Flashback--Haruka
	This can be considered one of the memories that 
Haruka relives when her memory is restored. 

_word_ means an underlined or italicized word, used 
for emphasis or direct quoting of thoughts

I also sprinkled quotations from Uranus's image song 
throughout. It's about as legal as the rest of this 
document.
	"quote"
	--translation

***

	"Princess Uranus," Queen Serenity said, "you 
_are_ required to wear a dress at formal functions."
	"I am, your Majesty?" The girl looked up from her 
bow with patented innocence. Some of the other 
princesses giggled behind lifted handkerchiefs. Of the 
three being presented that morning, she was the only 
one who had arrived in a suit--a very nice one, 
certainly, but not a princess's customary garb.
	"Urania," the queen said firmly, using the girl's 
personal name, which was just shy of an insult in the 
throne room. "You are a terrible liar. You knew this 
before you came here."
	Uranus flushed, but only slightly. The other 
girls, the five watching and the two others with her, 
were silent.
	"I will ignore this morning's trespass," the 
queen continued, "but there will be a ball tonight, 
and you _will_ wear a dress." Noting that Uranus had 
lifted one eyebrow, again very slightly, she warned, 
"Properly, Princess Uranus--dress, jewelry, makeup. 
You are now a part of my daughter's court, and I 
expect you to dress as such."
	"Yes, your Majesty." Princess Uranus's voice was 
flat, cold, and much lower than Queen Serenity had 
thought possible. She wasn't smiling, either.
	The queen did smile, though, benevolently, and 
went on to greet Princess Neptune and Princess Pluto. 
The presentation ceremony ended, and only a few 
noticed the way Princess Uranus's hands were clenched, 
tightly enough to draw blood.

	"I could kill her," Urania muttered. She slammed 
her fist into the stone balustrade. She had a tendency 
to punch things when she was angry. It let out some of 
the tension, and besides, it made her hands tough. She 
would need that in a real fight, since she was--what, 
fifteenth in line for the Sword and wouldn't ever 
wield it. Oh, she knew _how_ to use the weapon, but 
the odds were she never would. There was no way her 
family would run through fifteen children, and as a 
member of that family she didn't hope for their 
deaths.
	"Would you please stop that?" Princess Neptune 
called. Nereid, Urania remembered. She was out on her 
balcony, next to Urania's. "You're making me nervous."
	"Stop what?" she asked.
	"Hitting things. You could hurt yourself, you 
know."
	"Whatever." As Urania was already in trouble, it 
wouldn't do to start a fight, even a verbal one. She 
really felt like it, though. She wanted to lash out at 
something. "Are we cooped up in these rooms or what?"
	"We're supposed to go to the fountain garden in 
half an hour, to meet the inner planet princesses 
before lunch," Nereid said.
	"I know that," Urania snapped. "I want to know if 
I can leave this stupid place until then."
	"Well, I don't know," the other girl said, 
unperturbed. "I didn't hear anything saying we were 
confined to our rooms, though." She didn't sound hurt, 
but she did leave her balcony.
	Urania stayed. She preferred the open air, and 
she would have greatly preferred being out in the open 
air away from the palace, but leaving without 
permission might ...
	"I don't care," she muttered, and swung over the 
edge of her balcony. She dropped to the ground without 
too much trouble; it wasn't that far, after all.
	Freed of the walls, she broke out into a gentle 
trot, headed in no particular direction. There was a 
path that led away from the overly sculptured gardens, 
and she went down that, and then another path ...

	"Say," Princess Serenity said, "where's Urania?"
	The princesses were all gathered under the 
brightest fountain--all, that is, except for Princess 
Uranus.
	"She wasn't in her room when we left," Fortuna 
said. "I assumed she'd gone early."
	"Maybe she got lost," Aurora suggested. As 
Princess Mercury, she was always the practical one. 
"This is a large place."
	Two boys rushed through the entrance to the 
garden, the blond clearly ahead of the redhead. To be 
precise, Urania ran in ahead of an older boy, one that 
the inner princesses already knew as Prince Phaeton.
	Phaeton halted, panting. "You cheated!" he 
blustered.
	Urania stopped and turned. "I don't cheat," she 
said, in the icy voice the girls had all heard earlier 
that morning.
	"I want a rematch," Phaeton said. "And we're not 
supposed to be here--this's for the princesses only."
	"I'll race you again later, if you want," Urania 
said, "but as for the latter, I _am_ supposed to be 
here. In fact, I'm late. Excuse me." She marched 
decisively over to the scattered girls and sat on the 
edge of one of the fountains.
	"But--" The prince's eyes widened as Urania slid 
off her jacket and laid it on an empty bench. She 
didn't have much of a chest, but her shirt clung to 
her for a moment before she shrugged it into her usual 
illusion.
	Prince Phaeton opened his mouth, shut it, and 
left.
	"What a jerk," Urania muttered.
	"You beat him?" Callisto asked, slightly awed. 
She was Princess Jupiter.
	"He's a fat slowpoke," Urania practically spat.
	"You have got to be kidding," Aphrodite said. 
"He's the fastest runner in the whole solar system!"
	"Ignore her," Callisto said disparagingly. "She's 
in love with him."
	"Oh, and I suppose you never looked at Prince 
Helios twice, either!" Aprhodite shot back.
	That got a blush from Jupiter. "He reminded me 
of--"
	"Of sempai, we know," Athena, Princess Mars, 
groaned. "Don't tell us again. It's not worth hearing 
twice."
	"Oh?" Nereid said, amusement in her voice. "How 
about hearing it once?"
	"I don't recommend that either." Athena glared at 
Callisto.
	"That's not fair," Aphrodite said.
	"I thought we were on the same side!" Athena said 
in mock amazement. (Aurora got a sweatdrop.)
	"There you go again," Princess Serenity said, 
"teasing people. When are you going to let up?"
	The conversation quickly devolved into a fight 
between Serenity and Athena, with Aphrodite, Callisto, 
and even Nereid alternating sides. The quiet Princess 
Pluto, Fortuna, found herself talking to Aurora, 
partly in observance of some of the more absurd 
aspects of the other conversation.
	And seated on her fountain rim, Urania traced the 
symbol of her home with a wet finger on the stone. 
	"What good is a boyfriend?" she fumed, to no one 
in particular.
	Nereid heard her, and came over to sit near her. 
"I wouldn't know, but they're so cute when they 
wrangle over boys," she murmured. "It must be fun."
	"It's not my idea of fun," Urania said, splashing 
water over the Uranus symbol to obliterate it.
	Nereid noticed, and put her hand over the wet 
spot. "What is your idea of fun?"
	"I don't do 'fun'. I'd rather throw myself off a 
cliff than go on a mind-numbing date with some stupid 
boy." She got up, picked up her jacket, and started to 
leave the garden.
	"Aren't you coming to lunch?" Nereid asked.
	"I'm not hungry." Urania walked away.
	There was a short silence as the other girls 
registered her departure.
	Nereid broke it. "I wonder what's happening at 
Castle Uranus."

To: Urania, Sixteenth Princess of Uranus, the court of 
Princess Serenity, the Silver Millennium.
	Oberon is alive, but for now I am wielding the 
Space Sword. The Queen hopes that we will not have to 
endure another attack until he is better, and I hope 
the same. We have had too many attacks in the past 
months. I do not believe the enemy can keep this same 
pace much longer.
Signed: Titania, Second Princess of Uranus, 
Castle Uranus.

	"Shimatta."
	Urania wanted desperately to tear the letter to 
shreds and burn the remnants to ashes, but that wasn't 
likely to help matters. She did smash her hand into 
the wall, though--on the side where there was no other 
room. Nereid had gotten sick of the thumping against 
her wall. While Urania had still been rather angry 
when she did complain, she could see the other girl's 
point--and, besides, Nereid never complained about 
anything else. She put up with a lot of things like 
that, including Urania climbing onto the roof at 
night. That was something she hadn't expected.
	She reread the short missive again, hunting for 
the clues her sister didn't want to give or hadn't 
recognized herself. She was worried about the 
continued high rate of attacks; Uranus had been 
virtually under siege for the past year now. They had 
no real way of surveying their opponents' forces. 
Miranda had foresight in retribution for her 
blindness, but it was sorely limited. With their 
senshi down, another attack would force them to lose 
ground. Urania knew Titania, and knew very well that 
she was only hoping that she wouldn't have to use the 
Sword because she had very little ability with it.
	To worsen her current mood, there was another 
mindless ball that evening. Urania hated balls, hated 
them even worse than the informal parties that 
included only the princesses and their current 
suitors, where she got closed out of every 
conversation and ended up driving herself to the brink 
of insanity. At balls, she had to dress up like some 
freakish doll, and it was much harder to plead a 
headache even if she did have one. Queen Serenity 
never let her go to the dubious sanctuary of her room 
with anything less than a full-fledged fever.
	And worst of all, they'd asked her to accompany 
Nereid's violin on the piano. She'd dodged the issue 
for a week, but the day before Princess Serenity had 
barged in while she was practicing. Urania had had to 
give in, with all seven of the girls revealed to have 
been listening behind the doors, and the result was 
that she'd been rehearsing when the mail had been 
delivered. The letter had been left in her room, and 
as it was now past five o'clock she couldn't request a 
call via communication globe without making a fuss.
	The roof was practically calling to her; she 
needed the familiar feeling of wind rushing past her 
face, like it always had wherever she'd been in Castle 
Uranus. For a substitute, she went out onto the 
balcony, a quirky half-grin on her lips. After her 
escapade on the first day, the queen had quietly but 
firmly forbidden her to jump from the balcony--
apparently, Phaeton had been watching and had later 
taken revenge for his loss by reporting the act. That 
had gone rather poorly, but Urania had then discovered 
the roof. And since Queen Serenity didn't yet know 
about that, she couldn't very well forbid it ... and 
as long as it wasn't forbidden, Urania would climb up 
there to feel the winds. But time was inching along, 
and she reluctantly returned to her room, to stare 
with undisguised hatred at the dress laid out on her 
bed.
	There was a knock on her door, and then Nereid 
entered, without waiting. It was one of the things 
Urania put up with about her, in exchange for the 
little secret of the roof. She was carrying a paper-
wrapped package.
	"Don't you own another dress?" Nereid asked, 
glancing at the dark blue pile of cloth. She, of 
course, was already dressed, stunningly so.
	"No," Urania said, as bluntly. "I'm not about to 
buy another one, either."
	"You don't like it, though."
	"I don't like dresses." That was something of an 
understatement. This one was simple enough: plain 
collar and pleated skirt. It didn't restrict her 
movement, but it did make her feel foolish. It was the 
same kind of dress children wore outside the palace, 
only just classy enough to pass Queen Serenity's 
inspection.
	"Would you wear one of mine?"
	"Nereid, we're hardly the same size." She didn't 
feel like specifying; it was pretty obvious to any 
half-blind dimwit. She was a lot taller and a lot 
flatter, in several places.
	Nereid just chuckled. "I should have known you 
wouldn't fall for that."
	"Fall for--wait one sec--"
	She didn't, naturally. "I got you a dress."
	"What the hell did you do that for?" was all 
Urania could think to say.
	"You _are_ going to at least try it on, aren't 
you?" Nereid asked.
	Put that way, she couldn't quite refuse, but she 
tried anyway. "Why are you being nice to me?"
Nereid took that as a yes and began unwrapping 
the package. "It didn't hurt me or anything."
	Urania eyed the emerging cloth. "That's silk. 
Didn't that hurt your pocketbook?"
	"It's a gift from my father. He buys me about 
anything I want--sometimes things I don't want, too."
	"You must have an extremely indulgent father." 
Urania wanted to kick herself; she was being way too 
rude, but she wasn't in the mood for niceties.
	"Was it bad news, from Uranus?" Nereid asked, as 
if she'd read her mind.
	"Will you stop that?" Urania practically 
shrieked.
	"You get letters every week, and then you're in a 
rage for hours," Nereid persisted. "You stand on the 
roof as if you're waiting for the next breeze to throw 
you to your death. You join the inner senshi combat 
training even though you're fifth in line for Sailor 
Uranus. What do you think I am, an idiot like Phaeton? 
Something's wrong."
	"I do _not_ go up to the roof to kill myself," 
Urania snapped. "When you get that high up, sometimes 
it feels like the winds of Castle Uranus. They never 
stop blowing."
	"You're evading the question."
	"I am not!"
	Nereid was quiet for a moment. Then she said, 
"No, you aren't. Not exactly. I'm sorry."
	Urania slammed her fist into her desk, breaking a 
pen. _Why does she have to be so damn perceptive?_ she 
wondered. _And I'm not homesick, dammit!_
	"Well, since you obviously aren't going to change 
in front of me, I'll leave," Nereid said.

	How Nereid had managed to find something that fit 
her quite so closely, Urania wanted badly to know. It 
was as if she'd had the dress tailored, and 
specifically to hide her faults, somehow emphasizing 
her slimness without making her look awkward. She 
actually didn't look that bad--or at least not as bad 
as she usually did in a dress.
	"Now, that's much better," Nereid said. She 
hadn't bothered to knock this time. "Oh, and you 
needn't worry about running in it. I had it slit up 
both sides, and the underskirt is split, too. You 
won't ruin it if it comes down to a fight."
	Urania could only stare. "You ... "
	"I designed it around you, yes. It was a lot of 
fun. I've never actually tried to design clothing 
before."
	_Fun._ The word echoed in Urania's mind. _I don't 
do 'fun',_ she'd once said to this girl. She shook her 
head. "Why ... ?"
	"You have a very odd way of saying 'thank you'," 
Nereid said, clearly amused. She laid her hand over 
one of Urania's.
	Blushing, Urania decided to leave it there. 
"Arigatou, Nereid," she said softly.
	"Much better," the other girl repeated. "And 
you're welcome. Now, your lipstick is all right, but 
the rest of you is still a mess. Didn't anyone ever 
teach you how to put on makeup?"
	Urania just looked at her helplessly.
	"Never mind, I know the answer to that." She cast 
a critical eye at the scattered cosmetics on the desk. 
"Well, at least you have the right colors." 
	"One of my sisters made me take them. She said 
I'd have to wear the stuff when I got here. She didn't 
leave instructions, though."
	Nereid laughed at that. "Leave it to me."
	Urania was quite willing to let her do that, even 
though she still had no idea _why_ she was being 
singled out for this treatment. _Then again, I don't 
suppose anyone else has to be dressed up--_ "Hey!" she 
cried aloud.
	"Hmm?" Nereid looked up from her current project, 
which was lowering the straps of Urania's dress.
	Urania was blushing again. "What are you--"
	"I have to get rid of your tan lines," Nereid 
said, waving a sponge filled with some creamy liquid. 
"You look like you've been striped with white paint."
	Urania tried to ignore the fact that she wouldn't 
have had to worry about this if the dress's neckline 
had been two inches higher and the straps a little 
wider, and submitted as meekly as she could. It was 
modest enough, but certainly more revealing than she 
would have liked. 
	"Nice cologne," Nereid commented, leaning closer. 
"You have good taste."
	"My brother's doing," she admitted. "Most of 
these things are parting gifts. It was the only way 
they could make me bring anything remotely feminine."
	"Mmm. He must have known you very well. This 
isn't really a woman's scent."
	"Umbriel is the nice one." Urania sighed 
inwardly. He was third prince, so the Sword would fall 
to him after Titania. _Which will be the very next 
fight, unless Oberon has recovered by then._ It was 
decidedly unjust; Umbriel would make a much better 
king than senshi. His heart wasn't in battle; it was 
in music. He'd been the one to teach her piano.
	Nereid was so close Urania would have decked her 
immediately if she'd been a guy. She decided that it 
was all Umbriel's fault--the piano, the cologne--and 
that no matter how ridiculous it might seem, she was 
going to get him back for it.
	"Whose idea was the earrings?" Nereid asked, 
finally sitting back and letting Urania put her dress 
back where it belonged.
	"Ariel and Miranda. The cruel one and the blind 
one. Of course, Ariel had to do the piercing." Ariel 
wouldn't make a very good senshi. Urania was half 
convinced she'd kill just for the pleasure of it. 
"Miranda said these would be important. I don't know 
why." She touched one of the golden hoops.
	"I don't know, either," Nereid said. "But they 
belong on you. I think you're done. No more jewelry, 
or you'll look like an overdressed fool."
	Urania looked at the jewels Nereid was wearing--
aquamarine set in silver, in a matched set of 
earrings, ring, and necklace. "How _you_ avoid that, 
I'll never know."
	"You're too serious, all severe lines. If you 
ever relaxed, your face might look all right with 
something more girly." Nereid stood up. "Now, come on, 
Princess Uranus. I have to win a bet with you."
	"Using me, you mean." Urania thought she was 
beginning to understand--although why Nereid had 
bothered was still a mystery. "Who's the bet with? 
Aphrodite?"
	"You're good," Nereid said.
	"I have ears. I can hear her squawking about how 
much I look like a boy. How far'd you go--that she 
wouldn't recognize me, or just that you could make me 
look pretty?"
	"Shush." Nereid giggled, adding, "You aren't 
really supposed to know about this, but I can see you 
needed an explanation. It really wouldn't do to 
present you with that quizzical expression on your 
face."
	"Ha!" Urania wasn't sure if she should glare or 
smile. "I'll bet that's the only reason you bothered 
to tell me."

	Princess Serenity laughed at the look on 
Aphrodite's face. "Don't look so glum, Venus. Prince 
Phaeton promised you the first dance, after all."
	"She didn't have to call me a kitty!" Aphrodite 
fumed.
	"You're beautiful tonight, Venus," Serenity 
protested. "Don't ruin it by being angry."
	"How can you say I'm beautiful, next to those 
two?" Aphrodite waved her hand at Urania and Nereid, 
who after their performance had drifted off to a quiet 
corner.
	"If you smiled, you'd look much better," Serenity 
argued. "Besides, you're younger. Young enough to have 
fun, not stand around and talk about boring things."
	Aphrodite cast a baleful look at Princess 
Mercury, who was deep in conversation with a visiting 
scientist and the queen's best magician.
	"That's her idea of fun," Serenity said. "Look, 
they're going to start a waltz. You'd better find 
Phaeton!"
	Halfheartedly, but arguably less disgruntled, 
Aphrodite walked away in search of the second prince 
of the Sun. Behind Serenity, Callisto laughed.
	"She'll be all right," Callisto said. "She just 
needs to latch onto a guy for a while to get over her 
shock."
	Serenity nodded, smiling. "What about you, 
Jupiter? Shouldn't you be looking for Prince Helios?"
	Callisto's face clouded. "He said he wouldn't be 
able to come tonight. I don't like it; he's worried 
about something."
	"That doesn't sound good."
	"I know. It must've been important, or he'd have 
put it off. That means trouble."
	Athena wandered up to them, her hand laid on a 
masked man's arm. "Trouble?" she asked, focusing 
immediately on Callisto.
	"Princess Mars!" Serenity cut in, "what are you 
_doing_ with--"
	"With Tellus?" Athena said innocently. In a lower 
voice, she hissed, "Baka! Don't say his name aloud!"
	"Wasn't going to," Serenity whispered back 
fiercely. She knew better than to publicly scream the 
name of Endymion. The prince of Earth, however nice a 
man, was not legally allowed to set foot on the Moon 
while the Silver Millennium lasted. "I thought _I_ had 
the first dance with Tellus," she continued aloud, 
still aggrieved.
	"Of course, your Highness," Endymion said 
soothingly. "I only asked Princess Mars to help me 
find you in this crowd."
	The music began, and Serenity forgot about 
Callisto's worried face as Endymion held out his hand 
for the dance. As they moved around the room, they 
passed Urania and Nereid, still standing by 
themselves. Serenity decided that it was an 
improvement over Urania alone.
	"Is that Uranus, Princess?" Endymion whispered.
	"Yes, actually. I'm surprised you recognized 
her," Serenity murmured.
	"She's smiling. I've only seen her smile once 
before, when she beat Prince Charon of Pluto in a 
duel." He hesitated, then went on. "It wasn't the same 
kind of smile."
	"I think she's happy, and I'm glad for her," 
Serenity said. "I felt so bad about locking her away 
in this palace. Neptune says she goes out at night, 
and she's always scared that one morning she won't 
have returned. I tried to talk to her, but she's so 
cold ... I couldn't say anything without feeling 
foolish. She makes me feel as if I'm a baby."
	"I don't think you're a child," Endymion said 
automatically. "And I would dearly love to stay in 
this palace with you."
	"Tellus," she said, her heart suddenly on the 
verge of breaking, "I don't know what I'm going to do 
without you." Serenity was thinking of the palace 
guards--of her mother, even. She wondered what they 
would do if they found him here. After tonight, 
Endymion would leave for Venus, and then head from 
there to Earth ... and it would be months, probably 
years, before he would dare to set foot on the Moon 
again. It wasn't worth the risk. Not for the first 
time Serenity wished she could visit the other planets 
as he often did, so that they could meet in peace and 
on secure ground.
	"I'm sure you'll manage," he said.
	Serenity wasn't nearly as certain.
	Athena claimed the next dance with Endymion. This 
was logical, almost necessary, since 'Tellus' was 
ostensibly one of Mars's minor nobles. Princess 
Serenity still felt a twinge of regret when she parted 
with him, though.
	"Athena's worried, too," Callisto said in a low 
voice, right into her ear. "What should we do?"
	Serenity snapped herself back into the present at 
that. Callisto, unlike the previous princesses from 
Jupiter, had very little foresight, but Athena was 
very strong in that ability. The matter had just 
escalated, and she wasn't even sure what it was. "Do 
you think we should talk to my mother's advisors?"
	"You call the shots," Callisto said. "I'm too 
edgy."
	"Let's find Luna," Serenity decided.
	The black cat was difficult to find, however; she 
and Artemis always attended the balls, but their 
relative size made them nearly invisible.
	"I wish my mother had smaller gatherings," 
Serenity muttered.
	"Are you looking for someone?" Nereid asked.
	"Neptune!" Serenity said with relief. That 
princess was also reputed to have foresight, although 
Serenity had never had the occasion to closely examine 
the abilities of the outer planet princesses. "Have 
you seen Luna or Artemis? Jupiter and Mars are afraid 
that there may be trouble. Have you felt anything?"
	Nereid looked back at Urania, who was staring 
resolutely at the wall, and leaned closer. "I'm 
worried, too, but I thought it was only about Urania," 
she whispered.
	Urania, who didn't seem to have heard Nereid's 
last words, said without turning around, "Do you want 
me to contact one of them? Telepathy runs in my 
family."
	"It would help a lot," Callisto said.
	Urania nodded. A few moments later the cats came 
running up.
	"What's wrong?" they said at once.
	"We're not sure," Serenity said, glancing at the 
other princesses. "Mars and Neptune are both worried, 
and Jupiter says Prince Helios is away, probably about 
something important."
	Luna frowned. "Helios didn't tell us anything. 
Can't you get any more definite?"
	Serenity shook her head. "We were hoping you'd 
have some information.
	"How much time do we have, do you think?" Artemis 
asked.
	Callisto held out her hands helplessly. "Not 
much, I don't think. If it weren't something big right 
_now_, Helios'd be here and we wouldn't be in this 
problem ... "
	Athena hurried over to the small group, dragging 
Endymion, Aurora, Fortuna, and Aphrodite. "Anything?" 
she asked.
	"No," Serenity said, feeling sick. 
	"OBERON, YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF 
KILLED!"
	It was Urania, screaming, eyes shut, hands 
clenched into fists. Then she grabbed Endymion's sword 
and bolted for the nearest balcony.

	"Ano hi kara
	Eranda
	Tatakai no hibi"
	--From that day onward, I made a choice to fight 
day by day.

	_Oberon, you're a fool twice over,_ Urania 
thought. _You're married, you have two children. What 
the hell are you putting your life on line for? To 
give Titania another two seconds?_
	_So he can give her an even chance in battle, and 
the twins are going to have to shift for themselves 
when he goes,_ Urania answered herself. She strapped 
on the sword, barely remembering where she'd gotten 
it. The belt was torn where the man had worn it, but 
she buckled it tighter to fit her waist and it held.
	Far away, across the solar system, her brother 
had linked minds with her sister, and together they 
were holding the Space Sword aloft against the massed 
might of their enemy, whose name they finally knew.
	"Moross-kell." They were invaders from another 
part of the galaxy, and Urania had only heard them 
mentioned once or twice in her schooling, and not at 
all since she'd come to the Moon. A mistake, that. In 
the inner planets they were sheltered from the rest of 
the universe.
	But she was from Uranus, an outer planet, the 
last line of defense before Jupiter, since the power 
of Saturn lay dormant. And that meant that she had to 
know, and had to fight them.
	Not wanting to distract Oberon from an already 
dangerous task, she contacted Belinda while she 
scrambled up onto the roof. That was the oldest of the 
children who had telepathy, and likely the one with 
the clearest head. Here she was lucky; she was on one 
of the higher towers, one that had a flat top and the 
outer wall of crenellations. The combination gave her 
a clear path to Castle Uranus.
	_Urania?_ Belinda asked, sounding surprised.
	_Don't ask. I can't reach Titania from here; I 
can't contact someone without telepathy at this 
distance. Can you do that for me, and send her some of 
my energy?_
	_Yes,_ Belinda sent back grimly, _but do you know 
how bad our chances are?_
	_My guess is five casualties among the royal 
family and a fifty percent loss among the troops, 
magicians included._
	_I've got her,_ Belinda said. _Your estimate 
beats mine. I thought at the worst we'd lose Titania._
	_Oberon's done a full link; she has all his 
abilities. He'll die with her, if she goes._
	Belinda swore. If the situation hadn't been so 
grave, Urania would have been amused. As a rule, she 
was the only one of her family who did that. It came 
from being a black sheep.
	"You're making a brave attempt," a silken voice 
said, behind Urania. "Pathetic, but brave."
	She whipped around. The man standing on the tower 
had flowing red and golden hair. He wore a suit 
trimmed with gold braid and carried a sword--not a 
dress rapier like the one Urania had now, but a weapon 
forged for battle. He was expecting a fight.
	"Bravery has nothing to do with it," Urania 
snapped. "What are you doing?"
	He laughed, drawing his sword. "You're 
interfering with my plan. I'm afraid that means I'll 
have to kill you."
	Urania sent Belinda an extra boost of power. _I'm 
cutting the link. I've got a problem here. Don't want 
to distract you._ She cleared her mind and drew her 
own sword. "Don't be too sure of that."
	She jumped down from the wall--it would be too 
easy to knock her off, she knew--and went on the 
attack.
	He wasn't bad, but she was better. The rapier 
wasn't her first choice of weapon, but she'd trained 
with all swords. She also turned the fight into a 
running one, even confined as they were on the roof of 
the tower. He wasn't fast enough for her; she caught 
him off guard and ran him through from behind.
	That done, she wiped her blade clean, sheathed 
it, and went back to the top of the wall. She only 
hoped it wasn't too late.

	"Matte!" Nereid shouted after her, but there was 
no stopping Urania. _Oberon,_ she thought. _One of her 
brothers. Not the nice one._ She shook her head at 
such an irrelevant thought.
	When their small group reached the balcony, 
Urania was nowhere in sight. Uncertain, they retreated 
back indoors.
	"Who's Oberon?" Athena asked.
	"An Uranian prince. Something must be going wrong 
at Castle Uranus," Nereid said. "Nothing else would 
catch her attention like that."
	"Don't worry, Nereid," Serenity said, laying a 
hand on her arm. "We'll help her any way we can."
	"What does Helios have to do with Uranus?" 
Callisto asked.
	"Nothing, as far as I know," Aurora said. Nereid 
almost wanted to hit her for stating the obvious.
	"Does anyone else have telepathy?" Luna asked. 
"We could find her easily with that."
	They all shook their heads.
	Queen Serenity came up to them. "What's 
happening?" she demanded.
	"Princess Uranus and Prince Helios are missing," 
Luna reported.
	"Uranus I knew about," the queen said, a touch of 
acid in her voice, "as did the rest of the room. The 
question is _why_?"
	Nereid found herself looking in a mirror on the 
wall. _If that were only the Aqua Mirror, if only I 
could use its clear sight ... _ But she wasn't a 
senshi; that was her older brother, Triton.
	The mirror flashed, and she saw Urania standing 
in the wind. Two hands reached out from below her. The 
image faded as the hands met and clasped.
	"Pluto!" Nereid cried.
	"I'm here." Fortuna was right behind her.
	"Your Majesty, is there another way to the roof 
of this place?" Nereid asked urgently, taking Fortuna 
by the hand.
	"There are stairs to the tower there," Queen 
Serenity said, pointing. "What in heaven's name are 
you doing?"
	"This is a matter for the outer planets," Fortuna 
said as Nereid dragged her away.
	The two girls ran up the stone steps, Nereid just 
ahead of Fortuna. "How'd you know?" Nereid panted.
	"I guessed," Fortuna said. "Uranus, then you, and 
you asked for Pluto. What did the mirror tell you?"
	"She's on a roof, and we have to help." Nereid 
thought about the image. One hand wore the ring she 
knew was her own; the other bore a garnet ring. 
_Uranus, the Sword. Neptune, the Mirror. Pluto. The 
Garnet Orb._ It was making sense, slowly.
	They burst out onto the roof, and nearly tripped 
over the dead body. Nereid gasped. "Helios!"
	"Do me a favor and don't make me kill you like he 
did," Urania said from her place on the crenellated 
wall.
	"We're here to help, Uranus," Fortuna called.
	Urania nodded, though she didn't look at them. 
"Your planets are under attack. I need physical 
contact, since you don't have telepathy, but I can 
boost your power that far."
	Nereid _knew_ that couldn't be possible. There 
were limits to magic; distance was one of them. She 
was surprised Urania had reached all the way to her 
own planet. Neptune and Pluto were farther out. "It's 
not possible," she said. "Let us send aid to your 
planet--"
	"I am Urania," the last princess of Uranus said 
softly. "I am named for those who gaze at the stars 
and planets of the night sky. I am named to this, to 
stand in these winds and reach through space to the 
outer edges of the solar system."
	There was power in a name, the old legends ran. 
Queen Serenity had brought peace to the Moon. Urania 
was a muse; she was more than an obedient satellite to 
Uranus. Uranus, the planet that spun on its side. Now, 
its sixteenth child was again something else.
	Neptune and Pluto reached out and placed their 
hands in Uranus's.
	She felt Urania running through the night sky, 
bringing added power to each of the troubled planets. 
She felt her stumble once, and then continue. She saw 
the sheer numbers and the spidery invaders, and her 
heart sank as she knew it was not enough.
	"We aren't senshi," she said. "We're not strong 
enough."
	"There is power in a name," Fortuna echoed.
	Nereid held her breath.
	"I am Fate, and my element is Time. I tell you 
now that we will be senshi, in the proper time, and 
this means that we have the power. We must unlock it 
and use it."
	"You go first," Urania muttered. "If I fail, I 
want to have already sent your energy on."
	Nereid looked at Fortuna. She felt out of place; 
she was named for a moon of Neptune, nothing special.
	Or was she? "Your father's daughter," Fortuna 
murmured.
	"I am Nereid," the princess of Neptune said. "I 
am the daughter of the wise man of the sea. I ride the 
dolphin, and I offer succor to the stranded sailor. I 
will one day be a sailor senshi, but for now I will 
aid he who is Sailor Neptune!"
	Her forehead burned, but it was a necessary pain. 
She knew the symbol of Neptune was glowing on her skin 
without needing a mirror to look. A bolt of aquamarine 
light shot out from Urania and went out into the dark 
night.
	"Got 'em," Urania whispered.
	Fortuna was next. She whispered to herself; all 
that Nereid could hear was, "I will not ferry you dead 
across the river, Charon." The symbol of Pluto 
appeared.
	"Sailor Pluto," Nereid breathed. Somehow, she 
helped Fortuna send her power through Urania. _The 
nereid will save the drowning sailor._
	"Good teamwork," Urania said, and coughed. "Let 
go. Now."
	Fortuna dropped her hand and sank against the 
wall, obviously drained. Nereid slipped down, too, but 
she tried to hold onto Urania's hand.
	Urania shook her off. "I am a princess of Uranus 
tonight," she said, her breathing harsh. She was 
totally focused inward, on a battle Nereid could no 
longer see.
	There were footsteps then, and Nereid turned to 
see Princess Serenity, the inner princesses, and the 
man Athena had brought to the ball. Callisto gasped at 
the sight of Helios's corpse.
	"Mother didn't want us to come," Serenity said, 
"but we talked her into letting us at least see what's 
going on."
	"War," Fortuna said succintly. "War, at all three 
of the outer planets. Uranus is still struggling."
	Serenity ran up to the three outer princesses. 
"We've got to help!" she declared. "Nereid, what can I 
do?"
	"She's not letting anyone help her," Nereid said 
desperately.
	"In a way, she's right," Fortuna said calmly. "An 
attack sent back along her path could kill anyone 
linked to her."
	"It would kill her, too," Nereid cried.
	"She's willing to take that risk. She's not 
willing to take it for other people, too."
	Serenity looked at her four senshi. "Can you set 
up a shield?"
	"No," Fortuna contradicted immediately. "Any 
shield that would protect her or anyone else would 
also keep in your energy. It's open or nothing."
	An unseen hand suddenly slammed Urania back down 
onto the roof. There was no symbol on her forehead, 
and her eyes were closed.
	"Urania! No!"

	"Kono mi o tateni
	Mamoru to chikatta"
	--and using this body, I promise to protect ...

	She felt horrible, but the trick had worked. 
Letting the attack waste itself on her body, she'd 
escaped with her mind and powers intact. "Third time 
is last," she croaked. It had better be; they'd lost 
Oberon, Titania, Ariel, and her mother, Queen Cordelia 
II of Uranus. Umbriel was holding forth as the new 
King Uranus, and since Miranda was blind, the Sword 
had fallen to her brother Puck. If she couldn't manage 
some sort of unexpected attack, the positions of ruler 
and senshi would keep moving down the line, until they 
ran out of people.
	Someone took her right hand--Nereid, and through 
her, Fortuna. They were weakened, faded, but still 
alive and kicking. She felt Serenity's power through 
her other hand, and also the inner senshi-to-be. There 
was also a strange presence with them, the power of 
the Earth. _Prince Endymion._ She'd seen him once, at 
Castle Pluto.
	She gathered all of her power and all of the 
borrowed energy, and hoped to hell her ploy had worked 
and the enemy would be caught unawares. She felt the 
symbol of Uranus blaze on her already scorched 
forehead, and sent a ball of light out to smash into 
the head of the Moross-kell.
	After that, there was only darkness.

	Princess Serenity watched Nereid descend into 
hysterics and tried not to do the same herself. 
Callisto, the fastest of them after Urania, had been 
sent in search of a healer, but Aurora was not looking 
very hopeful about the survival of the sixteenth 
princess of Uranus.
	"I think she's bleeding inside," Aurora said.
	Serenity thought about trying to heal Urania 
herself, but she was drained and knew it. She didn't 
have much power without the ginzuishou, anyway, and 
her mother had firm control of that.
	"Please don't die, Urania," Serenity whispered, 
still holding the left hand, now very cold and limp. 
"What would I tell Nereid?"
	Urania opened her eyes, slowly. "Wasn't planning 
on going just yet," she rasped, then coughed blood.
	Serenity moved back hastily as Nereid gave a cry 
that was somewhere between rage and grief. She 
wondered briefly if it were Nereid's name that had 
called Urania, and hoped that it would work itself out 
eventually.
	"Someone should really tell Phaeton about 
Helios," Aphrodite said.
	"Do we even know what happened?" Serenity said, a 
little doubtful of the wisdom of inviting another pain 
to this tower. "Phaeton has a short temper, you know. 
He'll want answers."
	"He'll be angrier that we didn't tell him 
sooner," Aphrodite argued. "I'll find him, and see if 
I can defuse him before he gets here."
	Fortuna cleared her throat. "When Nereid and I 
arrived here, Helios was already dead. Urania said 
something that implied she'd killed him, but I don't 
understand what happened. I think he tried to stop 
her."
	There was a strangled shout from the stairs 
leading down. Serenity groaned inwardly. Phaeton had 
arrived, and had heard Fortuna.
	"Phaeton, wait!" Aphrodite yelled.
	He didn't listen, or possibly never even heard 
her. He drew his own sword and ran towards Urania and 
Nereid. Endymion lurched forward, but he was on the 
other side of the tower. But Nereid had moved first.

	"Don't you ever scare me like that again," Nereid 
whispered in Urania's ear.
	Urania coughed, feeling herself grinning 
wickedly. She wanted to tease her, but she couldn't 
speak. It was probably cruel of her to do so anyway. 
She couldn't sort it all out; it was much too 
complicated.
	"And wipe that smirk off--"
	Urania blinked, because Nereid interrupted 
herself by grabbing the sword out of its sheath and 
blocking a vicious swipe from another man with red 
hair.
	She watched dizzily as Nereid and Phaeton locked 
blades and wondered what the hell was going on. The 
war was _over_.
	_Helios._ Apparently, the trouble wasn't over 
yet.
	Endymion tackled Phaeton from behind, bringing 
the exchange to a halt. Urania fixed her eyes on 
Phaeton's fury-ridden face and asked, "Are you a 
traitor or a fool?"
	"How dare you--"
	She felt her eyes slip closed. "How much do you 
know of that man's plans?"
	"What plans?" Phaeton said.
	Serenity spoke. "Tellus, let him sit up, but 
don't release him. My mother would be disappointed if 
I let him escape before she got a chance to examine 
him."
	_Tellus?_ Urania knew the other man was Endymion; 
she was a telepath. _Is he under a disguise? I'll 
never understand inner planet politics._
	"Phaeton, Helios stands accused of treason 
against the solar system," Serenity continued. "I 
don't believe you were involved, but you must 
understand that I can't let you go right now." She 
paused, then added in a small voice, "Please?"
	Silence. Urania hoped that Phaeton wasn't taking 
it too badly. He had cause to be angered, she 
supposed. His brother was dead, at her hand.
	_My brother. My hands._ Oberon was dead, too. 
Titania and Ariel had both been killed in the field, 
crazily attacking with a sword neither of them had 
ever learned how to use.
	_I am a senshi,_ Ariel's last words had been. _I 
am a warrior and though I do not know how to fight, I 
will do so to the end._
	Urania remembered the last time Ariel had pushed 
her down the stairs. Her sister had never liked 
Urania's hands. _You've trained them to kill,_ she'd 
say. _What good is that?_
	In the end, Ariel had died, because she didn't 
know how to kill.
	_I do,_ Urania thought. _And I am alive, but 
there is blood on my hands._ She pushed them under her 
skirt, hopefully out of sight.
	A soft touch brushed the hair away from Urania's 
eyes, and she struggled to reopen them. She made out 
Nereid's face, outlined by the starlit sky.
	"Don't hide your hands," Nereid murmured.
	"I've killed with them."
	Nereid shifted slightly to let a man in the 
officious white robes of a healer closer. "The queen 
is here. She checked Helios and Phaeton. She said ... 
she said to thank you."
	"And Phaeton?"
	"He's not happy, but he's cleared." Nereid was 
worried. "It's over now, it truly is. Please feel 
better."
	Urania reached up and took out her right earring. 
"One in the left is mourning, on my planet," she said. 
The earring she held out to Phaeton. "This is for 
Helios."
	The younger prince had heard, and he kneeled to 
take the small ring of gold. He looked so much older, 
now. Urania saw the tears on his cheeks. He stood and 
bowed. "Thank you. I will wear it to remember my 
brother."
	Her eyes closed, and she breathed a little more 
easily. _And I for my dead._
	A fresh breeze ruffled her clothes and her hair, 
and she smiled, a little in recognition and a little 
in farewell, for dreams long gone.

	"Ima mo kokoro ni
	Nemura seta yume
	Arashi no you ni
	Sawagu kedo
	Senaka o mukete
	Mabataki hitotsu
	Namida no you ni
	Chirashite yuku no sa"
	--Even now in my heart sleeps my dream, like a 
storm that's raging still. But I turn my back, and 
within a blink, like a teardrop, it shatters into 
pieces.

	"I'm leaving for Uranus tomorrow," Urania said 
quietly.
	"I know," Nereid said. "Serenity warned me. When 
are you coming back?"
	That was the question Urania had been dreading 
for the past hour or so, ever since she'd been patched 
up and bundled into bed. "I'm supposed to be shipped 
back here in a week. We don't spend much time on 
funerals, and less on coronations."
	"But?"
	"But I think Umbriel will want me to stay."
	Nereid sat down on the edge of the bed and took 
her hand. "What do you want to do, Urania?"
	She swallowed. "I never wanted to be a senshi. I 
always trained for it, because I didn't want to be 
caught unprepared." _Like Titania. Like Ariel._ 
"Especially since, if it got all the way down to me, 
I'd probably be the last one around."
	"You're not a senshi yet," Nereid reminded her. 
"Besides, Fortuna and I are next in line, and we're 
obviously still here."
	Urania closed her eyes. "I just wanted to be a 
windrider--I used to play courier for my sisters, when 
they were visiting different moons. But I can't run 
around playing in the winds anymore. I probably know 
more about war and the outside enemies than anyone 
else in the solar system, and Umbriel will want to 
take advantage of that."
	"You can reach him from here," Nereid said. 
"You've just proved that."
	Urania sighed. "It won't be that long before 
someone else gathers the courage for another mass 
attack. A few years. He'll need me then."
	"Couldn't you stay until then?"
	She opened her eyes and turned to look at Nereid, 
taken off guard by the pleading in the girl's voice.
	"I want to stay with you," Nereid said.
	Urania blinked dumbly a couple times, then 
smiled. She knew what her answer was, finally.
	"So do I," she said, and was rewarded by the 
happiness on Nereid's face.
	It was Umbriel's fault, anyway. He could live 
with it.