Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Z

                                 Episode 13

                                     by

                       John Biles and Jeffrey Hosmer

                               -------------

Lady Patience couldn't sleep. She really, really hated the nights she had
her nightmares. It was like clockwork. She suspected it had something to do
with her period, since three days before her period started, she had three
nights of nightmares. She could almost set her calendar by it. Given that
she was somewhat irregular, it provided a useful, though annoying warning.
Each night had its own special nightmare. The first night was the dream of
watching an egg hatch. For most people, this would not be a nightmare.
However, each time, the egg was revealed to be a planet, whose people died
that the egg's passenger might live.

The second night was really the worst, because it meant the most to her. An
army stormed into the palace of the Moon Kingdom. Its warriors were
shrouded in shadow, and one by one, they slew everyone she held dear.
Finally, they came for her. Every time she had this nightmare, they would
kill her a different way. This night she had been tied to an anthill and
coated with honey. A million bees and ants stung and bit her to death.

That had been enough to drive her out into the cold night air in early
Chill. Even freezing was better than trying to sleep through that. She
tried not to think about tomorrow night's dream. Thirteen men and women
would stalk her through the streets of some huge ugly city built of steel,
stone, and glass. Finally, they would catch her and tie her to a stake. Her
fate varied. Sometimes they burnt her as a witch. Sometimes they carved her
into pieces and each took a chunk. Once they drowned her. It wasn't quite
as bad as the second night's dreams, though. It seemed so...unrealistic.
Cities don't look like the one in that dream did. People don't dress the
way they did in that dream. It was like some sort of fantasy story told to
you by a faerie. They would insist it was all true, and the real challenge
would be to find the one thing that wasn't a lie.

Still, it bothered her. Thirteen was an unlucky number for women, while ten
was lucky. Not that she believed in such things, of course. Numerology was
just superstition, unlike the science of Astrology, though people often
believed hokey things about that as well. She gazed up at the stars. Maybe
I should do a horoscope, she thought. No, I can't let these nightmares
bother me. They've been happening for years. It's just my fear of death
coming through. Even Parias couldn't do anything about them. Maybe if I
could remember more of my childhood. She frowned. "I hate this feeling like
there's a hole in my head. Why can't I remember my youth?"

An unanticipated voice replied. "Planning to solve the problem by freezing
to death?" It was the Lady Jupiter--the younger one. She was warmly dressed
with an extra, long tunic and a heavy cloak. She had a second one, which
she passed to Lady Patience. "The nightmares again?"

Patience nodded. "New ending. This time I got eaten by insects."

Jupiter moved to stand by Patience on the large balcony. "Have you tried
asking Pluto? There has to be some meaning behind all this."

"I've tried. She can make them go away for a while, but she can't explain
them."

Jupiter nodded. "They probably don't mean anything. For eight years, I had
a recurring dream where I married a man from Callisto. Then I met Nephrite
and they stopped."

"From Callisto? That backwater?"

"It was a higher class backwater than the one I grew up in. Unlike you, I
didn't live in a palace all my life." Jupiter's voice got just a bit tense,
though not as much as it would have when she first arrived in the Moon
Kingdom.

"I didn't mean to insinuate anything. It just...I can't imagine dreaming of
marrying a man from Callisto." She paused. "Wait, wasn't Zoicite from
Callisto?"

"Parias is from Callisto. Zoicite is from Atlantis. Captain Trebizond and
Corporal Hawk from the guard are also from Callisto. I also have an uncle
who lives there. It wasn't a prophetic dream or anything. It was just
expressing my desire to marry someone romantic, I think."

Patience stifled a giggle.

"Hey!" Jupiter sighed. I can just imagine what Mars would say if I told her
this. She'd be three times as bad. "Anyway, when I met someone really
romantic, I didn't need to dream anymore."

"That had better not be what I need to get rid of these dreams."

Jupiter paused, following the chain of thought. "Yeah, I sure hope not."
She paused. "So when are you going to get yourself a boyfriend? You haven't
been seeing anyone in a long while."

Patience sighed. "There's someone I like, but..."

"But he's taken?"

She nodded quietly. Taken by you, but I can't tell you that, she thought.
"Lord Forge is after me, but..."

"But he's less fun than Luna, eh?"

"He just wants to marry an heiress."

"Yeah, you are an only child, aren't you?"

Patience nodded. "Luckily, my parents don't believe in political marriages.
They're starting to get pretty antsy, though. They DO believe firmly in
children."

Jupiter laughed. "Just steal one. Plenty of extras around here."

Patience laughed. "They would just DIE."

The talk turned to lighter topics, growing gradually sillier and sillier.
Patience had no more nightmares that night, and to her surprise, the next
night she dreamed of stealing children. She ended up with thirteen of them
who adored her. It was a wonderful dream.

                               -------------

Naru:
I'm tired of always running
I've grown tired of the night
I wish I had some cunning,
Had some power, had some might.

We see a collage of Naru running from monsters, grabbed by monsters,
trapped inside big moss balls by monsters, etc.

Sailors:
You don't need to keep on running.
You don't need to fear the night.
We can save you with our cunning,
With our power, with our might.

We see a collage of images of Usagi and the other Sailors saving Naru and
many other people from monster attacks.

Naru:
I don't want someone to save me;
I'd just like to save myself
I don't want to be a helpless doll
That must sit upon the shelf.

We see Naru sitting at her window, looking out on the starry night sky of
the city. One by one, lines trace the constellations.

Pluto:
If you want to have the power
You must reach into your heart
Look inside to find your strength
For that's where power starts

We see Pluto holding out an eight-pointed star, which hovers just above her
hand.

                               -------------

Sailor Moon Z:

Series Concept by Jeff Hosmer and John Biles
Primary Writer this Episode: John Biles

Based on the Series Sailor Moon, copyrighted by a whole lot of people who
aren't us.

Episode 13

"Pawn to Black King's Bishop's 8.
What is Naru's Destiny?"

                               -------------

Naru sat with Kimiko at lunch. "Wow, we're going to the Imperial Gardens
this Saturday afternoon for our society social?"

Kimiko nodded. "They're soooo beautiful at this time of year. I'm really
looking forward to it. And...we're going to be meeting some boys from the
Greenwood Academy Social Society. They're all such total studs! And...oh
yeah, I guess you're not looking for a guy like me." She blushed. "I'm sure
you could bring Umino, though. I know Meiko's bringing her boyfriend."

"Cool. Umino will probably try to lecture us on the biology of every plant
we see, though." I hope he'll want to go, she thought. I bet I can pitch
this as a scientific experience to him if I have to.

"You're lucky to have such a smart boyfriend."

"Thanks!" Naru smiled. One thing I like about Kimiko is she's so good at
praising people for their good points. I always feel so good when I'm
around her. Most people make fun of Gurio-kun, but Kimiko always says such
nice things about him.

Umino walked up at that moment, "There you are! I thought we were going to
meet by the fountain!"

Naru slapped her forehead. "I'm sorry. I ran into Kimiko and I...I forgot.
I'm sorry."

Kimiko moved over on the bench to make room for Umino next to Naru. "Here
you go, Umino-kun. Interested in going to the Imperial Gardens with us this
Saturday night?"

"Sure! It'll help me review for my biology exam."

Kimiko winked at Naru, who laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Kimiko was displaying her prophetic powers a little earlier and predicted
you'd say something like that."

Umino sat down and spread out his lunch. "Hmm. Mom seems to have gone into
a pickled vegetable frenzy again. Either of you want some?"

They chatted and had a pleasant lunch time conversation.

                               -------------

Haruka said, "Wrench."

Steven handed Haruka a wrench. "Here you go, sahib." Haruka was helping
Steven tinker with his bike and fix a few minor problems.

"This should about do the trick." Haruka finished tightening a few bolts.
"All done."

"So are you really going to Disco Moebius with Noriko this weekend?" Steven
asked.

Haruka blinked. "What?"

"Mina-chan and I were at her and Ami's room trying to get Ami to answer a
question for us, but we couldn't get a word in edgewise because Noriko was
gushing about you and her going on a double date with Yuki and her new
boyfriend." He paused. "I never can remember that guy's name."

Haruka thought for a moment. "Well, I don't remember agreeing to any such
thing."

"Are you sure? Noriko doesn't normally make mistakes any more than Ami
does. They're both brilliant, even though Noriko ACTS like she has no brain
sometimes." He took the wrench when Haruka handed it back to him and
started hauling the tools over to Haruka's bike, parked nearby. "There's
something uncanny about her."

Haruka cocked her head. "You think so, too?"

"I can't quite place what it is...and that bothers me. I have a knack for
these things, you know."

"But she is human?"

"I don't think she's some kind of monster if that's what you're worried
about. Still, there's something about her."

Haruka moved over to her own bike and went to work. "She's very strong,
much stronger than she looks."

"Maybe she's another sailor?"

"We don't exactly grow on trees, you know. Besides, you're no sailor and
you've got a power. Maybe not on our level, but still..." Haruka began
draining the oil from her bike into a pan.

Steven said, "Can I ask you a question?"

"You're already asking me a question by asking that. Shoot." Haruka sat and
waited for the oil to all drain out.

"So, you were a guy in the Silver Millenium?" Steven decided to be blunt.

"Yeah. Unlike some of the others, I don't really remember much about the
Silver Millenium, other than an occasional flash." The oil finished and
Haruka closed up the drain pipe, then began refilling the bike with fresh
oil. "I think I'm going to need another can."

Steven went and got her one. "You seem so..."

"Calm about it? I've always accepted myself for what I am. I am what I am,
and that's enough for me. If I was a guy in my last life...well, what does
it matter? That's dead and gone. Who cares?" She started on the second can
of oil.

"I dunno...I just...I always thought being male or female was sort of part
of your soul. That you were born to be one way or another, one thing or
another. But if it can change..."

Haruka shrugged. "I'm too busy to worry about that sort of stuff. All I
know, is that you're born to do something that only you can do...that each
and everyone of us has a purpose, a reason to be. There's something that
has to be done, and the way to be happy is to figure out what your thing is
and to do it. If it means you're a man in one life and a woman in the next
and a cow in the third...well, that's life." She finished pouring the oil,
then looked up at Steven. "But I don't think you've figured out what you
were made for, have you?"

Steven put a hand behind his head nervously. "I..uh..well..."

Haruka laughed. "Don't sweat it. You've got plenty of time." She started
checking various other fluids in her bike. "Who knows, maybe your job is to
keep Minako in line for eternity. Won't that be fun?" Her voice was light
and on the verge of outright laughing. "I couldn't wish it on a better
man."

Steven laughed a little. "As if anyone could ever stop Mina-chan when she
goes on a rampage." He thought for a moment. "So what are you going to do
about Noriko?"

"Hmm. Tomoe-sensei and Setsuna know something about her, but they won't
tell me. Maybe I'll go on this date after all and see what I can see. She's
got some kind of secret."

"Michiru won't mind?"

"Michiru will probably laugh at me. She isn't taking this seriously. We've
got to make sure she's not a potential threat."

Steven shook his head faintly. Whatever she is, the only thing she's a
threat to is her friends' sense of dignity.

                               -------------

Usagi, Rei, Umino and Naru were walking home from school when Usagi said to
Naru, "Hey, want to do a double date with Mamo-chan and I this Saturday?
You too, Rei-chan, if you can find a date."

Rei frowned slightly, and Naru said, "I'm sorry, my social club is going to
the Imperial Gardens this Saturday afternoon and evening." She took Umino
by the arm and smiled. "So we already have plans, I'm afraid."

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Usagi said. "Do you think Mamoru and I could
come too?"

Naru sighed. "It's club members only, and our dates. I'm sorry,
Usagi-chan."

Rei mumbled something incoherent. Usagi turned to her and said, "Did you
say something, Rei-chan?"

"Nothing." It was the sort of 'nothing' that clearly was something.

"Are you sure it's nothing, Rei-chan?" Usagi could tell something was
wrong.

"I said it was NOTHING!" Rei stormed off ahead, and Usagi sighed.

"What did I say?"

Umino watched Rei go. I bet all this talk about boyfriends and dates did
this, he thought.

                               -------------

Haruka showed up in one of her suits for the date. She was going to be
overdressed, but it concealed her figure well, not that that was hard. Dad
would laugh, she thought. He always told me I was destined to break hearts.
I don't think he thought it would be like this, though. She grinned and
knocked.

Noriko answered the door in a nice blue dress that left her arms bare and
had a wide, flaring skirt. "Hi, 'ka-kun! Let's go!" She grabbed Haruka's
hand and dragged her down the hallway. Yuki and her date, a tall fellow
with a broad grin and rumpled black hair. Haruka thought he was one of the
five ugliest men she had met, not that she normally went around assessing
male attractiveness. Most of it came from his nose, which seemed to have
been bashed in and left to heal that way. He was talking quietly with Yuki,
who waved frantically. "Hi, Noriko- chan! Hi, Haruka-kun!" She pointed to
her date. "This is Toriyama Kenichi. Toriyama-kun, this is Udaigaku Noriko
and Ten'ou Haruka."

He looked at Haruka, who was dressed much more nicely than he was and said,
"Should I have dressed up more?"

Yuki said, "You look just like Tuxedo Kamen, except for being blond!"

"I'm not that nicely dressed," Haruka said. "And I'm definitely NOT Tuxedo
Kamen." He laughed. "I'm not Sailor Moon, either."

Kenichi laughed. "You'd make a lousy woman, Ten'ou-san."

Haruka laughed almost all the way to the club.

                               -------------

Naru, Umino, Kimiko, Meiko and her boyfriend Youta waited at the train
station for the rest of the club to arrive. Meiko sighed. "The one time I'm
on time, everyone ELSE is late!"

Umino nodded. "Yeah, it is aggravating." He paced about. "I haven't been to
the Imperial Gardens in close to two years now. I really like it."

"Why haven't you been in two years if you like it?"

"I got in an argument with a gardener over how he was treating this one
flower," Umino said. "The guy didn't know what he was doing and didn't like
being set straight."

Meiko got a sudden sinking feeling.

At that moment, the club president, Onogiri Sayuri, arrived. She had long,
dark red hair and a nearly perfect figure augmented by her excellent taste
in clothing. She could inspire envy just by being alive. The vice-president
was with her, and a small pack of five men, the leading echelon of the
Greenwood High Social Society. They were all tall, dark haired and well
built. They made Umino feel like he was a tiny little action figure in
comparison. Several more club members of each club trailed behind them.
"Sorry we're late," Sayuri said. "I'm afraid the train was delayed. There
was some sort of traffic accident. Ready to go?"

Everyone nodded. Sayuri spotted Naru and swept over to her. "You came! I'm
very glad. You missed our last outing."

"I had too much homework," Naru said. "And I was with my boyfriend."

"Really? Why haven't you brought him to any of our other events where you
could bring a date?" Sayuri asked.

Umino blinked. There had been other events where Naru could bring a date?
He hadn't heard anything about this.

"He was busy all the other times."

Sayuri's eyes swept across the little knot of people and settled on Youta.
"So you're Umino, eh?"

"No, I'm Youta. I'm here with Meiko." He pointed to Umino. "That's
Umino-kun."

"Nice to meet you!" Umino said, offering his hand.

She stood and assessed him. It made Umino rather uncomfortable, especially
since she looked disapproving. "Nice to meet you," she said with a
carefully bland voice. "Well, I think everyone is here. Let's go!"

She turned and headed for the Gardens, a few blocks away. Umino frowned. I
have a bad feeling about this.

                               -------------

Rei and Makoto settled down in front of the TV set. "So then this Maguson
guy bounces an eraser off my head when I fell asleep in class. English is
just sooooo boring!" Makoto put down the big bowl of popcorn she had made,
grabbed the remote control and clicked on the first tape. "Anyway, enough
of that. This is a REALLY good movie. I'm sure you'll like it," Makoto
said. "It's much better than the first one was."

The movie began. Some peasant was being chased through a field by an angry
Samurai. As the samurai trapped the peasant against a stone wall, suddenly,
four men in goofy looking costumes that were probably supposed to make them
look sort of like foxes leaped down from the nearby stand of trees. One of
them landed flat on his face. An all out incredibly silly brawl was soon in
progress.

"This is an IMPROVEMENT?" Rei asked dubiously.

Makoto laughed nervously. "A tape of Umino lecturing on earthworms would
probably be an improvement on the first one. The whole point is to make fun
of it, though!"

"Ahh. Now that, I can get into."

                               -------------

Haruka and Kenichi sauntered over to the bar at Disco Moebius to get
something to drink while their dates were in the ladies' room. Haruka got a
soda, since she wanted to be alert, while Kenichi got some beer. "So what
year are you, at Tsunami?" Haruka asked.

He laughed. "I'm a first year student at Tokyo University. My younger
sister Kozue set up our first date. This is..." He stared at his beer for a
moment. "Our third date. You and Noriko been going out a while?"

"This is the first time we've been on a date."

"She's got the hots for you, man." Kenichi said, then took a swig of his
beer. "She's pretty hot, herself. You look kinda nervous, though. Want some
advice? I guess you haven't had too many dates yet."

Haruka only barely resisted the urge to laugh her head off. This should be
worth a few laughs when I tell Michiru about it tonight. Composing herself,
she said, "Shoot. I've only had one girlfriend in my life. I can use all
the help I can get." What a bozo.

"Chicks dig a guy who'll listen to 'em. I mean, you gotta really listen,
even though half the time it's gonna be a lot of boring gossip about people
you don't know, and probably don't wanna know. Still, ya gotta put up with
it. It's their way of being friendly, I guess. And the car. Ya gotta put
that car to good use. They love a guy with his own car." He paused. "Wait,
aren't you too young to get a driver's liscence?"

Haruka grinned. "The cops haven't caught me yet."

Kenichi downed the rest of his beer. "I LIKE you. You're cool. Anyway, what
I was saying about listening to women talk. You gotta make REALLY sure that
even if you're not listening, you look like you are. Women aren't stupid.
If they can tell you're thinking about some idol singer, they'll kick your
ass for not listening to them talk about how Sailor Jupiter could kick
Sailor Uranus' ass and stuff." He paused. "Well, most women don't talk
about who could kick who's butt, but Yuki is just madly in love with all
the Sailors, I think. She probably knows more about them than they do."

Haruka frowned for a second. No way in hell Jupiter could kick MY ass. "She
thinks Jupiter would kick Uranus' butt? Why?"

He looked over. "You can ask her. She's got some rating system that I can't
ever understand that lets her predict fights, or so she claims."

He waved to Noriko and Yuki who pressed their way through the crowd of
dancers. Yuki got herself a Coke and sat down, while Noriko got a Pepsi
like Haruka had.

"So whatcha talking about, 'ka-kun?" Noriko asked, sipping her drink.

"Yo, Yuki-chan, tell us again why Jupiter would kick Uranus' ass." Kenichi
said.

"Well, that assumes that Neptune isn't involved for some reason. The two of
them together would beat Jupiter, but then the Senshi don't normally fight
each other. Anyway, Uranus would beat Jupiter in raw strength, but Jupiter
has a wider variety of attacks, and flexibility beats raw strength, under
most situations. If Jupiter successfully deprived Uranus of the Space
Sword, it would all be over. This assumes Jupiter actually thinks to do so,
which is another question, since she tends to act and fight rather
impulsively."

I'd still kick her ass, Haruka thought. "How'd you find out all this stuff?
I mean, the Senshi don't exactly publish lists of their strengths and
weaknesses."

"I've seen them in action 30 times and collected all sorts of stuff
published about them. Most of it is total garbage, like the dojinshi I
found where Uranus and Sailor Moon were lovers, but..." Yuka stared at her
glass for a moment. Haruka had to struggle to keep from laughing. "The
truth is out there, if you just know where to look." She finished her drink
and took Kenichi's hand. "Let's dance!" He winked over at Haruka as she
dragged him out onto the dance floor.

Haruka finished off her drink. "So who do you think would win, Noriko?"

Noriko finished off her drink. "What, if Sailor Uranus and Sailor Jupiter
had a fight?" She got up and took Haruka's hand and started heading for the
dance floor.

"Yeah." I need to find out what all this Yuki girl knows about us, Haruka
thought.

"A serious all out fight, you mean?" They started dancing to some fast
music.

Haruka nodded. "No holds barred."

Noriko's voice was quieter than usual. "I think only the forces of evil
would win that fight."

Haruka lacked any good reply to that.

                               -------------

"Now the Hibiscus plant..." Umino ranted on, while Kimiko and Meiko made
polite noises, as did Youta and Hitoshi, the boy that Kimiko had
successfully latched onto from the Greenwood High Social Club. Kimiko, in
fact, found it somewhat interesting, though it would have been more so if
Umino had ever mastered the concept that one could provide too much
information when asked a question.

Naru simply smiled and nodded, only half paying attention. She had learned
this trick long ago as a survival mechanism. If Umino actually said
something that required her full attention, he would get it. Meanwhile, she
drank in the beauty of the Gardens and relaxed. It's nice to just have a
good time with friends and not have to think about monsters or the Zodiac
or anything. To just be an ordinary girl.

A tug on her sleeve drew her attention away from the gardens and to Sayuri.
"Can I talk to you for a moment, Naru-chan?"

"Hmm? Sure." She turned to Umino. "I'll be right back."

He nodded and continued his speech on twenty places the Hibiscus also
grows.

Sayuri led Naru down one of the paths through the gardens. "So how long
have you been dating Umino?"

She thought for a moment. "A year and a half or so. Going on two, I guess.
We've known each other forever, but we didn't start dating until 8th
grade."

The tone of her voice said this was not the answer Sayuri was hoping for.
"Does he always deliver a long lecture on everything he sees?"

Naru laughed nervously. "Only if it has scientific value."

"I begin to understand why you didn't bring him to some of our previous
events," Sayuri said. "He can be rather embarrassing, I suppose."

Naru nodded. "He usually can't tell that other people aren't as enthused
about learning as he is."

"Yes. I've been getting complaints about that. He's irritating some of our
guests from the Greenwood club. He's not the sort of person they expected
to be mixing with, if you understand what I mean."

Naru laughed. "Well, he's certainly not a cute girl."

Sayuri blinked, then laughed faintly. "That's not what I meant. I mean..."

"I know. I'll try to rein him in a little."

"Good." Sayuri turned down a side path. "I'm sure you can handle this in a
subtle manner. We wouldn't want a scene, now would we?"

"No, of course not." I'll just drop a few hints, Naru thought.

                               -------------

The 'foxes' and the 'wolves' were duking it out on the screen in the middle
of a 'samurai's castle' that looked suspiciously like a paper-mache model
in the exterior shots. Rei shouted, "Of course that chair didn't hurt you!
They probably made it out of BALSA wood!"

The daimyo's servant rushed on screen. Makoto let out a great whooping
shout. "That guy reminds me of my old boyfriend! He's sooooo dreamy!"

"The CHAIR the guy got hit in the head with probably reminds you of your
old boyfriend," Rei said. "I'm surprised that I don't remind you of him."

"Well, I finally found someone even more dreamy than my old boyfriend,"
Makoto said.

"Yeah right, and the Prime Minister is going to join the JCP. So who is
this guy?"

"The guy who shows up in this next scene!"

"Are you sure he's not your old boyfriend in disguise?"

Makoto's answer was cut off by the doorbell ringing. She ran over and
opened the door. It was Michiru. "Is Rei here?"

Rei frowned faintly. "Yeah, I'm here."

Michiru walked over. "Since Serenity has decided we must work together, and
since neither of us is doing anything right now..." The TV caught her eye.
"Please tell me you're not REALLY watching this awful film."

"It's a good movie," Rei snapped instinctively.

Michiru frowned for just a second. "Haruka likes it, but I can't understand
why."

Makoto suddenly turned her head to the screen. "Aaah! I missed the best
scene!"

"This piece of junk has a best scene?" Michiru sounded skeptical.

"This is the part where he takes off his shirt!"

Rei whipped her head around, though she never would have admitted why.

                               -------------

Umino frowned. Naru had been polite about it, but being told to shut up was
never fun, especially when none of the other guys ever got told to do that.
Thus, he was now stuck listening to some yahoo from Greenwood blather on
about his winning goal in some stupid soccer game. Blah, blah, blah, bounce
soccer ball off his head, blah, blah, ball goes in, crowd goes wild, blah
blah, blah.

I'd rather have Goro dunking me than be listening to this, he thought.
Heck, I'd rather have something gnaw off my leg. More 'witty' conversation
flowed around him as people discussed people he'd never met and places he'd
never been, since his family neither entertained the rich nor went to
places designed for them. He'd always thought of himself as fairly well
off, but most of these people made his family look positively poor.

A feeling of moisture around his right leg snapped him out of his
half-trance of self-pity. A sprinkler had kicked in and was hosing down his
right leg. No one had noticed, so he tried to just move away from the
sprinkler. Unfortunately, he snagged his leg on the hose and fell. That
caught everyone's attention. He staggered to his feet, and the laughter
began.

It was an all too familiar experience, but it never got any better. The
laughter spread among the pack of teenagers, mounting to a crescendo. He
looked down at himself. He had gotten mud all over his nice dress pants and
shoes. Several tiny chips of mulch clung to them. Several people pointed
and other passersby looked, saw him, and started laughing. It was too much
for him. He ran. He could hear hoots of derision and jeering comments as he
ran through the rows of plants.

Naru prepared to run after him, but Sayuri grabbed her shoulder and
whispered, "Let him be for a while. Men don't like their women to see them
when they've been humiliated. It will just make him feel worse. Let him
cool off a little, then go find him." She looked around. "They'll all
forget this in a few minutes, and then you should go get him."

Naru nodded. It made sense, though she didn't like leaving Umino alone
after something had happened, but after all, Sayuri usually knew what she
was talking about. He'll be fine, she told herself. It'll all work out.

                               -------------

Ami, Urawa, Minako, Steven, Usagi, and Mamoru walked through the
greenhouse. Steven paused and sniffed a flower. "This was a good idea,
Usagi," he said. "This place is really beautiful. I kept meaning to come
see it, but something always happened. My host family is...well, there's
always some disaster going down there and all."

Usagi nodded. "Yeah. I really like this place. We're lucky it's so
convenient to get to!"

An odd snuffling noise caught their attention from the other side of the
row of flowers and vines. Ami said, "Is that someone crying?"

Usagi ran around the end of the row and found Umino slumped up against a
table, drying his glasses and making almost tears, at the stage where the
fluid has run out, but the body keeps twitching. He looked up and sighed.
"Hi, Usagi-chan."

As the others moved to catch up with her, she ran over to him. "What's
wrong? Where's Naru-chan? I thought you two were coming here together?"

"I got wet and fell down and then everyone started laughing and I ran off."
He sighed. "I guess Naru-chan doesn't want to be seen near me after I made
a public fool of myself."

Usagi knelt down by him. "Hey, I do that sort of thing all the time and
Mamo-chan never hides when I do that!" A memory of another trip to a garden
came to her mind. "Well, not usually, anyway."

Steven frowned. "That wasn't very nice of Naru to leave you on your own
just because you fell down."

Umino muttered something.

"What, Umino?" Usagi asked.

"I guess she wants to look good in front of her friends in that club she's
in. You know, the Silver Ring, or whatever the heck it's called."

"I'm sure she's looking for you right now, Umino," Usagi said, helping him
up. "She's probably wandering around worried about you right now."

Steven frowned slightly. "Is that the club that Polly is in?"

Umino nodded. "Yeah, I think there was someone named Polly there. British
like you, right?"

Minako grabbed Steven's arm. "Right. We're going. If anyone asks, we went
to Tibet and joined a monastery." She began to drag Steven off.

"Mina-chan!" Usagi ran after them and Mamoru followed.

Ami said, "Want us to help you look for her?"

"Sure, I guess."

They began wandering through the gardens. It didn't take long for them to
spot Naru, who was sitting by a fountain with Kimiko, Hitoshi, Meiko, and
Youta. They were drinking sodas and chatting merrily. Several other knots
of people from the two clubs were scattered around the fountain, doing
likewise. Umino froze in place and muttered, "Looking frantically, eh?"

"Maybe they got thirsty," Ami said.

"Maybe I'll inherit Sony tomorrow." Umino sighed. "She's forgotten she came
with me. Maybe I ought to just go home."

"She has not forgotten!" Ami said. "She really cares about you. You should
know that."

"It's hard to believe that, right now. I feel like just...I don't know.
Like I don't belong around those people."

"Maybe you don't," Urawa said. "But you belong around her, and that's
what's important, right?"

Ami nodded. "Now, go to her before the whole evening's gone."

Umino nodded and smoothed down his pants as best he could. At least I've
dried off, he thought. Mom's gonna kill me about the mud. He walked down
the pathway, feeling like he was walking into the OK Corral. He walked up
to Naru-chan and said, "Hi."

She started. "Umino-kun! I...I was wondering when you'd come back." She
scooted over to make room for him on the bench.

He smiled and sat down beside her.

"Are you okay, Umino-kun?" Kimiko asked.

Hitoshi said, "You should take up track, the way you ran away so fast."

Umino frowned as Kimiko, Meiko and Youta laughed.

Kimiko punched Hitoshi lightly on the arm. "You're such a joker."

"Better than being a joke, eh?"

She moved a little closer to him. "Are you insinuating something?"

"About YOU? No." He moved a little closer to her.

Didn't she just meet this guy? Umino thought. He glanced over and saw Meiko
and Youta were about to take a trip to smooch city as well. He glanced over
at Naru, who smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You were gone for so long...I was really worried."

Umino smiled and leaned closer. They'd never kissed in public before, but
suddenly, he wanted to. The smile on her face told him she wanted to do it,
too. They leaned closer, but just before their lips met...

A voice cut through his reverie. "Look, it's klutz boy! Let's see if he can
at least manage a kiss without falling down." It was one of the Greenwood
boys. He was tall, black haired, and looked like he could probably drive
Umino's head down through his shoulders with his pinky finger.

Naru blushed and pulled away from Umino, who turned around. "At least I
HAVE someone to kiss, as compared to you losers."

"Hey! I have a girlfriend!" the guy said.

"Yes, but how much do you have to PAY her?" Umino replied.

That got a gasp from a few people. The boy's face flushed with red. "Only
half as much as you pay yours!"

Now Naru got angry. "Hey! I'm not like that!"

"You probably pass out before she even notices you're pawing her, anyway.
Not that she has much worth pawing." The boy sneered. "Or that you've got
anything she'd notice if she did have something worth pawing."

Now Umino flushed with rage. "Naru-chan is the prettiest girl in this park,
maybe in the entire world and I WON'T LET YOU TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT!" He
got up off the bench and confronted the boy, who was about eight inches
taller than him.

The boy laughed. "Ooh, I'm terrified. Whatcha gonna do, beat me up?" He
moved in closer and poked Umino in the chest. "Beat it, runt."

A ways off, Usagi and Mamoru saw this. "Do something, Mamo-chan!"

Mamoru didn't move, or even speak.

For a moment, Umino stared in silence at the boy, whose name he didn't even
know.

"Mamo-chan, why don't you do something?"

Mamoru turned to Usagi. His face was even more serious than usual. "You
wouldn't understand."

"In other words, it's a stupid guy thing."

To her surprise, Mamoru nodded.

The boy poked Umino again. Umino stumbled back a step. "Well, where's your
fancy language now, geek-boy?"

Umino looked around. Everyone was frozen, watching. Some of the people were
sniggering. Naru was immobile on the park bench, looking scared. Kimiko was
hiding behind Hitoshi and Meiko and Youta were simply getting clear. He
noticed the British girl, Polly, was watching him and whispering to
someone. The other girl laughed loudly. That was too much. He shouted
something which sounded impressive in his mind, but came out as a twisted
howl like a mad dog. A second later, he kicked the guy in the balls.

Silence settled over the crowd for a moment, and then a frenzy of whispers.
The guy howled and clutched his crotch, bending over. Umino aimed a kick at
the guy's face. All the lessons from Makoto suddenly flooded into his head
and he unleashed a flurry of attacks, ranging from mildly to extremely
dirty. He felt like a volcano erupting, and it felt terrifyingly good. He
pulled the guy's hair, kicked him in the balls again, boxed his ears, spat
in his eyes, and punched him anywhere he could reach, all while screaming
imprecations to the heavens.

He lost track of what was going on. The real Umino was off doing something
else while his body and his anger beat the snot out of a very surprised
would-be bully. What was happening seemed completely unreal. He knew in his
soul he couldn't possibly beat anyone older than twelve, so clearly this
was just imaginary. It therefore didn't really matter what he did to the
guy.

Usagi stared in shock. "He's going to kill him! I can't believe it!"

"He won't kill him." Mamoru began to move forward. Time to get into
position, he thought.

One of the guy's friends started to intervene, but then decided he didn't
feel like taking any chances. Naru, on the other hand, simply stared in
shock, then said, "Umino, stop it! You're going to really hurt him!"

For once, what Umino was shouting made sense. "He deserved it!"

Naru spotted some of the staff approaching. She grabbed Umino. "He can't
fight anymore! STOP IT!"

Umino felt himself freeze in place for a moment. It was uncanny. It also
gave him a chance to see what he had done. He and the guy were both
slathered with dirt now, and the guy was bleeding from his nose and
kneeling, clutching various body parts and moaning. Oh God, what have I
done? Umino backed up. "I didn't...I mean..."

Sayuri stormed up with some of the park staff. "I'm really sorry about
this," she said to them. "Let me handle it." She turned to Naru and Umino.
"Take him home before he does any more damage, Naru-chan."

"Hey! He was picking on me!"

Sayuri looked at both of them. "Uh huh. And which one of you is unhurt and
which one is bleeding from the nose? Would you rather I have the park staff
throw you out?"

Usagi shouted, "It's not his fault! The guy was picking on him!" She
stormed over.

Naru blinked. What's Usagi doing here? Has she been following us around?

Sayuri turned and said, "Go away, little girl."

"I am not a little girl! I saw the whole thing!" She pointed at the guy on
the ground. "It was HIS fault!"

Sayuri frowned. "Does anyone ELSE wish to speak on behalf of Umino?"

All was silent for a moment, and Naru said, "I will."

"Would anyone not DATING Umino like to speak on his behalf?"

Umino looked around at the crowd. To his surprise, most of them wouldn't
meet his gaze. The ones who did mostly flinched and looked away.
They...they're scared of me? He couldn't believe it.

Sayuri was about to speak when Mamoru stepped into the area by the fountain
and spoke. "Usako is right. That boy was harrassing Umino-san. Among other
things, he accused Naru-chan of being a prostitute."

One of the park staffmen turned to Mamoru. "Chiba-san! Good to see you."

A second said to Sayuri, "If he says it happened that way, that's the way
it was. We know him. He's a biology student at the university. He comes
here a lot."

The first said, "I'm sure he got what was coming to him then, Chiba-san.
Found any new breeds of roses yet?"

Mamoru smiled. "I'm working on it."

Sayuri fumed. She started to say something, then fell silent. "Anyone else
want to say anything?"

Silence.

Umino turned to Naru. "Let's go get some ice cream or something with
Usagi-chan and Mamoru-kun."

Naru looked over at Sayuri, who looked nearly ready to explode, then turned
back to Umino. "Good idea," she said quietly.

Before they could go, Sayuri said to Naru, "I want to talk to you later."
This was not a good omen.

                               -------------

Haruka slinked in through the back door into her house, yawning. Noriko
wore me out. Doesn't she EVER get tired? That was one thing she had learned
tonight, and about the only thing she had accomplished by this date. Well,
I learned Yuki's boyfriend is a bozo, but good for laughs. For whatever
that is worth. Maybe I am being ridiculously obsessive. Her stomach rumbled
and she headed to the kitchen.

Hotaru was in the kitchen, acting strange. Her arms were spread out,
embracing a body that didn't exist, which she seemed to be dancing with.
Her eyes were shut. For a moment, Haruka wondered if some evil force was at
work, but then Hotaru mumbled, "You look just like Otoshii Godai. Kiss me,"
and embraced the refrigerator, then kissed it.

Haruka laughed so hard she fell down. If only I had my camera. Hotaru's
eyes snapped open, and she blushed bright red, then backed away from the
refrigerator. Hearing Haruka's gales of laughter, she turned and blushed
more. "I...uh..."

"Found your one true love?" Haruka teased.

Hotaru stared at the ground. "I wish. It was a lovely dream, though. He had
the most beautiful eyes, and he knew I was Saturn, but he loved me anyway."
She slumped. "Not much chance of that."

Haruka dragged herself off the floor. "You'll find someone, Hotaru- chan.
You're not the only Senshi without a boyfriend. Why, I've never had one in
my entire life." She winked at Hotaru, who laughed a little.

Hotaru yawned. "I think Michiru-mama is still waiting up for you. Or at
least I heard something breaking in there about an hour ago, before I went
to bed."

Maybe I should go straight to the couch and spare her the trouble of
exiling me, Haruka thought.

                               -------------

Chester knocked on Polly's door. "Aren't you EVER getting out of bed?"

An incoherent mumble was the only response.

"We're going to be late if you don't get up!"

Another mumble. He gave up and opened the door. Polly was sprawled out on
the bed. In fact, she was still wearing her clothing from the previous
evening. He sighed. "Well, this will save time on you getting dressed, but
if you keep staying up late every Saturday, how are we ever supposed to get
to these meetings? It's not like you didn't know in advance you'd have to
get up!"

Polly muttered something.

"Will you please speak clearly?"

"Wuffle wuffle blue meringue," Polly said a little more loudly. Chester now
realized her eyes were shut.

He sighed. Ever since she joined that stupid club, she came home dead every
Saturday night and he had to practically give her CPR to get her going.
Even though she KNEW they had Zodiac business every Sunday morning. He
sighed. Here we go again.

                               -------------

Naru walked into Setsuna's office. Setsuna had had her called out of her
first morning class. "Hi! What's up?" she asked. "Is this sailor business?"

Setsuna nodded. "I want to try to work out a schedule with you to help you
start your training, since Serenity has assigned me to train you and
Himeko."

Naru said, "Well, let's see..."

"How about Saturday nights?" Setsuna asked casually.

"It's really bad for me. My social club meets those nights and we play TORG
when it doesn't." And usually when it does too, she thought, frowning.

"So why are you in this social club?" Setsuna asked. "I'm surprised you
have time."

"Well, I really enjoy it, and it's nice to just be a normal person
sometimes."

Setsuna laughed faintly. "I know. I never expected to do anything faintly
resembling a normal life, ever again. Not that what you consider normal was
normal during my childhood."

Naru leaned forward. She had never heard Setsuna say one word about her
childhood. "What was it like?"

"The Earth was controlled by monsters. We lived in fear of being eaten on a
daily basis." She paused. "I suppose this probably isn't as alien to you as
I was thinking at first."

They both laughed a little, and Setsuna continued. "I grew up in a small
village where we had to periodically draw lots in order to choose someone
to sacrifice to appease the monsters."

Naru shuddered. "That's awful!"

"My aunt was the last person sacrificed to the byakhee before Serenity and
her friends came and brought down the pillars that had let their master
touch our world. We had lived in fear, and they brought us hope. The Silver
Millenium was a golden age and yet...since I left my home village, I had
not had a family, had a true husband, had people with whom I could be
myself...until now. I was always Pluto and never Setsuna. I still must be
Pluto most of the time." Her voice sounded odd, and she looked guilty.

"You've sacrificed a lot," Naru said. "It was very noble of you."

Setsuna sighed. "I didn't intend to start talking about me. The other
reason I called you here is that your boyfriend came and talked to me about
some things. I can't talk about all of them, but..."

"Yes?"

"Think carefully about what you are doing with your life, Naru-chan. Every
choice we make has consequences, and things that seem inconsequential now,
can set us on paths that in the end will control us."

"Could you try that again, except this time, I'd like to understand what
you mean?"

"He would not appreciate my saying what he told me, but I strongly suggest
you think about recent events and consider what you are making of your
life." She paused. "How about Sunday afternoon for training sessions?"

"Well, this Sunday would work. I don't know about long term."

She nodded. "It's a start."

                               -------------

Umino walked over to Naru-chan and Kimiko, who were eating lunch together.
They both looked pretty unhappy. "What's up?"

"We got the tongue lashing of our lives from Sayuri," Naru said sullenly.

Umino sat down and got out his lunch box as Kimiko said, "Why'd you have to
beat the crap out of that guy, anyway?"

"Didn't you hear what he said?"

"He was just talking trash, Umino-kun," Kimiko said. "It's not like his
opinion matters."

"I won't let anyone talk like that about Naru-chan! It doesn't matter what
they say about me, but I won't let people put her down. Who invited those
idiots, anyway?"

"Hey, they're not all idiots!" Kimiko said. "Hitoshi is a pretty nice guy."

"They're a bunch of pretentious rich snobs and bullies who think they're
special because they have money and good looks! They couldn't think their
way out of a wet paper bag."

"Since when did you beat the shit out of people anyway?" Kimiko said. "I
thought you were better than that."

Umino glanced over at Naru, who looked away. Is she scared of me too?, he
wondered. Maybe I shouldn't have taken those lessons from Mako-chan. I
never wanted something like this to happen.

"You really hurt him bad," Naru said quietly. "Sayuri told us he was in too
much pain to go to school today."

"I...I just wanted to protect your reputation, Naru-chan." Umino said
sadly. "I'm sorry."

"Beating someone up, then repeatedly slamming their head into the dirt and
rubbing it in their wounds is a bit extreme for protecting someone's
reputation," Kimiko said.

"I said I was sorry already!"

"If you get us kicked out of this club, I'm not gonna be happy! You should
apologize to Sayuri for causing such a scene!" Kimiko shouted.

"I'd rather burn in hell!" Umino shouted back. "She backed up a DAMN BULLY
and wouldn't believe anyone who tried to tell her otherwise! I'd have been
thrown out if Mamoru-kun hadn't known some of the staff!"

Naru said, "You don't have to swear at Kimiko, Gurio-kun."

Kimiko yawned, then blinked. "Why am I so wiped out? I feel so tired."

Naru nodded. "Me too. I was so zonked after we got back from the Gardens, I
couldn't even eat any ice cream."

"I feel fine," Umino said. "I hope you're not sick, Naru-chan."

Kimiko took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Umino-kun. I
just...I don't want to get kicked out of this club and...you made a good
target."

He nodded. "Why do you two like this club? Everyone's so...so...they're
just the kind of people I really can't stand."

"They're not bad people, Umino." Kimiko said. "You just have to get to know
them. Sayuri is just so...I wish I could be more like her."

Naru nodded. "She's so elegant and pretty and refined and..."

"She's a vengeful little beast," Umino said. "She hounded one of her
boyfriends' ex-girlfriends to the point where she had to switch schools.
When she was eight, she shaved off all of her brother's hair after he broke
one of her dolls. When she was nine, she pushed her sister off the roof of
their house over something. When she..."

"No way," Kimiko said. "She's not like that."

"Who told you all this?" Naru asked.

"I already knew this before I even met her. I have connections, you know."

Kimiko frowned. "It can't be true."

Umino sighed. Once Kimiko makes up her mind that she knows what someone is
like, NOTHING will ever change her mind.

                               -------------

Usagi sat with Ami, Urawa, and Makoto, eating lunch, across the schoolyard
from Umino, Kimiko, and Naru. Usagi glanced over there and sighed. Makoto
cocked her head. "What's wrong, Usagi-chan?"

"Naru-chan looks unhappy, but if I go over there, Kimiko will start sniping
at me, and I can't stand it when she does that."

"Just ignore her," Urawa said. "You can't change people, but you can ignore
them if they're just stupid. Why does she snipe at you all the time?"

"Because she thinks I'm lazy and clumsy and stupid and worthless. She hates
my guts just for being me." Usagi sighed. "I thought I was rid of her, but
now she's going here."

"Well, if she causes you any more trouble, just let me know," Makoto said.
"I'll deal with her."

"I just plan to avoid her. She can't insult me if I'm not there."

"So why does Naru like her?" Ami asked.

"Because she always says nice things about Naru. It's just me she can't
stand. Now she's sucked her into that stupid social club. She doesn't need
to join a club to have friends!"

"She probably feels a little like you do sometimes, Usagi," Ami said. "She
wants to have some normal friends as well as Senshi friends."

"And Senshi Auxillary," Urawa said, laughing faintly. "With our super
boyfriend powers."

Everyone laughed and the conversation began to turn to silly things.

                               -------------

Mamoru finished off the lab report on his computer. Finally got this stupid
thing finished, he thought. I should have finished this thing last weekend
instead of running around with Usako most of the time. Well, it feels good
to take a little break sometimes, he thought. And we don't get to see each
other too much. Given we can't let her parents know. He sighed. At least I
don't have to worry about what my parents would think. Not much of a
consolation, though.

There was a knock on the door. Probably Usako, he thought. He got up and
went to the door and opened it. "Nice timing, Usako. Did you somehow sense
I just finished my lab rep..." It wasn't Usagi, and he felt rather
embarrassed.

Umino laughed. "Now, THAT is a first. I would not have bet a 1 yen coin
that you'd ever mistake me for Usagi-chan, Mamoru-kun."

He let Umino in. "Neither would I." Mamoru headed over to the couch, and
Umino followed him. "So what brings you here? Need help with Biology
homework?"

"Well, two things, really. One, I wanted to thank you for standing up for
me at the Gardens." Umino sat down.

"No problem. If he had been talking like that about Usako, I wouldn't have
been very happy, either."

"The other thing was...I have a real problem and I don't have any idea what
to do...I'm hoping maybe you've been through something like this and have
some idea what I can do about it."

"You don't like the social club Naru is in, but you don't know how to
convince her to get out of it?"

Umino blinked. "Do you read minds?"

"Well, unless you've decided to take up perching on lampposts, I couldn't
think of anything else you might be needing help with." They both laughed.
"Seriously, I agree with you. That Sayuri person is the club president?"

"Yeah. She's really a horrible person. I can't tell what all the
clubmembers see in her, but all the ones who were still willing to talk to
me seem to think she's some kind of walking god. She's really awful!" Umino
launched into a long rant on Sayuri's past.

Mamoru wondered for a moment how much Umino knew about his own past. He
probably knows more about my life than I do, he thought. "I get the idea,
Umino-kun." Umino fell silent. "I assume you told her all this, and she
dismissed it as you just making things up or something similar?"

"Pretty much." He sighed. "Also...I...what I did to that guy scares me. I
don't get mad like that, but when he...when he...said what he said, I just
blew up. I'm used to being taunted, but I really, really hate it when
anyone says something bad about Naru-chan." He felt himself getting a
little agitated just thinking about it. "And what he said...okay, I
provoked him into it. I shouldn't have made those cracks about him, but I
just...I really goofed up."

Mamoru nodded. "I worry sometimes about what I might do if I ever really
lost control. I don't get mad easily, but with all the power I wield...I
could make a big mess if I ever just cut loose like that. Being Tuxedo
Kamen isn't as easy as it looks. But enough about me. I don't think you'll
snap like that again, Umino. I can tell you've really thought about this
and how much it scares you."

Umino nodded silently.

"Have you tried getting Usagi to help you with this? She was really mad
about how that woman treated you. She probably understands Naru a lot
better than me, too."

"I'm afraid that if I bring Usagi into this, Kimiko will turn on me too.
She really hates Usagi and she tends to think that whatever is the opposite
of what Usagi says must be the right thing."

"Why does she hate Usagi?"

"Kimiko isn't very tolerant of laziness or getting bad grades or...she's
normally not so bad, though. Something about Usagi just rubs her raw, and I
don't understand why. She and Naru were friends for a long time, but they
only got really close during the eighth grade." He thought for a moment.
"Around the same time I started dating Naru- chan. As she and Usagi drifted
away from each other, Kimiko and Naru got closer and..." He slapped his
forehead. "Yeesh, I should have thought of this a long time ago."

"In other words, she doesn't like Usagi because she thinks Usagi wasn't
worthy of Naru's friendship and that Usagi abandoned Naru for another group
of friends and deliberately shut Naru out." Mamoru sighed. "It must have
been pretty hard on Naru, I guess, watching her best friend drift away and
not knowing why."

"Kimiko is very loyal to her friends. She's one of the few people who ever
stuck up for me when we were younger. I can see her getting really angry
with Usagi over all that." He sighed. "Doesn't bring us any closer to a
solution."

"This isn't the sort of problem I'm good at, either," Mamoru said. "Now if
she was possessed by a youma...that would be different."

"Well, let's see what we can brainstorm." Unfortunately, it was more like a
braindrizzle.

                               -------------

Another Golden Ring meeting came to an end. No fancy social events this
weekend, just discussion of club business and plans for the next weekend.
Naru gathered her stuff and prepared to leave. She was going to be late to
the next TORG game, and she hated coming into the middle of things.

Kimiko came over to Naru and said, "Meiko and I are going to go down to
Bobson's Ice Cream for a while. Want to come with us?"

"I'm sorry, Kimiko, but I already told Umino I'd be at tonight's TORG game
once the meeting was over."

Kimiko sighed. "Well, are you free tomorrow afternoon?"

"Usagi and I are going to go visit our painter friend."

Kimiko made a face. "Right. Oh well, see you at school on Monday, I guess."

"Yeah. Have fun with Meiko-chan!"

Sayuri swept over to the pair. "Got a moment?"

"Well, I'm sort of in a hurry, but if it doesn't take too long, yeah." Naru
said.

"Mark your calendars. We're going to do initiations next week. I assume you
both want to become full members?"

"Yeah!" Kimiko said.

Naru nodded.

"Okay. I'll find you at school one day and tell you more. I have places to
go, and I'm sure you do too." She swept off.

Naru cocked her head. "I have this vague feeling I'm forgetting
something...well, I'm sure it will come back to me."

"Well, it's not my birthday or yours, or your mom's birthday...Is Umino's
birthday next Saturday or something?"

"I don't think so. Well, I'm sure I'll remember."

Kimiko yawned. "Man, something about this place always makes me sleepy."

Naru nodded. "Yeah. I never realized being in a club like this could wear
you out so much. I think I've lost three pounds too. Cheaper than a fitness
club, eh?"

Kimiko laughed.

                               -------------

"Dag uses his disguise miracle and turns the gardenias into a track uniform
for himself so he can infiltrate the marathon race. That way if one of the
racers is the person that Alexandrite is looking for, he'll be ready to
act," Steven said.

Urawa said, "I don't need precognition to tell you how well that's going to
work, Dag."

The TORG game was in full swing. Umino laughed a little. "Yes, but good
luck convincing Dag of that. After all, he thought he could impersonate the
Pope last time."

"It would have worked if I'd remembered to not drink all the wine myself at
the Mass!"

"Yeah, right," Rei said. "I'm going to lock up my sister before she can try
to help us with her magic, and then..."

"HEY!" Makoto shouted. "If she tries to lock me up, I'm going to design a
ritual to turn her into a toad!"

The door opened, and Naru walked in. "Sorry I'm late. The meeting dragged
overtime."

"Dag's going to run in the Cairo marathon!" Minako announced. "I can fly
over the race and watch for trouble from above," she said to Umino.

"Cairo has a marathon race?" Naru asked.

"It does now," Mamoru said. "Mobius probably plans to turn the winner into
Marathon Man or something."

Naru walked over and hugged Umino, then dug her character sheet out of her
purse. "Is something happening next Saturday? I have this feeling like I'm
forgetting something."

"Yeah, we're going out next Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of our
first date," Umino said. "I can't believe you forgot."

"Uh oh," Naru said.

"Is something wrong?"

"Hmm? No, nothing. Nothing at all." Oh great, Naru thought. If I miss this
initiation, I might have to wait for months. But if I don't want Umino to
think I'm treating the club as more important than our relationship. An
idea struck her. Ahah! There is a way I can be in two places at once! For
that matter, maybe I'll be lucky and the initiation will be early enough
that I can make it both.

                               -------------

That Monday, Naru sat with most of her friends at lunch. It was quite a
mob, a mixture of Sailors, Sailor auxiliaries, and totally normal people
who had no clue that the Sailor Senshi walked, studied, and fell down among
them. "Can I talk to you later, Usagi?" Naru asked.

"Hmm? Sure!" Usagi said. She was about to ask what Naru needed to talk to
her about when Sayuri walked up. She surveyed the group and frowned
slightly, then tapped Naru on the shoulder.

"Got a minute to talk about your initiation, Naru-chan?" Sayuri asked.

"Sure!" She got up and followed Sayuri, who ran through various things Naru
would need to know, from what to wear, to when to show up.

"So it's going to start at 8 pm?"

Sayuri nodded. "So everyone can eat dinner beforehand with their families.
A sort of last supper before your initiation." She smiled. "The whole thing
will last about three hours."

Naru's heart sank. That'll eat up the whole evening. How can I make it to
the meeting and go out with Umino at the same time? Well, we could go out
Sunday, instead. Yeah, that'll work. I'm sure Umino won't mind.

"Is there a problem? You look worried."

"I just have to reschedule something I had planned," Naru said.

"Well, our next initiation isn't for three months. Still, if it's a big
deal..."

"No, no, it'll be fine," Naru said.

                               -------------

It was only the second time Naru had heard Umino scream, not counting
rollercoasters and the like. Things were not going the way she had planned.
"No, it's NOT okay with me! We've been planning this for weeks! What am I
supposed to do with these play tickets? Eat them? Hawk them on a street
corner?"

Naru had sensed disaster the moment she remembered about the play tickets.
She wasn't even sure why she was pushing this. Why was it so important that
she get initiated into this club? Why was she so determined to stay in
Sayuri's good graces? Was it really worth having a fight with her
boyfriend? "I...I don't know."

"I can't even understand WHY you'd want to be a full member of this stupid
club! It's a bunch of rich twits standing around congratulating themselves
on how high class they are while not having enough brains to power a
Christmas tree light! And the President is a..a...I wish a youma would EAT
HER!"

"Gurio-kun, don't say things like that!"

"Dammit, Naru, after school today she came by me and told me to stay away
from you! That I wasn't worthy to be your boyfriend! That she would GET me
for what I did! She's a vengeful little..." He let out a deep breath. "She
scares me, Naru. I don't think she was bluffing. I think she really is
going to try to get me."

"Sayuri wouldn't do something like that. She's a very nice person." Why is
Umino making up threats like this?, she wondered.

Umino turned and stared out the window. "Whatever. So are you going to the
play or going to your initiation?"

"I'll see if I can work something out. I'm sure Sayuri will understand."
She has to understand, Naru thought. She's got a boyfriend too. She'll
sympathize.

                               -------------

"Ahh, so you have a date with Umino-kun planned so you can't make the
initiation?"

"Well, the play doesn't start until 9:30 pm, so I was hoping that..."

Sayuri shook her head. "We need you for the entire thing. And we can't
initiate anyone who isn't willing to make a total commitment. It's not like
you can't just go out with him on Sunday instead. Saturdays are for the
club. It's part of being in a sisterhood. Your sisters have to come first,
just like family comes first. You understand that, don't you?"

Naru nodded dumbly. Sayuri was right. Umino was just being unreasonable. It
probably wasn't too late too get tickets for Sunday instead. They could
give Usagi and Mamoru the ones they had. Usagi would enjoy the play a lot.
If she wanted to be part of a sisterhood, she would have to make
sacrifices. She was only doing what had to be done. Umino would understand.
It was all so clear now. I can't see how I could have been so worried, she
thought.

Sayuri said, "Do you know someone named Usagi?"

"Tsukino Usagi?"

Sayuri nodded.

"She came and screamed at me before school today. Apparently she was put up
to it by your boyfriend. She claimed I threatened him. You don't believe
I'd do something like that, do you?"

"No, of course not." Naru said quietly. "You wouldn't do anything like
that. You're a nice person."

Sayuri smiled. Everything was going very, very well.

                               -------------

Himeko and Setsuna floated in the void inside the gate of time. Swirling
mists surrounded them as they stood by a great pool of water. "What's this,
Setsuna?"

"The well of possibilities. The thread that makes up the great tapestry of
life is made from this water."

"How do you make thread from water?"

"It is neither my job, nor my concern. What is my concern is that it can be
used to gaze upon the future."

Himeko blinked. "You already see the future. Not to mention, you can time
travel with the Time Gate, right?"

"I see possible futures, but the further ahead I gaze, the more fuzzy my
sight becomes. You know that."

Himeko nodded.

"Also, there's problems with simply traveling to the future."

"Like what?"

"Follow me."

"Should I transform?"

"Yes." Setsuna transformed into Sailor Pluto, and so did Himeko. The time
gate suddenly appeared nearby. "Follow me."

They stepped out into a barren wasteland. A city stood around them, lying
in ruins. The junior Pluto recognized the Tokyo Tower, or what was left of
it...the top had been blown off. The air was unpleasantly cold and the sky
was shrouded with dark clouds of dust. All was silent. Himeko-Pluto
shuddered. "This is the future?"

"This is a future. The year is 2033 AD. There has been a nuclear war.
Humanity is rapidly on its way to extinction."

"I..." Himeko-Pluto looked around and shivered. "What caused it?"

"The President of the United States was replaced by a Youma and responded
to a crisis by pushing the world to the brink of apocalypse... and over
it." The Time Gate opened and they stepped back through it.

"So how can Crystal Tokyo happen with everyone dead?"

"It can't."

The Gate opened again and they stepped through. This time, they stood in an
ordinary looking city street. There was perhaps a bit more garbage and some
of the buildings looked a little different, but overall, it was very much
the same city that Himeko knew. Still, something wasn't quite right. It was
like a spiritual malaise had settled over the city. She could sense it,
somehow, though she couldn't find its source. "Now what?"

"This is also the year 2033 AD. Tokyo is now called Mega-Tokyo, rebuilt
after an earthquake. How is this different from the previous future we
saw?"

"Everyone's not dead, for one thing. So what's the point of all this?"

"To show you that I can see the future...but I can see any future you want.
It's too much information."

"Any future?"

"Think of something silly."

"A future where my boyfriend rules the Earth."

Sailor Pluto cocked her head. "Well, that will take a little more effort."

Two more passages through the Time Gate brought them to another Tokyo. This
one looked much like the last, except for giant billboards of Daichi
everywhere. 'Trust Daichi. Obey him in all things.' they proclaimed. He was
posed with an arm around Hibino Hikaru in each of the billboards. The Tokyo
Tower had been replaced with a giant statue of Daichi hugging Hikaru. A
nearby TV set in a shop window was showing footage from the 2014 World Cup
with Daichi leading the Japanese team to victory, after which the world
spontaneously declared him global Emperor. It was some sort of historical
program.

"Are you sure this isn't one of Hikaru's dreams?"

"Is there a difference? The problem is that like you, I now exist within
time. I can no longer stand outside of it and be an objective, neutral
observer. What I do will have an effect which will cloud the possibilities.
I cannot see the path to Crystal Tokyo clearly."

"But the pool can?"

"The pool can help me narrow down the long term possibilities to the most
likely. This, for example, is highly unlikely." She paused. "God help us
all if it is not."

"Much as I like my boyfriend...this is RIGHT out. So show me how the pool
works."

They returned to the time out of time, the home of the pool. Pluto stuck
her staff into the water and ripples washed across it. Images washed across
the pool. They were not things Himeko wanted to see. "No way! We've got to
stop this!"

"She must stop it herself."

"What, you're going to just sit back and not do anything?"

"If she does not survive this challenge by her own strength, she will never
pass the far greater test that is to come. If she cannot resist the will of
one, how will she ever resist the will of many?"

"But, we have to warn her! We know the truth!"

"She already has someone to warn her. If she won't listen to the man she
loves, do you think she'll listen to us?"

Himeko-Pluto twitched. "I can't just STAND here and do NOTHING! Why are you
giving up before we even try?"

"Strike the water." She handed Himeko-Pluto the Time Staff.

The junior Pluto sighed and struck the water. The visions changed.
Possibilities flickered across the water, each worse than the one before
it. She paled. "I would never do that! Never!"

"The you that you are now, would not. But if you began down the path that
begins with rushing off to solve this...Every choice you make, shapes you.
You can give people advice, but in the end, it is they who must make the
choices. Our job is to guide them, not to control them, because if you try
to control people, to forge them to your will without allowing them to have
their own will...that way lies corruption. I have done horrible things, but
coercion is always my last choice. Sometimes...we have to let people make
mistakes. It may be the only way they can learn to stop making them." Pluto
sighed. "It is not an easy path you are called to. I would spare you if I
could, but I cannot. Just as you would spare her, but you should not."

"But what if she fails? What if she isn't strong enough to fight this on
her own?"

"Then saving her would be of no avail, if it would only bring her to a
worse fate in the end. You do not become stronger by being saved by others.
Have you ever wondered why Tuxedo Kamen so often hangs back in battle, only
striking when nothing else will avail to bring victory? And then so often
withdraws, simply offering encouragement?"

Himeko nodded.

"He understands this. Sometimes, a task is too big for you, and then you
must learn to not be too proud to lean on your friends for help. But at the
same time, you will never become stronger if others always bear the burden
for you."

"But how do you tell the difference? How can you KNOW for sure?" The junior
Pluto stared at Pluto, as if trying to drag the answers from her by force
of will.

"You can't." Pluto said quietly. "We know nothing for sure. The most we can
hope for is to make an informed judgment. We all make mistakes. But when
you wield the power that you and I possess...our mistakes can be much more
powerful than the mistakes of most people."

Himeko sighed. "So we do nothing."

"I didn't say that. I said we won't go and tell her what you have seen. But
we must prepare to pick up the pieces if things go wrong. Come with me."

                               -------------

Steven walked into Umino's room. "I got your message. What's up?"

"You've got to help me! You can like see through illusions and disguises
and stuff, can't you?"

Steven nodded. "I can tell when people are lying to me, too. I see the
world as it truly is, I guess is the best way of putting it. Minako likes
to call it 'seeing the present'."

"Do you think you could take a look at someone for me? I need to prove to
Naru-chan what a rat she is."

"This Sayuri person?"

Umino nodded.

"Just promise me I won't run into Polly. I know she's in the same club with
Sayuri."

"I promise. You gotta help me, man!"

Steven said, "How are we going to find her, though? I don't go to your
school, so..."

"She's in the Chess club too. They meet tomorrow. If you come by after
school, we can go get you a gander at her."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

                               -------------

Steven and Umino crept across the Tsunami High campus. Minako had joined
them and dressed them all up in trenchcoats and sunglasses. This did not
contribute to making them comfortable OR inconspicuous, but it had been
easier to take the things and wear them than to get her to understand this.
Minako herself was perched up on the roof of the library, watching the area
with binoculars. She'd gotten headsets from somewhere and was giving them a
running pointless commentary as they snuck towards the windows of the
building where the Chess Club was meeting.

"Okay, now Yuri and her new boyfriend are necking by the fountain, so I
suggest you swing north fifty feet to stay out of their sight and, oh my
god, I don't believe it, Keiko and Yoshitune are making out in the
chemistry lab! Oh man, Ietsune is going to just DIE! Ooooh, the
groundskeeper finally planted some new roses over by Perry Hall! They're
really pretty..."

Steven and Umino tried to just go deaf. Finally, they reached the side of
the building and peeked in through the window. There were lots of people
playing Chess. They all seemed pretty normal to Steven. "Which one is
Sayuri?"

He frowned. "I don't see her anywhere. She would choose this day to be
late. Unless maybe that's her over there..."

Their concentration was shattered by Minako shouting, "The GREAT BEAST
COMETH AT 12 O'CLOCK!"

Steven almost fell down from the shout. "The what?"

Seconds later, Polly glomped onto Steven. "Hey, playing spies? Can I play?"

Seconds after that, Minako vaulted off the roof and began running over. The
Great Beast cometh, indeed.

                               -------------

Sayuri frowned slightly as she walked down the street. She didn't like
spending large quantities of money, even on things which would be
reasonably permanent, even when it wasn't her own personal money. She
wasn't exactly a miser--her frequently empty wallet could attest to that,
but that was the result of nickel and diming herself to death. For one
thing, she'd been eating way more than she used to. She wasn't gaining
weight though. She burned it all off in all her new duties. She enjoyed her
responsibilities, though it meant giving up many of the things she had done
for fun, like the Chess club meeting she was missing right now.

She walked into the jeweler's shop. It was run by a greasy old man who made
her uncomfortable, named Hiro. He was mildly disgusting, fairly ugly, very
hentai, and incredibly brilliant at making jewelry. How he could sell such
brilliant workmanship so cheaply, she had no idea. She didn't press herself
too closely on the question, either.

"Are the new pins ready?"

He nodded. "Why don't you just slip into something more comfortable while I
get them for you?" He leered.

She sighed. "I don't think so. Bring me the pins." She put her will into
it. When she commanded, few could resist. That was one of the bennies of
this job.

Except him. He was one of the tiny handful of people who could resist her.
It bothered her to know that someone of her high heritage could fall so low
as to become this disgusting, with unkempt hair and a perpetual look of
sweating, despite the quite chilly air conditioning. He laughed. "No one
tells me what to do, sahib." He tilted his head slightly and gave her a
weird look. "Show me the money."

She flashed the wad of cash and sighed. "Here it is."

He smiled and went into the back, returning with a box, which he opened.
"Here you go."

She looked at the little pins and brooches. They all seemed okay. She spent
a moment wishing she had jewelry identification powers. Well, if he cheats
me, I can make sure he wishes he had never been born. He hasn't cheated me
before, anyway. "Here you go." She dropped the cash on the counter, took
the box, and left.

As she walked down the street, a cat ran out of an alleyway and rubbed up
against her legs. She laughed and picked up Hecate. "What are you doing
here, you silly calico cat?"

"They've infiltrated our school, Sayuri," Hecate replied. She was a calico
cat and just a little bit on the portly side. I've spotted them. Well,
their cats, anyway."

Sayuri cursed loudly and kicked the wall. "Blast it, we're not ready for
them. We won't even do initiations until Saturday, let alone trying to
actually TRAIN anyone. I don't think any of my sisters are any readier than
I am, either." She could feel the beginning of another one of her blasted
headaches coming on as well. "Oh great. And now I'm getting a headache
too." I never used to have these headaches back when I had an ordinary
life, she thought. But then...back then I didn't really know what was going
on. Back before I met Hecate.

                               -------------

Sayuri had been doing her math homework when it happened. She couldn't
quite find the answer to an algebra problem. "AAAHHH!!!! I keep getting a
different answer every time I do this!"

"The answer is 3X-5T+2." A female voice had said.

Sayuri looked at the paper and worked backwards from the answer to the
problem. It was right! "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Sayuri had been about to ask for help on the next problem when she realized
two things. First, she didn't recognize the voice of who she was talking
to. Secondly, she was supposed to be alone in her bedroom, with the door
locked on the eighteenth story of an apartment building. She spun around,
only to see a calico cat sitting on her bed.

"Great, now I'm imagining voices and calico cats. I must be doing too much
homework."

"No, I'm quite real," the cat had replied. Sayuri tried to flee the room,
but the door was locked and she was too panicked to remember how to open
it, which when she looked back on the experience was pretty ridiculous.

                               -------------

"Sayuri?" The voice broke through her reverie.

She stopped, two inches from a light pole. "Oops."

"You really need to stop blanking out while you're moving, you know."

Sayuri sighed. I never used to do that either. I guess you pay a price for
power...Like having to lie to Naru. It had only been a tiny lie. She hadn't
MEANT to threaten Umino. He wasn't worth threatening, but she had
just...something about him got under her skin. He was...wrong. She had to
get Naru away from him for her own good. He could only drag her down. She's
one of us, Sayuri thought. I can sense it. She has the power.

A tiny part of her nagged away at her, making her wonder whether or not she
was right about what she sensed in Naru. The bad guys had power too...what
if Naru was one of them? No, of course not, Sayuri thought. She's too nice.
Now that nincompoop Usagi or her tacky boyfriend...it wouldn't surprise her
at all if those two punks were working for the Moon Kingdom...She almost
hoped they were, so she could really cut loose on them. For what they had
done to her family, they would pay. All of them.

                               -------------

Umino listened to Naru drone on about how she HAD to go to the initiation,
or she'd have to wait forever, they could find a good use for the tickets,
blah, blah, blah. Part of him wanted to get angry, but the larger part of
him was worried. Something wasn't right, and he could feel it. There was a
difference between this time and the fight they had had before. Naru was
almost like a...like she was a tape recorder playing someone else's words.
He simply nodded and agreed, playing for time while he tried to figure out
what to do.

The conversation switched topics, and suddenly, her old self returned,
seemingly unaware of the changes in her demeanor earlier. They talked for a
while, then kissed goodbye and she left. Maybe I can get Ami to scan her
with her computer or something, he thought. Well, if it was functional. A
twinge of guilt over its destruction struck him. But what if I'm just
imagining things? I'll look like an idiot. Maybe I am just blowing this all
out of proportions. It's not like she's going to break up with me or
something. He sighed. I just have to be patient. She'll see this club is
stupid and it will all pass.

                               -------------

Clark frowned faintly. Blast it, I left all the homework I need to grade at
school. I'm going to have to go back and get it. He walked out of his
apartment and down to the garage, where he hopped into his car. At least I
won't have to worry about parking at this hour.

He laughed faintly. You'd almost think I planned this to make it more
convenient...yeah, right. He roared off into the night towards Tsunami.

                               -------------

Himeko rapped her pencil on her desk for approximately the 1 billionth time
that night. Minako twitched in response for about the billionth time as
well. "Can you STOP that? You're driving me NUTS!"

"That's a pretty short drive," Himeko replied irritably.

Luckily, Minako didn't take the bait. "What is wrong, Hime-chan? You've
been tense all week."

"Have you ever known that something bad was going to happen, and you could
prevent it, but someone else wouldn't let you?"

Minako thought for a moment. "Not really."

Himeko banged her head on the desk. Pokota ran over and said, "Hime-chan,
you're going to hurt yourself!"

"Maybe I should," she muttered.

Pokota tried to frown, though he really wasn't designed for it. "What is
eating you? You haven't been this morose since the time Daichi came to eat
at your house and poured salad oil in his tea."

Minako laughed at that. Himeko perked up a bit. "I can't tell anyone about
this. I should, but Pluto will eat my head if I do."

Minako frowned. "Is it Sailor business?"

"I wish I'd never thought of turning into Sailor Pluto. I don't want to
know about the future...I have a hard enough time with the present."

"Does it have to do with the Talismans?" We really need to start looking
for those, she thought. If we ever have time to finish the training we need
to find them. Maybe once we get far enough ahead in our schoolwork to give
us some free time...yeah, right, like that's gonna happen. Maybe a cow will
eat Polly too.

"No, it doesn't have to do with the Talismans."

"Does it have to do with the Inner Senshi or the Outer Senshi?"

"Inner." Himeko paused. "I really, really can't tell you about this,
but..."

"But if I guess, you won't stop me?"

Himeko was silent.

Minako laughed. "Okay, let's see. That narrows it down to seven
people...assuming I count you and Naru-chan. Now, I can eliminate you,
because if it was something that was going to happen to you, I'm sure even
Pluto wouldn't stop you from trying to do something."

She began to pace around the room. Pokota said, "And it's probably not you,
or she wouldn't be able to keep her mouth this shut."

"Are you insinuating something?"

Minako nodded. "Let's see. Most of our group is out on dates tonight...Naru
has that initiation thingie for that club...Steven is out with Umino
watching that movie, I'm studying, Makoto is...okay, only Ami and Usagi are
on dates..."

The detective work continued.

                               -------------

Steven turned to Umino. "How exactly did you talk me into this?" They were
in the 'spy costumes' again, now creeping around through the Fine Arts
building, heading for the backstage of the auditorium. The Golden Ring was
holding its initiation there, though why they needed a huge stage for two
dozen or so girls, Steven had no idea.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," Umino quipped.

Steven sighed. He's acting like Minako, Steven thought. This is disturbing.
He heard movement.

Umino produced a key and unlocked one of the backstage access doors. "Here
we go."

"Where did you get that?"

"I could tell you, but then..."

Steven sighed and followed him. How do I end up in these situations?

                               -------------

Naru stood excitedly with Kimiko, Meiko, and about twenty more girls who
were going to be initiated. The club was sufficiently new that only Sayuri
and three other girls were full members. They had all belonged to the club
at another school, then had started the branch here at Tsunami. There were
fifteen or so branches of the club.

She was dressed up in one of her nicest dresses, wearing her silver pin
proudly. She looked over at Kimiko, who was also smiling nervously.
Everyone was very happy, some of them to the point of seeming a little
dazed. The officers passed among them, handing each a candle and moving
them into a pattern on the floor, a ring of fifteen encircling a ring of
five, with the four officers in the middle. Naru was part of the inner
circle. It was an honor. They were the five best of the pledge class. Yuka,
a tall, thin brown haired girl handed out sheets of paper to everyone,
while another officer, Rumiko, lit a candle. The third officer, Yameko,
went and turned out the lights. Yuka began to light the candles. Sayuri
stood through this all with her eyes closed. They all began to read their
parts from the sheets.

It was strange, like reading ancient Sumerian, or something. It was written
in a mixture of Romanji and Latin script, which was almost painful to read,
like a page in which every letter was in a different font. They recognized
the first part, which was an old Sumerian blessing, at least supposedly,
that Yuka had dug up somewhere. From there, however, they moved on to new
material. The voices, discordant at first, began to smoothly blend into one
as they pledged eternal friendship, a sisterhood that would last through
any difficulty, an oath of allegiance to death and beyond. They renounced
all things that might distract them from the holy mission of their
sisterhood.

Naru began to have trouble concentrating on what she was reading. Of all
the times to get a headache, she thought. She stumbled over the words,
wincing in pain. It felt like something was trying to escape from her
brain. She glanced up and saw Sayuri. Sayuri and the other officers were
beginning to glow. She blinked. I must be imagining things, she thought.
She noticed that Kimiko next to her, and Meiko on the other side of her and
Manami and Polly were glowing as well.

What's going on, she thought? Another wedge of pain stabbed through her
head. She looked at the outer circle and saw they were all still
reading...with their eyes closed. Light was flowing out of them into those
in the inner ring and the officers inside that. Naru tried to say something
and found her lips moving without her volition, chanting along.

                               -------------

Umino and Steven finally made their way out of the maze of backstage rooms,
only to find a calico cat hanging out in the backstage area, watching
something just beyond the backstage curtain. They could hear chanting in
some strange language, and flickering lights. They also heard a faint
whispering nearby, and suddenly realized it was the CAT chanting along.

Steven pulled Umino back, "The cat's talking. If it's name is Selene, I'm
going to scream."

Umino cocked his head, "Why, you know a talking cat named Selene?"

"Don't ask." Steven looked hard at the cat and his eyes got big. "Oh shit."

"What?"

"That's no cat! It's a youma or a demon or something..."

Hecate turned around. "You know, if you want to sneak up on someone, I
suggest you learn to be more quiet." Hecate swelled and grew into a huge
furry being that resembled a feline version of the 'Wolfman'.

The word 'Crinos' popped into Umino's mind. "You wouldn't happen to be
Luna's evil twin, would you?" Umino asked, unable to do anything less
stupid than ask that.

"Close enough. Will you let me kill you quietly or will we get to be
messy?" She grinned.

This was a question for which there was no right answer.

                               -------------

Minako looked over at Himeko. "It's Naru, then."

"I can't tell you." Himeko sounded truly miserable. "Pluto wouldn't take me
back until I swore."

"Yes, but she didn't do a very good job of giving you a blank face,
luckily. You're probably as bad at poker as I am. Right. Let's go save
Naru."

She sprinted out, followed by Himeko.

                               -------------

Naru could feel something falter for a moment, then the rite continued. She
couldn't stop herself from talking, from continuing to recite the words.
The headache began to fade. She concentrated on it. Maybe if I hurt too
much to move, I'll shut up...something's wrong here.

It was too late. The pain tried to help her, but it wasn't strong enough.
The light was transfiguring those around her. The outer ring grew darker as
their light moved into those inside the circle. They shone brightly. Kimiko
had never looked more noble. In some indefinable way, she looked more like
herself than she ever had before. The others in the inner circle did so as
well. Manami's mousiness fell away, and Naru could see her true beauty. She
looks like Idol Angel Mami, Naru thought. Meiko was tall and noble. Polly
winced as Naru looked at her, but she too looked beautiful and noble beyond
compare. For a moment, something flickered upon her brow, but it was like a
candle that you could not quite light.

As light flowed into them, darkness flew into those outside the charmed
circle. They looked darker, nastier. She looked deeper inside the circle
and saw the four officers. They were transfigured by light, clad in blue
flowing robes covered with strange arcane symbols. Sayuri wore a tiara upon
her brow with a blood-red gem set in it. Some tiny part of Naru's brain
clicked and said, 'Hematite'. Growing up in a jewelry store had its
advantages. The other three wore rings with a similar stone. Sigils she
could not recognize shone upon their brows, while one that Naru DID
recognize shone on Sayuri's brow. It was the symbol of Leo.

The part of Naru's brain that could still think clearly was thrown into
total confusion by that. Sayuri can't be Leo, she thought. Leo's a MAN! And
he's blond and...I must be imaging this...what's going on?

A scream from behind the backstage curtain cut through her whirring
thoughts. Two figures emerged from behind the curtain, dressed in
trenchcoats and sunglasses. They were running for their lives with a huge
furry cat-woman monster after them. Naru tried to reach for her brooch, but
her body wouldn't respond. All she got was another stabbing pain in her
head.

Sayuri's eyes popped open. She looked displeased, yet, she too could speak
naught but the words of the rite. Steven and Umino began running round and
round the circles of girls with the cat-woman in hot pursuit. Naru watched
in horror, as the cat-woman slowly grew closer with every lap. The pounding
in her head grew stronger. Umino was in danger and she couldn't do anything
about it. It couldn't happen this way. Someone had to save Umino! I should
be saving you, but I can't...I've walled myself in...I never should have
joined this club. First it kept me away from him by my own stupid choice
and now I can't even choose. It was all a trap. If only the White Knight
would come, or Usagi, or anyone...

Sometimes, wishes don't come true. No one came, or at least not fast
enough. She could feel the White Knight coming, but she knew in her heart,
he would be too late. Umino tripped and fell. Time seemed to slow to a
crawl as the cat-woman skidded to a halt and prepared to strike. The
throbbing in Naru's head built in tempo as everything else slowed down. No!
she shouted inside her head. He can't die! Not again! I won't let him!

Her lips faltered in the chant, and she focused her will. The throbbing
grew, and the pain began to haze her vision. She ignored it and brought her
hand around, grasping the pin upon her shirt and ripping it loose. She
hurled it at the beast. It struck the catwoman upon her brow. She turned
and looked at Naru-chan.

In an instant, the throbbing stopped. Her mind was clear. Her hand moved
again, resting now on her transformation crystal. Around her, the chant
began to falter. The light that shone around her in a nimbus fell away. She
did not need it, for she did not need to steal the strength of others to
shine like the sun. "Odysseus."

The word hung in the air, slicing through the chant. The candles flickered,
the beams of light began to diffuse into the air. Sayuri turned her head to
gaze at Naru. For a moment, Naru hesitated. My secret identity...if I do
this, it's toast.

The catwoman turned back to Umino, and made up Naru's mind for her.

"Planet."

With a great wrenching effort, Sayuri ceased to chant. She stared head on
at Naru in shock, her lips now moving wordlessly. Steven threw a
stageweight at the catwoman. It struck her foot and slowed her for a few
seconds as she wrenched her foot loose. It was all the time Naru needed.

"Power." All the light in the room suddenly rushed in towards Naru as if
she was a black hole from which there was no escape. It swirled around her
in a great spiral. Sayuri screamed as if she had been smitten with a rod.
Polly howled as well and fell to her knees. Kimiko and Meiko stared in
shock. The three lesser officers of the club fell to their knees. The
twenty girls in the outer ring were simply stunned.

"MAKEUP!" The transformation rushed across Naru, washing her away and
replacing her with other self. Sailor Odysseus moved to deal with the
situation. She leaped out of the rings, kicking the catwoman away from
Umino. Hecate snarled and rolled back to her feet.

"Steven, Umino, get out of here! Get the others!"

Steven nodded and started hustling Umino out. "No, I can't leave her here
by herself!" Umino shouted.

"Excuse me, but I never volunteered to have my intestines ripped out, and
I'm not going to let you volunteer either." He started dragging Umino, only
to find that the way out was barred.

Sayuri stood before them, her face transfixed with rage. "I will have my
vengeance!" She glared at Umino. "You have corrupted one of my warriors!
You have wrecked the great rite of becoming! This is all YOUR fault!"

The three other officers stood beside Sayuri, looking a little dazed.
Kimiko, Meiko and Manami were standing nearby, looking confused. They too
were now dressed in the same blue robes the officers and Sayuri wore. The
clothing of the twenty girls in the outer ring had turned black, and their
eyes glowed with a dangerous red light. They formed a wall in front of the
officers. Polly lay unconscious on the floor near Sayuri, though one of the
officers was trying to wake her up.

Steven turned and looked at Umino and deadpanned, "This is another fine
mess you've gotten us into."

Umino simply screamed for lack of a better option.

                               -------------

Chester ran across campus, only half knowing where he was going.
Something's happened to Polly, he thought. I told her that club was a bad
idea. But did she listen? Nooooo, of course not. Does she ever listen? No,
of course not.

That blasted Odysseus is using the Star Power again, he thought. I can feel
it. She's probably going to blow my head off. I'm going to get killed
because my sister is the biggest idiot in the universe.

Chester headed into the Fine Arts building, continuing to mentally curse
all women, especially Polly. To his surprise, Leo was standing in the
hallway. "You felt that too?"

"My Istari has fully awakened. And she's been corrupted."

Chester took a moment to bang his head on the wall. "I'm going to kick
Polly's ass from here to the moon. And back. Twice."

"What, you think she's to blame?"

"Come with me. Before it's too late."

                               -------------

Sailor Odysseus looked back and forth between the catwoman and Sayuri and
her minions. I can't fight them all, she thought. There's not enough of me
and too many of them. But I can't leave Steven and Gurio-kun in danger! If
only there was somewhere to...ahah! She ran over, and grabbed one of them
under each arm, then leapt straight up as Hecate sprung at her and Sayuri
fired a bolt of viridian flame at her. The bolt struck Hecate, instead, who
went flying into the seats. Odysseus landed on the scaffolding for holding
up curtains and flats.

Most of the minions could do little more now than mill about below looking
evil. Kimiko, Meiko, Manami, and the three officers began climbing up the
curtains, though they weren't very good at it. Sayuri simply leapt up and
confronted Odysseus, who managed to interpose herself between her friends
and Sayuri.

Sayuri's face was a mask of rage. "You! You're one of the people who
destroyed my homeland! I'll kill you all for what you did to us! You sank
our land to the bottom of the ocean and everyone died! Millions of
innocents slaughtered by your evil queen and her dark crystal!"

Odysseus blinked and tried to figure out what Sayuri was talking about. "We
haven't done anything to Japan!" Steven and Umino began backing up, then
quickly realized there wasn't very far to back up.

"What, you pretend you don't know who I am?" Sayuri drew herself up to her
full height. "I am Princess Hematite, the daughter of Queen Beryl and King
Strathmore of Atlantis! Wretched servant of the Moon Kingdom, you will be
DESTROYED!" Flames flickered around her hands, black mixed with red and
bright yellow.

Odysseus prepared to dodge, then realized that if she jumped, the blast
would blow Steven and Umino to kingdom come. If this took much longer, the
people scaling up the curtains would reach them, and she wasn't likely to
grab them and get away in time. In addition, Hecate had gotten back up and
was about to come after her. My only hope...is to strike first. "STAR
BOLT!" she shouted, firing a blast at Princess Hematite, who was still
ranting. She went flying off the scaffolding, though she swiftly got back
up.

Odysseus turned to deal with Hecate, only to have the need removed. The
doors of the auditorium flew open and the White Knight rode in. He charged
down the aisle and ran down Hecate by surprise. She got up and leaped at
him. They began to grapple amidst the seats.

Umino looked around, then looked down at the slowly climbing people. He
turned to Steven and pointed at the counterweights. "Got a knife?"

Steven laughed. It was bombing time. They began knocking down climbers.

Princess Hematite got up and fired a blast of flame at the scaffolding,
which went up in flames, along with the curtain. Odysseus grabbed Umino and
Steven again and leaped to the ground. "Oww, you're making my arms hurt.
You two need to go on a diet!"

"I'll burn your heads off! That'll get rid of some weight!" Princess
Hematite screeched. The trio desperately dodged the bolts of flame.

A few seconds later, the horde of corrupted Golden Ring members charged
them. Princess Hematite laughed as they went down under a pile of black
clad schoolgirls. Some people would probably enjoy this, but they did not.

She walked over to the three grappled people. "I'll deal with you three
while Hecate deals with your little knightly buddy." Things weren't looking
so good for him, either, as Hecate had managed to disarm him.

She raised her hands. "Any last words?"

A voice shouted from one of the side doors. "How about....VENUS LOVE ME
CHAIN!" A chain of yellow hearts stretched across the auditorium and
snagged each of Princess Hematite's wrists, dragging her off the stage,
flying into the 'pit' in front of the stage, followed by a blast of purple
energy. Venus and the junior Pluto had arrived in style.

As Princess Hematite struggled to her feet, another voice spoke. "I
prefer...SHINY AQUA ILLUSION!" Sailor Mercury had arrived. Blue energy
surged forward and encased Princess Hematite in ice. She struggled and
broke free, but she looked paler and weakened.

"No...I will punish you for what you've done to Atlantis...killers. You're
all...killers." She didn't have a lot of power left, she realized. "Try
anything like that again, and my minions will rip your friends apart.
Odysseus might survive, but Umino and...whoever the other one is will die."

Venus gulped. Steven...what am I going to do? I called everyone, but it'll
take ten, twenty minutes for Usagi and Rei and Mamoru and Makoto to get
here. Or the Outers, if they even bother to come. "We're not killers! We
didn't do anything to Atlantis! We've never even BEEN there!"

"Liars! I went back in time and saw what you did! Your queen destroyed it,
all the way from the moon!"

"You sent your armies to destroy us!" Odysseus said. "You killed us all!
Everyone on the moon died! It was the only way to stop you."

"It wasn't like that! We were a peaceful kingdom. You destroyed us without
provocation!"

If only Usagi was here, Venus thought. Maybe she could get through to her.

There was a thump and Hecate fell to the ground. The White Knight stood up.
"You have been deceived by this foul beast and her master. They have filled
your head with lies and used you as a pawn."

She turned to him. "More lies! You're just another servant of the Moon
Kingdom!"

He began to advance on her. "I have never served the Moon Kingdom, except
at the command of the one I serve. You are of the Moon Kingdom, not I."

"That's a lie!" She gathered her power to defend herself, drawing power
from her allies to strengthen herself. Kimiko, Meiko, and Manami moaned and
collapsed.

Unseen, Chester crept in through another side door and began heading for
Polly. Steven saw him, and Chester put a finger to his lips. Steven nodded.

"Your true name was Lady Charity. You were second in line to the
succession. But you have an important role in this life as well, for..."

Another man's voice cut in. He appeared next to 'Princess Hematite'. "You
are Leo Istarii, the Lion of the Zodiac. You are my heir, who the Dark
Kingdom sought to corrupt." Before she could react, he grabbed her hand.
"Be free!"

A bright yellow glow surged around her and through her. The throbbing that
pained her so suddenly ceased and veils fell away from her eyes. She saw
her past as it truly was, and she sobbed, knowing what she had done. The
sign of Leo burned brightly upon her forehead and her clothing changed,
becoming a long yellow dress marked with the sign of Leo in red upon it.
The tiara melted away and was no more, as did the pin upon her dress and
all the other pins of the Inner Ring. "What have I done..." The corrupted
girls suddenly lightened and collapsed.

"You were deceived. Come, we must go to make amends."

Sailor Venus said, "Hey! She's one of ours!"

Leo turned. "Not in this life. Until we meet again." He vanished with
Sayuri.

Mercury, Venus, and the junior Pluto rushed forward. Odysseus helped Steven
and Umino clamber out of the pile of knocked out people. She sighed. "There
goes my secret identity."

The White Knight strode forward. "They will remember nothing. The energies
unleashed here were too much for those with potential, but no training. The
rite of Becoming is a dangerous rite to tamper with."

"The rite of Becoming?" Sailor Mercury asked. "What is that?"

"A dangerous rite developed in the last years of the Kingdom of Atlantis.
It was used, among other things, to create the Youma and the Seven
Shadows."

Odysseus paled. "It was going to turn all of us into monsters?"

"The outer ring would have become low-grade youma, the inner ring, more
powerful ones, and the inmost group would have grown in power. It is
fortunate that you broke free." The White Knight remounted his horse. "I
must go."

"Wait!" Sailor Odysseus ran over to him. "Do you really have to go? I have
so many questions!"

"It is not right that I stay. You do not need me now." He turned to go. "I
am born to battle, not peace."

"But you...you know more of what is going on than we do!"

"Ask Pluto to take you to the Great Library. You can find your answers
there. Well, some of them." He turned and looked across the room. "Or you
could ask him."

Everyone turned and looked. He was staring at Steven who said, "Hey, I know
even less than they do!"

"Pluto often claims that as well." The White Knight galloped off.

Steven looked around as everyone closed in on him. "I have no idea what he
was talking about!" He began to sweat. I don't know anything, he thought.

Sailor Venus said sweetly. "I suggest you tell them everything, Steve-kun.
EVERYTHING."

"The only thing I know is that this isn't the same person as the White
Knight who saved us at the Hot Spring."

"What?" Mercury asked. "He sounded just the same."

"I didn't get a very good look at him that time, but I can tell...not the
same person. Or at least...something's different. The weird thing is I
can't quite tell what he would look like without the armor. I SHOULD be
able to, but I can't. It's like...I'm not sure what it's like, but
SOMETHING is different."

Venus frowned. "Have you ever encountered anyone else like this?"

"No."

They discussed it some more, but failed to come to any meaningful
conclusions.

                               -------------

Pluto struck the surface of the reflecting pool with her staff and let out
a deep breath. "Another crisis passed," she whispered. "Another step down
the road to the nexus beyond which I cannot be sure of anything."

She stared into the water, and nothing was reflected back, nothing but a
swirl of possibilities, too many to be percieved. "I must arm you for that
day. I must." She continued to repeat this to herself as she departed.

                               -------------

Sailor Jupiter was bounding roof to roof across campus when she got the
call saying all had been resolved. She sighed, leaped off the roof and
detransformed. Stepping out of an alleyway between two buildings, she saw
Clark Maguson running around the parking lot, chasing papers, which were
blowing about in the gentle breeze, skipping away just as he reached for
them.

She laughed loudly, then caught herself. Laughing at a teacher, even one
who deserved it, wasn't a good idea. He looked up. "Hello, Kino-san. I
don't suppose you could give me a hand?"

She started chasing down papers, doing a much better job than he was. "I
guess you dropped these? Not as good with papers as you are with erasers?"

"Do you prefer holding buckets?" He asked, his voice cheery. "Sleeping is
for beds." Grabbing a paper, he tossed it into his carrybag, only to watch
it go flying out again when a gust of wind hit the bag.

Makoto sighed. "You sit. I'll do this." Darting about, she rapidly grabbed
all the sheets of paper. "Here you go, Sensei." She smirked. "TRY not to
drop them again."

"I'm not normally this unlucky. I just meant to run up to school and get
these papers and..." He looked at his watch. "I've been here THIS long?" He
stuffed the papers into the front passenger seat of his car. "I've been
chasing these papers forever. Have a nice night, Kino-san. And thanks for
your help."

"Does this mean you won't throw an eraser at me the next time I sleep in
class?"

"Dream on!" he shouted as he roared out of the lot.

Jerk, she muttered to herself. Why'd I even bother to help this guy?

                               -------------

Kimiko, Meiko, and Manami woke up back in Minako's bedroom, with Ami, Naru,
Minako, Steven, Umino and Himeko perched over them. They looked around in
confusion. "What...what happened?" Kimiko asked. "I dimly remember going to
the initiation and then..."

"There was a monster attack." Naru said. "Sayuri started claiming she was a
princess of Atlantis and then..."

Meiko boggled. "She what?"

Naru told them an only moderately doctored version of the whole story,
leaving out her own transformation into Sailor Odysseus. They could hardly
believe it. "And Sayuri left with this Leo person?" Manami asked for about
the three thousandth time.

Ami nodded. "The whole place was a disaster area by the time we heard the
noise and came over to check things out."

"I guess this is the end of this club," Kimiko said quietly.

Naru nodded. "It's the end of it for me. I don't need a club like that when
I have friends like all of you. It was costing me too much anyway."

Kimiko smiled. "Thanks for getting us out of there, Naru-chan. Why don't we
all go get something to eat? I'm soooo hungry I could eat a horse."

She didn't eat a horse, but they did all go and get some food.

                               -------------

Umino walked Naru home, holding hands. When they reached her apartment
building, she turned to him. "I'm really sorry about all the stupid stuff
I've been doing. I was being a complete idiot. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Of course I can. I love you, Naru-chan." He stepped closer to Naru.

She moved closer to him and said, "I love you too, Gurio-kun." She moved
into his arms and kissed him tightly. It was all that had to be said.

                               -------------

Steven and Minako sat on a bench in the Campus Quad under the moonlight.
They each had an arm around each other. Minako was looking up at the stars.
"Steve-kun, can I ask you a question?"

"You can ask me anything."

"Are you SURE you don't know anything else that the White Knight might have
been talking about?"

Steven contemplated ripping out his own hair for a moment. "Before I met
you and your friends, I didn't know anything magical, except maybe me,
existed. I always thought I must be a little psychic. I don't have any vast
knowledge locked away inside of me that I'm aware of."

"Then why did he say that?" Minako leaned over and rested her head on
Steven's shoulder.

"How should I know? I don't know why I have this power or anything. It's
just a part of my life. It's part of me...what I am. I never really thought
about why I have it before."

Maybe you're the White Knight, somehow, Minako thought. And that's why you
can't figure out what he is. Like with Mamoru and Moonlight Knight. It'd be
kinda cool if you were him, she thought. "Okay, Steve-kun."

He smiled. "If I do find anything out, I will tell you." Now she's starting
to make me curious, he thought.

                               -------------

Steven frowned as he sat up on the roof of his host family's house staring
at the moons of Jupiter through his telescope. He wasn't frowning because
of the moons; they were the same as ever. He was frowning because he was
trying to puzzle over why the White Knight would have claimed he knew more
of what was going on.

He also was trying to understand what he had seen when he looked at the
man. Flickering images that made no sense. He couldn't even be sure if the
knight was really male. Steven had never really learned what uncertainty
was, when it came to his special abilities. Especially since they seemed to
be slowly getting more acute. The last few days, several times he had
identfied someone by the sound of their footsteps.

"Hello, Haruka," he said, when he recognized her steps and the tiny grunt
she made when he heard a tile slip.

Haruka laughed. "Damn, you're good. You hiding eyes under that messy hair?"
She walked over and sat down by him. "Spying on the neighbors in the
shower?"

He laughed. "Jupiter's moons."

"They are pretty big." Haruka laughed loudly, while Steven blinked for a
moment, then began to laugh as well.

"If you say that in front of Minako, I'll NEVER hear the end of it." He
laid back on the roof and stared at the stars. "So do YOU have any idea why
the White Knight claimed I knew more than I was telling?"

Haruka shrugged. "I just came looking for you because you said your bike
was still giving you trouble." She laid back as well. "Maybe you know
something, but you just don't know it's important."

"Maybe I'm King Arthur reincarnated, and the White Knight is Lancelot."
Steven said idly.

"Naah. I'm King Arthur. I've got the sword for it, anyway."

"Can I see it?" He'd never really gotten a close look at any of the
Talismans before.

Haruka looked around. The roofs were fairly devoid of life. She
concentrated and a yellow glow formed between her hands, twisted about, and
became a sword. It was short, with a curved blade, and appeared to be made
of solid gold with a few gems on the hilt. "It looks cheesy, but it makes
me a lot more powerful." I'd kick Jupiter's ass, she thought, then laughed
at herself.

Steven stared at the sword. He could tell it held Haruka's essence, that it
wasn't just an object, it was a part of her. I don't think anyone could use
this but her while she was alive. It wasn't really gold; it seemed to be
made of some sort of 'impossible' form of gold that was mixed with silver
and had too many neutrons and electrons. He could almost see the atomic
structure, and it made no sense, from what little he knew of chemistry. He
had never 'seen' something's structure like this before. The world seemed
to fall away, and he was intensely aware of the sword, and only the sword.

The sword was not just a sword. It was Haruka as well, and Steven suddenly
percieving her as well, not naked, but not exactly clothed either. He tried
to understand, and insight took him. How she dressed wasn't 'clothing' in
the sense that a Barbie doll had clothing, and it didn't matter that much
how you dressed it. It was part of how she saw herself, not just a
convenience or a social stricture, but a picture of her essence. Haruka
without her clothing or with different clothing would be someone else.

Movement. Strength. Power. Determination. All of those were etched into her
essence. Steven looked deeper now, trying to answer the question that had
been flitting through his mind since his last conversation with Haruka.
Haruka was a woman. Whatever else she might have been in the past, she was
a woman now. And yet...there was potential. To be what she had once been.
There were other potentials as well. Falling deeper into her well, he could
see things locked away, waiting for the right key. A man in white armor
with the symbol of Uranus upon it. A woman with wings and a flaming sword.
A blur streaking between the stars. Not possible futures, but potentials,
in the same way that a caterpillar had the potential to become a butterfly.

Dimly, he heard a voice, calling his name, but he ignored it. He plunged in
further. He couldn't stop himself. Haruka was not the only person here,
either. Michiru was everywhere, intertwined with every thought, every
potential, every ounce of Haruka's being.

Not everything was sweetness and light. Dark currents ran as well. Anger.
Resentment. Mixed love and hate directed at her father, sadness and longing
towards her mother. Something had happened to her mother, but he couldn't
tell what. He could almost smell her fear, fear of losing Michiru because
of the splitting up of the Outers, a mixture of contempt and resentment
directed at the Inners because they had not paid the price she had paid.
She did not hate them, but at times, he could tell, this river would
overflow its banks and drive her actions, when they seemed unworthy of the
power they held.

I'm prying too deeply he realized, and tried to pull out. He couldn't. Not
sure how he had started, he had even less idea how to quit. He tried
closing his eyes, but he still saw. People flitted by. Usagi falling down.
Rei lecturing some unseen person. Makoto getting her butt kicked by some
unknown figure, although the foot looked suspiciously like Haruka's. People
he knew. People he didn't know. Himself. He tried not to look, but didn't
succeed.

He was roaring along on his motorcycle, with Minako seated behind him,
waving her right arm around and shouting while he grinned and Artemis sat
on the handlebars and looked ready to die. Haruka was driving alongside,
making faces at him. They looked like two brothers, despite not looking
alike physically. The image-Steven turned and looked at him and suddenly,
the world of images snapped out of existence.

Haruka was shaking him. "Snap out of it! What the hell are you doing?"

Steven shook his head. "Remind me not to do that again."

"You started staring at it, then I got this funky feeling like you were in
some kind of danger, which didn't make any sense, and it took me twenty
minutes to shake you back to normal." Her voice dropped a little in volume.
"You okay?"

"I'm fine. Just have to put my head back together. You're a really complex
person." He got up. "I guess you know that."

"You're not making any sense." Haruka got up as well.

"I won't do that again without asking."

"You did ask."

He shook his head. "I didn't ask for what I ended up doing. Okay, lemme
tell you what happened." That took a while.

                               -------------

Setsuna looked up at the knock on her door. "Come in, Naru."

Naru came in and sat down by the desk. "I have some questions for you."

"I have some answers."

"Why wouldn't you tell anyone about what happened last Saturday before it
happened? Why didn't you tell ME?"

"I tried to warn you to think about your life and what you were doing. You
didn't. Do you want me to run your life for you? To tell you your every
decision?"

"You could have told me that monsters were controlling the CLUB!"

"It was a test you had to face, Naru. If you could not pass that test, you
would surely die when it comes to the sticking point." She sighed. "And I
am not sure you would have believed me."

"So what else aren't you telling me about? Could it be...you know who I
really am?"

Setsuna leaned back in her chair. "And who might that be?"

"I've been thinking about this for a long time...I had sort of distracted
myself over this Inner Ring, but after the incident with everyone's past
selves and how you wouldn't send me back in time and then how when I used
my power, the Zodiac people collapsed...I'm the Star Princess, aren't I? I
can't think of anything else that would explain this. I'm the one they're
after. Why wouldn't you tell me this before?" Naru leaned across the desk.
"Weren't the Zodiac created by the Star Kingdom? Why are they out to
destroy me?"

Setsuna said, "I swore powerful oaths to hide you, even from yourself, in
order to protect you. For as long as you were a helpless little girl, it
was best that you not know."

"I stopped being helpless and you still didn't tell me!"

"Would you have gotten free of the trap you got yourself into without the
aid of Umino? Umino who has no powers, yet was the one without which you
would now be dead at worst or a slave of one of Jadeite's minions at best?"

"I..."

"You had more warnings than anyone could ever possibly deserve that the
Inner Ring was nothing but trouble, but you persisted in the face of
opposition from your friends and even your lover. Would you have even
listened to me?"

"She was affecting my mind!"

"A convenient excuse." Setsuna frowned at Naru. "And what guarantee do I
have that this won't happen again?"

"What guarantee do I have that you'll ever tell me anything I need to
know?"

"Naru-chan, I am bound by many oaths, many promises...and many fears. I
know that I often seem annoying or uncooperative. That is because I often
am. I have worked alone for so long that I am unused to cooperating or
sharing the knowledge I bear. As Hime-chan can tell you, knowing what is
and what must be is a heavy cross to bear. I know I make mistakes." She
sighed. "You are indeed the Star Princess. The Zodiac wishes to steal your
rightful power. They have a part of the pie, but they want the whole thing.
My goal is to make you strong enough to resist them. If you cannot resist
their assembled wills, they will bend you in the end and break you. You may
think I am hard, but I must make you harder yet, if you are to stop them."

"I won't be facing them alone."

"Not always, but in the end...it will be with you as it was with Usagi and
Beryl. It is your fate, for it is the thing that only you can do. The
others can aid you in reaching your destination, but it is the trial that
you must face, for good or ill."

Naru took a deep breath and sat back down. "So how do I prepare for this?"
I have to face all of them alone? That's not possible...

"The Senshi must find their talismans, so that they can have the power to
deal with both the Zodiac and Jadeite's legions at once. And you...you must
help them, for through that, you will find the strength to face the Zodiac
in the end. Also, there is a place where you can learn much that can help
you. When the time is right, I will take you there."

"To the Great Library of the Star Kingdom."

Setsuna nodded.

"I have another question."

"I have another answer."

"Why did the White Knight tell us that Steven had all the answers to the
questions that we wanted to know? He doesn't know any more than we do...or
does he?" Naru looked questioningly at Setsuna.

Setsuna laughed faintly. "The White Knight is hardly all-knowing. Some of
his previous lives knew what you want to know. In this life, he does not.
Not yet, anyway. I believe the White Knight mistook him for one of those
past lives."

Naru said, "Is he...What is he?"

"Of Steven's past, I may not speak."

"More oaths?"

"Very binding oaths."

"He tried to look at the White Knight, and he said the White Knight was
someone different?"

"Partly different. The White Knight is not like the Senshi or the Zodiac.
Closer to...the Moonlight Knight." She smiled faintly.

"So someone is projecting him? But why did Steven say he was different?"

"Closer to, not the same as."

The bell rang. "I believe you need to be getting back to class, Naru-chan."

"In other words, you're not going to tell me."

"You can trust him. I can tell you that. Well, trust him to do the right
thing, not necessarily to KNOW things."

Naru got up and said, "Thank you," then ran off to class.

Setsuna smiled and turned to the little terrarium on her desk. "So you're
impressed, are you?"

A tiny puffball flashed different colors at her.

She nodded. "She has come a long way, but a long road lies ahead of her as
well."

More flashes of light ensued that would have easily earned the poor fungi a
long stay in Sensei's laboratory if it was less discreet.

Setsuna sighed. "I know. Inch by inch, I'm losing the will to do this sort
of thing."

Frantic flashes of light ensued.

"Not the will to be a Sailor Senshi. I am tired. Tired of doing what must
be done. Tired of hurting people who don't deserve it. I should have simply
gone and broken up that club myself instead of risking her life to make her
strong. Once I could have done that with no qualms, but now...Perhaps this
is a side-effect of giving up my withdrawal from time."

The flashes of light were calmer now. Setsuna smiled and patted the fungus.
"I know. We cannot grasp the rose without risking the thorns. I will do my
best to make her strong without taking more risks like that. It is the
dangerous path, and I have never liked the dangerous path."

Setsuna set out to do something she rarely did...to make an apology.

                               -------------

Closing Credits:

"My road leads me far away."

We see Nephrite telling Juno that he must go soon for a great conflict is
about to begin.

"Though my heart tells me to stay,"

We see Princess Serenity clinging to a worried looking Endymion.

"When my duty calls, I must go"

We see Pluto appearing in the midst of the ballroom at the Diamond Gala.

"'Twixt worlds of fire and worlds of snow."

We cut to a shot of the solar system, with the nine planets and the moon
lined up from the Sun at the left to Pluto at the right, with the Senshi
and Prince Endymion standing on their planets as shadowy figures.

"The road I travel will be long"

We see the White Knight galloping down a Tokyo street on horseback.

"To set things right, to end the wrongs."

We see Tuxedo Mask tossing a red rose into the barrel of a gun, which
backfires and explodes.

"But this message will I send,"

We see Rei picking up a blue crystal, which starts to play back a message.

"Wait for me at Journey's End."

We see Naru waiting for someone outside a restaurant.

"Do not forget the love we share"

We see Princess Serenity and Endymion tearfully bidding each other
farewell.

"Though I must leave, my heart will stay."

We see Naru crying as Nephrite dissolves away in her arms.

"Do not think I ceased to care"

We see Beryl implanting crystals in the foreheads of the four Guardians and
cackling maniacally.

"When my duty took me away."

We see Steven waiting at a restaurant, then sighing as he checks his watch.

"The road I travel will be long"

We see the Sailors using the Sailor Teleport to travel to the ruins of the
Moon Kingdom.

"To set things right, to end the wrongs."

We see Umino trying to fight a monster in "Tuxedo Umino Kamen" mode.

"But this message will I send,"

We see Luna trying to use a dial only phone.

"Wait for me at Journey's End."

We see Umino leap to his feet as Naru comes running up the sidewalk to him
with Usagi and company.

"I have only my heart to give"

We see Haruka and Michiru sharing a quiet moment.

"For my life is not my own."

We see the baby Saturn in a crib.

"It is for others that I must live"

We see Pluto having a frustrating time trying to counsel a young girl.

"But it is for you that I come home."

We see Mamoru following a trail of smoke to Usagi in his kitchen.

"The road I travel will be long"

We see Capricorn vanishing through a portal.

"To set things right, to end the wrongs."

We see a chamber with stars for a ceiling and a horoscope on the floor. A
man stands in grey robes in the center and stares down at the horoscope.

"But this message will I send,"

We see Usagi listening to a message on the phone, her eyes getting big.

"Wait for me at Journey's End."

We see a closing tableux of the Sailors, Umino, Naru, Steven, Tuxedo Mask,
and twelve shadowy figures standing on a Zodiac wheel.

                               -------------

Sayuri says:

[We see Sayuri dressed up as Leo Istarii.]

Sayuri: We learned this week that those vile evil wretches from the Moon
Kingdom...

Pluto: [pops her head in the door] Of whom you are one.

Sayuri: Um, we learned that you shouldn't listen to everything a cat tells
you.

Artemis: [walks in] Unless he's me!

Luna: [drags him off] Especially if he's you.

Naru: [runs in and hogs the camera] We learned that all social clubs just
want to drain your life force! You've got to destroy them all BEFORE IT'S
TOO LATE!

[Sayuri whacks Naru with a large rubber trout, stamped 'property of David
Tai']

Sayuri: Shh, this is MY 'so and so says'.

Umino: We have a story illustrating some points from CS Lewis' essay, 'The
Inner Ring', which is about how the desire to enter some 'inner ring',
while quite natural to humans,is a desire that has to be overcome and
controlled, or it can devour us, leading us inch by inch down roads we
would never have chosen to walk, if we had travelled with our eyes wide
open. [pauses] So KILL THE FRATERNITIES! KILL THE SORORITIES! KILL THEM
ALL!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Sayuri: [clonks Umino on the head with a giant stuffed earthworm] Don't
mind them. They're both just a little stressed. Anyway, true friendship is
to be found in...

Usagi: [jumps in front of her] ME! I am the essence of true friendship!

Kimiko: Like the way you snubbed Naru-chan in junior high? [drags Usagi off
by the ear] I'm going to give you a piece of my mind!

Sayuri: To be found in killing all people who interrupt MY SAYURI SAYS!

Leo: [walks in] You're supposed to be training! [drags her off]

Sayuri: I guess I just can't win.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

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