Outer Senshi Trilogy

Intermezzo {1/1}


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

Please see comments following the story.

This is part of a trilogy of stories about 
the Outer Senshi. The correct order they 
should be read in is
1. Aftermath
2. Intermezzo
3. Advent 

These are based on the manga and not the anime.

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




Intermezzo
part two of a trilogy of Outer Senshi stories




	Silver cords linked the two combatants to machines 
behind them that were far faster and less prone to errors 
than their fickle human counterparts. Modern fencing was 
so fast a sport that it was necessary. A touch would 
complete an electrical circuit that would signal a 
score to the judges, who were busy determining who had 
the right of way and was able to attack. 
	The shorter of the two smiled behind her 
wire-mesh mask. Her opponent was fast and skilled, 
and was a good work-out for her today. It would still 
take him a few more years to reach his prime, however. 
	His opening pattern of feints had been clever, 
but he had yet to seriously challenge her defense 
without opening himself to her. She had already scored 
on him four times in the practice match. What seemed to 
be an opening would appear in her guard, but by the time 
he could react and attack, it was closed off and she 
was scoring on him with her epee. 
	The last two had been more difficult than the 
first. He had gotten wise to her tricks, but it was 
not easy to resist the chance to even the 
score. Typical, she thought to herself. Yet another 
man who couldn't handle her being good at things they 
considered to be their specialty and became angry, thus 
losing any chance at victory.
	Her own flash of anger got the better of her 
before she could fully control it as she drove past 
him with a speed that he could never match. The tip of 
her epee dug into the light canvas of his jacket, the 
force of the blow making the blade bow upwards. The 
scoring system and the judges registered the touch and 
awarded her the match. 
	She held out her left hand to him in a fencer's 
handshake after saluting him with the blade in her 
right and removing her helmet, as was customary. He 
almost didn't take it, but thought better of it and 
how it would reflect on his career with a dozen of 
the country's best fencing coaches watching, and 
perfunctorily shook it. 
	Theirs had been the last match of the 
session. While the others talked or gathered their 
things prior to leaving, she accepted a few words of 
congratulations from some of the coaches or fencers 
she knew before making her way to the relative quiet 
at the far end of the room. She'd done something she 
shouldn't have during the match. Time to do her 
penance, she reprimanded herself. 
	Back to the basics, she decided, and began to work 
her way across the room in series of practice thrusts 
with exaggerated care. Every move was textbook 
perfect. Back and forth she continued to go, even 
after the others had left. 
	Baka. That was what she was. She was supposed 
to be fitting in with them and doing nothing to draw 
any unusual attention to herself. Thankfully, none of 
the other fencers or judges noticed her slip earlier. 
	Fencers had some of the best reflexes of any 
athletes. Her move earlier to win the match had been 
just a little too fast to be humanly possible. If that 
had been a regular person facing her on the mat, it 
would have been readily apparent. Fortunately, these 
people were used to watching people who were so fast 
that she was only slightly faster in comparison. She 
was safe this time, but she shouldn't have made the 
mistake in the first place.
	" Ten'ou-san?"
	" Yes," she replied to the older man. He'd been 
watching her earlier during the match, and had left 
with one of the coaches she had studied with once. He 
had also walked back into the gym about ten minutes 
ago and had been analytically watching her. 
	" You were very impressive in the match 
today. Congratulations on your victory." 
	" He'll be better with a few more years under his 
belt," she replied as she turned to start moving in the 
other direction again. 
	He smiled a little at that. " I don't have that 
much time, I'm afraid." 
	She waited for him to make the first move and 
shifted to a pattern of parries and ripostes. He tried 
waiting a few moments to see if she would say anything 
else, but she remained silent.
	" Do you know why I am here?" he asked finally, 
breaking the uneasy silence between them. 
	" I think so," she replied. " Why don't you tell 
me firsthand, though? I've only heard the rumors." 
	" All right," he decided and sat on the bottom 
seat of a row of bleachers. " I was just named to the 
position of coach of Japan's fencing team for the 
upcoming Olympics the year after next. I want to 
field the best team possible, Ten'ou-san, but I need 
to assemble it as quickly as possible. 
	" I can guarantee you a spot in the Internationals 
later this year, and if you do well there you're 
virtually guaranteed a spot on the Olympic team. I 
want you on that Olympic team, Ten'ou-san. You're 
the best prospect Japan has for winning a medal 
that I've seen."
	" Why me?" she responded casually and stopped 
to face him, catching his eyes with her green 
ones. " What makes me so special?" 
	" You're already well known, Ten'ou-san," he 
said. " This could be a great help in building up a 
public perception of fencing and sports in general." 
	" Publicity, you mean," she countered. " You 
overestimate me. I don't have that much of a chance 
of winning, I'm afraid. There are at least a dozen 
Europeans who can beat me out there, and that does 
not make for a good story." 
	There are at least a dozen who can beat you 
within the narrow limits of the sport of fencing, she 
added to herself. This was only a game; practice for 
the conflicts that were to come. Those same fencers 
couldn't touch her if it was a real fight. 
	" Are you that sure, Ten'ou-san?" he asked, 
looking disappointed. " I've been teaching this for 
a long time. I think that you have what it takes. Besides, 
representing their country in the Olympics is every 
athlete's dream."
	" Their dream," she snapped but restrained 
herself and kept her voice low and level for the rest 
as she started to walk over to get her bag. He couldn't 
see her looking at the ring on her left hand, which 
was the only piece of jewelry that she wore. " Not mine." 
	
*************************************************

	Fingers danced over familiar strings as she 
checked the tune of her violin for the lessons later 
on in the day. The sunlight coming through the windows 
caught the silver metal of the band of the only ring 
she wore; a simple ring that she wouldn't have traded 
for any other in the world.
	After a few minutes, she had worked the slight 
stiffness due to a lack of recent, regular practice 
from her fingers and felt more alert and aware. Music 
did that for her. It had always done that for her, she 
reflected as she set down the instrument and readied 
the others. Today was her beginner's class, and she 
taught more than just the violin, even though most were 
there for that. 
	Or, she smiled to herself, most of the parents 
sent their children here to study the violin under her 
tutelage. Few children displayed the love for the 
difficult instrument that she had at an early age. In 
all probability, some of those parents wished for a 
portion of the riches and fame a gifted child could 
earn.
	Fortunately, most of the children quickly came 
to like her and wanted the lessons to continue. She 
didn't think that she could have gone on for too long 
otherwise. 	
	Unfortunately, this was not her class at the 
public school that she volunteered to teach. At first, 
it had been a ruse to give Setsuna easier access to the 
public school system's records in order to set up 
falsified records. Over time, however, she had grown 
fond of those children. Also, the reason for her recent 
worries was not a student at the local public school. 
	" A pegasus, Kaioh-sensei!"
	She had heard the whisper from the back of the 
room as she was showing a boy the right way to hold a 
bow while Hotaru had played. It was the girl's second 
time in a session with the children at their house, and 
since the little girl now looked to be about five or 
six, the three women thought it to be a good way to 
let Hotaru interact with the others on a trial basis. 
	She had shown Hotaru the basics of the violin 
earlier, but nobody expected her to take to it so 
well. Her moves lacked the expertise and polish that 
years of playing would give her, but Hotaru's raw 
talent had shocked the other children. 
	Her pride had been like a parent discovering 
her child was a prodigy. It lasted until that whisper 
made her snap her head around in time to see the 
ghostly form of a winged horse. Even what little she 
could see told her that the animal was in great pain. A 
moment later, the vision faded, but not before she 
caught a flicker of movement in the vision. 
	A girl ran towards the horse. She was vague and 
indistinct as she moved towards the pegasus, but every 
line she could make out bespoke of sorrow. What made 
her blood go cold, however, was that the girl's hair 
was worn up in an all-too familiar style. They only 
knew of two girls who wore their hair like that and 
looked like it belonged.

*************************************************
	
	First she removed the ring from her left hand 
ring finger and put it on a chain which went around 
her neck. She wouldn't forgive herself for damaging 
that particular ring. Then, she tied the apron strings 
behind her back, took the vegetables out of the colander 
they had been rinsed in and began to cut them. The 
knife's movements were swift and confident as she cut 
them into smaller pieces, which were then set aside 
to be cooked a few minutes later. The whole point, she 
reminded herself of the rules in one of the cookbooks 
she had read, was to have everything cut and ready to 
cook before you actually begin cooking.
	The thought of her being so domestic made her 
laugh aloud. She would have never though of herself 
as being part of a family, let alone cooking like 
this. Before, she never had the time due to her other 
duties. When she did bother to eat, an act done more 
out of the habit of keeping her disguise than hunger, 
it was at some kind of restaurant. Sure, she had a 
home to live in... well, several actually, but she 
never bothered cooking. 
	" Setsuna-mama?" Hotaru called out as she came 
into the room. " Are you all right?" 
	" Yes, I am, Hotaru-chan," she replied and smiled 
at the girl. " I was just laughing because I'm happy 
right now."
	" You usually don't laugh like that, Setsuna-mama," 
the girl said and turned her large, violet eyes on the 
woman. She hadn't asked a question, but it was there in 
her eyes.
	" I was thinking that I was happy being here with 
you and Michiru and Haruka." the woman explained as she 
began to mix up some flour and melted butter to form 
the basis for a roux that would be the foundation of a 
sauce to go over the meat that Haruka would cook on 
the grill outside in a few minutes. " That's why I 
laughed." Hotaru's reply was to run over to her and 
throw her arms around the woman's waist in a fierce 
hug.
	" I'm glad that you're happy, Setsuna-mama."
	" So am I, hime-chan, so am I," she smiled as 
she put one arm around the girl. 
	" Can I help you?" Hotaru brightly asked, eager 
to be involved with what the adults did. 
	" Yes," the woman laughed and pointed to the 
other end of the counter and a stack of plates and 
glasses. " You can set the table, but remember, only 
one plate at a time."
	" Okay," the girl nodded and started on ferrying 
the items to the table. " I'm sorry about the plates 
the other day, Setsuna-mama. I thought that I was 
strong enough to carry all four at once. I wanted to 
help, and it was getting close to dinner. All I wanted 
to do was to surprise you by helping out." 
	" You are strong enough, little one, but you 
don't have the control yet. That will come in 
time. Remember, you're still a growing girl.
	" And," she added, seeing the remorseful look 
on the girl's face. " Michiru-mama is not mad at you 
about the plates, Hotaru-chan. She understands that 
it was an accident, and that you didn't mean to drop 
that stack."
	" But she was angry at first." 
	" Yes, but she was angry that the plates were 
broken, and not at you for breaking them. She put in 
a lot of time and work finding the ones in that 
particular style, Hotaru-chan, and that was why she 
was angry. Do you think that you understand the 
difference?" 
	" I think so," the girl frowned slightly,
furrowing her brow as she thought. 
	" Well, why don't you think about it some more 
if you aren't certain that you understand yet," she 
said as she turned on the gas flame under a wok on 
the stove. " Are you done with your studies for today?" 
	" Yes," the girl nodded and put the last of the 
silverware on the table, and followed it up with the 
glasses. The woman glanced out the window, seeing 
Haruka slowly and methodically vacuuming the pool in 
the back of the yard. 
	" Michiru-mama should be back soon. Why don't 
you go and tell Haruka-papa that dinner will be ready 
in fifteen minutes, and that I'll need her in about 
five?"
	" Hai!" the girl agreed and ran out of the 
kitchen and down the hall. Setsuna heard the back 
door open and close, and watched the girl run across 
the yard and over to the blonde woman. Haruka laughed, 
swept her up into a hug and spun her around a few times.      
	She is growing so quickly, Setsuna told herself 
as she put some peanut oil into the wok and began 
cooking. It has been only six months since they started 
looking after the girl, and she seemed to have aged 
almost the same number of years.
	" Something is happening," she speculatively 
informed the empty kitchen and fervently wished that 
she knew what it was.

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

	A slightly wet, somewhat bedraggled, and thoroughly 
smiling Michiru joined the other two women in the living 
room about a half hour after dinner. Her hair was somewhat 
damp, as was the white dressing gown in a few spots. The 
clothes she had been wearing were now in the dryer. 
	" I take it that somebody was having fun?" Setsuna 
teased her and smiled.    
	" Yes," she grinned back and sat next to 
Haruka. " Hotaru-chan decided to splash some water 
around for a little bit, but she did settle down 
finally and take a proper bath."  
	" And you couldn't resist the challenge, ne?" the 
blonde replied, her voice light and dry. Michiru simply 
mock-glared at her for a moment before teasingly 
smiling and nodded. 
	" Did anything happen at the lessons today, 
Michiru?" Setsuna asked. They had refrained from 
discussing business at the table, as was usual. It 
was as much to keep Hotaru from hearing them as it 
was an agreement. She and Michiru had outvoted Haruka, 
and declared meals to be times of relaxation unless 
it was a bona fide emergency. 
	" No," Michiru said. " Today it was quiet, 
although a few children were whispering about what 
had happened."
	" Anything from any of the parents?"
	" No," she replied to Setsuna. " None of them 
said anything that would make me believe that the 
children have told them anything and it was believed. So 
far, we're safe." 
	" That makes it four visitations with Chibi-usa 
in them at the end, then," Haruka commented. " I still 
think that this means something, even if we haven't had 
one for two weeks now." 
	" I believe you, Haruka," Setsuna replied, poured 
herself a cup of tea and opened up her laptop 
computer. " I was able to get into the university's 
computer system last night and ran the test results 
through it to confirm what I got." 
	" And?"
	The older woman brought up a file and handed 
the unit over. " There was nothing unusual. Her 
medical information is all normal. Ours is as 
well. According to virtually every test known to 
the modern medical science of one of the best research 
universities in the world, we are in perfect health, 
and absolutely nothing is wrong with any of us." 
	It had been trickier to sneak the child into a 
medical lab on a weekend, but she had managed by 
changing the records so that it was not in use at the 
time. The same had been done for the three women. After 
the tests were done, Setsuna had removed the data and 
any evidence leading to them from the computers and 
bided her time until she could get to the main computer 
to decipher the results.
	" In other words," Michiru added. " There are 
still no reasons that we know of for losing our powers 
or why Hotaru-chan is growing so quickly." 
	" In other words, we're back to square 
one. " Haruka bitterly added. " Damn."
	" I'm afraid so," Setsuna agreed. " We have 
something going on or shall be going on with Small 
Lady, at least if we believe that Hotaru's visions 
are accurate.  Nor do we know if it is something 
going on now or in the future if she happens to be 
precognitive." 
	" And not a trace of our powers since the 
eclipse," Michiru added with a sardonic smile. " One 
hell of an April Fool's joke is being played on us." 
	 " Joke or not, we still have a job to do," the 
older woman replied. " And we have only a fraction of 
the resources we expected to have. I still can't reach 
my castle, but that itself isn't too surprising since 
I may need to be a Senshi in order to be 
recognized. What worries me is that my guardian 
isn't responding. She's supposed to be the back-up 
in case of emergencies like this." 
	" This talk of castles is weird," Haruka 
chuckled. " I trust you, Setsuna, but it is still 
weird. We've never felt them or remember being there." 
 	" They are there, you two," Setsuna smiled. Uranus 
and Neptune had been directly reincarnated like the Inner 
Senshi and the princess. Her own path to this time and 
existence was somewhat more convoluted than theirs, and 
because of that she knew things that they did 
not. " When we figure this out, I'll take you to 
yours." 
	" And that kawaii little image of you was 
Guardian Pluto, right?" Michiru smiled merrily 
despite the gravity of the situation. She had 
enjoyed teasing Pluto about the appearance of the 
artificial intelligence that Pluto had summoned 
once while they were trying to learn more about 
the Deathbusters. It was only that they had seen 
the apparition at all that they believed Setsuna 
about the existence of these castles in orbit 
around their respective planets.  
	" Yes, that was her," Setsuna replied with a 
light grin of her own. Michiru had made her laugh as 
well with the raised eyebrow that was her first 
reaction to the spirited little apparition. " I don't 
think that there is anything that she can add to 
what I have found out, but I would like to make sure."
	" So," Haruka added a few moments later. " The 
only assets we can rely on are our wits and the 
Talismans. At least they still work." 
	" Two of them are," Setsuna quietly reminded 
them, glancing at Michiru. 
	" The Deep Aqua Mirror is just fine," Michiru 
reassured them with a pointed glare behind her light 
voice. Neither had agreed with her at first when she 
gave the mirror to Chibi-usa before they left the 
others. Now it was looking like a fortunate 
decision. Michiru always knew where the mirror was 
despite it not being in her possession, so they could 
keep track of at least one of their former allies. 
	"The mirror is as much of a part of me as yours 
are a part of you," she reassured them. " If I truly 
need it, it will return to me."
	" I believe you, Michiru," Haruka said as an 
apology for her lack of faith, still trying to make 
it up to her on this issue. Hotaru's voice called 
out from upstairs and Michiru sighed. 
	" Once more, into the breach," she wryly 
commented and stood. " Anything else, Setsuna?"
	" No," she sighed as well. " We're just going 
to have to figure out how to make it on our own, it 
seems."

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

	Sea gulls wheeled about overhead, their strident 
cries a sharp reminder to Michiru of how long it had 
been since they had been to the beach. It was also 
the cause of a pang of loss. Before she had lost her 
powers, she always felt close to being able to 
understand what they were crying about. It was as 
if a few more minutes of listening would be the key 
to unlocking the puzzle. 
	Now it was just noise without any pattern or 
meaning to it.  
	" Haruka-papa!" Hotaru shrieked with laughter 
and was splashed with a cascade of water as Haruka 
came out of the sea behind her and crashed back down, 
creating a deluge.
	" Why don't you go join them?" Setsuna asked from 
under the relative shelter of the umbrella at their 
spot. It was still somewhat early, so the morning 
sunlight wasn't too bad yet. Nor were the crowds, 
although that would change in a few hours. " We've 
been here a while, and you still haven't gone in the 
water." 
	" You're one to talk," Michiru neatly deflected 
the question, noticing the still dry swimsuit that 
the other woman wore.   
	" I didn't come here for the water," Setsuna 
countered with a sly smile, catching Michiru with 
her own words from early that morning when the impromptu 
trip had been decided upon. Michiru laughed, readily 
acknowledging her defeat.
	" So why are you here?" 
	" The sun, darling," Setsuna drawled, making 
Michiru giggle despite herself at the change in the 
woman's behavior. " My tan is fading horribly." 
	Despite ample evidence to the contrary over the 
past several months, her mental image of Setsuna was 
still someone who was too serious for her own good. The 
seriousness was always there, but a dry wit often 
lurked behind those red eyes, and sometimes it would 
even escape. 
	" I've been spending too much time indoors 
lately," Setsuna went on in a more normal tone of 
voice. " We all have, really." 
	" There's three of us and we can barely keep 
up with her," Michiru commented and stood up. " It 
makes me wonder how a single parent like ever does 
it, Setsuna." 
	Setsuna nodded in agreement as Michiru went down 
and helped out Hotaru in her water splashing contest 
with Haruka. The simple fact was that they did not 
have a regular child to raise, she told herself as 
she watched them for a while. 
	A little while later, after she put on some 
sunscreen in order to avoid burning and calling Hotaru 
over to get the same treatment, she joined them in the 
water. The poor girl got ganged up on for a little while 
at first and thoroughly enjoyed it before the fray 
settled down to Haruka and Hotaru against Michiru and 
herself. 
	" How about I start on a sand castle?" Haruka 
asked Hotaru after seeing the fatigue beginning to show 
in her eyes and her movements. She still didn't have the 
endurance of a child of her apparent age, but was 
beginning to catch up. 
	" Hai!" she agreed and then yelped in surprise 
as Setsuna scooped her up and put her up on her shoulder. 
	" I need a cold drink, little one, and I think 
you could do with the same," she said and carried Hotaru 
back to their blankets. Michiru followed and took a 
towel and some yen from her purse. 
	" There's a stand down the way that has good 
bento," she told them. " Anybody want anything in 
particular?" 
	" No natto," Haruka quickly offered as she took 
the large, sturdy bucket she had used to carry some of 
their odds and ends in from the car. She also grabbed 
the small, folding shovel she had brought along since 
she had a good idea of what was going to happen. Hotaru 
liked to do things with her hands.
	" Honestly, Haruka," Michiru sighed in 
mock-exasperation and put her hands on her hips 
while trying to look offended. The smile on her 
face ruined the effect to some degree. " Do you 
really think that I would have forgotten that after 
all this time?" 
	The blonde blushed at the teasing and withdrew 
in order to begin getting the sand for the castle's 
foundation. Michiru laughed at the look on Haruka's 
face before going to one of the showers on her way 
to the bento stand. 
	" Here you go," the woman said while she opened 
and handed the girl a can of chilled apple juice 
while pouring herself some of the iced green tea 
she had made that morning. She settled back in her 
lounge chair and thought to herself that it was a 
wonderful day, despite all their other problems. 
	" Setsuna-mama?" Hotaru spoke up right as the 
woman was going to tell herself that they needed a 
relaxing day like this. " What's that word for a person 
that you told me that is sort of like Haruka-papa, but 
they dress that way on purpose?" 
	Oh boy, she sighed to herself. She had almost 
spoken too soon. " A transvestite," she replied, glad 
that Hotaru knew the difference but still dreading what 
was to come. This was Hotaru's version of asking about 
the birds and the bees. 
	The girl had asked and been taught by them about 
where babies came from, and understood the biological 
mechanics. So far, she only felt that a couple would do 
that if they wanted to have a child, however. She still 
didn't understand or know about sexual desire, thank 
goodness.
	What confused Hotaru sometimes, however, was 
perceived gender roles and how a few people blurred 
them. It was almost understandable given how often she 
had seen Haruka mistaken for being a man. Since her 
father was no longer around, she didn't have a 
conventional father figure to learn from like most 
children. Nor had she several more years of time to 
learn it in like a regular child.  
	" I think that he is one of them," Hotaru decided 
and nodded towards a group of young men who were 
probably high school or college students. The sight 
of a head of pink hair in among them made Setsuna do 
a double take as she looked in that direction.
	Her hair was a shade paler than Chibi-usa's and 
reached to the middle of her back, and she had long 
bangs in front. He, Setsuna reminded herself. He looked 
so much like a girl that it was surprising to not see 
what she expected when he pulled off the dress shirt 
he was wearing and put on a loose top in a floral 
pattern. The other boys with him didn't even bat an 
eyelash when this happened.
	" He might be," Setsuna decided, losing herself 
in the flood of memories the pink hair evoked, even if 
the color was a bit off. She, unlike Michiru and Haruka, 
had not seen the pegasus that Hotaru's violin playing 
could summon up, nor the young girl who would run 
towards it at the end of the vision.
	" Haruka-papa isn't like that, right?" 
	" No, she isn't," Setsuna reassured her and closed 
her eyes in an attempt to banish the old ghost she was 
seeing. " She doesn't dress like a man on 
purpose. People just think she is one sometimes." 

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

	The notes coming from the piano were a slow, 
steady, and heartbreakingly sad testament to one woman's 
grief. 
	" This will not do," Michiru softly told 
herself. It was the night of their trip to the beach, 
and she was currently leaning back up against a wall 
in the hallway, right outside the door to the library 
where they had placed one of their pianos. The grand 
was downstairs in the room that was used for the 
lessons she taught, but they also put in an upright 
piano as well. The walls were soundproofed to some 
degree, so the notes were whispers of what they 
should be. 
	Haruka's improvisation was slowed down to the 
point of being almost unrecognizable, but she had been 
able to determine after listening for a few minutes 
that it was not just random notes. It reminded her of 
the melody they had heard in a movie where one of the 
minor characters had died and the main ones reflected 
upon her loss. As in that movie, it was just note after 
note on an unaccompanied piano, and it was like your 
heart was getting torn out.   
	The violin, someone had once said, was either 
like the voice of the devil or that of an angel. It 
could sound like either one; carrying the listener to 
the heights of joy or the brink of despair. In her 
opinion, the piano was far better at plumbing the 
depths than the violin could ever be. There was just 
something a piano on its' own like that. 
	Normally, she might have tried joining the blonde 
to cheer her up with a change of tempo and some different 
music for them to play, but there was something else to 
consider right now. She opened the door, stepped into 
the room and waited a moment. Haruka realized she was 
there and turned, her face flushing slightly in 
embarrassment at being caught while indulging her 
emotions.
	She started to speak, but stopped when Michiru 
put a finger to her lips and beckoned her forward. They 
walked out of the room and past the bedrooms, being 
careful to not wake the sleeping Hotaru in an adjoining 
room. Michiru led her downstairs and to the doorway 
leading to the covered porch overlooking the back 
yard. Both had been silent the whole way, so they 
did not disturb the woman sitting on the steps. 
	 A wavering, shimmering and hazy view of something 
hung in the air before Setsuna. The Garnet Rod rested 
across her lap, and the Orb shone in the darkness and 
let them see the white knuckles that were clenched as 
she tightly gripped the haft of the weapon. A nearly 
full wine bottle and an empty glass sat next to her. The 
liquid looked black in the red-colored light. 
	" ... make you happy... ," they could barely hear 
the phantasmal image of Sailor Pluto telling that of 
the Small Lady. " ... raise your spirits... magic... 
Abracadabra..." 
	" Pon," the real Setsuna muffled her sob, but 
the other two woman could still hear the words. Out of 
nowhere, a cascade of brightly colored flowers fell 
around her, creating a living carpet on the steps like 
it did to the little girl in the vision. The image 
vanished with a pop like a soap bubble, but not before 
the girl smiled radiantly. Setsuna began to cry. 
	Haruka made to move to her, but was 
restrained. Michiru tugged her back deeper into the 
house in order to give the other woman a modicum of 
privacy. " She needs-" Haruka began to say, but was 
interrupted.
	" She needs to cry, Haruka," Michiru explained 
in a soft whisper. " Do you know what she was looking 
at?" 
	" The future, I gather." 
	" She was looking at our future, but it is her 
past. She misses her friends in her future, Haruka. You 
saw how Chibi-usa reacted when she saw Pluto here for 
the first time. They had to have been very close to each 
other. She's lonely and misses those people who were in 
her life." 
	" Then why did you stop me?" she demanded. " She 
shouldn't be alone, then. We can show her that we care 
about her, too." 
	" I am going to her," Michiru corrected her. " If 
it takes some wine and a vision of the future to break 
down those walls, she won't want us to see her like 
that. I'll give her a few minutes to work it out of her 
system before I go talk to her. In the meantime, you are 
going to go upstairs and keep an eye on somebody. You 
know how poorly Hotaru took it when she saw me crying. 
	" You're to sit on Hotaru-chan to keep her up there 
and away from Setsuna if necessary. She's never seen 
Setsuna break down... " Michiru's voice trailed off as
both realized that they hadn't even seen the woman be 
bothered by anything to such a degree.   
	Haruka smiled softly a moment later and pulled 
Michiru into a hug with her. " I do remember," she said, 
recalling how bad that one week had been. The pressures 
of their life rarely bothered her love, but even she 
could have bad days at times. Another thing came to her 
mind as well. " Michiru?"  
	" Yes?" 
	" I'm sorry." 
	" Whatever for?" she lightly laughed. The blonde 
imagined the look in Michiru's eyes right now. Mischievous 
and flashing, despite the gravity of the situation.
	" Taking you for granted sometimes," Haruka 
replied. Her voice was light and even like she enjoyed 
the jest, but it was also utterly sincere. " It is times 
like these that make me realize how important you are to 
us, and to me. Without you, I could never reach so high 
or run so fast. 
	" I'm not as strong as everyone thinks, not without 
you. I'm beginning to see that you're doing the same 
thing for Setsuna, and even for Hotaru. If we are strong, 
it is only because of you being our foundation. A deft 
touch there, a caring word here, and we keep on going. 
	" You make it look so easy, Michiru. So easy that I 
sometimes forget that you are even doing it, and I 
wanted... no, needed to tell you that." she finished 
and kissed Michiru on the forehead. 
	" Thank you, Haruka," she whispered and wiped away 
a tear that was threatening to form. " I'm glad-" 
	" What? That I'm not too dense to recognize it 
some times?" Haruka interrupted her with a smile. She 
took hold of Michiru's shoulders and turned her around 
so that she faced the back of the house. " She just 
stopped crying. I'll keep Hotaru down for a couple of 
hours, and then I'm going to go out for a little spin 
to clear my head. Let me know if you need me here, 
though. I'll be glad to stay for you.
	" Or with you," she teased the shorter woman and 
gave her a nudge. 

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

	It had not been an easy night for her, but a 
good talk and sleep had done wonders for restoring 
her spirits. At Haruka's suggestion that morning, 
she had left her Jaguar behind and taken one of 
Haruka's old roadsters. The top was down, her hair 
was streaming out behind her, and the dark sunglasses 
completed the look. This was a definite change of 
pace, and it had helped her more than she thought 
it would have. 
	She cruised by one of the speed traps and even 
waved at the two motorcycle officers there who were 
monitoring the traffic that had left the freeway at 
her exit. Keio University had enough affluent 
students to warrant a number of drivers, and 
college students always seemed to be in a hurry. That 
meant speeding, and that led to tickets, but they 
wouldn't get her today. Haruka would take them on 
a race and challenge them, but her tactic was to 
be precisely on the speed limit. 
	A number of the faculty took second looks at 
her as she pulled into her parking spot near the 
entrance. It was a selfish little perk, but she 
didn't give herself that many of them. When asked, 
she said that she was using the one assigned by the 
school to her superior while he was in America. They 
were not just looking at her in envy, though. The 
different car and a bold and bright outfit of 
Haruka's that Michiru suggested would look good 
on her were a change of pace for her. She could 
almost imagine the gossip that would be circulating 
later on. A new lover would probably be at the top 
of the list.
	The idea made her laugh out loud as she got 
out of the car and engaged the alarm systems.  As 
she made her way across the campus to her building, 
she exchanged a few greetings and wove her hair into 
a loose braid. A clip with a pastoral scene in 
brightly colored enamels kept it from unraveling 
and getting in her way.
	Once in her office, the smile faded from her 
face as she locked the door. The regular faculty 
were going to have a short meeting before classes 
got underway, and that would give her the few minutes 
for some more unusual tests and measurements that 
were the real reason she was here. It would be easier 
to do them without the chance of being discovered. 
	According to the school records, she was part 
of a physics project being run with an American 
university. She was the research assistant and 
liaison to the professor in America actually running 
the project. That was her cover story, and it had 
been carefully set up by her to avoid any possible 
confusion or questions about her comings and 
goings. The labs were not in the best or newest 
of the science buildings, so no other instructors 
became jealous of her project's status. 
	What was important to her was that her lab 
was the one that was closest to the Mugen Delta. Four 
kilometers away to the south and west was the remains 
of Mugen Gakuen. At first she had been studying the 
structure of space as a cover to investigate the 
ways that the Deathbusters were infiltrating their 
world while Michiru and Haruka went undercover at 
the school itself. 
	There had been no more traces of their enemy 
after Sailor Saturn had destroyed them and the 
princess had healed up the damage done in the 
process. That didn't stop her from checking up 
on things, however. Their enemies had managed to 
infiltrate this world without their noticing once 
before, and they were very determined that it 
would not happen again. 
	The equipment only took a few moments to 
come on-line and signal that it was ready. She 
inserted a removable hard drive into a slot on 
the main computer, and tapped in a few unusual 
commands and a series of passwords that answered 
questions which only two other people in all of 
existence could answer. Everything rebooted and 
took on her own specifications. The irony here 
threatened to break through the mask she kept 
over her features while she worked. All of the 
equipment had been designed by normal human 
scientists. All of it had been dismissed as not 
working, a hoax, or madness. She knew the truth of 
the matter, however. This world's scientists were 
far closer to their goal then they would ever believe. 
	What they did not have was a way to manipulate 
time. They could perceive a significant disturbance 
in it, assuming that they knew where to look. So far, 
it had always been in the wrong place, and she was 
not about to give them any hints. Her arrangement 
of the way the machines interacted was the key. The 
data she was about to get would probably earn 
somebody a place in history or one on a cross. 
	She took out the Garnet Rod in order to hold 
it in both hands. After a few minutes of calming her 
mind and gathering the power of the Talisman, she 
took a deep breath and opened her eyes onto another 
world. In response to that power, her braided hair 
floated up behind her like it was considering taking 
on a life of its' own. The thought of how the 
princess ever managed with her own hair was nudged 
aside.  
	A faint pulse of the temporal energies in 
the Orb was directed outward towards the grounds 
of Mugen Gakuen. The dials and gauges began to dance 
as they read the returning echoes of that energy, 
and the monitors sprang into activity right after 
that. Setsuna quickly put away her staff and peered 
over the consoles. So far it looked like nothing had 
changed. The final analysis would have to wait until 
later, but for now it still looked like the 
Deathbusters would never be heard from again.       
	After the data had been compiled, she loaded 
all of it onto the heavily encrypted computer drive 
which she then put back in her purse. It only took 
her a few moments more to erase any trace of what she 
had been doing and reset all of the equipment back to 
normal. This equipment was like the ears in the old 
riddle. 
	What is the sound of one hand clapping? While 
even she didn't know the real answer to that one, she 
was the one doing the clapping that three supposedly 
secret research projects were trying to hear. She had 
long since studied and memorized the reports they 
would make in the near future detailing their 
operations and the futility of any further temporal 
research.  
	Now that her real work was done, she unlocked 
the door and proceeded to engage in keeping up the 
facade. She needed little time to do what her project 
was supposed to do, so she would often help out with 
some of the other professors and research assistants 
on her floor. It was nice of her to help, and the 
others appreciated it. It also helped her to feel 
more accepted.    
	After surprising her friends there with fresh 
tea after they got back from the meeting, she took on 
a few stacks of papers to grade. She would 
occasionally go back into her labs to ostensibly 
check something or adjust a piece of equipment.  
	" Ah, Setsuna-san," the man's deep voice 
boomed out as he poked his head into the common room 
where she was grading papers. " Can I ask a favor of 
you today?" 
	" Certainly," she smiled at the professor and 
motioned for him to sit. 
	" I have some test data that I need taken over 
to Dr. Shizuma this afternoon, and since you have 
already been there... " he said after he sat. His 
voice trailed off slightly in hopeful expectation. 
	" The mad scientist of Moto Azabu high 
school?" she chuckled and nodded while her heart 
skipped a beat. She grinned and tried to blush in 
order to hide her reaction. Since the school was 
on her way home she had done this before. 
	He joined in the mirth and laughed. " He likes 
to teach at that level, Setsuna-san. It is his love, 
but high energy physics runs a close second. I have 
some results from the super collider project that 
he's going to look at in order to try and prove 
Minovski's Theorem." 
	" Is he still in the same classroom there, 
Shima-sensei?" she asked and worked out the details 
with him, along with a promise to drop off the 
documentation later on. He'd sign her off as working 
under him so she could leave early that day. 
	While her mind went on with grading papers, her 
heart started hoping that he might be at the school 
as well. The chances were slim, but he still did return 
to his old school on occasion. He was currently taking 
classes in the medical buildings at Keio University on 
the other side of the campus, which she was careful to 
avoid, but her heart wanted to see him. 
	She tried to stop thinking about it, but gave up 
after a while and resolutely swore to have the offending 
organ removed as soon as possible. It would probably 
hurt less in the long run.  

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

	The blue Ferrari gracefully swerved around a 
stopped car, negotiated the tight turn into the 
driveway and came to a smooth stop by the front 
doors. Michiru got out of the car carrying the long, 
narrow case that held the flute she was taking lessons 
in. A careful observer could have seen the slight 
tightness to her shoulders, and perhaps the slight 
flutter of her hair that betrayed her quicker than 
normal pace. 
	The hallway table received the flute case but 
not her purse. She glanced around briefly and 
listened. It was quiet. Not too quiet, however. A 
trace of music betrayed Haruka's presence; a soft 
outpouring of the sultry jazz of the radio program 
she liked to listen to this time of the day. That 
meant that Hotaru was not with her right this moment, 
so she walked to the study next to the den where 
Haruka was reading. 
	" Hi, Michiru," she heard her partner murmur, 
but she kept on going. 
	" Hotaru-chan?" she asked as she went into room 
to see what the girl was up to. A few books were neatly 
arranged on the table as she worked her way through a 
series of what looked to be math problems. 
	" Michiru-mama!" the girl greeted her and ran 
over to get a quick hug. " You're back early today." 
	" Ogura-sensei had to leave early today, so I 
got out early," the woman responded and smiled at the 
girl. " Do you feel up to taking a break right now?" 
	" I'm almost done with tomorrow's problems," Hotaru 
confided. " I like working with fractions like this. It's 
easier now that Haruka-papa showed me where I was making 
my mistakes." 
	" Well, since you're being such a good girl, how 
does a quick trip to Lakeside Park sound? The other 
children should be getting there soon."
	" What's up, Michiru?" Haruka asked from behind 
her as Hotaru eagerly nodded at the prospect of 
playing with some other children. Due to her not 
being in a regular school, she didn't get as much time 
to be with children her own age as most kids. 
	" We're going to the park, Haruka-papa!" the girl 
eagerly exclaimed and grabbed one of the blonde's 
arms. She tried to playfully drag her towards the 
front door, but the tall woman hesitated. 
	" I need to change-" 
	" You look fine, Haruka," Michiru quickly 
interrupted her. Haruka was in a white shirt and 
black pants that were a bit too nice for what Haruka 
thought would be going on in a little bit. She didn't 
know that they weren't going to the park. Only Hotaru 
was.

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

	" That makes all the work mean something, you 
know?" Haruka mused as they watched Hotaru run over 
to join a group of children by a set of swings. They 
had been lucky to get a space for her in the day 
care center at the park. Despite all their money or 
fancy tricks, it had only been because the woman who 
owned and operated the facility had taken such a 
liking to Hotaru when they first brought her here a 
few weeks ago that they were able to leave her here 
at all. 
	At her current rate of growth, Setsuna guessed 
that Hotaru only had a few more weeks here before 
they would have to move her again in order to avoid 
any suspicion. The girl never questioned this aspect 
of her life, thankfully. If her 'parents' said that 
she had to move around like this, she accepted that 
the reasons were valid and did not complain. 
	" It does," Michiru agreed. " They'll keep an 
eye on her for a few hours so we can go get something 
to eat." 
	" We just ate a little while ago," Haruka offered. 
	" This is more than just eating, Haruka," she 
replied in a firm voice that allowed no room for 
disagreement. They went off to the car, and Haruka 
was surprised again when Michiru took the keys from 
her. " I'll drive." 
	A few minutes later they pulled into an almost 
empty parking lot underneath a small restaurant 
perched on the side of a low hill. " The sign said 
that they're closed." Haruka observed. 
	" So?" was the reply as Michiru led her towards 
the service entrance and through the side door. Inside, 
after they passed through a storeroom, they entered 
a long, narrow kitchen that was scrupulously 
clean. Three men and two women were industriously 
working at cutting boards and the stoves while 
getting ready for the night's business.
	" Catello!" Michiru warmly greeted the oldest 
of the men there, who broadly smiled when he saw who 
was there. He was a short, skinny, and jovial fellow 
with a sparse, salt-and-pepper beard and mustache. He 
briefly hugged her and they rapidly exchanged a few 
words in something that sounded like Italian to Haruka 
but she couldn't fully make it out. She was guessing 
it was Latin, but her knowledge of Latin was mainly 
related to two of the languages that had sprang from 
it, Italian and French. She knew some racing terms in 
Italian, a few operas and a smattering of French. His 
accent was heavy and confused her, however. 
	" We'll be on the east patio, then," Michiru 
switched back to Japanese, noticing her partner's 
attempts to follow the conversation. " Just a light 
lunch, Catello. Surprise us," she smiled and held out 
a hand to Haruka.
	" What was that about?" Haruka asked after they 
made their way through the darkened dining room and 
onto a small patio that offered a view of the lake 
that was one boundary of the park that Hotaru was 
at. " I know we used to come here now and then, but 
you never mentioned knowing the owner."            
	" He was a friend of my parents," she replied 
and graciously accepted a glass of sparkling water 
from one of the cooks who had brought it out to them 
along with place settings and silverware. " He just 
got back here and bought this place recently." 
	" What is so important?" Haruka asked after the 
other person left. She knew that something was 
bothering Michiru, but not the source of the problem. 
	" Haruka," she carefully began. " You're very 
good at dissembling when you have to be, but you have 
never intentionally lied to me about anything important 
before, and I don't want you to start now. Where were 
you last night?" 
	" Michiru," she sighed. " Don't... " 
	" You went to see them, didn't you?" she gently 
asked, but received no answer other than a guilty 
look. " There's nothing wrong with missing them, 
Haruka," she softly explained and took one of the 
blonde's hands in hers and entwined their fingers.    	
	" I shouldn't want to see them, not like this, 
not when I have you and Setsuna and Hotaru. You're 
my family now," the taller woman sighed and took a 
sip of water. " But I can't get them out of my heart, 
Michiru." 
	" We agreed not to see them anymore, Haruka. Not 
until we were needed, or we had raised Hotaru." 
	" I didn't actually meet her," Haruka 
admitted. " I wouldn't go that far without telling 
you first. How did you know, anyway?" 
	" It was Usagi-chan, ne?" she teasingly smiled 
before going on. " The odometer on the car tipped 
me off. I happened to remember it was on three hundred 
kilometers when I was done using it yesterday, and 
when I took it this morning, the odometer read four 
hundred and twenty. You also left it almost on empty, 
which made me look at it in the first place. A 
hundred and twenty kilometers is almost exactly 
the distance from here to Juuban and back." 
	" Guilty as charged," she admitted. " I guess 
seeing Setsuna break down like that affected me more 
than I thought it would. She has always so steady that 
if she could break, then I didn't have any chance 
whatsoever of holding together through this."
	" You'll be fine, Haruka, and I miss seeing 
them, too," Michiru smiled again. " For all their 
little foibles, it was nice to have allies, even if 
it was only for a little while." 
	" Allies," Haruka mulled over the word and its' 
implications for a few minutes. " Is that all you 
think of them? They're closer to us than our own 
families. We share a common past with them, Michiru, 
and nobody else can ever replace that." 
	" That is true," Michiru conceded the point and 
paused while the food was brought out to them. 
	" You little faker," Haruka chuckled after the 
man left, but she carefully kept it free of any trace 
of accusation. " You don't just miss them. There's 
more. You're jealous, too." 
	" I never said I wasn't jealous of the 
others, Haruka."
	" But you never admitted it, either," Haruka 
replied. Her voice dropped a bit and warmed up, a sure 
sign of her concern. " I don't like it that they get to 
go on as Sailor Senshi when we're stuck like this. It 
isn't fair, Michiru." 
	" It hurts me as well," she responded. " I never 
said it doesn't hurt to think about that part of our 
life being over. I just hide it better, Haruka. That's 
all." 
	The blonde sighed and took a bite of her pasta 
in order to give herself a moment or two to 
think. First she almost overlooked how her lover 
kept them going despite all their problems, and 
now she had nearly missed that Michiru was so 
bothered by the loss of their old positions. 
	" Thank you for telling me that, Michiru," she 
simply said and caught Michiru's gaze until she 
finally smiled. " It's harder than I thought it would 
be to give up the power and just be me. I mean, Uranus 
is someone that only I can be, and I thought myself 
special because of that." 
	" You're right," Michiru finally said a few 
moments later. " It's not the fame or the career. I 
miss the power, too. I can't even feel the ocean 
like I used to, Haruka. I feel like I lost an arm or 
a leg."  	 
	" That's what I feel, too," the taller woman 
confirmed. " I hope that this isn't a sign of what is 
to come, because I don't really want to spend the rest 
of my life like this. We promised each other that we 
would go on no matter what the cost, and we promised 
the princess that we would protect her. I'd hate it 
if this made us go back on our word.
	" Still," she went on. " If this is the end, I'm 
glad we are together. I remember the nightmares I used 
to have about not seeing you for decades at a time." 
	" Nightmares or flashbacks," the woman with the 
turquoise hair replied with a shiver as she remembered 
her own dreams. Often one or the other would wake up 
in a cold sweat, and the pain on the face of the person 
they loved hurt both of them to see. 	
	That was the thing about their past that scared 
them the most. They both remembered the separation they 
had to endure and knew that there was a chance that 
they might have to go through it again.
	" I hope that it never comes to that, Michiru, 
but if it does, I can face it if I can face it along 
with you. Whether it is just a normal life, or even 
if we get called to service again. Besides," Haruka 
grinned broadly this time, making the other woman smile 
as well at its' infectious nature. " Usagi-chan is a 
soft touch and a romantic. We can talk her into letting 
us be together instead of apart." 

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

	Setsuna kept up her steady pace towards the 
high school, not that the traffic would allow any 
speeding right now, anyway. It was mid-afternoon, 
and the traffic was starting to thicken up. In about 
an hour, the worst of the gridlock would start tying 
up the city streets as people began to get out of work 
for the day. 
	The black attaché case resting on the passenger 
seat held the paperwork and discs she was to 
deliver. Next to that was the remains of a bento 
she had purchased after listening to her stomach growl 
for attention. She'd skipped lunch today at her campus 
in order to leave early enough to miss the worst of 
the traffic.
	She smiled at a memory that came to her as she 
went by a market they had shopped at for a while when 
they briefly lived closer to this area. In her mind, 
she could remember it like it had just happened. A 
frustrated Haruka, fully ready to go down and loudly 
complain to the store manager that the diapers she had 
just bought for Hotaru were not the same size as 
indicated on the bag. Michiru was laughing and trying 
to calm down the blonde. Then, her own startling 
discovery. It was not that the diapers were the wrong 
size. Almost overnight, the child was too large for 
them. It happened again a few days later to the next 
largest size. 
	That growth, and Hotaru's sudden increase in 
appetite were their first clue that something unusual 
was happening to the girl. She was eating about a half 
again as much as she used to. Up until then, she had 
been a very typical, good-natured infant that gave no 
trace of her unusual past.
	About a week later had come that fateful day when 
they realized that they no longer had their powers. After 
that, everything had changed, but contemplating the 
changes was easier than thinking about where she was 
going. 
	It had been a warm, sunny afternoon that she 
first made this trip to the high school for 
Shima-sensei. Setsuna fervently thanked everything 
she held dear or divine, from the Neo-Queen all the 
way back to her own long-forgotten mother that he 
didn't notice her that day. She was walking up the 
stairs to the one of the campus buildings when Chiba 
Mamoru walked out of the door. He was laughing and 
talking to one of his friends. His eyes were bright 
and untroubled behind the glasses he wore.  
	Seeing him so relatively happy and carefree, 
and above all else, not yet married to the Neo-Queen, 
was like a knife to her heart. Memories of long 
conversations burst into the front of her mind, 
clamoring for her attention, and all of them were 
focused on a kind-hearted visitor who always had a 
moment of time to spare in order to check up on her 
welfare. 
	The unusual conditions of the area around the 
gates she guarded didn't bother him, or if it did, he 
never let it show. While they were not frequent due to 
other demands on the monarch's time, Endymion's visits 
quickly became the focus of her life. She was well read, 
but she had not seen the rest of the world for a very 
long time. They talked about that, or his family and 
friends. 
	She was not too surprised that she had fallen in 
love with him. It was only natural, especially as he was 
one of three people she saw on a regular basis. His wife 
sometimes came to visit her. Also, their child, who was 
born shortly after she took up her position at the 
gates, would come as well. At first, Chibi-usa was 
carried along, but soon was making her own way. 
	They were the only ones who could and would 
approach the gates, after all. The other Senshi could,
but they are always uneasy around her. She valued the 
fact that they would try to see her, at least, despite 
their worries and the fact that they never became 
close. It was the king who had a hold on her heart.  
	The urge to go to him, to make him hers, was 
overpowering. It would have been easy for her, too. He 
was vulnerable here, the incredible strength of the bond 
to his love that kept her from having a chance in her 
past was not yet fully formed until further in his 
future. She knew much of what he liked and did not, 
and how to capture his attention. She also knew the 
woman he married, and what she was like, and their 
respective strengths and weaknesses in regards to 
his affections. 
	In the end, it was only the loyalty to those 
friends who had made her a part of their lives for 
hundreds of years that prevented her from acting 
upon her desires. The royal family had been under 
no obligation to do so, but they had, and if she made 
this transgression, she never would have them as part 
of her life. 
	She managed to keep herself from doing anything 
other than a slight stumble, like her shoe had caught 
on the pavement. He walked past without noticing her 
and she breathed a sigh of relief. He had seen her 
when he was in the future, after all. It was fortunate, 
come to think of it. She was on a mission, she scolded 
herself, hardened her treacherous heart and went on her 
way. The interference of the princess and the other 
Senshi would only get in their way here.
	Afterwards, it had taken her many nights of 
soul-searching to get over what she felt for Endymion, 
and to realize that Chiba Mamoru was not yet the man 
she was going to be in love with. She was almost ready 
to believe that she was over him when the Inner Senshi 
stumbled across their investigation of the Deathbusters, 
and she was thrown into painful proximity to him. It 
set back her efforts greatly, but the newfound family 
she had in Michiru, Haruka and Hotaru helped fill 
that void in her heart. 

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

	" Hi, Hotaru-chan!" one of the girls who had 
just gotten to the day care center happily exclaimed 
upon seeing the new girl. 
	" Hi, Miwako-chan," Hotaru shyly smiled back, 
still somewhat uncertain of how to react. Her 
upbringing with her three adoptive parents was 
very informal in comparison to the rigidly structured 
Japanese society. While the other children weren't 
very concerned about it yet, Hotaru was aware of the 
levels to society that they knew nothing of, and 
often caught herself doing something like this and 
thinking before reacting.
	" What'cha doin'?" another girl asked on her 
way to the swings, giving Hotaru an idea of how 
formal or informal to be.
	" Making a sandcastle," Hotaru replied and 
added a bit more sand to one of the small oblong 
shapes she had made. 
	" It doesn't look much like a castle," the 
second girl commented and moved towards the swings, 
losing interest in the project. 
	" This is a real castle," Hotaru murmured in 
reply and blushed slightly as the first girl asked 
her what she meant. " We were at the beach yesterday, 
and Haruka-papa and I built a sandcastle. I looked 
through some books of real castles last night and I'm 
trying to make these here look like one I think I saw." 
	" Oh," Miwako replied, puzzled but her expression 
brightened. " Can I help?" 
	" Hai," Hotaru agreed, and indicated where a 
long, straight wall was to go. The other girl began 
to do as indicated, but soon became entranced by the 
marks Hoataru was making by each building.
	" What are those, Hotaru-chan?"
	" These?" she replied, momentarily puzzled 
until she realized that Miwaka mean the letters she 
was drawing by each. " Kanji." 
	" You know Kanji?" Miwaka exclaimed in surprise, 
making Hotaru blush. She already knew most of the kanji 
that a junior high school student would have learned, 
and showing that she was that far beyond the education 
of a girl her apparent age was one of the things her 
three parents had warned her not to do. 
	" I know a few," she smoothly lied, and Miwaka 
seemed to accept her explanation without any more 
questions. After a brief, inward sigh of relief, she 
was able to get back to her work.
	The idea and layout of the buildings had come 
to her while she was working with Haruka-papa 
yesterday. The two palaces there, the temple here 
on the other side of a central square with a tall 
tower, and a series of walls dividing the whole thing 
from where a city should have been. She couldn't begin 
to duplicate what she saw in her mind, not with the dry 
sand here, but at least she could fix the rough 
locations in her memory.
	" Hotaru-chan?" the girl asked a while 
later. " How come your daddy never comes to pick 
you up?"
	" Huh?" she softly exclaimed and looked over 
at her companion. She followed the girl's gaze to the 
parking lot and the sleek blue car that had pulled 
into the entrance. Michiru and Haruka were getting 
out of the vehicle and laughing together about 
something.
	" Oh," she went on a moment later after 
remembering the rules she had painstakingly memorized 
on the orders of her new parents. She knew that her 
life had not been totally normal, and that it was 
best to not get too close to anyone because they 
would probably be moving again in a little 
while. Still, Miwako had tried to be friends 
with her, and that had to count for 
something. " They're my parents now. My father 
and mother died when I was very little." 
	She regretted the honesty as soon as she 
said the words. The other girl began to loudly 
cry. Remembering the times when she was feeling 
bad or scared and how her three parents had comforted 
her, she slid forward on her knees towards Miwako and 
hugged her, accidentally wiping away her efforts with 
the sand in the process.
	" It's all right, Miwa-chan," she tried to 
console the sobbing girl as one of the teachers 
hurried towards them and was quickly passed by Michiru 
and Haruka on a dead run. " My parents are in a better 
place now, and they loved me just like my new ones do."

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

	It was very late that night when the moaning 
sound of a gust of wind woke the child from her 
sleep. She looked around her, carefully trying to 
make sure she was fully awake before trusting what 
she saw was actually real. Her dreams often seemed 
so real  that sometimes she wasn't quite sure if she 
was dreaming or awake at times. 
	The image of the a city seen from above came to 
her mind again, and she furrowed her brow in 
concentration, trying to remember where she had seen 
it before. 
	" Analyze it, Hotaru," she whispered faintly as 
a reminder to approach this rationally. It was too 
small and there were not enough lights in what she saw 
to make it a modern city, so it must be something she 
had seen in a book somewhere. 
	As much as she tried after she lay back down to 
sleep, the picture of it kept on crossing her mind. Each 
time, she felt a jumbled rush of emotions that she 
couldn't identify due to the complexity of there being 
so many at once. Regret and sadness were the only ones 
she could clearly make out, but there were others that 
she very much wanted to find out what they were. 
	Finally she threw back the covers and stood up, 
being careful not to make any noise whatsoever. She 
had quickly learned that all three of her parents were 
very light sleepers and she did not want to be disturbed 
right now. That would make her lose the picture she was 
trying to fix in her mind. 
	Hotaru silently slipped out of her room and down 
the stairs on her way to her study, where her old toys 
were stored. She didn't use many of them any more, 
preferring books lately, but she still had them. A 
box of Lego was chosen and carried outside so she 
could work in some degree of freedom. 
	The gibbous moon and the starlight was enough 
to see by as she walked to the backyard and stopped 
at a place she liked on the far side of the pool. It 
was cool, but not unbearably so. Her pajamas would be 
enough to keep her warm. 
	What had happened earlier today had concerned 
her in more than a few ways, but Miwako's reaction had 
been the one to concern her the most. It took several 
minutes to get her friend to stop crying after she 
told Miwako that her parents had died, and that she 
was now being raised by the three women. It wasn't 
until later when she talked to Michiru-mama that she 
realized why it had upset the other girl so much. To 
her, it was just how things had happened, and while 
she missed her real parents, she loved her new ones 
and they loved her. What more was needed, she had 
asked the crying girl.
	While that was going on, however, she couldn't 
help but see the remains of what she had done with the 
sand. Several of the plastic blocks were snapped 
together as she began to build rough shapes to use 
as representatives of what she had seen. The palaces 
and temple first, and the wall followed soon after 
that. It still wasn't enough. She sighed and closed 
her eyes, recalling every detail she could and mentally 
painting a picture of what each object was. 
	Why was I looking down on it, she wondered and 
suddenly opened her eyes in surprise as she realized 
that she had looked down at that scene. Before her, 
softly glowing copies of what she had seen stood over 
each of the crude buildings she had made. Tiny shapes 
lay unmoving about the plaza and a small fire had begun 
to smolder in the Palace Major as a toppled candle 
finally reached a drape that had been torn from one 
wall. 
	" I must have been there," she whispered in 
astonishment and suddenly froze as a shape moved in 
the darkness. 
	The thing was about the size of a volleyball 
and was shaped like one, but its' edges were all short, 
jagged spikes. It was blacker than the shadows themselves 
and felt dark and malevolent, with cold eyes that spoke 
of a hatred of life and the light. In response to that 
hatred, and the fear in her own heart, the child was 
rooted to the spot and could only watch as a purple 
haze began to obscure her vision.
	" Begone, lemure," something cold and ancient 
spoke from deep inside the girl as her eyes glowed and 
unseen forces ripped the creature apart. " Nightmares 
have no place in this beautiful dream." It reached forth, 
gently blurred the line between wakefulness and sleep, 
and suggested to the child that this was only a bad 
dream. It's time to go back to bed, it reminded her 
and was pleased as Hotaru turned back towards the house, 
but the presence was worried as well. New enemies had 
appeared, and changes would have to be made.  

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

	" Haruka," Michiru whispered, seeing that her 
partner's eyes were still open. 
	" Hmm?"
	" Still awake, huh?" she smiled softly at the 
blonde, who nodded in reply.
	" I'm thinking of what happened today," Haruka 
said. " Or, more precisely, I'm still thinking of how 
Hotaru reacted." 
	" Do you think that she shouldn't have said 
anything to the other girl?" Michiru asked and scooted 
back so that she was sitting up and leaning against the 
headboard. 
	" Maybe it wasn't the best way to say it, but she 
did follow our instructions to her to the letter. We 
never said to not mention her parents." 
	" I'm still surprised at how well Hotaru takes 
knowing that she lost her parents," Michiru 
replied. " You would have expected her to have 
been like her friend today, and not to have been 
comforting her." 
	" Some children have a problem with relating 
to death, and some don't. Remember when we went to 
the graveyard and took Hotaru to pay her respects 
to her father and mother?" 
	" Yes," she sighed, recalling that day when 
they had a headstone made for Tomoe Keiko and 
Souichi. Several other families were visiting 
graves there, and there was a wide variety of 
reactions among the children who had been there. Hotaru 
had been well behaved at the ceremony for her parents. 
	" It certainly can't be easy for the poor 
girl," Haruka went on. " She knows that she lost 
them, but she doesn't let it bother her where most 
kids would be crying their eyes out over being 
alone like that." 
	" I know," Michiru agreed and then softly 
snapped her fingers. " Oh, that reminds me. My recital 
with Ogura-sensei for next month was changed back 
to the morning session, so you'll have to pick me 
up. I'll make a note on the calendar."
	" You could always get your own car," Haruka 
quipped while smiling. 
	" But I like having a world-class racer for a 
chauffeur," Michiru giggled and put one of her hands 
on Haruka's shoulder. " Just meet me at the music 
store like you normally do, all right?" she added 
just as Haruka had grabbed her hand and the door to 
their room swung open. 
	" Michiru-mama? Haruka-papa?" Hotaru nervously 
asked as she peered in.
	" What is it, Hotaru-chan?" Michiru replied and 
tightened her hand on Haruka's shoulder to keep her 
from immediately going to the girl. Hotaru used to do 
this to get attention right after she had seemingly 
finished growing the last time, but it had been tougher 
to train Haruka out of her instincts than to get Hotaru 
to stop.   
	" I had a bad dream," the child softly replied, 
her voice wavering. Haruka smiled softly, amused at the 
situation despite her concern. 
	" Want to come up here with us?" she asked and 
patted the bed next to her. The girl nodded and walked 
over to get on the bed between them, making it rather 
crowded with the three of them on it. There was no 
sudden smile like they usually got from her when this 
happened, however. 
	" What's wrong, Hotaru-chan?" Michiru asked and 
checked her forehead for a temperature under the guise 
of affectionately brushing back Hotaru's hair. There 
wasn't a fever.     
	" A bad thing came for me," Hotaru explained in a 
quiet voice. " It went away, but my head still hurts." 
	" A headache?" Michiru wondered and slid out of 
the bed and walked into the bathroom, returning a few 
moments later with a glass of water and two children's 
aspirin. 
	" Thank you, Michiru-mama," the girl said after 
taking the pills and snuggling down next to Michiru.
	" Sweet dreams, little one," Haruka added as she 
and Michiru traded concerned glances, unwilling to talk 
about this with the girl there. In the morning, Michiru 
silently mouthed the words and settled down to sleep, 
knowing that it would calm the girl as well as 
herself. Haruka tried to do the same, but soon gave up, 
and was left the one to lay there and wonder about 
what was happening and how she could keep from falling 
out of bed. 


The End.



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

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

Special thanks to the following...

Naoko Takeuchi, of course.
  incredible characters, and artwork that can 
  give rise to so many ideas from a few little 
  drawings. 

Luna and Artemis for kind words, support, and being 
  good friends for so long. Through good times and 
  bad, they have been there.  
  check out their page at
  http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9897/
  for the best Sailor Moon fan-fiction collection.

Greenbeans for being herself. all I need to say, 
  really. 
  check out her page at
  http://www.kfalls.net/~gbeans		

Jackie Chiang, sage advice, good fics and general 
  silliness that lightens the spirit. 
  check out her page at
  http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/3741/ 

Alex Glover for his wonderful work on the manga 
  of Naoko Takeuchi. check out his page at
  http://www.nwlink.com/~kurozuki/manga.htm

my wonderful betas, the real heroes

  Erica
  Shelley
  Helen Szeto aka lennie
  Pandora Diane Waldron
  Nikki Purvis aka JetWolf			







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