A Sailor Moon story by Tim Nolan
e-mail: nomad@cyberverse.com

Please see comments following the story.

Awakening

part 2

     She slipped the shift lever forward into the power setting and
felt the car accelerate out of it's cruise velocity. The speedometer
slid up to 240 as she lined up on the straightaway and flew down the
track. She had to hand it to the Americans, she thought. They were as
crazy about speed as she was.
     These Indy cars were very similar to the Formula 1 cars she was
used to but there was a big difference. The Americans raced these on
oval tracks. These cars were built for speed that the others could not
handle. It would handle like a dog on a twisting Formula 1 course, but
it reigned supreme here in it's element and she reveled in the feel. 
     She was scheduled to do a charity race as the team's
representative in a few weeks before a big race in America. One of the
sponsors of her team,  had cars competing in the race and decided to
garner some extra publicity by entering her in the charity race
against some celebrities and retired drivers. She didn't really want
to, but she knew better than to rock the boat on this. Sixteen year
old girls weren't allowed to compete in this environment and she was
lucky to be here. 
     The car flashed by the stands near the finish line. Only eyes
that were used to it could really catch a message chalked on a board
at this velocity, but she saw what she had been dreading. They
wanted their car back. The regular driver must want to get some time
in, she thought. This one was a far cry above the powered down version
she would race in the celebrity event and she would hate to go back to
the other car.
     She shifted her weight to compensate for the turn as she kept her
velocity up and just missed the outer wall at the end of the turn. The
telemetry in the car told her that she was doing better than the
regular driver had been doing. The English speed measurements never
bothered her, even though she grew up with the metric system.
     As she passed the finish line again and ended with a run that
would probably put her on the pole if she was competing, she glanced
up at the stands. A few diehard fans and some bored media people were
there. That, and one other. She just caught the long, dark green hair
on a woman standing apart from the others. A green so dark, it was
almost black. A flash of red also caught her eye but she was past the
stands too quickly to see more. After pulling into the pit on her next
lap, she looked up at the stands after exiting the car. There was no
one in the stands who matched what she had seen. 
     She frowned and went back into the recesses of the pit and to the
camera that was taping the pit crew performance. The camera had been
running all along and would have the stands in the background. She
stopped it and rewound the tape to her last lap. She looked at the
small viewing screen. Nothing. The woman wasn't on the tape. She had
seen her. The girl was positive about that.

*************************************************************** 

     The sunlight fell through the windows that ran from the floor to
the ceiling of the room she was in and created an array of shadows
over her as it emerged from behind a cloud. Her mind had again
wandered to something else as she had worked. She stretched briefly
and got up from her sketch to walk around the room and admire the
garden outside. This room was a special one to her. She called it the
conservatory. 
     The windows ran the full length of three sides of the room and,
combined with the two story ceiling, gave this room a very open feel
and wonderful acoustics. The bushes and trees on the sides screened it
off from the main part of the house and gave her privacy, but did not
block the beautiful view out the windows and over the city below.
     Her father's devotions were to his family first, but his love of
architecture was a close second. It showed in the layout of the house
on a small hill overlooking a portion of Tokyo. At night, there was a
sea of lights below the house that both parts of the "L" shaped house
could enjoy. During the day, the gardens delighted the eye and soul
with the natural beauty and clever arrangements. It was no wonder he
had become a successful architect and the owner of a respected
designing firm in so little time. 
     She sat down on a bench at her father's third love. She tapped
the keys of the grand piano and tried to work out the melody of the
Chopin piece that had just finished playing. After a few moments, she
gave up and turned the player back on and went to get her violin. She
just didn't have her father's skill with the ivories.
     The hallway was lined with some of the works of both her and her
mother. Both her parents were artistically gifted, but her mother's
skill at painting was the only one she had directly inherited. In her
room, she picked up her violin and returned to the conservatory. She
spent about an hour working on adapting the piece to the violin and
got the basics down to her satisfaction. The polish could wait now
that she had the foundation. 
     After getting a cup of tea, she returned to her original seat and
looked at the sketch. She had been waiting for a date at a cafe a week
ago and her friend had called to cancel. She had to go away due to
work but would now be able to make the recital in a week that she was
going to miss before the change  in plans. She returned to her seat
and had looked around the small cafe, noticing the challenges of
drawing the scene due to the mirrors on the back wall. She didn't
really want to leave yet and decided to wait out the brief rainstorm
that had come up. Her sketch pad was in her bag and she took it out
and began to make a study for a later work. 
     The view from inside the cafe looking at the mirrored wall in the
back with the reflection of the street outside would be her study. She
quickly drew in the basic shapes and forms on her first page, and
decided to do a close up of one section in her next. A young couple
stood outside and she put that into the drawing as she watched them in
a detached way while her hands worked on the page. The girl was tall
for her age and wore an old school uniform that laced up the front.
The young man she spoke with was facing away from the cafe and was
hidden from her view, but her heart went out to the girl. The look of
anguish on her face was clearly visible even from this distance. It
must have been a lover's quarrel, as the young man left after a few
moments and the girl stood there, not even noticing the rain.
     She was just about to get up and go to the girl and comfort her
when another young man came up to the girl and put an umbrella up over
the two of them. After a few  moments, they had left together. She had
decided to do a painting based on this sad scene, and her sketches
earlier in the day were a quick experiment with color and shading to
allow her to feel out her goal for the painting.
     The colors and lines did a good job of expressing the emotions
she had wanted to convey. The cafe was in the foreground. The lovers
were in the background in the mirrors, their sorrow and pain a
contrast to the happier scene in the foreground. She did feel a bit
guilty about using their pain in her piece, but she had learned long
since that artists routinely used the emotions of others to come up
with the ideas for their work.
     She had continued to study it and was composing the painting in
her mind when she noticed an inconsistency. She looked at her original
studies and her sketch again to make certain of what she saw. There
was a woman in the sketch who was not in the studies. Worse, she had
drawn her showing up in the mirror, but not in the crowd where she
obviously would have to be in order to have such a reflection. 
     The woman was distinctive enough that she should have remembered
her from that cafe. Her long green hair was almost black and she held
a tall staff. She would have remembered seeing someone like that.
Somehow, the woman looked... familiar.

***********************************************************

     The display on the wall in front of her read " 2.01 ." This was
the fastest she had ever gone, but she had thought that twice the
speed of sound would somehow be more interesting. The small windows of
the jet did not allow her to see much outside to compare their speed
with. 
     The travel agent for the team had managed to get the bookings
changed and get her on the Concorde for the run from New York to
London. From there, she would transfer to a normal airliner for the
long run to Tokyo. If the planes were not delayed, she'd just make it
to Tokyo in time for Michiru's recital at their high school.
     Things were going well for her, she thought as she settled down
into the seat to rest. She was able to chase her dream and had found a
close friend. The time she had spent in America these last weeks had
made her realize how much she had missed the latter while pursuing the
former.
     It hadn't always been like this for her. When she was young, she
didn't fit in real well. Her father had been in the military for a
short time when he was young, and this had enabled him to get an
apartment in one of the large housing complexes for his family. He was
a baker, and had turned a lot of hard work into a small chain of four
bakeries with a small catering business on the side. He hadn't been
around much when she was growing up, but that still didn't stop her
from turning into what one of the American drivers called her. She was
a tomboy.
     She may have been more accepted in America, but it was hard for
the boys in the complex to accept her. That is, until she showed them
that she was as good as any of them at the sports they played and
helped them to beat the team of boys from one of the other buildings
in the complex in a game of baseball. The fact that she was going to
pitch was a great source of amusement for the other team. The laughter
and derision stopped when she started striking them out. After that,
she was like one of the boys. The only way to tell her apart from them
was her sandy blond colored hair that was pulled back in a braid to
keep it out if the way, for she was as tall as most of them.
     Her parents had been slightly worried after a few years of this.
They had thought she should be playing with the other young girls
instead. They couldn't understand how much she despised their dolls
and the talk of who they wanted to marry when they grew up. There had
to be something more to life for her. 
     The child psychologist they sent her to when she was eight had
finally been able to make her parents understand that there was
nothing wrong with her. She just had different feelings and goals
than other girls her age. Her grades at school weren't suffering, so
her parents had relented. They never had really understood her, but at
least they tried to support her. If nothing else, she would always
love them for that.
     It was when she was ten that she realized what she wanted to do.
She had been on a ride on the bullet train and the sight of the
landscape flashing by the window had enthralled her. After that,
there was no turning back. She wanted to go fast, and the best thing
she could think of doing was racing. She had seen the stories from
America how a woman driver had started racing on their circuit. That
was her inspiration. If someone else could do it, so could she.
     The next four years were spent learning about cars and racing.
She'd watch all the races on television and could name statistics on
many of the drivers. She even tried to get into the driving academies
that taught high speed driving, but they turned her down due to her
age and that she was a girl. 
     The rejection didn't stop her. She had started hanging around a
racing track that was only a short train ride away when she was
thirteen and pestering the drivers and mechanics. She'd help them when
she could by fetching tools or running errands. Her current team had
practically adopted her as a mascot after a few months.     
     It finally paid off when an older mechanic named Yamagata took
pity on her and showedher how to drive. They had an old car that had
two seats in it for training purposes. The ex-driver had taken her out
for a few rides to show her what it was like and then shown her the
ropes. She took to it like a fish to water, surprising all the team
members with her skill. 
     After that, she'd been the guinea pig for the mechanics. She
would do a lot of driving for tests that the regular drivers found
boring. Most of her weekends were spent at the track when the team
wasn't away for a race. The drivers took a liking to her and one, the
American, had shown her how to drive the motorcycles that the main
sponsor, Honda, had a team racing in events at the track. Few days
passed where she was not speeding around the track, her long hair
flying out behind her in it's customary braid.
     Her big break came just after she turned fifteen. There was a big
race planned at the track near her house. The team had several racers
entered into the main event later in the day. The morning was when
there was a celebrity event scheduled. The team had an idol singer who
played the piano set to race for them in the first event. His
management company and the insurance company who had a several hundred
million yen policy on his hands found out about it and pulled him from
the event the morning of the race. There was only about 5 minutes left
before the point where the drivers would have to be in the cars. The
sponsor was getting frantic, as they had contractual obligations to
have a driver on the course for this.
     " Yamagata!" she called out. The older mechanic turned to her,
glad for a distraction from the representative from the sponsor.
Yamagata was the head of the pit crew and part owner of the team. He
was also the one who was feeling the heat right now.
     She caught his eyes and pointed at herself, her eyes imploring
him for the chance. He frowned for a moment, then grinned and nodded.
She ran over while pulling on her driving clothes with all the
sponsor's logos.
     " Here's your driver." He said to the annoyance in front of him.
The representative gasped and shook his head back and forth. 
     " No way. She's a girl. She's not even one of your team. What
about the other drivers? Why can't they do it?"
     " They all have to race later on today. They can't do this and
the other race," the older man replied. " This one's as good as any of
the other rookies we have. I say she can do it."
     " Even if she is as good as the others, we can't have a girl out
there. Women haven't raced here before in Japan. This isn't the
States. They won't go for it."
     This made her mad. This was her chance and she wasn't going to
let this little VP of public relations who was just out of school ruin
it for her. She lifted up her braid in one hand and a knife from a
tool tray in the other.
     " Who's a girl?" she growled at him while cutting through her
braid in one savage stroke. " I'm Haruka Ten'ou, the newest member of
the team. There's no way they can tellI'm not a man in this suit and
my now short hair isn't a giveaway. I'm tall enough to pass as a guy
and my voice is deep enough. If we don't say anything, they'll simply
think I'm a rookie who the team just hired. I'm racing here. Now, get
out of my way." 
     She tossed the braid to the now laughing Yamagata as she stepped
around the shocked sponsor representative who threw his arms up in
surrender and walked away.
     " Hold that for me. I've got a race to win."

******************************************************

     Michiru finished her practicing at her house. The setting sun
could just be seen through west facing windows of the conservatory.
She'd have to leave in a few minutes. There had still been no word
from Haruka. A call to the airport had told her that the flight had
been delayed in taking off in London and was running late. The new
arrival time was just as the recital would be starting. 
     She smiled at the thought that came to her mind. Haruka would
only find that a challenge. She'd use it as an opportunity to test her
skills in a mad race to make it in time. She had made some discreet
inquiries of some friends of her parents and found that a certain
motorcycle officer had catching Haruka as his top priority. The
officer in question apparently had a mechanically inclined
girlfriend who was souping up his motorcycle so he could catch the
white and gold menace that had plagued him for the last year. 
     It was only fitting that her parents would be there as well. They
had always encouraged her as a child and been more than willing to
help her out. Her father had a pool put in when she showed a serious
interest in swimming. She was still the record holder at her high
school in several events due to her diligent practice. He had also
been the one to get her into music, for she had loved to listen to him
on the piano when she was young. 
     Her mother was the biggest influence on her, however. Her mother
had taken the time to show her the basics in painting and drawing as
she was growing up, and had encouraged her to do whatever she wanted.
At first, she had copied much of her mother's style, but had began to
develop her own in the last several years. A family friend who owned
an art gallery had seen some of her works at her home and was so
impressed by them that she talked her into a showing at the gallery
along with a display of her mother's that had been planned. The
majority of them had sold for some handsome prices and she had ended
up earning a good amount of money just in time for her fifteenth
birthday.
     While things were good at home, this was not true at her school.
For the most part, most of the girls had been jealous of her skill and
success, or the money she had, or her looks. It was never flaunted,
but where most of the girls might have had a ring or necklace with a
blue topaz, she had an aquamarine. Her clothes were usually tailored
for her. While she wasn't studying all the time, she found her classes
to be easy and was able to maintain a very high average with little
effort.
     All these had conspired to make her less than popular with most
of the other girls at school.  It was only at the start of school this
year that it seemed to change. She had a gym class with a new student.
That first day was one she would never forget.
     There was a commotion going on at the entrance to the locker
room. A small crowd of girls had gathered and were heatedly arguing
among themselves. As she walked up, she could see the reason. A boy 
had just walked out of the girls locker room and was walking towards
the track for the gym class.  The boy had also been wearing the shirt
and shorts that the girls wore.
     Michiru had smiled at the confusion around her. The girls hadn't
spent the time she had in studying the human body. That may have
looked like a boy initially, but that 'boy' was a girl. She went in
and quickly changed and ran to the track. The newcomer was jogging
around the track while getting ready for the class. She stretched
briefly and ran over and caught up to her. 
     " Did you enjoy that?" she teased the other with a smile. "
They're having a fit back there because they think you're a boy."  
     " I never said I was." The voice startled Michiru. No wonder they
were so upset. Her voice was deep enough to pass as a man. The other
girl continued as they jogged around a turn. " How could you tell so
easily if they were fooled by it?"
     Michiru smiled again. " I'm an artist. I've studied people. At
first, you look like a boy with your height, short hair and deeper
voice. When you're wearing that, I can tell that you are a girl due
to the shape of your body. If you had been wearing normal clothes, I
don't think I could know the difference."
     The other was quiet for a few moments until a whistle sounded. "
That's the coach starting the class. I'll race you back," she said to
Michiru with look of challenge in her eyes. Michiru stared back and
said, " You're on. GO!"
     They dashed down the track towards the rest of the class. The
distance would be about a hundred meter race and Michiru felt herself
to be in good form today. The other girls in the class weren't much of
a challenge to her, especially after a summer off from their regular
exercise at school. She should be able to take the victory.
     The short haired girl wasn't following the script, however. Her
longer legs pushed her out to a small lead by the halfway point and
she finished about two steps ahead of Michiru at the end. As they
slowed to a walk and headed towards the coach, the girl held out her
hand. 
     " Haruka Ten'ou. You're pretty good. I haven't had a challenge
like that for a while."  
     " Michiru Kaioh. You're pretty good yourself. I haven't been
beaten for a long time. You're going to keep me working harder to
catch you." She took the offered handshake as they joined the rest of
the class. They were put through the paces by their coach, who seemed
very happy about something.
     If I can get those two on the track team, he thought to himself, 
I'll be able to beat that duo from Furinkan High. Those two girls may
have been fighting like cats and dogs last year, but the new redhead
and the girl with the short black hair on the Furinkan team had killed
everyone last year in track, including his team. He'd have his revenge
on the school's nearby rival.

*******************************************************

     She was wrong about her prediction, but it was only by a fraction
of a second. A cagey veteran driver who had more years of experience
driving than she had alive had managed to hold her off from the
victory, and she took a close second. Their duel over the last ten
laps was far more exciting than the professional race later in the day
and earned her a spot on the team as a real rookie driver. 
     Yamagata had been thrilled at her success, and Takashi, the
representative from the sponsor, had apologized to her for his
thinking she couldn't do the job because she was a girl. The three of
them had gotten together later that day and worked out their strategy
in regards to her. The racing groups didn't require the racers to
disclose what sex they were, as they assumed that no women would think
of competing. The three would simply continue the charade Haruka had
come up with. If they kept her in the normal outfits the drivers wore
while racing, nobody would be the wiser. The paperwork and insurance
matters were quickly rushed through and the team had a new member.
     Her parents were less than thrilled at what had happened, but
held true to their earlier decision to support her. As long as she
finished school, she could continue racing. The trophy from that day
still sat in a case in her parent's house, the braid of her hair
neatly coiled within the cup. That had been her mother's greatest
concern, she remembered with a smile. The fact that she was risking
life and limb didn't seem to bother her mother as much as her new
hairstyle.
     She took the next several events by storm. Two finishes in first
and several finishes in the top five places had put her into the lead
for the top rookie of the season. She had started too late to catch
the leaders among the other drivers for this season, but was confident
she'd take them next year. The sponsor had even allowed her to do some
motorcycle racing for the additional publicity value of having a
successful driver in two different types of events.
     Like most of the drivers, with the exception of the stars on the
circuit, she was not paid a great amount by the team. The real money
was in the incentive clauses for good finishes. Her endorsement work,
combined with her success on the track, earned her a considerable
amount of money by the end of the season. She chose these, with
Takashi helping her, on the basis of keeping her secret. The shots
would be of her in her driving clothes and this minimized the chance
of discovery. She was generous with her shares of the prize money that
went to the pit crew. This, combined with the success of the team,
kept them from talking about her.
     When school ended last year, she had a long talk with her parents
about her future. She purchased a house in an area of the country that
they liked and convinced them to move there to watch it for her. She
bought half of her father's business and became his partner. This
enabled her to bring in a few more people and expand the catering
angle so her father only had to come into the town a few times a week
to check on the day to day operations.
     A few weeks of searching had turned up an apartment near the
Juban area of Tokyo that she liked and moved into. It fit the
important criteria of having a garage big enough for the motorcycle
and the sportscar she drove while in town. The mechanics on the team
kept the two vehicles in top condition. The car was the top of the
line model from the sponsor and painted yellow. The motorcycle looked
like the commercial version, but boasted a racing engine under the
white and gold exterior. 
     The hardest part was going to a new school. She transferred into
Mugen Gakuen from her old school and prepared for the usual routine of
putting up with a new bunch of boring teachers. She found she was
wrong about that. This place had some good teachers and promised to be
an interesting academic challenge for her.
     The most pleasant surprise was Michiru. She hadn't expected to
like any of the girls at the school. She had so little in common with
them it was hard to relate to them. In Michiru, she found what had
eluded her for so long. A person she could call a friend.
     They had enough in common to draw them together. Their contests
on the track were usually won by Haruka, but not without her top
efforts. Michiru was the winner in the water, but she was gaining
ground quickly with Michiru showing her how to improve. This
camaraderie led them to get closer and learn more about the other.
     She took Michiru driving on the track and showed her the thrill
of pushing the limits of man and machine. The beauty of the art and
music that she saw because of her friend tugged at her soul. She even
had Michiru start showing her how to paint as she realized how much
she had ignored in her youth.
     This close relationship was not missed by the other students. It
only took a few months for the ugly rumors to start. The fact that
Haruka refused to wear the girls uniform due to years of wearing boys
clothing didn't help the matter. They were quickly shunned by many of
the other students. 
     The fact was that they didn't mind. They had each other.

***************************************************************

     Haruka smiled at the memories as she wove her way through the
traffic near the airport. She'd picked her motorcycle up at a parking
facility near the airport and was racing home. It was going to be a
close call, but she needed to get home to change and pick up her car
for the evening. 
     She didn't know when it happened, but she knew when she became
aware of it. A boy at the school, obsessed with Michiru, had tried to
convince her that what she was doing was wrong and that she just
needed a real man to help her change her ways. Naturally, he was
volunteering for the part.
     She had overheard the conversation as she walked up behind him
after she heard him raising his voice to Michiru and getting cruder in
his choice of words to describe what existed between the two girls.
The look on Michiru's face told her that this was bothering her. 
     " ' That little twerp doesn't have the right to mess with someone
I love...' " had been the words that ran through her mind. She was so
startled by it she didn't even see the boy realize she was there and
turn white as a sheet and move away. She stood there for several
seconds before realizing that Michiru had been talking to her.
     Later that evening, at Michiru's, she refrained from discussing
it with the other girl. It was still too new for her to be able to
deal with it, let alone talk about it. She had merely enjoyed the
evening they had together while listening to Michiru improvising on
the violin.
     Her thoughts abruptly returned to the present. Traffic was
slowing up ahead and she quickly cut to the offramp and onto the
surface streets. There was a street that wasn't too crowded this time
of the night that led to her house. She'd be fine as long as that cop
wasn't there, lurking in ambush. She'd really have to remember to get
that international driving license the next time she was in America.
This guy was getting to be a real hassle.
     A few quick turns led her through a section of residential
streets and onto her shortcut. She accelerated and sped down the
street, keeping an eye out for the police officer. A pedestrian
stepped out into a break in the traffic ahead of her and she put the
motorcycle into a sharp swerve around him and then hit the brakes to
avoid a car that ran through a red light a the intersection ahead of
her. She fought the bike into a controlled skid that brought her to a
stop just before the light. 
     Right next to her was the cop. He'd been chasing the car that ran
the light and managed to stop in time to avoid a child who had darted
across the street as soon as the light changed. Haruka sighed. Fate
was conspiring against her tonight. First, the plane was delayed in
London and now this. 
     She winked at him and bent down low over the handlebars as she
goosed the engine and shot down the street. He was on her tail, and
the big brute of motorcycle he had would have the advantage on the
streets with all the traffic. She was on a machine designed for speed.
Handling on a city street was not it's strong point. The onramp for an
expressway loomed before her and she just made the swerve onto it. 
     There wasn't much traffic in this direction and she took
advantage of it. She had it over 200 kmh by the time she was actually
on the expressway and really opened it up. The standard cop bikes
were about as aerodynamic as a brick and there was no way he was
catching her today. 
     The motorcycle officer pulled over to the side as his quarry sped
off down the expressway. This thing couldn't catch that bike in this
situation. The other bike had tremendous acceleration that a stock
machine could never match, even after Miyuki put all that time in
blueprinting the engine. He'd have to get the chief to authorize a new
motorcycle; one that could handle the speeds his adversary used. He
hadn't had a challenge like this before, and was determined to bring
the other in on his own. I'll get you, he said to himself. Just watch.
I'll get you.

******************************************************  

     I'll have to change the paint scheme again, she said to herself
as she changed into a suit that she had bought just for tonight. She
had raced down the expressway for a few minutes and had doubled back
on the surface streets, as she wondered why he didn't radio in for
back-up. As good as she was, she'd have problems with a helicopter
tailing her and directing the pursuit. It's like he thinks this is
something personal.      
     She dismissed it from her mind as she got in her car and took off
for the school. There would be just enough time, thanks to her high
speed run on the expressway. She used the cellular phone in the car to
call a flower shop that was on the way and instructed the girl there
in exactly what she wanted and how it was to be arranged while driving
through the traffic at a more sedate pace.
     Her calls a few days ago had paid off. The restaurant had left a
message confirming her reservation and that they had the tickets for
the show delivered to them by a courier. The violinist was here on a
short trip from his native France and had only one performance
scheduled. Michiru had tried to get tickets and failed when the show
was announced. She pulled some strings with Takashi and turned in a
few favors that the sponsor had owed her and had gotten the box the
company had at the theater. Michiru would be thrilled.
     She pulled into the parking lot at the auditorium after picking
up the flower. There was only one, a single yellow rose in a simple
arrangement she had learned from her friend. Her time away from her in
America had convinced her to do it. She was going to tell her how she
felt.

********************************************************* 

     " You play very well, Michiru. My name is Setsuna Meiou. I'd like
to talk with you for a few moments."
     The woman was not supposed to be here, she thought to herself.
After a moment, she realized who this was. The woman in the
composition sketch of that cafe. The one who wasn't there but she had
drawn in anyway. She was taller than herself and almost as tall as
Haruka. Her hair was the exact dark, dark green she had imagined,
almost black in the dim light.
     Michiru walked to her chair and sat down facing the other woman.
She put the rose from Haruka down on the make-up table. 
     " I assume this isn't just a social call, Miss Meiou. Has the
time come?"
     " How do you know about that?" Setsuna asked, surprised at the
calm manner of the girl in front of her. She should have been
surprised by this. Michiru just smiled a small, tired smile in
response to her puzzlement. 
     " I've always known that this life was not the one I was meant
for. When I was young, and just starting to learn what my mother did,
I told her of some ideas I had for some paintings she could do. I
couldn't paint or draw back then, so my mother indulged me and did
three paintings based on what I had told her.  
     " I still have them in storage in my room. A castle right out of
a fairy tale, surrounded by beautiful gardens and no moon in the sky,
just the gigantic blue orb of the Earth. I cried for a week after I
first saw them. That was my home, wasn't it?"
       Setsuna quickly wiped back a tear at the pain in the girl's
voice. The poor girl hurt from the memories she had but could not
fully understand.  
     " Long ago, there was a glorious kingdom on the moon. You were
one of it's defenders, Michiru. It was destroyed, but not before your
spirit was sent forward with the other Sailor Senshi.  You're needed
here, Michiru. Our duty calls."
     Two lines of tears began to make their way down Michiru's face.
All of the pressure on her seemed to lift from her shoulders. She
looked up at Setsuna, still with the sad smile. 
     " Will I remember any of this? Was this all just a lie? I just
found happiness here with Haruka. I wouldn't want to forget it. I know
I have to help you, but I couldn't bear the thought of losing what
we've had."   
     " Yes," Setsuna replied. " You'll remember everything-"
     " You were great tonight, love... " Haruka's voice dwindled off
as she came through the door and saw Michiru's tears. All three were
quiet for a moment. The door swung shut on it's hinges. Haruka stepped
towards the stranger with an angry look on her face.
     " If you hurt her, I'm going to-"  
     " Haruka, it's all right. She didn't do anything." Michiru said
in an attempt to calm her friend down. " Her name is Setsuna Meiou.
Setsuna, this is my friend, Haruka Ten'ou. Haruka is one of the others
you are looking for."
     Both Haruka and Setsuna turned to look at Michiru at that, giving
up their scrutiny of each other. Almost as one, they said the same
thing.
     " What?" 
     Michiru laughed at the looks of surprise on their faces. 
     " Haruka, she needs our help. In some ways, we're kind of related
to each other. Please listen to her, Haruka. She's telling the truth,
no matter how strange a thing she says. 
     " Setsuna, would you please tell her about us. All three of us,"
she quickly added at the flash of pain in Haruka's eyes.
     " There was a kingdom on the moon," Setsuna began. " It was a
time of peace and prosperity for the inhabitants."
     " The moon?" Haruka said softly. Michiru put her in hand on
Haruka's to quiet her and asked Setsuna to continue. 
     " There were those on Earth who coveted the power of the Moon
Kingdom. They banded together and attacked by surprise. The Moon
Kingdom was destroyed, but not before it's Queen sacrificed herself to
save the children there. They were sent to a time where they could
again know peace. 
     " The two of you were part of the protectors of the Moon Kingdom.
You've been reincarnated here because there is need of you. The old
enemies of the Moon Kingdom are beginning to return and your duty is
to protect the Moon Princess and the children of the moon."
     " I suppose you're the moon princess," Haruka interjected in a
dry, sarcastic tone as Setsuna stopped for a moment. " What kind of a
story is this? Do you think I'm going to give up everything I've
worked for, everything I care for just because you come in with some
stupid story about how the Moon got blown up a thousand years ago?
You're crazy, sister. I'm out of here. I don't have to stay and listen
to this garbage." She got up and walked towards the door. 
     " Haruka!" Michiru cried, stopping her in her tracks. " She's
telling the truth. I know she is. Please, trust me on this. Please?"
     Haruka turned around, almost against her will. She knew that once
she saw her eyes, she wouldn't be able to leave Michiru here. She
looked anyway, and leaned back against the door with a sigh. Michiru
still had a hold on her heart.
     " Michiru seems to know this is true, Haruka." Setsuna said. " I
think that you know it also. I never said how long ago this happened.
You said it was a thousand years ago. The moon kingdom will have been
gone exactly a thousand years later this year.  
     " Also, you called me sister. You may have meant it as figure of
speech, but it's far closer to the truth than you would think. I
believe that deep down, you understand what I'm saying. Can I show you
one thing that may change your mind?"
     Haruka looked at Michiru for a moment. Michiru believed what this
lady was saying. She'd hurt her by saying no. Haruka nodded, and
Setsuna got to her feet while reaching into her purse. She took out a
short scepter. It had heart on top of the handle, and this was topped
by a sphere that reminded Haruka of a planet.
     " You were part of the Sailor Senshi, the last line of defense
for the Moon Kingdom.  Michiru, you were Sailor Neptune. Haruka, you
were Sailor Uranus. The others represented the other planets of the
solar system, with the exception of the Earth."
     " What's you're part in all this?" Haruka said. " You mentioned
something about us being like sisters."
     Setsuna smiled gently at Haruka. She drew the scepter around her
in a circle as her voice rang out.
     " Pluto Planet Power, Make-up!"

*****************************************************

     A cascade of purple light rose up around Setsuna. When it faded,
she was no longer wearing the stylish jacket and skirt she had on
before. Her new attire was the short skirt and white blouse of her
costume. She looked at the two girls to judge their reactions, and was
surprised when Haruka bolted past her and out the door. 
     " Haruka!" Michiru cried, but there was no stopping her this
time. They could hear her crying as she raced down the hallway.
Michiru started to follow her, but stopped after a few steps. 
     " I'm sorry, Pluto. I know she's the one. I knew it as soon as I
set eyes on her. She just needs some time to get used to it. I'd be
surprised too, except for the fact I knew something like this would
happen." 
     " She can't deny her past, Michiru." Sailor Pluto responded. "
She knows she can't. She'll come around soon. We don't have much time
left." 
     " Isn't time your specialty?" 
     " I guard it. I don't dare play around with it. The damage would
be too severe. Here, this is for you." She held out a scepter similar
to her own to Michiru. " You know what to do. Just think about it, and
the information will come back to you. I can't stay here long. I have
many other things to attend to."
     Michiru held the scepter out and drew it around her in a circle
as a cylinder of water rose up around her.
     " Neptune Planet Power, Make-up!"
     After a moment looking at herself in the mirror, Sailor Neptune
turned to Pluto.
     " I know we have tough times ahead of us. I remember the joke,
Setsuna. When you show up, all Hell breaks loose."

*******************************************************

     She somehow made it out to the car and drove it home, even though
she could barely see through her tears. Why did this have to happen
now? This is the first time she had felt this happy in all her life.
She  was on her way to achieving her dream of racing and she had
someone to love. Why now?
     Everything the woman had said was true. She knew it. She knew
what was going to happen as soon as she saw Sailor Pluto. Even the
name had sprung into her mind. She remembered herfriends on the moon.
The Sailor Senshi, her sisters-in-arms.
     She was a part of that past life. It was not as clear as the one
she now lived, but the emotions that her other life had were far
stronger than the one she had now, except for Michiru. She sunk down
on to a couch, pulled her knees up and put her arms around them as she
sat in the dark. 
     She'd have to apologize to Michiru for running out like that.
She'd have to accept her past as Michiru had. It was then that she
realized it wasn't dark in the room anymore. A scepter like the one
Pluto had used hung in the air before her, glowing a soft golden light
that gently illuminated the room. It was just like the light of a
clear morning, beautiful enough to take her breath away, and full
of all the promises and hopes of a new day.
     Her hand had almost grabbed it when the fears came rushing back
in, just as they had when Setsuna had transformed earlier in the
evening. 
     " No," she whispered and snatched her hand back. The scepter
stayed there for a few more tempting moments and faded away from
sight. She could still feel the longing for it and what it
promised in her heart. Why was she afraid? Why should she fear her
past?
     The answer came to her. She was afraid of what her past would do
to her future. If she took the scepter and the guise of Sailor Uranus,
what would happen to her present life? She had just found how good
this life could be. If this had happened a year ago, before she had
met Michiru, she would have done it. She could give up the racing. She
could follow what she knew was her destiny. 
     The scepter would be back. She would have to make the decision.
She could give up everything, unless the price was giving up her
friend.

*******************************************************

     That night, she dreamed. Vivid, clear images of her home. Not the
one she was at, nor her parent's home, but the one she had in her
past. She remembered the people, the buildings, and the sights and
sounds of the city around the palace on the moon. She even remembered
the wine vendor at her favorite tavern who never would accept payment
for a glass of her homeworld's finest. This generosity always
surprised her, even though she knew what profits the man lost. The
cost to transport goods between the planets was nearly ruinous to
merchants. A bottle would command a fortune down on Earth. She never
refused him, but she never would drink more than a glass a night when
she was at that tavern.
     She loved that place. The tavern, the palace on the moon,
everything. It hurt as much to see it in her dreams as to watch it be
destroyed. The attack caught them all by surprise. The Guard was
buying them time as they conferred on their plan. She remembered the
night far too clearly for her liking.
     The ball came to an abrupt end for them when Pluto appeared and
summoned them away. They had all changed out of the gowns that the
Martian king had given them for the occasion. It had been only five
years since his daughter had been called to service, but it was still
a source of pride for him. Now, they wore their traditional garb and
were ready for battle. She had gathered the others in a circle around
her. She took her sword and sketched out a square in the earth of the
garden. 
     " Here's the plan. Mercury and Neptune will take the front of
their line. I'll be on the right, near Neptune. Mars will be on my
right toward their rear. Venus and Jupiter will take the left side. 
     " Mercury. Neptune. Start off by slowing their front down.
That'll give us the chance to crowd their rear into the middle. I want
a lake out there if you can manage it, but I'll settle for a swamp.
After you two have done that, we'll advance. Mercury, stay back a bit
but don't let them move forward. Just hold them there. You're our last
line to block the palace. Keep up a fog as long as you can. Their
spell casters can't hit what they can't see."
     Mercury nodded her assent. She was standing facing half away from
the others and was watching the battle through her visor. Uranus
didn't mind the girl seeming like she was not paying attention.
Mercury was the quickest thinker of the group and would have been able
to repeat every word she said, and she hoped the girl would come up
with an insight into their enemies from her observations.
     " Neptune and I will go towards the center and take out that
monster in the middle. That thing killed too many of the guard for my
liking. The rest of you, stay on the regulars and give special
attention to the spell casters. Those you hit hard with everything
you've got.  Stay with the low powered stuff for the troops and make
sure to conserve your energy. This fight isn't going to be over even
after we take down the army. Saturn?"
     " Yes?" the one with the glaive replied in her eerily calm voice.
     " I know you want a part of this, but you're with the Queen.
You've got the ultimate responsibility. We're all expendable here, but
she isn't. Also, no offensive powers, except at her command, Saturn.
If she wants to play spoilsport, that's fine, but I won't order it."
     " Just like the Guard is expendable, Uranus? They're getting
slaughtered out there. Why are we letting this happen?" Jupiter said,
tears in her eyes. She had several friends among the guards and had
spent much time helping them in training. Their losses were especially
hard on her. Uranus put her hand on Jupiter's shoulder and gave it a
gentle squeeze. 
     " I'm sorry, Jupiter. I know it hurts. This isn't my plan, but
it's the best one. The commander of the Guard came up with it. He knew
what would happen. They all knew what would happen. We have to make
sure this works so their sacrifice will not be in vain. Atlantis has
already fallen to her. We don't have our ally to help us. 
     " O.K. Move out and take positions. Watch for the waves up front.
That's the signal. Pluto is holding up her end. We have to do our
part. Everybody except Mars, move out!"
     The girls ran to their positions. Uranus turned to the firechild.
She was the newest one of the Senshi. She'd done well in training, but
this would be her first real test. They couldn't afford her freezing
up.
     " Mars, I know this is tough for you. You hid it better than
Jupiter, but the losses are hurting you already. Just relax. It'll
work out. I've been training you for this. You won't hesitate. I have
faith in you." 
     Mars gave her a smile and a quick, impulsive hug. 
     " Thank you, Uranus. Thank you for believing in me. I won't let
you down." She turned and ran off to her position on their right
flank. Uranus went to her position on the right, pausing only to
give Neptune what could be a last embrace on her way.
     Mercury led off with a fog bank from her bubbles and shrouded the
front ranks in mist. Then, she and Neptune combined the 'Shining Aqua
Illusion' with 'Deep Submerge' to create a freezing field of mud out
of the gardens the invaders had been moving through. A bird of flame
rose up from her right and joined with a dragon made of lightning to
cavort around each other for a moment through a shimmering field of
falling stars before all three fell upon the enemy to lay waste among
the ranks. She smiled grimly. Venus, Mars and Jupiter were showing
off, but the hesitation in the advance of their enemy was worth it.
She concentrated for a moment, and let loose a 'World Shaking' into
the troops ahead of her. She broke into a run while drawing her sword
as they fell to the ground. 
     It was over in minutes. The men really didn't have a chance, and
Beryl had kept her power in reserve. They had been slaughtered. The
few remaining had clustered around the center where Beryl stood by her
banner. There was only about five hundred or so left out of her army. 
     The Senshi were relatively unhurt. She had sustained a gash in
her thigh as she drove her sword through the heart of the shadow
creature that was her main concern during the battle. The firechild
had already gently cauterized it to keep it from bleeding until a
healer could attend to it. Mars then took her place in the loose
circle that surrounded the knot of confused men.
     As she stepped forth to demand their enemies surrender, the ranks
parted. Beryl walked out, followed by the four warlords of Atlantis.
The evil queen didn't act vanquished. She walked forward a few steps
in front of her troops and smiled.
     That was when she woke from the nightmare.

******************************************************

     Setsuna drove away from where she had parked outside of Haruka's
apartment. She really didn't like what she had to do here tonight, or
to Artemis earlier. The problem was that there was so little time,
unless she broke the rules. That was something she dared not do, even
in this situation. It wasn't so bad yet as to make her consider
changing the past. Causing these visions was close enough to make her
nervous.
      She didn't have the luxury of waiting for Haruka to accept
herself as Uranus. She'd known the one who was reincarnated here from
her past life on the moon. She also knew most of her predecessors. All
were so stubborn it made you want to hit them.
     Why couldn't she be more like Neptune? Michiru had known what was
happening as soon as she saw Setsuna. It certainly would have been
easier on her. She wouldn't have to resort to bending the rules by
sending these visions under the guise of dreams.
     After a few more moments, she chided herself for being too
uptight about this. These girls were still her friends from a long
time ago. This reincarnation wasn't anything like what had happened on
the moon. She had a much easier time of it when she started down her
long path. Her frustration at them was not appropriate. 
     The Moon Kingdom had only been around for about two hundred years
when she was born. She had grown up in a well off family. Her father
was a scholar and taught at one of the libraries there. Her mother was
a scribe at the palace. She'd grown up among the stacks of scrolls
made of parchment and papyrus. Her dream was being a historian, for
she had always loved the old stories. 
     The tales told to the children had always entertained her, but it
was the events they told of that captured her heart. She had read most
of the histories in several different libraries by the time she was
ten, and was allowed to attend classes with the older children of the
nobility by the time she was twelve due to her excellent progress. She
knew how it had all started.
     Many years ago, there were men who had learned, tricked or stole
from the gods the knowledge of magic. Like any group of people, some
of these were good and some were evil. A group of the evil ones banded
together to try and control the world of that time. They called
themselves magii and set loose horrors onto the world to weaken their
foes.
     A few men and women, braver than most, went forth and fought
these monsters. Some, like the sons of Zeus, became known as heroes.
Some of the others did not seek fame from their labor.
     Orion had spent many years hunting these monsters in the less
populated regions to the north. This led to the name that people knew
him by. They called him 'the' hunter.He didn't do it for glory or
riches. He just wanted to leave a safer world for his children.
     For a long time, he did this on his own. After several years, he
became close friends with a young girl who aided him in his battle.
She taught him much about the forest and using the bow. They were very
successful together and had caught most of the monsters in the area. 
     Orion eventually settled down and gave up his career as a hunter
when middle age began to slow him down. He said good bye to his friend
and settled down in a village near his old home. It wasn't long before
he was the leader of these people. He had married and had two children
when an  old priestess of Aphrodite came to him as he worked in the
fields.
     The goddess had a message for him. It concerned love, and that
fell under her jurisdiction. He had loved someone before he met his
wife, she said. The girl he had hunted with was in danger. She had
been trapped by the very magii who had created the monsters they had
hunted. 
     Orion returned to his home and took up his sword and bow. The
hunter ventured far to the east to the stronghold of the magii. He
crept in under cover of the night to free his old friend. They had
laid cunning snares and traps for the unwary, but he knew of these
from his hunts and turned them back on their creators. For three
nights, he stalked and hunted the magii and their servants until
he found his friend. 
     She was held in a cell at the heart of the fortress. Her captors
had not been kind to her. The vibrant young girl he remembered was now
nothing more than an empty shell and fading quickly. He held her for a
few moments while she told him who she was and what they did to her
before dying in his arms.
     She had been Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and the moon. The
magii had stolen her essence to further their plans for enslaving
mankind. She was gone, but her spirit remained, trapped in a crystal
by the magii.
     Orion had killed many of the magii and was able to steal the
crystal in the confusion. He returned to his home, but an attack by
one of the magii nearly killed his family on his return. He knew he
would not be safe there, so he fled west with his family to Atlantis. 
     The Atlantean king owed much to Orion, for his lands were rid of
monsters by the hunter.  He also wise in the ways of magic, and they
conferred for a great length. The plan they came up with was a risky
one, but it offered Orion haven and the chance to keep the crystal
from the magii. 
     The scholars, the king and his mages were able, with the help of
Orion and the crystal, to found a city on the moon. They built a gate
that could be used to travel there almost as easily as walking through
a doorway. Many of the families from Orion's village and a small
number of Atlanteans chose to try and make new homes with him on the
moon.
     The magii continued their search, but were not able to track him.
The settlement grew into a fair city and the power of the crystal was
used again to form villages on each of the planets. These new
communities were small, and life was hard, but they slowly prospered. 
     It was not long after the other planets were settled that the
first of the Sailor Senshi appeared. A child was born on one of the
moons of Jupiter who had the sigil of that planet glowing on her
forehead. In the next few years, a child was born with the sigil for
each planet, save the Earth and cold, distant Pluto. 
     These children, all girls, grew up with wondrous powers and
wisdom far beyond their years.  They became the protectors of their
planets and the Moon Kingdom. It was found they aged little once they
finished growing up, and lived a longer life than most people. The
only exception to this was Orion, for the king had discovered that the
passage of years was slower for him due to the power of the crystal.   
 
     They were fortunate they had the wily old hunter. The magii found
them soon after the celebration of the sixtieth year on the moon. The
King had learned much of magic over the years and was able to block
the attacks and carry the fight to their foes on Earth. 
     The victory had been achieved, but at a terrible price. Orion had
fallen, as had the seven Sailor Senshi. The King's son took up the
crystal and became the new ruler, as the crystal would only seem to
work for those of Orion's blood. Over the next year, seven more girls
had the sigils appear on their foreheads. Most of these were infants,
but three of them had been in their teens. 
     The Moon Kingdom continued to prosper under the new King and
their new protectors. A few of the Senshi were lost due to age or
combat, for there were still wars on Earth and they aided their allies
in Atlantis. When one of these was lost, a new Senshi was usually
called to service within a year and the mark of the planet would
appear on her forehead as a sign. 
     Setsuna finally got her wish when she was sixteen. She was chosen
to be one of the teachers and caretakers of the young princess who had
been born several years earlier. The rulers of the Moon Kingdom
considered education to be of the utmost importance in the proper
instruction of a new ruler. 
     The next four years were happy times for her. She had won the
respect and trust of her pupil and of the sages at the palace and had
helped negotiate several agreements with ambassadors from the nations
on Earth for the exchange of knowledge. The king was planning to build
the most comprehensive library the world had seen and many agents on
Earth were acquiring scrolls in all the lands for that purpose.
     It was the morning following a marathon session with an Athenian
scholar that her life was turned upside down. As she looked in the
polished brass disc while she brushed her hair, she saw the difference
in her reflection. The brush fell from her hands to fall clattering on
the tile floor. She sat in shock for several hours before going to the
king and interrupting his meeting with his councilors. He was angry
with her until she pushed the hair away from her forehead, revealing
the glowing sigil of Pluto on her brow.  

*****************************************************

     That's twice tonight, he thought to himself. Once could be a
coincidence, but two times is a certainty. The effects of her use of
time was impossible to hide from him, now that he had the green orb he
held in his hands attuned to her. He would know whenever she moved
through or near the barrier.
     He stood up and placed the orb in the stand on the ivory table
against the far wall of the scrying chamber in his tower. The
possibilities ran through his mind as he went to his library to think.
The servant outside the door was sent to fetch a pot of tea as he sat
down on a chair and put his feet up on the mahogany table.
     If she was here, the crystal would show up soon. His crystal, now
that the others of his order were long dead. There was no other
possibility that made sense. She couldn't affect the past where she
needed to in order to restore it. His scrying and his spells had
confirmed this theory some nine hundred years ago. The only thing she
could do was to wait, just like he had to, for a sign of what happened
that day when a queen gave her life so that her subjects might live. 
     A few faint ripples that happened sixteen years ago had led him
to take the time to make the green orb into a warning device. Now, he
could track this adversary. She was the one who scared him, if he
would admit to such an emotion. Her power gave him plenty of reasons
to be cautious, unlike the others he had observed in the same area she
was now in. With luck, they would run into one another and be all the
weaker when he made his move. 
     He drank some of the tea after a spell determined there was no
poison in it or on the cup. The slave was of no concern, but some of
his own apprentices might try something like that to defeat him. It
never hurt to be careful. He would sit back, like a spider that had
spun his web, and see what came. He had learned to be very patient
over the last two and a half millennia. A few more years of waiting
could easily be endured.

****************************************************

     The morning sun made her squint as she slid the screen open to
see what the wind that night had done to the courtyard of the shrine.
She loved the trees and their shade, but cleaning up the leaves was a
downside to them. Sure eof leaves to dance around and mock her.
     She slid the screen shut and went to change before starting her
day. The long T-shirt was tossed into a hamper and she got out the
white blouse and red skirt she would wear today. Once again, she'd
fallen asleep before putting up her hair and it took a few minutes to
untangle and straighten out. 
     It was her worrying about a vision she had a few days ago and the
dream that same night that had kept her up so late the night before.
Whatever the cause, the feeling of premonition had chilled her to the
bone. She couldn't get over this feeling that something was about to
happen. 
     Her sandals were just inside the main door, which she opened
while slipping into them. She stepped out and stretched, her black
hair streaming out behind her as she walked to the small tool shed in
the back to get her weapon for her daily duel with the leaves. Her
grandfather should really get one of those leaf blowers for this task,
as much as it would gall him to change years of tradition.
     The breeze continued to mock her as she worked, blowing a few
leaves clear of the pile and whipping her hair around. She was just
pushing it back behind her ears again when the voice spoke from above
her.
     " I have a ribbon you can use for that."
     She leapt forward in a low dive and rolled to her feet while
spinning around into a crouch, the broom held before her. There hadn't
been anyone there a few moments before. She was sure of that; she
would've felt their presence.
     Her heart was still racing as she looked up into the tree she had
been under. A young woman sat on one of the branches. She wore a
yellow sun dress and a wide-brimmed hat, like she was planning to be
outside for a while. In her hand was a length of red ribbon.
     Rei nodded at her, forcing herself to relax and hoping the blush
had faded from her cheeks from her embarrassment at her reaction. How
had she have missed her? The other slipped forward off of the branch
and dropped to the ground, landing as lightly as if it had been two
feet instead of twelve.
     She could see her eyes and hair as she walked around behind her.
The blue eyes were not so unusual, but the turquoise hair was. She was
only a few years older than herself, she decided after seeing her up
close. She had a very mature manner to her that had made Rei think
that she was older than that at first.
     " I'm sorry to have startled you," the girl said as she gathered
Rei's hair and tied the ribbon around it. " It's fortunate I had a red
one. It matches your clothes and is a good color on you." She walked
over to the steps and sat down while reaching into her purse.
     "  I know it's not much of an offering, but would you like some
hot tea? I'd normally make something to bring in, but I only decided
to come in while I was walking this morning. I was just waiting for
the shrine to open." She took out a can and held it towards Rei with a
small, friendly smile. 
     She went over, sat down next to her on the steps and took the
can, which steamed slightly in the fading morning chill. It was one of
the sweetened teas with milk that she would sometimes drink. One of
her friends at school compared drinking these to drinking a candy bar. 
     " I have the extra because I'm so used to buying two of
everything out of habit."
     She seemed to want to talk about something. At least that much
was clear to Rei, although she couldn't understand the 'feel' she was
getting from her. It was totally unlike what she usually felt from
people. There was an opening for her in the other's last words,
however, so she took a chance.
     " A boyfriend?" she said, watching her out of the corner of her
eye as she carefully used a fingernail to open the can and take a sip
of the still hot liquid. Her question must have hit close to home, for
the other girl blushed slightly.
     " No, it's not a boyfriend," she said after a moment. " I met
someone several months ago and we became very close. We just found out
something that we would have to do. We both know we don't have a
choice in the matter, but she still hasn't come around to accepting
it."
     Rei nearly dropped the can as her cheeks began to get hot again.
She couldn't believe what she had just heard. This girl couldn't
possibly be-
     " It's not what you think," the other said quickly, as if reading
her mind. She must have been bothered by this also, for the color had
risen in her cheeks as well. " We have a very important job to do.
We're the only ones who can do it. She knows it as well as I do, but
she's afraid of the changes that will happen to us because of it."
     They were quiet for a few minutes. The girl was clearly thinking
about something that was bothering her and Rei knew better than to
intrude. Sometimes, her grandfather had explained to her, the best
thing you could do for someone with a problem was to just listen to
them. They had both finished their tea when the girl finally spoke.
     " My friend knows what she has to do. I know she'll do the right
thing. I just wanted to come here to say a prayer for her and to ask
if the spirits will ease her pain while she's thinking about it."
     Rei gave the girl her best sincere smile. The story had touched
her heart for a moment. She walked over to the small booth that held
the charms and prayers she would be selling later in the day. She took
out a good luck charm and the basket of prayers and held them out to
the girl. 
     " Go ahead and take a prayer. I'll say one for you and your
friend also."
     The girl took one at random from the ones she had drawn the night
before from the bottom of the basket. Those hadn't been folded yet.
She read it, smiled, and folded it up in the same style that Rei had
used on the others. To her surprise, she also did it in half the time
it took Rei to do her own distinct style. The girl smiled and bowed to
her, and then turned and walked to the nearest tree. 
     She tied the prayer onto the branches with all the others. She
clasped her hands in front of her for a moment, bowed to the tree and
walked back over to Rei. She picked up the cans and her purse. Rei
held the charm out to her and smiled when the girl made an effort to
refuse it. 
     " Please, take it. You're far more sincere about this than most
people are about their own problems. The only thing you wanted was
entirely for someone else. That's very thoughtful of you." 
     She had finally realized what it was that was different about the
other girl. She was so used to people who wanted something for
themselves from the spirits, even if they would never admit it. They
wanted love, or money, or long life. The list went on and on. This
girl truly didn't want anything for herself. She was here only because
of her concern for another.  
     Rei turned around to put the basket back under the counter of the
booth, leaning over the counter to slide it into the usual spot. She
heard the girl softly thank her, but when she turned around, the girl
was gone. 

*****************************************************

     He woke up in the dark, fumbling for the light switch. He thought
he could smell the sea, even though the nearest ocean was several
miles away, and it was almost twice that to the first beaches that
were not fouled by the shipping in the harbor. He finally found the
switch, and turned it on to illuminate the room. He stared in shock at
what he saw.
     The bed was drenched, like it had been caught in a storm. There
were several strands of seaweed draped around him. A small, frightened
fish flopped around. The fish was probably as confused as he was. He
could tell it was salt water from the way his skin was starting to
slightly itch as it dried. 
     First, he scooped up the fish and put it into the small aquarium
he had in his front room. Luckily for the new resident, he had
converted over to salt water several months ago. The fish seemed to be
doing well after a few minutes. While he watched it, he ran through
the day's events and the dream he just had. 
     He had a photo shoot early in the morning. That meant being there
about two hours before sunrise. The shoot was a short one, as the
clear light of the morning did not last long. He had gotten home a few
hours ago and took a nap to try to catch up on lost sleep. The dream
was a confusing one to him. He was wandering around a dark, deserted
castle in the tuxedo he had bought a few days ago. He was looking for
someone there when the pain came. 
     It doubled him over, and he nearly choked on the sea water around
him. The armor he was wearing was dragging him down from the weight of
the black metal and the sword at his side. His arms were wrapped
around someone who was coughing and fighting for breath. A girl, from
her long hair and slender figure.
     Before his strength gave out, he had managed to move them in
towards the shore enough that her feet could touch the bottom. After
that, he woke up. The tuxedo was still in his closet, the protective
wrapper still on it from the store. He hadn't worn it yet, except to
make sure the alterations were done correctly. He certainly didn't
have any armor here, or a sword. He hadn't even worn one on a shoot or
in a play, although that might change because the drama group was
planning some Shakespeare soon. 
     Still, these events troubled him. This was almost like that time
two years ago, when he blacked out while in the dressing room at a
studio he was at for a shoot. He had come to with a few leaves in his
hair and two strands of long blonde hair on his clothes while the
production assistant was pounding on the door and calling for him to
take his place out on the set.
     If only his memories weren't so unclear about his past. They
might hold a clue to what was happening to him. He'd been on his own
after the accident that his parents were lost in. He got out of the
orphanage at an early age, and put himself through school with a small
scholarship due to his good grades and a little bit of modeling work. 
     These two things must somehow be related to his past. He didn't
know how they were related, but he had discovered a clue. The girl in
the water. She had long blonde hair, just like the two strands he had
found after the blackout and that he had kept all this time.

******************************************************

     Her parents were chewing her out as she sat on the beach and
recovered her breath. It had been a close one. She was a fair swimmer,
and had swam out to just past the area where the waves stared to break
on the beach. The water there must have been deeper than she though,
for a riptide had caught her in it's undertow and pulled her down.
     Somehow, she had gotten in to where she could touch the bottom
and had made it to shore, where she lay when her parents came running
up. Her brother, Shingo, had seen what was happening and ran to get
their father. 
     They berated Usagi for a long time about her carelessness, and
decided they were not bringing her back to the beach for a while.
Shingo had made a comment about her even being clumsy in the water,
although her mom had boxed his ears for that. She was concerned about
her daughter and frightened by what had happened. 
     Usagi sat through it, looking out at the water, hoping for a sign
of someone out there. It was just as she finally let out her last
breath and started taking in water that she thought she felt someone's
arms around her. She had felt the metal he was wearing and wondered
how he could carry both of them with all that weight. She was still
coughing and choking from the water she had almost inhaled and was not
able to see him clearly. By the time she could stand, he had
disappeared. 
     She hoped he was not hurt, for he had saved her. She couldn't
have made it without his aid. She spent a long time there hoping for a
sign of his survival, until her brother dragged her away as her
parents made their way to the car at the end of the day.

********************************************************

     " Kaolinite," the shadowed figure in the corner asked as she
walked into the dark laboratory." How did it go?"
     She quickly composed herself. He had startled her, sitting in the
dark like that. The light from the room behind her only made his
glasses shimmer with reflected light when he spoke. It was the only
sign that there was anybody in the corner.
     " I'm sorry, Professor Tomoe. It had worked as you planned until
someone interfered with the daemon."
     " Interfered?" he said mildly.
     " Two women. Or, I should say, one woman and one girl. The woman
was in her early twenties, the girl probably about fifteen. Similar
outfits; a short skirt with a white top and a ribbon, with different
colors for both. The woman carried a staff, which is what she used to
destroy the statue that the egg had animated."
     She stood, waiting for his response. She was glad she had put the
white lab coat on over her dress, for it was chilly in here. A lock of
her red hair had fallen over one of her eyes, which she brushed back
when he finally spoke.
     " This is interesting. Continue your search for likely
candidates. I'll have another daemon egg available in a few days and
we can see how it works then. The first batch is coming along quite
nicely, so I want you to find a number of possible targets. We need to
find the talismans as soon as possible."
     She nodded and vanished from the room. Her coat slowly settled to
the floor where she had stood as he considered the implications of
this potential setback for several minutes. It was only when he had
risen and checked on the vial of pink fluid that rested in the flame
of a burner on the work table that he began to laugh.

********************************************************

     The last two weeks had been agony for Michiru. Haruka had been
avoiding her at school on the few days she had been there. Her
messages were not returned. She'd even gone by Haruka's apartment, but
she wasn't there. 
     She knew better than to push Haruka on this. The girl could be as
stubborn as an ox when she wanted to be, and as difficult to move. She
would come around on this.
     Michiru walked into her house after Setsuna had dropped her off.
They had fought a monster today that was terrorizing some people at a
mall. A statue had come to life and had knocked out the shoppers with
a cloud of darkness that left them unconscious. When they arrived, it
was going from body to body as if looking for something, using a beam
of black light like one might use a flashlight to look for something
in the dark. It had been a tough fight, for the thing had used a
hostage as a shield until she had distracted it and Pluto got it from
behind. They still didn't know what it was after. Setsuna had
promised to try and get more information on what was happening and get
back to her. 
     She had taken a shower and changed into a dress before hitting
the kitchen for a late dinner. Her side of the house had a small
kitchen that she usually used instead of the larger one in the
common area in the middle. She was surprised to see an open bottle of
cabernet there, with a glass next to it and about a glassful missing
from the bottle. Next to it was a tray with a salad on it and a yellow
rose in a slender vase. She picked them all up and made her way to the
conservatory.   
     She opened the door and found the lights were turned off. A few
candles were lit and spaced around the room, their light just
softening the darkness. The moon was just overhead and would soon
illuminate the western side of the room in it's silvery light. There
was a wine glass on one table in the corner near a couch, but the
candles had been placed to leave that corner in shadow. A key lay on
the table next to it.
     " Haruka?" she said softly into the darkness.
     " Over here." came the soft, almost whispered reply. She moved
through the room, confident in her memory of where everything was. She
sat on the couch and put the tray down. She looked at the empty wine
glass as she poured one for herself and tilted the bottle to see if
her companion wanted a refill. Haruka declined her offer with a slight
movement of her hand.  
     They sat in silence for several minutes. She knew that Haruka was
here for a reason and she didn't want to force her. 
     " I'm sorry about the night of the recital, Michiru. I shouldn't
have reacted that way. You asked me to listen to her, and I ran out.
I'm sorry."
     " It's all right, Haruka. Have you gotten over it? Something she
said or did really upset you. I've never heard you cry before."
     " I think so." She paused for a moment, then reached out and
refilled her glass and took a sip. " I knew who she was as soon as I
walked in the door. That whole thing I did was a sham, Michiru. When I
saw her, I knew things were going to change for us. 
     " That's why I ran. I just got to where I could really enjoy this
life. I had everything I wanted, Michiru. I was racing and I found
you. For one brief moment, I was happy. I haven't been like that
before. I don't want to lose it now."
     " You won't lose anything, Haruka. I still remember everything.
Now, I know more about who I really am. Why do you think you'll lose
something?"
     " For the past two weeks, I've had the same nightmare. The last
battle on the moon. I wake up from it two, three times a night. Beryl
smiles, and I wake up ready to scream. If I do this, we'll be
fighting. Eventually, we'll get hurt. I couldn't bear the thought of
losing you, Michiru. I came to realize it just before I left to go to
America." She paused and took a deep breath. 
     " Michiru, I'm more concerned with what happens to you than to
myself. When I haven't been sleeping after the nightmares, I'm sick
from worrying about what you're going through. I can't stand the
thought of you being hurt anymore."
     She reached out and gently put her hand over Haruka's on the
couch between them. " I know, Haruka. I'm concerned about you also.
You've felt that way for a while now, haven't you? I was so tempted to
find you these past two weeks and make you understand. I also knew
that I'd hurt you if I did. I didn't want to do that for anything. 
     " Haruka, I want you to help us, but only if you want to. If you
aren't certain, don't do it. I don't want you hurt, either. I'll
understand if you don't want to do it." 
     They sat there for several more minutes, just holding hands and
thinking about what they discussed. She could tell Haruka was finally
beginning to relax from the strain of her burden. 
     " Michiru, why are you taking this so calmly? I'd be going nuts
if I was in your shoes," she said and smiled at her friend. 
     " I've always known that my life would be different than what it
was, Haruka. I could always feel-"
     " Oh, not the more-sensitive-than-thou artist thing again,
Michiru. I still don't believe it." Haruka interrupted, teasing her
about the route her explanation was going. She always did have
problems with that line of hers and never failed to tease her when
Michiru tried to explain how she felt the things she did. The tone of
voice Haruka had used reassured her, also. She sounded better than she
had a few minutes ago. She's getting over it, she said to herself as
her concerns for her friend dropped away. 
     " It's true, Haruka, at least in my case. I always knew that my
life was going to go off in some strange direction someday. It's just
like I knew we'd be friends as soon as I saw you or when I knew
that our pasts are connected. I can feel it, somehow.  I knew how I
felt about you several months ago."
     They were quiet for a few more moments, and than Haruka took her
hand and kissed her palm. " I'm glad you feel the same way. Would you
do me a favor?"
     " Certainly"
     " Go get your violin. I want to listen to you play tonight."
     Michiru left the room and came back a few minutes later with her
violin. She's spent a few moments tuning it in her room. As she
approached the door to the conservatory, she heard Beethoven in the
background. 'Fur Elise' was the name of the piece. Haruka must have
gotten the CD player going, she thought as she walked in. 
     She was shocked to see her friend at the piano. The sound system
was off. She had some trouble a few times, but recovered well and then
moved to the 'Moonlight' Sonata after motioning for her to be quiet.
     " I didn't know you played," Michiru said to her after she
finished. Haruka motioned for her to come over and sit beside her on
the bench. 
     " I've been out of practice for a long time. My parents wanted me
to learn it so I could be more ladylike when I was younger. I started
practicing again a couple of months ago so I could surprise you." 
     " Consider me surprised. Those are not easy pieces." She moved
around and sat on the right side of the bench so she would not be in
Haruka's way at the keyboard with her violin. " What do you want begin
with?" 
     " Improvisation."
     The results were very surprising to her. Haruka was a lot better
than she let on, and as they wandered around from classical to jazz
and blues and back, she realized that the normally extremely
competitive girl was showing a different side of herself. She wasn't
trying to push into the lead with her play. She stayed back and gave
Michiru the foundation and support that made her violin soar to a new
level. 
     They stayed that way late into the night, making music together.

*******************************************************

     The new Senshi was cause for great excitement among all the
planets of the Moon Kingdom. She was the guest of honor at a lavish
ball and then was bundled up and sent through a gate to the city on a
moon of Uranus before she even realized what was going on. The court
mages on the moon had sent enough of the crystals that held magical
energy for the mage on Uranus to cast the transport spell that would
take her to Pluto. 
     It was the one planet that had never really been settled. There
was a small group of mystics living there in seclusion. There was not
even enough of a population base for a permanent gate to have been
established. The explorers from the moon had built a temple on the
planet, but the extreme cold and darkness was too much for most to
bear and no settlers went there.  
     The Senshi of Uranus was still relatively young looking, but
Setsuna knew she was over a hundred years old. She had spent some time
with Uranus and was shown around the city while the spells were
prepared. The view was certainly different than the one from her place
of birth. While the Earth was large compared to it's moon, Uranus was
gigantic compared to the moon the city was on. The planet looked like
it would fall and crush the city every time she looked at it.
     In time, she made the journey to Pluto itself. The cold was
almost unbearable there, even with the enchanted clothing she had been
given for the trip. The other Senshi had assured her she wouldn't need
it once she got there. She stumbled her way through the gloom to the
small temple that would be her new home for a while.
     She went into the temple and peered about at the sparse
furnishings of the interior. There was a small altar, engraved with
the same sigil that was on her forehead. A few small benches were
pushed up against the back wall, away from the altar. The only other
thing was an old bed frame in one corner near the altar. 
     After putting away her few things, she took a blanket and folded
it a few times to make a pad for her to sit on. The extreme cold would
almost freeze her if she sat on the stone floor. She sat and put
herself in a meditative trance, just like the other Senshi had told
her to. 
     She must have gotten up a few times, but she did not recall it.
She ate of the food that was left inside of the door. The mystics must
have left it for her. She would sleep for a few hours and then return
to her meditations. After what seemed to be a couple of weeks, she
realized she had finished what she needed to do here.
     She slept for several long hours after that and then went out to
look around her temple. She was quite shocked to see Neptune, Uranus
and Saturn standing there. Their images swam before her eyes for
several minutes, like there were several of each standing before her,
each slightly superimposed upon the other. Each image was slightly
different from the next. It took all her concentration to make her
eyes finally focus on the ones who were really in front of her.
     " Are you all right, Pluto?" Uranus questioned her. 
     " I'm fine." she replied. " How did you all get here so quickly?
The mage said he wouldn't be able to cast anything for a few months,
at best."
     " It's been almost a year, Pluto." Saturn said to her in her even
voice. 
     " We were getting worried about you." Neptune finished for the
three of them. 
     " A year!" she said to them. " How long were you in meditation?"
     " A couple of weeks," Neptune replied. The others had the same
answer, give or take a few days. 
     " All I remember is getting up every several hours. I'd eat a
little bit of the food the mystics left for me and then sleep for a
few hours and go back into a trance. How could a year have passed?
It only feels like a few days, maybe a few weeks, at the most."
     A brief flash of pain crossed Uranus' face. " I'm sorry, Pluto.
They're all dead. It probably happened well before you got here, from
the shape of the bodies." 
     " Pluto, we need to talk," Saturn said after a few moments. " The
three of us have been having premonitions of a danger. The others
haven't had them, or don't regard these as a danger. Will you help
us?"
     And so began their little 'conspiracy', as they called it. They
started a careful watch on the outlying reaches of the solar system
for anything attempting to attack them from outside. It meant that she
didn't get to spend as much time with her new sisters, but she was
still there to help them and grew to love them. She helped the others
raise and instruct the younger ones as the sisters she knew
passed away.   
     The losses in battle diminished over the years, but time still
held sway over the Senshi. They lived longer than the other people and
rarely aged much beyond the initial bloom of their womanhood, but time
came at them with a vengeance when their days came near the end.  
     She was the exception to this. The minute details that indicated
the slow aging never occurred to her like it did to her friends. She
outlived them all and showed no signs that it would change. She was
sad about this for about a century, but she slowly outgrew the feeling
of despair that hit her when one of her sisters left. She was starting
to understand why it was happening.
     When she was not with her sisters or on her turns on watch, she
haunted the vaunted libraries on the Moon. The Great Library in
Alexandria was but a poor cousin to the repository of knowledge on the
moon. The kings and queens never let this foundation of their power
weaken over the years and had agents constantly working to expand and
preserve it.
     Orion's son had taken all the scrolls and writings he could from
the magii and had burned the rest to keep it from falling back into
the hands of any surviving enemies. It was in these old grimoires she
found what led her to her true duty. One of the magii had been
studying time. The implications staggered the historian in her. 
     This was a tool of great destruction and one that could destroy
everything her kingdom had stood for and everything her sisters had
died for. A fool's blunder or the hand of a devious enemy would wreak
the same horrible effects. Everything would be lost.
     She spent long hours meditating on this and discovered that she
had a degree of control over time. She had already used it
unconsciously to extend her life. She spent three score years alone in
her temple on the frigid planet learning to master her talent. Her
control grew and she discovered how to use the staff she found in the
temple on her return. Her sisters from the outer worlds took up her
patrols while she dedicated herself to looking for the disturbances
that were the first sign of a change in the natural flow of events.
     It was just before Beryl's attack that she realized what was
happening. The multitude of gates opening in Atlantis caused a slight
ripple in the time stream and she quickly went to the moon to warn her
sisters and the queen.
     She felt out of place at the formal ball as she strode in wearing
her uniform. Her sisters and the queen understood the significance and
met her in the council chambers to discuss the plans. They all looked
so young to her. Serenity looked the oldest, but the youthful looking
queen didn't initially seem to inspire much confidence. It was only
her calm demeanor and the iron resolve in her stance that made her
think that the woman was really a queen. She would be the equal of any
king when it came to the safety of her realm. 
     The Senshi were younger looking than their queen. The whole group
was relatively young right now and could be mistaken for children
dressing in the clothes of the Senshi she remembered over the years.
Venus was the oldest and the leader of the group. Uranus was only
slightly younger than her with Mercury a close third. The others were
hardly older than they looked, with Mars only having served for five
short years. It was only their eyes that gave her confidence. These
'children' would be the equal of any of her sisters in the past.
     The military situation was quickly examined and a course of
action agreed upon. Venus deferred the command during the actual fight
to Uranus due to the tactical skills of the latter. It broke her heart
to abandon them, but Pluto had the hardest job. She would return to
her distant planet and wait it out. She had balked at Uranus'
decision, but Venus and the Queen both agreed and she left for her
distant post only after a royal order. 
     The minutes seemed like hours as she stepped through the gate and
into the unnoticed chill of her world. The gate closed and then died
out behind her. They had decided to make sure the enemy could not
follow her. It would be some time before she could even return to the
moon unless she transported herself there. She could, but the transfer
was exhausting and would leave her depleted for some time. 
     She had barely settled herself before the altar when a wave of
stark terror swept through her. She involuntarily cried out as it hit
her. A moment later, before she had really recovered and realized
it was from her sisters, the second assault on her senses began. A
part of her soul seemed to be twisted and torn from her and she began
to cry inconsolably.
     They were gone. A part of her life had just vanished. She didn't
remember getting up, but she found herself running out the door and
blindly down the path that led to the shells of the remaining
buildings the old order of mystics had used. The wave of pain hit her
just before she slammed into the remains of a wall.
     The agony was so bad she didn't feel the impact. Behind her, her
staff burst into a nova of red light that penetrated the stone walls
of the temple. The whole area glowed red, a dark red that made her
think of blood. The implications sent chills down her back and deep
into her heart. 
     That last wave of pain wasn't something she felt from another.
The alteration of the fabric of time was the source of the pain. Her
heart pounded even faster as her fear drove her into a sprint to get
her staff. 
     The gate wasn't a pretty one, or a good one, for she came out
several feet above her aiming point in the wing of the palace the
queen resided in. She realized the error in this as she looked around
her. The palace was gone. So was the city. Her gate was correctly
placed, but there was several feet of floor and foundation missing.
     She sat near the center of a shallow crater that stretched out
beyond the ends of the city. Only an occasional pillar jutted up to
break the monotony, along with the remains of a wall to her left.
No bodies were in view. There was little to even suggest that a city
was here only a few minutes ago.
     The tears began to flow and didn't stop for a long time. She
mourned in silence, with only an occasional sob breaking the ominous
quiet. It was only when her resolve strengthened that she wiped away
the last tear. 
     She was the guardian of time. She had learned to manipulate it.
She should be able to put it back to the way it was, whatever the
consequences. She wanted her life back. The act required information,
so she sat on a small boulder and closed her eyes, concentrating on
what had just happened. 
     Her plans died the moment she saw what occurred. The Senshi had
routed the army of Beryl. Beryl had cut them down and destroyed the
Moon Kingdom in one fell blast. Then, Queen Serenity held up the
crystal with tears filling her eyes and a look of terrible suffering
on her face. Everything went white for a split second all throughout
the universe as the queen ripped apart space and time, her very life
powering the spell she cast. 
     Whatever Pluto did now would be of no effect. She couldn't even
get near to that moment in time or space to do anything. Serenity had
seen to that. Her sisters were gone, ripped out of this time and flung
into another. The ambient temporal energy was so overwhelmed by
Serenity's sacrifice that she could not even tell if they were sent to
the future or the past. She was utterly, absolutely alone.
     The years slipped past with agonizing slowness. She had little
interest in mankind right then and spent more time at first visiting
the remains of the settlements on the different worlds. It was the
same story wherever she went. The crystal had kept these colonies
alive. They were doomed without it. The cities on Venus were almost
gone already, thanks to the corrosive atmosphere. The Floating Palace
that orbited Jupiter like one of it's moons had already been torn
apart by the gravity of the huge planet. The others would be gone in a
short while. She would be the only one to remember the glory that had
been. 
     She cursed her apparent immortality, but kept to her watch over
the worlds. It was the only thing keeping her going. She visited the
Earth occasionally to keep up on events there and found that the Moon
Kingdom had gone the way of Atlantis and become nothing more than a
legend. As the years passed, she made herself spend more time there
and learn of the new achievements that were made so she could keep
abreast of the new technologies the people of Earth devised.   
     She would never forget the exact hour her hope was restored. She
knew the time down to the smallest measurement she could make. The
tear that Serenity made at the last battle was so noticeable that it
would echo down the centuries. The next disturbance of the time stream
was so slight she barely noticed  it. She was trying to pinpoint the
exact location and nature of what she thought she felt when two
objects appeared like shooting stars to her perception of the time
flow. She rejoiced at what she saw as the burden of a thousand years
was tossed aside and replaced by happiness and hope.
     Two small metal cylinders had appeared on the Earth. They quickly
dissolved, but the occupants caused a strain in the fabric just by
being there due to their suspension between seconds for nearly a
millennia. She had designed and built theses capsules and she knew how
to track the two cats who had been transported forward by their queen.

******************************************************

     An old man worked diligently under an engine of a half assembled
car as she looked on from the doorway of the garage. Maybe a
conscientious worker would have a pure heart, she thought to herself.
She reached into the small red purse that matched the low cut
mini-dress she wore. A small, oval shaped object was taken out and
released to float towards the car as she walked away, her long red
hair waving in the soft morning breeze.

*****************************************************

     The morning sun woke them as it came through the east windows of
the room. They were both on couches in the corner where they had
spoken last night. Haruka growled at the bright light and rolled over
to face away from the sunrise. She was never a morning person. Michiru
was already up and moving, using the window controls to let in the
gentle, fragrant breeze from the garden. She dragged Haruka into the
kitchen and sat her down on a stool there as she started on cooking
breakfast. 
     The coffee was the first item to get started as Michiru fired up
the espresso machine. Haruka had gotten the taste for it in the
morning thanks to her time with the racing team. The stuff the
mechanics brewed was as strong as what they put in the gas tanks.
After a half cup was in her system, she took the copy of the morning
paper that was on the counter and skimmed over the front page. 
     She was fortunate she had good reflexes, for she caught the cup
without spilling a drop just before it hit the counter after slipping
from her fingers. She put it down and looked at the picture more
carefully.
     " Michiru? I think you should take a look at this."
     She looked up from the cutting board and the onions. Seeing the
concerned look on Haruka's face, she moved over to take a better look.
She frowned slightly as if trying to remember something.
     ' Sailor V in England ', the headline read. The picture was of a
girl in an outfit that was amazingly close in spirit to what she wore
as Sailor Neptune. She had long, blonde hair that was tied in back
with a red ribbon and she wore a red mask. 
     " She looks familiar," Michiru said while skimming the article.
     " I remember someone like her in my dream," Haruka said softly. "
The other things I remember about the moon are hazy, but the battle
itself is as clear as crystal. That looks like Venus."
     " Do you think the name has something to do with it? Sailor V?
Sailor Venus? Also, look here. There's a crescent moon. This is too
much to be coincidence, Haruka."
     " I know. If it is her, what does she think she's doing? All this
publicity will tell our enemies that we're here."
     Michiru mulled this over for a few moments as she went back to
her work. The onions would not chop themselves, and her stomach was
complaining already about the lack of breakfast. She listened while
Haruka read the article to her and only spoke up after the story was
finished.
     " Maybe she wants the attention, Haruka. What if she's trying to
decoy them away from this area by going to England? I don't think her
appearance is an accident. It's dangerous, but it would work"
     She saw Haruka thinking about this and decided to press the
issue. " This is starting to stretch the laws of probability, Haruka.
We run into each other here in Tokyo. This 'Sailor V' shows up here,
and there's a chance she's connected to our past. Setsuna finds us
here. There's a plan to this somewhere. These aren't coincidences
anymore."
     " I now, Michiru. I think I'm going to have to become Uranus..."
her voice trailed off expectantly and she sighed after a few moments.
     " What's wrong, Haruka?" Michiru said as she poured the beaten
eggs into a pan for the first omelet. 
     " I was half hoping that the scepter to show up when I said that.
Maybe I'm not really ready."
     " You'll come around. I believe in you, even if you don't."
     Haruka put aside the paper after a few more moments and waited
patiently while Michiru cooked. The sports section had dropped her
like a rock after the announcement. It was the big story for one day
and vanished the next. She had hoped her friend had seen it, but she
had given no sign of it.
     It was only after breakfast that she decided to tell Michiru. She
finished her second cup of coffee and began picking up the dishes
since Michiru had cooked this morning. 
     "  I have to go to the team's garage in a little bit, Michiru. I
need to talk to Yamagata and explain something to him. I'd rather do
it in person. I left the team, Michiru."
     " Haruka!" she gasped. " Why? It was so important to you."
     " I couldn't keep racing and be Uranus, Michiru. I wouldn't have
the time to do both. I was afraid that you'd get hurt if I did either
thing halfway. I can give up the racing. I won't give up you."
     Michiru came up from behind and put her arms around her waist as
she was putting the dishes in the sink. Haruka stiffened for a moment,
and then relaxed into the embrace. She liked the feeling of
familiarity between the two. She felt safe in letting down the guard
she kept up against the rest of the world when she was with Michiru. 
     " Haruka, I want you to do this, but I want you to do it for
yourself. I'm happy that you feel strongly enough about me to be
concerned, but this has to be done for the right reasons. You need
to do it for yourself or the doubt will eat away at you forever. I
don't want that to happen to you. I don't want you hurting like that."

*************************************************

     " Matthew, I have a simple task for you," he said to the tiny
image of the apprentice that floated above a basin of water. " There
will be an incident in your area in a few hours. Don't ask me why it's
happening or how I know. All I want you to do is to go to the shops at
this address and observe the fight that will probably occur. Take one
of those video camera things and record the events and bring the
record of it to me as soon as it is over. 
     " I have Marcus at the same location, so disguise yourself
appropriately. He will get involved in some way in this fight at my
orders, and I want records of that as well as the fight. Do not get
involved. Do not take part in the fray. Do you understand?"
     " Yes, Archmage. Attend, observe and do not get involved." 
     He dismissed the image with a wave and tapped the side of the
gold basin with his finger, causing a ripple in the water. That would
keep anyone from trying to observe him through the basin or the
residual magic of the spell he just used. He leaned back in his chair
and smiled. This could be interesting.
     Lady Luck had smiled on him. It looked like two of his foes in
Japan were going to run into one another today. He'd be able to see
what they could do to each other. One of his apprentices would try to
ambush the timewalker to test her. Another would watch from the
sidelines.
     He had not told Matthew the entire truth, of course. His students
would think he was smart to have an observer who was independent of
the participant, but in reality, he had more than two strings to his
bow in everything he did. He just didn't let them know the full extent
of his spies that watched them. 

************************************************** 

     Haruka had been gone an hour when Setsuna arrived at Michiru's.
She met Pluto at the garage where she parked her Jaguar and the two
walked through the gardens on their way to a secluded bench. Setsuna
looked tired and drawn to Michiru, who refused to discuss business
until she made tea and some sandwiches for the older woman.
     " You're exhausted, Setsuna." Michiru said as she poured for
them.
     " Thank you, Michiru. I've been working hard the last several
days. It was difficult, but I think I have a lead on the source of
these monsters."
     " That's not the only thing. The papers have been full of stories
on this 'Sailor V' running around here and in England. Haruka thinks
she might be Venus." Michiru handed a folded paper and a plate to
Setsuna, who read while eating.
     " I think I know why this happened," Setsuna replied, tapping the
newspaper after a few minutes. " I was expecting a reaction from
something I did the night I first spoke to you, but this certainly
wasn't it. I'll have to look into it. Whoever she is, there certainly
is a resemblance. How has Haruka been handling things?"
     " I think she'll come around, Setsuna. She gave up her spot on
her racing team. That was very important to her, so I would say that
her doing that would signify that she is ready." 
     Setsuna heard something in Michiru's voice that told her she
wasn't telling her everything about Haruka. Michiru had blushed for a
brief moment while speaking of Haruka, and had refused to meet her
eyes.
     " What else were you going to say about her, Michiru?"
     Michiru blushed again and waited a moment before answering to
regain her composure. 
     " She had said she would do it to keep me from being hurt."
     Setsuna, keeping any sign of it from showing, smiled to herself
at this. She hadn't been around for over two thousand years and helped
raise several dozen 'sisters' for nothing. Now wasn't the time to
press these two on this. They needed some time to adjust to their
relationship now that they both knew that the feelings were mutual. 
     " She'll be all right, Michiru. She'll come around." She put her
hand on Michiru's and gave it a reassuring squeeze. " The real reason
I came here is that I think I've found a way to track down our
opposition."
     " You have! Who are they?" Michiru said, startled at the news.
The look on Setsuna's face dampened her initial excitement. 
     " I still haven't found out who they are. All I can come up with
is a way to spot them. You're the key to it, Neptune."
     Michiru took the hint and pulled her scepter out of her space.
Water geysered up from the ground, subsided, and left her standing
there as Sailor Neptune. The fading purple light to her left let her
know that Setsuna had likewise changed into Sailor Pluto.
     " Close your eyes," Pluto said as she moved to behind the other
while removing a map, pen, and a small compass from her purse that was
still on the bench. " I want you to relax and just float there for a
few minutes." She continued to talk to the other in the same soft
voice while the orb on her staff glowed softly. 
     After several minutes, she was in a basic, low level trance. "
That's very good, Michiru. Now, I want you to open up your mind to
everything around you and look at the garden, but not with your eyes.
Imagine what a garden _feels_  like to you. You're a very good
painter. You should be able to imagine what it feels like. Do you have
it, Michiru?" 
     The younger girl nodded after a few more moments, the breeze
tugging at a lock of turquoise hair. 
     " Now, Michiru, I want you to extend your imagination to include
me. Do you see how I stand out from the garden? That same kind of
difference is what you're looking for. Don't try for anything else,
just look for something that seems different or out of place to your
feelings. Just imagine the city that is all around you. Look at what
seems wrong to you about the city."
     Neptune turned slowly in a circle, twice calling out to indicate
two different directions. Pluto noted these with the compass and made
a small line in the opposite direction on the map from the bearings on
the compass. She brought the other out of the trance after double
checking by repeating the test.
     " You'll soon be able to do that without the trance, Michiru. You
should also start to get a feel of how far away the disturbance is so
you can zero in on it." She held out the map to the other.
" Just remember, the actual direction is exactly opposite of the one
you feel when you do this with your eyes closed. It's like you're
looking at everything in a mirror when you do it like that. If
something is funny to the south, check out the north. Those marks are
already switched around. What do you think the targets are?"
     Michiru studied the map for a long minute. 
     " This one probably indicates this mall. There are going to be a
number of people there, just like the other incident. It's probably
after concentrations of people. I'm not sure about the other one.
The line doesn't go near any places where people will be out in
numbers today."
     Michiru continued to examine the map. Setsuna was about to
suggest they try another attempt from a different location to narrow
it down when Michiru gasped. She looked up to see the color drain from
the younger girl's face and the map slip from her grasp.
     " The racetrack... Haruka!" she cried out as she broke into a
dead run for the garage with Pluto a step behind her.    

****************************************************

     " I'm sorry, Yamagata."
     " I still don't get it, Haruka. You busted your butt for over
three years to get here and now you're just walking away. You wouldn't
do it just to go back to school like you said. Will you tell me what's
wrong so I can help?" 
     She sighed to herself. This wasn't going as well as she thought
it would. She walked around the car and helped him put away the tools
he was fumbling with due to his anger. He knew something was up, but
she didn't dare tell him the truth. 
     " Nothing is wrong. I'm taking a short sabbatical to finish high
school. I thought I could keep on doing it, but now I think I'm wrong.
I already talked to Takashi. They want me back as soon as possible. He
says the guy who will be running the racing department in a year is
very open to new ideas and might like the idea of a female driver. I'm
tired of the lie, Yama. I just want to get on with school and then go
back to the circuit."
     " Dammit, Haruka, tell me the truth!" he yelled at her as he
turned and walked over the car.  He must have been ticked, she thought
as he drew back his foot and kicked the tire.
     Red light erupted from the car as it blurred for a moment and
turned into a strange amalgamation of  the car and a woman. The tires
were now on each side of it's feet and the radiator and fenders were
lashed on by the engine belts like odd pieces of mismatched armor. A
headlight covered one eye like a monocle. 
     Both were surprised by the cackling apparition before them, but
Haruka recovered first as it moved towards Yamagata. She ran in,
dropped her shoulder and slammed into it from the side. She caromed
off, reeling in pain and stumbled towards a pile of tires in a corner.
That thing is as hard as steel, she thought as she screamed at her
muscles to obey her.
     They didn't respond, or the fog of pain from her shoulder kept
her from stopping. The thing lashed out with the timing chain, using
it like a whip and sent her headfirst into the tires. The breath
went out of her from the force of the blow and it was almost too much
to turn to see what it was doing. Yamagata had grabbed a long wrench
and was swinging wildly at it. She could see there wasn't any point.
He was tiring quickly.
     The chain whipped out and wrapped around his arm and sent the
wrench flying. It pinned him against the wall and turned slightly,
swinging it's left hip so it pointed at the old man. There was
a click and a circular panel popped up to reveal a black star on it's
hip.
     A beam of black light slammed into Yamagata's chest, causing a
spherical glow to appear. Haruka gasped as a four pointed crystal came
out of his chest. It was a fragile looking thing, ruby red and softly
glowing as it floated to the monster. The old man hoarsely cried out
as it left him, and slumped over, ceasing his struggles.
     It grabbed the crystal and began to gloat as it looked at the
still form in front of it.The chain unwrapped and let the body fall to
the floor. 
     " Kaolinite will be pleased." it said in a shrill voice that
reverberated like a engine at full speed. It was starting to turn to
leave just as Haruka began to push herself up to-
     " Deep Submerge!" Michiru's clear voice rang out, sounding like
an angel to her as a ringed ball of blue energy tore into the thing
from behind. It was slammed into the wall, leaving a depression shaped
like it's outline. The crystal was sent flying out the main door of
the garage. Haruka managed to reach her feet as her friend rushed over
to her.
     " Haruka! Are you all right?"
     She slumped back down onto the pile as her knees buckled
underneath her. Michiru was trying to help her up.
     " I'm all right, Michi-... I'm all right, Neptune. Don't worry
about me, O.K.? It's getting back up." Neptune turned back to face the
monster as Haruka's mind worked furiously.
     There, she'd admitted it. Her friend was no longer just Michiru
Kaioh. She was Sailor Neptune. Her own duty was clear to her now. She
would accept it, just like her friend had. She wasn't just Haruka
Ten'ou. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the thought with all
of her heart and mind, the images of her past life singing their siren
song to her soul. 
     I_am_Sailor_Uranus!

*********************************************************

     Neptune slipped under the chain and kicked it in the chest. It
was rocked back a little bit and had to stop for a moment to steady
itself. She used the hesitation to jump back and gather herself for
another attack. The words died on her lips as she saw the glowing
scepter appear in front of Haruka, the sigil of Uranus shining on her
forehead.
     " No, Haruka! If you take that, your life will change. Rem-"
     The words were cut off as the thing slammed into Neptune, it's
spinning tires covering the ground before she could react but for
bringing up her arms to try and block the attack. It grabbed her to
keep her from being flung away and crashed into the wall, crushing her
between the two.
     Michiru's scream of pain gave her the resolve she needed. She
grabbed the scepter and forced herself to her feet. She'd gone cold
inside instead of the heat of rage she had expected, a harsh, grim
chill that drove her emotions away from her. Her right hand reached
out while clutching the scepter and she spun around in a circle as
yellow light rose up from the ground around her.
     " Uranus Planet Power, Make-up!"
     Her clothes dissolved around her in the light and were replaced
by an outfit similar to what Neptune wore, a short skirt with a white
top and a ribbon in a bow on her chest. There was a matching tiara on
her forehead from the weight of the metal she felt there.
     The thing must have heard or felt something, for it turned to
face her and snarled. The tires began to spin and smoke as they sought
purchase for another rush forward. Uranus just smiled, a slight grin
with no trace of humor in it.
     " It's time for round two, bitch! World Shaking!"
     She thrust her hand up, fingers spread out and grabbed the ball
of seething, crackling yellow energy that was suddenly there. She
slammed it into the ground as the thing started forward to run
her down. A ringed sphere of yellow tore through the concrete towards
the onrushing monster and flung it into the far corner as it convulsed
from some terrible force and was flung apart.
     The battered remnants of the car remained where it had hit the
wall. A small, egg-shaped object fell out of the side of it to fall on
the concrete with an audible click. It rolled around for a few
moments and spit in half, releasing a monstrous looking puff of thin
black smoke that dissolved away with a quiet wail. 
     Uranus ran over to Neptune, who had slid to the ground and was
sitting with her back to the wall while weakly coughing. They took
each other's hands and held them for a moment.
     " Haruka, I'm so proud of you. You did it. I'm glad you're with
me."
     " Are you hurt?"
     " No," Neptune said as she moved forward to kneel with Uranus'
assistance. " It just knocked the wind out of me. I don't know why,
but we're a lot tougher like this."
     " Good." Uranus said and enfolded Neptune in a firm embrace,
careful to not squeeze her too hard, just in case. " I feel wonderful.
I was being real silly about this, wasn't I?"
     " You were, Haruka. It's all right now, though. Thank you."
     Uranus pulled them both to their feet and looked around at the
damage when it hit her.
     " Yamagata!" she cried as she ran to the still form of the old
man. He was so pale he was almost gray colored and was barely
breathing. " That thing took something from him, some kind of crystal.
Whatever it is, it must be important. I think he's dying."
     " It went out the door when I hit it, Haruka." 
     Uranus ran to the door and slid to a stop, reaching an arm out to
keep Neptune from following. A woman was picking up the crystal about
twenty feet in front of them. She stood up and straightened the hem of
her short red dress with one hand as she examined the glowing object
in the other. 
     " It's a pity, you know. He just has an ordinary heart crystal,
after all that dedicated work for all those years. I was hoping he'd
have a talisman." 
     " Give me that!" cried Uranus. " He's dying without it. What do
you have against him?"
     " It's nothing personal, my dear. He'll die anyway at some point.
We can make better use of it than he ever will."
     Uranus started forward with a snarl of rage, her earlier calm
forgotten. The woman stopped her by putting her other hand on the
crystal and slightly pushing one part. She could hear the loud groan
from inside the building.
     " I wouldn't do that, if I were you. These are somewhat fragile,
and if it breaks he'll be dead."
     The stand-off was broken as a blue sphere bowled the redhead over
from behind as Neptune stepped out from a driveway behind the woman
and gave her a 'Deep Submerge' at point blank range. The force of the
attack sent Neptune flying back several feet, but she carefully rolled
with it and came to her feet. Uranus charged in, but the woman on the
ground was quicker.
     She vanished and reappeared on the roof of the garage. They could
both hear the sound of the crystal breaking as she crushed it with a
cruel grin on her face and let the shards fall down to the street. 
      " I told you not to do that. They're fragile, you know." She
laughed and vanished again into thin air. Neptune looked around for
signs of another attack, but Uranus was already back in the garage,
kneeling by the cooling body with tears running down her face.

*****************************************************

     The mall looked very peaceful, she concluded as she finished
walking up and down the length of it for the second time. There was no
sign of any problems, but that could change at a moments notice. The
replica of Michaelangelo's David had looked very normal until it got
up and started attacking the crowd. 
     She had changed back to her regular clothes before driving away
from Michiru's to drop her off by the racetrack. They had decided to
split up to cover both locations. This spot seemed to be a false
alarm, however.
     While she was purchasing a can of mocha coffee in a gift shop,
she thought she felt something unusual, but she didn't see anything
out of the ordinary when she walked back along the row of shops. She
opened the can and had the chance to drink about a half of it while
walking when the panic began.
     She stepped into a maintenance corridor as a group of people ran
past her while screaming. It was time, she thought as she quickly
finished the can in one un-ladylike gulp and changed to Sailor Pluto.
The majority of the people had gone past her, so she stepped out and
walked the way they came. 
     The source of the problem today was another statue. At least this
one had clothing, she thought with a wry grin. This one was a samurai
in full armor, brandishing a naginata, with the two sword set common
from that period stuffed in his belt. It had just finished frightening
a security guard, but she didn't see any sign that it had done
anything else.
     She hefted the empty can and bounced it off of the back of it's
helmet. It spun around with a cry of rage, the naginata at the ready,
eager to punish any foolish enough to interrupt it.
     " You've got a lot of nerve attacking these people," she said to
it in an almost  conversational tone of voice. " And on my coffee
break, also." She'd prefer to blast it, but she had to see if she
could get some information from it. They were still in the dark about
the motives of their enemies.  
     It snarled again and rushed her, slashing with the blade of the
pole arm. It must not be the talkative type. She reached out with her
staff and deflected it slightly upwards at the beginning of the swing,
enabling her to duck under it when it got to her. She reversed the
direction of her swing and sent the naginata off down the hall to land
in a fake potted plant with a disarming technique not seen since the
fifth century.
     The samurai leaped back to avoid the attack that followed her
disarm. It howled in rage, drew the katana, took a deep breath and
split into three parts, all duplicates of the first. It was an
interesting trick, she thought, but it took more to-
     A sudden premonition made her swing her staff around behind her
and it shuddered in her grip as a blast of black light was deflected
by the orb. A shiver ran down her spine to her toes and settled back
in her heart. That had been a blast of temporal energy. 
     She turned her back on the three samurai to look around the mall
for her new foe. The three reacted predictably, running in to attack.
She let them get another step closer, and then put the butt end of the
staff under her arm so that it was pointed behind her. She looked
defenseless, at least to them. 
     " Dead Scream," she softly whispered as a sphere of violet light
flew out behind her, expanding to destroy the three samurai. She
didn't have time for the little stuff right know. The use of a
temporal attack scared her. She hadn't thought that anyone could do
that except her. 
     No further attacks came. The two duplicate samurai were gone,
destroyed by her attack. The first had gone back to the original pose
it had been in, except that it was resting flat on the ground about
fifty feet from the pedestal it had been on. A small, egg-shaped
object fell out of it to break in two on the ground.
     The blast had been a random gathering of fragments of temporal
energy. If it had hit her, she'd have been ripped apart and scattered
piece by piece over hundreds of years and miles. This wasn't good. She
should be the only person able to do anything like this. If they could
do this, she'd have to spend all her time guarding the passageways to
keep them from traveling in time. Neptune would have to do it alone
until Uranus came around. She didn't dare let her guard down.
     She knew the location of the racetrack well enough, and Michiru
had pointed out the garage itself. The orb on her staff glowed as she
used it to trace out a circular opening in the air in front of her.
The gate brought her in a few feet high, but she was at the garage.
Uranus had just stood up when she walked in. At her feet was the body
of an old man.
     " He's dead, Pluto. A monster took this from him." She held out
her hand, the fragments of the heart crystal now dark and dull. It
didn't shine like the ones she had seen in the past. " A woman
crushed it. She called it a heart crystal. She had said she was hoping
to find a talisman. What the hell is going on here?"
     " I'm sorry, Uranus." She replied, meeting the angry glare from
the young woman. It was happening again. They would need her help, and
she couldn't be there for them. It seemed like a story that would keep
on repeating itself. " I dof time. I'll try to figure out what is
happening. I think I know what the talismans could be, but I need to
research it."
     " Why are you just running away, Pluto?" Uranus growled at her. "
Are you going to hide away and let the rest of us die again?" 
     " Haruka!" gasped Michiru, surprised at the angry words from her
friend. She stepped forward and put her hand on Haruka's arm to try
and calm her. " Stop it. You don't have any right to say this. You
know what her duty is."
     Uranus continued to glare at Pluto for several moments more, and
then sighed and turned away to start pacing back and forth.
     " Are you done, Uranus?" Pluto said coldly. " You know what I
have to do. Do you think I like having to watch what happens? I helped
raise all of you. I watched you all grow up. I was there to hold your
hands when you learned to walk. 
     " I fixed up the skinned knees, held you when your hearts got
broken, and watched you all grow old and die. Don't you think I hated
living this long? There's only one thing keeping me going, Uranus. I'm
the only one who can watch over time so that the past is not
interfered with. 
     " These monsters are going to keep on coming. They'll try to
continue to take heart crystals from innocent people. If you let that
happen, more of them will die. You're going to have to stop them from
getting the crystals. You'll have to find these talismans. I have to
protect time itself. I'll let you know what I can find out, but you
have to stop them here. This is your duty, Haruka. I go now to mine."
     Pluto tapped her staff on the ground and vanished.

*******************************************************

     The man screamed as a ball of black energy enveloped his body and
a horrible, agonizing feeling of something tearing at him began. 
     " Please, Master-"
     " Silence, Marcus. Suffer in silence. This is the same spell you
used on her, directly against my orders. Why did you use a temporal
attack against the equivalent of a fully trained time-mage? What gave
you the idea that you were her equal? I have no use for your ego,
Marcus."
     He tried screaming again, but a rope appeared in front of him and
gagged him before he could make any noise. This pain was unbearable.
Just kill me, you sick bastard, he screamed in his mind.
     The older man pacing back and forth in front of him didn't seem
to notice the rope. 
     " This is the same spell, with one slight difference. It will
take you several days to be ripped apart, molecule by molecule. You
disobeyed me, Marcus, and you made the target go into hiding. I won't
be able to gather any more information about her, and you know how
much I value information.
     " This does set me back quite a bit. I can't move openly until I
figure out her plans and where my crystal is. I'll have to do things
with the utmost care and secrecy, and that will slow me down. This
will inconvenience me, so I'm taking your life in return. Enjoy the
next week, Marcus. The spell will also keep you alive and awake to
fully appreciate the effect."
     He laughed softly and walked out of the room, not bothering to
shut the door. His other students would see this, and hopefully they
would learn from it.

***************************************************

     The last five months had made all the difference for them,
Michiru thought to herself as she reviewed the events from earlier
today. She had become a skilled fighter from the training she went
through with Haruka in several different styles of martial arts. They
could almost read the other's mind, their last teacher said, from the
level of teamwork between the two. 
     The monsters kept coming. Setsuna had gotten some additional
information for them. The monsters were being made by someone. They
were called daemons, and they had to inhabit something in order to
survive. Michiru had come to the conclusion that they used human
material as the basis for these in some way. That's why they had
fought so many strange combinations of women and objects. 
     They had not seen the woman in the red dress again, but they
averaged a fight against a daemon egg every couple of days. Whoever or
whatever was making them had the resources to keep churning these
things out. She'd gotten much better at tracking the disturbance they
made and could now zero in on it with a few moments concentration.
They would go to the site and keep the daemon from making off 
with the heart crystal. They still hadn't found any of the talismans.
     Setsuna had come by to visit them a few times. Fortunately, she
and Haruka had patched things up very quickly, and Pluto turned out to
be a much more co-operative and friendly now that she saw Haruka's
sincerity. The enemy was after the talismans in order to use them to
destroy the world. The talismans would only be found attached to the
heart crystal of someone with a pure heart.
     They had to keep them from doing it. The only way to stop it,
according to Setsuna, was to get the three talismans into the hands of
the messiah, who would destroy this evil that threatened the world.
Since they had no clue as to the identity of the messiah, they had
agreed to do anything necessary to get the talismans. 
     The danger in this was that a person would die if their heart
crystal was removed for more than several minutes. They would have to
sacrifice three people with pure hearts in order to get the talismans.
There was no other way than to kill them.
     It had been difficult for both of them to accept at first, but
the continuing problem of the daemons convinced them that the price
would be worth it. The monsters were getting smarter and stronger each
time they encountered one, and eventually they would start doing more
damage than killing three people. It was a horrible case of the end
justifying the means, but it didn't take them long to accept it. 
     Haruka came in and sat next to her, drying her hair with a towel.
The short haircut her friend had was certainly easier to take care of
than her hair. At least it wasn't as bad as the mane of hair they had
seen yesterday. They had been hiding in a clump of trees, watching a
daemon start to attack some children at a park. She had started
forward to put a stop to it, but Haruka grabbed her arm and pointed
out what she had missed. A girl had jumped down from a street light
and attacked the monster. It was Sailor V.
     It certainly looked like the painting Haruka had done from her
dream of the last battle on the moon. She had the same long blonde
hair they both remembered, but the costume was in all the wrong
colors. The ensuing fight went back and forth for several minutes. The
girl kept her distance between the two, gracefully avoiding the blasts
of water the daemon-inhabited hydrant flung at her. Her own attack, a
slender blast of white light, continued to strike the now enraged
monster in the same spot several times in a row. It foolishly charged
and the fight was over. It was tripped up by a leg sweep from the
girl, who jammed her hand against the weakened section and finished it
off at point blank range with a final blast. 
     They had been too far away to hear what she had yelled as she
attacked, due to the noise from the police and camera crews that had
arrived moments after the fight began. Sailor V, after checking that
the children were all right, had left the scene to the disappointment
of the crowd. They had hoped to follow her and find out who she was,
but lost her trying to circle around the park.
     Today, they had a close call with a daemon that nearly got away
from them. It had taken them nearly an hour chasing the thing on
Haruka's motorcycle to catch and destroy it. The discovery that it was
only an ordinary heart crystal had depressed them after the long
chase. Worse, they had been delayed long enough that the victim had
not recovered right away when they brought the crystal back. They had
spent several hours lurking around the hospital, waiting for the baby
girl to regain consciousness and pretending to be concerned neighbors.
She had finally woken up, but the doctor, a pediatrics specialist with
long, black hair, told them that there might be complications from the
brief coma the girl had apparently been in. 
     Haruka had stormed out of the hospital, furious at the things for
doing this to an innocent baby. Michiru had ran along with her, using
all her skill to keep her friend from exploding in rage while in the
hospital. Neither had noticed the doctor who had treated the child
talking to a young girl with short, blue hair.

****************************************************
 
     She was in the office of the principal again for getting into
another fight. Some of the boys on the baseball team had dragged a
girl off under the bleachers after school that day. She had seen this,
and had ran over to put a stop to it. She knew that she'd probably get
into trouble for this, but she couldn't stand things like this and
refused to let it happen.
     She came in from behind the group and used the surprise to her
advantage. Some of the teachers arrived a few minutes after the
screaming started. They had found several bruises, black eyes and a
broken bone among the boys lying on the ground. The wrestling teacher
had grabbed her and pulled her off of the instigator of this just as
she got a good hold on his neck. The girl had escaped with only a torn
blouse and a few bruises. 
     After the dust settled and all the involved parties had been
interrogated by the principal, she had been informed of his decision
to expel her for starting a fight with the boys. She was shocked
by this biased interpretation of the events and had told him so. 
     " They're getting away with this because they're on the varsity
team, right? You sick old man. Just because they're a bunch of star
players they can get away with anything. This is disgusting! You're
disgusting for letting this happen! Fine, expel me." She had yelled at
him and then slammed the door to his office and walked away while
keeping the tears from showing.
     She was getting her things from her locker when one of her
teachers found her. It was her English teacher, Mr. Hamilton. He was
an American who had taught for several years in Japan. She always
enjoyed his class, and her skills had gotten much better in her short
time here. Her previous teachers in this subject had not done a good
job with her. 
     " Makoto,  I'm glad I found you." he said in his thick accent.
His Japanese was as good as a native, but he had an accent that was as
bad as hers was in English. " I heard about what happened. I wanted to
let you know that I'm sorry about it. 
     " The girl decided not to press charges, Makoto. If she did, she
would have to admit what had happened. This way, nothing did happen to
her. You kept her from being hurt, but you're the one paying for it.
I'm sorry that it's not fair, but you did the right thing."
     "  I know, Mr. Hamilton. This will be another school I've been
kicked out of. My parents are going to kill me." The lie hurt, for she
liked this man. " I'll have to find another school."
     " Makoto, you moved a few months ago, right? I know the principal
over at a school in Juban. I'll write him a letter and explain what
happened. I should be able to get you in without any real problems."

*******************************************************

     Haruka finished drying Michiru's hair. The chase today had left
them covered with dust and grit from the roads and the parks it had
led them through. It had taken her several washings to get it all out
of her hair, and Michiru's had been in worse shape. She now really
appreciated the helmet and leathers she normally wore while on her
motorcycle.
     " I called Dr Mizuno while you were in the shower, Michiru. She
said the child is slowly getting better. Her signs are up from
earlier. She thinks the girl will be all right."
     " That's good. I was still worrying about her." 
     " I know. You weren't as obvious about it, but I could tell you
were upset. Thanks for keeping me from blowing up back there at the
hospital."
     Michiru nodded. They both went to sit on a bench in the garden
and look at the city lights that were just starting to glow as the
sunset approached. It wasn't until after it had set that Haruka stood
and pulled the other to her feet. 
     " Try a reading, Michiru. I want to see if you still get the same
results on something."
     She nodded, closed her eyes for a moment, opened them again and
looked around her at the lights below. One place had stood out, just
like it had for a few days.
     " The castle again, Haruka." she said with a sigh. She kept
getting a bad feeling from it, but it wasn't the same as when she felt
the daemons.
     " Good. I pulled a few strings in case you were right." Haruka
reached into her jacket and pulled out a pair of tickets. " It's a
European themed banquet hall that opened up a few months ago. They're
having a charity event tonight. It's a masquerade and the white and
lavender dress of yours will go wonderfully with a matching tux I
bought this morning, just in case. We'll mix business with a bit of
pleasure and get you to unwind a little bit."
     Michiru smiled as they got up to walk back into the house. She
was already feeling better at the thought of a night out. They'd been
doing too much fighting recently.
     " Every time I think I've got you figured out, Haruka, you go
ahead and surprise me. How did you ever get tickets this late for this
place? That charity is a big one. They'll be packed and the upper
crust will be fighting like cats and dogs over the tickets."
     " My dad's got a nice catering contract there. They owe him for
saving their butts when the original caterer pulled out the morning of
their first event. At least we'll have good food tonight. Go and get
dressed. I've got the masks in my car."

*******************************************************

     " Naru-chan, I'm so excited. This will be so much fun! There will
be a bunch of gorgeous guys there, and dancing, and all the food we
can eat. I'm going to be in heaven!!" the blond girl said, piling her
two long streams of hair up on her head and securing them temporarily
with a pin. She had already finished putting on most of her make-up
and started to put on the white gown she would wear that night.
     " Calm down, Usagi. It's just a charity event, not a real party.
We'll have to listen to a bunch of boring speeches and the only guys
there will be a bunch of old businessmen. I don't think it will be
that good. It is nice to be able to dress up and go out, though," the
other replied. She was a bit shorter then her friend, with medium
length hair that was just a shade too brown to be auburn. Her green
gown would set off her hair tonight, she thought as she tried to head
off the exuberance of her companion. 
     Usagi had a tendency to get clumsy when she was excited and Naru
didn't want to end up with Usagi ruining the evening somehow. She knew
she wouldn't mean to, as Usagi didn't have any intentions of such a
thing. Still, she had a good track record for mixing clumsiness
combined with the best of intentions and ending up with chaos.
     The two girls continued putting on their make-up and gowns.
Naru's mother had loaned them several pieces of jewelry to wear for
the night. They would both look wonderful tonight.

****************************************************

     " Ami! Wait!"
     She turned to see a classmate running up to her as she walked
back to her house. Her mother had to cancel their plans for the night.
One of her patients today, an infant girl, was still in serious
condition and her mother had wanted to stay and watch her for a little
while longer.
     " Hi, Kimiko. How are you?"
     " I'm fine, Ami. I'm going to a charity ball tonight with some of
my friends to look at some of the celebrities who will be there and
see what they're wearing. We were going to go to a movie after that.
Would you like to come along?"
     " I'm sorry, Kimiko, but I have to study for the test tomorrow.
Thank you for asking me."
     " O.K., Ami. I wish you could come along. I'll see you tomorrow."
She turned and ran back the way she had came. What was with this new
girl? She always had the best scores. Surely, she could afford to take
some time off. She must be a snob, she thought, always thinking
herself better than anyone else because of her grades. That would be
the last time she tried to be nice to the genius girl.
     Ami resumed her walk home. She had wanted to go, but her mother
would probably be transferred away again soon and she'd have to leave
another group of friends behind. It would be easier here if she didn't
make any.

****************************************************

     The speeches were thankfully over and the dancing had begun.
Scores of couples were moving around the room to the accompaniment of
a small string ensemble in the corner. Michiru had winced at hearing
one of the violin players and sought out the conductor, who was a
friend of her father's. They had conferred a few moments and Michiru
had taken over the violinist's place so she could work with the others
for a few numbers.
     Haruka stood on a balcony overlooking the dance floor. It was
turning out to be a nice evening. The crowd was surprisingly young
tonight. She watched several couples happily dancing for a few
minutes.
     They hadn't been able to tell that she was not a man. Her tuxedo
and height had done the trick again, along with the help of a sports
bra. Nobody had even looked at her and Michiru with anything other
than envy at the lovely couple they made. She was smiling at the
success of the trick when she noticed the wallflower.  
     The girl was pretty, and wore an elaborate white gown with a
modest neckline compared to some of the women here tonight. Her mask
covered her eyes and part of her face but did nothing to hide the
beauty there. In a few years, the guys would be lining up to chase
this one. She decided to go down and entertain herself while Michiru
played. The wallflower was still there and still alone when she
reached the dance floor. 
     " May I have this dance, my princess?"
     She whisked the young girl onto the floor and smoothly began to
lead them in the slow waltz that was playing. 

****************************************************

     Usagi had been furious with Naru for abandoning her. She had left
her to go chasing a young man who had seemed to be attracted her. She
quickly forgave her friend, however. They had come there to have fun,
and she wasn't really mad at Naru for going off with the boy. He had
been sort of cute. She might have done the same.
     The couples on the floor were twirling around the room. She had
wanted to dance, but there was a scarcity of unattached boys here
tonight. The buffet was already shut down, except for the rich, dense
chocolate torte they had served for dessert. She would have gone back
for more,but the servers had looked at her strangely when she got her
third piece. 
     She had just about given up and was going to get another piece of
cake when a vision appeared before her. He was tall and handsome with
sandy blond hair and wore a dreamy white tuxedo. The mask concealed
little of his face and she could have fallen into the depths of those
blue eyes.
     " May I have this dance, my princess?" he had said, and swept her
onto the floor. Even his voice was lovely, and his dancing was divine.
He carefully led them into the waltz, his skill and strong arms
keeping her from making any mistakes or stepping on his feet. She
could almost feel her eyes turning into hearts.
     Luck was smiling on her tonight, it seemed. The music moved into
an extended piece featuring a beautiful violinist and she got to spend
even more time with this incredible hunk. They continued to glide
around the room as she wondered if she would ever be so happy again in
her life.

*****************************************************

     It was the same dream again. He was roaming through the dark,
abandoned castle in a tuxedo. This time, a voice came to him. A
woman's voice, clear and beautiful. She was imploring him to find her
and protect her. He turned around to see a figure standing on a high
balcony. She wore a white gown, and he could see her long blonde hair,
just like the two strands from the first time he had this dream. The
light behind her blurred her features so he couldn't see her face
clearly. 
     Right on cue, the pain came. He staggered backward from it, and
bumped into a wall. The lights and sounds washed over him. He now
stood behind a pillar near the wall of an elaborate ballroom. Couples
danced around in the center of the room and a group of musicians were
finishing a waltz that he knew the melody of. 
     He was dressed like most of the men here, in a black tuxedo with
a mask. The mirror near him told him the rest. He also wore a long,
red-lined cape. Thankfully, this was one place where the clothes he
wore in the dream would fit in. 
     One couple stood out from the rest. The man wore a white tuxedo
that had caught his eye at first, but the girl in his arms held them
there. His heart skipped a beat. This had to be the girl from his
dreams. 
     She was beautiful. Her long blonde hair swept around just above
the floor as they continued to dance past the end of the tune and
through the applause for the violinist taking a bow. The girl had on a
white gown, just like the woman in his dream. Her blue eyes and the
dazzling smile she wore as she gazed up at the young man captured his
heart.
     He stood transfixed, staring at the two for several moments
before he decided to take the chance. This was a chance to find out
why he was having the dream. Maybe she could tell him who he was.

*****************************************************

     Haruka had heard the single note that Michiru had faltered
slightly on. She turned to look at her quickly, swinging the young
girl around suddenly to cover the motion, and caught Michiru's
slight nod. She had sensed something. The piece was drawing to a
close. They would have to get out of here and investigate this.

****************************************************

     Usagi was still in heaven as the dance ended. She would have
sworn that her feet never touched the ground throughout the number. He
even kept moving with her after the music stopped. They had continued
the dance for about a half a minute when reality finally intruded.
     " May I cut in, my princess?" another young man came up and
tapped her gently on her bare shoulder. He was as gorgeous as the
first, his dark hair matching the black tuxedo he wore. His eyes
were hidden by a white mask and the whole outfit was perfectly
accented by a long, red-lined cape. 
     I've died, she thought. I've died, gone to heaven and a pair of
angels want to be with me. She sighed happily, lost in her thoughts as
the two men looked at each other. 
      Time seemed to stop as the images of the two men swam before her
eyes. The light from the chandelier above them silvered the black hair
of the latecomer for a moment and it seemed as if she was looking at
the same man in two different sets of clothes. Her heart leaped in her
chest.
They seemed so familiar to her somehow. A feeling of loneliness and
longing rushed into her like an unstoppable tide and retreated only
when the music started and one of them moved while the world started
again.
     " I don't mind if you do," the one in white said with a twinkle
in his eye as he grabbed the other man and started to swing him around
in the steps of the waltz.Usagi was so startled by this she didn't
know if she wanted to laugh at the comical scene and the expression on
the black-clad angel or cry that her two suitors were gone.
     She was just about to protest this when her hand was taken and
she was led into the dance herself. She gasped in surprise when she
realized her new partner was the violinist who had played earlier.
Usagi hoped she would someday look as beautiful as the woman she
danced with. Her turquoise hair was a perfect match for the white and
lavender dress and her gentle, mischievous smile put Usagi at ease
even though she was dancing with another woman. 
     " Don't worry, princess," she whispered at Usagi. " You'll be
with him soon enough." They had quickly moved towards the two men, who
were now near one wall of the room and a door. As if on cue, the two
leading cut sharply towards each other while starting a spin. When it
was done, Usagi was dancing with the surprised young man in the black
tuxedo as the other two spun again and came to a stop, the man holding
the woman's hand high in the air.
     " I'm sorry, my princess and prince, but duty calls." the man
said with a grin as he bowed with an elaborate flourish and the woman
did a curtsy laden with all the dignity and charm she would never,
ever dream of having. They quickly moved through the door and vanished
from her sight.
     Usagi continued dancing with the man in black she now held. She
looked into his eyes for a few moments, lost in the moment and the
feeling of belonging that overcame her. Her eyes closed as she sighed
happily and rested her cheek on his chest. He was just the right
height, she thought to herself, as her head rested just under his
chin.
     They continued together like that through the rest of the dance,
moving in perfect harmony with each other. It was only when the music
ended that her emotions overcame her and she fainted, her partner
slowly and tenderly lowering her to the floor.

******************************************************

     He wanted to speak to her as they suddenly were together and the
other couple left. He had tried, but his mind failed him upon looking
into those impossibly deep blue eyes. It was all he could do to keep
dancing with her when she sighed and rested her cheek on his chest,
closing her eyes. Somehow, he kept moving as a feeling of peace swept
over him. Talking to her and finding out what was happening didn't
seem quite as important when she was in his arms. 
     The music started to come to a close, and the sensation that he
feared was beginning. Whatever had brought him here was starting to
pull him back. He fought it as long as he could, but he barely had
enough time to lower her to the floor when she swooned before he was
dragged away back to his reality. 
     " Farewell, my princess," he whispered as he left.

******************************************************

     " Just a few more minutes, Mom. I'll get up. I promise."
     " Usagi Tsukino, wake up!" a voice whispered into her ear as she
was shaken by someone.  Her eyes flew open to reveal Naru kneeling at
her side, concern on her face. She looked around at the ballroom and
the small knot of people gathered around them. 
     " I'm all right, everybody." she said while blushing and standing
up. She let Naru guide her to a  chair and sit her down while a glass
of juice was pressed into her hand. 
     " Drink that, Usagi. I keep on telling you that you're going to
hurt yourself eating that much cake," the girl said as she glared at
the concerned onlookers until they left the two alone. " Now, what
really happened? I look over and there you are, dancing with the best
looking guy in the place and then another one shows up and they
practically come to blows over you."
     " It was wonderful, Naru-chan. I felt like I was floating."
     " I'll say. That's the first time I've ever seen you dance and
not trip over your feet. There's hope for you yet, Usagi."

***************************************************

     " Did you have fun?" Michiru teased her as they ran down the
corridor towards the rooms in the back of the building. " I can't
leave you alone for a minute, can I?" 
     " They do make a cute couple together, once he gets over being
angry at me. In here," she said as they ducked into a storage room and
closed the door. There was a flash of light visible through the space
between the door and the frame for a moment, and then it swung open
and Sailors Neptune and Uranus ran out to find their foe.
     " Mission or not, Uranus, I don't feel like letting anyone lose
their heart tonight."   
     " You've got it, Neptune. That thing is going down quick. This
one night, all their hearts will be safe."



The End.

*****************************************************

All characters are copyrights of their respective holders.
Please comments, etc. to the above e-mail address.

Special thanks to the following...

Naoko Takeuchi, of course.
  The depth of her creation continues to amaze me.

Luna and Artemis, friendship and support.
  visit their page at 
  http://pages.prodigy.com/vbaa85a/index.html

Jackie Chiang, sage advice.
  check out her page at
  http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/3741/ 


Chris Davies, inspiration and friendly competition.

Rav Dhiraj
  check out his page at
  http://www..express.ca/pdhiraj/newpage.htm

Jupiter Knight
  check out his page at
  http://www.ualberta.ca/~jarcher/jupknght.html