~~SILVERMOON~~
	a Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon fanfiction by Immora

______________________________

Author's Notes:

Rating: PG-13 because younger kids might not be able to handle it.
The story contains mild language, some violence, homosexuality, 
and suggestive commentary. If you can't handle that kind of content, 
don't read this story.

The first part of the story is set about four years after Sailor Stars, 
if you care.

The characters in this story are from the manga and anime Bishoujo 
Senshi Sailormoon, owned by Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Kodansha, 
and probably more companies whose names I don't know. This story itself 
is mine, but was based upon situations appearing in the manga and anime, 
the original versions, not the dub.

This story was editted from my previously released version of it because
of several errors and some huge plot mistakes I wanted to correct.
Some parts of this document might look better with word wrap if you 
have a smaller monitor. I decided to make notes within the document
as to where a new section of the story began so it would be easier
to read. I have not actually editted the story from the previous
post. This story is _not_ completed yet. I will finish it one day.

I have taken some elements from the manga for my story, but please note
that I paired some of the Inner Senshi with a different Shitenno than in 
the manga; at the time I wrote it like that, I knew they were paired 
with *someone*, and I just picked the Shitenno I thought were the ones 
they had been paired with. I was wrong ^^;;; 

Also, the Shitenno are called "generals" in the story because 1) when I
first started writing, I didn't know they were ever called anything else,
2) hey, they're supposed to be Earth generals; they're Shitenno when Beryl
corrupts them. Yeah, that's it ^^;;;

I'm well aware that there are plenty of mistakes throughout, but really,
I've already done one huge edit to it, I don't want to go through and 
change it again. If you want to point them out, go right ahead, but I
most likely know about them already :)  I don't consider this anywhere
near my finest work; I keep it available only because I put so much time
into it and a lot of people have expressed their love for it.

Don't copy/plagiarize my story. If you wanna base a story on it, TOO BAD! 
Come up with your own idea. Be original. You shouldn't bother writing a 
fanfic if you can't think of your own plot! Sailor Moon's new form 
[Silver Moon] was thought up by yours truly, so you may not use it in 
your own fanfic. I know there's been other Silver Moon's popping up 
around the 'net, but hey, I created her five years ago!
As for my characters, places, and races:
All are copyrighted by myself and no one else, all rights reserved
Sharra is copyrighted 1994-2001
Immora and Necros are copyrighted 1995-2001
Nagera, Lorenada, Curse/Cassandra, and Dageena 1996-2001
Ka'ina and Akeru are copyrighted 1997-2001
E'melok is copyrighted 1998-2001
Quenhol, Quenholtian, the Dragana, and the Katrisa are copyrighted
1997-2001
Elves obviously aren't an original concept, so I don't claim them.
If you couldn't figure it out, the Immora that appears in this story 
is my _character_... not ME. My name is definitely not Immora, my 
alias came from my character [not vice versa] which I created for a 
novel (which I keep telling myself I'll finish) before I even knew
what the Internet was. She isn't meant to be a self-insertion or an
author's avatar. 

You can e-mail me at raziel@angelsanctuary.org
Visit my website at http://raziel.angelsanctuary.org or 
http://come.to/immora

That's about it for now. Enjoy my fic!






					 ________

					
					 PROLOGUE

					 ________



Time: Midday, The Last Day of the Original Time
Place: Tokyo, Japan


It had been a long, tiring day at school for all the Senshi. Several
of them had been given long exams, while the others had spent time
preparing for a school play. After school, while relaxing in the park,
the unexpected happened.

Hotaru was the first to realize something seriously wrong was going to
happen, several of the others also getting bad feelings about this day.

They were completely unprepared when Mistress Nine appeared.

She stood tall above them, in her long navy and white dress with her
flowing black hair. The Senshi didn't think to question why she was 
standing there, they just transformed immediately to fight.

After an hour of fighting, Sailor Saturn was lying unconscious on the 
ground as the other Senshi tried to protect her. Mistress Nine laughed 
as blasts of black energy shocked the other Senshi as she moved forward 
to possess Saturn again.

Mistress Nine wanted Saturn's power, not only to Silence the Earth, but
the rest of the galaxy as well, leaving her to rule over it.  The Senshi 
couldn't let this happen and had rose to the challenge. Pluto, however, 
was against it, claiming it an event not supposed to happen and that they 
shouldn't try anything or risk destroying their timeline. The other Senshi 
ignored her. Mistress Nine, for some reason, couldn't possess Saturn while 
she was unconscious, so they had to defeat her before Saturn woke up.

"You realize that you cannot hope to beat me," Mistress Nine cackled. "You
can't stop me from possessing Hotaru again; nothing can!"

The Senshi were taking blows left and right, barely any hits landing on
Mistress Nine. "Try to combine attacks!" Chibi-Moon shouted to the other
Inner Senshi. The girl, now about fifteen, was standing at the fallen
Saturn's side, trying to protect her.

Venus shouted, "Love and Beauty Shock!" but her attack missed, and Mars
barely managed to shove her out of the way as Mistress Nine repelled the
attack.

In an effort made nearly useless by her broken arm, Uranus shouted, "WORLD...
SHAKING!" Then she tossed a ball of yellow energy at Mistress Nine's
feet.  It caused the evil woman to be thrown back, but she quickly
recovered and sent a rain of blasts at Uranus.

Neptune dove and knocked Uranus over, getting her away from the blasts.
Though in the process she received several injuries, she stood and
shouted, "DEEP... SUBMERGE!" A wave of water rushed at Mistress Nine,
who sidestepped with an evil grin on her face.

"Tsk, tsk, I thought the Senshi would do better!" She sent bursts of
energy towards the Inner Senshi, who tried to counter the attack with
their own.

"SUPREME THUNDER!"

"Crescent... Beam... SHOWER!"

"BURNING MANDALA!"

"Shining Aqua Illusion!"

The attack didn't work. Mistress Nine just absorbed the energy, negated
it, and tossed it back at them. The Inner Senshi fell with screams of pain as
the energy was soaked in by their bodies. They whimpered and shuddered,
falling to the ground. 

Sailor Moon dashed over to them, and sunk to her knees as she realized they
were dead. "No..." she whispered, "They can't be dead..." She sobbed softly.

"Sailor Moon," Pluto warned, "Mistress Nine is preparing to attack you..."

Sailor Moon bit her lip and shouted, "MOON ETERNAL POWER... MAKE-UP!"
She transformed into Eternal Sailor Moon. She rushed forward with her Eternal 
Tier and shouted, "STARLIGHT HONEYMOON THERAPY KISS!"

The attack bounced off a shield around Mistress Nine, became a negative
attack, and rushed back at Sailor Moon. "No!" Moon screamed as the
energy pulsed through her. She slumped to the ground, tears in her eyes,
as she died.

"MAMA!" Chibi-Moon cried, running to her. "Oh please no, don't leave me!! 
I-I can't lose you!"

The Outer Senshi (left standing alone with Chibi-Moon) stared in shock.
Saturn groaned slightly, but remained unconscious.

"MAMA!" Chibi-Moon shouted. She fell to her knees.

Neptune put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "She... she'll be okay...
at least..." she gulped, "as least she didn't have to suffer.

Chibi-Moon whimpered. "But how can we hope to stop Mistress Nine now?"

Her only answer was silence as Neptune stood up tall and held out her
Aqua Mirror. "Aqua Mirror... show me," she whispered, "what will happen
to us..." She gasped, but wouldn't say what it revealed.

"What is it?" Uranus asked.

Neptune didn't answer. "Submarine... DEFLECTOR!" she shouted, holding
out her mirror as blasts of light charged for Mistress Nine. Mistress
Nine gathered the attack into her hands and changed it around to dark
energy, and sent it rushing at Neptune. Neptune could only stare in
horror as it rushed through her veins, causing her to scream loudly.
She fell to the ground as Uranus looked on with a shocked face.

"Michiru ..." was all the tall blond whispered. She gripped the Space
Sword in her trembling hand as she raised her eyes to Mistress Nine.
Shaking slightly, she leapt at the demoness, slashing wildly with the
sword. Mistress Nine sidestepped several swings, a bit surprised when
the blade hit her arm slightly. Uranus yelled incoherently as she
swung again and again.

"Pluto, we have to help her!" Chibi-Moon urged.

"It's her fight," Pluto whispered. "There's nothing we can do to help."

Uranus cut a large gash in Mistress Nine's arm before the woman finally
reached her hand out and grabbed the Senshi by the neck. Uranus gasped
slightly as Mistress Nine drained her energy and threw her body aside.

Chibi-Moon started shaking. "Everyone... but me, and you, and Saturn...
dead..."

"Stand back," Pluto ordered.

"But--"

"Do it."

Chibi-Moon nodded meekly and backed away as Pluto gripped her Time Staff in 
hand and prepared to attack. "Be careful," she whispered, as Pluto slowly 
walked forward.

Raising her Time Staff, she grimly pressed her lips together and tightened 
her grip on the staff. Raising it, she whispered, "Dead Scream!" Expecting the
attack to be countered, she quickly whirled her staff in a circle as
Mistress Nine deflected it, but this motion caused the attack to fly
back at Mistress Nine again. Mistress Nine did not expect this and was
momentarily incapacitated.

Pluto was ready to send out another attack when Mistress Nine sent a
rain of blasts around Pluto in a circle around her feet. Pluto quickly 
leapt up into the air, flipped, and swung her staff out, landing a blow 
to Mistress Nine's chin. Her head snapped back and she fell to the ground.
Pluto did not revel in her momentary victory, she knew that Mistress
Nine would soon recover. However, she was incredibly surprised to hear
Saturn's weak voice shout out, "Setsuna-san!" Pluto whipped around as
Saturn continued, "Please... just go! Or I swear I will cut you down
where you stand!"

Saturn's hand found her Silence Glaive, and she stood up shakily,
holding it. She pointed it an inch from Pluto's neck. "Go, now, or I
will kill you." A look of cold determination hardened her face.

Pluto stared into those cold purple eyes for a moment, her blood
chilled.  "Saturn, Hotaru, you must step aside..."

Saturn grimly set her jaw, and swung her glaive to the side, as if to
whirl it around again to cut Pluto's head off. Pluto took a step back.
"Saturn, please!" she pleaded.

Saturn moved quickly for someone of such small size, and was behind
Pluto with the blade of her glaive pointed at her throat before the
taller woman knew what Saturn was doing. In a cold, expressionless
voice, Saturn said quietly, "Leave and take Chibi-Usa with you or I will be
the one to kill you."

Saturn pressed the blade closer, emphasizing her point. Pluto swallowed
hard. "Fine then. Let me go and we will leave."

Saturn frowned, but removed the glaive and pushed Pluto forward. Pluto
narrowed her eyes and a wave of purple light enveloped her and Chibi-Moon. 
Saturn turned to face Mistress Nine, assuming they had left.

Pluto was, in reality, hiding them from other people in the time stream, so 
they could observe without anyone knowing they were there. I hate lying like this,
she thought to herself, but I have to do this.

Mistress Nine picked herself off the ground and laughed. "All alone now,
Hotaru! Your planet is doomed!"

Saturn glanced at the bodies around her. "No..." an idea dawning on her.
"We aren't." It was risky, but she forced herself to believe, There's
no other way, these people will die anyway... She drew a shuddered
breath and raised her glaive. "DEATH... REBORN..."

"No, WAIT!" Mistress Nine cried, leaping at Saturn, her fingernails
turned to long, deadly claws.

"REVOLUTION!!!" Saturn fought for purchase with her feet as enormous
winds poured from her glaive. She had to hold onto it or she'd be sucked
away too. It seemed she would be the only one left, until Mistress Nine
knocked it out of her hands. A purple tinged white glow emanated, slowly
soaking everything in its wake into its depths.

"YOU FOOL!" Mistress Nine screamed, first to be pulled in.

Saturn watched the effects of her most destructive power soak in
everything, tears running from her purple eyes. "This is why I sent you
away, Setsuna," she thought to herself during her last moments before
the glow took her too. "So you would go on to tell our future selves
what happened to us..."

Saturn sighed as she was enveloped by a light that killed her and spread
to destroy everything else resting on the surface of Earth.



Pluto and Chibi-Moon stood side by side, the only two beings left on the
Silenced Earth. "Why didn't we die?" Chibi-Moon said in a choked voice
as she looked out at the bodies of all the Senshi lying there.

"We were protected from the flow of time," Pluto whispered. Tears gathered
in her eyes but she forced herself not to cry. "You have to go to the future,
quickly, before time catches up and destroys Crystal Tokyo too."

"I will," Chibi-Moon said, gripping the key Pluto had given her long ago and
saying the phrase that shortly took her to the future.

Pluto opened the doors to the Gate of Time and returned to her post. She looked 
out over the world as the attack completed itself. The Earth was enveloped in
fire and disappeared.

"And so it ends," Pluto whispered as tears flowed down her dark cheeks. "And so
it begins again."



					________

					
					  ONE	
					
					________



Time: When Chibi-Usa returns to Crystal Tokyo
Place: the Royal Palace in Crystal Tokyo



Chibi-Usa frantically ran through the halls of the palace, searching for
someone... anyone... to warn. She ran for a long time before she bumped
into Senshi Neptune. "N-Neptune! *gasp* My mother, where is she?!"

Senshi Neptune sighed. "Very busy, as am I! I need to get something for
her. Do you really need to speak with her?"

"It's urgent! VERY urgent!"

Senshi Neptune sighed and took Chibi-Usa's hand and ran through the hall
with her, to a room several people were in... King Endymion, Senshi
Venus, Senshi Mars, Senshi Jupiter, Senshi Uranus, Senshi Saturn,
Pluto-sensei, and Neo-Queen Serenity. They seemed tired, and very busy,
as Senshi Neptune had said.

"Mama!" Chibi-Usa practically screamed.

All turned to look at her. Uranus snorted. "We are in the middle of a
very important meeting, Princess."

Chibi-Usa gulped. "Well... where I was, there was a battle, a fight. We
were all dying! And, and Pluto told me to go, so I came to warn you..."

"We know," Senshi Mars said. "I had a premonition about it, and so did
Saturn. We are trying to decide what to do."

Senshi Saturn said softly. "Not long before it happens."

Chibi-Usa's eyes widened. "Before it happens here too?!"

Senshi Mercury entered the room and sat down by Senshi Jupiter, and the
Neptune took a seat next to Uranus. King Endymion squeezed Neo-Queen
Serenity's hand. "Well, daughter," she said, "she's right. Pluto came here
and told us that it would happen, confirming what Mars and Saturn already
predicted. There's no way to avoid it. We don't know why the past Saturn
did it though. Have any ideas, Pluto?"

Pluto sighed and tried to explain. "By doing that, the world would start
over. Certain people, like myself, who resided in a separate dimension
would survive it, however... the rest wouldn't." She grasped her staff
and continued, "Your essences... your spirits... will be reborn later
in the new world, but it will take awhile for the Silver Millennium to
come around again. I am afraid the only one of you I can save is
Chibi-Usa. The rest of you, I will see you in several tens of millions
of years."

Pluto paused, and caused a hologram to form. It was of the entire solar
system, mainly the planets. "This will show you what happened to
everything,"

Suddenly the holographic Earth glowed white and exploded. A huge ring of
purple tinged light raced out, destroying all the planets it touched,
the sun, moons, and asteroids along with it. Everyone but Pluto gasped
in horror. "Apparently, Saturn did not realize her own power, and
destroyed our entire system. I will leave you with this image... " she
gestured to the black hologram, "and, several minutes to say good-byes."

Pluto grabbed Chibi-Usa's hand and stood up.

"Hang on a second!" Venus shouted, and everyone stood up with her. "Why
can't you save us?!"

Pluto sighed and closed her dark red eyes. "One, you are guaranteed to
be reborn, so if I were to save you here, two of you will exist in the
new time. That would be a paradox and is not permitted. Second, Chibi-Usa 
is not guaranteed to come back, so I need to make sure she does."

"It's still stupid," Uranus muttered dryly under her breath. "I mean,
she's just a girl... we've been around awhile now. And I am sure that
Serenity and Endymion will, ah, end up having her." The other older
Senshi chuckled a bit while Serenity and Endymion blushed.

Neptune slapped Uranus' arm lightly. "Pluto knows what she is doing,"
she said. "If we are not allowed to be 'saved,' then we cannot be
saved."

"I still don't think... "

Neptune laughed lightly at Uranus. "Haruka," she said softly, using
Senshi Uranus' former name. "Setsuna knows what she's doing! Let her do
her job, she'll take care of everything." She reached out and gave
Uranus' hand a reassuring squeeze.

Mercury said, "Well, how did we die back then anyway?"

Saturn was quiet. "I... was unconscious most of the time."

Pluto-sensei tapped her foot. "I'll make this quick... Mistress Nine
blasted all the Inner Senshi after they attack. "Moon used her Starlight 
Honeymoon Therapy Kiss, but Mistress Nine deflected it in its negative form, 
causing Moon to die. Neptune used her Submarine Deflector, and again Mistress 
Nine turned it into negative energy and deflected it. Uranus went balistic
and wildly attack her, but Mistress Nine drained all her energy. Saturn
was killed when she used her Death Reborn Revolution and Mistress Nine
knocked her glaive away. If Saturn had been able to hold onto it she
would have probably lived."

Pluto stood up. "I'm really sorry, but we're almost out of time. We have
to leave _now_ if we are going to return to the Gate of Time.

Pluto unexpectedly grabbed Chibi-Usa's hand and shouted, "Dark Dome
Open!" She pulled the girl in with her, and the portal closed behind
her. While the others stared in shock at her sudden departure.

"I can't believe she just left like that!" Uranus snarled, pounding the
table. "No 'good-bye' or 'I'll make sure you're reborn' or anything!"

Senshi Mars shrugged. "She is the Guardian of Time. She is under a lot
of pressure. Still, she could have said SOMETHING else before she left."

The Senshi and what remained of the Royal Family sat in silence.

"How long now?" Jupiter asked.

"Three minutes," Saturn answered, curled up in a ball in her chair.

The King and Queen said, "Good-bye" to everyone and walked out to spend
their last minutes alone. Neptune gave Uranus a sad look, and they both
said "bye" and walked away, holding hands.

The other Senshi sat alone and in silence, then Mars left to say a prayer.
Jupiter watched the sky, while Mercury stared at her hands. Venus was sitting
with wide eyes, unmoving. Saturn whispering quiet words to herself, trying 
to convince herself what she had done was right.

Serenity sat with Endymion quietly, before she whispered, "I love you." He 
put his arm around her, and she leaned her head on his shoulder, tears streaming
down her cheeks. "I love you."

He gave her a gentle kiss as the glow passed over them.

The Original Time on Earth ended.



Time: unknown
Place: The Gateway of Time



Chibi-Usa sat off to the side, wearing pale pink robes and a silver rope
belt around her waist. Pluto stood in front of the Gateway, watching for
the flash that would indicate the end had come.

"You do know you are immortal now, Chibi-Usa. Since we are outside of
time, you will not age but slightly."

"I don't care," Chibi-Usa muttered. "You LET my mother and father die
there! And my best friend! And all the other Senshi! How could you DO
that?!"

Pluto was silent for a moment. "Chibi-Usa, the world will start over...
the dinosaurs, the first continents, the Silver Millennium. It will take
awhile, but as soon as the latter arrives, they will be reborn."

Chibi-Usa made a "hmph!" Wiping away a tear, she shouted, "YOU DON'T
CARE, DO YOU?!"

Pluto whirled around, trying to remain calm. "Of COURSE I care! Your
parents were my King and Queen! The Outer Senshi were my best... my
ONLY real friends! All the other Senshi were also important to me too! But I
couldn't take them because that would effect time even worse than it
already has been effected! Don't YOU care about my feelings too? It was
very hard for me to just let them go, but you are being a selfish
little... a-a... "

Pluto leaned over against a wall and started crying.

Chibi-Usa stared in shock. She had NEVER seen Pluto cry. "Puu?" she
whispered. "Oh God, I'm sorry." She hugged Luna-P and cried too as
the bright white flash came.



Time: during the new Jurassic Era
Place: same as previous



Chibi-Usa pressed her hands against a mirror that allowed people inside 
the Gate of Time to look outside and stared out at the dinosaurs. "Wow, 
look at them!" she exclaimed. 

Chibi-Usa was an adult now, appearing to be about twenty. Pluto had been
surprised when the teen had aged this much in such a short (at least to
her) amount of time, but she said that she was sure that Chibi-Usa
wouldn't age anymore. Chibi-Usa now insisted on being called her real
name, Usagi.  She walked away from the window to brush her long pink
hair, which reached to her knees now, that she didn't wear in her
odangos anymore. She saw Pluto sitting in the corner, flipping through a
photo album, a gentle smile on her face.

"Those are the Senshi..." Usagi whispered... "I miss them so much still.
Especially Mama..."

Usagi walked off to play with Luna-P, and Pluto returned to looking through
her book.



Time: Millions of years later
Place: same as previous 



Pluto was woken up from a long rest to see Usagi there, shaking her to wake her
up. "Pluto! Pluto!"

Pluto closed her eyes tight and moaned slightly. "I was sleeping... what is it?"

"You said there would be a big flash of white light when the Silver Millennium
starts?"

"Yes, why?"

"Welllll.... come see."

Pluto stood up and ran to the mirror and saw... "My God! It HAS started!"


					 ________

					
					   TWO

					 ________



Time: the new Silver Millennium
Place: Princess Serenity's room, the Palace, the Moon Kingdom



Princess Serenity sat alone in her room, struggling with her long white
dress. "It just... doesn't... fit right!" she shouted to herself.

Her mother walked in, an imposing woman wearing a simple yet elegant
white dress. "Daughter," Queen Serenity said in her soft voice, "maybe
you just need a new dress."

Princess Serenity shook her head. "I adore this dress, Mother! I've
worn it many times and it hasn't ever done this before!" Her dress was a
replica of her mother's.

Queen Serenity pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to her
daughter. "The tailor has shown me this design several times, and he
would be thrilled if you would try it."

Princess Serenity gently took the paper and examined the dress. Poufy
sleeves covering only the shoulders, gold lining, pearls, long skirt,
bow in the back, "Oh wow, it's perfect!"

The Queen smiled. "I will have it made before the other princesses
arrive."

"They're coming here?!"

The Queen sighed. "I have told you before, you are not the only princess
in the universe! They are Senshi and they are coming to protect you."

The Princess protested, "But Mother! I do not have to share a room,
do I?! I don't _really_ need protection from them, right?!"

"Yes you do! So you better be polite to them!"

The Princess grumbled, "Yes, Mother."



Time: several days later
Place: Out in space, on a space transport



The transport carrying the other princesses was late arriving. A few of
the princesses had not been waiting in the area they were told to wait,
namely Uranus, Jupiter, and Venus. Not only that, but the transport was
a slow one, and had to travel to all the planets (minus Earth) before returning
to the moon.

The Princesses sat in a separate room from the other passengers to keep from 
being exposed to diseases, fights, drinking, etc.; over-protectiveness on the 
part of the Queen. Each had their symbol on their forehead in their aura color, 
their eyes their aura color, and their hair was of the same color (with the 
exception of one). 

The Princess of Venus, a pretty young woman with long golden blonde
hair, golden eyes, and a gold toned dress on, whispered in the ear of a
beautiful young woman next to her that had long, straight crimson hair,
red eyes, and a red dress. "Isn't the one with white hair the tallest
woman you've ever seen?" She had a light, gentle sounding voice.

The other princess smiled. "She sure is! I am the Princess of Mars, by
the way." She spoke softly, in a musical voice.

"And I, Venus. What was your real name, if you do not mind?"

"Rei, and you?"

"Minako. Nice to meet you."

The others, seeing the two introducing themselves, also introduced
themselves, after the two said their names to everyone else.

A delicate-featured young woman with short blue hair, blue eyes, and a cerulean 
dress spoke first. "I am called Ami, the Princess of Mercury. It is a
pleasure to meet you all," she said with a small bow of her head.
She spoke in light, soft tones.

A beautiful woman with long blue green hair that fell in large waves, blue 
green eyes, and a turquoise dress smiled and she said, "I am Michiru. I am 
the Princess of Neptune." Her voice was gentle and elegant.

A pretty young woman with wavy green hair, green eyes, wearing an emerald
toned dress said simply, "Makoto; Jupiter." Her voice was rich and pleasing
to hear.

A woman who was both beautiful and handsome, with short white hair, deep blue 
eyes, wearing an indigo dress said, "Haruka, from Uranus." Her voice was very 
deep and throaty, but feminine.

The others nodded to each other.

One pale princess sat aside, staring out the window. It was hard to tell
how old she was, for she was short for her age and had no marks on her
face at all, save for her symbol. She had rich purple, shoulder length
hair, skin much paler than the others, and a royal purple dress. She
really was more cute than pretty. Seeing the others looking at her, she 
said in a soft, weak voice, "I am Hotaru, from Saturn."

She continued to gaze out the window.

Unexpectedly, a beautiful, older looking woman from the pilot's bay, with
long, blackish-purple hair and eyes, darker skin than the others, and a very dark
purple dress. "Excuse me, my name is Setsuna, from Pluto. You may call
me Pluto. I am the Guardian of Time." She spoke in strong, confidant
tones.

Neptune raised an eyebrow. "I remember you from some of the lore I have
read regarding the Original Time."

Pluto smiled. "I am sure you have, Mi... um, Neptune."

"It is alright if you call me by my real name. It seems silly to call us
names from our planets."

Uranus yawned and stretched. "So, Guardian, your from the Original Time?
What was it like? Were we there?"

Pluto gave the taller woman a crafty smile. "I could tell you, but I
think you should find out on your own."

"Gonna be difficult, huh? That's okay."

Pluto smiled and took a seat. A pretty young woman came and sat next to
her. She had long pink hair, crimson eyes, and a pastel pink dress on.
No symbol marked her forehead. A floating black ball, with cat's ears,
an antenna, a caricature of a cat's face, and a crescent moon on the
"forehead," followed her in.

"This is my friend Usagi. She is traveling with me for awhile."

The others nodded. Saturn's purple eyes suddenly went blank, and she
stared at the wall with wide eyes.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?" Mars asked. "She must get visions," she said
to the others. "I've seen this happen before."

Saturn blinked and shook her head to clear it. "I... had a strange
vision, we were all in our Senshi uniforms, there was this weird
woman with long black hair... "

Usagi cocked her head. "Maybe you, uh, should get some rest."

Venus said cheerfully, "I can't wait to see the Moon! Let's play some
games to make the time fly!"

Uranus muttered, "Like what? Patty-cake?"

"That was not nice, Uranus," Mercury said to the tall woman.

"That was not nice," Uranus mimicked in mocking tones. "Look," she said
in a normal voice, "I don't know about the rest of you, but we need to
take this seriously! There are wars on Earth and on Mercury right now. 
We should be helping there instead of wandering around the Palace playing 
games!"

Mars glared at her. "The Queen must have a reason that's more important
than playing games!"

Venus, still upset from the patty-cake comment, said, "I am sure the wars
will end peacefully. I heard the Queen sent troops out to break things
up.  Besides, the Queen might just want us over there to, well, get to
know the place. We will have to live their the rest of our lives."

Uranus snorted, "I don't even KNOW you people! Why should I listen to
that woman?!"

"Well, she is our queen, and she's above our parents in power." Neptune said. 
"And Queen Serenity did order us to go out to the Moon."

"Queen or no queen, I don't like it!" Uranus sat down hard with a grunt. "I 
never have listened to my mother or father anyways! They don't care at all!"
She sighed hard. "I never wanted to be a princess," she grumbled softly in hurt 
tones.

The others looked at her sympathetically. "Uranus," Venus started, "why
didn't you just tell her you didn't want to go there?"

"I had to go!" Uranus said with a sigh. "Going to the Moon isn't nearly as bad
as staying home."

Jupiter shrugged. "Well, being a princess means we get to be a Senshi,
so if there ARE any wars, we getta fight in 'em!"

Neptune scowled at Jupiter. "Is that all you care about?! Fighting? That
isn't what is important. What is important is having friends and family
with you, and loved ones to spend time with, and things to be happy for.
Not punching the brains out of some mind-wiped people!"

Neptune stood up and walked out of the room, into a connecting one where
the commoners, peasants, and criminals stayed.

"Hey!" Uranus called. "Someone might try to hurt you out there! Get back
in here!" She grumbled and hurried after the other princess. "You're
gonna get hurt! There's criminals out there! Hold up, already!"

"Neptune is right," Mercury said after the woman was out of the room.
"Friends, family, loved ones, and happiness are what is important, not
hurting other people."

The others (except for Jupiter) nodded in agreement.

They sat in silence until Uranus came back a few minutes later, leading
Neptune by the arm. Their clothing was slightly torn and their hair
ruffled.

"What happened?" Pluto asked.

"Just what I thought... someone tried to beat her up, so I had to beat
them up, and then the pilot told me to come back here."

Neptune had a very haughty look on her face. "I could have handled him!"

"Maybe that's why you were lying on the ground in a heap while he kicked
you, huh?" Uranus scowled. "Don't try to be tough unless you are. Next
time someone might not come to help you out." Uranus flopped into a
seat.

Neptune shouted, "I could have taken care of myself!"

Uranus snorted. "You aren't the fighting type. Shouldn't get into them.
So next time, don't go out there with those barbarians!"

"You didn't have to crack his skull for what he did! You could have just
turned him in!"

The other princesses were going to add something, when Uranus shouted in
hurt tones, "Well, 'scuse me for caring, Michiru!" Uranus stormed out of
the room, towards the same place they just got back from.

"Hey, where are you going?" Neptune called to her, actually sounding
worried. "Get back here!" She started to go after her.

Uranus kept walking. "Why should I?"

Usagi suddenly threw her floating ball at the back of Uranus' head.
There was a soft "crack!" and Uranus slumped over. Neptune ran over to
make sure she was okay. "Hope I didn't hurt her bad," Usagi muttered.

Mercury came over to the tall woman. "She'll be okay. She's just
stunned."

Neptune sighed. "Look, sorry I got mad, but my brothers always treated
me like I was helpless, and you made me feel like I was when you did
that. Uh, thanks for helping me. You okay?" She helped Uranus sit up.

Uranus sat up and rubbed her head. "You got a good arm, Usagi," she said
to the pink haired woman with a grin. "Took me by surprise."

Pluto smiled. "The transport is arriving soon. Better get seated
everyone."

Everyone got into their seats quietly. While the captain rambled on
about weather conditions on the moon's surface and other unimportant
stuff, Uranus whispered to Neptune, "Sorry I got mad."

"Me too," the turquoise haired woman said with a smile. "Friends?" She
held out her hand.

Uranus squeezed it with a grin. "Friends," she said.

"What are things like on your home, anyways?" Mars asked Mercury. "I've
heard stories, but I've never been there... hell, I've never gone anywhere
outside of Mars! Most of the other planets are so much colder I can't
tolerate it!"

Mercury laughed. "There's not much to say about it. Burning hot in the
summer, freezing in the winter. No plants grow there except for a few
that can handle the harsh conditions."

"It's always too hot on Mars," the red haired princess continued.
"But we're used to it. This space transport, for example, is too cold
for me."

"I can handle any temperature now!" Mercury laughed.

"Yeah, but what would you do if you went to Pluto? It's as cold as 
Queen Beryl's heart there!"

Both princesses laughed hard as the other Senshi watched them.

"I guess some people make friends pretty quick," Jupiter commented.

"I guess so," Venus returned.



Time: after the transport arrives
Place: a gathering hall in the Palace



The younger Serenity waited impatiently with her much more patient
mother for the other princesses to come in. She was wearing her new
dress and wanted to be sure that she looked better than the other
princesses.

Her silvery hair was pulled into two odango shaped balls with hair
trailing out of them, the same style her mother wore. The crescent on
her forehead and her eyes were also silver, but more like real silver
than the white color of her hair. She wore some pearls in her hair, to
show off, mainly.  Her new dress was also white, and several young men
had told her it looked beautiful on her.

Her fiance, Prince Endymion from Earth, was with her, wearing a black
tuxedo, white dress shirt, and a red rose tucked into one of the
pockets.  So they stood, waiting, for the others to come downstairs.

The first to come down was Mercury, wearing a blue crushed velvet dress
with a modest neckline, no sleeves, and skirt to just past her ankles, 
with a sapphire necklace and earrings to match. She wore almost no makeup 
and had fluffed her hair slightly. Her forehead symbol glowed faintly. 
She curtsied to the Prince and Princess. "I am Ami, Princess of Mercury."

The younger Serenity smiled. "Nice to meet you."

Endymion whispered in her ear, "She has an intelligent look to her, doesn't
she?"

Venus came down right after, wearing a golden dress that was very
shiny.  It had a high waistline, with thin straps for sleeves,
held with tiny gold clasps. She wore gold jewelry and brown toned
makeup. Her hair was very straight and shiny, and she had let it hang
down instead of in the usual bow. Her symbol shone bright. "Minako, 
Princess of Venus, pleased to meet you." She curtsied once and stood by Mercury.

"Now, she's a very pretty young lady," Endymion commented, then quickly
added, "but you're much prettier." Serenity grinned.

The next to come down was Mars. She wore red silk, with a small train,
off shoulder sleeves, and a slightly drooping neckline. She wore ruby
jewelry and dark red lipstick. Her red hair was worn very straight, and
was shiny. Mars' symbol glowed bright.

Princess Serenity recognized a precog when she saw one, and this
definitely was one. "I am Rei, Mars' Princess." The woman curtsied once
to Princess Serenity, once to Endymion, once to the older Serenity, then
went to stand by Venus. Endymion indicated with a glance at Serenity
that he thought Mars was very attractive. Serenity suddenly felt the urge
to pinch his arm hard.

Next was Jupiter. She wore a dark green dress that looked like it was
made of velvet. It flared at the ankles and had a low neckline with off
shoulder sleeves. She wore emerald jewelry and light red lipstick. Her
wavy green hair was pulled back high with a dark green ribbon. Her symbol
glowed bright.  "I'm Makoto, from Jupiter." She gave a quick curtsy and
went to stand by Mars. Endymion nodded about her too.

Saturn came down slowly. She wore a purple satin dress, modest neckline,
thick straps for sleeves, the skirt ending at her ankles. She wore amethyst 
jewelry with light purple lipstick and a little eyeshadow. Her purple hair 
was worn dead straight, and her symbol was hard to look at. "I am Hotaru, 
from Saturn." She curtsied and went to stand by Jupiter.

Princess Serenity whispered to Endymion, "Maybe the glow indicates how
much power they have as Senshi."

He nodded. "Probably. Look at Saturn's!" He then grinned. "She's very
cute, but it really hides how powerful she is, don't you think?" Serenity 
nodded in agreement.

Uranus came down, and unlike the others, didn't bother with the handrail.  
She wore an indigo dress made of a simple material, not very
fancy like the others, but it accented her extreme height. It stopped at
her ankles and had a slightly sloping neckline, with small straps for sleeves. 
She wore a necklace with a dark blue sapphire on it, and small gold hoop earrings. 
The only makeup she wore was a little lipgloss. Her white hair was worn in her
usual style. Her symbol was a brighter than all but Saturn's. "Haruka, Princess 
of Uranus." She gave an awkward, stiff curtsy, probably just because the Queen was
present. She just nodded her head to the younger Serenity before she went to stand 
by Saturn.

Endymion was staring with a strange look. "What?" the Moon Princess
whispered.

"She's taller than me!" he said in shock. "I mean, she's pretty, but
look at how tall she is!" Endymion suddenly felt short.

Serenity laughed and clasped his hand.

Neptune came down next. Neptune was wearing an aquamarine dress made of a 
clearly expensive material. It was very billowy and had a train slightly longer 
than Mars' had been. She had off shoulder, gauzy sleeves made of transparent 
material and a low neckline. She wore aquamarine jewelry with dark lipstick. 
Her blue green hair was pulled back in a stylized twist near the top of her head, 
with tendrils framing her face. Her symbol was very bright, slightly dimmer than 
Uranus'. She curtsied gracefully before introducing herself and said, "I am 
Michiru, the Princess of Neptune. It is nice to finally meet you, Princess Serenity,
Queen Serenity." She smiled and walked over to stand by Uranus.

Serenity smiled and squeezed Endymion's hand tighter.

The last was Pluto. She wore a deep purple satin dress, long but straight. 
The dress fit tight, with a fitted skirt and low neckline. She wore
silver jewelry, and very plain, but grownup makeup. Her extremely dark
purple hair had the top layer pulled into a bun, the rest hanging out.
Her symbol glowed brighter than Uranus', almost as bright as Saturn's. "I am 
Setsuna, Princess of Pluto, and the Guardian of Time." She
curtsied low and went to stand by Neptune.

Princess Serenity's eyes widened. "You are... you're HER?!"

Pluto smiled. "Yes, I am, Princess. I have been for millions of years
now.  Would you like to meet a friend of mine?"

Princess Serenity nodded, still stupefied.

A young woman came down, her eyes closed. She was wearing a pastel pink
dress that had a modest neckline, short sleeves, and a skirt came to her
knees. She wore rose quartz jewelry and pink toned makeup. Her long pink
hair was worn in a braid that came to her waist. No symbol shone on her
forehead. A black ball in the caricature of a cat's head, with a gold
crescent moon on the "forehead" and an antenna coming from the top of
its head, floated down after her.

Pluto smiled. "This is Usagi Tsukino. She is from the Original time."

The young woman opened her eyes. They were a bright crimson color, and
at first, Princess Serenity was very shocked by the color.

"H-hello," she said to the young woman. My, she looks a bit like me!
Well, except for the hair and the eyes, she thought to herself.

Queen Serenity finally chose to speak. "It is good to meet all of you. I
hope you do not mind, but you will have to share rooms since we don't
have many open."

Queen Serenity racked off a list. "Jupiter, you are with Mercury. Mars,
you are with Venus. Saturn, you are with Pluto. Uranus, you are with
Neptune." She looked up. "Oh, and our young friend Usagi, you are with
my daughter."

All nodded. Queen Serenity continued, "I wanted you to dress nice since
we will be introducing you to other members of the Court. Representatives
from your home planets will be there waiting to see you."

"They won't even recognize me. They haven't seen me in years," Uranus muttered.

"Watch your mouth," Queen Serenity said, while Uranus appeared taken aback.

The Queen kept talking, "In several months, the annual Silver Ball will
be held. I expect you all to have dates by then. You need to make a 
nice impression."

Princess Serenity squeezed Endymion's hand. Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury 
had hearts in their eyes. "Oh boy!" Jupiter said. "An excuse to be with 
Nephrite! Yay!"

"You need an excuse?" Venus joked.

The others laughed.

Pluto and Saturn both said at the same time, "Do we have to have a
date?"

The Queen smiled. "Well, if at the last minute you don't have one and
someone asks you, you had better take the offer."

They sighed disappointedly.

Uranus kicked her foot on the floor nervously. "Uh, what if no one wants
to go with us. I mean, I'm sure someone would actually ASK Saturn and
Pluto. I don't think anyone will ask me."

The Queen was silent for a moment. "Why do you say that, Uranus?"

She shrugged. "I mean, I am not exactly pretty, and I'm taller than most
of the guys in your kingdom... I scare more guys than I attract!"

The Queen chuckled. "I am sure that I can arrange a date for you."

Uranus grumbled and crossed her arms. "Why can't I just go stag?"

Neptune laughed. "Practically everyone with any wealth at all in the
system is coming. You have to appear to be well liked; make a good
impression." She then chuckled and nudged Uranus in the ribs with her
elbow. "Besides, you are pretty when you get right down to it! I'm sure
someone will ask you!"

Uranus snorted, "You don't have a problem getting a date! Practically
every guy who sees ya will ask you to go with him!"

Neptune blushed. "Oh REALLY? Why do you say that?"

Uranus turned red. "Uh, you, um...  uh... "

Venus giggled. "Well, Neptune, I think she means to say you are very
pretty."

Neptune smiled. "Thank you for actually speaking," she said, giving
Uranus a look.

Uranus turned redder. "I, uh, Queen Serenity?! I, um, heard you have
two, uh, rather unique advisors?"

The Queen chuckled. "Yes, I do. I'll ask them to come down." She went
upstairs and was gone a few minutes.

As soon as she was gone, all the Princesses except Uranus burst out
laughing. Usagi and Endymion laughed too, and Endymion gave a playful
punch to the Princess' arm. "Well, you sure have a way with words,
Uranus."

Uranus was fuming. "Ooooo... .just... shut-up! I haven't exactly
gotten to talk to other people besides my father in years so of
course I won't be a good speaker, okay?!" She raced up the stairs to 
where the Queen had said her room was.

The Princesses stopped laughing. "I think we hurt her feelings," Mercury
said softly.

"I guess we shouldn't have laughed," Jupiter said, looking down at her
feet. "I mean, she seems a bit... disturbed. Not mentallly, but something's
obviously wrong back home. I noticed a bad bruise on her back earlier."

It was quiet for a little while. Usagi broke the silence by saying,
"Maybe someone should go check on her."

Neptune went upstairs, clutching her skirts to keep from tripping over
them.

Queen Serenity came down, noting the absence of the two. She didn't
mention it, but presented two cats, one a black female with orange-gold
eyes, the other a white male with blue eyes, both with gold crescent
moons on their foreheads. "This is Luna," she said pointing to the black
one, "and this is Artemis. These are my advisors."

"Advisors? But they are...  cats?!" Jupiter started laughing.

"Excuse me, I have very good advise to share, young lady." The voice
came from around Serenity's feet.

Jupiter stared in shock at the black cat. "You...  talk?"

"So do I!" the white one said in hurt tones.

Usagi giggled, and her ball floated over to Luna. "Luna, meet Luna-P.
Luna-P, Luna."

Luna stared at the ball. "It-it-it...  what is the meaning of this?!"

Artemis laughed, "It looks kinda like you!" He swiped at the ball, which
bounced on his head and caused him to topple backwards, paws up.

Venus picked up the cat. "Aw...  what a cute kitty!" she said in a
teasing voice, squeezing him tight. "Maybe we can play tea time later!"

Artemis scrambled from her arms, wailing, "Not tea time! Anything...
well, almost anything but tea time!"

Luna sniffed. "How childish of you, Artemis." She sat back on her hind
legs, cleaning her front paws daintily. "Show some manners. Decline
politely."

He said in sarcastic tones to Venus, eyes closed, an over-exaggerated
look of dignity on his face, "I am dreadfully sorry, dear Princess, but
I am afraid that the cat over there has decided I shan't go to your
lovely tea party. Do forgive me." He gave a mock bow.

The Princesses giggled. "Oh, quite alright, my friend," Venus said. "I
shall hold it another time then." She gave a joking, exaggerated sigh.

Neptune and Uranus came back downstairs, Uranus' face slightly tear
streaked. Princess Serenity cocked her head and asked if she was okay,
but the tall princess just muttered, "I'm alright, I'm alright! Why does
everyone ask me that?"

Neptune rolled her eyes. "Ever considered that we might be concerned
about you? We all have to live together, we'll have to be like sisters.
And we are going to look after you whether you like it or not!"

Uranus grunted and flopped into a chair. "I just wanna be left alone. I don't
like it here. Every sound you make echoes, and everywhere you go you see
these guys in fancy suits standing by the doors. I hate it!" She crossed
her arms and refused to say another word.

Venus, meanwhile, was forming a fast friendship with the younger
Serenity.  They talked and giggled the whole time the group of
princesses was together. Most of the others were quiet and didn't say
much... Saturn didn't say a word.

Serenity suddenly realized that she never really introduced Endymion.
"Oh yeah, hey everybody!" she called out. The Princesses turned to look 
at her. She squeezed Endymion's hand and said, "I forgot to introduce Prince
Endymion of Earth.  I'm engaged to him."

"Whoo-hoo!" Venus said, nudging her in the ribs. "You go girl!"

Endymion chuckled and Serenity turned red. "I think we're a cute
couple," he said, as he dipped her low in his arms and kissed her.

The Princesses (except Saturn) all simultaneously went, "Whooooo!"

Endymion stood up straight again, and Serenity straightened her hair, as
blush staining her cheeks.

Queen Serenity finally said, "Well, it's time for you to make an
appearance. Come on." She led them out to a balcony over looking the
large garden. Hundreds of representatives from each of the planets were
there.

"Whoa," Mars said, eyes wide. "That is a lot of people."

Queen Serenity smiled. "I suggest you go in planet order. Just say your
name, what planet you are from, and line up after."

Mercury walked out nervously. "I am Ami, Princess of Mercury." She
quickly moved to the side.

Venus walked out, curtsied lady-like, and said, "I am Minako, Princess
of Venus." She waved to someone she knew before she moved over next to
Mercury.

Mars also curtsied. "I am Rei of Mars." She moved next to Venus.

Jupiter waved and and said, "I'm Makoto from Jupiter." She walked next 
to Mars.

Saturn came out and said as loud as she could (which wasn't that loud),
"Hotaru of Saturn." She moved over by Jupiter.

Uranus walked out and simply said, "Haruka from Uranus," and moved over
by Saturn.

Neptune came out and curtsied. "I am Michiru, Princess of Neptune," she
said before rising to stand by Uranus.

Pluto walked out, nodded to someone she knew, and said as the Queen had
told her, "I am Setsuna, Pluto's Princess, called the Guardian of Time."
As she went to stand by Neptune, she heard a few gasps in the crowd.

Princess Serenity was last, and she curtsied prettily and said,
"Princess Serenity, the Moon Princess."

The Queen came out and gave a speech while the Princesses stood, trying
not to fidget under the stares of the crowd.

Uranus cracked a few jokes, and the others had to hold their laughs in.
They couldn't resist when she slyly knocked the wig off one of the
guards.  As it was, most of the crowd laughed, and the guard turned red
in the face. Jupiter joined in on the antics, standing behind the queen
and waving her arms around in exagerated mimics of her hand gestures.

Princess Serenity barely managed (with much difficulty since she was
laughing too) to calm everyone down. Queen Serenity gave Uranus and Jupiter 
an unamused look, then continued her speech.


					 ________

					
					  THREE

					 ________



Time: Two months later
Place: Venus and Mars' room, the Palace

Venus woke up and yawned. Mars was already up, and was whispering some
strange prayer to herself. They had become good friends, as most of the
Princesses had with each other.

The Queen was proud to notice improvements in the Princesses' behavior
when they had been around each other awhile. Mercury tried to be more
sure of herself when she spoke. Venus didn't giggle as much. Princess
Serenity was learning good manners from Venus and Neptune, and also was
showing much more grace than before. Mars was learning to control her
temper. Jupiter was trying to be more princess like. Saturn actually spoke 
up and went outside with the others, putting some color in her cheeks.
Uranus was getting used to being around other people. Neptune wasn't 
getting as mad at people as she had been when she first got there. Pluto...  
no one seemed to be able to tell about Pluto. She had disappeared for the first 
month with her friend Usagi, who never spoke unless she had to. They
came back after several weeks, acting as if they'd never left. Pluto's purple
hair had turned green though.

The Queen had also noticed groups form between the women. Mars, Venus,
Jupiter, and Serenity always were together. They liked to joke and laugh
and eat food that Jupiter would cook. Mercury was usually alone
studying, and Saturn was always staring into space. Pluto stayed with
Usagi most of the time, whenever they were actually at the Palace.
Neptune always hung around Uranus. They had finally stopped arguing so
much and were now extremely close friends. 

Everyone had gotten together for a "cookout" in the gardens, among the pink, 
white, and (the extremely rare) red roses.  Serenity adored the flowers, 
talking on and on about how they reminded her of Endymion. Uranus not too 
subtly gagged. Neptune poked her arm, a sly smile on her face.

Serenity continued to talk in a swoon while Mars, Venus, and Jupiter
discussed the latest gossip. Mercury was doing some obscure writing in
the Mercurian language. Saturn stared at the sky. Pluto was chatting
with Uranus and Neptune, and Usagi actually joined in.

Mars laughed loudly at something Jupiter said, then reached over and
plucked a red rose off a bush. Serenity scowled at her, but Mars just
put it behind one ear. "I think it goes perfectly with my hair," she
said with a smile.

The others except her (and Serenity and Saturn) laughed. Uranus reached
over and plucked a white one off, and handed a pink one to Usagi. They
also slipped them behind their ears, giving silly model poses as the
others laughed.

The others also snapped off roses for their hair, and everyone, even
Saturn, began to talk happily with each other. "They all seem to be
happy here," Pluto whispered to Usagi. Usagi smiled and nodded in agreement.

The girls continued chatting and Jupiter skipped off excitedly off to
check on the food. Uranus grinned and said softly to the others, "Maybe
Nephrite is hiding in the kitchen!"

They all laughed and tried to quiet down when Jupiter walked back, but
most of them were still giggling. "What's so funny?" Jupiter demanded.

Uranus took a long drink of her lemonade. "Oh, nothing," she said,
wiping off her mouth before she brought the glass back to her lips.

Mars grinned. "Actually, she told us she thinks maybe Nephrite was in
the kitchen..."

Jupiter turned red. "No, he was not!"

The other princesses started laughing loudly. "C'mon, Makoto," Mars said,
"everyone knows how close the two of you are!"

"Oh yeah, what about you and Jadeite, hmmm?"

Mars blushed while everyone else laughed harder.

"When's the wedding, Serenity?" Neptune asked.

"What?!" Serenity gasped with shock.

"Well, you two _are_ engaged..."

"Actually... we haven't decided yet."

The princesses nearly fell out of their chairs. "Oh... well..."

"They are happy here, alright," Usagi commented to Pluto.

Uranus turned and grinned at Mercury. "So how's your boyyyyyyfriend,
Mercury? Have you seen your little Kunzite lately?"

Mercury blushed brightly. "N-not really..."

"But you sure do miss him alot, hmmm?"

"Yeahhhh..."

"It's funny to think that _you_ have a boyfriend, what with all that
time you spend reading and studying," Uranus teased.

Mercury looked at her with an amused look. "Well, at least I have one.
What about you? You don't have anyone."

Uranus seemed taken aback. "Well, I... er..."

The other princesses laughed. "Why is it that none of the Outer Senshi
are attached to anyone?" Mars commented her.

Saturn looked at and said, "Well, I probably speak only for Setsuna and
myself, but we just don't feel like letting anyone into our lives."

"Why only for you and Setsuna? Perhaps *gasp* Uranus has a secret crush!"

She started laughing while Uranus glared at her. "Well, I sure won't tell 
_you_ who I--" Uranus stopped in midsentence.

"Oh you do, don't you?!" Mars laughed harder.

"What about you, Neptune? Are you interested in anyone?" Jupiter asked.

Neptune blinked rapidly several times. "Well... yes..."

"That's all you have to tell us," Jupiter told her. "No point in _teasing_
people."

Mars stopped laughing. "Oooops. Sorry, Uranus."

Uranus crossed her arms. "Hmph!"

"Ooooo!" Venus suddenly gasped, dashing off towards a group of trees. 
"There's a cuuuute bunny over there!!!!"

"Bunny?!" Serenity squealed, running off after her.

"What's so great about a rabbit?" Jupiter asked quizzically. "They're
everywhere back home."

"Rabbit?" Neptune asked in a puzzled voice. "I've never seen a rabbit..."

"I haven't seen one either," Mars commented, "but I wouldn't jump to--"
She suddenly stopped and turned around. "What the-- I thought I sensed
someone... but no one's around."

"Aw, don't worry too much about it," Uranus told her. "If there was someone
there, we'd see them..." Unless they're hidden with magic, she silently 
added.

Mars had been right though. The hidden figure was Kunzite, who was busy 
observing the Princesses with a wary eye. "Mars almost noticed me. I'll 
have to be more careful," he thought to himself. Kunzite looked around 
some more. "Beryl wants me to discover the princess's weaknesses, but I 
can't see any that would be helpful in a battle. Us Generals know the 
weaknesses of Mars, Venus, and Mercury, but not the others. Nephrite 
hasn't been filled with enough dark energy to turn to our side yet, and 
Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Saturn are almost entirely unknown to us." 
He checked the sky, noting where the sun was. "I've been here too long 
already... I should leave."

Mars, who was busy talking with Serenity and Venus (they'd returned after
an unsuccessful search for the rabbit) stopped talking again when the
foreboding feeling left. "Now that person, whoever it was, is gone!" she
growled. "What's going on?!"

Saturn looked at her and said, "I felt it too. You don't think it was 
a Dark Kingdom spy, do you?"

Mars bit her lip. "I don't know... I'm worried though..."

A young woman with green eyes and wavy shoulder length, auburn hair came 
running up the garden path, waving a paper in hand excitedly. "Hey! Hey
there! There's a scavenger hunt going on soon! Do any of you want to join?!"
She stopped short when she approached. "Oh! You're the princesses, aren't you?"

The princesses looked at her with surprised faces. "Yes, we are," Jupiter 
said. "What is this 'scavenger hunt'?"

The young woman talked excitedly, "Well, you see, we form teams, and we're
given either a paper or crystal with items listed on it, and we have to
go around the palace grounds and find the items! The first team back will
win a really neat prize..." she then stopped and seemed to think hard. "They
won't say what it is though... Anyways, I need a team of at least ten people,
so I saw all of you sitting over here and wanted to know if you would want
to join me. I haven't gotten a team yet."

"Sounds like fun!" Jupiter said. "What does everyone think... ?" The others
nodded in agreement. "Waitaminute!" she suddenly exclaimed. "What about all
that food I made?!"

The young woman laughed. "It doesn't start for another hour! Hey, I'll sign you 
up on my team. Meet me in front of the palace in fourty-five minutes to tell
the people running the contest that you're on my team, okay? The name's Naru.
See ya later!"

She waved and ran off.

"This should be interesting..." Mercury commented.

"Yeah... interesting..." Usagi drew out slowly.

The others all laughed.



Time: Forty-five minutes later
Place: The front of the palace



The princesses were prompt and arrived exactly when Naru had told them to.
The only one missing was Usagi, who'd declined at the last minute for unknown 
reasons.

The chirpy red head waved quickly, shouting at them to come over to where
she was. "Hey hey hey!!! Come over and sign in!!!"

The princesses received several confused, skeptical looks as they filled out
the papers. "Why are all those people staring?" Venus asked Naru.

Naru looked at her in disbelief. "You're the _princesses_. I mean, to have
people as famous as you guys are participate in something like this is... is...
well, it doesn't happen often."

"So what do we get if we win?" Mars asked.

Naru looked around blankly. "Er... well... I don't know. They didn't say when
we signed up."

The princesses promptly fell over with large sweatdrops on their heads.

A man came around and handed out sheets with the items listed on them.

"What the-- Ureshii flowers?! Where are we supposed to find those?!"

"How are we supposed to get 5 Tenshi crystal made on Venus?!"

"A frozen salmon?"

"No one said it'd be easy," Naru told them. "Look, why don't we split into groups
of two, to cover more ground? If everyone takes a communications crystal with them,
we'll be able to tell each other when we've found something so we can mark it off."

Serenity sighed. "They better give out good prizes!"

"Well, every team gets something..."

An announcer started shouting, "Remember, there's only two hours to find everything!
Come back here when done! Ready... set... go!"

"Eeeeeek!!" Serenity shrieked. "Let's get started!"

After some chaos with picking groups, the girls finally set off in search of the
wacky items.



Naru and Serenity were wandering around a forest near the palace. "I know Kon-iro
birds live here... but how are we going to get one of their feathers?" Serenity
asked Naru.

"Hmmm... I dunno..." She then tripped over the root of a tree. "Ow! What the--"
as she bent over to inspect her ankle, her eyes widened. "Hey... I think this's it!"
She grabbed the crystal out of her pocket. "Hey everybody! Mark off Kon-iro bird 
feather!"

"Yay!" Serenity cheered, jumping up and down. "We were the first to find something!"

She turned around to walk out of the forest and was surprised to see the path
they'd taken had disappeared. "Uh... oh...."

Naru started shrieking in anger, "How the heck will we get out of here now!"

Serenity started pulling her long hair and cried out, "I don't know! I don't know! 
I don't--" she suddenly stopped and sweatdropped. "Naru... you're Martian, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"So, you're good at telekinesis, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Well... I can fly... so..."

Naru repressed the urge to bop her on the head. "So you're saying I should just float
myself out? I guess that would work... eh... eh heh heh..."

Both girls continued sweatdropping as the floated out of the forest.

"So... um, how'd you know I was Martian?"

"Well, judging from your hair color, you could only be from Mars, Earth, or Pluto, and
your skin is too light for a Plutonian and your accent is different from most Terrans..."

"Oh..." Naru looked around at the area where they'd landed. She started walking around,
before she stopped short and looked hard at the ground. "Is it just me, or does it feel
like we're really lost?"

"Actually," Serenity said, "I have the same feeling."

The two sighed as they wandered around aimlessly, hoping to find some way out of the forest.



"Man, it's hard to find these things," Jupiter griped as she pocketed a glowing round
crystal. "I mean, hardly anyone has them anymore. And we had to spend some of our
own money to get it."

Mercury sighed as she finished pocketing the communications crystal. "It was only
a little bit. It wasn't even Tenshi crystal. Besides, it'll be worth it when we get 
the prize."

"I hope it's a good one. Shelling out thirty gil just for a tensai gem. I could've
bought myself five good meals at the Kai-mono plaza for that much. And by the way,
gil is worth more than Tenshi crystal! Far more than the Mercos you use back home.
The Outer planets all use gil, you know."

"I know, I know!" Mercury said.

"Just checking," Jupiter said.

"Maybe they'll let you keep the gem after the scavenger hunt is over," Mercury suggested.
"They're supposed to bring good luck and increase mental capibilities."

Jupiter glared at her as she weaved through the crowd of people in the shopping area.
"Are you saying I need it?"

"No! No, I was just saying that since you paid for it, you should get to keep it."

"Good." Jupiter shoved her away through until they reached an alley way. She looked
over the list of items. "We still have alot more to go. Let's hope everyone else
finds more things than us. At this rate--"

"Hey, Serenity and Naru already found the feather. Venus and Mars just checked in, and
they found 5 Venusian Tenshi crystal. Neptune said that she and Uranus are almost to
the spot where the Ureshii flowers grow. Pluto and Saturn already found a frozen salmon
and a piece of red clay."

Jupiter nodded. "Well, that's good. What should we look for now?"

"Hmmm... how about... a scrap of blue silk?"

Jupiter grinned. "Go to your closet and cut off a piece from one of your dresses. Simple
as that."

"They want a receipt for it..."

Jupiter's green eyes widened in surprise. "A RECEIPT? I suppose they need a receipt for the
salmon too."

Mercury laughed. "No, just this one. C'mon, the dressmaker's shop should be just around
the corner."

The two princesses wormed their way through the crowd again, Jupiter following the blue
haired woman until they reached a small shop.

"Closed?" Mercury said with disbelief. "But it's the only dressmaker for several miles!"

"Howsabout bringing some scissors to your closet now?" Jupiter said with a grin.

Mercury sighed.



Mars stamped her foot on the ground and shrieked, "Just what do you think you're doing,
Minako!?!?"

Venus sweatdropped and turned around. "It says we need an ofuda..."

"Well, who said we'd use one of mine? Let's just go to the charm shop and buy one."

"But this is easier," Venus whined.

Mars sighed. "Look, I don't want to waste one of my ofuda on a scavenger hunt, okay?!"

Venus pouted. "Fine then. Let's walk five miles until we get to the nearest charm shop..."

"And on the way we can find other items," Mars cut in.

Venus sweatdropped again. "Oh yeah."

Mars sighed as she arranged her red skirts. "Really, Minako, it isn't that hard." Mars
started to lead the way as they walked through the streets in the direction of the charm
shop. She was momentarily distracted when a flier caught her eye. "Wha-- a party? Tonight!
Ooo! And it's at that new club too!"

"Where?!" Venus was suddenly standing next to Mars as they excitedly read it. "Only 3 Tenshi
for admission! What a deal!"

Mars suddenly pulled the list out of her pocket. "Hey, it says we need to bring a flier--"

"--and we'll need this one anyways to show everyone!" Venus chirped as she ripped it off
the sign post.

Mars laughed as they continued along the trail. "I guess we really shouldn't take this
thing too seriously. It's just a game after all."

"Yup!" Venus said, twirling around as she called everyone on the crystal. "Hey everybody,
we found a flier and guess what? It's for a party! Whee!" She put the crystal away and
started skipping.

Mars laughed at her. "You're acting nuts."

Venus just giggled. "Maybe I am!" She bent down and pulled a flower out of the ground.
"Hmmm... wonder where Zoisite is off at? Haven't spoken with him in awhile..."

"Really? I haven't heard from Jadeite in awhile..."

They both sighed. "Oh well..."

"Hey, you _are_ going to go to the party, right?" Venus asked.

"Of course!"

The two laughed and walked off, searching for more items as they went.



"Ah, this is where it is!" Neptune led Uranus through a thick forest until they reached 
large field of grass whose blades were just barely shorter than Uranus. "Can you still 
see the lake?"

"Just a little," Uranus said. "It's hard to see around all this grass."

Neptune laughed. "Come on, it's hard to find the entrance... ah! Here we are!"

Neptune pushed across the grass, revealing a hole about three feet in diameter.

Uranus was shocked and stooped down to look at it. "You wouldn't even know it was here
unless you fell into it!"

"Well... I sorta did!" The two women laughed. "C'mon, we better get in. It's a long way
down."

"Er, a long drop?"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant! It's not a big drop, but it'll take us awhile to
get down to the cave where the flowers are."

Neptune slid into the hole, dropping several feet before she landed on hard stone. Uranus
followed right after.

"Ughh... this cave sure is damp," Uranus complained.

"Well, Ureshii flowers are only grown here, unless you want to go to Neptune,"
Neptune commented. "C'mon, let's get going."

Uranus sighed as they climbed down a steep trail of rocks. "I hope it is lighter
and drier where these flowers grow."

Neptune laughed. "It's very pretty. I've been down here before."

Uranus slipped on a rock and barely caught herself before tumbling down. "God, do
we have to climb these to get out?!"

"No," Neptune said, shaking her head. "We do have to take a hard route though."

"We had better get a good prize for this," Uranus grumbled.

"Almost there," Neptune commented, as they were plunged into pitch black. "Be
careful as we turn this corner."

"I can't see where I'm--" Uranus cut off as blinding light pierced her eyes. "Ow!
Are we there?"

"You can open your eyes," Neptune teased, pulling Uranus's hands away from her face.
"Look."

Uranus was speechless with awe. The high ceiling of the cave was multihued and glowed
with bright light. Tiny crystals encrusted the shimmering walls, with several larger
ones embedded in the surface. The floor was covered with thin, silver grass, with
several large patches of bright flowers scattered around. A tiny waterfall fell into
a pool of water in the center, partially surrounded with tall, blue rocks.

"It's... wonderful..." Uranus breathed.

Neptune smiled. "It reminds me of a place I used to go to back home."

Uranus knelt by a patch of flowers. "I'm guessing these are the Ureshii flowers?"

Neptune nodded, pulling the crystal out to tell everyone they'd found them.
She then walked over to where Uranus sat, looking around at their surroundings.

"I've never seen anything like this!" Uranus said. "Uranus is so dismal... and the
Palace is so... different..."

Neptune smiled to her and sat down. "I know. That's why I told the others we'd look 
for the flowers... I wanted you to see this. I don't think anyone else has ever 
come here. When I first found it, everything was undisturbed. There was no evidence 
that anyone had come. When we came here, I only saw the marks my feet had made last
time."

Uranus looked over to her. "So it's sort of like your own special place, just for
you?"

Neptune nodded.

"Why'd you want _me_ to come here then?"

Neptune shrugged, blushing faintly. "I don't know. I wanted to keep it to myself at
first, but then I thought you'd like it."

"I do," Uranus said, scooting over close to her. "It's beautiful..." she said softly. 
"You know... I, um, I think _you_ are very beautiful, Michiru..."

Neptune looked over at her with a surprised face. "Why do you say th--"

Uranus pressed a finger to her lips, before she leaned close and wrapped her arms
around Neptune, then kissed her lips gently. Neptune sat still in shock, then 
relaxed into Uranus's embrace, wrapping her arms around the other woman's neck and
pulling them deeper into the kiss. Uranus pulled back very slightly, then kissed
her again with more passion than before. After several seconds, she pulled away and
sat still holding the other in a loose embrace. Neptune looked at her with a shocked 
face, unsure of what to do.

"H-Haruka... I... I lo..." Neptune fumbled for words, stuttering with confusion.

Uranus quickly stood up, clasping her hands to her mouth as if shocked by what she'd 
done. She ran in the direction they'd entered from. "Haruka, wait!" Neptune cried, 
stopping only long enough to tuck a flower into a bag she carried before running off 
after the distraught Uranus.



Pluto and Saturn weren't very thrilled to be in the scavenger hunt, but nevertheless,
they kept an eye out for any items that were on the list.

"I don't know why, but it feels cold here," Pluto commented. She looked around them
suspiciosly. "It feels foreboding..."

"Hmmm... I know what you mean," Saturn said, her purple eyes scanning the trees
around them. "I've been getting bad feelings all day... and during the picnic,
I sensed someone there, and so did Mars. I'm not sure who it was though."

Pluto's dark red eyes widened. "Really? Hmmm..." She thought hard for several minutes
with her brow furrowed. "That's strange... I've tried over and over, but I can't
scan time. It's been like this ever since..." her voice trailed off.

"Ever since when?" Saturn asked. After a moment of silence, she added, "Since
the Original Time, hasn't it?"

Pluto nodded. "I don't know why though..."

Saturn looked around them. "There's a tree over there with white bark. That's on
the list, right?"

Pluto nodded.

Saturn turned around to her. "Try not to worry so hard about it. You should feel
lucky that your powers aren't as strong. What if you did know your destiny? What
would you have to live for if you already knew what would happen? Maybe you are 
unconsciously supressing your abilities. I have to do that with mine. I'm so
sensitive to life and death..." she shuddered slightly, "that if I didn't keep
my sensitivity towards them buried, I'd go insane. I can feel everyone's life energy,
slowing dwindling... weakening... coming closer to death..." she clasped her head 
tightly, her fingers knotting in her purple locks. "AHhhHh! I'm losing control again!"

As Saturn fell to her knees, Pluto rushed over to her. "Hotaru! Control it! Hotaru!"

Saturn shook slightly and wiped sweat away from her forehead. "I-I'm sorry... it
happens sometimes..."

Pluto stared at her hard. "Listen to me, Saturn. No matter what you do, you can
_never_ lose control completely. Never do that. You hear me? The consequences would
be too great."

Saturn nodded. "I know... I try..."

"I don't mean to be too harsh, but trying isn't always enough." Pluto helped the tiny
woman stand. "To protect the universe, you _must_."



After the two hours were up, all the groups had returned to the meeting place to
see who had won. Serenity and Naru seemed a bit tired and explained how they'd
wandered around for so long and only got one time. Mercury and Jupiter had several 
items and were in good spirits. Mars and Venus had the most by far, and for some
reason couldn't stop laughing. Uranus was standing unusually far away from Neptune,
and seemed afraid to look at her, while Neptune held the bag of items with a faraway
look on her face. Pluto and Saturn had a few items, and seemed serious despite the
fact that it was only for fun.

A man came by and collected all the items to total up. "Wow, that was fun, except
for the getting lost part," Naru told them. "I mean, Serenity and I chatted for
awhile and stuff. Maybe we should do stuff like this more often, everyone!"

Mercury groaned. "I had to cut one of my dresses--"

"--and I spent thirty gil to get that gem!" Jupiter finished.

Mars laughed a bit. "Don't worry, Mako, they should let you keep it."

"Hope so. It cost me enough."

Venus giggled a bit, then turned to Uranus. "Hey, something wrong? You seem a bit
... well, different than usual."

"I-I'm fine. Just ignore me..."

Venus looked at her with concerned eyes. "Stop by my room later and talk to me."

"Why should I?"

"Just do it," Venus told her.

Naru started squeeling, "He's gonna announce the winner!"

The man looked over a sheet and announced, "The first place winner is... Osaka Naru
and the princesses."

"Yayyyy!" Serenity cheered.

A woman with lavender hair came over to them. "Congratulations, you all receive
an amount of money equal to 200 Tenshi crystal. So if you prefer gil, we'll give
you the equivalent. You each receive a free ticket for a round trip on a space
transport."

"Um, great!" Jupiter said, trying to sound excited.

The woman gave them each their prize and left.

"A ticket?" Mercury said. "And 1000 Mercos... not bad."

"1000?! No way!" Naru cried.

Meercury covered her mouth and tried not to laugh. "Naru... Mercos aren't worth
alot... it takes five just to equal one Tenshi crystal."

"Oh..."

"How much gil did you get?" Venus asked Saturn.

"Hmmm... I don't know..." Saturn was staring off in to space. "Not much..."

Pluto laughed. "Gil is worth alot though!"

"Oh!" Mars pulled out the flier. "Hey everyone, we found a flier for a party.
Why don't we go?" She passed it around for everyone to see. "We don't get out
of the palace much. Let's go have some fun for once."

"That's a good idea," Jupiter said. "Let's do it."

"I'm afraid not," Pluto said. "The queen wanted us to meet tonight. Besides,
did you read that flier carefully? That club is in a bad neighborhood, one of
the very few on the Moon where there's actually crime."

"Awwwww...." several of the princesses said in unision.

"Well, our duties are more important than fun... I guess..." Serenity said,
but she still seemed upset.

"We better get back if we want to be on time," Mercury said. "The queen will
hate it if we're late. Nice meeting you, Naru."

The other princesses said similar things to Naru before they left.

"See ya later!" Naru said with a wave.

"See ya!" Serenity said as the princesses walked off into the palace.



Time: an hour and a half later.
Place: Venus and Mars' room, the Palace



Mars sat painting her nails while Venus looked out the window with a
bored look. "That meeting was so dull. I almost fell asleep."

Mars blew her nails and commented, "We had to be there. Like Serenity.
said, our duties are more important than fun."

Venus flopped back on the window seat. "Yeah, but we spend too much time
here in the palace. We need to _do_ something for once."

"Speaking of that, where are Usagi and Pluto going off to? They mentioned
in the meeting they'd be leaving for a couple of weeks."

"Who knows," Venus moaned. "At least _they_ get to leave."

Mars pointed a scolding finger at her and said, "Stop moping around and
feeling sorry for yourself. Some of the others are happier here than
they were at home. And besides, we're Senshi. That's got to count for
something."

"Yeah, but it really isn't like we were picked specially or anything. 
They didn't care who we were. We just happened to have the mark and
were picked. What about Mercury and Uranus? Mercury is an only child
and Uranus had no sisters. They're only senshi because they're girls and
royalty. I'm not saying they aren't qualified, but when you think about it,
we were just born into this. Anyone else could do this, but we were picked
by fate."

Mars narrowed her eyes. "Yes, but fate probably arranged it so we would
be picked. Just because it wasn't a person that selected us doesn't mean
that we weren't specially selected."

Venus paused for several moments, before grudgingly commenting, "I guess you're
right."

"I am, aren't I?"


					 ________

					
					   FOUR

					 ________



Time: a couple weeks later
Place: a breakfast hall, the Palace



Everyone had gone downstairs for breakfast, still wearing their
nightgowns/pajamas, all except Pluto and Usagi (who just got back) 
were very tired. Jupiter had cooked it herself. Everyone complimented 
her on the dish. As they ate, Pluto noticed a silence in the air, as if 
everyone was somehow... afraid of something. She noted this with a frown. 
"Is something wrong?" She pushed her sausage around on her plate.  
"Everyone is so quiet..."

Uranus smiled. "Pluto, you weren't at the meetings recently! You
wouldn't understand."

Pluto raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I wouldn't?"

Uranus nodded. "I don't think you'd be able to... follow...  what is
going on since you haven't been here..."

"So you are saying I'm stupid and wouldn't comprehend?"

Uranus turned red. Neptune touched her friend's hand, then turned to
Pluto.  "I think what she means is that since we've had so many
meetings, covering so many things... she isn't sure if you would be able
to... follow... what is going on since you weren't here for the whole
story."

Pluto folded her fingers together. "The rebellion on the Inner Planet
space platform? I knew about it. The question is, what will we do about
it?"

Mercury shook her head and said softly, "We could fight them... but we
cannot do that..."

The space platform was sort of huge, flat floating platform located
between Earth and its moon. It had man-made structures on it and was the
hub of travel between the Inner Planets. It had tons of space docks,
shops, convention centers, and many places for living. The Outer Planets
shared one between Uranus and Neptune, and then their was another
between the Inner and Outer Planets.

"What if we are forced to?" Jupiter snapped. "I don't mean to jump to
conclusions, but the Dark Kingdom could be involved."

"Well, that's possi--"

Saturn and Mars suddenly snapped up, their eyes blank. The first to
recover, Saturn whispered forcefully, "I... sense an evil presence...
at the Inner Planet space platform!"

"Who is it?!"

Mars searched. "The Dark Kingdom sent someone... they-they've corrupted
the people there! They-they've been turned into youma! The Dark Kingdom
plans to use them to take over the system... you were right..." She
rested her head in her hands. "Why didn't we sense this sooner? They're
building troops up fast... it won't take long for them to be ready to
attack... maybe an hour..."

Serenity bit her lip. "I better contact Mother!"

She closed her eyes and the Moon symbol on her forehead glowed. All the
princesses possessed telepathy, telekinesis, and flight, but the Lunar
were also naturally strong in telepathy.

In only a few seconds, Serenity opened her eyes. "M-mother says that the 
Senshi... need to go there and stop this... ."

Jupiter and Uranus eagerly leapt to their feet. "What are we waiting for?"
Uranus asked.

They all cried out their transformation phrases simultaneously.

"Mercury Senshi Make-up!"

"Venus Senshi Make-up!"

"Mars Senshi Make-up!"

"Jupiter Senshi Make-up!"

"Saturn Senshi Make-up!"

"Uranus Senshi Make-up!"

"Neptune Senshi Make-up!"

"Pluto Senshi Make-up!"

Their nightclothes became their fuku and their symbols turned into their tiaras.

Uranus took charge, issuing orders. "Venus, Mercury, go down to space
dock seven and get a transport ready. Mars, alert the rest of the Palace
of this attack. Neptune, Pluto, Saturn, and I will meet you all down at
the transport in five minutes. We have just enough time to get their and
stop the attack."

The Senshi raced out to comply with Uranus' orders, except Pluto,
Saturn, and Neptune. Usagi still sat there, and suddenly said, "I was a
Senshi too, in the Original Time..."

"Well, transform. You could be a big help..."

Usagi nodded and shouted, "Moon Prism Power, Make-up!"

She transformed into a Senshi with pink and red fuku. "I am Sailor
Neo-Moon!" she cried.

Uranus, Saturn, and Neptune didn't comment on her name. Pluto tapped her
foot. "Why did you want us to wait?"

Uranus sighed. "Well, we four are the most powerful of the Senshi,
right?" They nodded. "I think that we should each try to keep a telepathic
link with one of the other senshi in case they get in trouble."

Neo-Moon nodded. "Yes, in the Original Time, you four were more powerful than
the others. I think the same would hold true now."

Neptune chuckled. "We still don't know how powerful you are, Usagi."

Saturn said softly, "Let's go then!"

Neo-Moon, Pluto, and Saturn started to rush off and soon were ahead, but
Uranus grabbed Neptune's arm, holding her back. "What is it?" she asked
her friend.

"Michiru, I want you to keep a telepathic link with me also. I... want
to make sure nothing happens to you."

Neptune looked at her sadly. "Haruka... does this have anything to do
with why you... kissed me... in the cave?"

Uranus lowered her eyes. "Maybe."

They stood in silence for a moment, before they gave each other a tight
hug.

Neptune smiled almost sadly, then unexpectedly stood up on her toes and
gave Uranus a long, sweet kiss on the lips. "Don't do anything foolish, 
Haruka. I don't want you to get hurt."

Uranus blushed, her eyes wide. "I... I won't." She hugged Neptune again,
then they ran to join the others.



Place: The shuttle



The Senshi nervously waited for the transport to arrive at the platform.
While they sat, they decided who would link with who.

Mercury and Neptune agreed they should, since they had similar powers.
Venus would link with Pluto, and Neo-Moon also. Uranus and Jupiter would
since they were the strongest physically. Saturn and Mars would since they 
both had strong telepathic abilities.

The Inners nervously started talking with each other. Pluto and Saturn
were silent. Neo-Moon muttered a few things under her breath, but that
was all she contributed. Uranus and Neptune sat holding hands, quietly
whispering to each other.

It was quiet for the next ten minutes, before Venus whispered, "Hotaru,
you are the most powerful of us. If... if the rest of us fall...
promise me you will destroy the whole platform."

Saturn bit her lip. "I-I promise."



Place: The space platform



When they arrived, they quickly spread out to the areas Uranus decided
they should go to, pairing up with their link partners.


Venus, Pluto, and Neo-Moon were the first to encounter the youma. There
was no time to heal them, so they had to destroy them.

"Love Arrows Strike!" Venus cried out, firing golden arrows into the
enemy lines.

"Dead Scream," Pluto whispered, firing a ball of powerful energy.

"Moonlight Laser!" Neo-Moon shouted, shooting out a beam of destructive light.

The combined attack ripped through the first wave. "That was easy,"
Venus commented, prepared to head back to the shuttle. She turned
around, and was face to face with several dozen youma. "Uh... oh..."



Saturn and Mars were having a tough time and were being surrounded on all sides. 
"Blazing Inferno... Engulf!" Mars shouted at the same time Saturn shouted, "Death 
Ribbon Revolution!"

The fiery wave and countless metal ribbons ripped through the youma, and the two
senshi whirled around to face the rest. "Mars Flame Sniper!" An arrow shaped flame
launched at them.

"Saturn Silence Shot!" Discs of energy raced at the youma.

The attacks destroyed almost all of the rest. Mars took a hit to the arm, Saturn
to the leg. But they continued fighting.

Soon, the numbers were overwhelming. "Get right behind me and don't ask
questions," Saturn ordered. Mars quickly complied.

"Silence... Glaive...  APPLY!!" She brought her Silence Glaive down, but
stopped it before it could touch the platform. It was a good thing she
did. A huge ripple of energy demolished many surrounding buildings, all
the youma within several thousand feet, and shook the platform roughly.

They heard screams of some of the other Senshi as the ripples passed.
They could hear Uranus shout, "DON'T DO THAT AGAIN OR WE'LL BE KNOCKED
INTO SPACE!!!" Saturn smirked and made a mental note to keep that in mind.


_____



Uranus and Jupiter were having a relatively easy time fighting. They
barely had to use their attacks, preferring punching, kicking, and
jabbing.

It seemed that nothing would go wrong, when suddenly Uranus cried out
and dropped to her knees.

"What's wrong?" Jupiter asked, then she shouted in pain as a force
rippled through her mind, disrupting the mental link and overwhelming
her mind.

Uranus fumbled for her sword. "Makoto! I can't concentrate... you
try to attack..."

Jupiter clutched her head and didn't respond. She couldn't think straight;
the pain was too much.

She was relieved when the pain lifted suddenly, and she turned to see
that Uranus had stabbed a youma with her sword, apparently the one
that had been using the mental attack.

"C'mon, we gotta get rid of these things before another one tries it!"
Uranus shouted.

Jupiter nodded. "Lightning eletrocute!" Several bolts of lightning struck
the youma, then a second wave of electricity from the antenna on her tiara
shocked most of the others.

"Heaven fury!" Uranus shouted, and a large beam of starlight finished
off the rest.

"Not bad for our first time, eh?" Jupiter said, wiping her brow off.

Uranus just grinned in agreement.


_____



"Aqua Possessor!" Neptune shouted, sending a wave of water to
liquify several opponents.

"Ice Wave Freeze!" Mercury shouted, sending a wave of ice to crush
the others.

Neptune attacked the rest with jabs and kicks while Mercury used
her attack several more times.

Mercury stood breathing hard and commented, "Are we really done? It
didn't seem to take long at all."

Neptune sank to the ground. "I guess so..."

"You alright?"

"All those people weren't really in control of their actions. It's
really unfair that they had to die."

"I know, but it had to be done," Mercury said.

They walked off towards the shuttle, where the others soon arrived. Neptune
ran over to hug Uranus immediately while Neo-Moon ran around leaping into the air.
Running over excitedly, Venus hugged everyone and cheered, "We won! We won!"

Jupiter whooped, "We beat 'em!"

"Yeah!" Mercury cheered, "We were great!"

They all went back into the shuttle happily, and Pluto hung behind slightly,
smiling to herself. They really are as good as they were in the Original Time,
she thought to herself, if not better.



Time: About 45 minutes later
Place: the entrance hall, The Palace



Princess Serenity rushed to hug everyone when they got back. "Oh, I was 
so worried about you all!" she cried. "But look at you! None of you
are really hurt!"

The Queen smiled proudly. "I am very impressed with how well you all
did. You didn't take long at all. I can see that you are more than
qualified for your positions."

The senshi all beamed at the compliment.

"Why don't we all go and get some dinner? I'm sure the battle worked
up quite an appetite."

"Oh boy, I'm starved!" Mars said. 

"Yeah, let's eat!" Princess Serenity agreed. 

Everyone was chatting loudly at dinner, trying to make their
voices heard over everyone else's. The queen also sat there, and
cringed slightly each time someone let out a loud laugh or shrill
giggle. After several minutes of constant noise, she calmly tapped her
glass with a spoon. The princesses fell quiet and turned to look at her.
"Sorry, but it was getting awfully loud. Care to try talking a bit
softer?"

"Ooooops..." Venus said.

Mars turned to Usagi and said, "Hey, I've been wondering, why are you
named 'Neo'-Sailor Moon?"

"It comes from my mother's senshi name Sailor Moon--" Usagi's hands flew 
to her mouth. Pluto rolled her eyes as if to say "good move".

The Queen raised an eyebrow. "And who is that?"

Usagi was silent. Pluto sighed after several moments, and chided, "Just 
TELL them."

Usagi stuttered, "Uh, um, uh, she is... um... Princess Serenity."

The Princess in question's eyes went wide. "Wha---?! Me?! A senshi? Your
MOTHER?!"

Usagi looked away. "In the Original Time, yes, but technically I don't
exist here--"

Serenity suddenly ran over and hugged the young woman. Surprised, Usagi 
hugged her back.  "Wow!" the princess exclaimed. "I can't believe this!"

The Queen gave a sly smile. "And who was your father?"

Usagi grinned. "You know him as... Endymion," she said his name in a
sing-song voice.

"Aaaahhh..." the princesses (except Serenity) said in unision, before
they burst out giggling.

"Well, they are engaged..." Uranus said between laughs.

"Yeah, they're involved... ha ha ha!... so it makes sense..." Mars
chuckled.

After several minutes, they finally calmed down and went back to
eating, before Serenity mentioned, "So, is everyone planning to go to
that huge ball coming up?"

Jupiter had hearts in her eyes. "Yeah! I can't wait! I haven't seen Nephrite 
in months!"

Mars had hearts in her eyes too. "I wanna see Jadeite!"

Mercury sighed. "I would go, but Kunzite... hasn't talked to me in so long."

"Why?" Venus asked.

"I don't even know! He hasn't even tried contacting me! I think he might
be busy working on rebuilding that military base on Earth with, oh, what's
his name again?"

"You mean with Zoisite? Yeah, he just left and didn't really tell me
why!" Venus shrieked.

"Why don't you try to contact _him_?" Neptune asked.

"I tried, but he never returns my messages..."

"Neptune, who are _you_ going with?" Mars suddenly blurted out.

"Wha-- I haven't made any plans to go to it."

"Neither have I," Saturn said.

"Or me... or Pluto," Uranus said with a grin. "I guess the older senshi just
don't know how to have fun, eh?"

"Ugh, it would look awful if any of us went stag," Venus said. "C'mon, at
least _try_ to find someone to go with!"

"Why bother?"

The princesses started up the loud conversation again, while the queen sighed.
"I tried..."

After the meal was finally finished, the exhausted princesses headed back to
their rooms for some much needed rest.



Time: several minutes later
Place: Mercury and Jupiter's room, the Palace










Jupiter lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling as she tried to get to sleep,
while Mercury persistantly was working on a writing something down. Jupiter 
rolled on her side, and tried covering her ears with a pillow, but the constant 
sound of ink on paper prevented her from sleeping. After gritting her teeth,
she grumbled, "Could you _please_ do that later?!"

Mercury looked over to a small, blue, handheld device resting on the desk 
next to her that Pluto had called a "computer". "No, I can't..." she furiously 
moved the pen across the paper before Jupiter walked over, poked her arm, and 
glared at her.

"I really would like to get some sleep, Ami."

"You will... hold on... There, I'm done," Mercury said, setting down the pen.

"What were you writing anyways?"

"A letter to the Mercurian advisory council, officially giving them ruling power."

"What?!"

Mercury held her head in her hands and sighed. "Technically, _I_ am the ruler of
Mercury since my parents are dead... dad was killed in battle when I was very young,
and not long after that my mother died. I can't rule the planet from here, so they 
have to do it for me."

"Um... I really don't know what to say... I'm shocked, to say the least. Mars said
you ruled Mercury, but I never thought you had the authority to do something like
this."

"I do... I hate it. I never wanted to be ruler, especially being this young. There
have been younger rulers than me on other planets though... an eighteen year old
became king of Saturn a hundred years ago, Uranus's dad took power when he was
nineteen, and there have been others, if you want to research them."

"Ugh, I'd hate trying to be queen. There's _so_ many people on Jupiter!"

Mercury laughed slightly. "There's not many on Mercury, but it's hard to try to
get your ideas across since long distance communication is difficult."

Jupiter picked up Mercury's computer and looked at it. "What's this stuff on the
screen for?"

"Those are recent statistics of our economical state." Mercury sealed the letter
in an envelope. "If you hit the key-- that one right there-- you'll see some
readings I took during the battle today."

Jupiter hit the key and looked at the words on the screen. "What does this stuff
mean?"

"It's a readout of power levels, how powerful some people's attacks were, some
other facts... I need to show Serenity it though. I found out some interesting
information about everyone's abilities." Mercury took back her computer and
turned it off.

"Oh really? What about mine?"

"It seems that you have an affinity for trees."

"Eh?"

"Trees can talk with you."

Jupiter lay back down on her bed as Mercury lay down on hers. "That's weird... I
never would have known that."

"It's odd to know, isn't it? I found out some other things... *YAWN* I'll tell you
later."

"Sleepy?"

"Yes... I'm going to sleep. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Jupiter fell asleep long after that, while Mercury remained awake. "Why?" Mercury
whispered softly. "Why did you have to die, mother? Why did you have to take your
own life?"



Time: around the same
Place: Uranus and Neptune's room



Uranus stared into the flames of the candles sitting on the nightstand next
to her bed. It was strange, trying to adjust to living here. It had been a few
months since the senshi had been called here, but it had felt like longer. It
was almost enough to make her forget home... 

She sighed and looked over at the bed next to her where Neptune was trying to
get to sleep. She smiled a bit wistfully. Neptune had been the first friend she'd
ever had. Until she came to the moon, she'd been alone, with no one to talk to,
no one who would understand her. She sighed softly. If only she had the courage...

Neptune rolled over and looked over at her. "Something wrong, Haruka?" she asked.

Uranus blinked in surprise. "N-nothing. Sorry, I... can't get to sleep..." she 
finished lamely. Damnit, she was supposed to be the strongest senshi, but
when it came to being around people, saying what she felt, she felt stupid.

"I can't get to sleep either. I keep getting these weird premonitions. I don't


know what they are."

"What do you see?"

Neptune tucked her knees under her chin. "I see... people, fighting, a strange
woman... it's hard to put it into words..." 

"Why not try that mirror of yours? Maybe you'd get a better picture with it."

Neptune laughed.

"What?"

She pulled out her mirror. "Sorry... that's a good idea... I can't believe I
didn't think of it... Guess I just have my mind on other things."

"Like what?"

Neptune was silent and just gazed into the mirror. "This is the image... come
see."

Uranus walked over to her bed and looked into the mirror Neptune held. "That's
odd... it doesn't make sense."

"I don't understand what it means either," Neptune said. "I think it might be
important, but I can't figure out what the images mean. It's so frustrating! If
I could figure it out--"

Uranus took the mirror from her and placed it on the nightstand. "Stop worrying
about it, you'll figure it out eventually. Nothing to lose sleep over."

"I suppose."

They were silent several moments, then Neptune asked, "Haruka, what was it like
growing up on Uranus? I heard that it's very different from Neptune."

Uranus sat still, slightly shocked. "D-Do you mean, what Uranus is like, or what
my life was like?"

"Both."

Uranus felt like their was a noose around her neck. Could she tell her, could she
really tell _anyone_ about it? "Ummm... Uranus is alright, I suppose... weather's
alright, everyone's got a pretty nice amount of money... the schools are supposedly
good too. The people are a bit ignorant though."

"Supposedly good? Didn't you go to school?"

Uranus was quiet a bit. "No. I grew up in the palace."

"Did you like living there?"

"No! Um... no, I hated it."

"Nobody to talk to, huh? Just your parents? That would get old. I heard you had a
brother... what happened to him?"

Uranus had that same feeling again. "He... He ran away."

"Why did he do that? Weren't your parents nice to him?"

Neptune sat and waited, but Uranus was completely quiet. "Haruka? What's wrong?
Is it about your parents?" She frowned. "What is it?"

Uranus turned away. "I can't... I can't..." She lowered her head. "Michiru, you
have to promise me... you won't tell _anyone_. I don't care who they are."

"I promise."

Uranus turned away from her and shuddered slightly, then unfastened the clasps
on her dress and pulled the top down around her waist to bare her back.

Neptune gasped in shock. "W-What the-- where did you get all those scars?!"

Uranus pulled her dress up, fastened it, and turned to face her again. "My father."

Neptune sat in shock. "He... he did that to you? Oh god..."

Uranus fought back tears. "Why do you think I was so happy to come here?
To get away from..." she wiped her eyes off and fell silent.

Neptune slowly came forward and hugged her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have
asked you to tell..."

"I-It's alright... I-I needed to t-tell... someone..." Uranus stopped trying
to hold back her tears and cried on Neptune's shoulder. "It's not fair! It's
not fair! My brother was able to get away, b-but I had to stay... so many
years... my mother didn't do anything... she was too busy drinking... it's
so unfair! I never had anyone... no one cared..."

Neptune stroked her short hair back. "I know it isn't fair, Haruka, but you're
safe now... no one's going to hurt you..." She gently kissed her forehead. "You
have people here who care for you deeply, never forget that. You will never be 
alone again."

"Y-You mean that?" Uranus sniffled and wiped her eyes again. "Y-You'll be here
for me, right?"

"Of course I will," she whispered softly. "Haruka..." she paused before raising
her voice slightly. "I love you. Never forget that."

Uranus looked up at her with surprised eyes. "You... you do?" she lowered
her head to hide the slight blush on her cheeks. "Michiru... I... I love
you too."

Neptune smiled softly at her. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Uranus managed a weak smile. "Not really..." She laughed slightly. "Well...
I guess we both know why we kissed each other then..."

Neptune laughed. "I guess so! Why don't we try to get some sleep now? You've 
made enough confessions today."

Uranus stood up to walk back to her bed, then turned around with a quizzical
look on her face. "Michiru... you just admitted your feelings for me... and
now you want me to go to sleep?"

Neptune blushed. "We can worry about it later..."

"You're just nervous," Uranus teased.

"I am not," Neptune retorted. "I'm just sleepy."

Uranus came over and knelt next to her bed. "Goodnight," she whispered.
"Sleep well."

"You too," Neptune whispered back.

Uranus leaned forward slightly, paused, then slowly moved forward and gently
kissed Neptune's lips. Neptune returned the kiss, running her fingers through
the other girl's short hair as their mouths pressed together. After several 
seconds Uranus pulled away and stood up. "Hope you have sweet dreams."

Neptune looked up at her and smiled. "Oh, I definitely will."

Uranus blew out the candles and started to lie down.

"Haruka?"

"Yeah?"

"Ummm... oh, nothing."

"Well, why don't you just tell me anyways and I'll decide if it's 'nothing'?"

There was a pause.

"Don't take this the wrong way... but I think I'd sleep better... in your
arms..."

For a few moments, neither said a thing, then Uranus came over and lay down
next to her. They wrapped their arms around each other, and Neptune smiled
slightly. "That's much better," she said softly as she drifted off to sleep.


					 ________

					
					   FIVE

					 ________



Time: the next morning
Place: a breakfast hall, the Palace



Queen Serenity woke up with a start after a frighteningly realistic nightmare.
She sat trying to calm herself down and realized that the nightmare was a
premonition. "I have to wake up the Senshi..." she mumbled. She threw her
clothes on and ran to the hall where the senshi's quarters were. She knocked
on the room her daughter shared with Usagi. 

"Uhn... who is it?" came a sleepy call.

"Your mother," she said as she pushed open the unlocked door.

She couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Both her daugther and her grandchild
were lying in their beds in pretty much the same position. Like mother like
daughter, she thought to herself. "Get up," she told them. "Go to the breakfast
hall. I need all the senshi there."

She went to Mercury and Jupiter's next. Upon opening the door, she was surprised
to see the two already awake and dressed, sitting and talking. "Oh, Queen Serenity,
hello," Mercury said. "Do you need something?"

"Yes, go down to the breakfast hall. I'll be their shortly."

The two women looked a bit confused but obeyed.

Queen Serenity, while walking to Mars and Venus's room, suddenly wondered why no
one bothered to lock their door anymore. Shrugging, she walked in. It took a few
minutes to wake them both up, but she finally got them going. They didn't look
too happy about being woken up though.

Saturn and Pluto were also already awake when she arrived, and seemed a bit curious
as to just why they had to go, but didn't ask questions and went downstairs 
immediately.

The queen was quite a bit shocked when she walked into Uranus and Neptune's room
and found them cuddled in the same bed. She shook them awake. "Oh! Serenity, um,
hi..." Neptune blushed deeply when she saw her there.

"Just... go down to the breakfast hall as soon as you get dressed," she told
them before walking out. _That_ was a surprise she wasn't expecting.

After everyone had gathered, she told them about the premonition of the 
Dark Kingdom massing on Uranus to prepare for an assault. She told them 
the senshi would most certainly be needed. When Venus questioned her, Mars, 
Saturn, and Neptune all mentioned having premonitions of fighting, which
confirmed the queen's decision.

"Mother, if the Dark Kingdom is there, how can just the nine of them stand
up to them?" Princess Serenity asked.

"Hey, we can handle it!" Jupiter scoffed.

"Just in case, we _should_ have extra support," Mercury commented. "Maybe if
we could get the Uranian army to work alongside us... ? Uranus, do you think
they would?"


She shrugged. "Dunno. You could try. You'll have to talk with General Toren and
see if he's willing to."

"Well, if there are no further questions, transform," the queen said.

The senshi nodded and did so.

"I still don't think it's enough..." Princess Serenity said softly.
"Mother? I want to help them, but what can I do?"

"There's not much you _can_ do..."

Pluto interrupts, "In the Original Time, Serenity was Sailor Moon. She
was a powerful Senshi and she was a good ally. Serenity should still
have that power. I think that if you give her the ginzuishou she can
regain that power."

Queen Serenity was doubtful. "Pluto, I trust in your wisdom, but you must be
mistaken.  These ARE all the Senshi. There are no more."

Pluto's crimson eyes narrowed. "Give her the ginzuishou."

Queen Serenity sighed and handed the ginzuishou to her daughter.

Princess Serenity stood with it and watched in shock as she was enveloped in 
a beam of light. A sailor fuku formed on her. Her collar and choker were baby 
blue, the bow on her chest carnation pink. She had three layers of skirt, the 
top baby blue, the next lavender, and the one underneath carnation pink. Her 
sleeves were petal shaped like Saturn's were. The bow in the back was silvery 
with long tails. The piping on her gloves was carnation pink. She had thin ribbons
of baby blue, lavender, and carnation pink lining the top of her skirt instead of
piping like the other senshi. The ginzuishou lay in the center of her bow, with 
a thin band of silver around it. Her tiara was thin and silvery. Pink discs were
attached to her odango and she had pearl decorations in her hair. Her high-heeled
boots were pale-blue and laced-up. She had a silver crescent moon on her choker, 
and dangling silver crescents for earrings. 

All but Pluto and Neo-Moon stared at her in disbelief. "Technically, this form is
called 'Sailor Silver Moon'," Pluto commented.

"Nice fuku," Mars commented.

Silver Moon teased, "Much cooler than yours, isn't it?"

Mars fumed at her. "Serenity!"

"Silver Moon, you are the leader of the Senshi," Pluto told her. The Senshi 
seemed a bit surprised-- Serenity, their leader? Pluto continued, "It is your 
duty and your responsibility to lead us into battle. Do you fully accept the
responsibility, as well as the risk that follows?"

"I-I accept," Serenity said in a wavering voice.

She was about to ask Pluto what to do next when Saturn let out a terrified
shriek.  She almost collapsed, but Jupiter caught her before she hit the 
floor.  "Powerful... presence..." the small girl whispered, "from another
galaxy... far... great evil... great danger..." she coughed hard and closed
her eyes tight.

"Senshi!" Silver Moon shouted to them. They all snapped to attention, surprised. 
"Here's the plan... we head to the transport the MOMENT I finish telling you 
this. We are going straight to Uranus. We don't have time to worry about 
alerting anyone, so Mother, swear to me that you will do this for us. We fight
when we get there. I don't expect anyone to do anymore than they have to, I 
don't expect anyone to push themselves to the limit, but damn it, people are 
counting on us so you give it what you can without killing yourself! I don't 
want to lose anyone! We all go and we all come back, you hear! We're going
to WIN too! So let's win this war, people! The whole system is counting on us! 
Let's move!"

We can win, I know we will, Silver Moon thought to herself as they raced for the
transport.

Queen Serenity sadly watched them go. A black-clothed figure joined her. "So,
they're off to battle?"

Serenity turned in surprised. "What the-- oh. It's you."

"Yes, it's me."

Serenity turned away again. "What are you doing here?"

"Things are changing. I decided to visit."

"You should be here... don't you have students to attend to?"

"They can manage without me. They've gone hundreds of years without me before.
I'm sure several minutes won't matter."

"And that brown-haired lady that's usually with you?"


"I don't trust her anymore."

"Oh."

The two stood in silence for a moment. "Whatever happened to that Oriental woman?"

"Who? I don't know who you mean."

"Has that memory wipe spell kicked in again? I can't believe you would have forgotten
_her_."

"Hmm... I suppose it has. Now that I think about it, I can't remember the last few
years all that well." The figure turned and started to walk away, then stopped. "You
do realize that your senshi will face a very dangerous foe on Uranus?"

"Yes, I do."

"Pray that they win."

With that, she disappeared.



Time: about ten minutes later
Place: the shuttle



The Senshi sat gathered around a large piece of paper where Uranus was
furiously sketching a map of the Palace on her home planet. She made
scant conversation as she talked, but would occasionally comment
something like, "I don't think my father would have changed anything
since I was last there; he likes things to stay the same.", "The troops
will be easier to convince that Beryl is the enemy than it will to
convince my father.", and "We have to make sure that we avoid direct
confrontation with the Dark Kingdom until it is necessary." Pluto stood 
behind the others as everyone squeezed in trying to get a good view,
Saturn and Neo-Moon sitting on the ground with Neptune kneeling next to 
Uranus.

Uranus finally finished the map and handed it to Silver Moon. She glanced over
it. "Thanks, this is really thorough... hmmm... Uranus, I just thought of
something. Is it possible that..." she coughed slightly. "Well, maybe your
father is _letting_ the Dark Kingdom come here, if he accepted a bribe...
do you think he'd do something like that?"

"Yes," Uranus answered firmly. "Without a doubt."

"Somebody's going to need to try and reason with him then. I think you should
do it."

Uranus froze. "You can't expect me to do that!"

"Why not? I'm the leader, and the lives of everyone in this galaxy is more
important to me than your own personal agenda. Unless you have a really good
reason not to, you're going to do it."

Uranus hung her head. "Neptune, please go with me," she said softly.

Neptune nodded to her.

"The rest of us will try to get the Uranian army on our side and, if necessary,
take care of any Dark Kingdom troops."

Neo-Moon curled up on the cushioned bench and tried to rest up for the
battle, but she found that she was too nervous. What was it that Saturn
had sensed? Silver Moon was next to her, thinking of Endymion, worried
about what might happen to her daughter in the battle ahead. Pluto was 
quietly discussing the vision with Saturn. She was careful not to reveal 
anything that might lead her to learn what happened to the Original Time, 
but she couldn't help but worry. Could it be Mistress Nine? Venus, Jupiter,
and Mercury all sat talking with each other, trying to calm each other's
nerves. Neptune and Uranus sat to the side, holding hands, whispering softly
to each other.

Saturn and Mars both got a startling realization at the same time.
Without explaining what was going on, Mars cried, "Mars Flame Sniper!"
and Saturn shouted, "Saturn Silence Shot!"

The fire arrow and the flat, circular purple disc rammed into an
apparently invisible object. The moment they struck, the man standing
there became visible.  "Kunzite!" Mercury cried.

Kunzite sneered, "Took you people long enough to find me. I've spied on you
many times these past several months. I know all your plans... there's nothing 
you can do to stop us." 

"Correction," Uranus said calmly, unsheathing her sword. "There's a lot
we can do!" She leapt at him in one fluid motion and cried, "Space Sword
Blaster!"

The attack ripped through Kunzite, causing him to weaken. "I didn't
think... the Senshi had so much strength in them..." he said as he
dropped to his knees and spat out blood.

Uranus narrowed her eyes and raised her sword to slice through him.
Neptune grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "We can get information
from him!" she hissed.

Uranus nodded and sheathed her sword, but struck Kunzite on the side of
the head with the hilt, knocking him unconscious. "Mars, enter his
mind."

Mars nodded and pressed her hands to either side of his face. She closed
her eyes in concentration and reeled as the swarm of images came to her.
"He and the other four Generals were corrupted and brainwashed. They
have more abilities now, as he demonstrated, and they are loyal to
Beryl."

"So what is their plan?" Silver Moon asked her.

Mars explained carefully what Beryl's plans of attack were. The other Senshi
visibly paled. "I see," Silver Moon whispered. "Well, there's no way we
are going to let that happen! Let's put a stop to this!"

"Right!" they all responded.

"We'll send the Dark Kingdom to Hell and back if we have to in order to
teach them not to mess with the Sailor Senshi! They are going to pay for
attacking us!"



Time: two hours later
Place: Uranus



The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, except for the fact that
upon awakening, Kunzite teleported away.

The Senshi split up and quickly moved to their posts. Silver Moon,
Jupiter, and Mars quickly went to where the troops supposedly resided,
Uranus and Neptune headed for the Throne Room, and Pluto led the rest
to circle the Palace. According to Kunzite's information, about half
and hour from now is when the Dark Kingdom would strike.

Silver Moon got lucky and ran into the General of the Uranian Army. She
recognized him from meetings at the Palace he'd attended. "General
Toren!" she exclaimed.

"Eh?" The man didn't recognize her at all. "Who are you? A new Sailor
Senshi?"

"It's me... Princess Serenity. Sailor Silver Moon. Look, I need to talk
with your troops. Beryl plans to buy out the army from the King and turn
them into Dark Kingdom slaves."

"That's crazy! Our king would never to that!"

Jupiter cut in rudely, "Obviously you don't know him as well as his
daughter does."

Toren paled. "The Princess is _here_? She came _back_?!"

"Just for the battle," Mars assured him.

Toren let out a sigh of relief. The Senshi glanced at each other and
shrugged. "Look, can we talk with your troops?" Silver Moon asked.

Toren thought for a moment. "Give me five minutes to round them up.
They'll listen to you, I guarantee it."

Mars nodded as he led the way.


___



Pluto, Saturn, Venus, Mercury, and Neo-Moon were all circling the
Palace, separate from each other, but wary of the danger. If one of them
got a surprise attack, who knew if they could send out a telepathic
warning quickly enough?

Mercury carefully scanned the starry skies with her minicomputer. On
this planet, the sky was always black and starry, making it nearly
impossible for them to know what time of day it was. Neo-Moon searched
with her eyes only.  Pluto was carefully allowing her mind to access the
information her abilities provided. Venus used her Love senses to search
for a lack of it. After all, the only feeling the Dark Kingdom seemed to
feel was hatred. Saturn was allowing her mental powers to do the searching, 
hovering slightly over the ground.

About five minutes later, Mercury's computer picked up the attackers. She
alerted everyone to join her.

At that moment, Silver Moon finished her talk, and the troops were just
in time to see the threat and help out.

Uranus and Neptune had finally tracked down the King and barely noticed
the warning.

"Silence Glaive Apply!" The silent attack was able to knock several
troops out of the way.

This section of the Dark Kingdom's army, led by Zoisite himself, was
skilled in battle. They carefully avoided the attacks launched at them
and responded with their own. The Uranian Army possessed very skilled
fighting prowess as well, but lacked any special magical talents.

Pluto was the first to notice this setback. "Time Threads Encircle!" she
shouted. A large section of this part of the Army found themselves
entangled in the millions of black threads and disappeared from the
timeline. Pluto ignored the fact that this was against her duties as the
Keeper of Time to remove anyone from the timestream.

"Ginzuishou Cleansing!" Silver Moon shouted. A burst of white light was
able to heal some of the Dark Kingdom's troops and restore them, but Silver 
Moon promptly sank to her knees.

Mars ran over to protect her. "Blazing Inferno Engulf!" she shouted, and
a large wave of fire appeared around the army, burning many.

Zoisite was seething with rage. He lifted a long black sword up and
shouted, "Powers of darkness, charge this sword with energy!" The sword 
was glowing a black color now as he lifted it over his head and leapt at 
Neo-Moon.

Neo-Moon was barely able to shout, "Moonlight Laser!" before Zoisite was
too close, and as it was the sword clipped her arm and charged her body
with dark energy.

Saturn quickly rushed to her side and thrust her glaive point neatly
through Zoisite's body.

Suddenly, everything seemed to stop and hush. Zoisite trembled and slid
off the glaive, landing on the ground at Saturn's feet. Saturn's face
was cold and devoid of emotion as she gazed down at the shuddering form
at her feet. "How... could... you..." Zoisite rasped, coughing blood.

"I am the Silent Messiah, Sailor Saturn. I will defend the life of my
comrades at all cost. You, pitiful man, made a mistake in attacking
Princess Serenity's heiress."

Zoisite shuddered one last time and died.  

Venus watched on with eyes wide with horror. She mouthed "no", tears welling
up in her eyes, but didn't have time to cry.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Kunzite appeared again, Nephrite and Jadeite at 
his side. They all unleashed their own attacks at the present Senshi.


___



Uranus finally found her father seated at a dinner table, feet dangling
over one side of the large chair he sat in. She shivered slightly, afraid
to approach, then Neptune sent a telepathic message to her. "Don't be afraid,
he can't hurt you. I won't let him. Let's get this over with, alright?" 

Uranus nodded slightly and the two walked into the throne room. The King, 
startled, quickly sat up. "What are YOU doing here?!" he demanded.

"Stopping you from making a mistake," Uranus said coolly, trying to control
the wavering in her voice.

"The only mistake I've ever made was not killing you before you could grow
up enough to run off," he sneered.

"She's talking about Beryl," Neptune snapped.

"Touchy, aren't you?" he said sarcastically. "What're you, her plaything?
Besides, Beryl and I have finished the deal already. In exchange for a
healthy sum of money, she gets to keep troops here."

Uranus clenched her fists. "Why did you ever agree to do _that_?! You're 
dooming our people by letting that demon stay here!"

"Maybe I am, maybe I am not. They're my subjects to do what I want with.
I'm the king. I control all their lives." He stood up and glared at her.
"And I still control yours."

Uranus took an involuntary step back. Neptune placed a hand on her shoulder
to steady her. "Don't listen to him," she warned. "He's just trying to bait
you."

"Do you still have the scars?" he taunted. "I hope so. I'm looking to add
a few more. You're a very disobedient child. I might just have to take out
my gun again." He reached into his robes and pulled out a pistol.

Uranus started shaking. "Leave me alone!" she whispered.

He laughed as he lifted it and tighted his finger around the trigger.

Uranus dashed forward and slapped the gun from his hands before he could
use it. His foot connected with her ribs a moment later. She gasped
and clutched her stomach, sinking to her knees. He raised his hand to strike
her.

Neptune was quicker though. She grabbed him and surprised even herself with
her strength as she threw him onto the table. She helped the shuddering Uranus 
to her feet in time to here a chilled voice say, "Did I miss anything?"

Neptune and Uranus whirled around to see a crimson-haired woman in a
purple dress standing there. Beryl. Without thinking, Uranus quickly
unsheathed her sword and leapt at her. "Wait, DON'T!" Neptune shrieked.

Beryl's hastily thrown up forcefield threw Uranus back, and the
navy-clad Senshi skidded across the floor from the impact.

"Aqua Possessor!"

The attack that should have liquefied Beryl was repelled, and Neptune
had to throw herself onto the ground to avoid her own attack. She sent out
to the other senshi. "Uranus and I are fighting Beryl here! We need help!"

"There's no time!" someone responded. "We have our hands full with three
of the Generals here!" The signal was cut off.

Neptune was relieved when Saturn showed up though. "The other Senshi
didn't want me to leave, but you need help," was her reason.

A second figure emerged from the shadows. Her long black hair cascaded
over the floor, her purple eyes narrowed, the pearl-lined navy top worn
with a long white skirt seeming to flow from her, the black star on her 
forehead glowing faintly. "Who are YOU?" Uranus gasped.

The woman gave a light laugh. "I am known as Mistress Nine, from Tau
Ceti." Without further explanation, her hair shot out and wrapped around
Uranus' neck.  Uranus gasped and tried to pull away as the hair wrapped
tighter.

"Harukaaaa!" Neptune screamed, running at the woman.

Saturn remained frozen as her eyes locked with Mistress Nine's. Neptune
stopped in her tracks as she noticed their gaze and Uranus gave a sigh
of relief as the hair unwound from her neck. "Y-you! It's you!" Saturn
whispered, stepping back.

Mistress Nine's eyes flickered with a seeming recognition. "Ah! Hotaru,
my puppet!" Her hair raced at the small woman, wrapping her arms and
legs. "Come to me... I need your abilities..."

"No!!" Saturn cried.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Beryl slipped behind Uranus and
Neptune and started to draw out their energy.

"Stop right there!" a voice shouted loudly.

Seven figures clad in Sailor fuku immediately appeared. In the center,
clad in pastel and silver tones, was Sailor Silver Moon. "Agent of love 
and justice, I am the beautiful sailor suited soldier... Sailor Silver 
Moon! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"

Before either of the evil women could respond, Jupiter shouted,
"Lightning Electrocute!"

Beryl was hit by the attack, but she quickly recovered to fire a blast
of red light at Jupiter. Silver Moon shoved Jupiter away and took the
hit.

"Love Arrows Strike!" Venus launched her arrows at Mistress Nine,
forcing her to release her hold on Saturn momentarily, giving her enough
time to strike.

"Death... Ribbon... Revolution!" Sharp, metallic ribbons appeared and
shot at Mistress Nine, but before they hit, she repelled them. 

The Senshi quickly combined attacks at the two women. "Ice Wave Freeze!"

"Love Arrows Strike!"

"Flaming Inferno Engulf!"

"Moonlight Laser!"

"Ginzuishou Cleansing!"

"Lightning Electrocute!"

"Silent Scream!" [note: this is Saturn's attack; not the same as Pluto's
dead scream]

"Heaven Fury!"

"Aqua Possessor!"

"Time Threads Encircle!"

An enormous explosion occurred as the attacks combined, rocking the
Palace and collapsing the ceiling. The Senshi were thrown to the floor
with the force.  After the dust settled, Beryl's form was visible under
a pile of rock, a huge pool of blood around her, the King of Uranus was
also bleeding, obviously dead... but Mistress Nine...

Her form rose from the dust, her dress torn and her eyes burning red.
"You DARE to attack ME?!" Her hair billowed around her as she raised her
arms over her head, and a huge black electric ball coalesced with white
lightning over her head. "I shall kill you all!"

The attack rushed at them. In a last-ditch effort, Saturn shouted,
"Silence Block!" just as Pluto shouted the forbidden, "Time Stop!"

The ball of energy froze. The world froze. The people standing in the
Throne Room, however, were still able to move. "What is this!?" Mistress
Nine gasped, her shock clearly apparent. She paled in fright. "You
cannot be... no! This is not possible!"

Pluto stood slightly apart from the other Senshi, her eyes narrow
crimson slits. "I am Sailor Pluto, the Guardian of Time, and believe me,
it IS possible."

She lifted the Time Key. "This is a timeline caused due to a time
fracture... Saturn caused it, but YOU are the direct reason. And now you
have the gall to interfere with our lives again." The Garnet Orb glowed
a bright magenta, and the Talismans of Uranus and Neptune appeared. A
triangle of light formed, and the Holy Grail was formed. It floated
above her hand, as Sailor Pluto sneered, "Well, Mistress Nine, there is
no more reason for me to allow you to exist."

The grail hovered over to Silver Moon. "Take it," Pluto said coolly,
gesturing to the other woman.

Silver Moon grasped it in her hands.

"And now," Pluto said simply, "I think it is time that Mistress Nine
leaves this universe FOREVER."

"Puu--wait!" Neo-Moon cried. "You can't just destroy her!"

Mistress Nine cackled, "Yes... listen to the child... there is something to 
her words!"

The Inner Senshi held their ground with determined looks on their 
faces, the two Moons trying to decide what to do, and the other Outer 
Senshi were trying to decide if they should let Pluto continue with 
this.

Mistress Nine was about to strike again when she was knocked away by 
Uranus. Her eyes flashed red, and as she moved to strike Uranus, Silver 
Moon launched an attack at her. A bright burst of silver light knocked 
the woman off her target, giving Uranus time to scramble away.

Mistress Nine shrieked as the beam stuck her. She swiped her arm out, 
her nails extended as claws, and struck Silver Moon's cheek, making a 
deep gash. The Moon Princess cried out and clamped her palm to her 
bleeding wound, knocked to the ground by the momentum of the swipe.

"Mars Flame--"

"JUPITER OAK--"

Mistress Nine recognized the voices, and with a snarl, sent discs of 
energy towards Mars and Jupiter. The two held their screams in, managing 
to keep their footing under the blast. Pluto had an angry look on her 
face, the likes of which Neo-Moon had never seen cross the immortal 
woman's face. Pluto's Garnet Orb burst into light, and she screamed, 
"TIME THREADS ENCIRCLE!!!"

Millions of tiny black threads rushed at Mistress Nine, designed to 
remove the object they surrounded from existence.

Which is why Pluto was very shocked to see Mercury hurl the body of 
Uranus's father into the threads. Instead of removing their intended 
target, the corpse was removed instead. Pluto quickly recovered from the 
shock, and was about to call upon her powers again, when Venus hurled 
her body against the older woman, knocking her to the ground. The heart 
shaped object with the Garnet Orb upon it was jostled from the Time 
Staff, and time resumed.

Beryl moaned from underneath the rubble, alive despite her injuries. 
Mistress Nine cast her a furious glance at her weakness in battle. 
Beryl's form slowly rose, her crown having been knocked from her 
forehead and her dress torn. With