen.  "MERCURY STAR POWER"

"MARS STAR POWER"

"JUPITER STAR POWER"

And the Sailor Scouts started into the arcade.  Reenie stopped Sailor 
Jupiter.  "Aren't you going to call Serena?"

"We'll call her if we need her."  Jupiter answered.  "Not that she would be 
much good in a fight."  Then she went inside, leaving Reenie staring in 
complete disbelief.

"Hey Negatrash, for blemishing my good name, I will punish you.  I am Sailor 
Venus."

"In the name of the Planet of Ice, I am Sailor Mercury."

"Evil will always be defeated by cleansing fire.  In the name of Mars, I 
will punish you."

"For all electronic games, and in the name of the planet of crashing thunder 
and lightning.  I am Sailor Jupiter."

"I've been waiting for you Sailor Scouts.  Where's that pathetic leader of 
yours?  Too busy brushing her hair to come?"  The machine laughed 
electronically.  Little figures started coming out of the machine and 
attacking.  Sailor Venus yelled in anger as she was attacked by miniture 
versions of Sailor V.  Within minutes, the Scouts were covered in little 
Sailor V's and youma's.  Although they didn't do much harm, the little 
attacks were annoying and when hit with twenty at once could hurt.  

"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND" swept the little nuisances off of both Mars 
and Mercury.  

Jupiter didn't even bother with an attack.  She started to pull electricity 
into her tiara and down through her body, until anything that touched her 
was shocked.  Once they had all fallen off, she pulled the electricity back 
into her tiara and sent it at the machine.  "JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP"  The 
machine's screen pulsed as the energy overloaded it for a short moment.  All 
of its miniture creations disappeared.

"This guys not so tough,"  Venus announced, tossing back her hair, "but 
unfortunately we do need Sailor Moon to finish it off.  Mercury, call her."

Sailor Mercury shook her head, "I'm busy right now, Mars you do it, I'm 
trying to reprogram this droid."

"Oh, alright."  Sailor Mars agreed reluctantly.  "Sailor Moon." she called.  

A few seconds later she finally got an answer.  "What?"  was yelled through 
the communicator.

"We're fighting a droid at the arcade and we need you here."  Mars said, 
trying to hold her temper.

"Not now.  I'm busy.  I'll be there when I can."  Serena's voice was clearly 
heard by the others in the room.

"What can be more important than an attack?"  Sailor Jupiter yelled back.  
She got no answer.


Back at the flea market.

Travis's attack had indeed taken the droid by surprise and hurt it some as 
well.  Unfortunately, Sailor Sun didn't have much experience in these kinds 
of battles.  He thought he had done fatal damage and so moved towards Sailor 
Moon without watching his back.  He soon learned better as a chain wrapped 
around his ankle and pulled him down.  He landed heavily, twisting his ankle 
slightly.

Sailor Moon had gotten up and was staring at the new Scout.  She saw the 
chain holding him down and used her tiara to cut it.  She kneeled next to 
him and tried to get him to his feet.  She, also, forgot about the droid 
behind her.  Sailor Sun looked behind her and pushed her out of the way of 
another gem bomb.  Sailor Moon got up.  "You're going to pay for hurting him,
Nega sleaze," she said angrily.  Then stared at the bombs the droid was 
holding in her hands.  She started running, thinking only of getting it away 
from her hurt brother and not klutzing out.  It worked, the droid was 
following her, throwing bombs that Sailor Moon was able to just jump or 
dodge.  Then her communicator beeped.  Not expecting it, the beeping broke 
her concentration enough that she got caught in the backlash of one of 
the blasts.

"What?"  She yelled into her communicator as she tried to pick herself up.  
The droid had almost caught up to her and she barely paid attention to her 
teammates words about a droid in the arcade.  She had her own problems to 
worry about.  As she started to talk into the communicator, the droid caught 
up with her and a sideswipe of one of its long arms sent Sailor Moon 
hurtling through a booth.  She had slammed into one of the poles of the 
booth with her side and it felt like a rib was broken. 

She snarled into the communicator.  "Not now.  I'm busy.  I'll be there when 
I can."  Sailor Moon desperately rolled away from the chain that was now 
reaching for her.  It grabbed her wrist and she didn't even hear the next 
question.

By this time Sailor Sun was back on his feet.  He hobbled down the aisle 
searching for his sister and the droid.  He saw Sailor Moon caught and 
desperately trying to escape.  He pulled out his sword in desperation and 
hissed out "SUN SWORD SLASH"  A beam of light flew from his sword and cut 
off the arm that had just grasped Sailor Moon.  

She started to wail in relief before seeing her brother wobbling on his 
feet.  She stood up slowly, favoring her side as she turned to the droid.  
She pulled out her scepter.  "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION"  she cried and 
watched the droid turn to dust.

She turned to Sailor Sun, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just a twisted ankle.  The question is are 'you' alright?  I 
noticed the way you were favoring your side."

Before she could say anything, the three guardians came up them.  "Well 
done, you two.  However,"  

"I know, I know"  Sailor Moon said, "I should have called the others for 
help.  Which reminds me, they called me for help, I need to go."  She 
started to jump away from the battle site, only to stop in pain.  "I don't 
think my ribs will stand for that."  she said.  "I'd better take the bus."  
and she detransformed back to Serena. 

Travis also detransformed, and Serena watched in disbelief as his sword 
became the necklace she had bought him.  "I just thought you would like it.  
I had no idea."

"You choose good presents, Little Sis."

"Hey, I'm older than you!"  she said as they walked towards the bus stop.  

When they reached the stop for the arcade, Serena asked that they wait there 
for her.  She didn't want Travis to have to fight anymore with that hurt 
ankle.  She transformed and went into the arcade.


Meanwhile, back at the arcade.

"I cannot believe that anything is more important than a fight with a droid. 
She'd better have a good explanation."  Jupiter raved.

"She won't."  Mars said, positive.  "She was probably just out on a date 
with Travis and didn't want to break it up."

"Um guys,"  Sailor Mercury asked, "can you pay attention to the droid and 
not our habitually late leader.  I haven't had time to reprogram it and I 
think it's coming back on-line."

"I'll stop it."  Sailor Venus said confidently as it started to get up.  
"VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE" she caught its plug with her chain, and started 
running around and around the droid, tangling it in its own plug.  She stood 
there admiring her handiwork until more miniture Sailor V's came out and cut 
the cord to little pieces.  

Sailor Mercury spoke up again.  "It's managed to assimilate the electricity 
Sailor Jupiter threw at it."  At the other's blank looks she tried again.  
"That dose of electricity has made it stronger."

"No kidding!" Mars suddenly yelled, jumping on top of a nearby machine to 
get out of the way of a large bolt of lightning.  

Jupiter swept Mercury up and carried her to the top of another.

Mercury turned to the machine and cried "MERCURY ICE STORM SPLASH".  The 
cold wave slammed into the droid, slowing it for the seconds necessary for 
Sailor Mars to get into position.  "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND"  set a few 
of the plastic attachments on fire.

"There!"  Mercury finally said.  "The droid can no longer create those 
miniture nuisances."  As the others looked at her, she shrugged, "Sorry, 
it's the best I can do."

"Doesn't help much on the electricity, does it?"  Sailor Jupiter said as she 
picked Mercury up again and carried her to another machine, just as the one 
they had been on exploded.

"I am Sailor Moon, Champion of Justice.  For turning machines meant for 
pleasure into machines of evil, I will punish you!"  Sailor Moon announced 
as she stepped through the doorway.

"Just destroy the thing, don't yak at it."  Sailor Venus yelled impatiently.

"MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION"  "Are you happy now?" she asked as the droid 
turned into dust.

"No, we're not happy.  Where were you?"  Sailor Mars snapped.  "No, don't 
bother answering," she said as Sailor Moon opened her mouth.  "I'm sure it 
wasn't important.  I'm tired of hearing excuses from a lazy, sniveling, 
clumsy coward like you.  I'm also tired of our 'leader' being late for 
fights and having to be rescued all the time.  In other words,"  she said, 
looking straight at Sailor Moon, "I'm tired of you and I refuse to accept 
you as my leader any more."

"B..but.."  Sailor Moon stuttered.

"She's right."  Sailor Mercury agreed.  "We should not have to wonder where 
you are during important things like this.  We were hoping you would mature 
into a good leader, but it's just not happening."

"You don't understand, I.."

"Sailor Moon,"  Sailor Jupiter put in, "when it comes right down to it, you 
are no use in a fight.  I'm tired of having to save you all the time.  I'm 
also always worried that you're klutz attacks are going to put one of us, or 
an innocent bystander, into jeopardy."

"Look, " Sailor Venus added, "we'll still protect you, but we just think 
it's better you don't fight anymore."

Everyone agreed, except Reenie who had just come in.  "How can you say that 
to her?"  she asked, almost crying.  Strangely enough Sailor Moon was not.

"If that is what you really want,"  Sailor Moon said slowly and painfully, 
she waited until they all nodded "then so be it."  She turned around and 
started to walk away.  Reenie joined her.

"Reenie,"  Mars said.  "I think it would be better if you stayed with one 
of us for the time being.  I think Jupiter could do a better job of 
protecting you, besides you're always complaining about Serena's snoring and 
other bad habits."

Reenie looked up at Sailor Moon and saw the pain that statement had caused.  
Sailor Moon said quietly "It's up to you."

Sailor Jupiter started walking towards the two, "Come on Reenie, you'll like 
it at my place."

Reenie didn't hesitate.  "No.  I'm staying with Serena.  I still trust 
Sailor Moon to take care of me.  She's never failed me before and she never 
will.  She promised to always take care of me."

Sailor Moon smiled very slightly, "Thank you, Reenie." she said so quietly 
even Reenie could barely hear.  But Reenie knew.

They walked out of the arcade side by side.  Sailor Moon kept her head up 
and the tears out of her eyes until they rounded the corner.  As they 
reached the others, Sailor Moon detransformed and collapsed sobbing in 
Travis's arms.

"What happened?" he asked Reenie, worried.  "Did she hurt her ribs again?"

"Her ribs? When did she hurt them?"  Thinking that might be why she had 
gotten there so late.  She did kind of wonder about that.

"We were attacked at the flea market.  I found the Sun Stone and joined her, 
but we both got hurt before we were able to take the droid down."  He said, 
still distracted by the way Serena was acting.  It was the same way she had 
cried when she heard Darien was dead.  As if her world had been destroyed.  
His head suddenly jerked up as he caught the tail end of Reenie's words.  
"What did you say?"  he asked incredulously.

"I said, the Sailor Scouts decided they didn't want Serena to be their leader
anymore.  In fact, they don't even want to fight with her, since she can't 
even get there on time and always is clumsy and crying."  Reenie looked like 
she wanted to cry, but knew Travis was having enough trouble with Serena, he 
didn't need anyone else crying on him.

"They can't do that!"  Luna said.  It's her destiny to lead them."  No one
was paying attention.

"Didn't she tell them?"  

Reenie was already shaking her head.  "She never got a chance.  They just 
started tearing into her when  the fight was over."  she looked at Serena.  
"Will she be okay?"

"I don't know Reenie, she was already hurting, not only from the ribs, but 
from Darien's loss as well.  She did 'not' need something else on her head 
right now."  Travis looked very worried and that scared Reenie all the more.

"What do we do now?"  she asked in a small voice.

"We go home and try to get her through this."  Was the only answer he had. 


In Rubeus's space ship

"It seems like it has worked."  Rubeus smirked.  "But who is this new Scout?"

----------------
That's it for this one.  Surprised you got two of them this week?  So am I.  
As I wrote at the bottom of Chapter Five, this is where I originally expected
it to end.  Oh well, Chapter Seven should be out next week.  It's called, 
Revelations.  As always comments or criticisms to Jendra@aol.com

Hi everybody!  This is Jendra again, bringing you my next installment of my
fanfic.  I hope this one holds some surpises for all of you.  Standard
disclaimers are still the same, that's why they're standard.  If you want to
tell me what you thought, my address is still Jendra@aol.com.  (I tell you
that a lot, don't I?)

Sailor Moon Universal

Chapter Seven  Revelations


Once more Serena was crying in a guest bedroom.  This time, however, Luna 
wasn't the only one with her.  Travis was sitting next to the bed.  Reenie, 
after being warned again about the ribs, was curled up beside her, and 
Serena was holding on to her almost desperately. Luna and Artemis were 
nestled next to her, purring for all they were worth.  Apollo was standing 
on the headboard.  Even Luna Ball was hovering as if worried.  All in all 
it was a very full and very worried room.  Jacobson was out of town again, 
so the animals didn't bother keeping their voices down.

"I can't believe they would do this to her."  Luna said angrily.

"They know better!"  Artemis agreed, "They can't fight without her.  None of 
them has the ability to defeat monsters like she does.  What I can't believe 
is that all of them agreed to it.  Maybe, maybe, if they didn't want her as 
leader anymore after she did something stupid, but not just out of the blue 
like this."

Serena spoke up for the first time since she had collapsed.  Her voice was 
very small and could barely be heard.  "They've been yelling at me all week. 
And...and Lita seemed to think I was going to cause one of them to be hurt.  
She even said I might get a civilian hurt because I was so clumsy.  Did I do 
something like that and not know it?  Di...did I hurt somebody?"

"I haven't heard of anything like that, and Mina would have told me."  
Artemis refused to believe she had done something like that.

"I agree.  We would have heard."  Luna agreed.  "Serena asked me after the 
last arguement if Rubeus had gotten to them.  I'm starting to wonder if 
she's right."

"I would have to wonder that as well."  Apollo spoke up.  "This is not 
normal behaviour for the Scouts.  Even I know that, and I have never met 
them in this incarnation, and only a couple of times in the last."

"Are you sure Mina hasn't been acting strangely, Artemis?"  Luna asked again.

"I told you.  The only thing out of the ordinary during the last week have 
been the nightmares and questions.  Though come to think of it, the 
nightmares have come almost every night this week."  Artemis looked 
thoughtful.

"Darien was having weird dreams,"  Reenie piped up.  "I could tell he wasn't 
sleeping well and he started to tell me, but then he stopped."

"Could Rubeus cause them to have bad dreams?"  Luna asked, "No, it couldn't 
be, the Scouts are too strong willed for something like that to work on 
them."  Luna sounded 'almost' positive.

"Why don't you find out?"  Travis asked.

"And how do you expect us to do that?  Go up to them and ask if they've been 
having weird dreams that have caused them to turn on Sailor Moon?"  Luna 
asked sarcastically.

Travis said patiently, "Either that, or watch them tonight while they sleep. 
There are three of you.  You can each visit one of the Scouts that you don't 
'know' are having dreams and watch.  But Artemis, you'd better go home, or 
Mina will start worrying about you."

Artemis agreed and got up, going up to Serena's face and licking away some 
of the tears that were starting to dry up as she got interested in the 
conversation.  

"Artemis," she said.  "Don't tell Mina about this, okay?"

"Or what?"  he asked trying to lighten her mood, "You'll feed me to a giant 
cat eating dog?"

She giggled, actually giggled, "No, but I do know this giant cat eating 
spider."

"Yuck,"  Artemis said, backing away.  "I hate spiders."  He turned to Luna, 
"I'll go by Amy's apartment after Mina goes to sleep, okay?"

"Make sure you stay up long enough to actually do that."  Luna snapped as he 
left through the window.

Luna walked up to look Serena in the eye.  "I need to go show Apollo where 
Lita lives.  I'll be back in a while."

"It's okay, Luna.  I'm a lot better now.  I'm sorry I collapsed like that."  
she looked like she was about to start crying again.  "Maybe they're right, 
Luna.  Maybe I am nothing but a problem to them in a fight."

"Don't start thinking that way, Serena.  I know you saved my life this 
afternoon.  I also know you've saved Reenie a time or two."  Reenie nodded 
her head in agreement as Travis continued.  "From what I've heard, 'you're' 
the force that drew them together.  If something or someone else is drawing 
them apart, we've got to find out how and why."

Serena nodded tiredly, it was obvious she was about to fall asleep but she 
had one more thing to say before Luna and Apollo left.  "Why don't we ask 
Catsy?"

"What?"  Everyone asked, mostly because it made sense and they wondered why 
no one had thought of it before. 

"I said, why don't we ask Catsy?  Surely the sisters would know if Rubeus 
was capable of doing it."  Serena said the last words even as she slid into 
sleep.  Two fights with droids, a major fight with her best friends and a 
very long crying jag added up to one very tired girl.

Reenie noticed that Serena still hadn't let go of her and so just snuggled 
down farther.  She smiled contentedly to herself.  For once Sailor Moon had 
needed her instead of the other way around, and Reenie would be happy to 
stay there as long as necessary.  She looked at Travis.  "Do you really think
someone made them do that to her?  I don't see why else they would.  They 
do love her, you know."

"I know.  I think it's the best explanation we've come up with so far.  I'm 
glad you decided to stay with her, I could tell it means a lot."  Travis 
hesitated, "If you don't mind my asking, I've heard that you two fight all 
the time, but I haven't seen it much.  And it seems like when you do fight, 
it's almost on purpose, like to get our minds off more depressing things."

Reenie grinned.  "When I first came here, we 'hated' each other.  She didn't 
like being responsible for me and I didn't like the way she whined about 
everything.  She thought I was a brat and I thought she was a baby.  But she 
saved me when I needed her, and she let me sleep in her bed, and read me 
stories, and helped me with a school curry party and I know she'll always be 
there if I need her.  We really like each other, I think, but ..."

"But?"  Travis encouraged quietly.

Reenie looked down at the older girl.  "But we can't tell each other because 
we started out so badly, so we fight.  Nowadays we mostly do it because its 
fun, though.  We might not have said anything, but we know.  So we fight 
because we enjoy argueing with each other and it's a 'lot' of fun trying to 
get her mad."

"I know.  I've done it myself a time or two.  Want to know a secret?"  at her
nod, "I only made her do her homework that first day because I knew she 
didn't want to."  Reenie laughed.

"I heard that,"  Serena mumbled sleepily.  "And I do know how to say it, 
Reenie.  I love you.  Happy?"

Reenie gasped and turned to Serena, "What?  Serena?"  but Serena was asleep 
once more.  She turned back to Travis, and for once she looked like a five 
year old as her eyes shone with tears.  "Do you think she meant it?"  she 
asked quaveringly.

"I'm positive of it, Reenie."  Travis said as he pulled a blanket up over 
the two and started to leave the room.  "Sleep well."  He barely heard her 
whispered words to Serena as he closed the door but smiled anyway.  *I think 
she knows, Reenie. I think she already knows.*



The next morning at Travis's house

"What did you tell my mom?"  Serena asked.  She was a little subdued still, 
and was walking cautiously because of her ribs, but she was looking better 
than she had the day before.

"The truth."  Travis said simply.  At Luna's sharp look, he elaborated, "I 
told her that you had had a major arguement with your friends and went to 
sleep after crying for a long time and Reenie stayed with you.  She came 
over to check on you a couple of times, but felt it would be better not to 
wake you.  Now what do you want for breakfast?"

"I'm not really hungry," she said quietly as she sat down.  Travis and Luna
looked at her sharply.

"You need to eat something."  Travis said gently.

"Yes, Serena, do eat, it will do you good."  Luna put in worriedly.

"I said I'm not hungry!"  Serena snapped.  Then she took a deep breath.  "I'm
sorry, I just..."

"We know,"  Travis said when she couldn't finish, "but we're worried about
you and we would feel better if you ate."

"I suppose, to make you feel better, I could have some cereal."  Serena said
dejectedly.  When the food came she ate slowly and methodically.  Luna and 
Travis just looked at each other.  They didn't know what else they could do.

Artemis came in as they were eating breakfast and Apollo followed soon after.
Serena put down her spoon and looked at them.  "Well?"

"Unconclusive."  Luna said.  "Raye stayed up all night meditating in front 
of the fire."

"Well Lita did have one."  Apollo put in next, "I heard her quite clearly 
when she woke up.  She said something about 'not another one'."

Artemis added his own observations.  "Amy woke up from a nightmare too."

"So now we tell them about it and everything will go back to normal right?"  
Serena asked, almost begged.

"It won't be that simple,"  Luna said, "Can you imagine what Raye would say 
if we told her something like that?"

"Well first she'd say that I was making it all up so I could get back into 
their good graces."  Serena said after thinking for a very short while.  "If 
we did convince her, she'd then say she felt all those things in the first 
place and nothing has changed."

"I must admit you're right."  Artemis sighed.

"It's too bad we can't take advantage of this."  Travis said sighing.  "I'd 
love to see Rubeus's face when he's sure he's dealt with Sailor Moon and 
then have her show up."

"Why can't we?  Artemis, you turned Sailor Venus into Sailor V, couldn't we 
do something similar and change my costume so they don't know it's me?  
Maybe use the Lunar Disguise Pen?"  Serena was getting excited.

"I'm sorry, Serena, but we wouldn't be able to change your attacks and they 
wouldn't have any trouble recognizing them."  Artemis sounded sad.  It 'had' 
been a good idea.

Serena looked at Luna who was shaking her head.  "The Lunar Disguise Pen 
won't work on your costume because it already has a disguise spell on it.  
I'm sorry."

Serena looked depressed again. 

"Well, why can't she actually become another Scout?"  Travis asked.  "Say 
Sailor Saturn or Neptune.  One of the planets that doesn't already have a 
Scout?"

"Because she must be a princess of the planet to become it's Scout."  Luna 
explained patiently.  "And Serena is princess only of the Moon Kingdom."

"That's not true."  Travis said with a light shining in his eye.  Everyone 
looked at him.  "She's my sister, so she's also the princess of the Sun."

"But there's already a Sailor of the Sun."  Apollo pointed out.

"So?  Is there another law I don't know about that says there can only be 
one Sailor per planet?"  Travis looked around at the others.

Serena was also watching the guardians.  No one noticed Reenie standing in 
the doorway.  She had heard every word.  Serena was princess of the Moon?  
But her mother was the Queen of the Moon!  Did that mean that...?  She made 
a small sound and Serena turned to look at her with the same look of love 
that she had seen in her mother's face so many times.  "Mommy?"  Reenie 
cried softly.

Everyone was silent as they looked to see who Reenie was talking to.  They 
turned in time to see Serena's slow smile and nod.  Reenie ran up and threw 
herself into Serena's arms, crying almost as hard as Serena had the night 
before.

"Serena!"  Luna said, extremely shocked, "How could you do that to that poor 
child, lying to her that way?  You know you're not her mother."

Serena's smile for once lived up to its name.  It was serene and calm as she 
looked down at the child in her arms.  "Luna, Apollo was right, you 'do' 
jump to conclusions.  Just because she hasn't been born yet, doesn't mean 
she's not my child.  Don't tell me you still haven't figured out that Reenie 
and the Dark Moon family came from the future?  Even I've known that for 
almost two months."  She looked down at Reenie, who had stopped crying and 
was just holding her.  "Unless I'm mistaken,"  Reenie looked up, "Reenie is 
the daughter of Serenity and Endymion."  

Serena's body tensed slightly as she said this, and relaxed when Reenie 
nodded her head furiously.  "How long have you known?  And why didn't you 
tell me?"  Reenie asked excitedly.

"I've been pretty sure since that day the six of us took on the whole Dark 
Moon Family."  Serena started explaining.  "I overheard you talking to Luna 
Ball and she was calling you princess and telling you that the Sailor Scouts 
would protect you here like they did in your own time.  That's when things 
started fitting together.  The family hairstyle, the crescent moon on your 
forehead, Luna Ball, who really does look almost exactly like Luna."  

"Does not!"  Luna inserted petulantly.

"Hush.  As to why I didn't tell you, fear."  Reenie looked up in surprise.  
Her mother, afraid?  "Fear that I was wrong, when I already loved you like a 
daughter, and most especially fear that Endymion was 'not' your father.  As 
long as I didn't know for sure, you were my hope that everything would 
eventually work out between us.  Once Darien, yes Reenie," as she was about 
to speak, "Darien is Endymion.  Once he disappeared, you were my hope that 
he would come back alright.  He has to, for you to ever be born."

"I wondered why I always felt warm and safe when you and Darien were about," 
Reenie musingly said.  Then she thought of something and looked up at Travis.
"If Serena's my mother, then you must be Uncle Tranq!"  Travis winced and 
nodded and Reenie slid out of Serena's lap to hug him.  She looked around at 
the people and animals in the room.  "I can't believe I never figured out 
who you were!" she exclaimed, "Luna and Artemis live at the palace and you, 
Apollo come to visit whenever Uncle Tranq does.  You look the same, but kind 
of different too.  Diana would be so annoyed that I didn't know her parents
when I saw them."

"Who's Diana?"  Luna asked.

"Diana's my kitten, she wasn't allowed to come with me.  She's your daughter,
yours and Artemis's." 

"Well, well,"  Artemis said.  "It looks like there a lot you haven't told me,
Luna."

Luna blushed furiously.

"Um, Reenie?"  Serena said quietly.

Reenie looked up at her and grinned.  "Secret?"

"Secret.  Can you imagine what my father would say if he knew you were 
Darien's and my daughter?"  Everybody except Apollo and Serena had a good 
laugh over that.  They all knew Mr. Tsukino's views on his daughter and her 
boyfriends quite well.  Travis and Luna exchanged another look over Serena's
silence. 

"Well,"  Travis said "it looks like my family is expanding all over the 
place.  Though I didn't expect to become an uncle at the age of fourteen."

"Do you think I expected to become a mother at fourteen?"  And she carefully 
picked Reenie up and sat her in her lap to finish the conversation.  "You 
never answered Travis's question.  Can I become Sailor Sun?"

"I don't see how."  Luna said, trying to get her mind back on the 
conversation and out of the well of shock it had been thrown in.  *You know, 
this might help explain her new maturity, if she knew she had a daughter to 
protect.  Mother instinct is a very strong force.*

"I have to agree with Luna,"  Apollo said, "It's true she is a princess of 
the Sun, but even if it was possible, she doesn't have a transformation pen 
for it."

"Don't you have one in your Lunar Space Pocket, Luna?"  Serena asked, the 
hope dying in her eyes.  "I cannot let my Scouts fight without me, but they 
won't let me fight with them."

"Maybe you can use mine,"  Travis said pulling out his necklace.

"That's neat, Uncle Tranq, where did you get that?"  Reenie said, looking at 
the perfect miniture sword he held in his hand.

"This is my transformation wand, Reenie, and please, 'don't' call me Uncle 
Tranq.  Serena bought it for me yesterday at the flea market.  Boy were we 
surprised when Apollo told me 'this' was the Sun Stone."  

Reenie looked surprised.  "But I've seen the Sun Stone and it's much bigger 
than that."

"Don't worry, it gets bigger when I transform."  Travis laughed.

"I didn't get to see you transform, Travis,"  Serena says almost whining 
again.

"You wouldn't get to see much.  I'm told that I get bright."  Travis 
answered.

"That's true.  He gets too bright to look at when he transforms."  Luna 
agreed. 

Travis passed the small sword over to Serena, and Serena passed Reenie over 
to him.  "The words are 'Sun Stone Power'."  Everyone watched with bated 
breath as Serena stood up and raised the sword to the sky.  "SUN STONE 
POWER" she cried.  Nothing happened.  

Luna, Artemis and Apollo sighed.  They had hoped it would work, for her sake.

Travis and Serena both looked at the sword and then each other.  Travis put 
Reenie down and limped over to join her.  "SUN STONE POWER" they both cried 
at the same time.  Still nothing.

"Wait a minute!"  Apollo suddenly said, "Why didn't you change, Travis?"

"Because the activation words weren't right."  Travis said distractedly.  

Serena spoke up, "Twin?"  was all she said.

"We can try, but I don't think so.  Two?"  Travis answered.  Everyone else 
was completely lost.

"Uh uh, what's that other word for two?  I think it starts with a d?"  
Serena was still watching Travis.  It was obvious that they knew what they 
were talking about, unfortunately, they weren't interested in explaining it 
to any one else.

"Duo?" he asked.  Then he answered himself.  "Duo."

"Duo." she agreed.

Luna was fed up.  "What are you two talking about?" she yelled.

Travis and Serena turned to look at the others.  Travis laughed at the 
expressions on everyone's face.  Serena started explaining.  "When I tried 
to use the Stone to transform, I did feel something."  

"As did I," Travis added.

"It felt like I needed something else to power it.  It was trying to 
activate, but wasn't getting enough of the right kind of energy."  Serena 
continued.

"It was almost like it was reaching out for my energy,"  Travis said, "So we 
decided to try it together."

"It almost worked.  I could tell, but something was wrong.  I wasn't sure 
exactly what until Travis said it needed different activation words.  It 
needs something to tell it that there are two of us."  

Travis finished the explanation.  "It's almost like it's sentient.  It knows 
what it needs to work and was trying to tell us.  The word is duo."

"Watch."  Serena said as they turned back to each other.  Their hands met 
around the sword as they both raised it to the sky and called out in one 
voice.  "SUN STONE POWER DUO".  This time the others could see the light 
building inside both of them. Again they had to cover their eyes from the 
glare.  When they opened their eyes, standing there were 'two' Sailor Suns!  
Travis looked like he did the day before.  Serena mimiced his colors and her 
normal uniform.  Her skirt was gold, the bows were yellow, her boots were 
yellow with gold trim.  A brooch in the shape of the sun was in the middle 
of her front bow.  Sun earings dangled from her ears and the jewel in her 
tiara was a topaz.  Her hair was still up in balls but didn't contain the 
jewels of her Sailor Moon form.

The female Sailor Sun looked up at the sword she was helping to hold.  
"What's that on the blade?"

Travis looked at the blade in surprise.  She was right, there was writing on
the blade, but he couldn't read it.  He held it out to the others, but none
of them could read it either.

The male Sailor then looked the female over carefully.  "Now if we change 
your hair and your attitude, no one will know who you are."  he grinned.

"What do you mean by that?"  she asked almost angrily.

"Well number one," he started to say as he pushed her down into a chair and 
started to take her hair down.  "No more introducing yourself.  If we're 
going to help the Scouts without them 'or' Rubeus knowing who you are, you've
got to change the way you act."  In an aside, "Reenie, will you go get her 
brush and comb please."  As Reenie left the room he continued.  "No more 
crying or klutzing out.  We've got to be there when it's necessary and not 
there when it's not.  Kind of like Tuxedo Mask does."

"How are we going to do that?"  she asked.  

"We'll watch.  Yes, I know its going to be hard to just watch them fight, 
I've had to watch you fight and get hurt without being able to do anything 
and it's one of the hardest things I've ever done.  But we can't introduce 
the Sailor Suns to the Scouts.  Two minutes of talking to you and they'll 
know who you are.  They might actually start to hate you for going behind 
their backs like this.  Is that what you want?"  he asked as he looked into 
her eyes.

"No," she whispered.

Reenie came back in at that moment with the brush and Travis started brushing
out Serena's hair.  "What I'm hoping is that if we purposely change your 
hairstyle while in this form, it will stay this way whenever we transform 
and go back to normal when we detransform or you transform into Sailor Moon."

"Can you still transform to Sailor Moon in that form?"  Luna asked concerned.

"No problem, Luna."  Serena said as she took her new brooch off her uniform
and turned it around to show it was the back of her normal brooch.

"How did it do that?"  Luna asked, very surprised.

"Magic, I guess.  Why are you asking me?"  

Travis worked quietly for a long time, too long.  When he turned her around 
to look in her face, he could see she was starting to get depressed again.  
He searched for something to distract her.  "What should we do about names?" 
he asked.  At her look, "Well do you really want us both to be called Sailor 
Sun?  If someone calls out, 'Hey Sailor Sun', how will we know who he's 
talking to?"  He thought for a long moment, "I know, I'll be Sailor Sun and 
you can be Sailor Sol.  What do you think?"

"Sailor Soul?  What does that have to do with the sun?"  Serena asked 
confused.

"Not Sailor Soul, Sailor Sol, S-O-L it's the Latin word for sun and is the 
official name of our sun."

"If it's the official name, maybe you'd better have it.  I don't like 
officials all that much."  Everyone laughed.  "Besides, you're the official
Sailor of the Sun.  I'm the unofficial one."

"Okay, Sailor Sun, what do you think of your new hairdo?"  Travis asked, 
leading her to a mirror.

Serena gasped.  He had taken her hair down and braided the first half of it, 
then wrapped it around the back of her head in a flat bun.  The rest was 
left loose and pulled through the bun into a two foot long ponytail.  She 
shook her head and felt the way the ponytail moved.  "That feels really 
weird."  She said, still staring at her reflection.  She turned to look at 
Travis.  "Are you going to become a hair stylist when you grow up?  You do 
good work."

"You don't look like Serena anymore,"  Reenie said, very, very quietly.

"That's what we wanted.  I can't help the Scouts if they know who I am, they 
don't want me there anymore."  Serena's voice trailed off and she 
detransformed in silence.  Her hair went back to its normal style.  "If you 
don't mind, I'm not feeling so well suddenly, I think I'll go lie down."

"I am going to go give Mina a piece of my mind."  Artemis said slowly and 
firmly.  He loved Mina like a daughter, in some ways he felt she was, since
they had been together so long.  But right now, she needed a very harsh 
talking to.  What they had done to Serena was criminal and he meant to let 
her know how he felt.

"No, Artemis."  Travis said.  Artemis looked up at him in surprise.  Travis's
face looked very angry and Artemis was suddenly glad that it wasn't 'him' 
Travis was mad at.  "We need someone to be on their side.  I'm going to go 
talk to them.  Reenie?"  

She nodded, "I'll go stay with her."  She went into Serena's room.  A few 
minutes later she came back out.  She looked like she was trying her hardest 
not to cry.  "She's crying again.  She said she wants to be alone."

"Try again in a few minutes, okay?  We'll go see the sisters later this 
afternoon."  He looked in his sister's direction, "If she feels up to it."


Travis walked towards the temple where he knew the girls usually gathered.  
As he walked he thought more about the way they had been treating Serena and 
he just got madder.  By the time he got to the temple he was practically 
steaming.  He stomped up the stairs.  Chad was sweeping the top steps.  In a 
very hard voice Travis said.  "I'm looking for Raye, Amy, Mina and Lita, are 
they here?"  Chad nodded slowly.  He wasn't sure he wanted this dangerous 
looking young man finding the girls, but one look in his eyes made him 
decide against trying to stop him.  Travis walked on.

Amy, Raye, Mina and Lita were gathered in the shrine.  They weren't saying 
much, they felt bad about how they had treated Sailor Moon and didn't want 
to talk about it.  They were just sitting there staring at each other when 
Travis stalked in.  He glared at each of them for a very long moment.  Amy 
actually drew back in fear from the look in his eyes.  Nobody else could 
look him in the eye after that first glance either.  That made Raye mad.

"What are you doing here?  You weren't invited."  she said challengingly.

Travis ignored her.  He started to speak.  "I thought you were her friends." 
He said very softly.  Somehow they would have preferred if he shouted.  "I 
thought 'she' was 'your' best friend.  I guess I was wrong.  I don't know of 
any one who could treat a 'friend' like that.  I don't know what happened 
last night, I don't really care.  What I care about, is that I have one 
of 'my' best 'friends' crying her heart out in a spare bedroom.  She cried 
herself to sleep last night in there.  She's still crying.  It tears me up 
to see her like that and to know that it's the fault of people she thought 
were her friends.  From what I've seen of her, her friends mean more to 
her than almost anything else in this world and they turned on her.  Well,
I'm not going to let it happen again.  People like you don't deserve to be 
friends to a person like her.  She's one of the sweetest and most caring 
people I know. And you tore her heart to pieces."  By now, the girls all 
looked like they wanted to cry, but Travis wasn't finished with them.  "Stay 
away from her."  He said, almost snarling.  "Don't even come around trying 
to apologize, just 'Stay' 'Away'.  Do you understand?"  They nodded and 
Travis turned to leave. "Oh, one more thing,  if I find out that one of you 
caused her broken rib, I'll forget all about how guys aren't supposed to hit 
girls and make you regret it.  I had thought you weren't the kind of people 
that would beat up your friends, but after last night I'm not really sure 
anymore and she had to get those bruises somewhere."  He left.

Amy started to cry as he left.  Even Raye looked disturbed.  Although they 
knew they had hurt her the night before, they hadn't realized how much.  
Travis's words made them think of their actions as 'she' must have seen 
them. Mina started to cry as well, and Lita tried with all her might to 
keep the tears away.  Raye was thinking of Travis's parting words.  

"I wonder what he meant about her rib and bruises."  she wondered out loud.

"I could tell you, but I don't know if I should."  A voice spoke behind them.
They turned to look.  Artemis stood there looking almost as forbidding as 
Travis had.

"What happened, Artemis?  Why didn't she come?"  Mina asked in a subdued 
tone of voice.

"She was fighting."  He answered, "She went up against a droid at the flea 
market.  Alone.  She didn't want to call you, she wanted to prove that she 
could take a droid down by herself, so that maybe, just maybe, you'd see she 
wasn't always a coward and clumsy.  I hear from Luna that your call startled 
her, allowing the droid to hit her and throw her into a pole.  She would 
have told you, if you had ever given her a chance.  I'm ashamed of you,"  
he looked at Mina, "all of you.  And I agree with Travis, stay away from 
Serena. You are the last people she needs to see right now."  He turned to 
look at everyone.  "It should be interesting to see how you fare against a 
droid without her."  He turned to leave.

"Ar..Artemis."  Mina called out.  

He turned back,  "I'll talk to you at home Mina."

"At least he said he'll be there," she said quietly to herself.

"How could we do that to her?"  Lita cried out.  "Me especially!  I'm 
supposed to protect her, not hurt her.  What's happening to us?"

"Do you think we should do what they said?"  Mina asked.  "Should we stay 
away from her?"

"We can't take a chance on hurting her more.  We've hurt her enough."  Raye 
said, turning to stare into the fire.  "She'll get over it,"  she suddenly 
said, sounding like she was desperately trying to convince herself.  "That 
airhead can never keep a grudge."  *I hope.*


The next day at school, Amy and Lita got a first hand view of what exactly 
they had done.  Serena didn't even want to look at them, and the one time 
Amy tried to talk to her, she turned around and walked away.  She stayed as 
close as possible to Travis and he glared at Amy and Lita if they came 
closer than he thought necessary.  They could also see how she was favoring 
her side.  By the end of the day Amy was almost in tears again.

Serena hadn't felt like going to visit the four sisters the day before, so 
she and Travis picked up Reenie to visit them that afternoon.

"Hi Serena, Hi Reenie, and who's this with you?"  Birdy called out when she 
saw them. 

"Hi Birdy, this is Travis, he's a friend of mine.  Is Catsy busy?"  Serena 
asked quietly.

Birdy frowned at Serena's almost dejected expression.  This was not the 
Serena they knew.  "She's in the back, go right in."

"Hi Catsy,"  Serena said as they saw her in the back.  "This is Travis, he 
knows everything.  Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure,"  Catsy replied, "After the way you helped my sisters and me, I'll 
tell you anything I can."

"Does Rubeus have the ability to influence people's dreams?"  Serena's eyes 
were almost begging for an answer.

"No,"  Catsy said and watched despair fall over Serena's face.  She saw how 
Travis held her close as she almost sagged.  "But the Wiseman does."  she 
continued as quickly as she could.

"The Wiseman?"  Serena asked, life coming back into her expression.  "I 
think I heard Rubeus say something about him once.  Who is he?"

"The Wiseman is the leader of the Dark Moon.  He is running the campaign in 
the future and comes to visit every once in a while to see how Rubeus is 
doing."

"He's the one that gave me the strobe."  Prisma put in.  She had come in as 
Serena asked her first question and listened to the answers.

"That's right."  Catsy agreed.  "I think he had already set a dream on 
somebody, Prince Endymion I think, that would make him think that if he was 
close to the Princess she would die.  Or something like that.  It was one of 
his back up plans for changing the future.  He figured that if he could keep 
them from marrying, Crystal Tokyo would never exist and the future would be 
much easier to take over.  I got all this from Rubeus in one of his boasting 
moods so I don't know how much of it is true.  But the Wiseman definately 
has the ability to plant dreams."  Catsy finished.

Serena looked transformed.  "That explains everything, Catsy, thank you so 
much."  She went up and hugged the older woman.  "Have good luck with your 
store.  I've got to go tell Luna."

"One last thing."  Prisma put in.  "Rubeus stays in his spaceship almost all
the time so it might be a little hard to find him.  If you can get him to 
the ground you might have a better chance at defeating him.  If you do 
get to the ship, or get taken there, be careful, there are a lot of traps."

"Thank you Prisma,"  Serena smiled and hugged her as well, "I'll remember."

Reenie hugged the two women as well and then took Serena and Travis's hands 
as they left.

"I wonder what that was all about?"  Catsy asked Prisma.

Birdy came in then.  "Whatever you said to her sure made a difference.  She 
went out of here in a lot better mood than she came."

"Birdy, if you're in here, who's minding the store?"  Prisma asked.

"We don't have any customers at the moment, and I just came in for a minute."
Birdy answered.

"You were probably wanting to put on more make-up and are just using that as 
an excuse."  Prisma accused and Serena's questions were temporarily 
forgotten.

As they were leaving the store, Serena looked much happier.  Travis and 
Reenie smiled at the way she was bubbling.  Then the smiles were cut short 
when Serena's communicator beeped.  She pressed the button that let them 
listen.

"Guys, this is Mina, there's a droid terrorizing people at this restraunt.  
I could really use some help."

"We're on our way."

"Serena?"  Amy said tentatively, "you can come too, if you're listening."

Serena seemed torn whether to answer or not.  Then Raye's voice came on.  
"She's not listening, you know she never notices the communicator unless 
Luna points it out to her."

Serena's face firmed up and she put down her wrist.  She turned to Travis.  
"Well, should Sailor Sol and Sailor Sun go watch?"

"I think we'd better.  Reenie, will you stay with the four sisters?  We'll 
come pick you up afterwords."  Reenie nodded and went back inside.  "Let's 
go, and remember, no speeches, don't talk to anyone.  We go in only if it 
seems they can't handle it themselves, not before.  And watch your ribs."

Serena nodded and they went into an empty alley to transform.  "SUN STONE 
POWER DUO"  they cried and Sailor Sun and Sailor Sol stood there.  Sailor 
Sun had her new hair style as well.  Serena's ribs were well bound and 
didn't hurt her nearly as much as they had, and Travis's twisted ankle was
completely healed, so they were able to run to the battlesite.

When they reached the restraunt, Sailor Sol and Sailor Sun found a place 
where they could watch the fight without being observed themselves.  This
droid seemed to have a liking for kitchenware as its weapons and the Scouts 
were busy trying to dodge thrown knives and forks.  It was obvious that some 
attacks had gotten through to the droid because it was scorched in several 
places, but it did not look to be seriously hurt.

"MERCURY ICE STORM SPLASH"  took care of a number of the knives coming 
towards her and "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND"  took out more.  But more
and more kept coming.

One knife hit Venus in the leg.  She fell with a cry.  Sailor Sun started to
go to her when she noticed Sailor Sol holding on to her arm.  "Not yet," was
all he said.

Sailor Sol whispered in his sister's ear.  "Do you know what your attack is
yet?"

"I don't really have one."  she whispered back.  "I have a wall that can 
protect them though."

"Alright, I'm going to go around and try to find the back entrance.  When you
see me behind the droid, try to give me a distraction.  'No' 'Speeches'.  
Okay?"

"Okay, already.  Now do it before any more of them get hurt."  He left 
quietly.

Sailor Sun waited impatiently for her brother to show up.  As soon as she saw
him behind the droid, she ran out in between the droid and the Scouts and
called out her 'attack'.  "SOLAR CORONA WALL"  as her arms spread wide, a 
mixture of yellow light and yellow flames spread out incinerating anything
in their path.  When she lowered her hands the air was clear and the Scouts 
and droid were staring at her in surprise.  They soon had something else to
be surprised at.

"SOLAR FLARE"  was called out from behind the droid and the scouts looked to
see a 'male' version of the scout in front of them.  Yellow flames burst 
from the hands that were outthrust towards the droid.  The droid screamed as 
it was burned from behind.  

"Now, Sailor Scouts, finish it!"  The male scout called out.  

His words broke the Scouts out of the paralasys they had been under.  He 
moved towards them as the droid started to throw its weapons again.  The 
male Scout called out.  "Sailor Sun, can you keep the air clear until we're 
ready?" 

The female scout nodded and turned back towards the droid.  "SOLAR CORONA
WALL" she yelled her arms going out to her sides once again, creating a wall 
of fire and light that kept the air behind her clear.

"We need to hit it all at once."  the male scout said.

"Wait a minute, who are you?"  Mars asked.

"A friend of the Moon Princess.  She asked us to look after you, although 
I have no idea why.  Now do you want to take this droid down or don't you?  
If you don't then my sister and I can just leave."  and he looked like he 
was getting ready to do just that.

"Dont mind Mars."  Venus said quickly, "she's suspicious of everyone.  What 
do you want to do?  And what can we call you?"

"Thank you Sailor Venus."  he bowed courtesly.  "I am Sailor Sol and she is 
Sailor Sun.  As for what we do, we hit this droid with a combined attack of 
everything we have."

Just then, Sailor Sun spoke up.  "Sailor Sol, I hate to rush you, but I can't
hold this wall forever."

"Put it down on the count of three, but be careful.  One," he nodded to the 
others, they nodded back and got ready "Two, Three!"  As he called the last 
word, Sailor Sun's arms went down and across her chest, enclosing her in a 
column of fire that would protect her from almost anything.  

"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND"
"MERCURY ICE STORM SPLASH"
"VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE"
"JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP"
"SOLAR FLARE"

Venuss chain flashed forward surrounded by a glowing barrage of energy.  
The five powers intertwined so much you could barely tell which was which.  
The chain flew towards the droid with such speed that it couldn't dodge.  
The combined power of the five attacks was too much for it and it collapsed 
into dust.

Sailor Mercury turned to thank the new Scouts, but they were already on their
way out the door.  She turned back to the others.  "Did you hear what he 
said?  The Moon Princess asked them to look in on us.  Maybe she doesn't 
hate us as much as we thought."  

"Well if she knew who they were, why didn't they join us before?"  Mars 
asked. 

"Why didn't 'who' join you before?"  Artemis said as he and Luna walked in 
the door.  Luna looked around at the Scouts for a long moment, sadness and 
anger plain in her gaze.

The Scouts looked down, they knew what she was thinking.  They'd thought it 
themselves a time or two since Saturday night.  

Venus spoke up, "Two new Sailors,  Sailor Sun and Sailor Sol, Sailor Sol's 
a man.  He said that the Moon Princess asked them to watch over us."

"The Sailor Suns are not a part of the Sailor Scouts."  Luna lectured.  "The 
Sun Kingdom was a kingdom of its own and was not part of the Silver 
Millenium.  I'm surprised they would help you, but they always did get on 
well with Serenity."  She looked around again, "Artemis can debrief you.  
'I' am going to check on Serena."  She walked out, leaving the Scouts 
depressed again.

"Well, at least we've got a cute new scout.  He reminds me of my old 
boyfriend."  Sailor Jupiter announced to try to lighten the atmosphere.  It
didn't work too well.


Outside

"Well, it worked this time.  Do you think they're okay?"  Sailor Sun was 
asking as they detransformed in a handy alley.

"They'll be fine.  They know what they're doing.  I do notice a problem."
Travis said as they walked out to the sidewalk.

"What's that?"  Serena asked surprised.

"You're too happy.  Finding out that Rubeus was behind all of this has 
highly improved your attitude." 

Serena was extremely surprised.  "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Well, that depends, do you want to explain it to Amy and Lita tomorrow?"

"You mean I have to act mad at them for awhile?  WWWWWHHHHAAAAAAAHHHHHH 
That's going to be so hard!"  Serena whined.

Travis grinned.  It was good to see her back to normal again.

She looked up at him as they walked.  *I wish it was going to be hard to be
mad at them.  But they really meant what they said, even if they normally
would never have said it.  And it still hurts.  But he has enough problems,
he doesn't need to know.*

-------------------
Well, what did you think?  Did you expect it?  I hope not.  Next Chapter, 
finally, the Return of Darien.  I know some of you have been waiting for him
to come back.  Tell me what you thought.  Jendra@aol.com

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Jendra, again.  Are you tired of me yet?  I know
many people have been waiting for Darien to come back and he finally did.
Standard disclaimers still apply, standard disclaimers will always apply you
know.  As always, C & C appreciated at Jendra@aol.com.  Thanks for writing,
Suzanne, (with me since Chapter Two) and I hope I finally wrote the scene
you've been begging me for.

Enjoy


Sailor Moon Universal

Chapter Eight  The Return of Darien


Tuesday passed quietly.  Although Serena didn't seem as sad and depressed as 
she had been the day before, she still refused to talk to Amy or Lita and 
spent the day close to Travis.  That afternoon, Travis, Serena and Reenie 
decided to go see how the arcade was doing.  

Serena got even quieter as they got closer to the place of her friends 
betrayel.  Even though she knew they were being manipulated, it didn't make 
the memories any easier to bear.  As they got closer, they saw a group 
gathered in front of the arcade.  Although they couldn't hear what was going 
on, Serena immediately saw Raye and Mina as part of the group.  Her steps 
got even slower, but Travis and Reenie were interested in what was going on 
and pulled her closer.  Then they were there. 

Andrew was in the middle of the group, obviously with some big announcement. 
He started to speak.  "Early this morning, as I was cleaning up, I got a 
phone call.  It was Darien.  He's alive and well.  He was trapped in some 
caves on Michael's property and just got out."

Andrew's news created a buzz among the people gathered around him.  He had 
seen Serena and Reenie join the group and was interested to see what their 
reaction would be.  Serena's face lit up.  She turned to Travis.  "Did you 
hear that?  He finally showed up.  I was really starting to get worried 
about him."

Raye and Mina were also watching Serena.  They saw the relief and joy in her 
face and heard her words to Travis.

"You mean, you knew he was alive?"  Raye asked without thinking.

"I knew he was alive."  Serena answered before she turned around and saw who 
was talking.  Then her face lost all expression as she looked at the two 
girls.  She turned back to Travis and started talking excitedly to him and 
Reenie as she obviously ignored the other two.  

Reenie was jumping up and down in delight as well.  "Will he be home soon?"  
She asked Andrew.  "We were really starting to wonder why he hadn't called."

"No, Reenie,"  he answered.  "He said he was going to stay for about another 
week."

"Thanks for the information, Andrew."  Travis called out as the three left.

Reenie piped up, "And tell him we miss him if he calls back, okay?"

"How did she know?"  Raye was asking Mina.  Mina didn't answer.  She was 
still watching Serena as she walked away.  *She wouldn't even look at us*  
she thought despairingly.

Travis and Reenie gradually noticed that Serena hadn't taken part in the 
conversation for a few minutes.  Reenie looked up at her face and then 
looked around to make sure no one else was in listening distance.  "Mommy?"  
she asked.  

"Yes, sweetheart?"  Serena responded absentmindedly.

"Why aren't you happier that Daddy's alive and not captured?"  Reenie asked.

Travis looked up quickly.  Serena didn't look all that happy.  In fact, she 
looked.. angry?  "Serena, what's wrong?"

"I was just thinking about Darien being okay and it suddenly hit me that I 
was mad at him."  Serena responded in a kind of shocked voice.

"Huh?  Why are you mad at him?"  Reenie asked, echoing Travis's thought.

"Look, all this time, he's been mean to me because he was trying to protect 
me, right?"  Serena said as she continued walking.  She didn't even wait for 
the others to nod.  "But he had no right!"  She turned suddenly and looked 
at them.  "His job might be to protect me, but he had no right to make a 
decision like that!  He made my life a living hell, to try to protect me.  
He never even tried to explain.  He might be my protector, but that is not 
the only thing he is to me.  He's the man I love, and I have the right to 
help decide something that would have this much impact on our relationship.  
'Our' relationship.  Not his alone."  She shook her head.  "I'm not making 
much sense, am I?"

"I think you are,"  Travis said slowly.  "He's been treating you more like a 
person too young to make important decisions than an adult who has the right 
to choose.  And it can't continue like that if you're going to have a 
meaningful relationship."

"I know I don't always act like an adult, or even a fourteen year old, but 
how can he truly love me, as the woman he wants to marry, if he thinks of me 
as a child?  I just wish he could feel what I felt, at least for a little 
while.  Of course, now I am acting like a child, wanting revenge for a 
slight."  Serena slowly turned around and started walking again.

"She's right, he has been really mean to her.  He didn't have to be 'that' 
mean."  Reenie said quietly to Travis.

"I think it would do her a world of good to be able to get her revenge on 
him like that."  Travis said thoughtfully.  "After all, he does deserve it."

"I suppose, as long as its not too bad."  Reenie said.  She loved her father,
but she was the one who had had to watch as Serena cried herself to sleep 
after another fight with him.  She had seen how much her mother had been 
hurt by it all.  "What should we do?"  Reenie said, dragging Travis to catch 
up with Serena.

"What do you mean?"  Serena asked, after she was shocked out of her thoughts.

"We agree, Daddy needs to be taught a lesson.  So what are we going to do?"  
Reenie said.  

"I don't think we really need to do anything."  Travis said thoughtfully.  
"Most of the people around here think that you're my girlfriend and we're 
not planning on telling anyone the truth for another two weeks.  So why 
don't we just let him believe the same thing everyone else is.  If you 
think the jealousy will be enough of a revenge."

"What makes you think he would be jealous?  Maybe he really doesn't love me
anymore?"  Serena said worriedly.

"If he went to all that trouble to protect you, then he still loves you." 
Travis said confidently.  "He'll be jealous.  Will it be enough?"

Serena thought about it for a long moment.  "If what he feels is anything 
like what I felt when I thought he had a new girlfriend then it will be 
enough."  She stopped and dropped to her knees.  "Are you sure about this, 
Reenie?  I don't want to hurt you."

"It's okay, I understand, and I think he deserves it too."  Reenie replied.  
"And..." she looked up at Serena for a long moment before continuing.  "My 
mommy always called me 'Small Lady'."

"Well, Small Lady,"  Serena said, gathering her into a hug.  "What do you 
think of going for an ice cream?  I could really use a triple hot fudge 
sundae."

"Sounds good to me,"  Travis said smiling down at the two.

"Me too,"  Reenie agreed, as Serena stood up and Reenie took their hands to 
continue on their way.


The next five days passed fairly quietly.  There were only two fights with 
droids and the Scouts managed to destroy one of them without any help from 
the Sailors of the Sun, although it did cost them a great deal of energy.  
In fact, it cost them so much energy that they were barely able to make a 
dent in the droid the next night.  

Sailor Mercury was already down when Sailor Sun and Sailor Sol got there.  
This time they didn't wait and watch, because it was obvious already that 
their help was needed.  The droid they were fighting was able to throw fire 
and all of the Scouts showed signs of being singed.  Sailor Mars was trying 
to fight fire with fire.  

"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!"  she called out, but the droid shrugged it 
aside.  

"JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!" was met with a ball of fire that caused it to 
explode far from the droid.  

"SOLAR FLARE!"  Sailor Sol called as he threw himself close to the droid.  
The droid noticed it was made mostly of fire and so didn't even bother 
trying to dodge.  The attack did manage to hurt it, much to its surprise, 
but not enough to disable it for even a few seconds.  

Sailor Mercury seemed to be the only one with a power that would seriously 
hurt this droid, but one look at her confirmed she wasn't up to it.  

"SOLAR CORONA WALL!" and the fire wall went up just in time to stop several 
balls of fire from hitting Venus and Jupiter.  Venus was trying to get up 
the power to attack again, but was having a hard time.  She along with most 
of the other Scouts were drained of almost all their power.  

While the wall was shielding two of the Scouts, Sailor Mars was outside of 
its influence and it soon became obvious that she was 'not' immune to fire.  

When Sailor Sun saw this she got mad and suddenly knew what to do.  She 
dropped the wall, fell to her knees and called out "SUPER".  She stretched 
her hands above her head and yellow flames glowed on the tops of her palms.  
Then she just sat there.

The droid looked at her in surprise, as did those Scouts who were able to.  
Even Sailor Sol stared at her, until her pose awoke knowledge in him.  He 
ran over to where she was kneeling.  As he ran he called out one word "NOVA".
Flames started curling around his hands as well.  He stood behind her and 
their hands grasped each other.  "ANNIHILATE!"  They screamed together.  
Flames, light and power poured from their joined hands at the droid.  Its 
immunity from fire allowed it to survive almost a second of the devestating 
barrage, before it became dust.  

Sailor Sol barely kept himself on his feet as Sailor Sun sagged to the floor.
They rested for a few seconds as Venus checked on Mars and Mercury and 
called out that they would be okay.  Sailor Jupiter came towards them.  
"Thank you." she said quietly.  "We would probably have been toast if you 
hadn't been here."  She looked around quickly.  "And if you see the Princess 
will you tell her I'm sorry?"

Sailor Sol nodded as he helped his sister to her feet.  They walked outside 
and disappeared.


Saturday Afternoon  The Tokyo International Airport

A young man of about twenty stepped off the plane, got his luggage and 
passed through customs.  He went to his apartment to drop off his luggage 
and get changed, then left to go for a run.  The long plane trip had made 
him stiff and he felt the need to work it out and remind himself that he was 
home.

As he was jogging to the park, he noticed a young woman he knew leaning on 
the top of the wall looking down.  He stopped to speak to her.  "Hello, Amy."

Amy jumped, startled.  She turned around and stared for a moment.  "Darien?"

"You look like you just saw a ghost." he chuckled, remembering the last time 
he had said that.

Amy smiled slightly.  "I hear you almost were."  Then she remembered who she 
had been watching and turned to lead him away.  

He didn't take the hint, leaning on the wall to see what she had been 
watching so intently.  He almost smiled as he saw a young girl with 
meatball-like balls on her head *Serena* he sighed to himself, and another 
girl with pink hair and a floating ball.  *There's Reenie.  I'm surprised 
they're together.*  Then his face grew blank as he saw the young man they 
were playing with.  All that could be seen from up here was gold blond hair 
and a lithe body.  He and Reenie suddenly tackled Serena, and even up here 
he could hear her laughter as they tickled her.

He turned back to Amy and steadily asked "I take it that is Travis?"

"Yes, Travis Watson, he moved here about three weeks ago."  she said quietly.

"Why are you watching them from up here instead of down there?"  He asked, 
trying desperately to get the picture of 'his' Serena with this other boy 
out of his mind.

"I wouldn't be too welcome down there."  she said her voice sad.

"Why not?"  Darien asked, surprised, then he thought of something.  "Is it 
because of 'him'?"

It was Amy's turn to look surprised, until she understood what he was 
thinking.  "No, it wasn't anything he's done.  He's been nothing but good 
for her.  He's got her doing her homework, getting up on time and even 
becoming an A-B student.  Her parents love him, he eats at their house 
every morning when he goes to pick her up for school.  We think he's one 
of the best friends she's ever had.  And we're happy for her.  Because we 
can't claim that position anymore."

Darien tried to work through that speech.  The usually sensible Amy was not 
talking much sense.  What he got first, was that Travis was a really good 
influence on Serena and her parents liked him.  Then he realized what 
position Amy was talking about.  He decided to check and make sure he had 
understood her correctly.

"You're not her best friends anymore?"  he asked, completely shocked.

Amy shook her head, with tears threatening to burst forth.

"What happened?"  he almost yelled.

She turned to him suddenly and for the first time in a very long time, lost 
complete control of herself.  "I DON'T KNOW!" she shouted.  She tried to 
regain control, but wasn't able to.  This had been building for a week and 
she needed to let it out.  "It's just as if, once you left, all the traits 
that are so much a part of Serena started bugging us, all of us.  We started 
yelling at her during fights and blaming everything on her.  Then, last 
Saturday, last Saturday..." she trailed off.

"Last Saturday what?"  Darien asked as calmly as he could.  He knew it must 
have been bad from the way she was acting.  He had never seen Amy lose her 
cool like this before, and doubted that anyone else had either.

Amy took a deep breath.  "Last Saturday we told her that we didn't want 
Sailor Moon to fight with us anymore." she said in a rush.

Darien just stared at her for a long moment.  He shook his head as if that 
would shake some sense into what she had just said.

Once Amy started, she couldn't stop.  "We told her we were tired of having 
such a clumsy, whining coward as a leader.  That we were afraid she would 
get someone hurt because she was so clumsy.  Or because she was always so 
late to the fights.  She was late to that one by the way."  Tears were 
running down her face as she listed their crimes.  She turned to Darien 
again.  "She didn't cry,"  she said in a wondering tone.  "She just stood 
there and looked at us and asked if that was what we really wanted.  When 
we said yes she turned and walked away."

Darien could think of only one word to say.  "Why?"

"I 'don't' 'know'.  I've been trying to think of a reason and can't.  I 
mean, I know we were all a little jealous of the time she was spending with 
Travis, and I was jealous that he could get her to do things I couldn't.  I 
had tried to explain that math to her and she never understood, then he 
comes along out of nowhere and 'he' can make her understand."  Amy was 
starting to regain control of her emotions and think logically about the 
reasons.  Unfortunately, she still couldn't think of a good reason for them 
to do what they had done.  She had certainly been trying for long enough.

She turned back to look at the girl who had been her best friend.  Her first 
friend.  Darien leaned on the wall as well.  His face grew hard and pain 
flashed through his eyes as he saw Travis in front of Serena on bended knee, 
presenting her with a boquet of wild flowers.  It didn't help when he did 
the same to Reenie.  

Amy abruptly started speaking again and her voice was full of pain.  "Travis 
came to see us the next day.  I've never seen anyone so mad.  He said Serena 
was crying, and had cried herself to sleep the night before.  He said he had 
thought we were her friends, but we obviously weren't because friends don't 
hurt friends that way.  And that he wouldn't let us hurt her again, and for 
us to just stay away.  Artemis agreed.  Then he, Artemis, told us why she 
was late."  

At Darien's glance Amy explained what she had been doing.  His heart almost 
stopped in his chest when he heard about Serena's injury.  "She's okay, now, 
right?"  he asked concerned.

"As far as we can tell, she's fine.  She was favoring her side at the 
beginning of the week, but she's not anymore.  She's also not talking to us. 
Neither is Luna.  Or Reenie.  They're all mad at us.  But Serena did ask 
the Sailors of the Sun to watch out for us, so maybe she doesn't hate us as 
much as it sometimes seems."

"The Sailors of the Sun?"  Darien asked, too much information being given at 
once for his brain to assimilate.  He looked downward once more, only to jerk
his eyes back up, quickly.  Not quickly enough, for the sight of Serena and 
Travis lying next to each other while holding hands had imprinted itself on 
his eyes.

"Darien!"  A voice called out.  Reenie came running towards him with Luna 
Ball following after.  Darien bent down to pick her up and hug her.  He'd 
missed the little munchkin.  

"Hi, munchkin, how you doing?"  he asked.

"I'm fine."  she answered hugging him.  "I'm glad you're back.  We'd been 
starting to get worried when you didn't call, but then you did call, so 
everything was alright."  She pulled back to look him over, "Are you okay? 
What happened?  Why were you missing so long?"  she babbled question after 
question at him.  For a short time, his mind had nothing to worry about but 
answering her.

"Small Lady?"  A voice called out from below them. 

"That's Serena, I got to go.  I'm glad you're back.  I'll come visit one day 
when Serena and Travis want to be alone, 'kay?"  And she got down and ran 
off, all without having even looked at Amy.  And without apparently noticing 
the effect her last statement had had on Darien.

Amy looked at Darien sympathetically.  She had managed to get her emotions 
under control as he talked to Reenie.  She had seen the pain cross his face 
at Reenie's words.  "I'm sorry for breaking down like that."

"It's okay, Amy.  You needed that," Darien answered as his eyes followed 
Reenie to where Serena and Travis were waiting for her.  He saw her reach up 
for both of their hands and walk out of the park between them.  Serena never 
even looked back.

"I know it must hurt you to hear about him, but I'm glad he's with her."  
Amy said softly.  "It was three days before she laughed again.  She still 
looks depressed half the time and I'd hate to see what she'd be like if she 
didn't have them to lean on."

"I take it she's been getting along better with Reenie?"  Darien asked 
without looking at her.  He knew she could be very sensitive on occasion 
and didn't want her to see what he was feeling.

"Yes, much.  Come on, lets go sit down and I'll tell you what's been going 
on while you were gone, and all about the Sailor Suns."  Amy led Darien away.


That night as Darien lay in his own bed for the first time in three weeks, 
more or less, his mind kept replaying the images and conversations he had 
had today.  Serena and Travis lying next to each other on the grass, 
Reenie's voice saying she'll come over when they wanted to be alone, Travis 
on one knee before her, Amy's words about how good he was for her and how 
much her parents liked him.  He never noticed the tears running silently 
down his face as he remembered other times, when she loved 'him' and they 
knew they were destined to be together forever.  *It's my own fault,* he 
thought wretchedly.  *I wasn't here when she needed me, and he was.  After 
all the times I told her I didn't love her, I guess she found someone who 
did.*  "Why?"  he suddenly cried out, punching the bed next to him.  "Why 
did I believe those dreams?  Why couldn't I just talk to her instead of 
trying to handle it all myself and just hurt both of us?"

The night offered no answers, only a return of the nightmare.


Darien had a week left on his vacation, and he spent the next several days 
watching over Serena.  Each time he saw her impulsively hug or reach out to 
Travis was like a stab to his heart, but he couldn't keep himself from 
following her, trying to memorize her every move.  He saw them diligently 
doing their homework every afternoon, while Reenie played in the background. 
He watched as they joined a martial arts class and practiced in the park 
afterwards.  He saw how Travis was treated by the elder Tsukino's, almost 
like he was one of the family, and remembered his own dreams of one day 
being accepted by her family and finally having one of his own.  He was 
watching them shopping in the mall one day when he was accosted.

"If you want to know what they're doing so badly, why don't you join them?" 
a voice said from behind him.

He jumped and pivoted, only to see a large black cat standing watching him 
with amusement in her eyes.  

"Luna," he gasped, "you surprised me."  He flushed guiltily over being 
caught spying and Luna chuckled.

"I noticed.  Let me guess, you just came to see if you could take Reenie out 
for a while?"  Luna grinned as she gave him an out.  She, Artemis or Apollo 
had been watching him as he watched Serena and Travis.  They had reported 
his nightmares and spying and been asked to leave him alone, but Luna 
couldn't resist teasing him.

"Uh, yeah," he agreed quickly.  "I just came to see Reenie."  

"Well, come on, I'll take you down to them."  Luna said, turning to lead him 
down the stairs and out into the mall.  He followed, he didn't have much 
choice.

Reenie saw him first.  "Darien!"  she called.  Serena looked up quickly and 
relief flashed across her face before she hid it.  Travis looked up as well, 
interested in finally meeting the man he was supposed to love like a brother.

"Darien, I'm glad you're okay."  Serena said calmly.  "Travis, this is my 
ex-boyfriend, Darien Chiba."  Darien winced internally at that description.  
"Darien this is Travis Watson."  They shook hands calmly, neither looking 
the other in the eye.  Travis because he 'knew' him and the memories of 
their past were flashing across his mind.  Darien, because looking at this 
handsome young man who had the affection of the woman he loved was making 
him incredibly jealous, and he felt the urge to punch him for daring to move 
on his girl.  A girl he had given up all rights to when he broke up with her.
And knowing that just made him feel worse.

"I just came to see if Reenie wanted to do something."  Darien said, looking 
only at Reenie.  He saw her look to Serena for permission, something she 
never would have done before he left.

"It's fine with me.  Just bring her back to Travis's house before it gets 
dark.  She knows where it is."  She answered Reenie and Darien at the same 
time.

"Great!"  Reenie said, "What do you want to do?"

The two of them walked away, Reenie chattering about his trip and Travis.  
She was having fun telling him of Travis's house, guardian, falcon, and form 
of wake-up call.

Serena looked after them wistfully.  

"I know.  I miss him too."  Travis said.  Serena looked up to see him lost 
in thought.  "We never got to see each other much because he couldn't come 
to the Sun and I couldn't go to Earth.  The only times we had together was 
when we could both get to the Moon at the same time.  We three became 
inseperable."

"I'm glad I was a part of it."  Serena laughed softly.  She was glad the two 
most important people in her life at that time got on so well.

Travis draped his arm over her shoulders.  "Well, do you think he's suffered 
enough?"  he asked, smiling.  "I'd really like to get to know my blood 
brother better."

"I think that by the time Reenie gets through touting your praises, he will 
have."  Serena smiled as she thought of being reunited with the man she 
loved.  It had been all she could do to keep from throwing herself into his 
arms there and then.  "I miss him so much."

"I know, Sis, I know."  he said as he pulled her into a hug, hiding her wet 
eyes with his shirt.  They stood there for a long moment until she pulled 
back.  "Ready to go?"  She nodded.


Darien watched as Travis hugged Serena.  He saw the tenderness that was so 
obvious between them.  His heart was heavy in his chest as he turned to 
Reenie.  "They love each other, don't they?"

"Of course."  Reenie answered immediately.  She sounded as if that had been 
a silly question.  As Darien felt his heart start to break, she continued, 
"and they love me, and the Tsukino's and Uncle Jake and Luna and Artemis and 
Apollo and even the girls, though they're mad at them at the moment.  I bet 
they even love you.  Why don't we go ask?"  

Darien looked sharply at Reenie, she was grinning very slightly, trying to 
hide it.  He looked back at Serena and Travis.  He had his arm around her 
shoulders and she was leaning up against him as they walked.  "I don't think 
that would be a good idea, Reenie."  But it certainly gave him something to 
wonder about.

Darien and Reenie had left the mall and were walking downtown when they 
heard the screams.  "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" came to their ears as 
well.  Darien hesitated, unsure what to do.  He jerked his head up as he 
felt...what?  It felt almost as though Sailor Moon was transforming, but not 
quite.  Reenie brought his mind back to their location.

"Go!"  she said.  At his uncomprehending expression she continued.  "They 
might need Tuxedo Mask there!  You should go help.  I know how to hide."  
She scampered off.

The droid they were fighting this time had the ability to redirect energy 
thrown at it.  Mars found this out when her fire attack was stopped two feet 
in front of the droid and sent back against Mercury.  She cursed internally 
as she heard her friend's screams.  

"JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!" Jupiter called out, hoping the droid's power only 
worked against fire.  But the lightning was thrown back and narrowly missed 
Mars.

"Maybe physical energy will get through."  Mercury said as she got painfully 
up.  "MERCURY ICE STORM SPLASH!"  and waves of cold water and ice flew at the
droid.  However the cold was a form of energy and was repelled.  

Venus jumped over the return attack even as she called out her own.  "VENUS 
LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!" the physical manifestation did manage to get past the 
wall, but didn't do much harm.

The Sailors of the Sun were there as well, they had seen what had happened 
and decided immediately that using the solar flare would not be a good idea 
and while the supernova attack might destroy the droid, they couldn't take 
the chance that it would be able to send back most or all of it.  Sailor Sol 
pulled out his sword and got ready for a purely physical attack while Sailor 
Sun got her wall ready in case something went wrong.  Then a rose flashed 
through the air and into the leg of the droid.  Standing on top of a nearby 
lamppost was a man in a black tuxedo and cape and a white mask!  The other 
Scouts called out "Tuxedo Mask!"  Sailor Sun bit her tongue trying to keep 
her customary words of greeting from leaving her mouth.

"Sailor Scouts,"  Tuxedo Mask called out "Do not trap yourself into thinking 
that your magic is your only power."

Sailor Sol suddenly threw himself out of his hiding place and at the droid.  
The Scouts yelled at him to stop, thinking he was going to use Solar Flare.  
Instead he pulled out his sword and physically attacked.  "SUN SWORD SLASH!" 
he yelled as his sword split the droid almost in half.  Still it didn't die, 
and managed to throw him off and into a nearby wall.

"No!"  Sailor Sun yelled as she threw herself in front of Sailor Sol.  Just 
in time she managed to call out "SOLAR CORONA WALL!".  The energy beams 
disintegrated as they touched the wall.  Sailor Sun looked down at the boy 
she was protecting and her eyes blazed.  "You'll pay for that." she said 
quietly.  She pulled her wall in to surround herself in a column of fire, 
then threw herself at the droid.  The energy was far too physical for the 
droid to reflect it back and it backed away in fear as the rage filled Scout 
ran at him.  She suddenly jumped into the air and executed a perfect jump 
kick.  Her flame surrounded leg slammed into the droid's chest.  It couldn't 
withstand that amount of energy and disintegrated.

"Good going, Sailor Sun!"  the Scouts congratulated her as she helped her 
brother to his feet.

She looked up angrily.  "If you had treated your leader a little better, we 
wouldn't have to be here helping you and he wouldn't have gotten hurt." she 
snarled.  The Scouts looked down in shame as Sailor Sol looked at her with 
worry.  They left.

When the Scouts looked up, they realized they were alone, Tuxedo Mask had 
left as well.

Tuxedo Mask followed the Sailors of the Sun into an empty alley.  He stared 
down at them from a fire escape as they detransformed.  His eyes grew wide 
as he recognized the pair.

"Serena," Travis said quietly.  Serena looked down dismally.  "I thought you 
weren't mad at them anymore.  Why didn't you tell me?"

"You've had enough problems of mine to deal with, you didn't need this one 
too,"  Serena mumbled.

"I thought you'd forgiven them when you found out that the Wiseman had been 
influencing them through their dreams."  Tuxedo Mask caught his breath.  
*Influenced through their dreams?  Does that mean, he's been the one sending 
me those dreams?  If so, it was all a trick!  I can get her back and she 
won't be in danger!  But what about him?* his mind was brought back to the 
conversation below him by Serena's impassioned words.

"They meant it, Travis!  Maybe they normally would never have said it, but 
they meant every word they said!  How could that 'not' hurt?  Yes, I'm still 
mad at them!  And myself.  I should be able to forgive them for it, but I 
can't.  I can't forget how much they hurt me, and I can't forgive myself for 
that."  Serena refused to give in to the tears brimming in her eyes.

Travis took her in his arms and Tuxedo Mask clenched his fists in 
frustration.  It should have been him comforting her, not this new 
comer.  Travis started to speak and Tuxedo Mask tried to clear his mind 
to listen.

"You aren't a saint, Serena, and no one expects you to be.  I'm sorry that 
I didn't see how this was affecting you.  Maybe we should stop helping them 
for awhile."

"No!"  Serena almost shouted.  "Just because I'm mad at them, doesn't mean 
that I don't still love them.  They're my friends and my court, and I will 
not leave them to fight alone.  I just don't want you hurt."  She stopped 
and got control of herself.  "I'm sorry for dumping all of this on you, 
Travis."

"That's what I'm here for, Serena.  I will always be here for you.  I love 
you."

Serena smiled up at him.  "I love you too, Travis.  I don't know what I 
would have done without you these last couple of weeks."

"I don't plan on you ever having to find out, Serena.  I plan on being 
around for a long time."

Tuxedo Mask stood where he was for a long moment after they left.  He had 
heard the sincerety in their voices and knew in his heart that they had 
meant every word they said.  *She loves him* he thought as a tear dropped 
unnoticed to the railing in front of him.  *She's found someone who will 
stay with her.  I should be happy for her.*  "How could I have let myself 
be fooled by those dreams?" he called to the uncaring sky.  *After all I've 
done to her, I have no right to interfere with the happiness she's managed 
to find.* he thought as he jumped to the ground and detransformed, then 
slowly left to find Reenie.

Reenie was where he had left her.  She had been starting to get a little 
worried when he was late, and the worry didn't abate when she glimpsed the 
despair on his face at his return.  For the rest of their time together she 
didn't say a word about Travis for fear she would cause him more pain.

As it came time for Darien to take her back, his steps grew slower and his 
heart heavier.  He knew that it would probably be the last time he would be 
able to be close to the woman he loved.  He could not do anything to break 
up Serena's relationship with Travis without violating his own sense of 
honor and hurting her more.  And he refused to hurt her anymore than he had 
already.


Darien stared around at the mansion they were walking up to.  "This is 
Travis's house?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yep."  Reenie chirped as she took his hand and led him inside.  The inside 
of the house was more comfortable than the outside suggested.  Reenie led 
him towards the living room, where sounds of the TV could be heard.  "We're 
home,"  Reenie called out.  

Darien wasn't sure he wanted to go in there.  He didn't want to see the 
homey scene that was sure to be revealed, with Serena sitting next to Travis 
on the couch, but he could not resist the chance to see her one more time.  
He walked in.  Serena was sitting on the couch, but Travis was sitting on a 
chair at right angles to the couch and Darien breathed a sigh of relief.  He 
wasn't sure he could have taken seeing them together.

"Hi, Reenie, Hi Darien.  Have a good day?"  Travis asked pleasantly.  "Sit 
down, Darien and tell us what you've been doing for the week you were gone." 
Travis pointed at the spot next to Serena.

"No, that's okay.  But if you don't mind, I need to talk to Serena for a 
moment.  Alone."  Darien knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't leave without 
saying goodbye and explaining everything.

"All right."  Serena agreed, standing up and leading him towards another 
room.  It was the bedroom she used when she stayed the night, and she 
motioned him into a chair as she closed the door.  Neither noticed a black 
shape slip through the door crack and under the bed.  Serena closed the door 
and sat down on the edge of the bed.  She looked at him quizzically.  "Yes?" 
she asked.

Darien rushed in to what he needed to say.  "Look, Serena, I know you love 
Travis now and I'm not going to do anything to damage that, but I thought it 
was only right that you know why I did what I did."  And he started to 
explain the dream and his fears for her safety.  

She sat and listened quietly as he talked.  When he finished, she asked one 
question.  "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"It wasn't your problem, it was mine."  He answered simply.

Serena looked at him for a long moment.  "You broke up our relationship over 
it and you say it wasn't my problem?"  she asked in disbelief.  "Maybe, for 
once, you should think about my problem with it."

"Look, Serena, I know how much I hurt you.  I never wanted to, but I had to 
keep you safe."  Darien's voice was almost begging.

Serena shook her head.  "You have no idea how much I was hurting, Darien.  I 
tried to keep it hidden, I couldn't let anyone else see."

"See what?"  Darien asked, confused.

"Whatever it was that you saw."  She answered softly.  "Look at it from my 
point of view, Darien.  A thousand years ago, Prince Endymion fell in love 
with Princess Serenity.  They were so much in love that she willingly 
followed him into death instead of living without him.  They were reborn 
and could barely stand each other.  Then we got our memories back and you 
loved me again.  The you were taken away and lost your memory.  I finally 
manage to heal you and you love me, for a few minutes, until you die.  When 
you live again, it's without your memory and you don't like me much.  You 
get your memory back, and finally, 'finally', we can be together and have a 
chance to get to know each other in our new incarnations.  And you don't 
love me anymore!"  Serena had tears in her eyes as she recites their 
relationship in a broken tone.  "What can I think?  But that you found 
something in me, 'me', Serena Tsukino, that you don't like, much less love.
Something that automatically made you stop loving me.  It had to be something
really horrible to make you stop loving me so abruptly and even leave town
to get away from me."

Darien's eyes were filled with horror as he realized what she had been 
thinking all this time.  What his unthinking quest to keep her safe had done.

Under the bed, Luna had much the same expression.  She could hear the 
self-loathing in Serena's voice, and could not believe that she had never 
noticed how hard this had hit her.

Darien opened his mouth to say something, but Serena wasn't finished.

"Once I figured all that out, I also figured that others might notice
whatever it was that you had seen, and they'd stop loving me too.  And 
that seemed to be exactly what happened.  They didn't like me anymore, and 
didn't even want to be near me.  Whatever it was about me had to be bad to 
drive all of you away."  As Serena spoke the last words, she looked up for 
the first time since she had begun.  This time it was her eyes that were 
filled with horror and shock at what she saw.  For the first time, she saw 
Darien cry.  His head was buried in his hands as he wept over the pain he 
had caused.  

Luna was in much the same shape, she wept as she realized how much she had 
failed to understand about the girl she loved like a daughter, how much pain 
she had been in that Luna hadn't been able to help, because she hadn't been 
sensitive enough to see.

Serena sprang off of the bed and over to Darien.  "I'm sorry, Darien, I 
didn't mean to make you cry.  I'm sorry."  Serena said as she pulled him 
into a hug.  "I shouldn't have told you all of that, I didn't really mean 
to make you feel bad.  I'm sorry."

Darien held on to her as tightly as she held on to him.  "I'm the one who's 
sorry, Serena.  I had no idea what I was doing to you.  I knew you would be 
hurt, but I thought it would be the best way to deal with it.  I didn't 
think I'd hurt you so bad, I never meant to hurt you.  I'm sorry, Serena.  I 
know you can never forgive me, but I'm so sorry."  Darien's voice was choked 
as he said these words.  Serena's next words took him by surprise.

"Of course I forgive you, Darien.  I love you."  

Darien looked up in surprise.  He gazed into her beautiful blue eyes for a 
long moment.  He had thought he would find them filled with loathing for 
what he had done.  Instead he found every bit of the love he had ever seen 
in her eyes.  He reached out slowly, as if afraid she would pull away or 
turn out to be nothing but a dream.  She leaned in to his touch with a soft 
sigh.

"Serena?"  he asked.  He wasn't sure quite what he was asking, but she knew 
how to answer.

"I love you, Darien.  As much as Serenity ever loved Endymion.  I do not 
want to live without you, my love.  It is barely a life worth living."  Her 
voice throbbed with sincerity.  It seemed she did still love him, even after 
all he had done.

His eyes shone with wonder and love as he looked at his princess.  "I do not 
know what I have done to deserve such a love, but I swear to you that I will 
make up for every moment of pain I have given you.  I love you more than I 
can ever tell you.  I am so sorry."  And slowly, hesitantly, still not quite 
sure this was real, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.  

They stayed that way for a very long time, both content to be together.  
Then, reluctantly, Darien remembered the boy in the living room.  "Serena?  
What about Travis?"  His eyes were filled with pain as he let her go, 
worried that reminding her of her other boy friend would hurt her.

Serena didn't seem the least bit hurt.  "Oh, he's probably listening at the 
door right now.  Isn't he?"  she called in a loud voice.

Travis laughed as he entered the room.  "I'm glad you two finally got that 
settled." he said easily.

"So am I."  Reenie agreed emphatically.

Darien got up slowly, looking at Travis.  Whatever he had expected, it was 
not this.  Travis seemed genuinely glad that he and Serena were back 
together.  Not exactly what was expected from a new boyfriend.

"Congratulations, Darien."  he said, going over to the older boy and taking 
his hand.  This time he looked him in the eye.  And Darien remembered.


It was about three months after he had met and fallen in love with Princess 
Serenity.  He was standing beside her out on the palace landing pad.  They 
were waiting, with all of the court, for the shuttle to settle and the ramp 
to come down.  Serenity was trying to stand still, but next to her Endymion 
could feel how she was fidgeting.  He was worried, although he was hiding it 
better than she was hiding her excitement.  He had heard how close she and 
Prince Tranquillity were.  He also knew of the bets going around.  Almost 
half of the members of her court believed that Serenity would forget all 
about him when the Prince came and he would go home mad at being ignored.  
Others believed that her deep love for him would make her forget about how 
close she and her brother were.  A closeness many of the court were not 
happy with, since the Sun Kingdom was only an ally, even if its King was 
also Royal Consort.  Serenity didn't seem to be forgetting either of them, 
however.  Her excitement was almost contagious as she waited for the shuttle 
to open, but her hand was still holding fast to his.

Then finally it happened, the ramp was down and a golden haired young man 
was springing down the rampway.  For once, Princess Serenity ignored 
formality and ritual.  Still holding Prince Endymion by the hand, she 
rushed towards him.  They hugged each other for a long time, but Serenity 
still kept hold of his hand.  Then she stepped back and introduced them.  
They clasped hands and stared each other in the eye.  At first it was 
slightly challenging on both their parts.  Then it calmed and respect grew 
as they took the measure of each other.  Later it was said that they stood 
there staring at each other for ten minutes as respect changed to friendship 
and went farther.  By the time they finally let go of each others hand, they 
were brothers.  A bond that was fufilled before they left by the oath of 
blood brotherhood.  


"Prince Tranquillity."  Darien said in shock.

"Prince Endymion."  Travis answered calmly.

Darien just looked at him, shaking his head.  Then he pulled the two of them 
into a three way hug.  "I guess I finally have the family I've always 
wanted."

Serena burst out laughing.  "More than you know, my love."  At his 
questioning look, Serena picked up Reenie.  "My prince, may I present 
Neo-Princess Serenity of the Kingdom of the Moon, the Sun, Earth and Crystal 
Tokyo, daughter of King Endymion of Earth and Neo-Queen Serenity of the 
Moon."

"Hi, daddy!"  Reenie said as she threw herself into his arms.  Darien looked 
like he was about to faint. 

------------------
Well, what did you think?  I thought that was a perfect place to end it.
Suzanne kept begging me for a sweet reunion scene, and I did the best I 
could while keeping my plot in mind.  Tell me what you thought and till I 
write for you again.  Jendra@aol.com 

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.  Remember that prophecy from Chapter Four?  Look
for the rest of it in Chapter Nine  The Prophecy Revealed.

Hi everybody!  It's me, again.  With yet another episode of Universal.

-->Insert your favorite disclaimers here.

I want to thank Doug for his constant comments, even the complaints.  After
all, he's kept reading it.  I also want to thank all the new writers.  I love
getting mail at Jendra@aol.com so keep sending it.

Enjoy


Sailor Moon Universal

Chapter Nine  The Prophecy Revealed


Darien stared at the little girl in his arms, and then at the two who
were standing in front of him grinning, and gulped.  "Our..." was all he
managed to get out.

"Daughter, yes," Serena said, smiling at the picture they made.  In the
beginning she had been jealous of how much time they had spent together,
but now that she knew of the bond between them, she was just happy.
Besides, she knew the bond would always include her.

"I think I need to sit down," Darien said.  Still carrying Reenie, he
walked into the living room and sat on the couch.  Serena nestled next
to him while Travis took the chair he had been sitting on when Darien
came in.

"How long have you known?  Why didn't you tell me?  How come none of the
girls know?  And," Darien looked up suddenly, "if you knew the girls
were having dreams, did you know about mine as well?"

Serena thought for a second.  "A week and a half, you weren't here, they
aren't talking to me and yes.  Did that answer all of your questions?"
she asked grinning slightly.  Travis was trying to hide his own grin.

"How long have you known I've been having that dream?" Darien asked
quietly, hugging Serena to him with one arm.

"Two days after the fight with the other Scouts," she said, sobering
quickly.  "We were trying to figure out why the Scouts would do that to
me, and Artemis said that Mina had been having nightmares.  Reenie said
you had been having them as well, so we went and asked the Sisters if
Rubeus could do something like that.  Catsy said that the Wiseman could
influence people through their dreams and that he had already laid one
on Prince Endymion.  It explained a lot, but I was still mad at you for
trying to take care of it by yourself."

Darien pulled back a little and looked at her.  "Andrew told me that you
knew I was alive.  How?"

"Apollo reminded us that the bond we shared couldn't go one way.  We
would have known if you had been seriously hurt, the same way you always
know when I am."  Serena looked at him.  "By the way, why did you
disappear for so long?  We were starting to worry you had been
captured."

So Darien explained, about the cliff village and the caves, the
challenges and the Earth Gem.  He even told them the Prophecy.  Serena
was more interested in another part of his story.

"You can become Sailor Earth.  How cool!  Let me see, please?" she
begged.

"Yes Daddy, transform, please?" Reenie added her voice to Serena's.

"Please, please.  Come on, for us," they both pleaded.

There was no way he could resist the two of them when they ganged up on
him like this.  "All right!  Geesh, you two are dangerous together.  I
can certainly see the resemblance."  The girls grinned at each other as
Darien put Reenie down and stood up.  He moved to the center of the
room, conscious of the five sets of eyes watching him.  He raised the 
hand wearing the opal into the air and cried out, "EARTH GEM POWER!"  
Everyone watched in fascination as the red, green, blue, and white 
lights flew around him.  When it was over, a black and green version of 
Sailor Sol stood there.

"That is so totally awesome!" Serena exclaimed.  "What are your powers,
do you know?" she asked.

"No.  I understand Tuxedo Mask is stronger, but this form can aid you in
things like teleports or Sailor Planet Power.  It's got some powers of
its own, I know, but I don't think I'll know what they are until I fight
in it.  Which I hope I never have to do," he added as he transformed
back to Darien, "I much prefer Tuxedo Mask."

"You're right, Tuxedo Mask is much more dashing," Serena said
thoughtfully.

"Hey!"  Travis put in, "Does that mean you don't think my Sailor Sol
form is dashing?  I am hurt to the quick," he added melodramatically.

"If you start with the formal language, you will be hurt, quick." Serena
laughed at him.

"How do you two change into the Sailors of the Sun?" Darien asked as he
sat back down.

"We use the Sun Stone," Travis said, taking out his necklace and showing
it to Darien.  "If we add Duo to the end of my activation words, it
knows there are two of us and can transform us both."

"Does that mean you can both be Sailor Moon?" he asked absently as he
looked over the miniature sword.  He looked up to find everyone staring
at him in astonishment.

"Only one way to find out," Serena said excitedly as she hopped off the
couch.

Travis got up as well and the two stood facing each other as Serena
pulled out her transformation locket.  "The words are 'Moon Crystal
Power'," she said to him.

"I know that," he answered back.  "Just don't forget the Duo."

They both took hold of the transformation locket.  "MOON CRYSTAL POWER
DUO!" they cried.  Feathers and ribbons surrounded the two, and when
they could be clearly seen again, there stood two Sailor Moons.  The
original looked as she always did, red, white and blue with crescent
moon earrings and jewels on her hair.  Beside her stood a male version.
Blue pants, white shirt, with red sleeves, belt and shoes and a blue
headband with a crescent moon on it.  The main difference in their
costumes, not counting that she was wearing a very short skirt and he
was wearing pants, was the fact that the male had a white scabbard on
his left side, holding a long sword.

Reenie clapped her hands in delight.  "Neat, now you can both be Sailor
Moon or Sailor Sun."

"This day is just full of surprises, isn't it?" the female Sailor asked,
looking at her counterpart.

They detransformed and sat back down.  Darien handed the sword back and
Travis looked at it, remembering something.  "I'm interested in this
prophecy, Darien," Travis said, "What language did you say it was
written in?"

"An ancient rune that I was forced to learn while growing up," Darien
said lightly.  "Why?"

Travis held up his little sword.  "SUN STONE POWER!" he called.  When
the light had fallen back to bearable levels, he handed the sword to
Darien.  "Did they look like that?"

"Yes," he said excitedly, "these are the same kinds of runes.  This must
be part of the prophecy. It says:

               'Two Earths, two Moons, two Suns
                Though only three survive.
                Three stones consumed,
                Three stones resumed,
                Three stones that did arrive.'"

"What the heck does that mean?" Serena asked.  "Luna, Apollo, do you
know anything about this?"

"It sounds slightly familiar, but I don't have any real memory of it,"
Luna said slowly.

"I must agree," Apollo added, "It sounds like something I've heard
about, but I don't recall anything specific."

"Well, maybe the two Moons and two Suns are us when we duo," Travis
suggested.

"Maybe," Serena agreed slowly, "I bet the three stones are ours.  You
know, the Moon Crystal, Sun Stone, and Earth Gem."

"I agree," Darien nodded, looking at her strangely.  Everyone else had
had time to get used to her occasionally saying something intelligent,
and just nodded their heads in agreement.

Travis got a pencil and paper and wrote down the prophecy, having Darien
repeat it several times to make sure he got the whole thing correct.
Then he made copies and passed it around.

Serena stared at hers for a long moment before speaking very quietly,
"I wish Amy were here to help."

Everyone except Darien froze.  This was the first time she had said
something like that since the argument.

"Or Raye, she might be able to see something in the fire," Serena
continued in the same quiet voice.  She looked up to see them all
watching her and blushed.  In an even quieter voice she said, "I miss
them so much."

"I thought you were still mad at them," Travis said in a voice almost as
quiet.

"I am, but I'd forgive them if they asked me to.  But they don't even
try to talk to me anymore.  I guess they really don't care."  Serena
looked down at her hands clasped in her lap.  Darien put his arm around
her and Reenie climbed into her lap as Travis flushed.

"Well, um, I kind of told them not to come near you again," Travis
admitted shamefaced.

"What?" Serena asked, surprised.

"You were crying, and I was very angry at them.  I tracked them down and
told them the best thing they could do would be to stay away from you,"
he mumbled.

"Travis!" she exclaimed, "What if they wanted to apologize?"

"Hey," he tried to get himself out of the situation he was obviously in,
"Artemis agreed with me.  He told them they should stay away too."

Serena's eye were blazing.  "You mean all of this time, they might have
wanted to say they were sorry, but you kept them away?  How could you,
Travis?"

"I thought it was best.  You weren't in any condition to talk to them at
the time.  I just didn't think they would stay away for this long."
Travis looked steadily into her eyes.  Serena dropped her eyes. She knew
he was right. She would not have been able to handle them those first
couple of days. The wounds had been too fresh.  "Lita did ask that if we
saw the Princess, we should tell her she was sorry."

Serena nodded slowly.  "I remember."

"Amy was standing watching you, up where you couldn't see her, that day
I got back.  I would say she had been doing it a lot, just trying to
keep an eye on you," Darien said.  "When I asked her what had happened,
she almost collapsed."

"Amy?!" Serena asked, shocked.

Darien nodded as Luna put in her own observations.  "Artemis has been
saying that Mina is depressed and sometimes calls out in her sleep,
asking you to forgive her."

Serena sank her head into her hands.  "I need to talk to them," she said
very slowly.

"Are you sure?" Travis asked.

She raised her head and nodded even as she leaned closer to Darien and
hugged Reenie, seeming to take strength from knowing the people in this
room loved her.

"I'll go with you," Darien volunteered immediately.

"No, I've got to do this myself."  She grinned slightly as she looked at
all the concerned faces surrounding her. "I might need you here when I
get back, though.  Especially since the first person I'm going to talk
to will be Raye."

"Raye!" came from everyone.  Reenie managed to get the first new word
in.  "Why Raye?  She's the only one we don't 'know' wants you back."

"That's why, Reenie.  From what you guys say, I would say the other
girls are sorry.  Raye's the only one I can't be sure about.  The one
I've never been sure about," she added almost inaudibly.

She stood up.  "Well, better go before I lose my nerve."

"Good luck," Travis said.

"We'll be here when you get back," Darien added supportedly.

"It'll be all right, Mommy," Reenie chirped up, "You'll see."

"I hope you're right, Small Lady, I hope you're right."  She left the
room, then stuck her head back in as Travis started to open his mouth.
"And do 'not' follow me, or send Apollo or Luna to do so."  She left as
Travis closed his mouth and looked after her in annoyance.


As Serena got closer to the temple, her apprehension increased and her
steps slowed.  When she was at the bottom of the steps she stopped.
*Come on, Serena, you've faced Beryl, Alan and Ann, and Rubeus, you can
face Raye too.* Constantly encouraging herself, she walked up the steps
and reached the courtyard.  No one was there.  She walked inside, her
steps leading her to the place where Raye always went when confused or
needing guidance, the Great Fire.

As Serena walked towards the meditation room, her heart was beating fast
and her breath was getting shallow.  She stopped in front of the door,
to try to gather her courage one more time.  As her hand reached to open
the door, she could hear Raye's voice and stopped to listen.  She didn't
want to talk to her in front of anyone else.

"Great Fire, please tell me what I can do to make Serena forgive us,"
Serena almost stopped breathing altogether, as she heard Raye's words,
and a little of the fear she was feeling was transformed into relief.

She walked into the room as Raye dropped out of her meditation.
Serena's eyes widened with disbelief as she saw a single tear glimmer in
the light of the fire.

Raye stared into the fire for another long moment.  Her voice was filled
with defeat as she spoke to herself, "Why won't it answer? Maybe...maybe
there 'is' no way to make her like us again."  Her head shot up as she
suddenly sensed she was not alone.  She spun into a crouch, ready to
tear apart whoever dared to disturb her.  It took a long moment for her
mind to come up with a name for the person standing there.  For a long
moment, Raye thought she was dreaming as she stared at Serena.  Then
Raye saw her eyes.

Serena's eyes had always been the windows of her soul, usually filled
with laughter and love, sometimes with sadness or anger.  It had always
been easy to tell how she was feeling with just one look.  Never before,
in all the moods Raye had seen Serena in, through all the fights they
had had, never had she seen what she saw now.  Fear and wariness.  Of
her.

Raye felt something inside of her break.  Of them all, she had been the
one who had seen the least of Serena after the argument.  She had never
truly believed that Serena 'could' hate them; she had thought the others
were just being overly sensitive.  She knew that Serena had too much
love in her to hate anyone.  But even that would have been more bearable
than this.  'Anything' would have been better than knowing that Serena
was actually scared of her.

Raye let out a strangled sound and pulled her eyes away from the person
who had been her friend.  She tried desperately to keep the tears of
pain from showing.  She had never dreamed she could hurt another person
that badly.  Especially Serena.

Serena's heart softened and the fear left her eyes as she saw Raye
almost collapse to the ground.  She walked over and kneeled next to her.
"Raye?" was all she said.

"Go away!" Raye whispered brokenly.  Serena's head shot up in surprise,
disappointment and hurt.  She started to get up.  "Please, just go away,
I don't want to hurt you anymore," Raye continued.

Serena gently laid her hand on Raye's shoulder.  Raye jerked as though
she'd been shot.  "Raye.  It's all right, Raye," Serena said softly.

"No, it's not alright!" Raye said savagely.  "We're supposed to protect
you, not hurt you.  And...and you're never supposed to be afraid of
'us'.  We don't deserve to be your Scouts anymore."  Raye fumbled in her
robe and took out her transformation pen.  "Here, take it!  I shouldn't
have it, it's obvious that I've failed you."

"No!" Serena said sharply, "You are one of my Scouts and nothing will
ever change that!"

"We changed that!" Raye almost shouted back, still not looking at
Serena.  "We changed it when we told you we didn't want you to fight
with us anymore.  AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY!"  She did shout this time.

"I do," was Serena's answer.

"What?" Raye's head jerked up and she stared once more into Serena's
eyes.  This time she didn't see much of the fear, there was still a
little, but it was almost covered by her normal good humor.

"I said, I know why you turned on me like that.  At least I think I do."
She looked seriously at Raye.  "How have your dreams been lately?"

"My dreams?" Raye asked musingly.  It didn't take her long to understand
what Serena was saying.  "Do you mean, someone was giving me those
dreams? The ones where someone got hurt because you were so clumsy and
where I never became a priestess because I spent so much time around
you?  They were all given to me to break us up?  AND I FELL FOR IT?!"
Once more Raye was shouting as her temper exploded, "WHO?!"

"The Wiseman, Rebeus' boss," Serena answered, she had drawn back a
little when Raye started shouting but stayed where she was.

Raye saw the fear come back into Serena's eyes and forced herself to
calm down.  She turned to stare into the fire for a long moment and only
turned around when she was sure of her control.  "Are you sure?"

"Fairly.  We know he has the ability to do so.  We know he did so to
Darien, and we know all of you were having nightmares.  What do 'you'
think?"

Raye looked down.  "I think we owe you an apology.  Especially me.
You're right, you know, it was the dreams that made me start wondering.
They just kept happening, night after night, until I had to wonder if
they might be true.  I'm...sorry," she said haltingly, it was obviously
hard for her.  "I never meant to hurt you."

The last of the fear left Serena's eyes and heart.  It was obvious that
Raye meant every word she had said.  Serena's eyes shone as she
impulsively hugged Raye.  Raye was surprised at first, but that didn't
stop her from hugging back the friend she had almost lost.

"I've missed you, Raye," Serena finally said, "I haven't had a good
argument in weeks!"

Raye burst into laughter that was very close to tears as she sat back.
Serena was grinning madly.  "How long have you known?" Raye asked.

"About a week and a half," Serena answered absently, still thinking
about the apology Raye had given.

"A week and a half?  And you just now told me?" Raye started in an
argumentative tone.  She suddenly realized that that might not be the
best way to speak to her right now, but Serena's answer put that worry
to rest.

"Hey, you weren't talking to me!" she answered, strangely happy that
they were fighting again.

"Well if you'd told us, Meatball Head, we would have been speaking to
you earlier."

"As if you'd have believed me!  You wouldn't believe me if I said today
was Monday."

"That's because today is Wednesday!"

"See, I told you you wouldn't believe me!  You never do!"

"Well, if you'd talk sense, I might believe you more often."

"Yeah, right!"

Amy, Mina, Lita, and Artemis walked up the steps to the temple.  As they
got closer they could hear voices raised in argument.  Mina looked at
the others.  "That sounds like Raye and Serena!"

"It couldn't be. She's probably just yelling at Chad again," Amy said
sadly.

Artemis, however, had been listening intently, and his ears were better
than his human companions.  "It 'is' Raye and Serena," he told them,
"and it sounds like one of their regular arguments."

"Let's go see.  Maybe she'll talk to us again!" Lita exclaimed, almost
running into the temple.  The others followed quickly.  As they went
into the temple, they could understand the voices.  It definitely was
Serena and Raye.

"You said Darien was having dreams too," Raye's voice came through
easily and the others stopped suddenly and looked at each other.  Almost
in one voice they whispered, "'Dreams'?"  Raye's voice was louder than
that as she finished.  "Does that mean you've finally gotten back
together with him?"

"Why?  You want to steal him back?" Serena's voice answered.

"No.  I just want to know how your new boyfriend, Travis, took it."

"Well, if you'd been talking to me, I would have told you he wasn't my
boyfriend."

"Hey!  He's the one who told us to stay away from you!"

"Yes, I know.  He told me today, I could have strangled him.  Though he
was right at first.  I wouldn't have been able to handle talking to you
those first couple of days.  It still hurt too much.  Even knowing you
were being manipulated didn't help."

The other three had reached the doorway to the meditation room.  They
looked in to see Serena and Raye kneeling across from each other.

Mina was the first to speak during the silence after that statement.
"Would it help if we said we were sorry?" she asked quietly.

Serena and Raye jerked around.  Serena stared at the three girls
standing in the doorway and fear flashed through her eyes.  The girls
saw it and once more cursed the way they'd talked to her that day.  They
started to leave, pain crossing their features. Like Raye, they couldn't
believe they had hurt her so much that she was actually afraid of them.
But Serena nodded very slowly.  "I think it might," she said softly.

They walked into the room and settled down around Serena.  Amy spoke
first, "I'm sorry, Serena.  I didn't really think you were that
immature.  I know how much you've grown in the last year.  I never meant
to really hurt you, I just... just..."

"Started to believe what the dreams were saying," Lita finished for her.
"I dreamed that you had a klutz attack and caused me to hit innocents,
including Ken."

"I dreamed that you were pulling my grades down, and your lateness
caused one of us to get hurt," Amy added, filled with shame.

"I was the worst one," Mina said slowly.  "I didn't really have dreams
about people getting hurt.  I dreamed that I was the leader of the
Scouts on the Moon, because you never fought then."  Mina's eyes filled
with tears.  "I was just being selfish and I'm so sorry."  She burst out
crying.

Serena immediately went over to her and hugged her.  "I understand," she
whispered.

Amy spoke again, "And then it seemed as if everything you did, just
reinforced the worries we were having."

"And we just got madder at you," Raye said.

"Why didn't you talk to me about the dreams?" Serena asked from her spot
next to Mina.

"I don't know about the others, but at first I was ashamed that I could
have dreams like that about you," Lita said.  "I knew you wouldn't have
done anything like that and I just tried to put it out of my mind."

The others murmured agreement.

"We didn't talk to each other about them either.  I'm sure if we had, we
would have figured out we were being manipulated," Amy said.  "By the
way, who gave us the dreams?  And how did you know about it?"

Serena answered, "The Wiseman is Rubeus' boss, and he has the ability to
influence people's dreams.  As to how I know, when Artemis said that
you, Mina, had been having strange dreams, Reenie remembered that Darien
had as well.  So we went and asked the Sisters if Rubeus had the ability
to give people dreams.  They said that he didn't, but the Wiseman does.
They also told us that Rubeus stays in a spaceship, high above Tokyo,
most of the time.  That's why we couldn't find his base."

"A spaceship!  No wonder my computer couldn't get a reading on it.  I'll
have to recalibrate to take that into account," Amy started mumbling to
herself as she pulled out her computer.

Serena laughed.  "It's good to be with you again.  I've missed you all.
Even the pyro here."

Amy flushed and put up her computer just in time to receive an almost
smothering hug from Serena.  She wasn't about to complain, even if
Serena 'was' cutting off her air supply.

Serena crawled over and hugged Lita as well, then she bounced to her
feet.  "Come on," she said, "I've learned a lot of things in these last
few weeks and I think you should hear about them.  Well?  Come on!" she
called back over her shoulder as she almost danced out of the room.

The others lost no time in hurrying after her.


Serena led them up the hill.  Although none of them had ever been there
before, they figured out they were going to Travis' house, because no
one else they knew lived up there.  Their eyes grew wide as they saw the
mansion.  Serena led them inside.

"I'm back," she called out as soon as she walked inside.

"Did you talk to her?" a voice called out from the room they were
heading towards.  Serena walked through the doorway and the others
followed slowly.  Mainly, they were gawking at the house.  Their stares
quickly moved to the room they were entering.  To their surprise, they
saw Darien and Travis sitting comfortably, almost next to each other.
The second thing they saw was the large stuffed falcon on the mantle.

"Of course I did, Muffin," Serena answered, plopping down next to him.
"I said I would, didn't I?"

Reenie was the first one to notice the five standing in the doorway.
"You're back together!" she yelled, delighted, getting up and throwing
herself into each one's arms.

Travis stood up.  "Have a seat, ladies, and I'll get something for us to
drink."

"And eat," Serena put in.

"Of course, did you ever have any doubt?" he laughed.

During this, Artemis had hopped off of Mina's shoulder, where he had
been listening quietly, and went over to talk to Luna on the fireplace
hearth.

Serena suddenly didn't seem to know what to say as the others sat down.
She fiddled with her shirt for a few minutes before jumping to her feet.
"I'll go help Travis," she said brightly.  As she rushed towards the
kitchen, Travis came out.  Not watching where she was going, Serena ran
right into him, spilling the drinks and snacks all over the place and
herself.  Everyone burst out laughing.  They couldn't help themselves.
It even looked like the stuffed falcon was trying to keep from laughing.
Serena's face screwed up into a pout.

"WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she wailed.  "Why are you
laughing at me?  It's not funny!"  They just laughed harder.  It had
been so long since they had been able to really laugh that they just
couldn't stop.  Even Darien was trying his best to restrain himself as
he went to pick Serena up off the floor.  Serena stomped off to get
changed as the others laughed themselves out.

When Serena finally came back out, the mess had been cleaned up and no
one was laughing, out loud at least.

"So, what did you want to tell us?" Raye asked from her seat on the
hearth.

"Oh, just that Travis is my twin brother, Prince Tranquillity, Reenie is
Darien's and my daughter from the future, and I've been Sailor Sun for
the past week and a half."  Serena grinned as she dropped the
bombshells.

This time it was Serena's turn to burst out laughing as she watched them
try to work through what she had just said.  Travis, Darien, and Reenie
joined her as the girls started asking questions.

"Your brother?" "Prince 'Tranquillity'?" "What do you mean, your
daughter?" "How could you be Sailor Sun, if you're already Sailor Moon?"
The questions were coming so fast that it was impossible to tell who was
asking what.

Serena was laughing too hard to answer, so Travis got himself under
control.  "Yes, I am her twin in both this time and last.  If you think
Tranquillity is a funny name, imagine how I felt growing up with it.
Our mother was the Queen of the Moon and our father was the King of the
Sun.  Because of that I am Prince of the Moon and the Sun and she is
Princess of the Moon and the Sun.  That is what allows us to both become
the Sailors of the Sun."

"But why?" Lita asked, confused.

"Because you didn't want Sailor Moon to fight with you, and I knew how
much danger you'd be in without me," Serena answered when she stopped
laughing.  "I couldn't let you get hurt, just because I wasn't there.
So when we found out we could 'Duo' our powers to both became Sailor
Sun, we decided to help out as someone you and Rubeus wouldn't
recognize."

The next hour was spent explaining what had happened to all of them
during the last several weeks.  Darien was forced to transform into
Sailor Earth again, just so the girls could see.  They were all a little
surprised when the falcon added his comments.  Apologies, explanations
and demonstrations, not to mention a little gossip filled the hour.
Then they started to talk about the prophecy.

Amy programmed the prophecy into her computer as everyone looked at the
copies Travis and Darien had made for them while Serena was gone.

Travis said, "We're pretty sure that the three stones are Serena's Moon
Crystal, my Sun Stone, and Darien's Earth Gem, but we don't understand
any of the rest of it."

"That cave I was in showed that all of the planets had Scouts, maybe
that's the nine Scouts," Darien put in.

Mina shook her head.  "But that's nine Scouts of nine planets, this says
there's only five planets."

Lita seemed to be counting in her head, "Hey, that's what we've got
here!" As the others looked at her she continued, "We've got Scouts from
the five inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter.
That's five planets.  Two Scouts from the Sun, which isn't a planet and
two from the Moon, which also isn't a planet.  Nine Scouts, five
planets, see?"

"I suppose it could be," Serena said slowly, the others murmured
agreement, "but I thought we were in the next part, 'two Moons, two
Suns'."

"I hope not, I really don't like the line after that," Darien's voice
was worried.  "'Though only three survive.'"

"No one says you can be in only one part, Meatballs for Brains," Raye
put in sarcastically.

"I guess that means I'm more important than you, don't it?" Serena
answered saucily.

Mina jumped in to defuse the argument.  "Amy, what does your computer
say?"

"It's still working on it, but I don't think we have enough data," Amy
said seriously.  "Serena, can I see your transformation locket?"

"Sure," Serena responded, taking it out.  "Why do you want it?"

"Well, from what you said, one part of the prophecy was found under the
Earth Gem, and one part on the Sun Stone Sword.  So wouldn't it be
logical for there to be a third part around the Moon Crystal?"

"I suppose so, but I've never seen anything like those runes on the
locket.  Or anywhere else for that matter," Serena answered.

Amy looked the locket over minutely, before suddenly transforming to
Sailor Mercury and using her visor.  "They're there, I think," she said.
"But they're 'under' the Crystal.  Even at highest magnification, I can
barely tell that they are there."

Serena took the locket back and holding it in one hand, kept the other
hand about three inches above it.  It was obvious to everyone that she
was concentrating very hard, even her crescent moon started glowing from
the amount of concentration she was using.  Suddenly the Crystal rose
out of the locket and settled in her upper hand.  Serena sat back with a
sigh, wiping sweat off of her forehead and handing the locket to Mercury
once more.

Everyone except Mercury was staring at Serena.  She just grinned
mischievously causing Reenie to start giggling.

Mercury looked at the runes written in the locket.  Her computer
translated it easily.  "Okay everyone, I think this is the rest of the
prophecy.  It says:

             'When power into the child is cast,
              The Universe is safe at last.'"

"The child?!" Everyone said, looking quickly at Reenie.  Serena picked
her up and held her tightly.

"Calm down, Serena.  It might not have meant Reenie," Travis said,
trying to calm his own worries.

Serena just looked up at him for a moment and then recited, "'Three
bloodlines and four crowns'".

"Of course," Darien answered pulling both Serena and Reenie into his
arms.

"You're right," Apollo said from his perch on the hearth.  "I had
forgotten, but that prophecy is one of the reasons your parents got
married, Travis."

"And why Queen Serenity was so happy when the Princess fell in love with
a prince of Earth," Luna added, "It added the third bloodline and the
third crown."

"So you're saying the three bloodlines are the Moon, Sun and Earth royal
lines.  And the crowns are the Moon Kingdom, Sun Kingdom, and Kingdom of
Earth, right?" Mina asked, lightening the confusion they were all
under.

"Then what's the fourth crown?" Lita asked, still slightly confused.

"Crystal Tokyo," Serena, Travis, Darien, Luna, Artemis, Apollo, and Amy
all answered at once.

Reenie looked like she was about to cry.  She wasn't sure exactly what
the prophecy meant. All she knew was that her parents were very worried
about her, and that scared her.

Amy got to work inputting the new information to her computer.  When she
was finished the computer started giving out its answer.  "Listen up,
everybody.  The computer says that the prophecy must take place in the
future.  That the two Earths are King Endymion and Darien.  The two
Moons are Neo-Queen Serenity and Serena, the two Suns are King
Tranquillity and Travis.  At least that's the information it has."

"But we can't go to the future!" Lita exclaimed.

"Yes we can, Lita," Reenie answered, "The Crystal Time Key that Puu gave
me will take us back."

"Who's Puu, Reenie?" Mina asked in a soft voice.

"She's the Guardian of Time and she tries to take care of me," Reenie
answered happily.

"PLUTO?!" the three guardians exclaimed.

"I thought Sailor Pluto was just a myth!" Luna said excitedly.

"Sailor Pluto?!" everyone practically yelled.

Artemis replied to that, "Sailor Pluto is supposed to be the Guardian of
Time but no one has ever seen her."

"'I' see her all the time," Reenie said proudly.

"So is she the fifth planet?" Raye asked for once not having many smart
remarks.

"I thought we agreed that Earth was the fifth planet," Lita said, after
all it was her theory.

"I don't think that's right anymore, Lita.  Reenie, do the Sailor Scouts
exist in the future?" Raye asked intently.

"You guys?  Yeah, of course you do," Reenie answered brightly.

"So we have two Scouts of each of our four planets and Pluto.  Nine
Scouts, five planets," Raye said, sure that she was right.

"I disagree," Lita said angrily.

"I'm tired of talking about this," Serena whined.  "Let's do something
else."

"Ice cream shop?" Travis asked.

"Yeah!" Serena and Reenie yelled.

"Serena, Travis!  This is serious Scout business," Luna said.  She'd
started expecting better of the two.

"Chill, Luna, I don't think we're going to get anything else done right
now," Serena said as she walked out.

"We're only going to argue if we keep on like this," Darien agreed as he
got up, "and we really don't need another fight right now."

The others reluctantly agreed.

As the group headed towards the ice cream parlor, they heard the sounds
of the one thing they did not want to deal with right now.  A droid on a
rampage.

Reenie ran off to hide as the Scouts got ready to fight.

"MERCURY STAR POWER!"
"MARS STAR POWER!"
"JUPITER STAR POWER!"
"VENUS STAR POWER!"
"SUN STONE POWER DUO!"

The Scouts looked surprised as Sailor Sun and Sailor Sol stood there.
Sailor Sun explained, "We were trying to fool Rubeus, too, you know.
That hasn't changed."

The six Scouts and Tuxedo Mask ran towards the sounds of screaming.
However, when they got there, they found an empty parking lot, with not
a droid in sight.

"Hey, where's the fight?" Sailor Jupiter exclaimed.  Then they heard it.
One very familiar scream from back where they'd come from and coming
closer.

"Reenie!" Sailor Sun and Tuxedo Mask yelled.  Suddenly, standing there
in the middle of the air was Rubeus.  And he was holding a squirming,
pink haired little girl.

"I finally have her.  And now the Universe will be mine," he said as he
disappeared.

The last thing they heard was Reenie's voice, "Mommy! Help me!"

-------------
Well that's it for yet another one.  I want to thank Daniel and Suzanne,
for reminding me that Raye didn't seem very worried about the fight with
Serena.  Most of this Chapter came from that idea.

Chapter Ten will be called Reenie's Rescue.  What else?

Jendra@aol.com

Jendra@aol.com
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello!  It's me again.  Jendra that is.  I'm back once more.   You know,
I'm running out of things to write up here.  Of course, standard disclaimers
should be inserted.  It doesn't really matter if the standard disclaimers
have anything to do with the story, no one reads them anyway, so just insert
whatever standard disclaimers you want to.  Mail goes to Jendra@aol.com.
Oh, yeah, I wanted to thank Will for giving me the kick in the pants I
needed to rewrite this Chapter into something closer to what it should be.
The rest of the thanks are down below, because if I tell you what I'm
thanking them for up here, it will give you too many hints of what's
coming.  Their names are Jeff, Carolyn and Karen.

Enjoy

Sailor Moon Universal

Chapter Ten  Reenie's Rescue

"REENIE!"  the Scouts and Tuxedo Mask screamed.

Sailor Sol moved towards his sister, expecting her to collapse into tears
at this blow.  He looked into her eyes and almost took a step back.  Her
eyes were hard and very, very angry.

"Find them, Mercury," she commanded, "Find them!"

Mercury didn't look up from where she was working furiously.  "I'm trying,
Serena, I just need a little time."

"My daughter doesn't have time!"  Sailor Sun started to yell.

Tuxedo Mask moved towards her and took her in his arms.  "Yelling at her
won't help anyone, sweetheart.  You know she's working as fast as she can.
She'll find her, don't worry."

She buried her head in his chest and let a few tears fall.  However, when
she spoke, her voice was still hard and unyielding.  "She will find them,
and we'll get Reenie back, and then Rubeus will pay.  He will pay for daring
to touch her!  And if he's harmed even one hair on her head..."

The Scouts found themselves shuddering.  Each of them hoped that Reenie was
unharmed, not only for the little girl's sake, but because they really
didn't want to know what their normally gentle Princess would do to Rubeus
if she had been hurt.

"I have him!"  Sailor Mercury suddenly yelled.  "His ship is in a stationary
orbit over downtown."

"Do you have a good enough lock for us to teleport?"  Sailor Sun asked
instantly as she turned towards her.

"Yes!"  Mercury said.

"Then let's go!"

Tuxedo Mask seemed to be thinking as the Scouts gathered in a circle.

"Don't," Sailor Sun said.  "Let's keep it a secret for as long as possible,
teleporting you won't drain us."

"She's acting like our leader," Mars whispered to Venus.

"She is!"  Venus hissed back.

"I know that, but she's never acted like it before."  Mars answered, before
a glare from Sailor Sun caused her to grow quiet and get into the circle.

Sailor Sun stood in the middle next to Tuxedo Mask.  As everyone stared,
she shrugged impatiently.  "I'm not sure how Duo powers would work in a
group and this is no time to experiment.  Let's go!"

"MERCURY STAR POWER!"
"MARS STAR POWER!"
"VENUS STAR POWER!"
"JUPITER STAR POWER!"
"SUN STONE POWER!"
"SAILOR TELEPORT!"

As the Scouts concentrated, their bodies were outlined in light and their
hair stood out from the power they were generating.  Then they disappeared,
leaving behind a golden falcon circling the field and a small black ball,
shaped like a cat's head, floating.

Inside a spaceship, high above Tokyo, the seven reappeared.  As the light
faded, they stared around at the room they were in.  It was completely bare
except for a door in one side and what looked like a TV screen on another.

Mercury immediately lowered her visor and started scanning.  She looked at
the others, shocked, "My visor's not getting any readings on these walls.
It's like they're not even there!"

Jupiter went over and rapped on a wall, while Mars tried the door.  "It
sure feels real to me," Jupiter said.

"The door's locked," Sailor Mars said quietly.

"I don't like this," Venus said, looking around nervously.  "It feels like
a trap."

"How observant, Sailor Venus," a voice chuckled evilly.  Everyone quickly
turned towards the viewscreen to see Rubeus grinning at them.

"Where's Reenie?"  Sailor Sun asked harshly.

"Why the little rabbit is right here, enjoying my 'hospitality'!" he laughed
again.  "Too bad Sailor Moon's not here to help you.  But I'm not surprised,
not after the way you all turned on her.  I never 'dreamed' you would be so
easy to manipulate."

Sailor Jupiter growled and leapt towards the screen.  "I'll show you who's
easy to manipulate!" she snarled.  "JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!"  The lightning
ball hit the screen with a satisfying crackle.  However, when the sparks
died down, Rubeus was still grinning at them from the intact screen.  "No
way!"  Jupiter screeched.

"I've been planning this for the past two weeks," he said.  "The room you're
in is shielded against every form of energy; fire, light, ice, lightning,
even your annoying Sun power and those stupid roses.  It also has a few
little surprises.  Enjoy yourself, while you still can."  He disappeared.

"I wonder what he meant by that," Sailor Sol mused.

Sailor Mars wasn't paying attention.  "I don't believe it."  Mars said,
turning to the wall.  "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" she called out
confidently.  That confidence faded fast as the rings of fire impacted
the wall and dissipated without leaving a mark.

Tuxedo Mask threw a rose at the wall and watched it bounce off onto the
floor.

Sailor Sol tried his sword with no better success.

Mercury spoke up.  "We'd better do something quickly.  The area of floor
space has decreased measurably in the last two minutes."  As everyone looked
at her with blank faces, she rephrased it.  "The walls are closing in on us!"

"Oh come on, can't he think of anything new?"  Sailor Venus asked in
disgust. "Moving walls have been used in every bad horror movie ever made."
She then noticed the glares she was receiving from the others and flushed.
"Sorry."

"Should we try becoming Sailor Moon?"  Sailor Sol asked his sister.

She shook her head.  "He's been very thorough so far, I can't imagine him
not shielding the room from Moon power, just in case she showed up."

"Then what are we going to do?"  Jupiter called out.  "These walls are
closing fast!"

"He can't have shielded from a power he didn't know about!"  Sailor Sun said
excitedly.

"Now if only we had one," Mars remarked sarcastically.

"We do," was the answer, "I think only Sailor Earth can get us out of this."

"Of course!" the others yelled, relieved and surprised.

"I don't even know what my powers are," Tuxedo Mask complained as he stepped
away from the others.  "EARTH GEM POWER!"

Sailor Earth stepped towards one of the unmoving walls.  The one without
the door, since he thought that one was probably a trap.  He searched his
mind for his power.  He knew that if he couldn't find it, then his Princess
would die.  That thought triggered the knowledge.  The walls were only four
feet apart as it came to him.

"EARTH TECTONIC QUAKE!" he yelled, slamming his hands downward.  The other
Scouts closed their eyes in defeat as nothing happened.  Then with a loud
rumble, the floor underneath the wall almost exploded upwards, tearing an
opening into the next room.  The walls were only two feet apart as he
stepped through and the others quickly followed.

Reenie glared at Rubeus with loathing and fright.  "You won't get away with
this.  The Sailor Scouts will save me!  You'll see."

"Oh, I reeaaally doubt that, Rabbit.  That trap they are in was made
especially for them.  There is no way they will ever get out."  He looked
down at the scared little girl.  "Now, hand over the crystal!"

"How many times do I have to tell you?  I don't have the crystal.  It's
Sailor Moon's and she won't give it to me until you're dead and dusted.  So
there."  she said, sticking out her tongue at him.

"Well, then, you'll just have to take it from her, won't you?"  Rubeus
laughed.

"I wouldn't do that!"  Reenie said with less confidence than she would have
wished.  She did 'not' like the way that Rubeus was grinning at her.

"Oh, I think you will," he said easily, flipping a switch behind him.
"You're getting sleepy now, aren't you?"  He didn't get an answer.  Reenie
had already dropped to the ground.

Rubeus stretched Reenie out in a specially made capsule and activated the
crystal the Wiseman had given him.  He chuckled to himself, *When properly
brainwashed she will be a much better servant than those incompetent
sisters.*

The crystal had been specially crafted by the Wiseman to twist Reenie's
memories of Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion.

Reenie started twisting uneasily under the influence of the crystal.
Memories assailed her of her life in Crystal Tokyo.  Days when her parents
were too busy to play with her were changed by the crystal into deliberate
neglect.  Minor restrictions were turned into a prison like atmosphere.

Rubeus smiled as he looked down at the little girl.  He watched as her
golden crescent moon flickered into a black upside down crescent and back.
More and more the black crescent moon showed.  "Soon, little one, you will
hate your parents so much that you will do anything to get back at them."

New memories came pouring into her.  Memories of Rubeus and the Wiseman
being nice to her.  Telling her that if she couldn't trust her own parents
she could always trust them.  More and more dark energy poured into her,
and the black crescent moon was now only flickering, never totally
disappearing.

As the Sailor Scouts broke out of the shielded room, Mercury's computer
suddenly started getting readings once more.  "The control room's about
forty meters away.  Downward!"

Sailor Earth didn't hesitate, "EARTH TECTONIC QUAKE!" he called pointing to
the floor.

Sailor Sol and Venus joined him.  "SUN SWORD SLASH!" "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM
SMASH!"

Within seconds the three had blasted a hole in the floor large enough for
the largest of them to pass through.  In a flash of rose petals, Tuxedo
Mask dropped through the hole.  The Scouts quickly followed.

Tuxedo Mask landed easily and moved out of the way as Sol, Venus and Jupiter
jumped down.  He managed to catch Sailor Sun, and she thanked him absently
as Jupiter caught Mercury and Mars landed on her feet.  They were in a large
room with what looked like five large windows looking down on Tokyo.

"Which way, Mercury?" Sailor Sun asked as the others were looking around.

After a quick check, Mercury pointed to the right.  Sailor Sun immediately
started off and the others hurried after her.  As they walked past the
windows, they started to shimmer.  What seemed like hundreds of large black
rats erupted from the windows.  The girls screamed in disgust and started
attacking.  "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!" caused lightning to fly out wildly,
Jupiter not seeming to care what she hit as long as she destroyed the rats.
Her eyes were wide and staring as she tried to destroy all the rats in the
room.

"Jupiter!  What's the matter with you?"  Sailor Mercury asked worriedly as
she started her own attack.  "MERCURY ICE STORM SPLASH!" froze a great
number of the creatures, but among that horde, it didn't make much
difference.

"I HATE RATS!!!" Sailor Jupiter gritted even as she attacked again.

"You need to calm down, Jupiter!"  Sailor Venus called out.  Her chain was
doing even less damage against the rats than Tuxedo Mask's roses.  His
roses were killing the rats individually, but killing one or two among
hundreds had no impact on the number.

"Yes, control yourself, Sailor Jupiter."  Mars put in as her "CELESTIAL FIRE
SURROUND!" flew out and crisped another couple of dozen.

Sailor Sol didn't bother saying anything except "SOLAR FLARE!" his attack
doing as much damage as Sailor Mars'.

Sailor Sun looked around.  "We don't have time for this!" she yelled.
"SOLAR CORONA WALL!" she called out.  However, she didn't raise her arms
to the side to create the wall, or cross them in front of her for her own
personal wall, instead she raised them above her and clasped them together.
As the others watched in disbelief, a wall of fire surrounded 'them' burning
the rats in their path.  Sailor Sun started to walk forward, carrying the
wall with her. The other Scouts followed promptly, the wall not giving them
much choice as it moved forward, threatening to burn them if they didn't
keep up.

"I didn't know she could do that!" Mars whispered to Sailor Sol.

"At the moment, what she can or cannot do doesn't really seem to matter to
her," he answered.  "She will do what she has to do to get her daughter
back."

Sailor Jupiter looked at the wall as if she was contemplating going through
it to get at the rats, but sighed and caught up with the others.

"What's your problem with the rats, Jupiter?"  Sailor Venus asked quizically.

"I hate rats!" she shuddered.

"You told us that!"  Mars sounded exasperated, "Why do you hate rats?"

"I had a babysitter when I was little who told me that if I was bad, she
would feed me to the rats.  Then she showed me videos of rats eating a baby
cow.  I had nightmares for years.  I still can't stand rats."  The others
shuddered in sympathy.

"How old were you?" Sailor Sun asked quietly.

"Five."  Sailor Jupiter answered.  "So you be careful what kind of
babysitters you get for Reenie when we get her back, okay?"

"Well, I don't think I will have to worry about that for awhile," she
answered.  "Because once we get Reenie back, we're going to take care of
Rubeus once and for all.  And I promised that once that happened we would
go to the future and help her mother."

By this time they were out of the window room, so Sailor Sun dropped the
wall.  They were in a short corridor that led to a sliding door.  Mercury
scanned again.  "It's behind this door," she whispered.

Behind that door Rubeus was gloating as the crystal started the third part
of its function, blocking all nonchanged or implanted memories.  By this
time, the dark energy had entered totally into the little girl and the
black crescent moon on her forehead never even flickered.  That was when
Rubeus was distracted by an explosion at the door.  As he turned he saw the
door blown open and the Scouts enter, crouched and ready for a fight.

"REENIE!"  Most of them yelled as they saw her lying under a crystal
radiating black energy over her.  Tuxedo Mask quickly threw a rose that
hit and destroyed the crystal.

"Did you really think that would do any good?" Rubeus asked contemptously.

"What have you done to her?"  Sailor Sun growled the question.

"Why, I've made her into the perfect NegaMoon warrior."  He turned to the
little girl.  "Well actually that's not true.  She's a little small to be
a perfect warrior.  I think I'll do something about that."  With only that
warning, he turned to the capsule and pressed a button.  A sheet of clear
plastic covered Reenie.

The Scouts jumped to attack.  Tuxedo Mask threw almost a dozen roses at the
capsule cover, but they didn't even scratch it.  Whatever that stuff was,
it wasn't plastic.  The other Scouts attacked Rubeus, trying to give Sailor
Mercury the time she needed to hack into the capsule's computer.

"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" Sailor Mars sent rings of fire racing
towards Rubeus.  He sent his own pink lights towards them, impacting and
destroying them before they even got close.

"VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!" Sailor Venus whipped her chain towards the
NegaMoon lord, only to find him not there when it reached its destination.
He had teleported behind her and sent his attack before she could turn.

Meanwhile in the capsule, lights and energy were swirling around Reenie.  It
took Tuxedo Mask a few seconds to figure out what else was happening.  He
turned to Mercury, who stood next to him.  "She's growing!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Mercury responded, shocked out of her preoccupation with her
computer.  Looking into the capsule, she saw what he meant.  What had
been a five year old girl now looked almost ten and was still getting
older.  Mercury went furiously back to her computer.  "The more she grows,
the more dark energy she can handle.  I've got to stop it."  She worked
silently once more.

"SOLAR FLARE!" Sailor Sol's attack was less than a foot away from Rubeus
when he teleported again.  He showed up behind Sailor Sol and started his
own attack before the boy could turn.  However his move had been
anticipated, and "JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!" hit him in the side.

"I've got the growth stopped," Sailor Mercury muttered.  By that time,
Sailor Sun was there and staring down at her daughter, who was now her own
age.  Mercury looked up at her.  "I'm sorry, I can't clear the dark energy
out of her, it's in too deep."

At that moment, the capsule opened and Reenie got out.  Her hair was still
in the cone shaped buns, instead of ball shaped ones.  Her hair was longer,
reaching all the way down to her knees in two ponytails.  She was dressed in
a long black dress, sort of resembling Serenity's Princess dress.

"Reenie!  Are you okay?"  Sailor Sun asked worriedly.

Reenie looked at the Scout in front of her.  "Who are you?  And who's
Reenie? I am Nega-Princess Serenity," she almost spit that word, reminding
her as it did of her awful parents, "of the NegaMoon."

"Reenie?  What do you mean, 'of the NegaMoon'?"  Sailor Sun and Tuxedo Mask
looked at each other as they realized what had happened.  "She's been
brainwashed." Sailor Sun whispered in despair.  She still remembered when
it had happened to him.  And now her daughter!

The Nega-Princess looked around at the fight going on.  When she saw Rubeus
get hit, her eyes grew hard.  "NEGAMOON ENERGY DESTRUCT!" she called,
sending bolts of black energy flying from her hands into the Scouts
surrounding Rubeus.  They screamed as the energy hit.

"Rubeus, my friend," Nega-Princess Serenity said, "maybe you should leave
for now."  He nodded and disappeared while the Scouts were still staring at
her in shock.  She looked at them, "It seems Sailor Moon isn't here.  I
'will' have the Silver Imperium Crystal." Her voice was implacable.  "You
know where Sailor Moon is, tell her to meet me in the park, tomorrow at
noon.  Or I will destroy Tokyo, one piece at a time."  She teleported out
of the ship and out of range of Mercury's computer.

"What do we do now?" Sailor Jupiter asked into the silence.

"We try to find a way to unbrainwash her," Sailor Sun answered, "When Sailor
Moon meets her tomorrow at noon."

"You can't!" Venus exclaimed.  "The way she is now, she doesn't know you,
she's not going to have any trouble with fighting you."

"I'm not going to fight her," was the calm answer.  "I will not harm my
daughter."

"But she doesn't know you!" Venus argued again.  "What are you going to do,
give her the Crystal?"

"If it's the only thing that works, yes."  Sailor Sun was still speaking
completely calmly and only Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Mercury were close enough
to see the anguish in her eyes.

"Don't be stupid, Meatball Brain!" Mars added her argument, "You can't just
give her the Crystal!  You'll doom the future, and she'll never even have
a chance to be born!" hoping that would cause her to think of the
consequences.

"Let's continue this argument in more comfortable surroundings."  Sailor
Sol put in, he didn't like the way the conversation was going either, but
could feel the implacability in his sister.  He knew she wasn't going to
change her mind, and nothing they could do would make her.

The others reluctantly agreed and they teleported back to Travis's mansion.
Luna, Artemis, Apollo and Luna Ball were waiting anxiously for their
arrival.  Luna Ball headed immediately to Serena once she had detransformed
and she held it desperately.  The others explained everything that had
happened.

"Serena," Luna said sharply, "You're not seriously considering letting this
Nega-Princess have the Crystal, are you?"

"She is not 'this Nega-Princess'!  She is my daughter and I will not have
her hurt!"  Serena was almost shouting.  "If I can use the Crystal to heal
her, then I will!  If I can't, I don't see that I have much choice."

"We can't let you do that, Serena!"  Amy put in, "We can't let you be hurt
to save her!"

"Are you saying you don't want me to be your leader anymore?"  Serena asked,
very, very quietly.

"NO!" Everybody yelled.  They were not going to go through that again.

"But because you are our leader, it's our responsibility to protect you."
Raye put in reasonably, knowing their usual arguments would not work this
time.  "And we believe that doing it the way you're planning, would put you
at an unacceptable risk."  Raye was trying her best to be calm and keep from
shouting.

"I think the best thing we can do," Lita said, "is for you to let us attack
her and get her strength down to a place where the Crystal will work."

"Absolutely Out Of The Question."  Was Serena's instant answer.  "I am not
going to let you fight her either.  I am going to do my best to get her
memory back, but I will not let her be hurt.  In fact, I don't even see why
you need to be there, and I'm sure Amy doesn't want to miss school."

"Serena,"  Travis said sharply.

"I'm sorry, Amy," Serena said contritely, "I didn't mean that.  I'm scared
about what's going to happen tomorrow and I'm taking it out on you guys."

The others breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed she was going to be
reasonable.  Only Travis and Darien knew that she was not going to change
her mind.  Not about this.

"Look, we do this my way, or I'll find a way to make sure none of you are
there and I go alone."  Serena's voice was hard once again.  "I will not
take a chance on her getting hurt.  I know that right now she looks my age
and has all the powers the NegaMoon gave her.  It does not change the fact
that she is actually Reenie.  You know, the little girl with pink hair and
red eyes that came to the past to try to save her mother?  The kid that Amy
took to the ice cream parlor and Raye tried to help make curry with.  You
do remember her, don't you?"

"Of course we remember her, Serena,"  Amy said quietly.  "And we want to
get her back as much as you do.  We just don't believe that your way is the
best way."

"Girls," Darien spoke for the first time, "You are not going to change her
mind, I can tell you that right now.  What we need to do is figure out a
way to protect Serena without hurting Reenie."

"I think we all need to be there and ready to fight."  Travis said to the
others.  He turned to Serena, "No, I don't mean ready to fight Reenie, but
we have to be aware that she might have droids around to help her and those
we can fight."

"All right, you can come" she agreed, "now the question is, how can we all
get out of school without raising suspicions.  And what do we tell my
parents about why Reenie isn't home tonight?"

Luna Ball suddenly floated out of Serena's arms and up to look her in the
face.  It's eyes started to whirl.  She laughed, "So, Luna Ball, you think
you can hypnotize my parents again?  Even without Reenie?"  It bobbed up and
down.  "Well, that's one problem solved."

"I can call in sick,"  Lita said.  "After all there's no one at home to get
a phone call about it."

"I can, as well,"  Amy said, "No one would question it."

"Not a problem, since Granpa never answers the phone."  Raye said, finally
resigned to the fact that Serena was not going to change her mind.

"I'm still on vacation, so it's not a problem."  Darien added.

"Amy, do you think with Luna Ball's help, you can pretend to be my mother?"
Serena asked intently.  Luna Ball just bobbed in place.

Amy nodded slowly.  It was lying, which Amy hated doing, but if it was the
only choice... "I suppose so, what do you want me to say?"

"The truth," Serena answered.  "Tell whoever answered that you are my
mother," she laughed slightly at Amy's expression, "Okay, that part isn't
the truth, but say there is a family emergency and that you have to talk to
me.  When I get on the phone, say that Reenie has disappeared and you need
me and my brother to help search for her.  Mina, you're going to have to
decide your excuse on your own."

"Gee, thanks," was Mina's response.

The next day went as they had planned, Serena and Travis had little trouble
getting out of school to search for her little five year old cousin.
Although convincing Miss Haruna that Travis was needed took a little fancy
verbal footwork.  By a quarter til noon, the six Scouts, Tuxedo Mask and
the four others were waiting in the park.  It was the first time Sailor
Moon had shown up for more than a week, but no one was thinking about that.

The others had been surprised at how well Serena was holding up and taking
control.  Only Luna knew of the hours she spent crying on her bed, worried
about her daughter and herself, afraid the others would get hurt because
of her orders.  And Luna would never tell.

At noon exactly, a flash of light showed the entrance of the Nega-Princess
Serenity.  Sailor Moon stepped forward, "Hello, Small Lady," she said
quietly.

"My name is Nega-Princess Serenity," the pink haired one replied.

"No, little one, your name is Neo-Princess Serenity but you're usually
called either Reenie or Small Lady."  Sailor Moon answered calmly.

"You don't know what you're talking about," the Nega-Princess snapped.  "Now
hand over the Crystal."

"No," was the reply, "Only the pure of heart may use the Crystal.  Let the
dark energy go and I will give it to you."

"You want me to let the dark energy go?  No problem," she laughed, "Here,
I'll give some to you.  NEGAMOON ENERGY DESTRUCT!"  The black energy lanced
toward the unmoving Scout.

"Sailor Moon!" the others screamed as it impacted and threw her backwards.
The Nega-Princess felt a twinge deep inside over what she did, but not
understanding why, paid no attention.  She looked at the Scouts as they
ran forward, Tuxedo Mask in the lead.  "NEGAMOON DARKNESS DEMOLISH!" she
called, sending a large wave towards the Scouts.  They hit the wave with
everything they had and barely managed to stop it from hitting them.

By this time, Sailor Moon was back on her feet and moving towards the pink
haired version of herself.  Before the NegaMoon lackey could react, she
found herself enfolded in Sailor Moon's arms.

"What do you think you're doing?" she yelled, trying to break the grip.  At
first she had thought it was an attack, but the Scout just stood there with
her arms wrapped around her and her head buried in her chest.  Sailor Moon
looked up and tears were rolling down her face.  "Oh, Reenie, why don't you
remember me?  I love you and I want you to come back to me," she sobbed.

The Nega-Princess pushed her away.  "All you are is the enemy."  She said
sharply, not going to admit to anyone that she had actually felt warm and
loved for a minute.  "It's going to come down to a fight between us, and I
don't want them interfering," she said, her eyes going to the Scouts who
looked about to attack.  "NEGAMOON CAGE!"  Lights gathered above the Scouts
and then expanded downwards, imprisoning each in their own individual cage.
Tuxedo Mask had responded instantly to the light above him and tried to dive
out of the way, but the cage was faster and he was caught as surely as the
others.  The guardians were not caught, but could not ignore Sailor Moon's
instructions about not harming Reenie, and didn't see how else they could
help.

"Now it's your turn, Sailor Moon," the Nega-Princess hissed.  "Are you ready
to fight me?"

"No," she said, "I will not fight you, I will however, heal you.  MOON
CRYSTAL HEALING ACTIVATION!" she called, pulling out the crystal and pouring
its energy into her daughter.  "Remember, Reenie!  Remember happiness and
love, rememeber me and Serena, Tuxedo Mask and Darien.  Remember your
parents and your uncle.  Remember love, Reenie.  Remember, and let the
Crystal heal you."

"Love is an illusion.  It's certainly not something I ever got from my
parents." was the only response to the torrent of power and words coming
at her.  Looking at the pleading face of the Scout in front of her, for a
short time, she 'did' want to give in, then she shook off that thought.
"Now fight me!" she snarled.  "NEGAMOON ENERGY DESTRUCT!" The black energy
raced towards Sailor Moon.  Once more she stood there and let it hit her.
The Scouts yelled as she got thrown backwards.  However, the blast was lower
powered than the ones she had been hit with before and she got up quickly.

"Why won't you fight me?"  Nega-Princess Serenity yelled.

"Because I love you and won't hurt you," was the quiet response.

"You're probably just trying to trick me," the pink haired one mused out
loud.

"Is that what you really think?"  Sailor Moon asked.  The Scouts looked on
in horror and disbelief from their cages as Sailor Moon detransformed into
Serena.  The fourteen year old looked helpless and totally defenseless from
where she stood in front of the black dressed girl.  "I cannot attack you
like this," she said.

The Nega-Princess was also in shock from that daring move and barely
realized when the human girl walked forward and hugged her once more.  "I
love you, my daughter," she said, looking into the other's red eyes.  "I
will not hurt you, and I do not believe you will hurt me either.  You are
my daughter and you love me too.  I know you do.  The black crystal may have
changed your mind, but it cannot change your heart.  Listen to your heart,
little one.  Listen to your heart and to me, Small Lady.  Come back to me,
to us.  Please, Reenie.  We love you and we want you back."

"If you really loved me, you would give me the Crystal," was the response.
Although her voice was steady, her mind and heart were not.  For some
reason, she could not force herself to hurt this strange, and yet strangly
familiar, girl.  She couldn't even make herself push the blond away,
instead standing there quietly in her arms.

Serena pulled out her brooch and looked at it.  The sight of the brooch
reminded the other what she was here for and she was able to ignore the
weird feelings being aroused in her.  "Thanks!" she said, taking the brooch
and pushing Serena away.  She had not meant to push her very hard, but the
brooch took up all her attention.  She looked up in disgust when the shouts
of the Scouts became too loud to ignore.  They were yelling "Serena!"  She
looked over to where they were staring, and stared as well.  The blond
haired girl was lying there, completely still.  Her ungentle push had sent
the other girl straight into a tree, knocking her unconcious.

"I didn't mean to do that!" she gasped, running over.  She turned Serena
over and stared in disbelief at the blood pouring from the cut where her
head had hit the tree.  Her heart was filled with remorse over the injury
that she had caused.  She knew the girl was supposed to be the enemy and to
be treated with contempt, but she also felt very bad about the pain she had
caused.  She never noticed the Crystal in her other hand start glowing once
more.  Little by little its healing energy sought out the damage the black
crystal had done, starting with the easiest, the blockage that had not been
completed because of Tuxedo Mask's rose.  Her eyes went wide as memories of
this girl and of love invaded her very being.  She was so busy trying to
sort those out, that she barely noticed the teleportation beam that
transported her, and everything she was carrying, back up to the spaceship.

"Congratulations, Princess," Rubeus said smarmily.  "Not only did you get
the Crystal, but the Neo-Queen as well.  You are to be commended.  Now hand
them over, so we can get to work on them properly."

"'Work on them'?" she asked.  "What are you going to do to her?"

"Why take her to the future of course."  He answered confidently.  "With her
in our hands, Crystal Tokyo will be ours within hours.  All we will have to
do is torture her for a small while, and King Endymion will give in to our
every demand to keep her from getting more pain.  Not that his giving in
will stop us of course.  There are a lot of frustrations we can work out
on her body."

"NO!  I will not let you harm her!" the Nega-Princess almost snarled.  The
healing energy started to work faster as her emotions became clearer.  "She
protected me, now I'll protect her.  How could I have ever listened to you?
How could I actually believe that you would take care of me?  If threatening
King Endymion with her doesn't work, how long would it be until you tried
the same thing with me?"

"Silly girl.  You will not let?  You don't have the power to forbid me
anything.  Everything you have, I gave you.  I can just as easily take it
away."  Rubeus laughed evilly at the thought of the Rabbit trying to fight
him, who was so obviously a wolf.

The Rabbit didn't seem to see it that way.  "I don't really care if you do
or not.  I have the feeling I would be better off without it."

Rubeus turned and looked out of one of his magical windows,  "Is that truly
what you think?" he asked in a musing tone.  Before she could react, he
turned and attacked her.  She screamed as the power went through her.  Her
abrupt weakening was all that the Crystal needed.  She screamed even louder
as the white healing energy battled the dark energy she had been infused
with.  Her crescent moon flashed with the black crescent moon, her size
alternated between fourteen and five and anything inbetween.  After almost
five minutes of this display, the Crystal finally won.  Reenie collapsed
sobbing next to her mother.

"So, you've got all your memories back, huh Rabbit?"  Rubeus laughed, "Your
memories of how you turned on your friends and hurt your mother.  Do you
really think they'll ever forgive you for that?  For hurting their princess?
It's all your fault, you know.  She's lying there almost dead, because of
you.  She'll never be able to love you again.  It would almost be worth
letting the two of you live, knowing that she would never again be able to
love or trust you because you turned on her once and might do it again."

"You're wrong!"  Reenie yelled, neither noticing that Serena's eyes were now
open and tears were dropping down her cheek as she saw her daughter back
the way she should be.  Then she heard Reenie's words.  "She'd understand.
She'd never turn on someone because of something that wasn't their fault.
You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong."  She stomped her foot at each
repetition.

"She's right," Serena said in a weak voice as she sat up slowly.  "I would
never stop loving someone for something like that, especially not Reenie."

"Serena?"  Reenie said in relief and delight, as she threw herself at the
woozy girl.  "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!  I didn't mean to hurt you!  Really I
didn't!"  Reenie started sobbing again as she felt Serena hug her gently.

"I know you didn't, Reenie, I know it wasn't your fault."  Serena said,
looking down into her eyes.  "Are you okay?"

"Uh huh," she nodded, "Are you okay?  You were out for a long time!"
Reenie looked up at the cut on her forehead, "Can you ever forgive me?"
she said in a small voice.

"There's nothing to forgive, little one.  You were brainwashed, there was
nothing you could have done to stop it.  Don't blame yourself.  If anyone
is to blame, it would be me."  Reenie looked up at her in shock.  "I should
have protected you better.  It's my fault you got captured."

"That's silly!  You couldn't have stopped him, it's not your fault!"
Reenie listened to her own words and grinned up at her mother, "It wasn't
your fault and it wasn't my fault, so it must be 'his' fault!" she crowed.

Serena kissed her forehead and held her closer as she rocked the little
girl.  Both of them needed the closeness, needed the physical reminder that
everything was okay.   Reenie looked up when she felt something wet hit the
top of her head.  Serena was crying, sobbing actually and Reenie started to
cry too, when she saw the anguish she had put her through.

"I hate to break up this oh so touching scene, but I think it's time that
we went back to what I want."  Rubues said cuttingly.

Within seconds Serena and Reenie were on their feet.  "You're not touching
her!" they both said at the same time.

"Isn't that cute?  They're trying to protect each other.  Too bad its not
going to do either of you any good."  His laughter was cut short by the
entrance of ten very angry and worried figures.  The worry decreased by a
large amount as they saw Serena and Reenie standing next to each other, but
the anger grew as they saw the cut on Serena's forehead and the tears on
both girls' faces.

"SOLAR FLARE!"  Sailor Sol attacked first, his rage high at the sight of
his sister and niece.

Sailor Mars wasn't far behind, sending "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" to
all sides of Sailor Sol, protecting him from Rubeus teleporting behind him.
Instead, Rubeus teleported behind Sailor Mercury, but Jupiter was ready for
him.  "JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!" just barely missed him as he teleported
away.  By this time, the Scouts had learned to have someone watching all
locations.  He was hit by several roses almost as soon as he appeared.  He
tried to appear behind the two unprotected girls, only to be attacked by
something large, flying and with very sharp talons.

"Way to go, Apollo!"  Luna and Artemis yelled, annoyed at their own
inability to get into the fight.

Reenie glared at Rubeus.  "I wish I could help you beat him.  I hate having
to stay out of the way."

Serena stared at Rubeus, then looked at Reenie.  "Alright," she said
abruptly.  "If it's what you really want you can help me defeat him.  But
be careful, okay?"

"What do you mean?"  Reenie asked, confused.

"You are the Princess of the Moon, aren't you?"  Serena asked smiling.

"Of course I am.  I'm your daughter."  Reenie replied.  "I am still your
daughter, aren't I?" she asked very quietly.  Obviously it wasn't quiet
enough, because Serena heard.

"You will always be my daughter.  Don't blame yourself for what happened,
little one.  It wasn't your fault.  I promise you, it was not your fault."

Reenie reached up towards the cut on Serena's forehead.  "I wish I could
make it go away." she sighed.

"Don't."  When Reenie looked at her in surprise, she continued, "Don't wish
your life away, I did that once.  It was the worst mistake I ever made
because I lost the people I loved the most.  Learn from it and don't let
yourself ever believe that I don't love you.  There is nothing you can do
to make me stop.  Nothing Reenie.  And you want to know a secret?" she asked
smiling.

"What?"  Reenie asked breathlessly.

"I would love you even if you weren't my daughter, just because you are you.
And 'you' are loveable."  Serena smiled down at the little girl who was
looking a lot happier.  "Now back to what I was saying, if you're my
daughter, then you should be able to Duo with me.  If you want to."

"I can become Sailor Moon?  Yes, yes, yes!"  she shouted.

"A real mother-daughter bonding experience, huh?"  Sailor Venus called from
where the Scouts were battling Rubeus.

"If you're going to do something, I wish you'd hurry."  Mars grunted as she
threw herself out of the way of an attack.

"You know what to do, Small Lady?"  Serena asked as she kneeled down
and held her transformation brooch in one hand.

Reenie nodded furiously even as she reached out to touch the brooch.
However, for a moment, her mind was on something else, *She called me Small
Lady again, I guess she really does forgive me.*  "MOON CRYSTAL POWER DUO!"
they called.  Everything stopped as the Scouts and even Rubeus turned to
watch the transformation.  Ribbons and feathers surrounded the two and then
there were two Sailor Moons standing there.  The little girl was wearing a
white shirt and blue skirt just like her mother, she even had the red
stones in her hair.  But her bows and boots were the exact same color pink
as her hair.

Sailor Moon started her speech.  "I am Sailor Moon, Champion of Love and
Justice!  For daring to harm my daughter, I will Punish you!"

The other Sailor Moon's pose exactly mirrored her mother's.  "I am Sailor...
um...uh..." she whispered to her mother, "What should I call myself?"

"I don't know.  How about Little Moon?"

"Sailor Little Moon?  Nah.  I know!" she posed again.  "I am Sailor Crescent
Moon, Champion of Justice!  For daring to try to make me hate my parents, I
will Punish you!"

"Back off everyone, this is a family matter."  Sailor Moon said as she and
Crescent Moon stood in front of Rubeus.

"Do you think I'm afraid of you?"  Rubeus said confidently.

"You should be,"  was Sailor Moon's response.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!" she cried, throwing her tiara at him.  He moved to one
side, sneering.

"CRESCENT MOON TIARA MAGIC!" Crescent Moon called, throwing her own at him.
He stepped to one side of that one, just in time to get caught in the back
by Sailor Moon's returning tiara.  He never even saw the second one that
hit him in the side.

As he cried out in pain, Sailor Moon pulled out her scepter.  "I wanted to
make you pay for every instant of pain you put her through, but I'm not
going to set that bad an example for her."

"CRESCENT MOONBEAM STRIKE!"  Crescent Moon cried.  Her regular moonbeam came
into existance around her and she raised her hand into the power, pulling
it into her fist and sending it towards Rubeus in a bright white stream,
surrounded by little crescent moons.  He screamed as the power hit him, but
not for long.

"MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!"  Sailor Moon called.  Within seconds, everyone
breathed a sigh of relief as the man who had plagued them for months was
turned into moondust.

"YYEEAAHH!!"  Sailor Crescent Moon yelled.  "We beat him.  We beat him." she
calmed down a little.  "Thank you for letting me fight."

"You deserved it, Reenie." she said, "and I'm very proud of how well you
did.  But I don't think your father is very happy."  Tuxedo Mask was bearing
down on them and he certainly did not look happy.

"Sailor Moon, how could you be so irresponsible as to let her fight?  She
might have gotten hurt."

"Don't worry, Daddy.  I'm fine."  Crescent Moon said, jumping into his arms
and hugging him tightly.  "And I really, really needed to do that.  Please
don't be mad at us.  Please?"

"Good job, Crescent Moon," Sailor Sol said from where he was standing
watching.  As Tuxedo Mask turned towards him he continued, "Stop being so
overprotective.  She can't fight on her own, only when one of us Duos with
her and you know very well that we would all die for her.  If a situation
was bad enough that something could get through us to get to her, I, for
one, would rather she had a way to protect herself."

Tuxedo Mask calmed down as he thought of Sailor Sol's words and nodded
reluctant agreement.

Sailor Crescent Moon was thinking of something else.  "You mean I could Duo
with any of you?"  she asked excitedly.

Sailor Sol was about to answer when Sailor Mercury's voice came to them.
"We've got trouble."

"Now what?"  Sailor Moon asked tiredly.  "I really just want to go home and
go to bed."

"Well we might be getting home a lot sooner than expected, but we wouldn't
enjoy it much."  Mercury announced.  "The ship is falling and I can't get
control!"

"Let's teleport."  Sailor Jupiter said immediately.

"I don't think we have time,"  Sailor Mercury said quietly.  Everyone
looked at her in shock.  They looked out the window to see the ocean
rushing towards them.  Tuxedo Mask grabbed Sailor Moon to him and the
three stood together, holding on to one another.  Then another joined them.

Luna Ball had stayed out of the fight, with the cats, and was now
hitting Reenie lightly on the chest.  Crescent Moon looked down to see what
it was doing and caught a glimpse of crystal.  Quickly pulling it out, she
held it up in the air.  "Crystal Time Key!  Take us to the Future!"
------------------------
Okay, now for the thanks.  To Karen and Carolyn who both came up with the
idea of Crescent Moonbeam Strike.  To Jeff, for the idea of the NegaMoon
Cage, although that started out as a Crescent Moon attack.  I know I came
very close to the Black Lady of the real Sailor Moon R, I tried writing
Chapter Ten without it and it wasn't a bad chapter, but I think this one
is better.  If you really want to read my first draft, which is really
nothing like this except for four scenes which stayed practically the same,
write and tell me, and I'll send it to you.

Oh, well, again I thought that was a good place to end it.  If I end it in
a place that makes you want to read more, than I'm doing my job.  Did the
Scouts get to the future?  Or did the Time Key misfire again and they all
hit the water and they died?  Do you even have to ask?  Stand by for Chapter
Eleven  Cracked Crystal.

Jendra@aol.com

Hello, everybody!  I'm back!  Chapter Eleven is here!  Standard disclaimers
should be here!  Thank you, all that write and all that read!  Thank you
more if you wrote!  To Jendra@AOL.com!  Enough already!

Sailor Moon Universal

Chapter Eleven  Cracked Crystal

One moment the Scouts were staring into an ocean rushing ever closer,
the next moment they were standing on a shadowed plain.  Rolling fog
quickly cut the Scouts off from one another until Sailor Moon, Sailor
Crescent Moon, and Tuxedo Mask were standing alone.  Then Crescent Moon
pulled away.

"Come on," she yelled, "Puu will be waiting for me."  Without waiting
she started running into the fog.

"Reenie!  Wait!" Sailor Moon yelled, running after her, and before
Tuxedo Mask could react, she, too, was lost in the fog.

Sailor Moon ran on, calling for Reenie and the other Scouts.  Finally
she stopped, panting from the run.  She saw a light in front of her and
walked slowly towards it, trying to get her breath back.

"Halt!" a slightly familiar voice challenged from an indistinct shape
near the light.  "Who dares to come near the Gateway of Time?"

Sailor Moon stopped and glanced around, hoping some of the other Scouts
were nearby.  Seeing no one to help, she drew herself up and walked
forward warily.  "I am Sailor Moon, Champion of Love and Justice.  In
the name of the Moon, I will Right Wrongs and Triumph over..."

By this time she had gotten close enough to see the other person.  It
was a young woman with long green hair, clad in a Sailor Suit, and
holding a long staff shaped like a giant key.  Sailor Moon stopped her
speech as the new Sailor came closer.  "Are you Sailor Pluto?" she asked
excitedly.

"I am the Guardian of Time, Sailor Pluto.  Why are you here, and how did
you get here?" her voice was still hard and challenging.

"Reenie brought us.  Have you seen her?"  Her question was answered
almost immediately as Crescent Moon came running through the fog with
Luna Ball bouncing behind.

"Puu!" she cried, throwing herself into the older Scout's arms.  She
calmed down and turned to Sailor Moon.  "Puu, this is Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon, this is Sailor Pluto."  She suddenly looked worried.  "I
know you said that I was the only one to use the Crystal Time Key, but
they would have died if I didn't and besides, she's the only one that
can help my mother.  I'm sorry I disobeyed you."  She looked as if she
expected Sailor Pluto to yell at her.

Sailor Pluto kneeled next to her.  "You did the right thing, Small Lady.
You've learned how to use the Key correctly.  I'm very proud of you."
She looked her over closer, "And what is this?  A Sailor Scout?" she
asked teasingly.

"Yep," Reenie said proudly.  "I am Sailor Crescent Moon!  Champion of
Justice.  Do you like it?"

"I do indeed, and I'm sure your mother will be very proud of you, too,"
Pluto replied.

Sailor Moon looked as if she was about to say something when they heard
a noise and turned.  Coming towards them were Sailor Venus and Mars.  In
the flurry of introductions, Sailor Moon forgot what she was going to
say.  Reenie started telling Pluto about everything that happened while
she was in the past as the other Scouts and Tuxedo Mask found their way
to the Gate.

Sailor Moon listened to Crescent Moon's account and a frown found its
way into her eyes.  Tuxedo Mask noticed and leaned towards her.  "What's
wrong, sweetheart?"

"Huh?" she asked, startled.  "Oh, it's nothing."

He didn't believe her, but looking into her eyes, he saw that she didn't
plan on saying anything else.

"Is everyone here?" Sailor Pluto suddenly asked.  As they looked around
and counted heads, she continued, "The Sailor Scouts have a shield
around the Palace.  That means that I cannot open a gate straight into
it.  The closest safe spot to gate to is almost a mile from the palace.
And the entire city is under siege.  You will more than likely have to
fight your way through the city.  Are you sure you wish to do this?"

"How can we get through the shield?" Sailor Venus asked.

"In effect, `you' set it up, so you will have no trouble getting
through.  And since it was set up to protect the Kings, Queen, and
Princess, they should have no trouble either," Pluto answered easily.
"Getting in is not going to be the problem, getting to it is going to be
the problem."

"We'll manage," Sailor Mars said confidently.

"Yeah, nothing can beat us," Sailor Jupiter agreed.

"We're going," Sailor Moon said.

"All right.  I'll be there when you need me," Sailor Pluto said, even as
she turned towards the gate.  After a moment of concentration, the gate
opened wide.  "Go through quickly, I cannot hold it for long."

One by one the Scouts warily step through the gateway, Luna, Artemis,
and Apollo riding their Scouts' shoulders, Crescent Moon stopping to hug
Pluto one more time.  On the other side of the Gate, they stopped and
stared.  It was obvious at once why the city was called Crystal Tokyo.
It looked as if the entire city had been grown as a large crystal
cluster.  A crystal that had been broken.  Many of the structures were
in rubble, or broken in some way. Crescent Moon looked as if she were
going to cry.  This was not the way her city looked.  Then Jupiter
gasped.

As everyone looked at her, she pointed upward.  The sky was covered with
ships.  As they watched, one ship dived toward the city and started
firing, destroying more of the buildings.

Another ship raced towards a spire that rose above the rest of the city.
Crescent Moon pointed to it.  "That's the palace.  That's where my mommy
and daddy live."  The ship got closer and closer to the palace.
Suddenly it seemed to hit an unseen wall and exploded.

"And we've got to get there?" Venus asked in a small voice.  "Through
that?"

"Well, we're not getting there this way," Sailor Mars suddenly said,
"Come on, let's get going."

"Stay together everyone," Sailor Moon said, moving to one side of Sailor
Crescent Moon as they started out.  They stopped when they noticed
Tuxedo Mask wasn't with them.  They turned back to see him still staring
at the Palace.  "What's wrong?" Sailor Moon asked, concerned.

"Those first couple of days, every time I held Reenie, I got a picture
of that place in my mind," he said quietly, still looking up at it.  "I
had wondered what it meant."  He shook his head and moved to catch up to
the others.

They walked quickly through the empty streets, trying to stay under
cover where possible.  Their eyes stayed above them on the ships they
were worried about.  So no one saw the droid before they almost ran into
it.

Of course, even if they had been watching, they might have missed it.
It was made entirely of crystal, or so it seemed.  Sitting quietly, it
blended into the heaps of crystal all around them.  The first hint they
had of its presence was when it threw a large piece of crystal at them.
Tuxedo Mask saw it in time to throw the two Moons out of its way.
Slivers of crystal imbedded in his cape, but all three of them were
unharmed.

Sailor Mercury, with the help of her visor, was the first to spot the
droid.  "Over there!" she pointed and the others were able to make it
out.

Sailor Moon stood up.  "I am Sailor Moon!  Champion of Love and Justice!
For helping to destroy this beau..."  That was as far as she got, before
Sailor Sol tackled her out of the way of another crystal projectile.

"How many times do I have to tell you?  Speeches just give them time to
attack!" he growled as he got up.

Sailor Jupiter wasn't waiting.  "JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!" she called,
throwing her lightning before Mercury could stop her.  Everyone dived to
the ground as it hit the crystal and reflected back towards the Scouts.
"Oh, come on, not again!  Why do all the new droids seem to be
invulnerable to lightning?  I want to pound something!" Jupiter yelled
in disgust.

"Calm down, Jupiter, you're being way too uptight," Venus said, and
tried to hide a grin when, "VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!" broke part of
the droid's crystal arm.

"Yeah, Jupiter, I'm sure we can find a nice easy droid for you to fight.
Maybe if we find one weak enough you can actually do some damage."  Mars
grinned as she spoke, while Jupiter's face just got darker and she
glared at the other Scout.

"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" Mars called out.  Once again everyone
had to dive out of the way of a reflected attack.  "No way!" she said.
Sailor Jupiter and the two Moons burst out laughing at the disbelief on
her face.

"I guess we need to find you a nice weak droid too," Jupiter said while
laughing, "You seem to be having some trouble with the regular ones."

"Girls, girls?  Could we get on with the fight please?  Sailor Moon,
Sailor Crescent Moon, if you would please?" Sailor Sol said with a sigh
as Mars geared up for a major argument.

"Oh, all right," the two said in exactly the same tone of voice.  Tuxedo
Mask pulled out a handful of roses as Sailor Sol pulled out his sword.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!" "CRESCENT MOON TIARA MAGIC!"  The two disks flew
towards the droid, followed by almost a dozen roses and the male Scout
with a sword in his hands.  Within seconds the droid was covered in
cracks and looked about ready to fall apart.

"Jupiter, Mars, do you want to do the honors?" Sailor Sol said with a
grin.

The two Scouts looked at each other and nodded.  They ran at the almost
totally destroyed droid and together kicked him, one to the head, the
other to the chest.  The droid fell into crystal dust.  Jupiter and Mars
looked a lot happier afterwards.

"Nice going, Sol," Tuxedo Mask whispered to him, "We almost had a bad
argument there."

"I was more worried about a cat fight," he whispered back with a grin.
"OOWW!!" he suddenly yelled.  As everyone gathered around him in
concern, he glared down at the black cat nonchalantly cleaning her paws.
"What did you do that for?" he demanded angrily.

"You should pay more attention to who is around when you make comments
like that," Luna replied serenely.  Sailor Moon and Crescent Moon
thought that was hilarious.

Sailor Sol just glared at her before sighing.  "Well, shall we go?" he
asked grumpily.

Everyone agreed.  Most of them even managed to keep their faces
straight.

This time they kept their eyes on the ground as well as the skies, but
managed to reach the force wall without further problems.

The Scouts stood looking at the invisible wall surrounding the palace.
Not that they could `see' the wall, but the wreckage of spaceships made
the wall's location obvious.  They looked at each other, a common
thought going through everyone's mind, *Who's going to risk it first?*

Sailor Crescent Moon grew impatient and started walking forward.  Sailor
Moon ran after her and as the others watched, the two girls stepped
through the barrier as if it wasn't there.  Shrugging at one another,
the other Scouts and Tuxedo Mask followed after easily.

"I guess Pluto was right," Venus said in a hushed voice while staring at
the imposing building they were walking up to.

"Of course she was right," Crescent Moon snapped.

"Be nice, Reenie," Sailor Moon murmured.

"Oh, all right Serena," she grumbled, her eyes searching for something,
or someone.

Then she saw him.  "Daddy!" she yelled running towards a tall man,
dressed as a white and lavender version of Tuxedo Mask, without the mask
or cape and carrying a sword instead of a cane.

"Small Lady!" he cried, sweeping her up into his arms and hugging her as
if he was never going to let her go.  "I've been so worried about you.
You shouldn't have left without telling anyone."  The Scouts stayed back
to give them time alone.  There were tears in everyone's eyes at the
reunion.

"Oh, Daddy, I've missed you so much!" she sobbed.  "I was so scared at
first, and I just wanted to come home and come back to you and Mommy."
The older man just held her and let her babble, seemingly content to
just hold her.

"I thought you'd be mad at me, Daddy," Reenie said looking up at her
father.

"I will be once I get over being happy that you've returned," he
murmured to her as he hugged her again.

Finally, he let her pull away slightly and looked at the uniform she was
wearing.  "I always did like your mother in that," he laughed huskily,
his eyes shining.  Still carrying her, he walked forward.

"Hello, everyone.  Welcome to Crystal Tokyo.  I, as you might have
guessed, am King Endymion."  On closer examination, it was obvious that
he was Darien, the kind blue eyes were exactly the same, but they were
set into an older and more mature face.  Still, he could not have been
older that the late twenties.

"Your Majesty?" Mercury broke in, "How far into the future are we?"

"Well, if I remember correctly, almost a thousand years," King Endymion
replied calmly.

"What?" everybody screeched.  Even Reenie seemed surprised at the
number.

"That's not possible!" Jupiter exclaimed.

"No way!" Venus agreed.

"Your Majesty, are you sure?" Sailor Sol asked.

"I'm positive, Travis, and please, don't call me `Your Majesty'. You've
known me far too long for that."  Endymion turned to the others.  "That
goes for all of you.  Regardless, of how much time has passed or what
has happened, we are you.  Don't be scared of how much we've changed,
it's just time catching up with us."

"So you know what's going to happen?" Sailor Moon asked, relieved.  She
had been worried that no one knew what was going on, but since they had
already lived it, it would be okay.

"No, I'm afraid not," Endymion said sadly.  "We're not allowed to know
much about the future and something blocks us from knowing.  Pluto says
that she's not doing it, but I'm sure she knows what is.  I don't know
about the others, but all I remember about what happened in your time
period is what has no relation to the future or has already happened to
you.  I know nothing about what is going to happen here and now until it
does.  It's almost like you, Darien, are making my memories as you go.
Look, we can finish this inside, but if you would do me a favor?  If the
people thought the barrier was down they would start to panic, and since
the Scouts are powering the shield... can you?"

"Not a prob," Venus said, detransforming.

The others quickly followed, even Crescent Moon changing back into
Reenie.

"I hope you're going to explain everything eventually," Serena said
plaintively.

"I will, I promise.  Just as soon as we get somewhere private," Endymion
agreed, leading them inside.

If the outside of the palace was impressive, the inside was stunning.
Marble tiled floor, covered in the middle with a red runner of carpet,
was flanked by columns reminiscent of ancient Greece, or the Kingdom of
the Moon.  A mosaic covered the left wall of the room, but the Scouts
couldn't get more than a glimpse of it.  Reenie was chattering away in
her fathers arms as he led them through doorways and up stairs.  Serena
was not the only one panting when they finally stopped.

This room was more informal, although no less impressive than the others
they had passed through.  It was also occupied.  This was no surprise,
since they had passed many people on their way to this room.  The
surprise was that they recognized four of the five occupants.

One of them was a young man in his early twenties, dressed in a white
and gold version of Endymion's clothes but with two swords.  Even with
the age difference, he was obviously Tranquillity.  Travis walked right
up to him and looked him over narrowly, before he grinned and turned
back to the others.  "I grew up well, don't you think?"

Everyone laughed and one of the others spoke up.  "Thank you," he said
in his deep voice, "I consider that a compliment to me, since I
practically raised you."

"Apollo!" Travis and Tranquillity said in the exact same tone of voice.
A tone of voice Serena and Mina recognized, having used it many times on
the cats on their shoulders and the white and black cats curled up in
one of the white chairs.

Reenie wiggled down from her father's arms and picked up the third cat.
A kitten really, she was small, smoke gray, and had a small crescent
moon on her forehead.  "Diana," she chirped.

"Reenie, I've missed you," Diana purred, nuzzling Reenie on the cheek
and neck.  Reenie giggled.

"I've missed you too, Diana," the little girl said fondly.

Artemis and Luna sat up on their charges shoulders, their heads going
from left to right as they stared at the kitten, then its parents and
then each other.  Artemis slowly blushed, his white fur turning pink.
Luna's black fur hiding the fact that she was blushing furiously as
well.  The other black and white cats smiled in sympathy.  After all,
they knew how they felt.

"And what about me?" Tranquillity asked with a lifted eyebrow.

"I've missed you too, Uncle Tranq," Reenie said, giving him a hug.

"We were worried about you, little one," he whispered as he hugged her.
"Please don't scare us like that again, okay?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry everyone," she whispered back with
downcast eyes.

"Please sit down everyone, and we'll try to explain what's going on,"
Endymion asked, although it sounded more like a command.  Everyone found
a seat, Reenie clambering back up into Endymion's lap.  Mina picked up
Artemis and handed Luna to Serena as she took their seat.  The two
Lunas and Artemis's looked at each other as they settled next to each
other in the girls' laps.

"I can't tell you everything, of course, or even most things.  Sailor
Pluto was very strict about how much of your future you're allowed to
know.  I can't tell you why it's been a thousand years or how Crystal
Tokyo came to be.  It also doesn't really matter when it comes to what
has happened."

"I have one question first," Serena said, petting the two Lunas
absentmindedly.  "Where is Serenity?  Shouldn't she be here, or is she
helping the Scouts with the shield?"

As she watched, Endymion's face darkened with pain, but all he said was,
"All in good time."  He drew in a deep breath.  "It all started about
six months ago.  Up until then we had been a relatively peaceful city,
protected by the Scouts and our own magic.  Perhaps we became a little
overconfident of our ability to protect ourselves.  When the people of
the NegaMoon attacked, we had no warning and no chance to prepare.  The
Ou..." he stopped for a moment, and gathering his thoughts.  "The Scouts
and Royal Guard fought as hard as they could, and we were holding them
off, even, occasionally, winning.  When King Tranquillity brought his
own kingdom's troops and came to our aid, we thought that we had won.
After all, nothing could withstand the combined might of our kingdoms."
He stopped, looking into the past.

Reenie looked as if she was doing the same thing.  Even at her young
age, she could remember how worried her parents had been and then the
cheers when Uncle Tranq came.  She also remembered what happened next
and almost cringed as she waited for her father to continue.

Most of the others looked tense as well.  Although they didn't know what
had happened, they knew it must be bad if Reenie, who was so obviously
loved, was sent into the past alone.  Travis and Darien were tense for
another reason as well, sitting almost side by side with themselves was
a very unnerving experience, although Luna, Artemis, and Apollo didn't
seem to be having any trouble, the cats curled up next to each other as
they were.  Serena and Mina also didn't seem to feel anything was wrong
as they automatically petted the cats in their laps without paying
attention to which was which.

"Then one day, the Silver Moon Crystal disappeared," Endymion began
suddenly.  He looked up at their gasps of disbelief.  "We have no idea
how anyone managed to get in to steal it, or even how they could steal
it, because it usually defends itself.  It just disappeared.  With it
went a lot of our defense, and the heart of our troops. Although the
Earth Gem and Sun Stone could pick up a lot of the slack, they couldn't
do everything.  That was when we decided to send someone back into the
past to try to borrow the Crystal."

"But why Reenie?" Serena broke in.  "I mean if she hadn't found us, she
would have been in even worse danger than she was."

"It was `not' supposed to be Reenie," Endymion said quietly.  "Serenity
had decided to go, being the one most likely to be able to talk you into
lending her your Crystal for a while." His tone of voice suggested that
he had not been too happy with the idea, and a quick glance at
Tranquillity showed that he hadn't liked it either.

"So, what happened?" Mina said impatiently.

"It was the day before she had planned to leave.  She stood outside on
the balcony of our room," Endymion took a deep breath, "I heard a scream
and ran outside, and she was... she was..."

"She's not dead, is she?" Darien asked intently, his arm around Serena
as if to keep her from the fate of her future self.

"No," Tranquillity said, "Not dead.  She is enchanted, locked within a
crystal that we cannot break.  Mercury says that she is alive, but
nothing we can do can break her out of the prison she is in."

Serena shuddered and huddled next to Darien as he hugged her even
tighter.  Travis got up from where he was sitting and moved to the floor
by her feet, placing his head on her knee.  It was as if the two had a
sudden urge to reassure themselves that Serena was alive and well.

"The next day we found out that Reenie was gone.  We panicked, sure that
the NegaMoon had managed to capture her, until Pluto explained that she
had taken her mother's Time Key and taken over the quest to get the
Crystal.  Suffice to say, we were `very' annoyed with Pluto for letting
her go.  Pluto just said it was necessary."  He turned Reenie around in
his lap.  "Now, Small Lady," he said severely, "Why, exactly, did you go
to the past?"

"Mommy told me to," Reenie answered immediately.  At her father's and
uncle's disbelieving look, she continued, "She came to me that night,
and it `wasn't' a dream," she said to the question that was going to be
asked. "She was there!  She told me only I could get the Crystal and
only the Crystal could free her and she gave me the Time Key and told me
how to use it.  So I did, and Puu told me to go live with the girl who I
first met, and everything would work out.  And if I was ever lonely, I
could still use Luna Ball to talk to her," Reenie said all of that in a
rush, explaining quite a bit to everyone.

"So that's why her voice sounded familiar," Serena muttered to herself
before shaking herself back to attention.

"Well," Travis said, "If the Crystal is the only thing that can save
her, then why don't we go see if it will?"  He stood up and held out a
wrist for Apollo, Tranquillity was just a step behind in doing exactly
the same thing.  Amy picked up one of the Lunas on Serena's lap and Lita
picked up one of the Artemis's.  In a matter of seconds everyone except
Endymion were on their feet.  He just sat there.

Darien spoke up, "It might not work, but we have a chance.  Let us try."

Endymion nodded slowly.  He knew that Darien understood why he was
hesitant.  As long as they didn't know what would happen, he had hope,
but if they tried and failed, there was nothing else that could be done.
He got up and took Reenie's hand.  He led them through another door into
a room that seemed designed as a backdrop for the large crystal floating
in the middle.

"Mommy!" Reenie cried out softly running up and placing her hand on the
crystal.  "Mommy, I brought Sailor Moon.  She can free you, I know she
can.  I did just like you said and I brought the Crystal and now
everything will be alright."  She laid her head against the crystal
prison and tears ran down her face onto the crystal.  "You'll be okay,
Mommy, I promise."

Serena and the Scouts walked up and stared at the beautiful woman
suspended in the middle of the crystal.  Serena gasped as she stared at
her future form.  Even more than Travis, she had matured.  The crescent
moon glowed on her forehead, above her closed eyes.  She was tall and...
regal was the only description Serena could think of.  Her face showed a
wisdom and maturity never seen on Serena's own.  Still, she looked
familiar, a combination of herself and her first mother, Queen Serenity.
Her gown was pure white and silver, with no sleeves and... were those
wings?  Or just a very large bow?  It was impossible to tell through the
crystal.  A silver and pearl tiara sat perched on the top of her hair.

As Serena stared at her counterpart, the others noticed something
unusual.  Serenity's crescent moon was glowing more brightly, matched by
the crescent moon that had appeared on Serena's brow.  Serena seemed to
have forgotten everything and everyone else as she looked at Neo-Queen
Serenity.  Her hand went up to her brooch and opened it.  Everyone
gasped as they noticed the Moon Crystal glowing as brightly as the two
moon symbols.  The Crystal floated into Serena's hand without any
prompting on her part.  Reenie stepped back as she saw Serena's body
begin to glow.  The two crescent moons and the Moon Crystal pulsated and
light flared.

As Reenie and Travis watched in disbelief, the others looked on in
wonder.  They knew what was about to happen and would never get tired of
watching it.  Serena's eyes went totally blue.  Her school uniform
changed into a blazingly white gown with gold accents.  Her hair grew
longer and was held back by pearl barrettes.  Within seconds, Princess
Serenity looked at Neo-Queen Serenity.  The Moon Crystal floated before
her and she turned her attention to it, pouring power through it and
into the crystal surrounding her future form.  A beam of light came from
her moon symbol, matched by one coming from the Neo-Queen's and centered
on the Silver Moon Crystal.  The light got brighter and brighter.

CRACK! echoed through the room.  A ringing followed, growing louder and
louder and followed by an even louder CRASH!  Everyone had instinctively
ducked and now looked up and took their hands off of their ears.  The
crystal that had surrounded Neo-Queen Serenity was in pieces on the
floor and she was kneeling among them, holding a crying Reenie.  Serena
had reverted back and collapsed where she had stood.  Darien and
Endymion ran forward and swept their respective loves up into their
arms.

Reenie was just sobbing, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" over and over.  Darien
pulled out a handkerchief, and used it to gently wipe the tears that
were running down Serena's face at the sight of the reunion in front of
her.  Travis' handkerchief was already being used by the other girls.
One Luna had run up to join the happy family and was acting like a
kitten as she tried to nuzzle under Serenity's arm. The other Luna was
busy asking Serena if she was alright.

Serenity was trying to reassure everyone at once.  Still holding her
daughter in a hug with one arm, the other hand was petting a worried
Luna and she was gently kissing her husband.  For a long moment the
reunited family seemed to forget anyone else was there.

"Oh, Mommy, I was so worried, but I did just what you and Puu said, and
it worked and you're okay."  Reenie was babbling, but it didn't seem to
matter.

"Yes, sweetheart," Serenity answered gently, "You did just right.  I am
so proud of you, my darling daughter, so very proud.  I know how brave
you were to go into the past without knowing anyone.  No one could have
a better daughter.  I love you so much, Small Lady."

"I love you too, Mommy, and I've missed you so much."  Reenie was still
crying, but the tears had gentled as her mother's warm voice and arms
helped convince her it was real.

Travis tapped Darien and Serena on the shoulder and pointed towards the
door when they looked up.  They nodded and rose silently to their feet,
Serena leaning heavily on Darien as they tiptoed out of the chamber and
left the family alone.

"That was so sweet," Mina sighed, hugging Artemis until he almost
suffocated.

"This seems to be the day for tearful reunions, doesn't it?" Raye had
meant to say it sarcastically, but it didn't come out that way.  Her
voice was gentle with remembrance.

Serena was almost asleep next to Darien, but tears were still falling
down her cheeks.  Amy hurried over to check on her when she saw her
condition.  "Serena!  Are you all right?"

"She's fine," a gentle voice spoke from behind them.  They turned to see
Neo-Queen Serenity and family standing there.  "She's just tired,
breaking my prison took a lot out of her."

Everyone except Serena and Darien got up and bowed or curtsied.  Even
the cats and Apollo.  The only reason Darien didn't was because Serena
was using him as a pillow, and he didn't want to bother her.  "Don't, my
friends," Serenity said quickly.  "You never need to bow to me.  I was
your friend long before I became Queen."

Amy turned back to Serena.  "I didn't think that just breaking the
prison would take this much out of her," she said worriedly.  "I mean, I
knew it would be difficult, or it wouldn't need the Crystal, but to put
her this out of it?"

"You're right, Amy, it is not just the breaking of my prison that has
weakened her, but the breaking of the Crystal," Serenity said calmly.

The response to that statement was not at all calm.  "WHAT!?" came from
everyone in tones of disbelief, anguish and worry.

Serena spoke up, barely awake, "It's not as bad as she made it sound,"
she said softly, "The Moon Crystal wasn't truly broken, it was only
split in two.  She needs the Crystal to do her work, as I need it to do
mine.  And I suddenly felt that whatever happened to her original, we
would not be getting it back.  So I split the Moon Crystal.  It will be
alright, it just took a lot out of me."

"YOU SPLIT THE MOON CRYSTAL?" was the response.  Serena and Serenity
were treating it as if it was a perfectly natural occurrence, but no one
else felt that way.

"How could you do such a thing?" Lita asked.  Her only answer was
silence.  She looked over to see that Serena had finally given in to
exhaustion and was fast asleep against Darien.

Tranquillity stepped forward, "Look, how about if we let her sleep it
off in the bedroom we already have prepared for her, and then I'll show
the rest of you around."  Unspoken but understood, was the idea that
Serenity, Endymion, and Reenie really needed to be alone together right
now.

"Um, Tranq," Endymion began.

"Don't worry, big brother, I know what I am and am not allowed to show
them."  Tranquillity waited until Darien had picked up Serena and then
led the group from the room.  For the rest of the day, Serena slept
deeply, the visitors from the past had a fairly comprehensive tour of
the palace and the Royal Family stayed closed up together.

Later that night, while the others were being entertained royally,
Serena woke up.  She looked around for a long moment, disoriented by
waking up in a strange room, one she had never seen before.  When her
memory finally came up with a place that fit the description, she sighed
in relief and got up.  She suddenly realized she was very, very hungry,
her stomach's almost constant grumbling being her first clue.  She left
her room, looking for a kitchen.  Her wandering eventually took her into
a room where Serenity, Endymion, and Reenie were curled up together on
the couch.

"Hi, Serena!" Reenie called out when she saw her.

Serena blushed as she realized she had interrupted them.  "I'm sorry, I
was looking for the kitchen."

"That is all right, Serena," Serenity smiled.  "Reenie was just about to
go to bed, then I'll show you where the food is."

Reenie jumped up and hugged Serenity and Endymion.  "Good night, Mommy.
Good night, Daddy.  Night Serena.  Come on, Diana, Luna Ball, let's go."

Endymion got up and went with her to tuck her in.  Serenity was watching
Serena and saw the flash of pain in her eyes.  "Serena, what's wrong?"
she asked as soon as they were alone.

"Nothing's wrong, Your Majesty," Serena answered, dropping her eyes.

Serenity moved forward and put her hand under Serena's chin, forcing her
head up so she could look her in the eyes.  They both got lost for a
moment in the similarities, before Serena turned away.

"Serena," Serenity said firmly, "you do not think you can fool me, do
you?"

"I told you, nothing is wrong," Serena answered stubbornly.

"And I do not believe you.  I know you far too well, my self.  But I
will drop it if you wish, for now."  Serenity drew her over to the couch
and they sat down together.  "I think you need to talk to someone who
understands, right now."

"Understands what?" Serena asked, honestly confused at the jump the
conversation had taken.

"You," was the calm answer.

"Oh, so you understand everything about you now?" Serena asked
teasingly.

"No," she answered easily, "But I do understand quite a bit about
`you'."

"Same thing."

"A thousand years can make quite a difference," Serenity answered
laughing slightly.

"Well, maybe a little difference," Serena agreed grinning.  "So, you
know everything about me, huh?  Okay, why am I an airhead?"

"That is easy," Serenity answered, "Number one, you are lazy and being
an airhead means no one expects much of you.  Number two, it is fun.
Why do you not tell me number three?"

Endymion came back into the room then, "What are you two talking about?"

"Why I'm an airhead," Serena answered lightly, "We've decided two
reasons are because I'm lazy and it's fun.  The third reason is Sammy."

"Sammy?" Endymion asked, surprised.  "What do you mean Sammy?  I thought
maybe it was Travis, you know, half your brain was missing until he came
back.  After all you seemed to lose a lot of the airheadedness after he
came."  Endymion ducked as pillows flew at him from across the room.
When he looked up, Serena and Serenity had the same look of gleeful
innocence on their faces.  "I surrender!" he laughed, "But I do want to
know what you mean."

"Actually, I don't know," Serena said, her grin fading.  She turned to
Serenity, "Do you know why I said that?"

"It is a lot closer to your time than mine," Serenity laughed, "Do you
remember what you were like when you were three or four?"

Serena thought for a long moment, "Not really," she answered.  "My
parents tell me I was always pretending to be a... " her voice trailed
off and she looked up.  "Princess, or superhero.  I always told them
that that was what I was going to be when I grew up, and I did
everything I could to try to live up to what I thought I was.  Then
Sammy came, and I changed, drastically."

"Do you remember why?" Serenity said softly.

"Yes," she said, just as softly.  "My parents had just brought Sammy
home, and he was so little, and helpless.  I had to protect him, I was
going to be the greatest superhero in the world, so nothing would ever
threaten my little brother."

"So what happened?" Endymion asked intently.

"I saw a movie on television, about this superhero who's family was
killed to get at him.  I shouldn't have even been up, but I had
convinced the sitter that it wouldn't hurt.  I asked her how they knew
who he was, and she said that he always acted like a hero.  It was easy
to figure out who he was because no one else acted that way."  Serena's
voice trailed off, caught up in the memories.  "I decided then and there
that no one would ever figure out who I was.  I would not act like a
superhero, until I was one."  She looked up and laughed a little wildly.
"I actually practiced being clumsy and forgetful.  Can you believe I
actually `practiced' being forgetful?"

"Until it stopped being practice, and became habit.  A habit you
couldn't break," Serenity replied.

"Then Travis came along, and more than anyone or anything else, reminded
me of who I had been and who I could be.  And for him, I could do it.  I
could break the habits I had spent ten years making."  Serena smiled a
little at the thought of her twin.

"Why for him?  Why not for me?" Endymion broke in.  He was just the
slightest bit jealous of his blood brother at the moment.

Serena and Serenity just looked at each other for a long moment before
turning back to him.  "You are not going to like it," Serenity warned.

"I'm a grown man, I think I can take it," Endymion answered.

Serena spoke up, "I never felt like you expected it," was all she said.

"What do you mean?" Endymion was confused.

"I would have done anything you asked of me, because I loved you so
much, but you never asked.  I always got the idea that you didn't expect
anything more from me.  Almost as if..."  Serena's voice trailed off
again, but Serenity didn't have that problem.

"As if you truly believed that I was doing the best I could.  It is true
that in a fight you would encourage me and believe in me, but I never
had that feeling in anything else.  Sometimes, I had to wonder if you
thought I was dumb.  I still loved you in spite of it, but sometimes..."

"Sometimes it drove me crazy.  I think for a while, I was actually
trying to live down to your expectations."  Serena and Serenity had
gotten a rhythm going and were trading the conversation back and forth.
"Travis always believed in me, but of course..."

"Of course, he never really had the time to see the me that everyone
else saw.  I was too busy crying about you leaving.  He never had any
preconceived notions of who I was, so he made his own decisions.  You
seemed to take me at face value."  Serenity sighed, "Oh, well, you got
better.  And at least you never took me for granted, I would have really
hated that."

Endymion shook his head in disbelief, "I never thought of you that way!"

"I know you didn't, and I know Darien doesn't, but that is sure how it
seemed," Serena answered.

Endymion seemed to be thinking deeply, then he got up and kissed
Serenity, "I have something to do.  I'm sorry I forgot about it, I'll be
back in a while."

Serena and Serenity burst into giggles as he left.  "I have the feeling
Darien's not going to make that mistake again," Serenity giggled gently.

Reenie giggled slightly as well.  She had gotten up to get a drink of
water when she heard the three of them talking.  She hadn't truly meant
to eavesdrop, but couldn't help herself.  She was glad her mother was
laughing again.  Reenie didn't think she'd ever heard her mother giggle
like that before.

Although Travis and Darien had seemed tense when confronted with their
older selves, Serena and Serenity seemed to enjoy it immensely.  Reenie
was happy just to watch them, never having seen her mother acting
totally happy and carefree.  After a while they settled down.

"Are you ready to tell me what's wrong?" Serenity suddenly asked gently.

Serena froze and seemed about to deny that anything was wrong.  Then she
looked up at Serenity and her eyes were full of pain.  "I'm just being
silly.  And selfish," she almost muttered.

"You are hurting, Serena, and I wish to know why," Serenity said still
quietly, but there was a tone in her voice that said she would not be
put off.

Serena jerked to her feet and walked over to the window.  "I told you, I
was just being silly.  For some strange reason, I thought she would
still love me."

"Reenie?" Serenity asked.  Reenie gasped, what did Serena mean?

"I was just being stupid.  I should have known that once she had her
real mother back, she wouldn't need a substitute one anymore."  Serena
turned around and ran out of the room, her eyes clouded with tears.

Reenie stepped into the room.  Her eyes were also filled with tears.
"Mommy, what did I do?" she cried.

Serenity opened her arms to her daughter.  Reenie ran into them.  "It
was not anything you did, so much as what you did not do."  She spoke
quietly, "You have been living with her for months, loving her for
weeks, but you did not even think about giving her a hug good-night, did
you?"

Reenie slowly shook her head.  She realized her mother was right, she
had been almost ignoring Serena and Darien since she had been reunited
with her parents.  "But that doesn't mean I don't love her!" she said
petulantly.

"I know, and she knows that too.  She knows how much we mean to you, so
there must have been something else.  Can you think of anything?"
Serenity soothed.

Reenie thought back to everything that had happened after the fight with
Rubeus.  Her eyes slowly got wider.  "When I was telling Puu and Daddy
everything that happened, I never called her my mommy.  I barely even
talked about Serena, but that was cause I thought they knew!  Not cause
I didn't still think of her that way.  But it could have looked like I
didn't care for her anymore, I guess.  But I do!  So, what do I do,
Mommy?" she babbled.

"She is just overwrought, after almost losing you to Rubeus, she feels
she is losing you to us.  She will be fine."

"What does over... over... that word mean?" Reenie interupted.

"It means that she's upset, Reenie, and she's scared."

Reenie looked up at her mother in disbelief.  "Scared?  That I don't love
her anymore?"

"Yes, Reenie.  I know you say you still love her, but I do not think you
are being entirely truthful," as Reenie looked up in shock, "with yourself,
about your reasons for not speaking about her.  There is another reason
you have been almost ignoring her, is there not?"  Serenity kept her arms
around her daughter, as Reenie thought about what she said.

Reenie slowly nodded.  "I still feel bad," she said in a small voice.
"I hurt her!  She's still got the bruise.  I was afraid that she didn't
really mean it and that she didn't really want to be my mother anymore.
I know she said she did, but what if she was only trying to be nice? I
didn't want to... to..."  Reenie couldn't go on, but once more Serenity
was able to finish the thought.

"You didn't want to make her feel obligated, by reminding her that she
was your mother, if she wanted to forget it?" Serenity said very
comfortingly.

"Huh?  I don't understand, Mommy."  Reenie was confused by all the big
words her mother was using.

"I'm sorry darling, I meant that you didn't want her to think she 'had'
to forgive you just because she was your mother."

Reenie nodded slowly.  "I didn't mean to hurt her more.  She had already
been hurt by everybody else.  And I ended up hurting her more!  I can't
do anything right," she sobbed.

"Now, Reenie, don't think like that.  You can fix it.  What can you do
to make her feel loved?" Serenity asked.

Reenie huddled in her mother's arms for a long moment.  Then she shot
up.  "I know!" she cried and ran out of the room.  She ran down the hall
to the room where Serena was supposed to sleep.  She drew in a deep
breath and opened the door.  "Mommy, I had a bad dream, can I sleep with
you?"

"Your mother's not here, Reenie," Serena said almost harshly.

"Don't be silly.  You're my mommy, too," Reenie answered, climbing up on
the bed.

"Reenie, I know you don't really want me to be your mommy, now that you
have your real one back.  You don't have to pretend anymore," Serena
said, still facing away from the little girl.

"I'm not pretending.  Are you saying it's true for you but not for me?"
Reenie almost whined.

"What's true?" Serena answered, finally turning over.

"You told your parents that you would always be their daughter, and
nothing could ever change that.  Well, I will always be your daughter,
and nothing will ever change that, either."  Reenie sounded very sure.
"I didn't mean to hurt you, but I was afraid."

"Afraid of what, little one?" Serena asked softly, reaching out slowly.

Reenie cuddled under Serena's hand.  "I was afraid you hadn't forgiven
me for this," she said reaching up to the bruise on Serena's forehead.
"I thought maybe you didn't want to be my mother anymore, and were only
saying you did to be nice.  I'm sorry if I made you think I didn't love
you anymore.  I'm so sorry."

"Reenie, you apologized for this," she touched her forehead, "earlier,
and I told you it wasn't your fault.  I meant it.  You see, it works
both ways.  You will always be my daughter, and I will always be your
mother.  The only way you can stop me, is by telling me that you don't
want me to be your mother or that you no longer wish to be my daughter.
I thought that was what you were doing.  I'm sorry for taking it the
wrong way."

"I'm sorry..." Reenie started before Serena interrupted her.

"No more, I'm sorry's, okay?  We both took things the wrong way and
we've both apologized.  Now let's get to sleep."

"I have one more thing to be sorry for," Reenie whispered, "the Crystal
disappearing was my fault."

"What?" Serena bolted up in bed and Reenie almost cringed, relaxing when
Serena's arms went around her.  "What do you mean, Reenie?"

"I just wanted to grow a little," Reenie said, still whispering, "I
wanted to be a lady, like my mother and I thought the Crystal could help
me grow.  But when I touched it, it turned into light and disappeared."
Two tears showed in Reenie's eyes.  "You see, it was all my fault, I had
to make everything right.  That's one reason I went into the past."

"Oh, Reenie, everything will be alright, you'll see."  The two girls had
just started to fall asleep when they were awoken.

"THE SHIELD IS DOWN!  THE SHIELD IS DOWN!  THE PALACE IS UNDER ATTACK!
ALL ROYAL GUARDS TO YOUR POSTS!"

-------------------------------------
Okay, this one is done!  Yes!  Chapter Twelve is The Prophecy Fufilled and
should be the Grand Finale in the series.  Whether I'll get everything in,
is still to be seen.  Tell me what you thought at Jendra@AOL.com

Jendra@aol.com

    --------------------------------------------------------------------
Why are you reading this?  This is the Conclusion!  Get to the story!

Sailor Moon Universal

Chapter Twelve  The Prophecy Fulfilled

"THE SHIELD IS DOWN!  THE SHIELD IS DOWN!  THE PALACE IS UNDER ATTACK!
ALL ROYAL GUARDS TO YOUR POSTS!"

Serena and Reenie were jolted awake and stared at each other in
disbelief.  The blaring of the sirens soon turned that disbelief into
horror as they got up.

Without saying anything or bothering to get changed, they ran out of the
room into a scene of utter confusion.  Guards were running down the
halls to try to get to their posts while terrified civilians seemed to
be trying to find a place to hide.  They had been so sure that the
shield would protect them that its sudden disappearance threw them into
a panic.  Several of the guardsmen and women seemed to wish to join the
panic, but most of them were keeping calm and going about their duties
as best as possible.

Serena was trying to decide what she should do when King Tranquillity
pushed his way towards her.  He swept Reenie up into his arms.  "Come
on, follow me!  We need to get to the Shield Room!" he shouted as he
almost ran through the sea of humanity.  Serena followed on his heels.

When they reached the Shield Room, they saw Amy, Raye, Mina, and Lita
helping their elder counterparts to sit up.  From the quick glance
Serena took before going up to Serenity, she noticed that the Scouts
seemed older and more mature than her friends and, in addition, there
were slight differences in their uniforms.

Serenity was staring into a monitor showing the outside of the Palace.
Serena gasped as she saw the number of droids and warriors gathering
outside the doors.  "How bad is it?" she asked tautly.

"It could be worse," Serenity answered soothingly.

"Don't patronize me," Serena said harshly.

Serenity shot her a surprised glance.  Then she smiled, "I am not, it
`could' be worse.  For instance, `he' could appear," she said turning
back to the monitor which now showed a man (possibly) dressed in a dark
purple robe, and holding a globe in his hands.  He seemed to be floating
in midair above the droids assembled before the Palace.

"Who's he?" Serena asked, not exactly sure she wanted to know.

"He is the Wiseman, the leader of the NegaMoon forces.  He is very
strong, and uses illusion and brainwashing to increase the size of his
army and his power."

"So, many of those droids are probably an illusion?" Travis asked,
having listened intently.

"No, they are probably real.  It is just that many of the humans are
citizens of Crystal Tokyo that he has taken and brainwashed."

"Which means we have to heal them, instead of destroying them, right?"
Serena asked, although it was not truly a question.  The Scouts had
never killed a human, and she had no intention of starting now.  Rubeus
did `not' count.

"It will not be that easy," Serenity answered.  "He was the one that
created the crystal that turned Reenie against us, but if he had been
there in truth, it is doubtful whether she could have been healed at
all, much less that easily."

"Easily?" Serena remembered the problems she had had healing Reenie, and
Serenity thought that was easy?

Reenie had been listening and gasped.  "He.. He could turn me against
you again?  I don't want to turn against you again!  Don't let him get
me! Please, Mommy!"

Neither of the two had realized that Reenie had been listening, but
their response was extremely similar.  They both dropped to their knees
next to the little girl and gathered her into a hug, gathering each
other in as well.

"Don't worry, little one, we are not going to let him come anywhere near
you," Serenity murmured.

"Yes, Small Lady, he would have to get through all of us, and there's no
way we're going to let him do that," Serena agreed.

Reenie sighed and felt a lot better.  She knew that both of her mothers
meant exactly what they said and she gave them both a hug, which was
returned two-fold, before they got up to look at the monitor again.

"At least this time, we have two Crystals," Serena remarked.

Endymion came over, "Everyone's fine, they just got overwhelmed," he
reported.

"So they will be able to fight if necessary?" Serenity asked pointing at
the monitors.

He looked at the monitors expressionlessly for a long moment. "Yes, I'll
tell them."  Serena and Serenity followed him to where the others were
gathered.  He started briefing everyone.  "The bad news is that we have
several hundred enemies gathered outside our doors and the guards will
not be able to hold them back for long.  The good news is that we have
twice as many Scouts as they are expecting.  That is, if the younger
Scouts are joining us?" he asked.

"Are you kidding?" Mina asked, "Of course we're joining you!"

"We can't let evil win," Raye agreed.

"Come on, let's go kick some droids," was Lita's answer.

"Since we're here, it's only logical that we help," Amy replied
seriously.

"Besides the fact that it should be loads of fun," Travis said, poking
Amy in the side.  "Lighten up."  *Oh, great, now I'm sounding like an
airhead again.*

"We're helping," Serena put the final approval on the idea, "Everyone
transform."

"MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"
"MARS STAR POWER!"
"VENUS STAR POWER!"
"MERCURY STAR POWER!"
"JUPITER STAR POWER!"
"SUN STONE POWER!"

Within seconds, six new Scouts and Tuxedo Mask stood in the room.  The
Scouts were trying to compare their uniforms with the older ones
uniforms.  The elder Venus spoke up.  "These are our Super forms, so I
guess we can be called Super Sailor Scouts to distinguish us from the
Sailor Scouts."  Venus was looking at Super Venus in annoyance.  "Oh,
I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything about your being less powerful than
us. You'll get here eventually. I mean it's only..."

"Venus!" Endymion called scathingly, she blushed and looked down,
remembering the lecture they'd been given on what their younger selves
were and were not allowed to know.

"Wait a minute," Reenie spoke up, "Who am I duoing with?" she asked
petulantly.

"Nobody!" came from several throats at once.  "You are not fighting with
us this time," Tranquillity embellished.  "It's too dangerous."

"But!" Reenie almost whined.

"No buts, sweetheart," Serenity put in, "You are staying right here
where it is safe and the Wiseman can not get to you."

"That's not fair!" Reenie almost yelled.

"Fair or not, that's the way it's going to be," Sailor Moon said, "We
are not taking chances on your safety now."  The finality in their
voices finally got to the little girl and she went off into a corner to
sulk.

"Super Mercury, would you stay here and watch over her?" Serenity asked
quietly.

Super Mercury just nodded and went over to the monitors.  "They are
breaking through, I think you had better get up there."

"You're going to have trouble running in that," Sailor Moon called to
Neo-Queen Serenity, pointing to her dress.

"That is why I have these," Serenity said serenely, opening her wings
and flying above the group.  The Super Scouts didn't even bat an eye,
but the younger Scouts just stared until Serenity took off down the
corridor.

"Cool," Sailor Moon breathed, before running after her.  The others
quickly followed.

The citizens still in the corridors quickly got out of the way of the
running Scouts and began to cheer.  A couple of times the cheers died in
disbelief as people understood what they were seeing, two of each Scout,
but most people didn't care as long as the Scouts were okay and going to
fight.

The Scouts ran outside and slammed the doors behind them as the droids
and soldiers tried to get past them to get into the Palace.

Sailor Moon opened her mouth to start a speech, but a glare from Sailor
Sol stopped her.  It didn't stop the others though.

"For turning the people of this city into mindless slaves," Super Mars
started.

"The fires of Mars' justice shall burn you to ashes!" Mars finished.

"For daring to attack this beautiful city," Jupiter started.

"Father Jupiter's thunder will strike you down!" Super Jupiter finished.

"The love of Venus exists in each of you," it was Venus' turn.

"Let its beauty enter your souls once more!" Super Venus said in turn.

"The ice of Mercury shall freeze your ambitions," Mercury announced and
finished, "and turn you back to the search for truth!"

Sailor Moon stuck out her tongue at her brother, "We are the Sailor
Scouts! Champions of Love and Justice.  And on behalf of the.." she
stopped for a moment and looked up at Serenity.  "On behalf of Crystal
Tokyo, and the Moon, we will right wrongs and triumph over evil.  And
that means you!" her finger pointing straight at the Wiseman.

"Do you truly think your pitiful speeches will change their minds?  They
are mine now, and on behalf of the NegaMoon, they will destroy you!" the
Wiseman answered back.

"Oh great," Sailor Sun muttered to himself, "now they have the bad guys
doing it too!"  Tranquillity heard that and grinned before turning back
to the enemies before him.  For the first time, Sailor Sol recognized
the swords Tranquillity was carrying.  It was the Sun Sword and Moon
Sword of his two forms.

"People of Crystal Tokyo, remember who you were!  Remember the peace and
happiness of our kingdom.  Fight for it once more, not against it.
Remember and be healed!" Serenity called out.

"MOON CRYSTAL HEALING ACTIVATION!" The power of the Crystal washed over
the people in front of her.  Here and there a man or woman would look up
in confusion and wonder what they were doing there, before being brought
back under the Wiseman's sway.  "Come my self, they cannot stand against
the two of us."

"Right!" Sailor Moon said, pulling out her own Crystal.  "MOON CRYSTAL
HEALING ACTIVATION!"

"Let's help them," Venus called out, turning to the mass in front of
her.

"Remember, no lethal, or even harmful attacks against the humans,"
Endymion said, "Try to hit the Wiseman, to at least distract him from
using his spells."

"SOLAR FLARE!" flamed towards the Wiseman, followed by a dozen of Tuxedo
Mask's roses.  Both bounced off of a shield in front of the Wiseman.
Sailor Sol wasn't paying attention however.  "What?  You're attacking
without a speech?" Sailor Sol asked, stunned.

"They're doing such a good job without me, I decided to hold off on it
for now," Tuxedo Mask answered, chuckling.

"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" "MARS FLAME SNIPER!" the two Mars'
called out their attacks and disks and arrows of fire flew into the mass
of droids.  Occasionally one would head toward the form of the Wiseman,
but they knew their attacks wouldn't go through.

"VENUS METEOR SHOWER!" "VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"  "Love and Beauty
Shock?" Venus muttered to herself while directing her Meteor Shower
against the droids and Wiseman.

"JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON!" "JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!" The two Jupiters
called out their own attacks.  *Oak Evolution?  That sounds like a kind
of wimpy attack,* Jupiter thought.  After seeing the damage it caused
her thoughts changed, *I want one of those!*

Mercury was scanning the Wiseman and his forces for a weakness, while
Tranquillity and Endymion were forging through the ranks, their swords
doing quite a bit of damage.  They didn't notice the wave of droids that
were getting ready to attack them from behind, because they thought it
was being taken care of by the others.  Luckily for them, Mercury did
see it.

"MERCURY ICE STORM SPLASH!" took care of that wave.  Endymion flung a
salute back at her as the two men kept going straight for the Wiseman.

The two Crystal's healing power was working on more and more those under
Wiseman's mind control. However it was taking its toll; Serenity and
Sailor Moon were getting weaker.

The Wiseman called out, "I will make a deal with you. Your champion will
fight me, alone.  If she, or he, wins, I will leave this world and never
return.  If I win, you die."

"Why should we agree to something like that?" Super Mars asked in
disbelief.

"Because at least that way, you have a fighting chance of surviving.
Not much of one, I will admit, but better than fighting `them'."  As he
finished speaking, he pointed backwards, where a new wave of ships was
appearing on the horizon.  They set down and opened up to send a
thousand more droids to join the fight.

"Oh, come on, you don't expect us to believe that, do you?" Super
Jupiter asked mockingly.  "Everyone knows you are a master of illusion."

"Um, Super Jupiter," Mercury starts at the same time that Super
Mercury's voice came over their communicators.  "As far as I can
determine, those reinforcements are real," Super Mercury said.

"I agree," came from Mercury.

"We can not fight them all," Serenity said in despair, "but there is not
one of us strong enough to take him on by herself."

"Well?  I am waiting for your answer," the Wiseman said gloatingly.  He
knew that they could not fight this many droids, but had wanted them to
think they could win at first, which is why he waited until now to
unleash them.  Besides, droids could always be replaced.  He could have
had all the droids show up from the beginning, but then he wouldn't have
been able to see the despair on their faces when they thought they were
winning and then had the tables turned on them.

"Here, I'll make it easy on you.  I'll give you until daylight to
decide.  Then either your champion comes out fighting, or you all do.
And in that time, neither I nor any of my people will attack."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Super Mars said suspiciously.

"You don't, but you don't have much choice either."  The Wiseman knew he
had them and didn't mind playing with them for a while longer.

The Scouts, Serenity, Endymion, and Tranquillity, who had returned when
the Wiseman started speaking, talked it over.  Their final decision was
unanimous. They could not hope to fight off that many droids and
enslaved people, but they also had no one who could face the Wiseman one
on one.  However, the night's leeway might give the Mercury's time to
come up with a plan and would at least give Sailor Moon and Serenity
time to rest up and regain some of the power they had spent.

"We will take your time," Serenity said regally and turned to lead the
others inside.

Sailor Moon turned back to the Wiseman.  "Enjoy your last night alive,
creep.  When we come back, we'll cream you."

The Wiseman's laughter followed them back inside.

When the thirteen fighters returned to the Shield Room, Reenie jumped
up.  "Mommy?  Daddy?  Did we.. did we.. lose?" she asked in a trembling
voice.

Serenity and Endymion went to her and picked her up.  "No, sweetheart,"
Endymion said, "We didn't lose, but we also didn't win.  We'll find a
way.  I know we will."

Reenie seemed a little reassured, and wiggled down to see what the
Mercurys were doing.

Tuxedo Mask looked intently at the King and Queen.  "What if we don't?"
he asked quietly.

"If we do not," Serenity responded, "then we will send you back to your
own time with Reenie.  You would take care of Reenie, would you not?"

"No," Sailor Moon answered shortly.  Everyone around her looked at her
in disbelief.

"I will not take care of her in my time, because I am not going to leave
you here to fight alone." Sailor Moon went on in that same hard voice.
Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Sol looked at each other in despair, they had
heard the same voice before, when she had refused to hurt the
Nega-Princess.  Sailor Sol slammed his sword into the nearest convenient
wall.  It was the only way he could think of to try to alleviate some of
his frustration.  He and Tuxedo Mask both knew they wouldn't be able to
change her mind about leaving.  Not when she spoke like that.

Serenity didn't have that trouble.  She grabbed Sailor Moon's chin and
turned her so she could see Reenie, playing with the five cats.  "Do you
see Reenie?" she asked harshly.  Sailor Moon tried to nod, but the grip
on her chin was too strong.  "That little girl is your daughter as much
as she is mine, but she has not been born to you yet, agreed?"

"So?" Sailor Moon asked, "I know she hasn't been born yet. I'm only
fourteen."

"So, if you die, here and now, in a fight that is not your own, that
little girl will never be born.  She will never have existed at all.
Are you going to sentence her to non-existence, because you are too
stubborn to go home?"

Sailor Moon stared at Reenie for another long moment, before collapsing
in defeat.  "No," she whispered brokenly, a tear trailing down her
cheek, "I can't do that to her.  But," she rallied, "I will not leave
here until every last chance has been tried, agreed?"

"Agreed," Serenity said, wiping the tear off of Sailor Moon's face, "Not
until every last thing has been tried."

Super Mercury and Mercury walked up right then.  They noticed the
emotional tension in the air, but disregarded it.  "Do you want the good
news or the bad news first?" Mercury asked.

"There is good news?" Serenity was surprised, "I think I would like to
hear that first."

"Together, you and Sailor Moon managed to turn practically the entire
contingent of humans back to our side, which severely cuts down on the
amount of problems we have," Super Mercury answered.

"That's very good to hear," Endymion put in, "Now what's the bad news?"

"The bad news is that we've run simulation after simulation, in none of
them can we defeat the entire group of droids, nor can any one of us
defeat the Wiseman in single combat."

"What about using the full power of the Crystal?" Serenity asked calmly.
All those around her seemed about to argue vehemently, but one glance
from her caused them to stifle their objections.

"It would not work," a voice said from the shadows.  They turned in
shock and dropped into fighting stances.  Walking out of the shadows of
the corner was..

"Puu!" Reenie yelled, running up and hugging her.  Everyone else
relaxed.

"Don't do that to us, Pluto," Super Jupiter called out, "You know we
hate being surprised like that."

"So, if the Crystal won't work, what will?" Tranquillity asked quietly.
Pluto just looked at him.  It was obvious she wasn't going to tell them
anything more about their future.

"I know," Sailor Sol said quietly.  When the others turned to him, they
saw him staring at the sword he had stuck in a wall.

"The prophecy," Mercury whispered, "Universal power."

The others had gathered around by then and were looking at the sword.
The younger Scouts understood what was happening, while the older ones
had to search back in their memories before they remembered the
prophecy.

"But we don't even know what it all means!" Venus said.

"Then we'd better figure it out," was Super Mars' answer.

"What was the whole thing again?" Super Jupiter asked, "I'm not sure if
I remember it correctly."

Tuxedo Mask started,            "Three bloodlines and four crowns,
                                 For Universal power.
                                 Nine Scouts of five planets
                                 To stand upon the hour."

Sailor Sol took his part,       "Two Earths, two Moons, Two Suns,
                                 Though only three survive.
                                 Three stones consumed,
                                 Three stones resumed,
                                 Three stones that did arrive."

Sailor Moon finished it,        "When Power into the child is cast,
                                 The Universe is safe at last."

"What we have figured out so far," Mercury started, "is that the first
two lines stand for Reenie, the second two would seem to be us, the
Scouts."

"The Two Earths, so on, line is about the six of us," Sailor Moon added.

"Although I still do not like the next line at all," Tuxedo Mask put in.
Endymion murmured agreement.

"Serena figured that the three stones are the Moon Crystal, Earth Gem,
and Sun Stone, but we're not sure what the rest of that part means,"
Sailor Sol said.

The Scouts gathered into little groups to discuss it.  Sailor Moon and
Sailor Sol stood talking quietly together.

"It would help if we knew what happened to the original Crystal," he
said musingly.

Sailor Moon thought about it for a long moment and then told him what
Reenie had told her earlier that night.

"Well, that explains a lot," he said quietly.

"Hmm? Oh you mean about how the Crystal disappeared when it shouldn't
have been able to be touched?  Yes it does,"  Sailor Moon agreed.

"That too," Sailor Sol said absently as he headed over to Mercury.
"Mercury, will you scan Reenie for traces of Moon Crystal energy
please?" he asked.

"Why?" Mercury responded to the strange request, but she was pulling
down her visor as she said it.  She stared at the readings she was
getting for a long moment, before going over to talk to Super Mercury.
Super Mercury also put down her visor and took readings of Reenie before
they both headed over to Sailor Sol.

"Well?" Sailor Moon asked from her spot beside him.

"Reenie is full of Moon Crystal energy. It's almost as if she has the
Moon Crystal with her," Super Mercury answered.

"Not with her, within her," Sailor Sol said.  As the three looked at him
in shock, he continued, "She told Serena that she wanted to grow up and
thought the Crystal could help her, but when she touched it, it turned
into light and disappeared.  I suddenly wondered if that could be what
the line meant by consumed."

The two Mercurys nodded slowly, "If the Crystal became a part of her,
then it could, indeed, be considered consumed," Mercury agreed.

"That does make sense.  Why didn't I think of that?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Let me go talk to her before we tell the others, okay?" She walked
towards Reenie.

"Small Lady?" Sailor Moon said softly.

"Yes, Sailor Moon?" Reenie said brightly.

"You need to tell everyone what happened to the Crystal," Sailor Moon
said gently.

Reenie started shaking her head, "I can't!  They'll hate me for losing
it and not telling anyone.  I can't tell them!"

"You must, Reenie, because I know where the Crystal is," Sailor Moon
answered.

"You do?" Reenie's face lit up. "Then I can give it back to Mommy and
everything will be alright."

"I'm afraid not, sweetheart, the Crystal is inside of you.  It's a part
of you now, and I think it's a part of the Prophecy.  If we're going to
save Crystal Tokyo, we need to explain it to everyone, okay?"  Sailor
Moon was down on her knee by then, looking into Reenie's eyes.

"Are you sure they won't hate me?" Reenie asked in a very small voice.

"I'm positive, Small Lady.  We all love you too much to ever hate you."
Reenie looked in Sailor Moon's eyes for a very long moment before
agreeing.  They walked to the center of the room and Sailor Moon called
for everyone to come hear what they were going to say.

Reenie gulped nervously as she saw all the people looking at her.  The
fact that she knew all of them just seemed to make it worse.  Sailor
Moon gave her shoulder a squeeze.  She drew in a deep breath.
"It'sallmyfaulttheCrystaldisappeared," she rushed.

"Slow down, Small Lady, we can not understand you," Serenity smiled down
at her daughter, "Whatever it is, it will be alright.  Just tell us
slowly."

She took another deep breath and tried again.  "It's all my fault that
the Crystal disappeared.  I wanted to grow up a little and thought the
Crystal could help me, so I tried to use it, but when I touched it,
there was suddenly this bright light and it disappeared."  Everyone had
gasped when she said it was her fault and she was now looking at the
ground because she didn't want to see how disappointed they all were in
her.

Sailor Moon still had her hand on her shoulder and started talking
before anyone could remark on what they had just heard.  "Travis asked
the Mercurys about it and they confirmed that the Moon Crystal, or at
least its energy is `inside' of her.  In other words, she consumed it."

Endymion looked at his daughter, "Why didn't you tell us, little one?"
he asked softly.

"I thought you would blame me.  I didn't want you to hate me for
destroying the Crystal," she said in a small voice.

"We would never do that, Rabbit," Tranquillity said, bending down next
to her.

"Hey!  Don't call me Rabbit!" Reenie yelled, she started chasing her
uncle around while the others laughed.

"I'll have to thank him for that," Serenity murmured as she watched the
two of them.   She turned back to her younger self, "So you think that
is what that line means, hmm?" she asked.

"Yes, but don't ask me about the others because I have no idea," was the
answer accompanied by a yawn.  "Sorry, but Reenie and I were just about
asleep when the alarms woke us."

Serenity smiled, "That is quite all right, you have done enough for now.
I am sure that someone will figure out the rest of it."

"You're right, someone has," Mars said with a grin.

"If she consumed one of the stones, then didn't you resume one?  When
Serena split the Crystal to give you both one, couldn't you say that
hers arrived, and yours was resumed?" Super Mars said.

"It works for me," Venus and Super Venus agreed in stereo before
grinning at each other.

"We were just about to suggest that," Luna said, obviously talking for
the guardians.

"So we have `three stones that did arrive'," Sailor Sol quoted, "but
only one stone that was consumed, and one stone that was resumed,
right?"

"WWWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
HHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not again!  I'm sorry Uncle Tranq, I didn't mean to!  I'm sorry, I'm
sorry!" Reenie was crying while Tranquillity was staring at his Sun
Sword.  A Sun Sword that no longer contained the Sun Stone.

Sailor Sol looked back at the others.  "Let's make that two stones that
were consumed," he said with a grin.

Serenity and Endymion weren't paying attention; they were already
heading towards their crying daughter.  Sailor Sol grabbed Sailor Moon's
arm as she was about to join them.  Then he snagged Tuxedo Mask as he
was headed that way.

"What?" she snapped.  Tuxedo Mask looked about to ask the same question.

"I need to know how you did it," Sailor Sol said.  "And I think Darien
does too."

"Did what?" Sailor Moon asked, confused.

"Know what?" Tuxedo Mask asked, also confused.

"Split the Moon Crystal of course!  It's obvious I'm going to have to
split the Sun Stone to give Tranquillity one.  And he's going to have to
split the Earth Gem once Reenie consumes that.  So we need to know how
you did it."  Sailor Sol sounded annoyed and for a brief moment, Sailor
Moon looked as if she was going to burst out wailing that he was being
mean, but Reenie's wails, which were still going on in the background,
reminded her of the important things and she just sighed.

"I don't know," at their looks she continued, "Honest, I don't.  I just
knew it had to be done, so I did it.  I think she helped though.  I'm
sorry, but it's the best I can do."

"Great, just great, we're going to be making it up as we go along,"
Sailor Sol muttered.

"I'm afraid so.  Hey, it's what `I' did," Sailor Moon reminded him.

By the time they got over to where the others were, Reenie had been
convinced that she had done what she should have, and that no one was
mad at her for turning the Sun Stone into light and making it disappear.
Sailor Sol went up to Tranquillity.  "Come on, we need to figure out how
you can resume the Sun Stone," he said.

Everyone gathered around to watch as Sailor Sol concentrated intensely
and the Sun Stone rose off the pommel of his sword and into his hand.
He concentrated so much that the Sun symbol would have been seen on his
forehead if he didn't have the headband there.

He held the hand holding the Sun Stone out towards Tranquillity, who
covered it with his own hand.  His Sun symbol could be seen and was
glowing brightly.  The two young men concentrated intensely, trying to
think of nothing but the need for a second Sun Stone.  A beam of light
from Tranquillity's symbol hit their joined hands and Sailor Sol pulled
his head band off to reveal a glowing Sun symbol.  A beam of light flew
from it as well to impact the Sun Stone.  They stood that way for
several minutes, not paying attention to anything about them.  Soon
Sailor Sol was swaying, almost to the point of collapse from the amount
of energy he was throwing out.  Tranquillity was not in much better
shape, but the Sun Stone was glowing.  They could feel it almost
struggling to remain one, but their combined wills were finally too much
for it and with a resounding CRACK! it split.

Travis collapsed in exhaustion, but he was grinning with triumph as
Tranquillity collapsed next to him.  They held up their hands to show
two identical golden jewels.

"YEAH!" Reenie screamed, she was very happy to see her uncle with his
stone back.

"You know that's not possible," Mercury murmured to her elder self.
"The theory of conservation of matter states that the amount of matter
must remain constant, and here we have double the amount of matter."

"But this is magic," one Luna said.

"Besides," an Artemis added, "energy can be converted to matter without
messing up that theory, and they certainly added enough energy to make
several stones that size."

"Show off," both Luna's muttered.

"Our turn," Tuxedo Mask said to King Endymion.

"Wait a minute," Endymion said, "I have a couple of questions first.
Number one, is the Sun Stone actually a part of Reenie?" he waited until
Super Mercury checked and nodded.  "Number two, is it safe for her to be
holding that much energy within her?"

Luna answered this one, "There would be no danger in holding the energy
of the stones, the only danger would be in fully using them, and she
does not have the ability to use them.  Not yet, anyway."

"All right," he agreed.  Turning to his daughter, he held out the ring
that held the Earth Gem.  "Touch it, Reenie," he said gently.

"But what if I make it disappear like I did the others," she whined.

"That's exactly what we want you to do," Endymion explained, "It's what
is needed to fulfill the Prophecy."

"Really?" Reenie squeaked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought we did.  Are you sure you were paying attention?" he asked
with a small grin.

"Well," she scuffed her foot on the floor, "maybe not totally."

"Touch the gem, Small Lady," Endymion gently commanded.

"All right," she answered, reaching out to touch the opal.  As the
others watched with intense interest, the Earth Gem turned into the
multicolored lights that usually occur when Darien turns into Sailor
Earth, and flew into the little girl.

Tuxedo Mask concentrated on his ring as he had seen the others do.  But
no matter how hard he concentrated, the Earth Gem refused to come out of
its setting.  "What's the matter?" he asked in confusion.  The others
were starting to get worried, if he wasn't able to split the Earth Gem
they would not be able to fulfill the Prophecy.

Then Mars figured out what was wrong and went up and bopped Tuxedo Mask
on the back of the head, "Silly, the Earth Gem will only respond to
orders from the Guardian of Earth, you need to be in either your Sailor
Earth form or your Prince Endymion form.  Tuxedo Mask is the Guardian of
the Princess and really has nothing to do with the Earth at all, so it's
no wonder you haven't been able to get it to work."

Tuxedo Mask and Endymion looked at each other for a long moment, one
thought going through their brains, *Did I really need her to tell me
that?*

In a flash of cape, Prince Endymion in his black armor stood facing King
Endymion.  This time the concentration he used to take the Earth Gem out
of the ring caused the sigil of Earth to appear on his forehead.  The
Earth Gem popped free and expanded to its normal size.  In a repeat of
the Sun Stone's breaking, beams of light flew out from the sigils on the
two men's foreheads, and after a significant amount of energy was
transferred into the Earth Gem, there were two opals where one had been
before.

"All right, now we have everything except the hour," Super Jupiter said,
as Earth's royalty almost collapsed from the strain they had been under.
"When should we try to finish this?"

Pluto spoke up then, for only the second time since she had appeared,
this was a time question she could answer.  "Daybreak, exactly, when the
full moon is still in the sky and the Sun is touching Earth's horizon."

"So what do we do until then?" Jupiter asked.

Sailor Moon answered immediately, "Sleep!"

"All right, but I think we should stay here, so we will not have to
worry about finding one of us when it is time," Serenity announced.

"Not to mention waking one up," Mars griped.

They settled down around the room, Serena snuggling into Darien's
embrace and using his chest as a pillow, Reenie settling down between
her parents.  Tranquillity went around and talked to all of the older
Scouts for a little while, before sitting down next to Travis.  Their
low voiced conversation setting a backdrop for the other night noises.
Most of the Scouts sat down or laid down next to their otherselves, and
buzzing conversation could be heard from around the room.

Serena looked up at Darien, "I hope we're wrong about that line," she
said quietly.

"I know," he answered, "I'm going to miss Reenie if she stays here, but
I do not want her staying with us because her parents are dead."

"Things will work out. They just have to," she whispered brokenly.

"Try not to think about it," Darien told her.

"I can't help it.  What else can I think about?" Serena said absently,
still looking at their elder counterparts.

"Think about me," he answered mischievously.

"But I do that all the time.  Don't you ever get tired of being thought
of by me?" she asked, laughing slightly.

"Never," was his reply, "unless of course you get tired of thinking of
me."

"Yeah, right, when the Moon falls into the Sun, is when I'll stop
thinking of you.  Though I am a little surprised to find us still as
much in love after a thousand years."

"I'm not, my love.  We have already loved for a thousand years, our love
has carried through death and through rebirth, I would not be at all
surprised to find it still alive and well, a thousand years from now."

"And if they die?" Serena said sadly.

"Then they will love through that death and into life again.  And if
they are not reborn, then they will find each other in heaven.  We
cannot be separated, we have proven that before, death cannot destroy
our love."

"Thank you, my prince, I think I can sleep now."

"I will be here when you awake, my princess.  Sleep well."  She went to
sleep with a smile on her face and he followed her soon after.

An hour before daybreak they were woken up, although that did require
quite a bit of persuasion on Serena and Serenity's parts.

"You mean, she still has trouble waking up?" Raye laughed.

"Yep, still," Super Mars answered disgustedly.

Finally everyone was awake and eating breakfast in an adjacent room.
Although Serenity and Tranquillity didn't eat quite as fast as Serena
and Travis, they packed away just as much of the food that Lita and
Super Jupiter had prepared.

"Okay, so what exactly are we going to do?" Travis asked, after he
finished eating.  "I mean we're following the Prophecy, but we don't
even know what the Prophecy is going to do, much less what else we're
supposed to do to fulfill it."

"Well, Amy and I were talking about it last night," Super Mercury said,
"and we believe that what we are going to do is awaken the power of all
three stones within Reenie."

"Wait a minute!" Endymion almost shouted, beating Darien out by seconds,
"You said that using the power of the stones would be dangerous to her."

"Yes, but we were thinking of her using the full power of the stones,
but she won't be," Amy put in.  "We checked on some readings I took
yesterday when she duoed with Sailor Moon.  She was using the power of
the Crystal then, otherwise her form would have been much weaker.  She
just can't use the power on her own yet, she's too young."

"Am not," Reenie groused, but nobody was really paying attention.

"Eventually, she will be able to use the powers of the Crystal to become
Crescent Moon without any help from Sailor Moon, but I would say she
would have to be quite a bit older before that happens.  In the
meantime, what we are going to be doing is activating all three of the
Stones to make her into a much more powerful Sailor Scout."

"I don't see why doing that would require all of this stuff with the
Prophecy, can't we all just duo with her?" Serena asked.

"That would activate only one jewel at a time, it would deactivate as
soon as she duoed with someone else.  We have to activate all three
simultaneosly and cause her body to metabolize the power.  And to do
that, we need to focus everyone's power into her, including the six
stones."

"That seems like a very complicated and dangerous way to do it," Darien
put in worriedly.

Pluto spoke up once more, "After the first time, she would need only the
power from three of the stones to change, using the stones doesn't take
that much power, but activating them does.  Now it is time."  With that
she stood up and moved into the shield chamber.

Serenity, Endymion, and Tranquillity were wrapped in a three way hug, as
everyone else tried to reassure Reenie that everything was going to work
out fine.  Serena whispered to Reenie, "Go to your mother," as she took
Darien and Travis' hands and led them out of the room.  The last thing
she saw as she exited was the hug opening to let Reenie into the middle.

In the Shield Room the other Scouts had already transformed and gathered
into a circle around the outside of the room.  Pluto was at the apex
with the others spread around.  Serena pulled out her Crystal, which she
had not put back into the brooch, and staring into it, pulled its power
into her until she transformed into the Princess Serenity.  In a flash
of rose petals and a black cape, Prince Endymion stood next to her.

Travis looked down at the Sun Stone, trying to figure out what they had
done to change.  He searched earnestly within himself and the Sun Stone
until he found the image he wanted, and in a flare of bright yellow
light, Prince Tranquillity stood there.  Tranquillity was dressed in
gold armor that reflected the lights of the room, making it even
brighter.  He had two swords, one on his right side, without a pommel
stone, and one on his left side.  He looked down at himself and then up
to his grinning friends.

"Looking sharp, Bro!" Princess Serenity exclaimed.

"He looks just like my old boyfriend," Jupiter said with hearts in her
eyes.

"In your dreams, Lita," Venus replied laughing.

All laughter shut off as the Royal Family entered the room.  Reenie went
around the room, gathering hugs, then at a motion from her father moved
to the center of the room and stood there quietly.  Her eyes however
showed her fear.

"It will be alright, little one," Neo-Queen Serenity said.

"Yes, Small Lady, we wouldn't allow anything to harm you," King Endymion
replied.

"I know, Mommy, Daddy," Reenie said bravely.

Neo-Queen Serenity moved so that she stood across from Princess
Serenity.  The two Princes stood on either side of the Neo-Queen, while
the two Kings stood on either side of the Princess, making a second
circle inside of the first.

Everyone who could was watching Pluto, who seemed to be watching the sun
through the walls of the Palace, then she nodded.  Everyone raised their
power sticks to the sky.

"PLUTO PLANET POWER!"
"MARS STAR POWER!"
"MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER!"
"JUPITER STAR POWER!"
"MARS CRYSTAL POWER!"
"VENUS STAR POWER!"
"JUPITER CRYSTAL POWER!"
"MERCURY STAR POWER!"
"VENUS CRYSTAL POWER!"

Red, blue, orange, green, and purple power gathered together above the
Scouts before moving towards the inner circle.  The stones were raised,
and the six were watching the light, each other, and Reenie with equal
intensity.  In one voice, the two Serenitys raised their Crystals and
called out.  Followed quickly by the others.

"COSMIC MOON POWER!"
"COSMIC EARTH POWER!"
"COSMIC SUN POWER!"

The younger three pulled the Scouts' power into their stones and added
their own before sending it to the older ones.  They held the power as
the others kept sending more and more, as much as they could.  Pluto
nodded again.  Neo-Queen Serenity, King Endymion, and King Tranquillity
released all the energy they had gathered into Reenie.

Reenie screamed when the power impacted her.  The inner six jerked and
almost pulled the power away from her.

"Don't!" Super Mars yelled out, "We don't know what will happen to her
if it's stopped now."

Reluctantly they kept the energy going.  Tears were pouring down the two
Serenitys' faces as they heard their daughter scream in pain.  The
Scouts dropped to their knees as the energy was drained out of them, but
still they kept on.  The light surrounding the little girl grew
brighter, and brighter, until nothing of her could be seen.   After what
seemed like an hour, the light dimmed back to a bearable level.

Reenie was standing there dressed in a Sailor Scout uniform of white, a
white so pure that it almost glowed.   Her bows were the same pink as
her hair and she wore a half cape that drifted down her back to her
waist in a swath of purest black, that shimmered as if filled with
starlight.  She wore white sandals on her feet and a small crown on her
forehead.

Luna stepped forward, "You are the Universal Scout, the one foretold,"
she said and would have continued, but the new Sailor wasn't looking at
her.  Luna turned to see what was happening, just in time to see
Neo-Queen Serenity, King Endymion, and King Tranquillity collapse to the
ground.

"Mommy!" Reenie screamed.

The Princes and Princess had already moved to their older forms' sides.
Mercury and Super Mercury ran up as well.  Sailor Universe dropped down
next to her mother.  "Mommy!" she cried.

Super Mercury looked up.  She had been to each of the fallen and had
tears in her eyes when she got up from the last one.  "They... they're..
they're dead," she said softly, disbelieving.

"NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Universe
screamed from where she was on her knees.  "Mommy!  Daddy!  Mommy!
Daddy!  Get up! Please get up!" she sobbed, rocking back and forth as
tears ran down her face.

Princess Serenity looked down at the body of her older self, then over
to her grieving daughter, and then at the monitor showing the hordes of
droids gathered at the city gates.  Although her eyes were shining with
tears, her mouth firmed with purpose and she stood.

"Small Lady," she said, gently yet firmly, but she got no response.

"Neo-Princess Serenity," she said, her voice so harsh and commanding
that everyone looked at her and stared.  Serena, no, Princess Serenity
stood there, her crescent moon blazing.  The tears in her eyes didn't
detract at all from her commanding gaze.  "Neo-Princess Serenity," she
said again.

Sailor Universe didn't hesitate, she had, after all, been raised at
Court and there was only one correct answer to those words in `that'
tone of voice.  "Yes, Your Majesty?" her voice trembled.

"You will `not' shame your mother in this way, Neo-Princess," Serenity
said harshly.

"But..." she stated, only to close her mouth around the rest of the
words at Princess Serenity's glare.

"She gave her life so that you could fight the Wiseman and protect the
people of this world.  She, they, sacrificed their lives in the belief
that you would be able to protect this city and its people.  Do `not'
demean their sacrifice by refusing your destiny or your duty."

Reenie stared at Princess Serenity for a long moment, then her features
hardened with resolve.  She bent down and kissed her mother's cheek
before getting up.  "Yes, Your Majesty," Sailor Universe said and
curtsied before striding out of the door.

"Well done," Pluto said.  Princess Serenity, who had been about to
collapse in grief, rallied back.

"Do not `well done' me," she almost growled.  If everyone hadn't still
been looking at her in shock from the last conversation, they would have
done so at her tone of voice.  "It is your fault they are dead!"

"Serena," Prince Endymion said, coming up to her, "it's okay, you just
need to calm down a little. You're full of grief and saying things you
don't mean," he said gently.

"Unfortunately," she responded, "I know exactly what I am talking about.
You cannot tell me that he is stronger than the full power of the Moon
Crystal.  We did not need to go through this, Serenity could have
handled him.  Yes, it might have killed her, but at least Reenie
wouldn't have lost her entire family in one blow!"

The others were about to try calming the obviously distraught Princess
down when they saw Pluto looking down in shame.

"You mean it's true?" Prince Tranquillity asked in disbelief.

"In a way," Pluto said softly, "but I must protect the time line. It is
`my' duty and destiny.  You are correct, Sailor Universe does not have
enough control over the stones to use their full potential and so, even
with the three stones, she does not have as much power as one of you
fully using your stone."

"Then... Why?" Endymion cried, pointing to the people on the floor.

"Because it had to be done," Pluto's voice was anguished.  "I know how
much this hurt her, but it had to be, she `had' to become Sailor
Universe."

Princess Serenity had collapsed to her knees in exhaustion, but her eyes
never left the monitors that would soon show her little girl fighting
for her life.  She looked around quickly at the others who were in as
bad a shape as she, then looked back, praying they wouldn't be needed.

Meanwhile, in front of the Palace.

"Well, it's daybreak, and nobody has shown up. I guess they were too
cowardly to fight a battle they were sure to lose," the Wiseman chuckled
evilly.

"I would not be too sure," a voice with just a hint of a tremble came
from the top of the steps.  "I am Sailor Universe, Guardian and Sailor
of Crystal Tokyo and the entire Silver Millennium.  For the pain that
you have handed out, the deaths that your senseless quest for power has
caused, I will punish you!"

The Wiseman looked at the Scout standing in front of him and burst out
laughing.  "You?" he asked chuckling, "You, the `Rabbit', think you can
beat me?  I had no idea the King and Queen had such a sense of humor!"

"Is this a joke?" she almost screamed, "STARLIGHT EXTINGUISH!"  A ball
of light composed of hundreds of tiny flickering lights rushed from her
hands.  The farther they went the bigger they got, until the ball when
it hit was three times bigger than when it left her hands.

The Wiseman didn't even bother trying to get out of the way.  He just
grinned as the lights impacted his shield and dissipated.  His grin
almost faltered before he got it under control, that blast was a lot
more powerful than he had thought.  Still, it wasn't strong enough to
get through his shields.  However, just in case, he decided to do
something about it.

Sailor Universe was still angry and the Wiseman's laughter just made her
angrier.  "STARLIGHT EXTINGUISH!" she called, sending another ball
toward the Wiseman.  She began to cheer as it went through the place
where his shield had been, only to fall silent as it went through him
without stopping.  She was still staring in disbelief as the energy ball
hit her.  She screamed.

Inside the Palace, Princess Serenity surged to her feet, ready to go to
her aid.

Pluto put her hand on her shoulder.  "You cannot," Pluto said quietly,
"You are too weak."

"She's only ever fought once, and that doesn't really count. I can't
just let her be hurt," Serenity said, not tearing her eyes from the
monitors.

"It was to be champion to champion. Are you truly going to break your
word?" Pluto asked.

"If it means keeping her alive?  Yes," was the Princess' answer.

Back in the monitors, Reenie struggled to her feet.

Sailor Universe struggled to her feet.  There were tears in her eyes
from the pain in her arm.  `Now' she remembered what her mother had said
about the Wiseman using illusion.  She looked around quickly, trying to
figure out where he was hiding.

"What," she taunted, getting ready to jump, "the great `Wiseman' scared
of a little kid?"

This time she caught the shimmer in the air, that was the Wiseman's
attack.  She threw herself out of the way and aimed where she thought
the attack had come from.  "STARLIGHT EXTINGUISH!" was called out almost
before his attack had impacted on the ground.

Sailor Universe's attack hit something, and the Wiseman was shown for a
brief moment as he was distracted.  She readied another attack as she
looked closely, trying to see him if he moved.  Unfortunately, he moved
quicker.

Sailor Universe screamed piercingly as the attack hit her in the back.
The pain and fear she was feeling caused the Moon Crystal to respond and
her moonbeam formed around her.  "CRESCENT MOONBEAM STRIKE!" she cried
sending the power of her moonbeam at the Wiseman's last location.  It
impacted, and broke through the shield.

"You `hurt' me!" he said in disbelief.  "Droids!  I want her hurt, then
kill her!" he yelled, no longer finding this humorous.

Reenie just lay there looking at them, the pain in her back not allowing
her to move, and tears tracked down her face.  "I'm sorry, Mommy," she
whispered.

"Small Lady!" Pluto said, the thought of the little girl she loved
finally shocking her out of her normal impassivity.

"Reenie!" everyone else called out worriedly.

"He's cheating, we can fight without breaking our word!" Super Jupiter
called out.  Her words didn't reach the ears of Princess Serenity
though, she had already detransformed to Sailor Moon and ran out the
door.  The others followed quickly.  Even Pluto joining the group.
Although they were weak, they could still fight, and they were not going
to let her die like that.

The guardians were left alone in the room with the bodies, and finally
Luna and Apollo gave in to the grief they were experiencing.  A cat's
wail of loss, and the falcon's shriek, followed the Scouts outside.

The Wiseman and the droids were gloating above the little girl.  The
droid who had been chosen to kill the child knew his master wanted the
little girl to hurt before being killed, and he was planning on enjoying
every scream he could get.  He reached down to where she was whimpering
and trying to move away.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!" impacted and turned him into dust before he could
touch her.

"MARS FLAME SNIPER!", "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!", and "SOLAR
FLARE!" helped clear a path from the Palace steps to Sailor Universe,
and Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask didn't hesitate to use it.

"Sailor Moon," Sailor Universe said in a small voice, "you're here?"

"Of course I'm here," she said softly, "I'm sorry we got you into this,
it'll be okay."  Sailor Moon kissed her daughter on the forehead and
stood over her with Tuxedo Mask guarding her back.

"Oh, so you want to make this a real fight?" the Wiseman asked, "I would
be glad to oblige you, droids attack!  Kill them all, except the pink
haired one, leave her for me to play with," he laughed.

"Over my dead body," Sailor Moon snarled.

"Exactly, my dear, exactly."

Sailor Moon pulled out her scepter and nodded at the others.  By this
time, most of them had managed to get around the Wiseman, so he was
surrounded, without him noticing.

"MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!"
"SOLAR FLARE!"
"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!"
"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!"
"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"
"DEAD SCREAM!"
"VENUS METEOR SHOWER!"
"JUPITER THUNDERCLAP ZAP!"
"MARS FLAME SNIPER!"
"MERCURY ICE STORM SPLASH!"
"JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!"

The attacks, and several dozen roses flew towards the Wiseman from all
sides.  His shields, which had already been pierced, could not withstand
the attacks for long.  However, it was long enough.  Before the shields
could go totally down, the Scouts were attacked by the hordes of droids.

Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon stayed standing over their daughter,
refusing to move for any reason.  Tuxedo Mask was using his roses to
devastating effect, while his cane countered any attacks coming towards
him.  Sailor Moon soon realized that her scepter could be used the same
way and she was blocking the attacks, while sending her tiara out to do
damage.

Sailor Universe had been cowering under her parents legs when she heard
her father give out a grunt.

"Are you okay?" Sailor Moon asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," he answered through gritted teeth, not wanting to let her
know about the spike that had managed to get through his guard and
impact his side.  He pulled it out, but while he was busy a droid
started running towards him.  He looked up too late, and tried to brace
himself for the attack.

"STARLIGHT EXTINGUISH!" Reenie called out from underneath him, turning
the droid into dust.

"Thanks sweetheart," he said before going back to the battle.

The other Scouts had tried to gather together to provide a united front,
but had been too spread out by the initial attack.  Although each of
them was doing a great deal of damage, their weakened states caused them
to make mistakes.  Mercury was the first to go down after taking an
energy attack in her back.  Super Jupiter continued fighting, even after
one droid had managed to trap her leg, forcing her to fight from a
sitting position.

"Venus!" Sailor Moon called out as she watched her be overwhelmed by the
monsters around her.  The moment's inattention allowed two attacks to
hit her from opposite sides.  She gasped and almost fell, only the
knowledge that her daughter was under her kept her on her feet.

"Serena!" Tuxedo Mask heard the gasp and turned quickly towards her.  It
was a mistake.  Three droids attacked immediately.  Sailor Universe's
"STARLIGHT EXTINGUISH!" took care of one of them, but the other two
managed to attack, one with an energy attack and the other with a long,
sharp knife.  Within seconds, Tuxedo Mask was down, bleeding from a gash
on his head, and Sailor Moon was fighting for her life.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!" flew at one of the droids, and he sidestepped right
into the "CRESCENT MOONBEAM STRIKE!" that Sailor Universe called through
her grief.  While Sailor Moon and Sailor Universe were taking care of
the droids that had taken down Tuxedo Mask, they made the same mistake.
An energy blast impacted on Sailor Moon's unprotected back.

She dropped to her knees in pain, one knee on each side of Reenie, who
still hadn't gotten up.  Sailor Moon smiled painfully down at her
daughter, and mouthed, "I love you," before she raised the Moon Scepter
to block a blow from one of the droids closing in around her.  "MOON
SCEPTER ELIMINATION!" took care of three of them, but there were still
almost a dozen more gathered around, and more coming all the time.

"STARLIGHT EXTINGUISH!" and "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!" drilled into the
droids, dropping several of them with each attack, but Sailor Moon
couldn't keep it up.  With the draining her power had already gone
through, added to the attacks she had been hit with, her power levels
were dropping quickly and she was very close to total exhaustion.  Then
it happened.  With slowed reflexes, Sailor Moon wasn't able to stop a
droid before its power impacted her on her chest.  She fell backwards,
and lay still.

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!"
Reenie's anguished scream cut across the battlefield.  "Not again!
Please, not again!  Mommy! Daddy!  Please don't leave me again! Please!"
Reenie started sobbing, and it was the only sound to be heard in the
suddenly silent courtyard.  Until another sound joined it, someone
laughing.

The Wiseman floated above the scene as he laughed.  He loved the
delicious irony of her watching her parents die like that and watched as
if it was a comedy put on for his amusement.

Universe's tears dried up as she heard the laughter, she looked at her
parents, laying side by side, and remembered her other parents lying
still and silent in the Shield Room.  She looked around and could see
only Sailor Sol and Jupiter still standing.  Her resolve firmed. *I'm
sorry, Mommy, that I couldn't do it in time, but I will not let him win,
I promise.*

Sailor Universe stood up.  Under normal circumstances, seeing a five
year old standing like that, her face hardened with resolve, would have
been a funny sight.  One look in her eyes, however, would put any wish
to laugh out of a person's mind.

"STARLIGHT EXTINGUISH!" she called, the ball in her hands over twice as
big as any she had managed before.

The Wiseman moved quickly, but the attack hit the side of his shields
and tore them down.  The Wiseman quickly counterattacked.  Sailor
Universe managed to dodge one, but the second hit her and sent her
crashing into the wall of the Palace.

The Wiseman floated in for the kill, but passed too close to one of the
other Scouts.  "SOLAR FLARE!" attacked the unshielded Wiseman.  The
Wiseman grunted at the pain and turned and blasted Sailor Sol.

Sailor Universe watched as the last member of her family fell to the
evil of the Wiseman.  She stared at the cause of all the deaths.
Memories of her parents, both sets, and her uncles, and the Scouts
passed through her mind and she started to glow.  As the Wiseman watched
in disbelief, her hair and cape started moving upwards and she started
to float as well.

"So, you've learned how to fly," he said, seemingly unconcerned, "A lot
of good it will do you."  He threw another attack and she barely managed
to move out of the way.

As he watched, the droids around her started to float as well, a larger
and larger amount of area was feeling the effects of what could only be
a loss of gravity.  Sailor Universe stayed floating about two feet above
the ground, and the Wiseman stayed floating where he was.  Everyone and
everything else started moving up and away from the Earth.

"Do you know what you're doing?" the Wiseman asked. "If you remove all
of the gravity, the Earth will fall into the Sun."

"What do I know of gravity?" Sailor Universe asked in a hard voice, "I'm
only a little kid."

"You don't really want to do this, do you?" the Wiseman asked, bringing
all of his brainwashing ability into play.  "You don't really want to
harm me, you've just been misinformed.  I'm really a nice person, you
like me don't you?" the Wiseman's voice was soothing as he stared into
Sailor Universe's eyes.

Sailor Universe faltered for a second, before a vision of her mother
appeared before her eyes, "I believe in you, Small Lady, I know you can
do it."

Sailor Universe stared at the Wiseman, "For all the deaths, and all the
pain, for all the destruction and all the fear, for the Earth, the Moon,
the Sun, and the Universe, it ends here!  BLACK HOLE COLLAPSE!" she sent
all of the gravity she had gathered straight at him.

He attacked back with everything he had, and for a long moment, it
seemed he might be able to stop it, but she looked up and saw Sailor
Moon among those floating, and her eyes were open and she was smiling!
The sight was enough to give Sailor Universe an extra burst of energy
and the Wiseman's attack was blasted away.  There was another instant of
strain, as the gravity hit the crystal ball the Wiseman carried.  Once
more, Sailor Universe reached deep inside, to her memories of her
parents and found the strength to keep going.  The crystal ball
shattered, and the droids disappeared, back to wherever they had come
from.  Only the Wiseman and the Scouts were left, and as Sailor Universe
looked around, she found all of them, all of them! looking at her, waves
of approval and love coming from them.

Then she looked back to find that the Wiseman was still there, and was
actually starting to push the power away from him!  Sailor Universe
started to panic, she had no power left.

"Believe in yourself, Small Lady," Tuxedo Mask's voice came from where
he floated next to Sailor Moon.

"But I don't have anything more!  I'm out of power!  Help me please!"
she asked and she received.

From all over the field, the Scouts sent what little power they had
left:

"MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"
"EARTH GEM POWER!"
"SUN STONE POWER!"
"VENUS STAR POWER!"
"JUPITER CRYSTAL POWER!"
"MARS CRYSTAL POWER!"
"MERCURY STAR POWER!"
"JUPITER STAR POWER!"
"VENUS CRYSTAL POWER!"
"PLUTO PLANET POWER!"
"MARS STAR POWER!"
"MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER!"

The power flew into Sailor Universe, and out into the gravity band that
suddenly grew as the power filled it.  Grew and started pushing back.

"No! That's not possible!" the Wiseman screamed, "I cannot be beaten!"

The gravity pulse impacted the Wiseman, and he tried to put up a last
resistance, but the power of the Scouts, and Sailor Universe was too
much.  Instead of turning to dust as expected, he exploded, the
explosion throwing the Scouts over ten meters away from their last
position, before gravity came again and they fell, painfully.

Sailor Moon and Sailor Earth, he had changed so he could lend Sailor
Universe his power, rushed towards her, quickly followed by the others.
Several of them were limping, and walking stiffly, Mercury having to be
helped along by Jupiter, but they were all alive.

"I'm so proud of you," Sailor Moon whispered to her daughter, as Sailor
Earth picked her up and they walked inside.  They passed the cheering
crowd without noticing them and headed for the Shield Room.

Sailor Universe looked at the parents she hadn't been able to help and
just collapsed, crying, letting go off all the power within her and
detransforming back to Reenie.  She looked up at the gasps.  The lights
that left her when she detransformed were dancing above the prone forms
of her parents and Uncle.  They settled down into the stones still in
their hands and as everyone watched in disbelief and hope, the light
spread from the stones, up through the bodies and set everything to
right.  As Super Mercury watched closely, Neo-Queen Serenity started
breathing, followed closely by the two Kings.  Within seconds they were
sitting up and shaking their heads, before they were attacked by a
little girl with pink hair that needed to be reassured that they were
alright.

"MOMMY!" she cried, "They said you were dead, and I had to fight all by
myself, and I was so scared, but I was gonna make you proud of me and
then everyone came and we won!" She tried to babble more, but couldn't
get it out, and just sobbed.

"And you did, Small Lady, you made me very proud," Serenity whispered as
she rocked her distraught daughter.  King Endymion and King Tranquillity
moved over to her and brought the two of them into another group hug of
relief and happiness.

Once more, everyone left the family alone as they cried together, and
their younger selves detransformed.  Serena was crying almost as much as
her daughter.  In truth, there wasn't a dry eye in the group, even
Darien and Travis having moist eyes as they gathered Serena into a group
hug of their own.

"You must go home soon," Pluto said, "before you harm the time line by
your continued presence."

Serena looked at Pluto for a long moment.  "One of these days, you're
going to have to learn that there are more important things than the
time line.  We're not leaving until we say good-bye."

The Royal Family came out, still drying their eyes.  Reenie was being
carried in her mother's arms, and obviously not intending to leave them
anytime soon.

Serena went up to them, "We have to go home," she said softly.

"No!" Reenie whined.

"I'm sorry, little one, but we must.  I'll miss you," she said quietly.

"I'll miss you too Serena, I love you."  Reenie started crying again.

"I love you, too," Serena was trying to keep from crying anymore than
she had already, "Come visit us if you can, okay?"

"Okay," Reenie promised as she left her mother's arms to give her other
mother a long hug that neither seemed to want to end.

The others came up to say good-bye as well.  Tears were still much in
evidence as they hugged the little girl they had all grown to love.

Serenity spoke up, "We can never adequately repay you," she started.

"And you never have to," Darien replied smiling, "You should know that."

"I do know it, but it still needs to be said."

Pluto opened a gate into the time plane.  One by one the younger Scouts
walked in, followed by Travis and the Guardians. Darien waited for
Serena who was giving one last hug to Reenie.  She walked up to him,
turned around and waved while walking backwards.  She kept up the waving
until she could no longer see the little girl waving back.  Then turned
around and walked forward.

-----------------
That's it for Chapter Twelve, and really for Universal.  There will be
an epilogue, but it's just a fun little thing.  Read the `read me' for
more information.  It should be either with the stories, or attached to
the epilogue, depending where and when you read this.  Tell me what you
thought of my story.  Please.  Pretty please!  Jendra@aol.com

Jendra@aol.com

Hello everyone, this is my read me, also known as Author's End Notes.

This Read Me will fall into three parts; thank yous, where I got my ideas
,
and what am I doing next.

Thank yous need to go out to:

     Naoko Takeuchi who created this world for me to play in, (I read 

          that somewhere, but can't remember where)

     My mom for not complaining 'too' much that I haven't done anything
          but write for the past two and a half months.  (Even though
          she still hasn't read it!)

     Luna and Artemis for first putting this up.

     Tuxedo Will for editing, critiqueing and putting me on his 

          Recommended Reader list,

     Doug Helm for critiqueing, commenting, and giving me someone to rant 

          to, not to mention the awesome icon on his page ^_^

     All those who have asked to post it, which is a truly great
          complement, Sonia, Jitterbug, Zorina Skye, MarsKnight,
          Sailor Knight

And most of all, to all of those people who have made the first thing
     in the morning my favorite time of the day, because it's the
     time I get my mail.  You guys are the ones that have kept me
     getting out a chapter a week and lightened my days when I'm 

     down.  Thanks, Sonia from the very first week, Suzanne from 

     the second, tsuic and Doug, Kristen and Zoe, Gem Stone Addict
     (who I'm sure I must have lost his address because I haven't 

     heard from him since he moved servers), Connie, Joshua, 

     Daniel, Will and Theresa, Jack and Jade, AquaMirror, Carolyn,
     Jitterbug, Anissa, Jupiter, Karen and LunarRaye, Jeff, 

     Rachel, Diana, Robo, Nick and Lil, Glenda, Janice and Fiona,
     Maria, John, Greywolf (my favorite author, totally awesome),
     Anya, (who passed it on to Sarah, who showed it to her 

     friends), Tenshi, who wants to use Travis in one of her own, 

     (big complement), Sailor Knight and Zori.


Where I got the ideas:

     I have no idea.  I was probably reading one of the stories that has
     Serena's sister as the Sailor of the Sun, (probably Zori's Life 

     Journeys) when it occured to me that if all you had to do to be a
     Sailor was to be the Kingdom's princess (or prince) than in a case
     like that where Serena would be princess of two, she could be a Scout
     of two, if it became necessary.  Then I just had to think up a reason
     for it to be necessary.  Universal power was originally to be a 

     power that could be used when Sailor Moon, Sailor Sol, and Sailor 

     Earth worked together, then I realised Reenie was princess of all of
     those, and the prophecy came up.


What I am going to do next:

     Take some time off.  I've been writing non-stop for the past two and
     a half months and I'm ready for a break.  After that, well what I'm
     looking at right now is two sequels, the first to occur in the time
     frame between R and S called Universal B (the B does stand for 

     something but I'm not going to tell you what, except maybe at the
     end of it, by which time you should have figured it out)  I have it
     planned out at seven chapters, but that's what Universal was planned
     out at too.

     The second sequel would be called Universal S and would take the 
     events of Sailor Moon S and transfer them to the Universal time lines
     and see how they would be different.

     I was a little wary of doing two more of this series because I was
     afraid that people would get tired of Universal, especially considering how long my
stories get.  However, the responses I've gotten from the people that I've talked to about it have
all been very positive.  What do you think about two sequels to Universal?Would you read that
much of it?  Write and tell me please.

That's pretty much all I had to say.  See you later!  At the epilogue actually.  

Hi everybody.  This is the epilogue, of course.  All standard disclaimers
still apply.  If you think you see a name you know, it's probably because 
you read the Read Me.  Besides wrapping up some things, this is also a 
thank you to the people who wrote me.  (I'm never doing it again though,
this was hard!)


Sailor Moon Universal

Epilogue  Let's Party!


Serena woke up slowly and stretched.  She looked at the clock and bolted
out of bed and started hurrying into her uniform.  "Oh no!  It's nine
o'clock!  Why didn't someone wake me up?!  I'm going to be soo late!
Where's Reenie?  Is she still in bed?"

Luna had heard this before and knew she had to get a word in before
Serena started wailing.  "Serena!  It's Saturday!  And Reenie's at her
own home."

"Oh yeah," she laughed ruefully, "I forgot."  She looked out the window.
"It would be a perfect day to take Reenie to the park.  I'm going to
miss her," she said softly.  She sat slowly back down, "I am sooo stiff,
and I know the others are probably in as bad a shape.  I'm really glad
we don't have to do anything today."

"Except explain to your mother exactly why you came home at five o'clock
last night and went straight to bed without even eating dinner," Luna
said almost gloatingly.

"I wonder if I brought the wrong Luna home with me last night?" Serena
mused to herself, "After all, `my' Luna would never gloat over my pain
and troubles after we won.  `She' would know that annoying me, at the
moment, was a really bad idea, and might even get her a trip to the
vet."

"I didn't say anything," Luna said quickly.

Serena's stomach suddenly growled loudly, after being reminded that it
didn't get any food the night before.  She chuckled and blushed as she
got changed and went downstairs.

Her mother was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.  "You know dear,"
she said, "your father and I would be happy to help you with the details
of the party.  There was no need to work yourself into exhaustion.  Oh,
and Happy Birthday Serena."  She kissed Serena's cheek and walked away.

The first reaction that showed on Serena's face was relief that her
mother had thought up her own reason for Serena's behavior last night.
That was quickly followed by horror.  "The party!" she whispered to
herself.  *We forgot all about the party, and Mom's going to be
expecting one this afternoon.  I've got to talk to Travis!*

Ignoring her stiffness, Serena bolted into the kitchen, absently
acknowledged her family's wishes for a happy birthday, and gulped down a
huge breakfast. She then ran out the door, saying on the way out, "Still
got a lot to do. See you later."

Sammy called after her, "When's the party?"

"Call and tell you later!" she yelled back, before running at breakneck
speed towards Travis's house.

CRASH!  Serena hadn't been watching where she was going and slammed into
someone jogging the other way.  She looked up, knowing what she'd see.
Sure enough, it was Darien looking down at her with laughing blue eyes.

"Why do we keep meeting like this?" she said, after hugging him gently.
She wanted to hug him violently, but at the last minute remembered his
hurt side.

He had tensed himself up to receive the hug, and was surprised that it
was so gentle.  After all, they had only been back together for a little
more than two days, he wasn't quite used to her new maturity.  Although
that maturity was very little in evidence beyond the gentle hug.  She
grabbed his hand and started running again.

"What's the rush?" he asked when he could, trying to keep up with her
could be tiring.

"Got to talk to Travis," she called back over the wind, "Totally forgot
about the party."

"What party?" he asked as they finally stopped in front of the mansion.

"Our birthday party!  We were supposed to hold it today, but we forgot
all about it, because of everything that's been happening," she panted
as she rang the doorbell.

Travis opened the door almost immediately, and looked surprised to see
Serena and Darien on his doorstep this early in the morning.  "Is
something wrong?" he asked noticing how Serena was panting.

"You bet something's wrong!" she answered.  "What's today?"

"It's Saturday, why?"  Travis was confused.

"What else?"

"Serena, I'm still stiff and sore from yesterday, I'm not really in the
mood to play twenty questions."

"I'll remind you.  Today is the day we turn fifteen.  Today is the day
we tell everyone we're twins.  `Today' is the day we have a giant party
at your house!"  Serena was almost shouting, and Travis was starting to
look a little panicked himself.

"We're dead," Travis whispered.  "I got a message from Uncle Jake saying
he would be home this afternoon, was bringing a friend, and was looking
forward to it.  I wondered what `it' meant."

"The two," Serena turned to Darien, and said in an aside, "Are you busy
today?"  He shook his head and she continued, "The three of us can't put
together a party in a morning!  What are we going to do?
WWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!"

Darien put his hand over her mouth when she started to wail.  "We're
going to do what you always do when you're in trouble, call your friends
for help."

Serena quieted down when he said that.  "Of course!  They'll help!  Amy,
Raye, Mina, Lita!  Come in guys, this is an emergency!" she called into
her communicator.

"What's the matter?" Amy answered almost immediately.  "Is it another
attack?"

"No," Serena answered, "it's worse!"

"What could be worse, Meatball Head?" Raye asked grumpily.

"Me and Travis were supposed to have a birthday party today, where we'd
tell everyone we were twins.  But we forgot all about it, because of our
fight.  Now we only have, like, four hours to put together a party, and
I don't know what to do," she whined.

"That's an emergency?" Raye muttered.

"Well, I'll handle the food if I can think of a way to get it there,"
Lita said.  "If this party is going to be as big as I think it is, I'll
need help carrying the groceries."

Darien picked up Serena's wrist and spoke into the communicator, "If
you're going to be passing the arcade, stop in.  Andrew is off today,
and we were going to meet there.  Tell him that I'm not going to be able
to make it, invite him and Lizzie to the party, and ask him to drive
you."

Mina spoke up, "But when is the party?  She can't tell him to come, if
she doesn't know when it is."

"I don't know," Serena almost snapped.  "I haven't had time to think
about it!"

"I think that if we all worked together, we could easily have everything
done by three o'clock, is that acceptable?" Amy asked.

"That should give me plenty of time," Lita said, "Serena, Travis, what
kind of cake do you want?"

"Chocolate," Travis answered immediately.

"With chocolate frosting," Serena agreed.

"Can I use your kitchen to cook in?" Lita asked absently, her mind
already taken up with the details of the food she was going to cook.

"Sure, it's not a problem," Travis agreed.

"I'll call everyone and tell them about the party," Amy said.  "Travis,
what kinds of things do you like, so I can tell them?"

"Presents aren't really necessary, you know," Travis said, ignoring his
sister's, "Yes they are."  "But I like things to do with falcons, suns,
swords, old legends, and video games."

"Don't forget eating!" Serena put in.

"Okay," Amy laughed, "Those shouldn't be too hard to remember."

"I'll go get decorations," Mina volunteered, "but I'll need a ride,
too."

"So will I," Raye answered.  "Chad's not here today, or I'd see if I
could get him to drive me, but I need to go several places and get quite
a few things that it would be better if Travis didn't hear."

Travis heard that and decided to go and start clearing out the main
rooms of the house.  The girls and Darien spent the next few minutes
deciding on presents for him, that Raye would get and wrap for everyone.

"I need to get a few things too," Darien said, "so I'll drive Raye.  As
for Mina, just a minute."  He got off the communicator and pulled out
his wallet.  He looked through it until he found the name and address he
was looking for.  He called the number.

"Daniel Amsler," a voice said as the phone was picked up.

"Daniel, this is Darien, are you busy today?" Darien asked.

Daniel was surprised, Darien was not known for asking favors.  "No, I
don't have any jobs lined up for today, what do you need?"

"My girlfriend and her twin brother are having a birthday party today,
and since they forgot all about it, we're having to set the whole thing
up in about six hours.  I really need someone to drive one of her
friends around to pick up decorations."  Serena's whole face had lit up
when he called her his girlfriend, and she was gazing at him with loving
eyes.

"Sure," Daniel agreed.  It was not exactly how he'd planned to spend his
day, but he was glad that Darien had called him for help.  He didn't
think it would be that difficult to do, besides, maybe the girl was
cute.  "Where do I pick her up?"

Darien gave Daniel Mina's address, before turning around to give Mina
the information about her ride.

"Is he cute?" Mina and Lita both asked at once.

"That's not really important right now," Amy cut in, "Serena, who do you
want me to call?"

"Everybody," was Serena's reply once she came out of her trance.  "Why
don't you come over here and call.  Travis and I seem to be left with
getting the house ready," in an aside, "Thanks guys," she continued, "so
if I think of anyone new, I'll tell you."

"Besides, then she can help out cleaning up, after she's done," Mina
laughed, "I think my ride's here.  Oh my goodness!" she squealed.

"What?" everyone asked at once.

"I guess he's cute, huh?" Lita asked, a little jealous.

"He came in a limo!" Mina screeched.

"No way!  You're kidding!  That's so cool!" were some of the comments
from the other girls.

"That's what he does," Darien answered.  "He owns a chauffeur service."

"Bye girls, I think I'm going to have fun," Mina said dreamily as she
started to walk out her door.

"Oh, Mina, don't forget, if you see anyone you know, or I know, don't
forget to ask them to the party, okay?" Serena urged.

"Yeah, yeah," Mina said absently.

"I've got to be on my way," Lita said, "If I want to get there in time
to cook."

"Darien?" Raye asked, "When will you be by to pick me up?"

"Give me half an hour to get changed and pick up my car," he answered.

After everyone said good-bye, he looked at Serena, bent down, and kissed
her lovingly. "Happy Birthday, sweetheart," he said softly as he left.

Serena just stood there, hearts in her eyes, staring at the door.  In
fact, she stayed that way until a knock came on the door.  It shocked
her out of her daydream and she opened the door to Amy.

Travis came in then too, "Why didn't you come tell me when I could come
back in?" he asked.  "I've been waiting for twenty minutes."

"I kind of forgot the time," Serena said, still in a dreamy voice.

"She got kissed," Travis guessed, grinning.

Amy laughingly agreed, before asking if there was anyone in particular
they wanted to come.

"Make sure you call the new transfer student, I think her name's Karen
Healy," Travis said.

"Oh, you like her?" Serena teased.

"It's not that.  It's just that I remember what it was like to move to
another country.  I doubt she has made many friends.  After all, she
wasn't lucky enough to have a twin sister in town," he grinned.

Serena smiled back in agreement, "And don't forget to invite Peggy and
the Four Sisters.  Oh, and my old baby-sitter, Tenshi, I'll get you her
number."

Amy settled herself on a couch by the phone and started calling.
"Hello, may I speak to Carmen please?  Hi Carmen, this is Amy."

"Amy?  This is a surprise. Can I help you with something?"  Carmen held
up a hand to ask her two friends to quiet down so she could hear.

"Serena and Travis decided to have a joint birthday party because their
birthdays are so close together, and they had a special announcement to
make.  However, they forgot to let anyone know about it. The party is
this afternoon at three, and you're invited."

"Cass and Stefanie are here with me," Carmen almost asked.

"Yes, they're invited as well," Amy answered.

"Cool!" Carmen answered, "What's this big announcement?"

"A surprise," Amy answered.  "I'm not supposed to talk about it."

"Well, then, what does Travis like?  If we're going to his party, we
need to know what he likes."

Amy told her, as well as the time and place before hanging up.  In her
house, Carmen turned back to her friends.  "We are invited to a birthday
party this afternoon."

"Whose?" Stefanie and Cassandra asked almost in stereo.

"Serena and her `friend' Travis are having a double birthday party this
afternoon.  There's going to be a special announcement," Carmen said as
mysteriously as she could.

"I wonder what it is?" Cass said softly. "Do you think they're going to
announce they're going together?"

"I don't think so," Stefanie said, "but I know just what to get them."

"You don't even know what Travis likes," Cass disagreed.

"He'll like this," Stefanie smiled, "Trust me."

"I hate when you do that psychic stuff, Stef," Cass said annoyed.  "At
least you could tell us about it!"

"Nope, it's going to be a surprise," Stefanie said.  "Kinda like the
announcement."  And the conversation went to the birthday party as they
gossiped about it for the next half hour.


Amy had already called several other people and was now talking to
Zorina.

"I'd love to go to the party," Zorina was saying, "but I'm baby-sitting
my nephew, Zachary."

"Bring him along," Amy said, "The house is certainly big enough, as long
as he won't get into any trouble."

"No, Zach's a really well behaved kid," Zori said, "And very smart for
his age.  If he can come, we'll be there at three.  I'm outtie!"


At the mall, Raye was looking for the gifts the Scouts had decided on
for Travis.  Darien was searching for the perfect gifts for the two most
important people in his life.  He stopped at a knick-knack shop when he
noticed the little figurines and stared for a long moment, before going
in and buying two of them.  He walked on.

Raye had already bought several things, and was now looking at the
stuffed animals, when she noticed two people she knew.  "Hi Anya, hi
Sarah!" she called out.

"Hi Raye, what are you doing here?" Anya asked.

"Oh, Serena and Travis are having a joint birthday party today, and I'm
just looking for gifts," Raye answered.  "Would you like to come?"

"I'd love to," Sarah said immediately.  "And I saw something just a
couple of stores back that would be perfect for Serena."

"It sounds like fun," Anya agreed.  "When, where, and what does Travis
like?"

"Three o'clock this afternoon, at Travis's house," Raye said.

"Doesn't he live in that mansion up on the hill?" Anya asked.

"Oh, I'd love to go up there," Sarah said with wide eyes, "I've seen it
from the street. It's so beautiful."

After talking for a few more minutes about the party, they parted and
Raye continued looking at the stuffed animals.


Lita and Andrew were in a supermarket stocking up on food for the party.
Andrew was bored and wandered off to the book aisle.  "Hi, Eric," he
greeted.

Eric, who was looking at the cover of the newest Mercedes Lackey book,
turned and grinned at Andrew.  "Hi Andrew, what are you doing here? I
thought you never left the arcade."

"Yeah, well, today's my day off, and I was planning on eating lunch with
Darien, but it seems today is Serena's birthday, and everybody's working
on the party.  And I got roped into being Lita's transportation as she
gets the food."

"Isn't Lita the one with the crush on you?" Eric asked, trying not to
laugh.

"Yes, she is," Andrew said in a voice of long suffering.

Eric couldn't help it, he burst out laughing and was still laughing when
Will came up to see what was going on.  "Hi Andrew, hi Eric, what's so
funny?"

"Eric seems to think that the fact that I'm helping Lita with the food
for the party is hilarious," Andrew said in a tone of annoyance.

"Party?  What party?" Will asked, but before either of the others could
answer, he snapped his fingers.  "It's Serena's birthday today, isn't
it?"

"Serena and Travis are having a joint birthday party today.  Don't ask
me why they're having one party for both of them, though.  When I asked,
all Lita would tell me was that they were going to have a special
announcement this afternoon," Andrew put in.

"How did you know it was Serena's birthday?" Eric asked, interested.
"Have you been keeping track?"

"She's one of my friends, Eric, of course I've been keeping track.  I
didn't know about Travis, though."  He turned back to Andrew.  "What
kinds of things does he like?"

"I don't know, you'll have to ask Lita. I haven't really been paying
much attention," Andrew admitted, "I do know he likes to play video
games, which is why I'm getting both of them a day of `all you can play'
at the arcade.  And Lizzie's getting them gift certificates at the
cafe."

"Come on, there's no way I'm missing this party, so let's go talk to
Lita," Will said, leading them off into the store.


"Hi Amy," Amy said, "This is Amy.  Yes, the other Amy."

"Hi Amy," Amy replied, "Is something the matter?"

"No, there's nothing wrong," Amy answered, "But Serena and Travis are
having a joint birthday party today, and I just called to invite you."

"Cool," Amy smiled behind the phone, "I love birthday parties.  Can I
play my violin?"

"I don't think there would be a problem, if you wanted to play a song or
two," Amy replied, also smiling.

"When should I arrive wherever it is, and what should I get?"


Mina and Daniel had just finished filling the trunk of the limo when
John, also known as Robo, noticed them.

"Mina?" he asked surprised.  He whistled as he looked at the limo,
"That's some car!  What happened? Did your parents win the lottery or
something?"

"No, this car's not mine.  Daniel, here, is just doing Darien a favor by
taking me around to pick up the decorations for the party this
afternoon," Mina replied.

"What party?" Robo asked.

"Serena's and Travis' birthday party," Mina answered, "Don't tell me you
haven't heard?"

"I haven't heard," Robo answered, smiling.

"Oh, you," Mina growled, getting into the car, "The party's at three at
Travis' house.  Travis likes falcons, suns, swords, old legends, video
games, and eating. I think that's everything."

"I'll be there," Robo replied, before turning and walking off.


Serena walked in from where she had been working and plopped down on the
couch next to Amy.  "How's it going?" she asked.

"Quite well, I think," Amy replied.  "I've gotten quite a few more
people than I expected, although I `did' have to leave messages on quite
a few answering machines."

"Have you gotten Glenda, Marie, Zorina, Jade, or Anya?" Serena asked.

"I haven't gotten Anya or Jade, but I managed to get in touch with the
others," Amy answered, "Hopefully, they will either get the message I
left, or someone else will tell them.  Glenda seemed very excited when
she heard about Travis' likes.  It seems she had something lying around,
that she had just finished, that would be perfect for him."

"Glenda's the one that does those neat things with beads, right?" Serena
asked, interested.

"Yes, she is," Amy agreed.  "She does some beautiful work, too."


Word was spreading, Eric told Joshua and Joshua told Jack.  Cass had met
Jade as she was shopping.  Stefanie told it to Selene, and Selene told
Marie.  Molly and Melvin had both been calling around since they found
out.  The news was spreading quickly, and everyone seemed interested in
finding out what the big announcement was going to be.


Back at the house, Amy was finished calling, and was now busy wrapping
up knick-knacks so they could be put out of the way.  Lita and Andrew
had returned and Lita was busy in the kitchen, while Andrew was helping
move tables around.

Mina and Daniel returned soon after, and Daniel started helping Andrew.
Mina, Serena, and Travis tried to figure out how they would drape the
bunting.

Serena figured she had found the perfect solution and pulled a chair
over to the side of the room and climbed up on it.

"I don't really think that's a good idea, Serena," Mina said worriedly.

"Oh, I'll be fine," Serena said absently stretching to reach the top
corner.  As she stretched, she felt the chair start to tilt under her.
"WWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"
she screamed as she fell.  Luckily for her, Travis was right under her.
Unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to catch her or get out of the
way, and got landed on.

As Andrew and Daniel came running in, they saw a tipped over chair and a
wailing girl sitting on top of a comatose boy, while a nearby girl was
rolling on the floor laughing.  Travis would have glared at Mina, if he
had been able to move, but his sister was a little too heavy for him to
move until she did it herself.

"Serena," he said calmly.  When she didn't seem to hear it, he said it
again, "Serena!"  Still, she didn't seem to notice, "SERENA!" he yelled,
"Get off of me!"

Serena stopped wailing and looked down at Travis, "You didn't have to
yell," she said petulantly.

Mina walked over to where Amy and Lita were standing in the doorway.
"Is she reverting?" she asked quietly, still trying to control the
giggles.  She lost control again as she realized that Travis and Serena
were arguing, but Serena still hadn't gotten off of him.

"A little, I think," Amy replied to her question.  "Reenie was a big
part of her new maturity, she was determined to set a good example for
her.  Now that Reenie is gone, she doesn't feel the same need to always
be mature, and can go back to the way she was.  However, I don't think
she will ever be as much of a klutz or crybaby as she once was; she's
changed too much."

Serena finally got up and looked over at the girls, pointedly ignoring
Travis as he pantomimed dragging in deep breaths of air, as if he had
been suffocating.

Lita went back into the kitchen as Amy, Mina, and Serena started doing
the ground level decorations.  They covered the tables to hold the
presents and food.  They added centerpieces and garnishes, and moved
chairs into the rooms.  They also talked about what kinds of games they
wanted to play and what kind of music.


Raye and Darien finally returned.  Darien had been the one holding them
up, not quite sure what to get for the two.  He finally decided on what
he wanted to get Travis, although it took him a while to find a really
good one. However he wanted Serena's gift to be really special.
Something to remind her that he loved her and always would.  Finally he
decided.

When they reached the house, Raye immediately commandeered one of the
bedrooms so she could wrap the presents they had bought.  Darien went to
help the decorators.  He found Amy helping Lita with the snacks, Mina
and Serena working on setting up the games, and Travis filling balloons.
He looked at the bunting just lying across several chairs.

"Why isn't that up?" he asked.

"Because it's being stubborn," Serena said.

"We can't find a ladder, and it has already been shown that chairs don't
work very well," Travis said.

Darien looked around and spotted something in the window.  "Apollo, can
you carry it?"

"I suppose, but what good would that do?" Apollo asked.  "It would need
to be tacked up there, and I certainly can't do that."

"But I can," Darien grinned, "There's not that much difference between
long tacks and roses."

Everyone looked at him in surprise, than at the tiny tacks he was
planning on throwing into the walls to hold the crepe paper.  Then they
shrugged.  If he really thought he could do it, then he probably could.
He did look very confidant.

The others stepped way back as Apollo came in the window.  Apollo picked
up the roll of crepe paper and flew close to one wall of the room, as
close to the ceiling as he could.  Although he knew what Darien was
going to do, he was still extremely surprised when a tack flew by him,
impacted the flowing end of the crepe paper, and tacked itself into the
wall.

"It worked!" Serena squealed, "I knew you could do it, muffin!"

Now knowing for certain that they could do it, Darien and Apollo had a
blast putting up the crepe paper.  Apollo started rolling and diving,
creating interesting patterns in the paper as Darien tacked it up
whenever he got close to a wall, or occasionally the ceiling. Apollo was
in the middle of weaving the crepe paper in the middle of the room, when
the phone rang.  Apollo squawked in surprise and lost his rhythm.  As
the others watched, he fell straight into the web he had been creating.

Travis tried to keep his mouth straight.  He could see by Apollo's glare
that he was not in the mood to be laughed at, but Travis couldn't help
it.  Neither could anyone else.  Guffaws exploded out of everyone at the
sight of the large golden eagle, trapped in a web of blue crepe paper.

Amy was giggling helplessly as she picked up the phone.  "Watson
residence," she said, trying to get control of herself.

"This is Leala, I heard that there was a birthday party here today, and
just wanted to make sure I heard right," the voice on the other end of
the line said.

"Leala, this is Amy.  Yes, if you heard that Serena and Travis are
having a birthday party here this afternoon, then you heard correctly,"
Amy said.

"Thanks, I didn't want to go buying presents if someone was playing a
joke on me.  By the way, what's so funny?" Leala asked curiously.  After
all, Amy giggling was not something you heard often.

"You'd have to be here to believe it," Amy said.

"I wish I was, it sounds like a blast.  See ya!" Leala said, hanging up.

Amy looked back up to see the crepe paper starting to tear.  "Watch
out!" she called.

Travis and Darien both threw themselves underneath the bird as the crepe
paper finished tearing.  The laughter grew even louder as the two boys
banged their heads together as Apollo spread his wings and flew out the
window.  Travis and Darien had sat down when they hit each other, and
were now sitting there rubbing their heads and looking very put upon.

"AWW!  Did muffin hit his widdle head?" Serena giggled.

Darien glared at her for a short time before exchanging a nod with
Travis.  Both of them got up and started to stalk Serena.  She backed up
still laughing.  Darien and Travis immediately started chasing her as
she ran.  Somehow, she managed to dodge around tables and chairs without
actually falling.  She raced down the hallway with the two boys on her
heels.  As she ran, she didn't notice the door in front of her opening
and Raye stepping out.  CRASH!

"Why don't you watch where you're going, Meatball Head?" Raye shouted.

"Sorry, didn't mean it, gotta run," Serena panted as she kept going.
Raye stood up and decided to join the chase.  Serena ran out the front
door and jumped down the steps without falling.  She never even noticed
her good coordination as the others barreled out after her.  She ran
down the driveway and bumped into another person.  This time she wasn't
able to keep her feet, and landed on her backside on the driveway.  So
did the other person.

"I should have known it was you, Serena," James said as he got to his
feet, just to be knocked back down as the other three reached them and
attacked.

"TICKLE ATTACK!" they called, all three attacking from different sides.

James stood there trying to decide if he should help Serena, who seemed
to be dying of laughter, but the others finally stood up.

"That will teach you to laugh at our misfortunes," Travis smirked.

"Oh, is that what you were tickling her for?  I wondered," Raye said.

Darien finally noticed James standing there.  "Oh, I'm sorry, we didn't
notice you there.  Can I help you with something?"

"I was just passing by, when I kind of got stopped," James replied,
looking down at Serena, who was still trying to recover her breath.

"Are you coming to the party?" Travis asked.

"What party?"  James hadn't heard about any party.

"Me and Serena are having a double birthday party this afternoon,"
Travis answered.

"Would you like to come?" Serena gasped from where she was lying.

"Sounds like fun.  When is it, and what should I bring?"  James and
Travis started talking about the party as Serena got up.

Darien moved towards her, "Are you okay?" he asked, a little concerned
with how long she'd been on the ground.

"Yes, I'm fine."  She turned to look at him and Raye, "Do you think you
guys can do without me for awhile?" she asked quietly.  "I feel like
going for a walk."

"Sure, we have everything under control," Raye said, also a little
worried about how quiet she was now.

"I'll go with you," Darien volunteered immediately.

"No, that's okay," Serena answered.  "I'll be fine on my own."

"Is something the matter with her?  She sure doesn't seem too happy for
someone who's having a birthday party today," James said looking after
her.


Serena walked quickly away from the mansion, her mind filled with images
of the last time she'd been tickle attacked.  Reenie had been gone for
less than a day, but the thought that she was so far away hurt.  A
thousand years.  It would be a thousand years before she got to see her
daughter again.

Without her noticing, her legs took her to the pier on the lake where
Reenie had first shown up.  Memories played through her mind of the
times they had spent together, and a tear crept down her face.  She was
still standing there when something hit her in the head.  As she turned
to growl at whoever was throwing things at her, she saw a fairly large
black ball, shaped like a cat!  It was Luna Ball!  Even as she thought
that, she heard the sound of something falling and spun instinctively to
catch the tumbling pink haired body.

"Reenie!" she cried.

"Hi Serena!" the munchkin said.  She looked at the girl who was
alternating hugging her and staring at her in disbelief.  "You don't
look any older!" she exclaimed.

"Why should I?" Serena asked absently, being engaged in hugging her
daughter.  It was then she really started to feel the changes in
Reenie's body.  She was heavier, and seemed taller.  Serena pulled back
and stared at the little girl.  She was taller, her hair longer, and her
body just seemed more mature.

"Why haven't you gotten any older?" Reenie asked, still surprised.

"How did you get so much older?" Serena said at the same time.  "You've
only been gone a day!"

Reenie had finished her thought at the same time, "It's been more than a
year!"

"A day?!"  "A year?!" both exclaimed.  Serena held up her hand before
anything more could be said.  "Let's try this one at a time, okay?
Yesterday, we fought Rubeus and then went to the future.  You stayed."

Reenie shook her head, "I came back more than a year ago.  I..." she was
interrupted.

"Is something the matter?  Has something happened to your parents
again?" Serena frantically asked, sure that only something devastating
could bring Reenie back to this time.

"No," Reenie laughed.  "This is my birthday present.  When Mommy asked
me what I wanted for my seventh birthday, I said I wanted to come visit
you."

"Seventh?" Serena asked.  "You're seven?"  She was saddened by how much
of her child's life she had missed.  Although she knew that Reenie
wasn't really her child, not yet, it didn't help much.  "Well, it looks
like I got my birthday wish too, even though I haven't blown out the
candles yet."

"Your birthday?"  Reenie was surprised.

"Mm-hmm," Serena agreed, "Don't you remember?  Today is mine and Travis'
fifteenth birthday, when we tell everyone that we're twins."

"So that's why Mommy gave them to me!" Reenie suddenly realized.  She
picked up Luna Ball and ran out into the park.  She started bouncing
Luna Ball, then called, "KITTY MAGIC! Bring out the presents!"  Suddenly
there were several brightly wrapped presents on the ground.

"These three," Reenie said, pointing to three presents a little more
`loosely' wrapped than the others, "are from me.  These others are from
Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Tranq.  I guess they're your birthday presents,
but there's one for Daddy there, too."

"What are all these presents for?" a voice said from behind them.  They
turned in surprise before Serena realized who it was.

"You startled us, Suzanne," Serena said.  "This is my cousin, Reenie,
and she's just trying to get the presents she's bringing to my birthday
party together."

"It's your birthday?" Suzanne asked surprised.  "I hadn't heard
anything."

"Well, Travis and I had decided to hold a joint birthday party today,
and told our parents about it, but forgot to tell anyone else.  So we're
just hoping that word of mouth will get people there," Serena explained.
"Are you coming?"

"Sure, I'd love to," Suzanne said, "Only one question."

"What does Travis like?" Serena guessed.  "He likes falcons, suns, video
games and eating.  Oh yeah, he also likes swords and old legends of
people using swords."

"That's good to know," Suzanne said smiling, "but what I really wanted
to know was why you're having a double birthday."

"Oh, that," Serena said and giggled slightly, "`That' is a secret.
We'll announce it during the party."

"Well, I'd better go buy presents," Suzanne said walking away.  She
stopped, "Wait!  When is it?"

After giving Suzanne the rest of the information, Serena and Reenie
gathered up the presents and started walking back to the mansion.  On
the way they talked about what Reenie had been doing over the last year,
and the strides Crystal Tokyo had made in getting back on its feet.  Of
course the Moon Crystal had made a lot of difference in the project.

They got back to find Apollo had been talked into helping again, and a
banner was being strung across the front of the house.  Reenie decided
to join in.  "KITTY MAGIC! Hold it up!"  Luna Ball inflated and wafted
across to help hold up the banner.  It was a good thing it did, because
Reenie's announcement had caused everyone to turn around and stare at
her.

"Reenie!" Darien cried, jumping off of the ladder he had been standing
on.

Travis was a step ahead of him, however, not having a ladder to jump off
of.  "Hi Small Lady!" he said, scooping her up into a hug.  "Ugg," he
grunted, "You've gotten bigger."

"She's seven," Serena quietly explained.  "She's been home for more than
a year."

"Seven?" Darien and Travis repeated, stunned.  Even though they knew of
time travel, and knew that Reenie was from another time period, the
thought that she could age more than a year in what was to them a single
day, was kind of hard to take.

"So you here for the party, little one?" Darien asked when he got his
wits back, taking his turn hugging her.

"Uh huh," Reenie said, nodding as she hugged him tightly.

Serena was smiling at the picture they made, and about to join in the
hug when she glanced at her watch.  "It's two-thirty?!  Are we going to
be finished in time?  Did anyone call my parents?  Where's Travis'
present?  What if the guests arrive early?  Is the food ready?  Maybe we
should just cancel this, it's never going to be finished in time."
Serena was babbling as she realized how little time was left and how
much was left to do.  However, thanks to her friends, there wasn't much
left to do at all and Travis and Darien hurried to reassure her.

"EXCUSE ME!" a voice suddenly shouted down at them.  They all turned to
see Apollo glaring down at them from where he was still holding the
banner.  Only Luna Ball's help had let him keep it up for this long.

Darien and Travis rushed for the banner, while Reenie and Serena went
inside.  The girls had finished decorating the rooms, and one table was
already being set up with food.  Of course, everyone had to stop and
talk to Reenie, and comment on how much she had grown.  There were
already a number of presents on one of the tables set aside for that
purpose, and Reenie quickly put the presents for Serena and Travis on
it, while setting Darien's apart for later.


Outside, Travis and Darien, with the help of Apollo, had managed to hang
the banner.  They were talking about Reenie's return, and how much she'd
grown, when they heard the sound of a car in the driveway.

"Come on, Darien, it's Uncle Jake!" Travis called, excited because his
guardian had been out of town for almost two weeks.

Darien Jacobson stepped out of the car followed by another man.  It took
Travis a few minutes to recognize him.

"Doug!" he said, after saying hello to his guardian.

"Hi Travis, Happy Birthday!" Doug said with a smile, shaking Travis'
hand.

"What are you doing here?  I haven't seen you in over a year!"  Travis
exclaimed.

"I met up with Jake here, and he told me about the party, so I thought
I'd come and visit.  Besides, I wanted to meet this sister of yours,"
Doug explained.  "Do you mind?"

"Are you kidding?  It's great to see you again!" Travis answered.  He
turned to Darien.  "Darien this is my Uncle Jake, Darien Jacobson, and a
very old friend of mine, Doug Helm.  Uncle Jake, Doug, this is Darien
Chiba."

"Serena's ex-boyfriend?  The one that we were told died in a cave-in in
America?" Jake asked, surprised.

"No," Darien answered.  "Serena's current boyfriend.  The one that got
`trapped' in a cave-in in America."

"Got back together with her?" Jake asked, interested.  After all, he had
been the one to take her home, devastated, when she heard he was dead.

"Yeah," Darien looked as if he was a million miles away for a moment.
"I had a lot of time to think, and realize what a stupid thing I was
doing.  Especially since I still loved her, I had just let someone else
break us up."

"And if you do it again, I'll personally bash your head in," Travis said
calmly.  As Jake and Doug looked at him in surprise he shrugged his
shoulders.  "Hey, I love him like a brother, but she's my sister, and
I'm not going to let anyone harm her."

"You've gotten very attached to her then?" Doug asked in an interested
tone.

"After all, you've only known her for a month," Jake put in.

"I've known her and loved her for two lifetimes," Travis said
mysteriously, "I will never stop."

"Agreed," Darien said softly, before turning around to go look for her.

Jake and Doug just shrugged at each other, before turning to get the
gifts they had brought and taking them inside.


Guests started arriving soon after, all of them bearing gifts.  Serena's
family were among the first one's there.  Serena's father was glaring
absently at the three college guys who had been helping, especially at
Darien, since he recognized him.

Jack came up the driveway, carrying one of the gifts that Peggy wasn't
able to handle.

"What is that?" Peggy asked, pointing upwards.

Jack looked where she was pointing, then put down his present and raised
his arm in invitation.  Apollo landed on it and preened at Peggy's
delighted gaze.  "This is Apollo, Mr. Jacobson's golden falcon.  I've
been here a couple of times with Travis so he knows me."

"He's so beautiful," Peggy whispered as Apollo flew up into the air once
more.


Inside, the guests were milling about, munching on the snacks Lita had
provided, talking about the decorations, and the heavy emphasis on moons
and suns, and gossiping about the big announcement that was going to be
made.  Serena and Travis were circulating, making sure no one was bored.
The other Scouts were doing the same thing.

Reenie and Luna Ball were circulating as well, mainly making sure no one
questioned how she grew from five to seven in a day.  Then she found a
group of kids from Sammy's age to Zachary's two and a half years old.
They entertained themselves and each other in different ways, only
Zorina ever seeming to pay any attention to them, and she was only
watching over her nephew, Zachary.

Darien didn't seem to be enjoying himself much, trying to quietly stay
out of the way of his girlfriend's father was not always easy.

"Hi Serena!  Happy birthday!" Marie said, coming over to her.  She had
had enough of the rumors and decided to come right to the source.  "So,
what's the big announcement going to be?"

Serena grinned back at her, "It's..." she started.

"Yes?" Marie asked eagerly.

"A surprise," Serena answered sweetly.

"Aww, that's no fun," Marie complained, but she was smiling.  "Will you
at least tell me when you're going to make the announcement?"

"Soon," Serena promised, "before the cake, I promise."

"Well, if it's before the cake, it must be soon," Marie said, "I can't
see you waiting much longer for cake."

Serena mock glared, but Marie just giggled, and Serena walked back to
the buffet table to get something to eat.  She found Travis there for
the same reason.  They talked for a short while, standing there.  Then
Serena looked up,  "I see someone I know," she said, "I'll see you in a
few minutes."

"I see someone I think I know, too," Travis said, "though I have no idea
how she got here."

They were surprised when they walked side by side to where Darien was
talking to the person they both thought they knew.

"Hi Tenshi," Serena said.

"Hi Angel," Travis said at the same time.

"Hi moppet," she said, "Trav, is that you?  I didn't know you'd moved to
Japan."

"Angela?" Darien asked, "You know both of them?"

"Sure, Tenshi was my baby-sitter when I was little," Serena said.

"You mean the one who..."  Serena was already nodding her head as Darien
asked it.

"Well, I know her as Angel, and she was my tutor in math, back when I
was having problems with it," Travis put in.

"She's also in college with me, and her name is Angela," Darien added.
"Care to explain that?"

"Well, Tenshi was my name when I lived here in Tokyo, but it was just a
translation of my name into Japanese.  When I went to America when my
father got transferred, I used Angel.  Angela is my real name so I use
it in college," she explained.

"So you lived here, moved to Virginia and moved back, right?" Travis
asked, trying to get it straight.

"Well, actually I've lived in a few more places than that.  My father
got moved fairly often in his work.  I always liked Japan best, so I
moved back here to go to college."

"That's interesting," Darien said, "but I think that you and I need to
have a long talk about what you can and cannot show to a five year old
when you're baby-sitting her."  With that, he took her arm and led her
away.

About then Jade came rushing in.  "Hi everyone!  Happy Birthday, Serena!
Happy Birthday, Travis!" she called, "Can someone show me where the
freezer is?  I don't want Serena's present to melt."

"Ice cream!" Serena almost shouted, "Yes! I love ice cream."

"It might not be ice cream," Jade said, "There are other presents that
might melt."

"Like what?" Travis asked, interested.

"Umm, I'll tell you when I think of one.  Right now, I have to get this
ice cream into the freezer," Jade said, leaving everyone laughing in her
wake, and Serena's eyes following her present hungrily.

"Is it time for the announcement yet?" John asked, coming up to them.

"What do you think, Travis? Should we tell everyone, or let them suffer
some more?" Serena asked grinning.

"Tell us," John answered immediately.  "After all, you don't want people
to keep on guessing.  The last rumor I heard said that you two were
alien twins, separated at birth, and brought to this planet because
there was a war on yours."

Serena and Travis laughed weakly at that.  "You're right," Travis said
quickly, "We need to make the announcement before they get anymore wild
ideas."

"Yes!" John said.  "I'll get their attention.  HEY EVERYONE!  THEY'RE
GOING TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!"

The room hushed quickly as Serena and Travis headed to the front of the
room.  There was a small stage set up at one end, but it was too high to
step up on, and whoever had set it up forgot to add steps.  The call
went around for a chair, but Travis was first.

He bowed, "Fair Lady, I would take it as an honor, if thou would allow
me to help thee upon yonder stage."  He got down on one knee and held
out his hand.

Serena went up to him and curtsied back, "My Lord, the honor would be
mine," she said in a formal tone, placing one foot on his knee and
laying her hand on his, she used his knee as a step to the stage.  Then
she turned, and pushed him over onto his back.  "And if you don't stop
with the formal language, I'll use you as a stepping stone until you
do."

He laughed, jumped to his feet and jumped onto the stage.  "Ladies and
Gentlemen," he intoned.

"Friends, classmates, and family," Serena continued, getting into the
spirit of it.

"We have brought you here for several reasons," Travis said, still
trying to sound like an announcer.

"To celebrate my fifteenth birthday," Serena said, just trying not to
laugh at Travis' antics.

"To celebrate my fifteenth birthday," Travis seconded.

"No, they're here to celebrate my fifteenth birthday," Serena said,
trying to sound severe.

"No, my birthday."

"No, mine."

"Mine."

"Mine!"

This was starting to sound like an argument that was never going to end.
Rachel decided to add her own two cents.  "We came here to celebrate
both of yours fifteenth birthday.  We just want to know why you're
holding it together."

Serena and Travis became quiet and turned to look at the person who had
interrupted them.  Then they turned to each other and nodded.  "I'm sure
you would like to know why we're holding our birthday party together,"
they both said at the same time.

Rachel slapped her hand on her head, "What did I do to deserve this?"
she asked herself.

Travis heard her, "You dared to disturb an argument of ours, of course,"
he answered, smiling.

"It wasn't a real argument," Rachel argued.

"Oh, we know, but that just makes it more fun," Serena put in.

"We can always take our presents back, if you would rather argue than
tell us why," Rachel said sweetly.

Serena and Travis immediately got back to what they were doing, while
Rachel enjoyed the praises the others were giving her, for her dealing
with the situation.

"As we were saying, you might have been wondering why we had our
birthday party's on the same day," Travis began again.

"The reason is simple, our birthdays are the same," Serena said.

"As a matter of fact, we were born only six minutes apart," Travis
added.

"To the same set of parents," Serena finished.

"What?!" everyone shouted.

"How come everyone always says that when we tell them we're twins?"
Serena asked Travis.

"Probably because it's the only thing they can think of," Travis
answered.

"How can that be?" Stephanie asked, seconded by most of the others.

"Our bio..." Serena started before turning to look at Travis in
entreaty.  He whispered in her ear and she continued, "Our biological
parents were Sarah and Trevor Aton.  They died when we were three months
old."

"Died of what?" Stephanie asked, seeming to have become the spokesman of
the stunned group.

"We don't know," Travis answered, "We never asked, and it doesn't really
matter."

"Don't you want to know how your parents died?" Stephanie asked.

"Excuse me," Serena answered sharply, "but my parents are very much
alive, they're standing right there."

"And my parents died in a plane crash several months ago," Travis said,
also sharply.  "How are biological parents died is not a big concern,
because we still have our families."

"The fact that Travis and I are twins, is very important to us both,"
Serena continued, "and we're glad you know now, but it just adds to the
families we already have. It doesn't change them in the slightest.  As
far as I'm concerned, those," pointing to the three Tsukino's who were
standing together, "are my family, and so is Travis and his uncle, but
the Atons are not.  Not really."

"All right, all right," Stephanie said quickly, "But how did you figure
it out?"

Serena and Travis looked at each other in shock for a few seconds.  They
hadn't expected that question, and weren't sure how to answer it.
Finally Travis shrugged and turned back to their audience, "Would you
believe, a dream?"

"Not easily," Stephanie said, again seconded by the others.

"True though," Serena said, "It made me get out my adoption papers,
which I knew where were, and compare them to his."

"And they matched," Travis said, smiling at his now openly acknowledged
sister.

"So we talked to our families about it, and decided to tell everyone
about it now," Serena finished, smiling back.  "Now that we've told you,
it's time for the cake!"

Everyone laughed and then oohed and aahed as the cake came out.  It was
a work of art.  Lita had decided against one cake for both of them and
the chocolate frosting.  Instead she had baked two round cakes,
chocolate.  One of them was covered in chocolate chip frosting, with
craters in it.  It was a very good representation of the moon.  The
other cake was covered in yellow frosting, and had rays coming out of
it.  In other words, it looked like a picture of the sun.  The cakes
were put together, with part of the sun cut out, so it looked like the
start of a solar eclipse.  Fifteen candles were on each cake, with an
extra one where the two cakes met, for them both to grow on.

Serena and Travis walked down to stand in front of the cake when the
candles were lit.  As the crowd started to sing Happy Birthday, Serena's
raised hand stopped them.  "Reenie?  Didn't you say it was your birthday
too?"

Reenie had moved as close as possible, but still hadn't been able to see
until Darien found her and put her on his shoulders.  Up high as she
was, it was easy for Serena to see her nod.  Darien brought her forward,
and set her down before the two.  She reached up to hold their hands as
the crowd started to sing Happy Birthday again, adding Reenie to the two
names already there.  Then the three birthday kids, closed their eyes,
made a wish, and blew out the candles.

Jade went running to get her present, which was an ice cream cake in the
shape of a bunny.  Serena aahed over it before cutting herself a piece.
Reenie got hers second, and Travis third.  Serena and Travis did managed
to answer the question of which could eat fastest.  With three very
large pieces of cake on their plate, they managed to clean their plates
in less than three minutes each, with neither coming in first.

"I'd love to back those two in an eating contest," somebody whispered in
the background.

After the cake it was time to open presents.  "I hope nobody got me a
stuffed bunny this year," Serena whispered to Travis, "I almost got
smothered in them last year."

Serena opened Joshua's gift.  It was a large stuffed bunny.  "Oh, it's
so cute!" she said, "I love it!"

"I thought you just told Travis that you hoped you wouldn't get any
stuffed rabbits," Joshua said, sure she would hate it after he overheard
that remark.

"Well, it was true at the time, but this one's sooo cute," Serena said,
smiling happily.

"I'm glad you like it," Joshua said, still surprised, but it was obvious
that she meant it.

"The newest Final Fantasy! Man, I've been wanting to play this one!
Thanks Joshua!" Travis said as he looked at the box in his hand.

"You're welcome,  I've played it, it's just as good as you hear," Joshua
said, happy that his gifts were so well taken.

"And you can't play it until I'm done," Travis said to Serena.

"Hey, you're supposed to share with your sister!" Joshua said, laughing.

"Yeah!" Serena agreed.

Serena next got another stuffed rabbit, this one from Robo, but no
matter what she had said to Travis, it seemed she did like stuffed
rabbits, nestling them both in her lap.  They were soon joined by a
stuffed cat from Stephanie.  Soon after that, she had to move them next
to her on the chair, when she got another stuffed rabbit from James.

"What's this with guys giving you stuffed rabbits?" Travis asked
teasingly.

"Are you one to talk?" Serena asked, looking at the two stuffed falcons
in his lap.  One was from Stephanie, and one from James.

Eric laughed as he walked up, "Maybe I shouldn't give her this then," he
said, holding out a present.

"Don't you dare!" Serena said, opening it.  It was the energizer bunny.

"That's perfect for you, Meatball Head!"  Reenie laughed from where she
sat nearby.  "Just like your mouth with food, it keeps going and going
and going and going."

Travis tried to keep his laughter contained as he thanked Eric for the
specially made Magic the Gathering Combat Deck.  His eyes gleamed as he
looked it over.

His mind was brought back to what was happening around him as Serena
breathed, "Thank you Sarah, this is beautiful."  It was a silver bunny
charm bracelet, which she immediately put on.

"I'm glad you like it," Sarah said brightly, "I thought of you as soon
as I saw it."

Travis had been smiling at Serena's delight as he opened his own
present.  He suddenly gasped and as Serena looked over at him, she saw
him holding what looked like a twelve inch long miniature sword with a
falcon on the hilt.

"It's a letter opener," Sarah explained when he didn't say anything.

"Sarah, this is absolutely gorgeous," he breathed.

Sarah didn't look to sure, but Serena seconded it.  "How did you pick
something so perfect for him?" she asked.

Sarah smiled in delight as Anya stepped up.  Travis gasped at this one
too, a four and a half foot long steel sword, engraved with Celtic
patterns over the blade.  Serena put on her marquise watch with heart
shaped links on the band, only after being assured that it only looked
like an antique.

Karen moved forward, "Thank you for inviting me, I've met a lot of
really nice people," she said.

"I know what it's like to move to a new country where you don't know
anyone," Travis said, "I figured this might be a good way for you to
start to fit in."

"And we're glad to have you," Serena agreed.

"She likes everyone," Reenie put in.

"I'm glad there's someone around that does," Karen responded laughingly.
"Here, I hope you like these."  She handed them their presents and
watched as they ripped them open.

Serena's eyes grew wide as she saw a pearl bracelet almost exactly like
the one she wore in her Princess form.  Travis held his present up to
the window.  The sunlight slashed through the topaz of the small statue
of a falcon striking.

"Thank you, Karen," they both said at once.  "It's beautiful."

"You're welcome," she answered, pleased at their reaction.

Raye decided it was her time to give out presents.  Serena looked in
surprise at the envelope in her hand.  Opening she saw it was a
subscription to her favorite comic.

"Now you won't have to read mine anymore," Raye said with a sniff.

Travis was laughing at the expression on Serena's face even as he was
thanking Raye for his own present, a book of ancient swords and their
legends.

Jack moved forward then, "Hey Serena, you should find this useful," as
he looked towards Luna sitting on top of a nearby hearth.  Serena opened
the present to find a ball of catnip.

"Oh, yes, I'm sure I know someone who would like to use this," Serena
also looked towards Luna, who was sitting up and her tail was twitching.

"This is `your' present," as he handed her another gift, then he turned
toward Travis, "I thought this would help you out."

Serena squealed as she saw the Sailor V game, and Travis' thanks were
just as sincere for the large leather falconer's glove.

Since Serena put on everything wearable when she got it, she soon was
covered.  The T-shirt from Molly with a picture of Sailor Moon, the
golden crescent moon necklace from Leala, the crystal crescent moon
earrings from Suzanne, and bunny earrings from Marie.  Those last two
caused some laughs, since she couldn't wear both pairs at the same time,
she had a crescent moon earring in one ear and a bunny earring in the
other.  Her arms were full even before she added Amy's bunny watch.
Still, she loved each and every thing, and wanted to show it by wearing
it.

Travis had put on the gold necklace with the sun symbol from Leala and
the watch with a picture of the sun on its face from Suzanne.

Glenda walked up and looked at Serena, "Maybe I shouldn't give these to
you, you don't look like you have any more room."

"I'll find room," Serena assured her, "Did you make me something with
beads?  I've heard how good your bead things are."

"Why don't you look and see?" Glenda asked with a laugh.

Serena opened her presents to see a moonstone bracelet, which got added
to her arm, only after it had been oohed and aahed for a while, and a
pair of bead barrettes for her hair.

"Thank you Glenda!" she said sincerely.  Looking at the barrettes more
closely, "You're as good as they say."

"And who are `they'?" Glenda asked as she handed Travis his two
presents.

Travis opened them to find a book on sword forging techniques and a bead
tapestry of a falcon diving out of the sun.

"It's beautiful," Travis breathed, "but you shouldn't have given me
something you spent so much time on."

Glenda smiled, "I made it to show myself I could, now it was just lying
around the house, collecting dust.  As long as I know that it's with
someone who appreciates it, I'll consider the time well spent."

"Thank you," Travis said.  "I promise I will take good care of it."

Travis immediately put on another present he got as well.  Doug had
given him a red leather jacket, with black and gold sleeves and a falcon
crest on the front.  From the way he was wearing it, Serena had to
wonder if he was ever going to take it off.

Travis got a number of books as well.  Besides the two he had already
been given, Zorina gave him "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark
Twain, and "Lestat" by Anne Rice.  Will got him "A Conneticut Yankee in
King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain, and which Travis seemed about to
start reading immediately.  Carmen gave him a book of old legends, and
Leala a compilation of the original verse forms of the Robin Hood
legends.  Amy had bought him a book of the legends of Roland and a copy
of "The Canterbury Tales."

Serena at first didn't seem to understand why Travis would like getting
all those books, until Carmen gave her an illustrated book of legends of
the Moon.  She also considered Zorina's present a book, and nearly went
wild over the copy of Naoko Takeuchi's newest story, "Rain Girl Kiss."
Amy's gift was also sort of a book, a daily organizer to keep track of
where she was supposed to be.

Everyone also knew of Travis' and Serena's love of food, so that was
greatly in evidence.  From Lita's coupon for two full meals for each of
them, and lunch for a week, to little Zachary's gift certificate to
Beeches Chocolate World.  Serena also got two pounds of real Swiss
chocolate from Doug, a foot tall, gold foil wrapped, chocolate bunny
from Will and a fifteen dollar gift certificate for Benny's ice cream
shop.  Travis got a chocolate falcon from Rachel, with a remark about
how he'd love to know where she found that.  She wasn't talking.  Carmen
got them a ten dollar gift certificate from Baskin Robbins, and Lizzie a
coupon for an all you can eat dinner from the cafe where she worked.

Reenie's reaction summed up everyone else's at these presents.  "You're
going to become blimps!"

Daniel had also decided to get them food.  For Serena, a dinner for two
at the most romantic restaurant in town, although he got glared at
fiercely by her father for that.  For Travis, a group dinner at the
Medieval Times banquet and show.  He also offered to be the chauffeur to
both places.

Add to that, a copy of "Illusion of Gaia" from Angel, "The Martial Arts
Explorer" CD-ROM from Jade, a copy of "The Adventures of Robin Hood"
from Robo, a golden falcon figurine from Cass, and a telescope from
Marie to Travis's haul, and you had a happy camper.  Serena also had a
fool proof alarm clock from Cass (though whether it was Serena proof was
still to be seen), a swim suit with embroidered roses from Tenshi, and a
silver picture frame with a moon and sun from Rachel.

And they still weren't done.  Peggy had brought them each a picture she
had done.  Serena's was Princess Serenity with a black cat by her feet
and the Moon in the background.  Travis' was of Prince Tranquillity with
a falcon flying overhead on a background of the sun.

"While I'm here I might as well complete the set," she said, laughing as
she handed Darien a picture of Prince Endymion against a background of
the Earth.

Selene walked forward, "Maybe you won't want this one, after getting
those," she said shyly.

"Selene," Serena said, "you know better than that.  We like all
presents," she finished mischievously.

Selene gave them their present, obviously a picture, even before her
words.  They opened it together to find a picture of a palace on a
background of light.  The palace was tall, with spires seeming to reach
into the very heavens, and just barely in sight was a small speck in the
sky that closer examination showed was a falcon.

Travis almost got tears in his eyes as he looked at the picture.  "The
Sun Kingdom," he whispered.

"Is it okay?" Selene asked worriedly.

"Oh yes," he whispered, "It's perfect."

"I'm glad you like it," Selene said quietly.

"Selene, he was right, it is perfect," Serena said softly.

Stefanie stepped forward.  "Here's another one to add to your
collection," she said, laughing behind her eyes.  This was a picture of
the Moon Kingdom and Serena was the one to tear up on seeing it.

Jacobson looked at all the pictures they had received and made a
suggestion.  "Why don't you hang all the pictures on the empty wall in
the dining room.  It certainly seems a shame to break them up."  His
suggestion was accepted immediately.

Stefanie quickly gave them their other present and they gasped on seeing
it.  "My dad owns the company that makes the Sailor Moon video games, so
when I saw Sailor Sun and Sailor Sol fighting with the Scouts one time,
I convinced Daddy to add them to the game."

Serena's parents had given her a phone, and Travis' Uncle Jake gave him
a horse.  Mina gave them signed posters of Sailor V.  Sammy had made
dolls with the help of Mika.

Reenie gave them both pictures she had drawn.  Then she gave them their
presents from their older selves.  Travis and Darien both got watches,
also known as communicators.  Darien's was black and Travis' gold.  The
notes that came with them, assured them that they would now be able to
know when the Scouts were gathering without having to wait for a phone
call, or a feeling of danger.  Serena's gift did cause her to cry.
Somehow, sometime in the future, the Star Locket had been found.  The
locket that her brother had given her, that she had given to her love,
and he had given back.  That had brought his memories back, and then
been lost when they were reborn, was now back where it belonged.  She
listened for a long moment, before putting it around her neck.

Darien's gifts were the last.  First, each of them received a little
figurine.  A phoenix almost glowing from its own fire for Travis, and
for Serena, a fairy, dressed in a long white gown with butterfly wings.

Reenie whispered, "It looks like my mommy."

Luckily, no one could hear her.

For Travis, a true sword and a year's lessons in its use.

"Awesome," was the only word Travis could think of to describe how he
felt.

And for Serena, one last picture.  The picture they had posed for, the
pledging of their love, and the giving of the star locket.  The note
with it said, "To always remind you, that it always was, and always will
be."

-------------------------------
Bye.  See you at the sequel.

Thanks everyone, for all your support.  Tell me what you thought,
Jendra@aol.com