[PG-13]

The central part of the story takes place sometime in the neighborhood 
of the late R or early S series . . . during a quiet time.

gradient@thedoghousemail.com

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A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature. 

				          Ralph Waldo Emerson
				          "Friendship"

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	"All right, that was good.  Let's do it again."

	"Oh, I don't want to.  Can't we do something else?"

	"Not right now.  Now come on.  I know you've got it in you."

	"Okay," she sighed before beginning the song:

	"The closest to the sun is Mercury,
	 often so close that no one can see;

	 Venus is the next, brighter than the rest,
	 remember her beauty and I'll pass this little test;

	 Then comes the Earth, cradle of life,
	 together with the Moon, they'll overcome all strife;

	 Mars is surely a most impressive sight,
	 an eternal flame burning bright in the night;

	 The king of planets is mighty Jupiter, 
	 with a spirit that is impossible to deter;

	 Saturn comes into sight with her impressive rings,
	 surely a song of innocence is what she sings;

	 Uranus and Neptune are hard to tell apart,
	 they have different colors, but are both the same at heart;

	 The last one out is Pluto, always alone,
	 thank you for listening to my little planet song."

	She didn't wait for a response:  "So, how did I do?  Did I get
them all?"

	The companion gave her gentle smile and answered:  "You did
great."  There was no way that she was going to let her fail this
science test, especially on this subject.  If it took a song, she
would write a song.

	"Ami-chan, what would I do without you?"

	"Well, I suspect. . ," she began speaking without thinking, and 
then looked up to see the childlike expectation in her friend's eyes.  
Forming that delicate smile again, she responded with the only answer 
that she could give to this person:

	"You would do just fine, Usagi-chan.  Just fine."

*********************
The Weakest Link

by

+Gradient
*********************

[ Sixteen Months Ago ]

	"Artemis!  What's happening?"

	"I don't know!  Just hold still for a moment!  Don't do
anything!"

	The detransformation had not gone as expected.  Venus had
almost finished the sequence that would return her to being Aino
Minako, when, instead of the residual energy fading away, a new
burst of iridescence surrounded her and held her captive in this 
transitory state.  To the casual observer, it might have even appeared
to be an eerily beautiful sight.

	The white cat quickly looked around for any sign of the enemy.
Did we miss any?  Why would they have followed us home?  Seeing none,
he returned his attention to his ward.

	And he suddenly felt more helpless and alone than he had ever
felt before.

	It hurt his sensitive eyes to look directly at her, but that
didn't matter.  He had to deduce what was going on and somehow help
her.  He quickly cursed himself for being just a cat.  It always came
down to that, didn't it?

	She didn't appear to be in pain, but that could be deceptive,
he thought.  Ribbons of golden energy were violently whipping off her 
at a fantastic rate, beginning to coalesce about three feet in front of 
her head.  The glow at that point increased at a exponential rate, and
by the time that he was forced to blink, the final outburst of light
and sound shook the entire house.

	There was not one pause between the moment he regained
consciousness and the instant that he began frantically looking for 
her.  He didn't have to search for long -- she was lying prostrate at 
the foot of her bed.

	"Minako!  Minako!  Wake up!  Please!  Can you hear me?"  Cats'
hearts beat, of course, much faster than human hearts, but the speed
at which his was beating at the moment was perhaps unnatural for even 
feline desperation.

	"Oooohhhhh . . . I . . . I swear Artemis, I didn't mean to
party so late."

	Normally, such a response would have garnered a swift rebuke
from the guardian cat, but not now.  He could barely conceal the sobs
within his laugh.  Now wasn't the time to cry, however.  He reminded
himself of his self-imposed vow *never* to lose composure in front of
her.  Never.

	"Er, what happened?" she said as she slowly sat upright, 
holding the side of her head.

	"You mean you don't remember?"

	"Well, sort of.  I was changing back, then everything got
brighter than usual, and here I was.  That's about it."

	Not wanting to worry the teenager, he responded, "Yes, that's
just about it."

       He made a quick visual inspection of the room.  If there was too
much damage, an explanation to the parents would have to be formulated.
Thankfully, there was not, other than a few idol singer posters blown
from the wall.  Artemis smirked; he didn't remember much about the 
Silver Millennium, but he imagined his living quarters then were somewhat
more dignified than *this*.

	Minako started giggling.  "Oh, Artemis.  You didn't really have
to get me anything for our anniversary."

	"What?"  Another bizarre Minako comment.  Another Artemis loss 
for words.

	"Well, I mean, we *have* been working together for a year now, 
but I didn't expect you to remember this way."

	Brain damage, possibly.  It was hard to tell.

	"What in the world are you talking about?"

	Minako didn't say a word, but rather motioned with her head
to a spot on the floor about ten feet away.

	Both of them looked forward, and as Artemis' eyes focused, he
saw it:  a small spherical crystal, perhaps a centimeter in diameter,
bearing an identical color to the jewel in Venus' tiara.  The glow
from it was just subsiding.

	* * * * *

[ Three Months Ago ]

	"Hello, Ami."

	"Oh!  Hello, Artemis.  You startled me."

	That was one of his joys in being a cat.  He fancied the idea
that he made people slightly nervous because they were not sure how
long he had placed them under silent observation.  Small creatures
often need all the psychological advantages they can get, he reminded
himself.

	"I'm sorry to interrupt you from your work.  I can come back
some other time."

	"No.  No.  Please, come in," she said with moderate conviction
as she lowered her pencil and placed her eyeglasses in their case.

	He jumped from the window to the floor, and then immediately 
to an adjacent table.  It was important, he remembered, that he 
maintain a suitable eye level when talking to these girls.

	"So, I assume this is a business visit," Ami said with her
back turned, finishing sorting several of her papers from various
classes.

	That hurt, the cat told himself.  He had known Ami for a while
now, and although he never really interacted much on a one-to-one 
basis with her, he thought that she had understood that he was more 
personable and less business-oriented than his black counterpart.  It 
*is* within the realm of possibility that I could just come to talk.

	"In a sense.  I've got a mystery that's been eating at me and
I am at my wit's end in trying to solve it.  I thought maybe we could
use your . . . special talents to assist."

	That's good kitty, purr and sweet talk me just a little more,
she thought as she put on her most sincere look of surprised interest.

	"About a year or so ago, when we were living in England, Venus 
and I had returned home after one of our battles.  When she tried to 
detransform, something went wrong.  There was a large energy discharge,
something like I've never seen before.  And then, when it was over, we
found this."

	He unfastened the little pouch hanging around his neck and 
dumped the small golden crystal on the table.  Both were silent as it
rolled around in a small spiral path until coming to a stop.

	Ami's look changed, almost imperceptibly; this might actually be
of some challenge after all.  Artemis knew that he had piqued her
interest, and without a pause continued in his deliberately helpless
tone.

	"The crystal has been like this the entire time.  Inert.
Minako claims that when she holds it, she gets a little lightheaded,
but I don't think I'd blame that on the crystal just yet.  For the last 
year, she's kept it in a little jewelry box, and one time she 
almost went behind my back and tried to have it mounted into a ring.  I
thought that I'd better get it to you before anything happened to it."

	"I don't really have any theories about it, and neither does 
Luna.  The only thing about it that struck me was that it is almost 
identical to the jewel in Venus' tiara, except for the shape."

	"Oh, and one more thing.  It's probably a coincidence, but
I'll mention it anyway.  The day that this happened was the first
anniversary of the day that I first reawakened Venus."

	Ami chose her next words carefully.  "Well, this *is* a 
mystery."

	Was that an acceptance?  Artemis continued.  "I don't really
expect that you'll find out much more about it.  It's probably not
that important, anyway.  I was just worried that something might be
wrong with Minako."

	Ami smiled.  He's smooth, much better than Luna would be in
this situation.  Thrown down the little kitty gauntlet, so to speak.
I guess I have no choice now.

	"I'd be happy to do whatever I can, Artemis.  Could I borrow
this crystal for a while so that I can perform some tests?"

	"Please.  I guarantee that Minako will never even notice it's
gone.  Thanks, Ami."

	"Anytime, Artemis."

	* * * * *

[ Two months ago ]


	"So then Mamo-chan said that my eyes--"

	"Usagi, I think we're finished."

	"As I was saying, Mamo-chan said--"

	"Usagi!"

	"Luna, you are so mean sometimes!"

	Everyone at the meeting giggled, some more obvious than others.
There had not been much business on the docket that evening.  Times 
were relatively quiet.  But the cats knew that it was important to keep 
meeting on a regular basis, if only to teach certain members of their 
group the virtue of consistency.  I'm not a guardian cat, Luna thought
with a sigh.  I'm a schoolmarm.

       "Sometimes I just wish that whoever put that accursed bandage on
my head last year would have bought a better brand -- you would have 
just pulled and pulled Usagi, and it would have stayed on and I could
have been a happy cat right now."  Luna's beleaguerment caused Minako
to smile widely.  You'd never hear something like that from *my* cat.

	"I just wanted to tell you about it."

	"Well then, how many times *do* you have to tell this story?
I think this is the fifth time I've heard it," Rei said, with more
than a little annoyance in her voice.

	"Until I get it right."

	"If that's the case, then we might as well slap a sign on
the front of my shrine that says 'Crystal Tokyo,' because we'll be
in here forever."

	"You're just jeal--"

	"All right," Artemis gently interrupted with a certain aura
of forcefulness that only he could get away with.  "Are we all agreed
that we'll meet again Sunday evening at the regular time?"  Everyone
nodded in the affirmative and stood up.

	"Okay.  Everyone have a good evening, then.  Be careful on the
way home.  And remember, Luna and I are both very proud of you all."

	This was not the first time that Artemis had thrown in that
last comment to end a meeting.  The first time he did it, Luna had 
almost fallen backward off her table laughing.  He later explained to
her, in one of his more agitated states, that they should never forget
that these "soldiers" were just teenage girls with fragile egos and 
that it was their duty as guardian cats to help them through this 
delicate phase of their life, regardless of which corny phrases needed
to be uttered.   He had guarded and guided Minako through her entire 
adolescence and there was no way that he was going to give up now, he
had said with one of the most intense looks that Luna had ever seen on
him.  It seems as if the Senshi are not the only ones finally growing
up, Luna laughed to herself.

       "Artemis is eager to get home because he's having swordfish
tonight," Minako chuckled while giving a mischievous nudge to the cat
as she walked by him on the way out.  He didn't notice.

	"Usagi, could you stay behind for just a little while?"

	"Sure, Artemis."

	The room cleared rather quickly.  Makoto and Minako took off
together for wherever their collective mind sensed the possibility of
a good time.  Rei excused herself for other duties in the shrine.  Ami,
who had been uncharacteristically quiet all evening, stayed behind.

	"What's up?"

	"Usagi, have you been feeling all right lately?  Have you
noticed anything different?"  Luna held her worry in tight while
asking.

	"Yeah, I'm fine.  In fact, I've been feeling great lately.
Why do you ask?"

	"Do you know what tomorrow is?"

	"Uh-huh.  Thursday."

	She had said it with such sincerity that Luna could only close
her eyes, take a deep breath, and begin again.

	"No.  I mean, did you remember that tomorrow is the one-year
anniversary of the first time that you became Sailor Moon?"

	"Is it?  It doesn't seem that long.  Much less than that, in
fact.  I remember when--"

	"Something has come up," Luna stopped her.  "Nothing to be
worried about, but I need you to promise something to me."

	"Okay."  This conversation has just taken a serious turn, she
thought.

	"The next time you transform into Sailor Moon, I want to be
there.  The same goes for when you change back."

	The strangeness of the request left her dumbstruck.

	"Promise me you'll remember."

	"Uh.  Okay, Luna.  I'll remember."  It wasn't the concerned
look on either Luna or Artemis' face that worried her at the moment.  It
was Ami's blank stare.  She only displayed this particular visage when
she was either very, very deep in thought or when she was hiding some
pain buried within her.  

	Having heard Luna's request, Usagi realized that both
possibilities were equally frightening.

	* * * * *

[ The Next Day ]

	"Is everyone ready?" Artemis blared.  A chorus of "yeahs," 
"uh-huhs," and "sures" responded.  With Rei's grandfather and 
Yuuichiro gone, the shrine grounds seemed to be the best place to carry
out their plan.

	"Just one more minute for some adjustments," Ami called from 
behind her minicomputer.

	Luna had fully briefed Usagi the night before on the rationale
for her request.  She related the incident with Minako just as Artemis
had related it to her months ago.  The young lady took the news with a
great deal of composure, she thought.

	Rei, Makoto, and Minako didn't need to be present, Luna reminded
her, but Usagi had requested that her friends be there anyway, just in 
case.  They, of course complied, particularly after hearing the reason 
for their impromptu meeting.

	Ami was fine-tuning her sensing equipment, all of which was
connected to the ubiquitous minicomputer, which in turn was linked to
her visor, which had already been activated.  Several of the Senshi 
had observed in the past that if Ami ever gave up medicine as a 
profession, she could easily join the electronics trade show circuit.

	"Where does she *get* that stuff?" Minako muttered under her 
breath to Rei.  "You think she's got a secret crime lab that we don't 
know about?"

	Makoto tried to draw away the attention that was about to fall
on the giggling pair:  "Artemis, what made you come to the conclusion
that Usagi-chan was going to undergo this . . . transformation today?"

	Artemis looked slightly confused.  "Well, it wasn't exactly my
idea.  Ami was the one who first suggested it."

	All eyes fell on her.  She must have been turning dials and
punching buttons for twenty seconds before she realized it.

	She looked up, "Uh, it only seemed logical that we take some
precautions."

	Not much of an explanation, but it was all they were going to
squeeze from her as she returned to her work.

	"Rei-chan, if something happens, you can have my bunny blanket."

	"Usagi!"  Luna was not amused.

	"Okay, okay," she couldn't control her laughing.  "Sorry."

	"I'm ready."  Ami was in one of those modes where she just
wouldn't make eye contact with anybody, Rei thought.

	Without a pause Usagi said the magic words and began her
transformation.  Each of them had seen this before, but none had 
previously paid as careful attention as they were doing at this moment.
More than one of them mentally noted that if there was any doubt that 
she was a princess, this sight would put all suspicions to rest.

	The only one who wasn't looking was Ami; her attention was
elsewhere.

	As the scene neared its climax, their collective breath was
held.

	Nothing.  Silence.  The only sound was the rattle of tiny keys
being pressed on the minicomputer.

	"Ami?"

	"I'm not detecting anything out of the ordinary."

	"Well, what are we waiting for then?"  Usagi, always impatient,
began the detransformation without permission.

	And as a year earlier, the glow at the end lingered and began
to grow.

	"Ami?"

	Her minicomputer began to beep uncontrollably and another piece
of equipment that she brought with her started humming at a very low
pitch.

	"Ami!"

	Don't bother, Artemis.  She's somewhere else.

	The vortex around Usagi was slightly different than Artemis
remembered.  Perhaps it was a different color.  It was certainly much
brighter.  Only the dark glasses that Ami had provided for all of them
allowed the cat to view the spectacle at all.

	Minako watched with apprehension.  Is this what happened to
me?  Artemis must have been terrified.  She glanced at him for a moment
in sympathy.

	Rei and Makoto were, of course, concerned for their friend, but
at the same time they realized that it appeared that they were now
destined to go through this ordeal sometime in the near future.

	The explosion, and then she fell.

	Rei was the first one over her.  She had fallen on a soft area
of grass and leaves.  "Usagi!  Usagi!  Say something!"

	"Uhhhhh . . . As I was saying, Mamo-chan said that my eyes
were the most beautiful . . ."  She couldn't finish the sentence; she
was laughing too hard.  Rei had to restrain herself.  It was a 
well-practiced response.

	All her friends were gathered over her in a circle smiling,
save one, who was intently making calculations over the rapidly
declining glow of a perfectly clear crystal that had dropped to the
ground fifteen feet distant.

	* * * * *

[ Two weeks ago ]

       The visitor leaped from rooftop to rooftop silently.  He would
not be seen tonight.  However, he would make it his mission *to see*.

       When he arrived at the apartment complex, he was at street level.
Getting to the target spying position would be no problem for him, as
he had made this journey often.

       The light was still on, he thought.  Good.  Positioning himself
above the window, he began his vigil.  It was not a long one.

       The sight he immediately saw within did not disturb him; 
that would come later.  Simple confusion would do for now.

       * * * * *

[ The Next Day ]

	Usagi skipped home from school without a care in the world.

	"Slow down!  You're going in the wrong direction!"

	"Luna, what are you talking about?  Oh . . ."

	The cat grudgingly reminded Usagi of her promise to visit Ami 
this evening before she performed her experiment.

	Ami had been studying the second crystal for six weeks
now and had made absolutely no progress in her analysis of what they
were.  She must have spent a great deal of time on the problem, for
lately she seemed to be removed to her own private world more often 
than not, Usagi thought.  That was one of the costs of being Ami's 
friend, however: she demanded quite a wide berth when dealing with 
matters such as this.

	After calling home to remind the parents that she was going out
with her friends, Usagi stuffed Luna into her bag and boarded the bus
to Ami's mother's hospital.

	As Usagi and Luna stood before the structure, only one thought
echoed through the young girl's mind:

	"Big, isn't it?"

	"Perhaps more so for me than you," Luna was able to allow the
slightest erudite smile.  It was good that, after all that she had
seen, Usagi could still be bewondered by something as simple as a large
building, Luna thought.

	Hiding Luna in her bag again, Usagi confidently strolled in,
walked to the nearest elevator, entered, and pushed the bottommost
button.

	With her mother's assistance, Ami had been able to temporarily
secure an "office" in the basement.  Since the building had been 
undergoing renovation, a small, unneeded utility room had been abandoned 
until several of the smaller rooms in that block could be consolidated 
into a larger, temperature-controlled storage facility.

	But that was several months away.  Until then, Ami had at her
disposal a 150 square-foot space in the depths of one of Tokyo's most
respected hospitals.  As her mother had pointed out, for an aspiring
doctor, there was no substitute for actually spending a great deal of
time at such a place.

	It was her pride and joy.  *She had arrived*.

	As the elevator door opened, Usagi remembered something:

	"Tomorrow's the day when Ami will have her transformation,
right?"

	"Yes, but don't say anything about it.  I think it would
embarrass her.  Artemis and I already have it taken care of."

	"And Rei in about two and a half weeks."

	"I've taken care of that as well."

	As they turned the corner, Ami's unassuming door came into
view.  As part of the "housewarming" office party that Ami had three
months earlier, each of the Senshi had purchased Ami a gift.  The 
elegant nameplate given to her by Makoto was placed in a prominent 
position outside the door, much to the amusement of the remaining 
occupants of this floor.

	It amazed Usagi how Ami was able to fit a large portion of her
library, most of her friends, and several pieces of scientific 
equipment in such a small space.

	"Hello, everybody."  She was surprised to see one of them.  "I 
thought you were supposed to be doing shrine duties this evening, 
Rei-chan."

	"I was able to put them off until tomorrow.  Grandfather thinks
I'm at your house studying, in case he brings it up."

	One of the most annoying parts of being a Senshi was the fact
that they had to juggle and coordinate their alibis on a continual
basis.  For some, like Usagi, it was a very difficult task.  For 
others, like Ami, such deception had almost become second nature.

	"Ami-chan, exactly why are we here?  You know we don't have the
faintest clue about what you're going to do."  Minako wasn't annoyed
at all, just a little confused.

	With a sly smile, she responded, "Oh, you never know when you 
guys might come in handy."

	She made a joke.  I can't believe it.  She even interrupted her
work for it.  Something's wrong.  Minako didn't really believe
anything was wrong, of course, but still she marveled at Ami's ability
to surprise her.

       "Minako?  Handy?"  Artemis laughed.  "You have *definitely* been
working too hard, Ami."

       "I think I can see the advertisement now:  Rude white cat for
sale - 1000 yen," Minako said as she put on her most naughtily 
contemplative look.

       "Don't be so naive, Minako."

       "*Thank you*, Luna," Artemis smiled in satisfaction at the
intervention of his faithful ally.

       "You'll be lucky if you get 250 out of this fleabag."  The black
cat formed a deliciously evil grin.

	Rei had been hovering over Ami's desk.

	"Ami-chan, what did you do with the figurine that I gave to you?"
Rei, as her housewarming gift, had given Ami a crystal figurine in the
shape of the Caduceus, one of the symbols of Ami's future profession.
She had, until this time, kept it prominently displayed on her desk.

	"Oh, I took it home to have it cleaned.  I'll have it back in
place in a couple of days."

	Funny, Rei thought.  Not a speck of dust in this entire room.
It's as spotless as if Mako-chan cleaned it.

	Minako saw something on the desk that caught her attention.
"Is that what you're doing in English class right now?"  She pointed
to a large stack of paper with several paragraphs of handwritten
English text inscribed on each page.

	"Uh, yes.  In fact, there's a couple of things that I need
to ask you about before my exam next week, if you're not too busy."

	There, she did it again.  That was the biggest surprise yet;
she asked for help on something academic.  All of them knew, of course,
that Minako had advanced English skills, but none had actually expected
Ami to swallow her pride and ask for help.

	"Uh, yeah, anytime.  I don't think you need it though; most of
the writing here looks really well done.  I don't even recognize a lot
of these words."  I don't want to make her feel too inadequate in 
front of the group.

	"One thing, though.  These papers, they're all dated from last
year."

	Ami paused, perhaps thinking more of her current task than her
current conversation.

	"Er . . yeah.  I was using work from last year to study for
the next exam."

	"But this is pretty basic stuff to what you should be doing
now."

	"It's always important to have a firm grasp of your
fundamentals.  I'll be ready to begin anytime now."

	Again, Minako poked Rei, silently indicating the complex
machinery that Ami had acquired.  Some might have been borrowed
hospital equipment while some might have been on loan from the school
science department to their star pupil.  Most pieces, however, were
clearly Ami's own jury-rigged creations.

	Usagi's attention focused to a small glass chamber nestled on
the periphery of Ami's equipment.  The two crystals were mounted 
side-by-side within.  This was the first time that Usagi had seen hers
since the day of the transformation, and she stared at it calmly.
"What are you planning on doing, Ami-chan?"

	"Like Artemis said earlier, both of the crystals seem to be
totally inert when they are isolated.  However, when the crystals are
near each other, I can detect a very faint energy signature.  Faint,
but coherent."

	"Uh-huh."

	Ami, having a dramatic sense as keen as any of them, put down
her tools, looked up slowly, and declared her intentions:

	"I intend to enhance it."

	"How?"  The other blonde now chimed in.

	"Modified electrical current."

	What does that mean?  Science was not Minako's strong suit,
but she still strained to imagine how such a current could be modified.

	"Everyone better put on these dark glasses again."  She
distributed the items.

	"Ami-chan, why don't we wait until we have the rest of the
crystals to do this experiment?"

	"Is everyone ready?  I'm about to throw the switch."

	She didn't hear me, Minako thought.  Or is it didn't want to? 
Sometimes I worry about her intensity level.

	Ami activated her visor and started the experiment.  It was not
one second before an alarm sounded on the minicomputer and a bright
light began to form in the glass chamber.

	Usagi looked to Rei:  "Is something wrong?"

	"Perhaps you had better cut the power," Artemis looked slightly
worried.

	By the time the high-pitched whine started, Ami's fingers were
typing on the minicomputer faster than most eyes could follow.

	"I think everybody should step outside for a moment."

	Did she just say what I think she did?

	The whine grew louder as the glow within the chamber began to
cast shadows.

	A small popping sound in one of her instruments sealed Ami's
determination:  "Everybody out, now!"

	Within five seconds they were all in the large hall, except
one.  Before Usagi finished the question, "Where's Ami-chan?", however,
Makoto had already dived into the room to retrieve their friend.

	The whining had now reached a critical level.  Something was
going to break.

	Ten seconds later she appeared carrying a blue-haired figure
in her arms.  She had just rounded the corner of the door when a large
explosion threw a significant amount of debris from the room's opening
into the hall.

	After the dust settled, Makoto helped Ami to her feet.  The
scientist said in a very faint tone:  "There was a short circuit.  I
couldn't turn the power off.  I'm so sorry."

	The porous concrete walls had absorbed most of the sound and
since there was nobody working on the floor that night, only this small
circle of friends knew what the muffled sound heard on the floor above 
really was.

	As they walked in to examine the wreckage, among the mangled
metal and broken glass they saw the remnants of the crystals, shattered
into dozens of pieces.

	Ami meekly apologized again.  She gathered what remained of them
and placed them into small plastic bags.

	Poor Ami-chan, Usagi thought.  She knew that Ami was more
concerned about failing her friends rather than botching an experiment
or destroying her second home.

	Poor Ami-chan, Makoto thought.  Poor Ami-chan, Rei thought.

	Minako stared intently into the ruins of the room.

	* * * * *

[ One Week Ago ]

       "Minako, are you talking to yourself again?"

       "No, Mom.  I'm just practicing my English."  She looked over
her shoulder to see the woman addressing her from the next room.

       "That's good to hear.  Your father and I are going out for
dinner.  Do you want to come?"

       "No, thanks.  I'll think I'll stay here and finish this movie
and maybe study for a little while."

       Her mother smiled and left.  Both of the figures on the couch 
were silent until they heard the door close.

       "Minako, you didn't have to lie on my account.  We can finish
this at some other time."

       "Don't be silly, Artemis.  You know I don't mind doing this for
you.  And besides, I needed some quiet time after the last week."

       He rested contentedly in her lap, purring.  Both were watching 
the black and white figures on the television screen in front of them.

       "She's saying that she has a cousin, an orphan like herself.
She lives in the country but she can't write to tell her what's about
to happen."

       The magic of the guardian cats was such that they were
apparently masters of all languages.  This was, in fact, the only way
that Artemis had survived searching the world for Minako in the first
place and the only reason he functioned so well in England while he was
there.  Like most magic, however, it was somewhat illusory.  The subject
had to be alive, as the cat was not using the spoken language as much
as directly touching others' minds while communicating.

       Which was the reason why his magic was totally useless when
watching a foreign movie, as he was now.  His English, his *real* 
English, was pathetic when compared to his fluent Japanese.  Thus he
depended on other avenues.

       "He's telling her that there is no time or trouble in the 
afterlife."

       She stroked his fur as she translated for him.  She never
decided to ask Artemis why the royal advisor decided that he needed to
be more "cultured" than he obviously already was.  He had his reasons;
it would embarrass him if I asked or told the others that I do this, she 
thought.  And besides, it made her feel good to finally do something
for him that he could not do for himself.  It was perhaps the only real
gift that she could give.

       "The knitting women have counted out twenty-two."

       It was the quiet times like this that she loved.  Leading the
secret life of a celebrity had given her the meaningful insight that
the peaceful moments were among the most precious.  The cat's job *was*
to worry, she remembered, and he did it well.  But he deserved some
peace as well.

       "He sees a new city built on the ashes of the old."

       The quiet times.

       "Artemis, do you think that a true friend would make such a
sacrifice?" she stopped her narration for a moment while indicating the
sadly placid man on the screen slowly ascending the wooden steps.

       "I would hope so Minako.  Some would say that's the definition
of true friendship."

       "Even if your friends would never know what you've done?"

       "A true friend probably would do it precisely *because* of that."

       "There will be a child with his name, a good, honorable man,"
she continued.

       "I hope so too, Artemis."

       "It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever
done . . ."

	* * * * *

[ Two Days Ago ]

	"No, Usagi-chan.  See?  You forgot to add three to this side
of the equation."

	"Oh, I don't see how I missed that one.  Thanks, Ami-chan."

	"I guess that's the last problem for you.  Does anyone else
need any help before I go home?"

	Everyone smiled and said no.  None of them, of course, had
mastered what Ami had reviewed tonight, but they all firmly believed
that their time with Ami had given them a far greater understanding of
their respective subjects than that which they had gained in school.
Usagi grinned while reminding herself that Ami was a real blessing; if
we didn't have her, Usagi thought, Rei would be the brains of this
outfit by default.  Rei.  The brains.

       "Usagi-chan, are you alright?  You're shivering."

       "Er, yeah.  I just had a really scary thought.  Nothing big."

       We wouldn't last a week.

       "Well, speaking of scary thoughts, everybody remember that since
there is a series of major tests coming up next month, you might want
to spend an extra bit of your spare time studying.  You know, sometimes
I think that none of you would open a book unless you were forced to."

       "You can't find a handsome boyfriend in a book, Ami-chan."
Makoto laughed as soon as she said it, as did the others.  Ami, as
usual, simply blushed.

	"Ami-chan, you're still feeling okay after your transformation,
right?"  It had been almost two weeks since the event, and Usagi had 
asked the question at least two dozen times.

	"Sure, I feel great.  Thanks for asking."

	"Ami-chan," Minako began.  "Do you really think that it was
necessary to place your crystal in such a highly guarded place?"

	As soon as Ami's crystal had formed, she retrieved it from Artemis
and transferred it to a high-security storage room at the hospital. 
Again, Ami's mother, who was necessary at this stage, had sponsored her.
It was actually surprisingly easy to convince her that the tiny blue
jewel needed a protection that a bank's security strongbox couldn't 
handle.  Apparently Ami's mother was often so engrossed in her own work
that she often didn't see the utter bizarreness of some of her daughter's
habits.

	Luna and Artemis had insisted on seeing the facility to make 
sure it was appropriate to keep something that was so intimately 
connected to the Senshi there.  Even from their hiding place in Ami's
backpack, they were apparently very impressed.

	"Considering what those last two did to my office, I think it
was the safe thing to do.  The room that it's currently in is only one
security step below the protocols they place on the hospital's 
radioactive material.  The crystal is in a box with half-inch steel walls
with one of those walls being lead-lined as well.  The room's got full
security camera coverage, plus almost nobody outside of the professional
staff knows about it.  The voice code entry system was installed just
last year, and it seems to work fairly well.  And besides, Artemis
flatly refused to let me keep it and perform further experiments 
myself."

	"Yeah, I suppose you're right.  These things are dangerous.
It would be terrible if one of them was lying around and exploded and
hurt some innocent bystander."  Makoto always worried about
possibilities such as this.  At least, while not in battle.

	"Don't we have any clue what they are?"

	"I've been thinking," Ami began.  "Perhaps they are some sort 
of escape valve or waste product or something that has been formed
from the continual usage of our powers over the last year."

	"What?"  The response came from directly behind Ami, making her
feel slightly uneasy.  Artemis had been silent until this point.  The 
suggestion surprised him.

	"Well, it's just a thought.  I really don't know what they are
other than volatile little crystals."

	"You know, I've also been thinking," Rei started.  "Perhaps
I could do some type of reading on it.  It might respond better to
me than Ami-chan's instruments."

	"That's not a bad idea at all.  Artemis and I had considered
asking you before, but we thought it might be too dangerous.  Just as
long as we take safety measures . . ."  Luna, similarly, had been
quietly sitting just out of Ami's sight all evening.  The enthusiasm 
seemed to be a little forced, but it was genuine.  There was general 
nodding in approval of the plan.

	Ami, however, looked somewhat exasperated.  Rei reassured her:
"Don't worry Ami-chan.  I'm not trying to show you up, it's just that
maybe some things are out of the reach of science."

	"Well?"  The positioning of the cat asking this question behind
her head gave the feline a subtle conversational advantage.

	"I . . . I suppose it might work.  I don't see how it could
hurt.  I'll take either you or Artemis later in the week and get my
crystal from the vault."  Ami displayed a faint smile.

	"We've got a plan!" Usagi shouted.

	"That we do!"  Artemis finally felt movement on the mystery.
"Let's meet again in say, two evenings, to discuss it further."

	"I suppose that's it, then," Ami yawned sleepily.  That was her
sign to the others that the study session was over.  The girls
rose, stretched, collected their books, and began the trek home.  "And
remember Minako-chan, when you're doing those mathematical proofs, make
absolutely certain that each step is based on the one before it."

	"Yeah, I get it.  Sort of like, 'A rope is only as strong
as a very tiny chain . . . in winter.'"

       Ami raised an eyebrow, apparently the only one to catch the 
irony that Minako, of all the people in the room, should have had some
idea of the delicate nature of chains.

	"I think you mean 'A chain is only as strong as its weakest
link.'"

	"Yeah, Ami-chan.  I suppose you're right."

	* * * * *

[ Yesterday ]

	Minako answered the communicator's chime.

	"Hello, Minako-chan."  It was Ami.  "Opening the five-way
connection.  We're all on."

	"What's going on, Ami-chan?  We just got home from school."  It
was Usagi.

	Makoto was slightly short of breath: "Yeah, I just walked in
the door myself."

	"Something's happened."

	"What?"

	"The crystal was stolen from the hospital."

	The news went through Minako like a bolt of lightning.

	"It apparently happened sometime this morning.  The security
was disabled somehow and it was taken, along with some other things.
I'm not exactly clear on the matter myself.  My mother just called and
told me.  I'm going over there right now and I'd appreciate it if one
of you would go with me."

	"I'll be there before you know it."  It was, of course, Usagi.

	"I'll go too."  Minako had to go.

	"That's great, but two is as many as I will be able to bring
in at the moment.  It is a police crime scene, you know."

	Those last words bothered Rei somewhat.  The Senshi had, of
course, been savagely targeted and attacked by an seemingly endless 
line of monsters and demons, but the idea that they were now the victim
of a common felony was unsettling for some reason.

	"Let's meet at my office in thirty minutes then.  Is that okay?"

	"Fine with me," Minako answered.

	"I'll be there," Usagi ended the call.

	* * * * *

[ One Hour Later ]

	"Am I late?"  Usagi knew the answer.

       "Not really," Ami forced a laugh.  "Minako-chan arrived only
five minutes ago."

       Usagi was impressed with how well Ami had repaired the damage
to her room.  The only sign that there was even an accident was the
outline of a dark stain on the ceiling."

       "Ami-chan!  You've really done wonders fixing everything!"

       "Well, the explosion wasn't really as bad as it looked or
sounded.  Most of the concussive force did little more than to knock
a lot of things over.  Most of the equipment I used was still
operational after I tended to each of them."

       "Yeah, you did a good job, Ami-chan," Minako added.  "You even
got a nice little pedestal for the figurine you got from Rei."  It was
displayed in a conspicuous position.

       "Yes, and I'm finally using the pen set that you gave me for
my English lessons."  Minako smiled.  She had considered buying Ami an
electronic English dictionary, but at the last moment remembered that
her minicomputer put such trinkets to shame.  Later, Ami even showed
her how she could make her little Silver Millennium toy talk, reciting
English words and phrases flawlessly.  Minako remembered how spooky it
was to hear Ami's voice, which had been used as a template, coming out
of the tiny machine.

       "Let's go on up."

       The trip was a short one, less than two minutes.  The police
officers had long gone, but there was still a line of protective
tape over the door.  Apparently there was evidence yet to be collected.

       "It doesn't look like this is the work of a youma or other
supernatural being," Ami began.  "The door's lock is still intact.
Look at those vials on the floor.  Perhaps whoever did this was after 
narcotics or something.  There's a camera up there in the corner.
Maybe they got a picture of whoever did this.  I wonder why they broke
the overhead light."

       "Don't say anything, but the word around the hospital is that
the last voice code authorization before the robbery was that of the
hospital's chief of staff.  But since he's been out of the country
for a month, there must have been some sort of malfunction.  Either
that, or these guys were pros."

       "You mean they came in looking for drugs and found our crystal
as an extra treat," Minako suggested.

       "That's what it looks like to me.  Probably thought it was a 
sapphire or something.  What do you think Usagi-chan?"

       "Usagi-chan?"

       Both of them turned around to see Usagi with her back turned
toward them.  She appeared to be looking out the adjacent window and
giggling.

       "Usagi-chan?"

       She turned around and revealed the reason for her amusement:
she had drawn a small picture in the condensation on the inside of the 
window glass.

       "What do you think of my rabbit picture, Minako-chan?"

       "Usagi-chan, please!  Someone might see us.  We really don't
need to get into trouble now," Ami cautioned.

       Minako didn't hear them.  She stared deeply at the drops of water
that had collected and begun to fall where Usagi had placed her finger.
She had to hold back a similar phenomenon in her own eyes.

       "Let's go before someone sees us," Ami hurriedly said.
      
       She led them out of the cool, air-conditioned room.

       * * * * *

[ The Present ]

	"So what do you think?"

       "I don't know.  I can't even believe we're discussing this."

       "Damn.  This is wrong.  This is wrong!"  The third one was
visibly shaken.  Even the sound of one of the public park's walkway 
lights activating for the evening made her edgy.

       "Look, I know I'm probably mistaken, but we can't take any
chances on this."

       "Do you realize what you're suggesting?"

       "Of course I do," she snapped.  "Don't you think I just want
to sweep this under the carpet and forget about it too?  I didn't get
one bit of sleep last night because of this.  I must have cried for
I don't know how many hours -- not because I thought it was true, but
just because I had to bring it up in front of you two."

       "Well, what do we do?" the third added.  "We've got to clear
this up right away.  None of us will be able to sleep until we do."

       "There's only one thing we can do.  We've got to break in and
get a look at the evidence.  If we don't we'll never know."

       "Do you understand how many laws we're going to have to break 
to get this done?"

       "As a matter of fact I do, and it doesn't make one bit of
difference.  If you two don't go with me, I'll do it myself."

       "I'll do it.  I'll do it just to prove that you're wrong."  The 
third's attitude was now slightly hostile.  Of the three, she was not
the one you wanted hostile.

       "Fine, I hope you can.  We've got to go tonight.  The police
will have it in their possession by tomorrow."

       "Where is she now?"

       "She's with Usagi-chan, studying for an astronomy test tomorrow.
Usagi-chan doesn't know her planets yet, so they should be occupied 
for at least two more hours."

       "And the cats?"

       "I'm not certain.  I lost track of Artemis before I left home.
He might have gone somewhere with Luna.  He's been going out a lot
lately.  I don't think he suspects anything, though.  Or if he does, 
he's not giving any signs."

       "All right.  We can be at the hospital in twenty minutes.  We've
got to devise some sort of plan by then."

       "I've already got one," the blonde muttered as she gazed at
the ground.

       * * * * *

       <*You know, at one time, I actually wanted to be a nurse.*>

       Usagi never even asked why her friend wanted to borrow her
disguise transformation pen earlier that day.  It wasn't in her nature 
to be exceedingly suspicious.

       She had already disguised herself as a nurse by the time they
arrived at the service entrance.  Slipping in, they made their way to
the central security office.  Nothing out of the ordinary here.

       "Hey," she yelled into the office.  "We've got a patient that's
a potential security risk out here!  We need some help!"

       "It's the brunette with the ponytail.  She's only semiconscious,
but I think she might be dangerous.  She got injured in some type of
gang activity."

       There, that's done.  Now the two of us can slip in.

       The nurse helped the black-haired girl with the bloody head
bandage into the security office.

       "Where would it be?"

       "Tapes.  In the back.  There'll be a backup copy there."
Hopefully.  She was relying on all her cinema-learned espionage
techniques now.  That, and the reconnaissance trip that she had made 
four hours earlier.

       Finding the tapes, she thumbed through the dates on the spine
and retrieved the relevant case.  Her companion wanted to watch it
at that very moment with the adjacent video unit.

       "No!  We don't have any time.  We're just going to have to take
it."  She slipped it into her uniform and assisted the car accident
victim from the office.

       As they made their escape, the gang member was becoming 
uncooperative and began actively resisting the guards.  This was a 
better distraction than they could have dreamed.  When the ruffian 
received the silent signal from the others, she took off running for
an exit.  They would not catch her.  Not even close, she thought to 
herself.

       On the other end of the hospital, two totally healthy-looking
teenagers walked confidently through a glass door into the night.

       * * * * *

       "Do you really want to watch it now?"

       "Just start it.  I'm going to show you that you're wrong."

       The tape was cued to a point ten minutes before the robbery
was supposed to have occurred.  The stationery camera had recorded
absolutely no movement for two hours prior to this.  From its position
in a corner above the door, it could spy on much of the room, but could
not see any potential intruders.

       "Our crystal's stored in this section here," she indicated a 
spot on the television screen.

       And then, without warning:

       "Hey, it went blank!"

       "No, I think it's static."

       "Rewind it."

       They watched it again.

       "You're wrong.  This isn't static.  Look . . . for about one
minute it's light gray and then it goes completely black."

       "Whoever it was *did* break the room lights."

       "Rewind it to the point just before the screen goes gray."

       Again, they did so.

       "Now pause it!"  They were looking at a crystal-clear picture
of the vault.  "Now advance it, frame by frame."

       <*Please don't let this be what I think it is.  I'm not the
smart one.  I don't mind being the ditz.  I just want to be wrong.*>

       The wait as each frame moved forward seemed agonizingly long.

       "Stop."  The critical moment.

       The static had not suddenly overtaken the entire screen:  it
had begun in the lower left corner and moved in a diagonal direction
upward.  This was definitely not static.

       And as the wave of grayness rapidly overtook the screen and the
vault, they all realized that they had seen this before.

       "Oh, God.  Please, no," Rei whispered as she caught the outline
of several small bubbles within the wall of mist and fog as it rushed
forward to blanket the room.  For some reason, the lack of sound on the
tape made it even more painful to watch.

       Makoto had already walked over into a corner of her bedroom to 
be alone and hide her face.  Minako simply sat there with a stare so 
far removed from this world that, if one would have carefully looked at
it, would have surely suggested that some part of her was slowly
withering away.

       * * * * *

       She sighed at the easel.  This was as close as she was going to
get to completion.  It was just too much of an emotional drain.

       The magnificent spires of the beautiful city in the painting 
were vaguely familiar to the visitor.  From his position outside the 
window he could see them well.  This was the city that had appeared 
often in his dreams.  The artist clearly had the same dreams.  He often
wondered if it worked that way.

       With the paint drying, she traced the outline of several of the
spires with her finger, each going upward, seemingly to meet the
blue and white jewel of a planet that dominated the sky above the
central palace.  She wondered if this memory put to canvas was all that
remained, that should remain, of the city.  

       She touched the painting again and began weeping while closing
her eyes and trying to take a small piece of it back.  The artist was
a giver by nature, but she could not give this to her sisters.  Some
gifts were never meant to be given.  She then slowly walked to the 
window to take in the beautiful setting moon.

       The visitor had already taken his leave, however, after deciding
that white was not a wise choice for night camouflage.

       * * * * *

       Rei's voice was the first to break the silence.  None of them
was sure how long it had really lasted, although it did seem like the
proverbial eternity.

       "So, what do we do now?"

       Minako began, "I think we have to tell somebody."

       "Who?"

       "I think Artemis would be best.  If we tell Luna, it's likely to
upset her so much that even Usagi-chan would be able to tell.  And if 
she found out . . ."

       "Don't even say that."

       "I think Artemis would handle it better."

       "What do you think, Mako-chan?"

       They looked over at the girl sitting on the side of her bed with
one hand massaging her closed eyes.

       "Mako-chan?"

       "Leave me alone!"

       With a softer tone but still no eye contact:  "Look, just leave
me alone.  I don't feel like talking right now."

       "Listen . . . none of us are smart enough to figure out what
Ami-chan is doing on our own.  We've got to get help.  We've got to
know why she's doing this."

       Makoto perked up at Minako's comment.  "Yeah.  Maybe Ami-chan 
knows something we don't.  Maybe she's doing something for our benefit.
Maybe she's under the influence of a new enemy or something."

       "For three months?"  Rei gave a stern look to Minako for making
this remark, knowing the delicate state that Makoto was currently in.

       "Artemis is the only one we can trust right now.  It's going to
be hard enough convincing him.  I want to do it alone, though.  He tries
to be a strong guardian for us, but he's a lot more emotional than any
of you know.  As for you two, you're going to have to act normal around
Luna, Usagi-chan, and Ami-chan.  We can't let our suspicions out."

       "All right, Minako-chan, good luck."

       "Yeah, Minako-chan, good luck."

       * * * * *

       Oh, God, this is going to hurt.

       * * * * *

       "All right, Artemis, I don't really know where to begin.  Before
I say anything, though, I want to tell you that I would never do 
anything to hurt you.  I'm just so confused right now and I need some
help and you're the only one I can turn to.  I haven't slept for two 
nights and I'm just about at the end of my rope.  I know you always tell
me that I should think of the other Sailor Senshi as my family, and 
that's why it's going to be hard for me to say what I'm about to say.  
But I have to say it because she *is* my family.  It's Ami, Artemis.  
I don't think that she's being completely honest with us about the 
crystals.  First of all she's been acting really weird lately.  She's 
been keeping odd hours and seems withdrawn, even for her.  She hasn't 
made one bit of progress with finding out what they are.  She's giving 
silly explanations too, like when she suggested that they were some sort
of 'waste product.'  I didn't get worried, though, until the explosion.  
When we went in I noticed that she had put away most of her fragile 
stuff, like the figurine that Rei-chan bought her, and she had old, 
useless papers on her desk, almost like they were set out for our 
benefit.  I'm not saying that she set the explosion up or anything, but 
it's possible that she might have suspected that it was going to happen.
And then when Mako-chan was carrying her out, I looked straight into
her eyes behind her visor.  They were open and moving back and forth.
She can control her computer through eye movements in her visor, right?
And then she wanted to put her crystal in the hospital security vault.
She pushed that one pretty hard, and it disappeared right before we
were going to get a reading on it with Rei-chan.  And then when we went
there I saw that patch of moisture on the window where it shouldn't
have been.  I got a friend in the police department to get me a copy of
the official report.  Ami-chan said that they had broken in there
to steal drugs, but the report said that the hospital listed absolutely
nothing missing.  They couldn't have listed the crystal because her
mother never entered it into the inventory.  The crystal was the only
thing they took, Artemis.  As far as the voice print forgery that
allowed the robber into the vault, I know for a fact that Ami's 
minicomputer can mimic and extrapolate voice patterns, because after I
was about to buy her an electronic English dictionary, she showed me
how her minicomputer could read words and whole sentences back to her
in any voice that she had sampled earlier.  And then Rei-chan, Mako-chan
and I were able to get a copy of the vault security footage.  We looked
at it more closely than anything we ever have before.  We all think that
there's evidence on that tape that Sailor Mercury was the one who 
entered the hospital vault that night.  I'm sorry, Artemis.  I didn't
mean for it to come out this way.  I just don't know what else to do.
Look, like Mako-chan said, she might be under the control of some power
or maybe she knows something that we don't.  I don't know.  I feel so
alone on this.  I just think you deserved to know what the three of us
are worried about.  Ami-chan isn't telling us the whole truth."

       The white cat's gesture did not change one millimeter.  He
slowly arose, walked to the window and looked for a moment at the 
shimmering crescent moon, now bathed in an icy sea of approaching 
cirrus clouds, before closing his eyes.

       "I know."

       * * * * *

       "Ami-chan!  Ami-chan!"  Usagi was running down the school's hall
at a reckless rate.  She was going so fast that when she finally
reached her target she was forced to grab the other girl's arm to assist
her deceleration.

       "Usagi-chan!  What's the rush?"

       "Ami-chan! You . . ."  She was clearly out of breath.  "You . . .
are . . . not going . . . to believe this!"

       "What?  What is it?"

       She carefully removed a folded piece of paper from her bag.  She
handed it to Ami.

       "What is it?"

       "Look at it."

       Ami unfolded the item and looked at it closely.  Usagi could
hardly contain herself as Ami's eyes enlarged.

       "I can't . . . I can't believe it."

       Usagi was laughing as she grabbed the paper from Ami and climbed
atop a small pedestal beside her in order to address the dozens of other
students in the hall.  She triumphantly waved the paper in the air as 
she made her announcement:

       "Yes!  It's true!  I, Tsukino Usagi, have made a perfect score
on my astronomy test!  I'm the master of the planets!  I'm the
Princess of the Moon!"

       "Well, Your Highness, why don't you tell us how you did on this
morning's English test?"

       Usagi turned around to face the source of such impetuousness.

       "Oh, Naru-chan," she laughed.  "Why did you have to bring that
up?"

       "Well, somebody needed to."  She shared the laugh.  Ami merely
blushed.  "And besides, you're not the only one who did well on that
test."

       Ami watched as Usagi's face lit up with the realization that
her friend had gotten a perfect score as well.  Ami knew many "friends"
who would have simply been jealous in such a situation.  She understood,
however, that when she saw Usagi and Naru hug that there was nothing
but generosity flowing from this girl's heart.

       And all is right with the world, she thought.

       * * * * *

       "I didn't know for certain, but I've been watching her for a
little while," Artemis began.

       Minako listened intently, stunned into silence.

       "I've been going by her apartment every night, and every time
I've looked in on her she's been working on something, and it's not
written schoolwork.  Until a couple of weeks ago I had the luxury of 
believing that she was working on discovering the meaning of those 
crystals."

       "And then, the night before the experiment that destroyed the
two crystals, I looked in and saw something that I couldn't explain."

       "Ami was sitting on the floor with her eyes closed, meditating.
But then I noticed that her arms were outstretched and that in each
hand she had a crystal."

       "They were glowing, Minako.  The crystals were glowing."

       Minako felt compelled to answer.  "That's where you were . . .
that's why . . . that's why you wouldn't let Ami keep the third
crystal."  The cat gave a slight nod.  Minako now looked like she was
lost in a maze:  "What are we going to do?"

       "I don't know.  The only thing I do know is that we've got to
keep this secret for the time being.  I'm not going to tell Luna and
there's no way we can tell Usagi.  You say that Rei and Makoto already
know . . . that's probably good.  Rei can keep a secret pretty well.
Makoto, though . . . it's entirely possible that she might go straight
to Ami herself in an effort to clear this up.  She can lose clarity
sometimes, when it comes to her friends."

       Minako paused at the thought.  She hadn't considered that
possibility.  She wondered if Makoto was already on her way to Ami.

       "Plus, the day after tomorrow is the day that Rei's crystal
appears.   We cannot let it fall into Ami's possession.  If we do, it's
as good as gone."  The strategist grew even more uneasy at what that
imperative meant.

       "Artemis," Minako began, "do you have any idea what these
crystals are?  All of this is starting to scare me."

       "I don't have hard facts, if that's what you mean.  But I did
spend a considerable amount of time with your crystal before I gave it
to Ami.  I didn't get dizzy around it, like you said you did, but the
longer I looked at it, the more I felt something familiar.  Like
something from before."

       "Before?  What do you mean?"

       "Minako, I think they're from the Silver Millennium."

       * * * * *

       "Okay, Luna.  I'm ready."  Ami seemed somewhat more enthusiastic
today, Luna thought.  She might finally have hope to figure out what
this entire crystal phenomenon was.

       It was Rei's turn now.  Three had gone before her and their
efforts had all been wasted.  She was worried.  Not about the process
by which the crystal would appear, mind you, but rather the scene that
undoubtedly would take place immediately afterwards.

       "Is this old warehouse the only place you could find to do this,
Luna?"  Makoto was clearly uncomfortable with the filth and grime that
surrounded her.  The thought that she was also probably encircled by 
flammable substances lying in wait for Rei's particular style of 
transformation did little to ease her anxiety.

       "Since Rei's grandfather is going to be at the shrine all evening
and we didn't want to risk ruining your apartment, this seemed to be
a pretty good choice.  I suppose we *could* move all of Ami's
instruments to your place and take our chances there."

       "No, no.  This is just fine."  Luna laughed at Makoto's newly
found resolve.

       Artemis casually walked around several pieces of Ami's 
equipment.  Some of it was new, obviously constructed by Ami sometime
in the last few weeks.  How many of these dials, buttons, and lights
were only for looks? he asked himself.

       Makoto noticed slight concern on Usagi's face.  She couldn't 
decide whether is was worry for Rei, who was about to undergo the
transformation, or Ami, whom Usagi probably thought was overworking
herself on this whole crystal situation.  She decided to lighten up
the atmosphere slightly.

       "Artemis, is there any chance that Rei-chan's personality is
going to improve after this is over?"

       "Hey!"

       "I doubt it."

       "Et tu, feles?"

       Makoto looked over to Rei, surprised at her response.

       "Well, I *do* enjoy studying ancient languages."

       "Why?  Did they dig up some Doraemon manga written in Latin?"

       "Why you little . . ."

       "We're wasting time here," Luna was impatient.  Rei was happy
to comply.

       After the intense energy field faded and the rubylike crystal 
materialized and fell to the ground, Ami began to move toward it.  She
was less than one foot from it with her eyes locked on intently when
she was surprised by a quick flash of white.  By the time she blinked,
the crystal was gone.

       Looking up, she saw it, nestled in Sailor Venus' glove.

       Everyone held their respective breaths.

       "Minako-chan.  Why did you do that?"

       "We've been thinking about what you said earlier, Ami-chan . . . 
these crystals *are* really dangerous.  There's no way that we should
risk Rei-chan getting a spiritual reading on it.  We've already seen how 
they respond to electricity, so who could guess how they would react to
something like the probing that Rei-chan was going to give it?"

       "Well . . ."

       "Artemis and I have already located a safe place to store it.
Where did you say it was, Artemis, Keio University?"

       No, Minako, Artemis thought.  Ami will be able to see right 
through that.  It's got to be less conspicuous.

       "I thought you said you were just going to keep it in that safe
that you bought last year.  Try to keep it as far from everybody as
possible."

       Usagi spun around.  "You've got a safe?  What do you keep in it?
Love letters?"

       Artemis had put Minako in a spot, trying to explain why she had
such an item when, in fact, she didn't.  Or, more precisely, none that
Artemis knew about.

       "Er, well, when I was Sailor V, I became interested in security
matters.  You know, if I was going to catch thieves and other criminals,
I needed to think like them."

       "Yes, our Minako could teach some of the better thieves in Tokyo
a thing or two," Artemis said with a smile.

       Two people were immediately struck by this revelation.  The one
who had just detransformed into her shrine robes noted that even if 
their prime suspect had not pulled last week's heist, the person 
standing before her surely could have.  The heart of the person looking
through the blue visor simply skipped a beat upon hearing the news.

       "I mean, it's only the application of a little directed force in
susceptible areas.  Anybody could do it, right Ami-chan?"  Rei's and 
Makoto's gasps were audible upon hearing Minako's comment.  Artemis was
less shocked by her brazenness than by her improving vocabulary.

       "Hmmm?  Yes, I suppose that could be said about a variety of
things, however," Ami said as she returned to her instruments.  Rei
and Makoto's heartbeats began to quicken at this elaborate game of
brinkmanship.  It was mercifully interrupted:

       "Honestly, I can't think of anyplace particularly better to keep
the crystal, can you Ami?"  Luna's quick and timely acquiescence 
surprised Artemis.

       "No.  No, I suppose not.  But I'd still like to run some tests
on it later.  And I hate to bring it up, but if it becomes too unstable,
we might have to preemptively destroy it.  Plus, it seems like exposure
longer than a few minutes tends to make us lightheaded, so make sure
that Minako-chan comes into contact with it as little as absolutely
necessary."

       Minako continued her scene.  "I believe Ami-chan is right.
Artemis and I will keep this one for now, but we need to be ready to
destroy it on short notice if necessary.  And I'll let Artemis carry
it home so that I can stay away from it."

       Makoto watched as Usagi strained to understand the entirely
cordial struggle that had just unfolded before her.

       * * * * *

       The shrine flames cast odd shadows.  Artemis watched the
patterns of light and dark dance around the room that had seen countless
generations come through its doors to seek enlightenment.  His feline
eyes, of course, perceived them slightly differently than those of his
companions, but that did not dilute the overwhelming effect in the
least.

       "Rei, we can do this some other time if you want."

       "No, Artemis.  I believe we have to do it now."

       "Yes, we have to know," Minako added quickly.  Perhaps a little
too quickly, the cat thought.

       Minako and Makoto were standing nearby.  Each of them knew that
they were essentially useless at this point.  Rei's world was completely
alien to them; neither of them like to talk about the fact that they
knew very little of their spiritual heritage.  And yet, here was their 
friend, with so much faith.

       "Place the crystal in front of me."

       She had already assumed her kneeling position.  Artemis carefully
laid the small red orb between her and the fire.  Closing her eyes,
she wondered what came next.

       After beginning her mantras and mudras, she began to feel a 
warmth on her face.  Yet she knew it wasn't the fire; this feeling was 
different.  Familiar.  It's calling out to me, she thought.  Should I
answer?  She had already appealed to the fire, but no insight was
forthcoming.

       She felt her arms unconsciously reaching for it.  It was glowing
now, glowing for her.  The last sound she heard before embracing it 
was Artemis.

       "Rei, no!  D---"

       * * * * *

       First darkness, then an overwhelming light.  Rei struggled to
grasp her surroundings.

       She looked to the sky.  Beautiful, sparkling stars.  No, wait.
That's not right.  It looks more like a chandelier.  Yes, that's what
it is.

       The phantomlike wisps that were encircling her slowly came into
focus.  These were not ghosts, they are people, she thought.  Dancers.

       The next sense to reactivate was her hearing.  There was only
one sound -- the music.  It was the most beautiful she had ever heard,
almost otherworldly.  It sounded vaguely familiar.

       Where am I?

       She looked up again and everything came into perfect clarity.
And then, with an almost tangible joy, the seals in her mind shattered
and she remembered where she was.

       It's the Grand Ballroom of the Moon Palace.  This is the Silver
Millennium.  I'm home.

       The dance continued around her.  Why doesn't someone ask me to 
dance?  They obviously do not see me, she thought.  That's the only
explanation.

       She walked to the center of the room and saw them.  They were
both wearing masks, but there was no hiding their identity:  Venus and
Jupiter politely entertaining dance requests.  There were so many.
And behind them was Mars, doing the same.  Rei sighed as she now
realized that this was truly only a memory and now out of her reach
forever.

       Looking at her past self for a moment, she suddenly felt an
overriding wave of jealousy.  This was exactly how she had seen herself
in her childhood dreams.

       Strolling through the crowd, she noted that they all looked so
happy, without exception.  Was this really their life, my life?  I
would like smiling all the time.

       Not a hollow, saccharine existence, she thought.  This was real.  
These people had reason to smile.

       She continued walking.  She laughed to herself as she realized
something about her surroundings that usually only Ami would have 
noticed.  There were no clocks here.  Indeed, why would there need to 
be?

       The royal table beckoned before her.  It was unoccupied.  She
looked up to the balcony to see the Queen lovingly looking down upon
the dance.  It was good to see her again.  How many nights had she
overseen such a happy event?  Truly, did it ever end?  And that look;
a look of total altruistic happiness in seeing those below her having
happiness of their own.  It struck her how similar it was to that which
she had noted on an unsuspecting Usagi's face on several occasions.

       Someone is running into the hall.  The crowd is parting to let
them through.  They must be very short -- I can't see them.  I can hear
them, however.  They're yelling something to the Queen.  It's the cats.
They're telling her the news.  Her eyes widen.  Her smile fades.

       I remember now.  This is the night of the invasion.

       Another flash of light.  Where am I now?

       On the palace grounds.  The enemy has used some sort of new
weapon, but we'll be safe as long as the Gate remains closed.  How did
I know that?

       There is Mars . . . there I am, preparing to lead forces into 
battle.  Jupiter and Venus have gone to protect the Queen and household.
The scene is as chaotic as I have ever seen in our serene home.

       I'm running toward the Gate, to get a glimpse of what we are
about to fight.  There is no one there.  They are all mobilizing in
the palace.  No wait, there are two figures there, by the entrance.
Both are wearing dresses from the Royal Ball.  Jupiter and Venus are 
running up behind me.  They are shouting something to the pair at the 
Gate.  They do not hear the Senshi, however.

       Wait, one of them is struggling with the other.  What is going
on?  One pushes the other to the ground.  Both of the shadowy figures
are crying.

       The one still standing yells something to the other side.  It's
a name.  She is talking to someone outside the Gate.  Now she is making 
a motion with her hand.  Oh, no.

       She's opened the Gate.

       As the magical shielding dropped, the figure looked ahead to
the voice on the other side.  He does not respond.  An intense burst of
light is the only answer.  An explosion of some sort throws her back 
from the entrance.  It is not who she had expected.

       There is an anguished scream directly behind me.  I know who it
is, but I cannot tear my eyes from the scene before me.

       By the time I make it to the Gate, the enemy is already inside
the barrier.  Our fate is sealed.  Through the smoke I can see Venus
and Jupiter.  They have reached the pair.  They run out carrying the
limp but still-breathing forms of our Princess and Mercury, one of their
lovely dresses now torn beyond repair.

       Everything goes dark.

       * * * * *

       "----on't touch it!"  Rei could not hear Artemis' plea, however.

       She released the crystal and threw her head backward.  She hit
the floor in an instant.  Her eyes remained wide open and enlarged as
the spasms began.

       "Rei-chan!"  Makoto was over her.  "She's having some kind of
seizure!  We've got to call a doctor!"

       "Artemis, her pulse must be over 150!  What do we do?"  Minako,
who had put her ear to Rei's heart, suddenly felt a large amount of 
guilt crush down upon her.

       The white cat frantically began his search for a phone.  If he
had thought for just a moment, he would have realized that the shrine
proper had none.  The closest was in Rei's room.

       "Makoto!  You're going to have to run to . . ."  Artemis would
have done it himself, but he knew that cats were not the best-suited
creature to operate a telephone.

       "Wa---Wait."  Rei's voice was weak.  "I'm okay."

       Minako felt an enormous weight lifted from her.

       "Don't move, Rei-chan.  Just don't move.  Take it easy."

       "Ooooh.  My head.  Every bit of it is hurting."  She tried to
sit up anyway.

       Makoto and Minako assisted her to her bed.  Makoto had offered
to carry her, but even in her current state, Rei was too proud to
allow that.  She also refused the aspirin that was offered.

       She was asleep before they placed her under the covers.

       It was at this point, looking at the sleeping girl, that 
Artemis first considered that he had made a mistake.  It was at moments
like this, he thought, that he hated being the strategist.

       The girl slept well and had pleasant dreams, as she had already
relived a nightmare.

       * * * * *

       Minako and Makoto made the journey to the shrine at sunrise.
Artemis had stayed the night to watch over the injured girl. It was 
surprising to him how very little she moved the entire night.

       The cat wondered whether Minako had missed him.  He had guarded
her for years now, but this night he had been someone else's guardian
cat.  For a moment, he pondered how his life would have been different
if he had found Rei first, but quickly pushed the thought from his mind.
He almost felt as if he had cheated on Minako somehow.

       Artemis looked out Rei's window to see the two of them waiting
outside the shrine.

       "Are they here?"  Rei's voice surprised Artemis from behind.

       "Yes.  They can wait for a little while, though.  After all, 
this isn't a school day."

       "I'm glad it isn't.  I've still got a slight headache.  If 
Grandfather sees me like this he'll think I have a hangover."

       "He came in to check on you about thirty minutes after Minako
and Makoto left last night.  He probably thought that you were simply
tired after studying.  I heard him talking to someone in the hall after
he left.  I assume it was Yuuichiro.  He was saying that your placid
sleep indicated a focused mind."  Artemis wondered if he was correct.

       "He means well, and he's often more perceptive than you might
think, but in this case he was dead wrong.  I suppose I should go and
say something to him.  Tell the others that I'll see them in about
twenty minutes.  And tell them that we're probably going to be here
for a while."

       The way she said that last statement worried Artemis.
Nevertheless, he did as he was told, jumping down out of the window
and running over to the two schoolgirls, who looked somewhat out of
place standing awkwardly in front of a shrine on a non-school morning.

       * * * * *

       Roughly thirty minutes later Rei appeared at the shrine gate.
She had a slight smile on her face, but all could see that it based
only on courtesy rather than happiness.

       "Rei-chan, how do you feel?"

       "I'm all right now.  A little bit of pain behind my eyes, but
on the whole I feel just about . . . normal.  Come on in, I've already
prepared tea for you."

       They all congregated in Rei's room.  Makoto clearly felt
uncomfortable being there.  She felt as if she was imposing on her
friend.  Right -- as if that incident last night wasn't imposition
enough.

       Rei entered with the tea.  "Did you have any problems
with y . . ."  She barely stopped herself before saying "your parents,"
a phrase that she wanted to avoid using around Makoto.  "Did you have 
any problems?"

       "No, my parents are away for the weekend," Minako began. 
"Besides, I didn't get home too late after my curfew."

       Curfew was, of course, unknown to Makoto.  "I just cooked for
a while when I got home."

       "How much sleep did you get last night?"  Minako renewed her
concern that Makoto's tendency to lose sleep while worrying about her
friends would eventually cost them during a fight.

       "I don't know.  An hour, maybe two."

       "Well, make sure you get extra sleep during the week.  I'd 
hate--"

       "I might as well start now," Rei interrupted.  "We're just
dancing around the issue now.  I'm ready to tell you what you all came
to hear, although you are not going to like it."

       "That's becoming increasingly common for us these days,"
Artemis sighed as he placed himself on Minako's shoulder in anticipation
of the report.

       * * * * *

       "What I'm about to say . . . I'm not certain it's completely
accurate.  I can only remember bits and pieces of what I saw."

       "Saw?"  Artemis was not the only one who was confused.

       "Yes, saw.  You had said that I was only in contact with the
crystal for an instant, but I remember much more than can be experienced
in an instant."

       "First let me tell you what I think these crystals are.  The
one thing I am fairly certain of is where they are from.  These things 
are intimately connected with the Silver Millennium, if not coming from
then directly."

       The announcement surprised Makoto, but only confirmed Artemis'
suspicions on their origin.

       "I'm not sure how they work, but their purpose is fairly obvious
to me at this point."

       "They were meant to give our memories back to us."

       Minako, despite being hardened by the surprises of recent weeks,
still was astonished upon hearing this revelation.

       "When I touched the crystal, I was there.  I mean I was *really
there* -- in the Silver Millennium.  I was watching us live our past
lives.  You wouldn't believe it Mako-chan," she suddenly found herself
reaching to grasp her friend's hand.  "We were so happy there.  It was
like all those fairy tales that we read about when we were young.
Except that it was real.  *It was real.*"  Minako silently considered 
which of the two girls was closer to crying.

       "Artemis, when Beryl's forces invaded, why did the kingdom fall
so easily?"

       The cat stumbled at the apparent change of pace.  "Er, well . . .
if I remember correctly, the dark forces had some type of new weapon,
one that we had not seen before.  Besides, Beryl was just too
powerful."

       "But didn't the kingdom have some sort of defense system,
besides the Sailor Senshi?"

       "Um . . . yes.  Yes!  I think we had a type of magical defense
grid, but it must have failed."  Artemis' flashbacks are always *so*
conveniently timed, Minako noted.

       "It didn't fail."

       This was the point of no return, Rei thought.  Things will 
never be the same if I go on.

       The truth needed to be told, however, and indeed it was.

       * * * * *

       "*No!* No!  You're wrong!  You're wrong.  I'll believe almost
anything you say Rei-chan, but I will *not* believe this.   You got it 
wrong, it's as simple as that."

       Makoto had begun pacing very quickly.  She had to find an outlet
for her nervous energy without destroying anything in Rei's room.

       "I'm sorry, Mako-chan, but that's what I saw."

       "Look, it was a hallucination or a bad dream or something.  That
story doesn't even match the one we saw last year when we got a 
glimpse of the end of the Silver Millennium.  What you said is impossible
according to what Queen Serenity's spirit told us then.  You've got it
wrong, Rei-chan."

       "I can't explain it, but that is what I saw."

       "Mercury fought in the battle with us, the Princess was already
with Endymion when Beryl attacked, and neither had a reason to be at 
this Gate, if it even existed.  Don't you remember what the Queen 
showed us?  Don't you remember?"

       "Artemis," Minako began, "is it possible that Queen Serenity did
not tell us the whole truth?"  Of all the Senshi, Minako was the most
predisposed to talking to herself, even more so than Ami.  The years of
not having any inhibitions with speaking her thoughts aloud had caused
many problems, but this time she wanted her deepest suspicions to be
heard.

       It was the second time in less than a week that Minako had
used that phrase to end a sentence.  It was becoming easier for her.

       The response came from Makoto.  "Now you just stop right there!
This has gone far enough!  I can't even believe that you would suggest
that she would do something like that.  Besides, if she was trying to
keep something hidden, why did she send us these crystals to restore
our memory?"

       "I don't think the Queen is responsible for these crystals.  They
might be an outgrowth of our own power -- something she did not
anticipate."  Rei's voice volume decreased as her analytical level rose.
The role of proxy Ami was not one she had wanted.

       Minako responded.  "We know that Usagi-chan has been known to
tell white lies in order to prevent others from feeling hurt.  Why would
her mother be any different?"

       "Artemis, you knew her better than any of us.  Could she have 
been capable of doing such a thing?"

       His awkward silence was affirmation enough.  If it came down to 
protecting one of her many loved ones, the answer was a definite yes.
She would have done it without pause or hesitation.

       "Damn!  Do you know what you're saying Rei-chan?  Do you really
think that Ami-chan would do something as stupid as opening this Gate, 
just because there was someone on the other side that she wanted to 
*talk* to?"  Makoto's temper was close to spinning out of control.

       "If it was someone she loved . . ,"  Minako thought aloud again.

       "And that Serenity would deliberately cover it up?"

       "I'm not saying it was Ami-chan at all."  Rei closed her eyes.
It would not be the last time.

       "Well then, wh--"  Makoto didn't have to finish the question.
She realized what Rei was implying.

       Artemis would later recall this as one of the most hateful looks
that he had ever seen on Makoto's face.  He winced as she shifted
her weight onto her right leg and raised her right arm in anger at the
girl sitting below her.  She stopped at the zenith of the swing and 
simply walked out, however.  Walked out without saying a word.  If 
Artemis were just a little taller, he could have seen whether her palm
had been closed or open.

       Rei sat motionless.

       "It couldn't have been her, Rei-chan.  Not Usagi-chan."

       "Minako, we're not talking about Usagi.  We're talking about
the Princess."  Artemis avoided her eyes.

       "What's the difference?"

       "I don't know, I don't know.  This is getting out of hand."

       "Ami-chan knew this would happen," Rei whispered.

       "She's got her memories back, doesn't she?"  Now Minako was
getting angry.  "She's regained her memories of the Silver Millennium."

       "Probably."  Artemis had now jumped from Minako's shoulder.

       "How much?"

       "Judging from the extent to which she used the crystals, I---"

       "*How much?*"  Minako was close to the edge now.

       Artemis thought for a moment of the scene that Ami had painted.

       "Probably everything."

       * * * * *

       "Run along to your little cram school, loser."

       The upperclassmen were especially cruel this time of year, when
much of it lie before them and the importance of intimidating their
subordinates was not lost.

       "Hey!  You can't talk to Ami-chan like that!  Apologize!"

       The blonde's shouts were futile, however, as the offending party
had already walked away, full of themselves.

       "Thanks anyway, Usagi-chan.  I normally just ignore them,
though."

       "They should be ignored!  Everybody knows Mizuno Ami is the
kindest and gentlest and smartest and most considerate and . . ."

       "Thanks again, Usagi-chan."  It only took the slightest 
provocation for Ami to blush.  "By the way, how are you doing on your
science project?"

       "Okay, I suppose."  No, not quite "okay," Ami saw by reading her
body language.  "It *is* moving along rather slowly, though.  No time 
for going to the ice cream shop."

       Usagi suddenly laughed at herself:

       "Other girls sail through life -- Usagi has struck a reef!"

       Ami laughed as well.  "Well, I'll see what I can do to guide
you to a friendly port."

       Usagi giggled as she managed to catch the coincidence:

       "Hey, you do control the still waters, don't you?"

       "Yes, I suppose I do.  Let's go get something at the ice cream 
shop, sailor Usagi-chan."

       * * * * *

       On the way home, Artemis had forced Minako to drop by Makoto's
apartment as she was not responding to her communicator.  She was not
there. Or if she was, she wasn't answering the door.  The walk home was
an unusually long one.

       "Minako, I'm worried about you."

       "Don't worry -- only half of the boys I'm seeing have criminal
records."  She gave him a little wink.

       "No, really.  I think you're taking this business with the
crystals a little too seriously.  I'd like you to back away a little
bit."

       "Back away?  I'm not the one who started this!  It's all Ami's
fault.  If she had just told us, then we wouldn't have to be sneaking
around like this."

       "I totally agree Minako, but that doesn't mean you have to keep
torturing yourself over it.  You do know you've been talking in your
sleep lately, don't you?"

       "So, the cat likes to look in on the girls?"  She drew a circle
on the ground with her foot while looking upward playfully.

       "What?  No!  No, it's not like that at all!"  Cool down, Artemis,
he thought to himself.  You've got to remember who said that and how
often she tries that joke on you.  "It's just that you've been mumbling
about how you want your life and memories back."

       "I suppose I've had that dream a lot longer than we've been
involved in this crystal ordeal.  Don't worry, Artemis.  You're right;
I'll try to ease back a little bit.  You know me -- once I get set on
something, I tend to get a little carried away.  There are just a few
things bothering me."

       "Such as?"

       "Such as how did Ami manage to use those crystals when Rei-chan
was almost killed simply by touching them?"

       "I don't know, Minako.  Rei used a very intrusive way of getting
at them, one that left her vulnerable.  Knowing Ami, she probably used
trial and error until she got it right.  All I know is that when I saw
her holding the crystals that night, she did it for at least five
minutes and came out of it very peacefully."

       "That's something else that I've been wondering about.  Rei-chan
came into contact with her own crystal last night, but you saw Ami-chan
with my and Usagi-chan's crystals.  Do you think she was experiencing
our memories?  My memories?"

       "That's one possibility.  The other choice is that these crystals
are merely keys that unlock the memories that are already present in
your mind but suppressed.  From what I gathered, I think that this is
the way that Rei thinks they work."

       "Hmmm . . . suppressed."  Minako thought intently.

       "The one thing I don't understand is that Rei didn't mention
that she had seen herself at the Gate, so how could she remember seeing
all of this?  Why would it be part of her memories?  You know, to be
quite honest, I'm still not totally convinced that all of this wasn't
a bad dream, like Makoto said.  I suppose it's possible that those 
doubts might have already been present in her mind and that crystal
just intensified the experience.  What little I do remember of the past
goes against what Rei said.  Plus, we're still not totally certain what
Ami saw."  Artemis looked up to see that the girl was pondering 
something else.

       "Artemis, would you mind if I asked you a question?"

       He sighed.  More about Ami, or pestering him about that vacation
that he had promised, or some boyfriend, or . . .

       "Sure, go ahead."

       "What do you think would have become of me if we had never met?"

       The cat stopped in his tracks.  He had expected this question
someday, but not in this manner.

       "Er, what do you mean?"  The thoughts that he had considered 
while watching over Rei flashed through his mind.

       "Well, before you found me, I wasn't really unhappy or anything,
but I did know there was *something* missing.  Since then I've seen and
done things that I could have never imagined.  I've become a celebrity,
I've found out I'm a princess, I've seen real magic in the world, and
I've got my very own talking cat as one of my best friends -- I've lived
every girl's dream.  Sometimes I just wonder how plain Aino Minako would
have done on her own."

       He began his slow walk again.  "I don't know if you know this,
but after you had returned from defeating Beryl, I was against returning
your memories to you.  We had been together for over a year at that
point and I believed that you deserved a normal life, one that didn't
include monsters or talking cats or crescent beams or whatever.  And I'm
not afraid to tell you that if that opportunity should ever arise again,
I believe I would make the same decision."

       "But you wouldn't have the right.  You wouldn't have the right
any more than what Ami is doing now.  I feel like she's stolen a piece
of me, and you're saying that you would do it too?"

       Artemis thought for a moment.  "Did you know that when we were
in the Silver Millennium we used to take walks like this in the Royal
Gardens?  They weren't what you would think of as gardens, of course. 
We used to all walk together, all of the Royal Family and Senshi.  I
knew you, but you were not my special charge.  All the Senshi were the
same to me and I don't think I ever really developed any real 
relationship with any of them.  I get flashes of things like that 
sometimes . . ."

       "Yes.  I'd still do it, even though I suppose it's technically
treason.  You've got to understand . . . when the Senshi Sailor Venus
smiles, I'm doing my duty as a royal guardian cat.  When Aino Minako
smiles, I'm doing my duty as a person and as a friend.  For a while 
after I first reawakened you, I was not able to make that distinction,
but now I can.  And now that I can, I can also see which one is more
important to me.  That's probably not the answer you were looking for,
but it's the only one I can give."

       She smiled and knew that her Artemis was not a poet, but the 
little white cat walking proudly by her side, where he had been without
exception for nearly three years now, was a laureate in his own way.

       "You know, kitty, you really have changed my life for the better."

       Artemis could have responded to that, but he knew better. 
Besides, he knew well enough when Minako was trying to get him
flustered.  He was silently thankful that he had walked sufficiently
ahead of her that she could not detect the telltale signs of blushing.
He continually struggled to understand how she could always see those 
signs, even under his layer of fur.  Too bad he didn't notice his tail
pointing skyward, which told Minako of his feelings just the same.

       The quiet times.

       "We've got to find Makoto before we do anything else, though.
We'll stop by home for a moment, I'll find somewhere to hide this
crystal, and then we'll go out looking for her.  Oh, and one more
thing, Minako -- bring your lockpicking tools."

       * * * * *

       Minako was so deep in her planning that she did not notice that
the bus which Artemis instructed her to board was not the one that 
went to Makoto's apartment.

       "Artemis, this is Ami-chan's apartment complex.  What are we
doing here?"

       "Just wait here for a few minutes.  Something just occurred to
me."  Artemis wasted no time in his trek up to Ami's window.  After
making sure she was gone, he invited himself in.

       His eyes adjusted quickly to the darkened room.  "Let's see
now . . . where would a young genius hide something?" he said aloud.
Being around Minako for several years had imparted this particular
habit to the cat, although it was usually evident only in times of
great stress or great levity.

       Closet?  No.  Jewelry box?  No.  Scientific equipment locker?
No.  I must have been wrong.

       The cat then looked up at Ami's bookshelf.  The top three
shelves were composed mostly of paperbound textbooks, undoubtedly
"suggested" readings at her cram school.  Most of her private science
library was housed at her office, he remembered.  The bottom two rows, 
however, were filled with leather-bound books, mostly traditional
literature.  The presence of several volumes of poetry surprised him,
as did several small landscape paintings resting on the shelf, all 
unsigned, but displaying two distinctly different styles.  He
recognized one style as that of her father, whose works he had seen
before.  The other was obviously less trained, but just as artistic and
full of feeling.  It was, of course, the same unique style that he had
seen while peering through the window several nights earlier.  Like
father, like daughter, he thought.

       Looking at the books, a memory of something spoken recently 
suddenly flashed through Artemis' mind:

       "*You know, sometimes I think that none of you would open a book 
unless you were forced to.*"

       He grimaced as he slowly moved toward the lowest row.  He placed
his paw on the spine of one volume and then began to tap it.  He 
proceeded down the row, repeating the process with each book.  The
cat stopped on the next to last book.

       That's the sound.  He really was hoping that he wouldn't hear
it, of course, but he needed to know.  As he removed the book, he 
noted that it was remarkably light, much less massive than a book of
its size should have been.  Artemis placed the book on the floor and
opened its front cover.

       Of the five holes bored into the styrofoam enclosure within, only 
two were empty.  The other three positions were tightly filled with 
three tiny translucent crystals wrapped in tissue.  The wrapping was so
thin that he could see the colors underneath:  gold, clear, and blue.

       The cat released the breath that he had held.  He slowly closed
the cover and replaced the false book in its place on the shelf.  He
was so preoccupied that he did not see the flash of blonde and a 
bright red bow at the window behind him.

       * * * * *

       "Have you seen this kind of lock before?"

       "Yeah, it's standard for this kind of apartment."

       "Can you pick it?"

       "Twenty seconds."

       "Go."

       It was actually eleven seconds before the inadequate security
device was bypassed.  Normally at this point, she would allow herself
a smile and gloat her companion in good humor.  This was not the time
for that.

       Breaking into Makoto's apartment was not how she ever envisioned
using her talents.  Still, if her friend was in fact in there, that
indicated that she needed help.

       "Go in carefully, Minako.  We're not sure what kind of state
she's in."

       She had barely opened the door into the dimly lit room when she
heard Rei's voice.

       "Come in.  We've been waiting for you."

       * * * * *

       There was a tension already in the room as each waited to see
who would begin.

       "I'm sorry I left the way I did.  I'm sorry for my outburst."
Makoto was noticeably sedate and monotone.

       "I don't blame you one bit, Mako-chan.  All of this is hard to
take.  And I should have been here earlier, like Rei-chan."

       "I just don't know what it all means."

       "Nothing," Rei said.  "It means nothing, unless we want it to."

       "What does *that* mean?" Minako asked indignantly.

       "What I mean is that if we just forgot about all of this then
it wouldn't make one bit of difference in our present lives.  We would
live on, and we would all live in that crystal city that we saw in
the future.  And Usagi-chan and Ami-chan and Luna wouldn't even know
the difference."

       "*We* would know, Rei-chan.  Doesn't that mean anything to you?
I certainly can't live with the thought that my past has been stolen
by a friend, no matter for what purpose.  That *is* what she did,
Rei-chan, don't forget that.  She stole our memories, our past lives,
without even an explanation.  I don't think that I could ever talk to
her again without that being at the back of my mind."  How badly this
had disturbed Minako surprised even Artemis.

       "I could."  Makoto's dissent was voiced with almost childlike 
innocence.

       "Would it be so bad, Minako-chan?"  Rei appeared unusually at
ease.  "After all, you've lived your life this far with a past that
wasn't quite what you thought it was."

       "If you're referring to the false version of the last night of
the Silver Millennium that Queen Serenity gave to us, that's a 
completely different matter than what Ami-chan did to us.  What do you
suggest we do then?"

       "If we bury it, we save the group," Makoto said with resolve.

       "For the short term," Minako added without pause.  "We've got to
find out what really happened that night."

       "Why?"  Rei was slightly angry now.  "Have you thought this
through?  If what I saw in my vision is correct, there are only two
possibilities.  One is that Ami-chan opened the Gate, which means that's
she's been lying to save herself or save the pain that this knowledge
would put on us.  The other choice is that Usagi-chan did it and that 
Ami-chan is lying to protect her.  In either case, I think it would just 
be better to bury the past rather than risking our friendship now."

       Makoto, looking at the window, whispered a quote that she had
learned in school:  "It is more shameful to distrust our friends than 
to be deceived by them."

       "Rei-chan, even if you can dismiss this so easily, I can't. I've
got to know.  Our time might be running out.  You might be able to 
overlook Ami-chan, but I'm having a problem doing it.  You don't know
how deep her deception is.  Tell them, Artemis."

       "Tell them what?"  The cat was puzzled.

       "Tell them about what you found in Ami-chan's apartment."

       "What!  You were spying on me!"

       "Yes, spying on a spy.  Now spill it."

       All eyes now fell squarely on the cat.  "Er . . . Ami's got the
first three crystals hidden in her room."  He looked downward as he
said it.

       Makoto just shook her head.  Rei, however, was much less shaken:

       "That doesn't change anything.  We knew she had the blue one,
and all this means is that she must have palmed the first two just
before the explosion, if those were even the real ones in her office."

       "Yeah," Makoto jumped in.  "She went out of her way not to
destroy them.  Maybe this means she had planned to give our crystals 
back someday.  When she felt we were ready for the memories."

       "I wouldn't bet my memories on it.  It's going to be two full
months before we can use Makoto's crystal.  I believe we've got to go
ahead and use Rei's crystal now and get whatever memories we can."
Minako was resolute.

       "There's no way I'm going to let Rei do another reading," Artemis
said unusually forcefully.  "It's just too dangerous.  And for the same
reason, I'm not letting anybody else risk playing with these crystals."

       "I was thinking of another method," Minako said, almost
seductively.  "You mentioned earlier that you think that these crystals
are merely unlocking memories in our own minds rather than giving 
versions stored within it to us, right Rei-chan?"

       "Well, that would seem to explain how Ami was so easily able to
use your and Usagi-chan's crystals.  Otherwise, she would end up with
your memories, and I don't think that even she could handle that."

       "If then, the memories are suppressed, there might be another 
way to unlock them without going for a reading."  Minako began to point
into the air, indicative of her impending plan.

       "I hope you're not suggesting what I think you are," Artemis said
with a groan.

       "The psychiatrists who work with past-life regression are
completely legitimate, Artemis.  And I happen to know the daughter of
one of the best ones in all of Tokyo.  I'm sure I could get a session."

       "A session?  For whom?"

       "I think Rei-chan is the only one who can do it.  I think she
has a better sense for these kinds of things.  Well, Rei-chan?"

       "Minako-chan, that's not my way."

       "Well, maybe it should be.  We've got to know what really happened
that night."

       "I'll think about it."  Short and to the point.  There was no use
arguing with Minako at this time.

       "Until then," Artemis began, "we've got a study meeting scheduled
for tonight.  We've got to be very careful.  Ami's quite sensitive to
other people's true feelings.  Everything's got to appear perfectly
normal."

       "I think we can do that."

       * * * * *

       "Artemis, have you noticed anything unusual tonight?"

       "No, Luna.  I'm not sure what you're talking about."

       "I mean, look -- everyone's complimenting Ami after almost 
everything she says or does.  Well, that is, everyone except Minako."

       "Really?  I hadn't noticed."

       Of course he had.  He couldn't say anything about it while Ami
was there, however.  And since Minako had refused his hints to leave 
the room for a miniconference, he was stuck there with her strangely 
distant attitude.

       "Rei-chan, could I use your telephone for a moment?  I would like
to call my mother and tell her that I'm going to be staying a little
later than usual."  That was Ami's sign that she felt the others were
having particular difficulties in several areas of study.

       "Sure, Ami-chan."  Ami removed herself from the group and walked
away to the phone with a slight limp, as she had been sitting and
tutoring for well over an hour now.  Seeing this, Luna decided to take
a short walk to rejuvenate herself as well.

       As soon as they left, Makoto gave Minako a harsh stare, which she
summarily ignored.  Instead, she slowly and craftily trained her gaze
upon Usagi.

       "Usagi-chan, what do we know about Ami-chan?"

       "What?"

       Shut up Minako, Artemis thought.

       "Well I mean, we've all known Ami-chan for a long time, but what
do we know about her?"

       Shut up Minako.

       "What do we *really* know about her?"

       Somebody interrupt her.  For some reason I can't.

       Usagi placed a finger to her chin and looked upward.  "Hmmm . . .
what do I know about her?  Okay, I'll tell you."

       Everyone leaned forward.  Usagi hummed a few tones, and then 
began singing.

       "The closest to the sun is Mercury,
        often so close that no one can see."

       No one knew how to respond to that.  Makoto tried anyway.

       "What on earth are you talking about, Usagi-chan?"

       She answered with a laugh.  "Oh, nothing.  Just a little song
that Ami-chan taught me once.  Does that answer your silly question?"

       Minako looked like she had just experienced an epiphany.  "Yeah,
I guess it does."  That verse would ring through her mind all night.
Just one more note in her ongoing private symphony.

       "Minako-chan, you look a little tense tonight.  Is there anything
wrong?"  Uh-oh, Rei thought after she heard the words.  Usagi's giving
her that look.  You know, *the* look.  Her trademark look of total
empathy that no one could resist.

       The girl paused before she responded.  Artemis knew what the 
pause meant.  She was considering telling the truth, letting it all out.
Maybe that would be the best thing to do.  Whatever she's going to do,
she had better do it quickly.  I can hear Ami on her way back.

       <*You know me -- once I get set on something, I tend to get 
a little carried away.*>

       "No, nothing's wrong.  I'm just a little tired.  Thanks anyway."

       "Tired?" Ami said with a smile from the door.  "We haven't even
made it to mathematics yet."

       "Ami-chan's sure single-minded when it comes to helping her 
friends, isn't she Minako-chan?"

       Usagi would later think that Minako simply didn't hear her.

     * * * * *

       "When I woke up this morning, this was definitely not how I 
thought I would be spending the evening," Makoto said as she stared out
the bus window.  She watched the rain beginning to fall outside; the
storm had finally moved in.

       From the aisle seat, she heard Minako.  "Look, it's the only time
that I could get.  My friend's father is going out of town next week
and this was the last time he could squeeze us in."

       "Have you ever met this psychiatrist?" Artemis could be heard
from Minako's open bag.

       "Yes.  Well, no.  Not really.  I saw him pick her up from school
once."  About what Artemis had expected.

       "Rei-chan, how are you handling this?"  Makoto looked concernedly
to the figure in the center.  She had been silent since boarding the
bus.

       "I don't want to be here and I don't want to do this.  Nothing 
can come of this but ruin."  She promptly resumed her silence.

       "Minako-chan, you shouldn't be asking Rei-chan to do this.  Let's
just go home and forget about it.  I've come to the conclusion that this
just isn't worth what we're putting ourselves through."

       "Now you listen to me," Minako snarled at Makoto before lowering
her voice after remembering she was in a public place.  "There is no
way that I am going to let this slip by.  Aino Minako does *not* operate
that way.  I *am* going to find out what happened.  No matter what."

       "No matter what?"

       "No matter what."

       "Artemis, how could you let her go this far?"

       The cat was acutely embarrassed.  He couldn't answer.

     * * * * *

       "I know, Rei, that you're sceptical of my methods, but if you
forget about that for a while and cooperate, you might be surprised."

       "I'm sorry, Idemoto-sensei, I meant no disrespect.  It's just that
I haven't had very much time around . . ."  She thought of a kind word.

       "Shrinks?" he volunteered with a smile.  "Well, don't worry.  I'm
slightly uneasy around them too.  And when you're in my business, that
can be a bad thing."

       He managed to get her to smile slightly, not an easy task over
the past few weeks.  She reclined on the sofa.  Makoto and Minako sat to
one side, watching the odd process.  Artemis, who had no reason to hide
here, placed himself at the foot of Rei's sofa.  He slowly loosened the
drawstring on the small pouch hung around his neck.

       "Now, from what I understand, you've been having visions of a time
when you were a princess in some kind of royal court.  And in addition
to that, you might have been a warrior . . . a soldier as well."

       "That's essentially it."

       "Fascinating.  Usually my patients simply name a famous historical
figure that they identify with.  But yours is so generalized, and so
completely different from anything that I am familiar with."

       "Does that make me a case study?"

       "Oh, not quite yet.  Throw in another personality manifest in the
present and we might get you into the journals."

       If only he knew, Makoto thought to herself.

       "Now what I want you to do now, Rei, is to close your eyes and
breathe deeply.  Just clear your mind and listen to my voice.  The only
thing you're going to hear is my voice.  The only thing . . ."

       Artemis removed the red crystal from its bag and stealthily
placed it under Rei's pillow.  It was already beginning to glow.

     * * * * *

       "Rei, where are you?"

       "I'm at the Royal Ball."

       "Who are you?"

       "I'm a princess."

       "Do you see anyone you know?"

       "Yes, Venus and Jupiter."

       "Who are they?"

       "They are my friends.  They are my family."

       "What are they doing?"

       "Dancing."

       "What are you doing?"

       "Walking around."

       "Where are you going?"

       "I don't know."

       "Why are you there?"

       "I don't know."

       "Walk around for a while.  Talk to some people.  Enjoy yourself.
You're the life of the party."

       Rei smiled in agreement.

       The psychiatrist walked over to Minako and Makoto and whispered
to them.

       "Do you have any idea who these 'Venus' and 'Jupiter' are?"

       They looked at each other.  "Sorry, we don't have a clue."

       "Hmmm . . . probably just exaggerated caricatures of some
concept -- love and strength if I remember correctly."  He suddenly
became more excited as he glanced back at her.  "This is extraordinary.
I've never seen a regression go like this.  We need to be very careful
at this stage," he cautioned before returning to his patient.

       "Rei, where are you now?"

       "Outside.  In the battle."

       "Whom are you fighting?"

       "The Dark Kingdom."

       "Are you winning?"

       "No."

       "What are you doing?"

       "I'm at the Gate.  I'm watching the end."

       Minako became fully alert.

       "What do you see?"

       "They're both at the Gate.  They're fighting."

       "Who are they?"

       "It's not really fighting.  They're both really crying."

       "Rei, who are they?"

       "Venus and Jupiter are calling to them, but they don't hear."

       "Rei--"

       "I'm close now.  I can almost see them.  She pushed her down.
No, she fell down.  She was trying to drag her away and lost her grip."

       "Stay calm, Rei."  Artemis and Makoto noted the emergent tone of
concern in the doctor's voice.

       "She's released the seal on the Gate.  She's still calling that
name out as it falls.  I still can't make it out.  I'm almost there.
Oh, no.  The Gate just exploded inward.  It's so bright, so violent."

       Makoto's worry began to manifest itself:  "Minako-chan . . ."
she said in a low voice.

       <*Stop this while you can.*>

       "They're both lying apart from each other now.  They're alive,
barely.  Venus and Jupiter are running to them."

       "Minako-chan . . ."

       <*I'm sorry.  I can't.*>

       "There's a scream of agony behind me.  She's fallen in battle.  
She's about to die."

       "Who, who is it?  Who's about to die?"

       "She's still trying to fight.  Burning . . . burning mand-- . . ."

       "It's Mars . . . it's me."

       Makoto jumped up in panic.  "Stop this!  You've got to stop
this now!"

       "Wait, not yet!"  Minako stared intently at Rei.

       "They have them in their arms.  Venus has the one that opened
the Gate.  They're coming toward me.  I can see who she's carrying."

       "Who is it?"  Minako had taken control away from the
psychiatrist.

       "Oh no -- those eyes . . ."  Those eyes that were her final sight
of the Silver Millennium before the end.

       "Who is it?"  She was shouting now.  Makoto prepared to restrain
her.  Artemis jumped to her feet, resisting the urge to speak.

       "Oh God, no.  What have we done?"

       "WHO IS IT?"  Makoto was holding Minako back now, but that did 
not stop her from yelling at the top of her lungs while struggling.

       "NO!"  She suddenly leapt up from her reclined position.

       "Rei!  Snap out of it!"  Makoto's voice filled the room.  It was
just enough to retrieve her friend from the threshold.

       The moment's silence was thick and deafening.

       "Uhhh . . . get me out of here," Rei whispered.  She was
not well, but obviously in much better shape than she had been after her
previous flashback to her past.

       Makoto propped Rei up.  "Come on, let's go."  She gave a scornful
glare to the psychiatrist, still seated and furiously taking notes about
this incident.  They exited the office.

       Artemis retrieved the crystal and led Minako from the office.
Makoto and Rei, now under her own support, were waiting outside for a
bus.  Makoto was protecting Rei from the light rain with a newspaper.
Minako walked up behind them, carefully keeping her silence for now.

       The brunette turned around and saw her.  Then she turned away,
looking straight ahead again:  "Minako, I think you better take another
bus home."

       * * * * *

       "I don't want to talk about it, Artemis."

       "But . . ."

       "I said I don't want to talk about it."

       She did take another bus home, but it was only three hours 
before she was on her way to the shrine.  She would not sleep one more
night without knowing.  For now, he could only watch the girl
frenetically and repeatedly removing the cap of her transformation pen
and then replacing it.  He had lost count at 200.

       "Minako, please . . ."

       "I said . . ."  She shouted that one.  That's one of the few
times she could remember raising her voice at him in anger.  He just
stared ahead.  For a cat, there are few greater fears than being caught
in the headlights of on oncoming vehicle with absolutely nothing that
can be done.  It was a paralyzing feeling not unique to small animals.

       This time, softer, and with a disturbingly desperate smile:
"I said, I don't want to talk about it."

       * * * * *

       She approached the doors to the inner sanctum of the shrine.
She was about to throw them open when she noticed an obstruction in
her way.

       "I'm not going to stop you, but I want you to think for a minute
on what you're about to do."  Makoto stood before her with a stern 
look.

       "What *I'm* about to do?  You haven't answered the phone for
hours!  She just thinks that if she goes in there and starts meditating
and chanting that it's all going to be okay?  *I* carried whoever that
was out from the Gate -- *I* deserve to know.  Mako-chan, if she doesn't
tell us what she saw, it's all over."

       "She's not going to.  She's already told me as much.  And when
my crystal comes, I'm going to destroy it.  And I'm going to make damn
sure that no one gets their hands on the one Artemis has now."

       "It doesn't matter.  I'll wring it out of Ami if I have to.
All I have to do is tell her that I'll let Usagi know everything unless
she gives me what I want."

       Makoto began shaking her head in painful disbelief, although
Makoto afterwards would never let herself believe that it was anything
other than belated realization.  "You just don't get it, do you?  What's 
happened to you Minako-chan?"

       "And you . . ." looking down at the seemingly innocent white 
creature, "how could you let her . . . you were supposed to be her
guardian . . ."  She couldn't finish.  She just shook her head once 
more and opened the way to the sanctuary.

       * * * * *

       "Ami-chan, do you ever think about the future?"

       The question struck her as an uncharacteristically pensive one,
especially in the middle of a study session.

       "Not too much, Usagi-chan."

       "How about the past?"

       Ami closed her book, looked into her friend's eyes for a moment,
perhaps considering things that would remain forever silent, bit her
lip to hold the tears inside her, and answered.

       "You know, Usagi-chan, there is a saying in English: 'Yesterday 
is history.  Tomorrow is a mystery.  And today?  Today is a gift.  
That's why we call it The Present.'"

       Ami realized as soon as she said it that the full meaning of the 
quote had eluded Usagi, although her own intentions in saying it to her 
closest friend had not.

       The smile on Usagi's face told her that.  And that's all she
needed to know.

       * * * * *

       <*Venus is the next,*>

       The doors to the inner shrine burst open in fury; the spirits of
the past shuddered.

       <*brighter than the rest,*>

	"Damn you, Hino Rei!  You tell me what you saw right now, or, as
God as my witness, I'll never forgive you!"

       <*remember her beauty*>

       The shrine maiden lowered her head, closed her eyes, and slowly
walked away into the shadows of the fire.  Their leader now stood alone, 
trembling in a most wretched solitude.

       <*and I'll pass this little test.*>

       "I'll never forgive you!"

       The echoes of the shout circling the room were just loud enough 
to drown out the sound of a white cat crying.


                        - - - - x - - - -





****************************************************
Author's Notes:

	Sailor Moon and associated characters are the intellectual 
property of Takeuchi Naoko and/or Toei, DiC, Bandai, Kodansha, and a 
host of other ethereal corporate entities.

       This story is the result of a bet gone stupendously awry.  The
terms of payment were (verbatim): "Write me a story about Artemis."  
Okay.

       I had originally envisioned Ami's "Planet Song" in the opening
to be sung roughly to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot."  At least,
that's how I sing it.

       Ami's quote near the end came from noted Nigerian musician
Babatunde Olatunji.  Makoto quoting La Rochefoucauld?  It could happen.
Oh, and there might have been a rather large allusion to a particular
work by Dickens in the story.

       All misuse of honorifics (specifically Idemoto's use of "Rei")
was done for narrative flow.  Certain characters were, ahem, omitted,
as they only detracted from the story.  And, in case you didn't know,
Doraemon is a children's cultural icon in Japan.

       Usagi does make a reference to a Mel Brooks movie somewhere in
this story.  See if you can find it.

       All comments, questions, anecdotes, stock tips, can be sent to:

       gradient@thedoghousemail.com

       Please write; it gets lonely up here herding the goats.  Really,
though, I *would* like to hear from you.  Just don't ask *the* question.
If you read the story and consider what you *think* you already know
about the characters, it should have been obvious.  It was to me.  ;)

       Thank you for your time.

"The Weakest Link"       +Gradient         July 1998

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When it gets dark enough you can see the stars.
                                -- Lee Salk
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