Bridges of Time: Chapter 8 "Synchronization"
Author's Notes:
1. This is the last chapter! Wow, I wondered if I'd *ever* get to the
end. I know this is the longest installment I've done for some reason.
That's probably not because I had two story arcs (and bridges;))but b/c I
didn't "prewrite" as much and the story is a lot looser. I hope
despite its looseness and expansiveness that you enjoyed it.
I'm setting up a lot for the next few stories, which is also why this
got so long.
************************************************************************
Diamond pulled the covers of the bed further over his head. They'd
stayed up quite late, trying to cover what Mina felt the "essential"
Serena boiled down to. At one point when Pluto had called to check
on them, he'd all but begged her to save him from Mina and from
playing Serena. He complained about all the things Mina had made him do.
"I feel like I'm losing myself and who I am!" He'd yelled.
He'd heard the laugh hiding in her voice as she answered "Everyone
has different sides to them, just consider this an exploration of
your feminine side. And do your best!" He could just picture the
light in pushing the sadness out of her garnet eyes, but then
remembered she was stuck in Darien's body. 
His best? He couldn't even manage his worst right now for he felt sick.
No, worse than sick. More accurately he felt as if he'd been whisked around
far too fast after eating. The bed felt warm and soft, and if he
could just get back to his dreamless sleep--but suddenly, he
felt two hands tugging him.
He stared into silvery blue eyes, and a waterfall of blonde hair.
"We're *LATE*." She screamed. "I forgot to set the clock, and Amy
just called to ask where we are! Everybody is at the studios
but us. Come on Diamond, hurry up."
"Five more minutes..." Diamond mumbled, and turned over and away
from the living nightmare.
"WOW! For a sec, I almost thought you were Serena,..." Mina
exclaimed. "You've really got it down..
But you don't have to act now, come on!"
"I'm not acting, I'm tired." Diamond complained, as Mina whisked
him out of bed. 

"GET DRESSED." She ordered, as her own clothes began to fly around
the room. She turned, half-naked and completely unashamed of it.
"WHAT?!"
Diamond's eyes were shut, as he tried to button the blouse. Diamond frowned. 
"Isn't that inappropriate?"
"What?" Mina said exasperated
as she finished tugging up Diamond's clothes. "Ok. There, you're done."
"I AM NOT A GIRL." He argued back. "You shouldn't undress in 
front of me."
She blushed, and turned sort of green. "I didn't think about it."
Diamond sighed. "I'd prefer not to think about it either."
*********
Madly dashing from where Mina's car had skidded to a halt, they
darted into Usui Yoshiki's studio. Pausing for breath, Diamond admired
the room's construction. The room bathed in natural light from
several skylights above, and from a huge rose window overlooking
a garden. Glass and Steel combined with a wooden floor to blend
the modern with the traditional, just like the color sketches mingled
with photographs showing different seasons of clothes. Diamond
liked some, others confused him, but all intrigued him. Idly he
thought the women of Nemesis would have gone crazy in here, a thought
that made him feel a bit somber.
"THERE SHE IS!" A man called, as he felt his hands grasped lightly,
and a man with a wavy pompadour of brown hair kissed both his cheeks. 
"So you are finally getting married!"
"Uh, yes." Diamond responded a bit flustered looking at the thin
man neatly dressed man in front of him. 
"Well, I promised I would design your dress, and so I have...its the
least I could do for the one who saved my career!" He laughed. "Ever
since that day I met you, I've never lost sight of this feeling,
the feeling I get when designing."
Diamond smiled. "I'm so happy, but, do you have any food?" It seemed a safe 
Serena-like thing to say. Besides, they'd been so late, they didn't
have time for breakfast.
The designer laughed "You still make me laugh!". In a world filled 
with egotistical, artificial and self-immersed models, Serena's zany cuteness 
had been a godsend to him. She was so natural, disarming, and..he paused.
She was the type of girl for whom he'd started designing dresses in the
first place. Someone who wouldn't expect his clothes to provide her with
her identity, but for whom the clothes were simply a fun extension of her
dreams of beauty. Their lack of importance to her made him smile. The 
fashion industry fed on itself too much, losing its balance with the rest
of the world. People like Serena helped him remember that. He looked
over as she was happily chewing something muttering how wonderful it
tasted. A beauitful dress or a tasty meal, she took equal pleasure in it all.
He laughed at her, and she looked up a bit embarrassed. "If you're ready, 
perhaps we can get started with your dress?!"
A shove from the other blonde girl who'd brought her made Serena put down
the cake and follow. His assistants expertly whisked Serena's clothes
off, and slipped her into the long white cloud that was her dress.
"ITS SO BEAUTIFUL!" Mina cooed, as she stepped forward wearing her orange
bridesmaid dress. Or at least, mostly wearing it, for she was dragging
along a woman with pins in her mouth who'd been pinning the back of it
together.
"Is she in it?" Two voices called from the divider in the dressing area,
and the screen flew back and Raye and Jupiter appeared. Each was attired
in her dress. Jupiter's a dark green and Raye's a deep red.

"So...what do you all think?" Usui asked as he stepped in. 
"IT's truly striking!" Jupiter twirled her dress, the dark green skirt
moving fluidly with her.
"Stunning!" Raye added. "And I love my dress also..."
She brushed her hands down her bare arms, up to the high necked color
of the dress. "But aren't these slits a bit, well, daring!?" She indicated
the deep side cuts of the dress which seemed somewhat patterned on a 
traditional chinese dress. "With me there, who's going to look at
the bride!?" Her voice rose in inflection as she gave Serena a look, obviously
inviting a comment back.
Diamond blinked. "That's inappropriate to say!"
"Oh, I forgot you weren't Serena for a second." Raye blushed.
"Fit for the Goddess of love herself!" Mina announced as the woman
finally finnished pinning the back. Mina scrambled past the other three
to admire herself in the mirror.
A small knock followed the appearance of Usui. "I'm glad your friends are 
pleased, but, what do *you* think Serena?"
Diamond looked at the image of Serena in the mirror. Holding out
the dress, he turned a bit this way and that. She really was
beautiful, he thought, looking at the mirror. With this dress
on, he could have been looking at Neo-Queen Selenity instead of
Serena. "All I need are wings, and I would be an angel." He said.
Ushio smiled. "That's what I thought when I saw you...you were my
angel of inspiration....or an imp, but say wasn't there one more
bridesmaid?" He held up a blue dress. 
"Sorry, I'm so late!" A soft voice called as Amy slipped inside.
"I was up late. It is wonderful to meet you again, Mr. Yoshiki."
She took the dress and pulled the screens around her to change.
A second later she appeared again, blushing as everyone stared.
"Amy you're beautiful!" Lita said proudly as everyone nodded in
agreement at the graceful picture she made.
"It fits you so perfectly!" Raye smiled.
"It's so beautiful, and delicate!" She said. "But all the 
dresses are different!" Her eyes widened in surprise.
He smiled. "I know. I hope that is ok, Serena, but after I met your
friends, I realized I couldn't come up with one dress that would suit
all four of them. So I took my sense of each of them, and used that
to create a dress that captured their essences."
Diamond turned around. The women truly did look beautiful attired 
as they were. He blushed, trying to guess what Serena would feel.
Would she be happy with this? He guessed somehow that Serena's kind
heart would have been happy with whatever the man did, if he'd tried
his best. He obviously had put thought into the designs, and the effect
seemed perfect.
"I wouldn't dare change a thing! It's like a rainbow, and if each of
them likes their dress and feel beautiful in it, then that is most
important to me. Thank you for designing these dresses!"He responded.

The designer bowed. "It is the least I could do...My partner does
Men's clothing, and so if your fiancé is around, he would be honored
if he would allow him to create the tuxedo to match your dress. I'll
go and find his sketch to show you."
"Darien's waiting outside." Amy said, when they were alone, and still
playing in their dresses. Except for Diamond who merely waited patiently.
"So tell us already, did you find anything?" Raye asked, at last tired
of admiring herself or at least, fighting Mina for the three way mirror.
Amy shook her head. "So far everything is inconclusive. But 
we thought to ask if you'd learned anything yet with the visions?"
Raye winced. "I couldn't see a thing in the Great Fire."
Lita nodded. "Field too, he said the Stars gave him a huge blank sign"
"You mean its hopeless?" Diamond asked, struggling with the heavy 
skirts to turn around.
"No, just that we haven't found a very conclusive solution. In
fact..."
She stopped as Usui returned holding a pad. "So, show this
to him and let us know, ok? We'll be happy to make it for him!"
"This is all so kind of you!" Diamond said. He'd somehow thought that
the goodness he'd seen in Sailor Moon and Neo-Queen Serenity was abnormal,
but now he realized that so many people in this world shared that quality.
He felt a deep sadness that of all his people, he should be one of the few
to experience a place like this. "Thank you!" He said packing as much
sincere emotion into the words as he could.
The woman assistant laughed at the solemnity of Diamon'd's words.
"Well, wait till you see the bill before you say that so sincerly!!"

"Bill?" Diamond asked confused. "I thought he was designing these for
free?!"
"Designing yes, but the cost of the cloth, and materials, and the dresses
are something different!" The woman smirked. "Trust Usio to never think about 
money...but its worth it, all of you really look lovely." She handed
them the bill.
At the moment, the four girls looked anything but lovely. Their eyes
all but popped out of their head as they looked at the small slip of paper
with their bill. "That's impossible" Lita groaned.
"It's got to be wrong." Raye added
"for a dress?" Amy sighed.
Mina simply collapsed. "I'll be broke forever!"
Diamond stared at the bill, uncomprehendingly. "Is this a lot?"
The four nodded vigorously. "It's awful." They exited the studio,
all complaining about the cost and how they could afford it.
Pluto stopped leaning against the wall, and walked over.
"How did the fittings go? And what's awful?"
"Good thing that's Pluto, and not Darien 'cause he'd blow a gasket
if he saw *that* bill." Mina laughed.
Pluto looked surprised. "It certainly is a lot."
Lita groaned. "You can say that again."

"What are you worried about, Field can afford it." Mina teased. "Maybe
he can buy all our dresses."
Lita blushed bright red, as Raye, Amy and Mina nodded each elaborating
on that point. Diamond's eyes met Pluto's as if to ask "Are they always
like this?" Pluto nodded as if to say "Unfortunately."
****************
In Darien's apartment the group gathered again. 
"Its not much, but its better than what we had this afternoon." Amy
explained through a yawn. She hadn't gotten much sleep the night
before, what with working on this puzzle and then trying to explain
to Greg her situation. At least he'd come up with the synchronization
suggestion.
Diamond frowned. "So, lets see, the only way to get back to our
time is to do the same thing that Serena and Darien are doing 
in the future?"
Pluto nodded. "If we're here, it makes sense they are there, and
if we line up our wills and intentions, we should be able to reach
our powers and return." Amy had already briefed her on Greg's suggestion.

"But if you return, won't you still need Sailor Moon to stop this
time-beast?" Field asked as he clinked the ice in his drink. Right
now he'd have preffered a glass of wine, preferrably red, perhaps
a strong merlot, but not too dry. Actually, the glass of water was
probably for the best, since his mouth was already dry enough. He found
it hard to swallow as he thought again about the mysterious lack of
patterns in the stars. He hadn't explained the extent of this to
Lita so as not to worry her, but he couldn't stand this helpless feeling.
EZ seemed to be similarly frustrated by their inability to deal with 
the situation. "Somehow we'll need to establish a good
method of time travel so we can help you." He didn't like having
to just watch while others did the fighting.
"At least we're aware of their problems now." Lita added tapping
her foot. "As soon as Serena and Darien are back, we'll help you 
for sure!"
"This is so frustrating...why can't it just be a normal monster
and show up here so we can attack it." Mina complained, speaking directly
the thought that hovered in the back of a few minds. 
"It did show up, but in the future, Mina." Amy sighed. "I suppose
you two had better start. No sense in delaying any further."
"Start what?" Diamond asked confused. 
Pluto blushed. "The one thing we realized Serena and Darien would do
is...that is, the event we can synchronize our thoughts and theirs is 
if we--"She stopped. 
"kiss." Artemis blurted. Luna smacked him, but he still padded over
to Diamond. "You two have to kiss, because its the one thing we can guess
those two *would* do."
Everyone seemed to turn various shades of purple or rose, except for
Jed who was highly amused. "Yeah, that sounds like 'em." and EZ who
still looked frustrated and annoyed, perhaps because he hadn't been
able to come up with the solution instead of Greg.
"Kiss?" Diamond said staring up at Darien's face.
"I'm afraid so. We must." Pluto said somewhat horrified as she looking down
at Serena's less than enthusiastic face. 
"Oh for heaven's sakes, you two, if that's all it takes, just close
your eyes and get it over with!" Raye said pushing them together.
Pluto shut her eyes, and leaned over, trying not to touch Diamond in any
other way. Diamond did the same.
"YOU TWO, THAT's AWFUL!" Mina complained. "I, Mina Aino can't stand to see
to people so unknowing of how to express love!" She grabbed EZ and wrapped
her arms around him and kissed him hard. She turned around (leaving a
pleasantly stunned EZ in a daze), putting her hands on her hips. "THAT's
how it's done." She smiled triumphantly. 
"That's not a kiss!" Jed grinned, dipping Raye into a low arc and kissing
her all the way back up to a standing position. She blushed but looked
annoyed. "JED!" She chastised him. 
"That's nothing!"Lita said mischievously, as *she* dipped a startled Field
and kissed him. " See, *he's* smiling..."
"that's just Raye.She makes that face when she's please--" Jed stopped
as Raye's hand flew into the back of his head. "Really, its how she
expresses affection." He ducked the next blow and kissed her cheek.
"Please everyone, you're embarrassing them. All you need to do is 
hold each other close, and think about how much you care for the other
person. Then making sure you've chosen different facial angles, you--"
"Amy, I think they *know* how." Raye said.
Amy blushed purple. "Oh...I'm sorry. I was too literal."
"Too bad Greg's not around, or you could have just 
illustrated, huh?" Mina teased, as the color deepened.
"Or Sammy!" Lita winked. And the usually gentle Amy took a menacing
step towards the tall girl.
"Isn't that joke a bit old?"Amy said tersely. 
Lita wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Oh no--not --wait look! They're
doing it."
"Doing what?" Everyone turned around to where Darien and Serena were 
wrapped in a tight embrace. For a second their image flashed and that
of Pluto and Diamond replaced it, but then Darien and Serena returned.
The couple broke apart. "We'll be ok..." Darien said, but stopped.
"We're back. In our own bodies!"
Serena turned around, her hand holding his tight. "But what happened?
EVERYONE!" She said in surprise looking around. "What are you
doing here!?"
"Watching you kiss."
Serena blushed. "What sort of strange answer is that? Do you know
we were missing? We ended up in this strange void, and you wont' believe
it..."
"Let me guess, you looked like Diamond and he looked like Pluto?!"
Serena blushed. "We weren't going to tell you about that."
"True love conquers all, huh?" Jed grinned. "Even strange forms?"
Darien turned on his friend, a rose scraping by mere inches past his
head. "Jed, you don't know what we went through." He didn't sound
in a mood to be amused.
"WE're so happy you're back, Serena, Darien." Luna said as Serena
picked up her up for a hug.
"We were worried, honestly. But the danger isn't over. You switched
places with Pluto and Diamond because a creature destroyed future time
and they came back here to get our help. But their transport
went a little off and...well, you two switched places with them."
Artemis explained bouncing up onto the bookshelf.
Serena danced hugging Luna against herself. "My body, I'm in my body again...and 
My Darien, muffin's in his...oh, " She stopped looking at everyone. "Oh, 
sorry...so, there's a new enemy? Well, we'll stop this
right now! Come on...let's go." She let go of a slightly dazed and
smushed Luna gasping for air.
"Moonbrain, were you listening?" Raye asked quietly and a bit too sweetly.
"We can't." Amy explained more patiently cutting of the exploding explanation
about to detonate in hurricane Raye. "You see, what happened was
the time Gate was destroyed, so there is no way to travel through
time."
"But, then how are we going to help?!" Serena said.
Everyone shook their heads. "We hope Pluto can find a way to
stabilize the time bridge, but if not..."
"All time is destroyed?! How long do we have before it destroys
the time where we are?!"Serena asked.
"I hadn't thought of that aspect of it...this is very serious." Amy
said suddenly.
"The Stars...that must be why the patterns are disappearing, its like
the future is unravelling into nothingness." Field said frowning."I thought
it was just me at first..."
"The fire just shows blanks, but I thought my concentration was off" Raye
added. "But now, it makes sense. We can't see the future if there is none
to see."
Amy frowned. "I asked Greg about all of this, and all he said was his
visions haven't changed a bit, but he didn't foresee any of this...but
then, his visions were always very short range."
Serena flopped down on the couch. "Well, while we're waiting, is anyone
else hungry!?" If anyone agreed, the words were drowned by the multiple groans
of irritation and disbelief, and cries of "somethings never change!"
*************************
Pluto blinked, feeling a change rippling through her. Better than slipping
into a warm tub of water, or into bed when very tired, she felt relaxed.
She kept concentrating on what she had to do, feeling the warmth of the
pressure against her lips. Yet something in the embrace changed. She was
no longer bracing herself, but holding and being held. No longer an awkward
experience, she melted into that contact, not really seeking to end it.
She wasn't sure what brought her to herself, but she opened her eyes,
as Diamond opened his, and they stared at each other for a minute, 
breaking slightly apart, but his arms were still linked around her back
and her hands on his forearms.
"It worked." She said thankfully. "We're back!"
"So it did." He smiled a sudden mischievous look dancing in his
eyes. Kissing another man (even if he'd been a woman at the time) didn't
sit well in his memories, and to push that scene out of his memory he
pulled her close. "But just in case...." He leaned down and kissed her again.
Pluto was too startled to even think and for a second did nothing, but
then she pulled back. "Diamond?" She said, staring at him, feeling
more uncomfortable than she had in Darien's body, something she'd not
thought possible. "Are you ok? "
He smiled, his eyes lingering on her lips for a second before returning
to her endlessly exquisite crimson eyes. The concern radiating in them made him 
feel strong and whole. "I have never been better."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Time still doesn't exist,so how can
you say that?!"
He nodded, but smiled a little rakishly. "You're right, even
if its enjoyable, time shouldn't stop to hold one moment. So
what do you suggest we try?"
Pluto frowned at the odd note in his voice. Perhaps the trip had affected
him more than it had her. "We could try going back through time again, but
I'm afraid the same thing would happen."
"It would." Ellios said appearing as the crystal forrest lit around them.
"If I had known you were going to try that I might have warned you. 
Unless you stabilize that bridge you cannot cross it except in incorporeal
form. This is how your minds transferred back, displacing the minds
of others in that time."
"So we can't travel or bring Sailor Moon to the future across this bridge?"
Diamond asked his voice returning to its usual somber, serious tones.
"No, it is a good idea, but you need to stabilize it somehow." Ellios
said. "You will need to be able to synchronize your actions with
those of the Scouts in the past--the same way you returned."
Pluto flushed until her skin matched her eyes. "By kissing?"
The impish note returned to Diamond's voice as he winked and said "Now
there's an idea!"
Ellios gave them a strange look, and almost neighed as he said "Nothing like
that! You just have to line up wills and intentions, then and now, for
a crossing of the line balancing existence and time."
"Line?"
Ellios nodded. "I can reach their dreams, and help the synchronization.
But to travel, we'll need something that'll support the displacement
of those coming forward."
Pluto eyes widened and she nodded. "I understand...or I think I do, the time 
corridor
allowed people to leave their time and visit others despite the loss
of mass that created in their time. It stabilized the time--but without it,
if we leave where we are, existence collapses with our absence. So, if
Sailor Moon came forward without something going back, there would be too little 
matter in that time. Something has to go back in their place."
"Something!?" Diamond frowned. "Such as what? I suppose I could go
and she could come..."
Ellios shook his head. "The two of you are all that's real here. Your 
absence from this time would not help expand reality from the creature's
collapsing it. I'm not sure how to resolve this dilemma, really."
"Then let us go." A high genderless voice out of nowhere spoke.
"We can do it." Another voice, lower one almost growled.
"Leave it to us, Master Ellios. You saved us, made us human in form. Yet
if we do nothing for humanity, what kind of humans are we?"A man gently
added, confindence ringing in the bold statement.
"We've never had a dream before." The high genderless voice added.
"So we stayed here escaping reality in the land of dreams." The gentle
but arrogant sounding voice continued. "Burrowing in them, and soaking them up."
"But we've had enough of dreams. Its time for us to act." The gruff voice
rumbled, its pitch increasing almost as high as that of the genderless one. 
Ellios looked surprised. "You three...but I placed you deep in the forrest
of dreams...how can you be existing in real space!?."
"I'm crushed, just like a performer who's left the stage without applause"
A young woman, or boy, said appearing daintily from the waters of
the sparkling lake.
"We may have been defeated by Zirconia and saved by you, but we are
not without power and wills." A tall man with long blonde hair laughed,
as he emerged from behind a tree.
"Will is what makes reality happen, hope is what makes dreams. We
always had will power, so we were always able to be real." The last
said gliding down to stand beside the other two. His jagged pink hair
rose straight up from a face fixed in serious determination. "Despite
what we were created to be, we've learned to be something more."
"The former Amazon trio is here to help in whatever way we can!" The
trio said, bowing low. For a second their images rippled revealing 
a fish, a hawk and a tiger.
Pluto gripped her staff tighter. "Who and what are they?!"
"Our real bodies were originally formed
from animals in the first place. If we can take over three animals,
which have such limited minds of their own, we would be able to
travel back to that time. When we do, the balance would shift enough
to allow Sailor Moon to come forward." Hawk's Eye said. The other
two nodded. 
"It just might work..."Pluto said. "The three of you together, exist
by your wills...so perhaps it will be enough mass for Sailor Moon to
come forward. But I cannot guarantee this will work, you may be
trapped in that past without a future, rather than remaining here."
"What is there here!? No dresses, no dances,just an endless river I've
swum every bit of." Fish eye shook his head. "I want to be alive."
"I too have prowled every bit of this forrest, and am ready for a 
new challenge." Tiger's eye added. "I hope the women of earth
are ready for my beauty returning to them!." He added, tilting
his head rakishly, one hand throwing back the long blonde locks.
Fish Eye sighed dramatically, shaking his head, looking embarrassed.
Hawk's eye ignored them, but said "We're all agreed. We want to wake up
again."
Ellios nodded and a golden light blurred around his horn.
"Get ready, Pluto."
"Now?Already!?" Diamond asked surprised.
"Time is different there and here. Later is now, when time is 
stopped isn't it?" Ellios asked. 
Pluto concentrated feeling something in the past echoing her thoughts.
Different than when she'd tried to use the bridge herself, she simply
felt herself whipped by a force she couldn't define. The golden
glow of Ellio's horn stopped, and as it died down, a rather bewildered
looking Sailor Moon stood there.
"I was in the middle of *such* a great dream, and...its real?!" She
wailed. "Oh no...when did I transform!?" she asked looking up. "Sailor
Pluto!? Do you mean it worked, you got me to the future?! The others
told me what was going on..."
Pluto nodded. "If you're ready, lets start."
Sailor Moon nodded, holding the crystal in her hands as she concentrated.
Ellios stepped closer, his horn glowing brightly. The top of the globe
sparkled and Pluto called out "Dark Dome Open!"
A sound like the universe screaming tore across their minds and a whorl
of *otherness* appeared before them.
"In the name of the Moon, I will restore our future!" Sailor Moon
screamed. Her dress rippled as her concentration intensified, changing
into a golden version of the dress she wore as she became Neo-Queen Selenity.
The crystal changed into a giant golden key, which Serenity twirled and
levelled at the whorl of anti-time/space from which the creature emerged.
It screamed as everything seemed to rush out of the whorl, and the
three humans covered their heads as things flew by them. Ellios
merely stood passively by watching it all restore itself. The landscape
of the land of dreams disappeared as his thoughts faded "You succeeded.
Thank you, Pluto, Diamond and Serenity. Thank you."
They were standing on the grassy plain next to the giant crystal palace.
By their feet, unconscious but unharmed, Neo-Queen Serenity (the older version) 
and Endymion lay arms wrapped around each other. 
Serenity dissolved into Sailor Moon. "Is everything normal now!?"
Mars ran toward them. "What happened? There was this explosion and I
felt as if everything stopped--" She knelt, examining Neo-Queen Serenity,
but then her eyes widened as she caught sight of Sailor Moon. Her head
swivelled from Sailor Moon to Serenity and then back. "Sailor Moon, but!?"
Sailor Moon grinned. "Hi..."
Pluto looked at Moon, and then at Mars. "I suppose I had better explain.
Something happened, and an old enemy took advantage of it to take over the time 
door and escape. We just restored his exile but I'm afraid the Time Door
has itself vanished with the new sealing of this exiled enemy."
Sailor Moon wailed. "NO WAY...If its gone, how do I get home!?"
Pluto frowned. The time bridge had snapped with their use of it. "I
don't know, Sailor Moon."
"What a paradox, two of the same person existing...."Diamond said looking
from Neo-Queen Serenity to Sailor Moon. "How can this be?!"
"Time is itself a paradox...How could something without an end ever
have started?" Pluto quoted mysteriously.
"I don't understand that." Diamond said as he, like Mars, knelt to
wake the sleeping rulers.
"Understand!? I don't care...I just want to get back to my
Darien!" wailed Serena. "And my friends, and my parents and!"
She collapsed hysterically on the ground. "What do you mean the
time door is gone!?"
Pluto waived a hand and repeated the phrase that had always called
time to her. Nothing happened. "Even when others could never see
it, I could. Sailor Moon, I'm sorry. I may have caused time
to unravel, and I never expected this to happen." She knelt
hanging her head. "I knew the price of time travel was heavy to bear,
but I didn't know this would happen."
Neo-Queen Serenity sat up, staring somewhat surprised but not unduly
dismayed to see herself, her younger self that is, pouting in front
of her. "Sailor Moon!" She said smiling. 
"Neo-Queen Serenity!?" Sailor Moon bowed. She knew the woman in front
of her was her, or would be her, but it still felt like someone else.
Someone she idolized and hoped to become, even though she knew she would.

"Pluto, I thought...you said I could not be in the same time with
her!?" Serenity asked somewhat puzzled.
"You should not be meeting, but time unravelled and when we put it
back in order, this was the result." Diamond interjected.
Pluto nodded, swallowing against the lump in her throat. The gate
was no more. 
Neo-Queen Serenity looked at the weeping Sailor Moon, and put her
arms around her. The both felt a pulse of something, but ignored
it, because they couldn't comprehend it. "Its ok, Sailor Moon.
Of course you'll get back to your time. In the meantime, you can
pretend you are just visiting me in Crystal Tokyo the same way I
sent Rini to visit you, ok?"She said gently, as a mother to a child.
Sailor Moon nodded, looking at this woman who was closer than a mother,
a sister, or even a twin, for this was herself comforting her. "Thank you."
The King stood. "I think you'd better explain more fully what happened
Pluto. The Gate may be gone, but we have to get it back. Sailor
Moon cannot stay here in the future! In the meantime, we should
fill everyone else in, and begin searching for a way to create a new
gate."
Neo-Queen Serenity lay her hand on her husband's arm, her other arm still
around the upset Sailor Moon. "Endymion, you and I experienced only a few
second of oblivion, but obviously, Pluto and Diamond have been through
so much more. We can begin tomorrow. For now, let's just celebrate
being alive, and having a future." She smiled. "Besides, if Sailor
Moon is visiting us, shouldn't we show her how Crystal Tokyo parties
rival those of the Moon Kingdom!"
Sailor Moon perked up. "Party? Really!?"
Serenity nodded. "I thought you'd like that! Of course...you're the
legendary warrior, right? We have to have a party." She guided her
husband and her younger self towards the palace.
The three (or two?) disappeared from view leaving Pluto and
Diamond alone on the grassy plain next to the Palace. Pluto picked
a direction at random, walking to relieve the tension she still felt
coiled within her body. This ending without resolution left her
unsatisfied. She'd solved the problem but created another one, a larger
one. 
Diamond followed after her, as she entered one of the larger gardens.
"You look troubled."Diamond said at last breaking the silence. "Are
you thinking of skipping that party?"
His attempt at a joke seemed to fall flat, as she didn't laugh or even smile
let alone look at him.
"Without the door, what possible purpose do I have to exist?" She
whispered looking up at the sky. "I'm supposed to protect *her*. But
I brought her younger self in contact with
her future one, and only luck prevented that from being the disaster theory
predicts. I've failed!"
"How can you say that!?" He countered. "Even if time is a bit
twisted now, its not totally destroyed. Or are you saying that those
who fail to meet their goals should not live?"
She looked at him blankly, not really understanding him. "I am not
generalizing. All I know is *my* life revolved around guarding that door
and I destroyed it!"
"I disagree that *you* destroyed it, Pluto. You were caught up in events
that you couldn't handle alone nor take responsibility for alone. That 
entity took advantage of a situation and the way things resulted..." He
frowned, a thought hitting him. He thought back over everything he'd
been through because of Wiseman and all the destruction he'd caused.
"It's not that bad." He finnished weakly. She hadn't destroyed an entire
planet out of revenge. He frowned trying to collect his thoughts. 
If he were going to think about his own problems, how could he comfort her?
"Not that bad? Everything seems fine, but how can
it really be fine? What if Serena cannot return where she belongs!" She
dropped her head and detransformed. "I would never forgive myself"
"You know more about time than anyone, and if anyone can find a way to return
her it would be you! You cannot give up your duty now! In a way,
I envy you...I had to search for some reason to stay alive after I realized
that Wiseman hadn't killed me. I suppose I still am searching. At first all I
thought that mattered was to see that Neo-Queen Serenity had forgiven me.
And she did, just as she would you forgive you, even though its not your
fault."
She looked up angrily. "Don't compare what I've done to what you did!"
Diamond felt as if his blood had suddenly turned to acid. "What do you
mean by that?" His eyes glittered with emotion.
Her anger faded a bit, as she put a hand on his arm. "I didn't mean it
that way, Diamond. First, Crystal Tokyo *did* condemn your people to
a horrible existence, and your desire for
revenge was an understandable reaction. One which Wiseman used to
corrupt your mind with his powers."
"I should have seen him for what he was." Diamond argued. 
"How could you have? He even turned Small Lady against her own parents!
You weren't yourself, and that is why everyone forgives what happened between
our planets. Yet I do not have that excuse. That creature exploited my
inattention, but its not the same as if my mind were taken over. I've had
that happen before, and I forgave myself then. This time, I have no one to
blame but myself. Do not envy me, I should not even be alive." She
gripped his arm tighter then released it. Instead she gripped a low
trellis wall and half-turned away, the fall of her hair blocking her
expression.
"Stop saying that, Setsuna." Diamond said turning the staff in his hands.
"We'll find a way. That door, well, someone created it once and we'll 
make another one."
"In the meantime, what am I supposed to do?" She said turning around to look
at him through the curtain of her hair. "I've always guarded the door. 
Crystal Tokyo is so well guarded in this time that they do not need my powers
anymore than they needed the rest of the Outer Scouts. And, I've always
been a scout, I'm not sure I can exist if I am not." She tried to
stop the unusual flow of words, but she couldn't help herself for
despair pushed the thoughts out into the sea of Diamond's sympathy.
"If I'm not a Scout, what am I?"
Diamond smiled. "I asked myself that when I realized Wiseman hadn't killed me.
I'd always been a Prince, ruling Nemessis and trying to lead my people
to a better world. But I learned something going back in time and into
Serena's body." He paused trying to catch her eyes. "I learned that I'm also
a man." He grinned and winked. "Even if my body isn't."
That almost made her laugh, but her sadness ran too deep for his attempt
at levity to lift her spirits. "That really doesn't answer my question."
He shook his head. "Yes it does. You're also a woman, Setsuna. Consider this, 
that Sailor Moon, at her heart is just an ordinary girl. Full of love and
life, and laughter, when she is not fighting for those things."
"Do you still love her?" She asked suddenly, soft color spreading
on her face as she tried to read his.
He looked at her curiously. "No. At least, I realize now I was simply
infatuated with the idea of her, for you cannot really love someone
you don't know and who doesn't know you. But I was trying to
tell you, Setsuna, that you should look at this time as a chance for
you to be a woman. To leave your duties temporarily behind, because 
I'm sure this is only a temporary problem. A time for you to, and
I quote "explore your feminine side"!"
*That* did make her smile, if only slightly. "You sounded hysterical
on the phone, and I didn't know what else to say." She admitted.
"But it was right! In the end, that is the
way I looked at our strange experience in the past, as a kind of
experiment, a way to learn about who I really was by exploring who
I wasn't. Not that I'd want to repeat the experience....but 
somehow, I wouldn't change it either, because..." He trailed off, putting his
hands around her shoulders. "I'm not good at expressing feelings,
but I find it hurts me to see this sadness in your eyes."
She looked surprised, and she turned around to avoid looking into
that too perceptive silver gaze. But he kept his grip on her shoulders
so she couldn't walk away. "You are not making sense, Diamond." She whispered.
"Your words are flying apart just like I am."
He slid his arms down hers to her waist to pull her against him.
"I'm sorry. Setsuna, I just don't know how to express these thoughts.
But it feels right to hold you like this." He whispered into her
ear, his words tickling the hairs on her neck. "And if you want
I'll hold you until you feel solid again." 
Shock and surprise mingled inside her mind. She could feel the warmth
of his arms wrapped around her, the gentle but quick racing of his
breath as it lifted strands of her hair. This touch, this embrace said
what his words could not about his emotions, about what he felt. 
Yet what did she feel? She turned in his arms to face him, her hand
tracing the outline of his face. The sharp cheekbone half hidden under
the silky silver-blue strands of hair. His hand came up to trap hers
on his face.
She stared at him, his eyes reflecting both the boy he'd been, hopeful
for a new future, and the man he'd become, quietly lost but struggling to
find his way on this new and uncertain path.
They were both, in a way, out of place here in this world. 
"Its hard for me to express my feelings too."She admitted. "But I
am not sure I know what they are."She said gently stepping away from him.
He smiled wistfully. "I'm only just learning ...but Setsuna, I warn
you, I come from a long line of survivors, people who could coax flowers
to bloom on a planet of desert and snow."
She tilted her head looking at his determined gaze. "Warn me?"
"I'm not going to give up easily." He said.
He leaned down and kissed her as he had the time after they'd returned
to their bodies from the past. "I know love can't
be forced to grow, but I'll try my best to make you feel what I do.."

She whispered a reply almost frantically, pulling him closer, and he smiled as
he bent to kiss her again. "Good. Because I'm not really good at
gardening."
THE END.
********************************
A Goofy alternate ending: (I've been watching a few anime shows where
they take scenes and rewrite them to be funny, and one occurred to me
for this...and I couldn't resist. Maybe its cause that ending is
too sappy even for me....)
"I'm not going to give up easily." He said.
He leaned down and kissed her as he had the time after they'd returned
to their bodies from the past. "I know love can't
be forced to grow, but I'll try my best."

She whispered her reply, her features bathing in the reflected glow
of the purple globe striking its target. As she walked away from
where Diamond's body lay collapsed like a smashed slinky resting, she grinned.
"Well, if I *don't* have the gate to watch maybe I'll go watch
Endymion!"
******Ok, that was bizarre and twisted.. But maybe you'll laugh and
forgive me the sappy "real" ending.*************
Coming Next:
Can NQS avoid killing her younger self out of jealousy?
If so, can Serena get back to her own time (and her wedding!)?
And what exactly happens that brings Hotaru (Saturn) and Safiel together?
Incidently, what do the Trio do back in time and in the real world?
"Ribbons of Silence: Part one: Silk"

Are you still awake? --here's a Contest.
The first person to tell me correctly what episode (japanese #)
the designer I mention appeared in will win
a trading card (DIC version
your choice of: Sailor Moon and Luna, OR Rini and Diana OR Amy
reading a book) AND A sticker from one of the two seasons mostly inspiring
this fic (either R or SuperS --that's a hint). If you don't
know the ep# you could just describe the monster of the day.

Just email the answers and the snail mail address to which you
want this sent (US addresses only, sorry).
If its after September 30th, 1998, you can assume the contest
is over. But you can still email me if you like the story!
That is almost a month from when this is being posted.  

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