Things had been peaceful on earth for a while now. Crystal Tokyo had been formed a long time ago and they hadn't had any new enemies in years. Everyone was living happily and Neo queen Serenity was even pregnant at the moment. But although things were great there was still one source of tension and sadness: The relationship between Neptune and Uranus.

Uranus had thought things between them had never been better. She was so in love with the blue haired soldier and they had even discussed having a child together in the near future. Things appeared perfect in her eyes. So it came as a total surprise when Neptune approached her one day and asked if they could talk.

The blonde haired soldier had thought nothing of it and followed her to the palace library. Neptune gestured for her to sit down and so she did as told. The blue haired soldier let out a sigh and in that moment Uranus was starting to get worried.

"Michiru whats wrong?" she asked softly, knowing the use of her birth name would grab her attention.

The other twenty-four year old looked up at her with sad eyes. "Gomenasai Uranus." she whispered.

"Neptune what are you apologizing for? You can tell me anything, you know that right?" she asked sweetly, reaching her hand out to brush a lock of hair behind the other girl's ear but her hand was stopped halfway. Neptune had grabbed it and was staring at her intensely.

"Don't." she muttered, dropping the other girl's hand from her own.

"Neptune?"

"Uranus I can't do this anymore, I can't be with you."

The blonde felt her heart shatter her heart into a million pieces and tears flooded her eyes. "Why? Am I not good enough? Is there someone else who stole your heart?" she asked sadly, as a tear fell down her cheek.

"No Uranus. You're an amazing person but I just don't feel the same way about you. I just want to be friends with you, that's all." she said nonchalantly, her eyes showing no sign of remorse whatsoever.

"Even after all we've been through together? You promised we'd always be together and that even in death we'd still be together. How can you change your mind about it and act like it's no big deal?" she asked harshly, anger beginning to build up inside of her as more tears began to spill down her cheeks.

"I grew up Haruka." she said coldly, the use of the other soldier's birth name bringing more tears to her eyes. "And now it's time you do the same. Gomen." she finished, getting up from her chair before beginning to walk away.

Uranus jumped up from her chair and ran after her, grabbing her wrist tightly in her hand. "No Neptune." she hissed. "You don't get to just break my heart and act like everything's ok. You don't have that right."

The blue haired woman spun around to face her, anger clearly evident on her face. "You need to move on Uranus. Now let go of me." she demanded, her eyes burning with rage.

"I'll let go of you once you give me an answer as to how you can break my heart so easily. This isn't fair, you have to give me something."

"I already have! I told you I don't feel the same way about you, what more do you want from me?" Neptune yelled, yanking her arm out of the other woman's grip.

Uranus glared at her. "That's not what I asked you and you know that. I want to know how come it's so easy for you to just toss me away like a used tissue. Don't I mean anything to you?"

"You're nothing more to me then a friend and a teammate but that's all. Yes I loved you once but we were teens, now we're adults and I've matured, it's time you do the same!"

"What's all this fighting about?" The two women spun around to see a confused Serenity looking at them with concern in her eyes.

The two both fell to their knees and bowed momentarily. "It was nothing hime." Neptune said softly.

Serenity looked over at Uranus whose eyes were still teary. "Uranus come talk to me." she said sweetly.

The blonde stood up and walked over to her. "As you wish hime."

The queen led her up to her bedroom where she sat down on her bed, motioning for the older woman to sit next to her. Uranus sat down and was surprised by how soft it was. Very few people got to see the queen's bedroom so she felt honored to be in the beautiful room. The bed was large and had soft white blankets with a rose pattern covering it and soft pillows at the other end. There was a large crystal chandelier in the middle of the ceiling and the walls were covered with elegant paintings of roses and planets. The floor was the color of the sky at night, pitch black. Other things were placed neatly in the room such as a silver vanity and a silver chair with a cushion covered in red roses.

Serenity turned to look at her, her blue eyes filled with sincerity and concern. "What happened with Neptune, Haruka?" she asked softly, reaching out to grab the soldier's gloved hand.

Uranus sighed and looked up into her eyes. "She broke up with me, and she acted like it was no big deal to her, like what we had was nothing." she muttered, her eyes filling with tears once again.

The young queen let go of her hand and gently pulled the other blonde into her arms. "Gomenasai Haruka." she whispered, her voice still holding the same amount of sweetness as it had when she was just a young teen.

The older woman relaxed in her embrace, quickly blinking away her tears so that her dress wouldn't be ruined. Serenity gently combed through her short blonde hair with her fingers, humming softly as she did so. Moments like this were rare as Serenity constantly had to act mature and deal with matters regarding her and the king but at heart she was still Usagi Tsukino and she always would be.

After some time Uranus pulled away, smiling slightly at her queen. "Arigatou."

Serenity smiled back, her blue eyes sparkling with joy. "You're welcome Uranus." she said softly, planting a small kiss on the woman's head. "Now I must attend to some important matters, but try and be happy ok?"

The other blonde nodded. "Ok." she replied, getting up and leaving the room without another word.

/

A month passed and Neptune and Uranus were constantly fighting. Little things would set them into fits of rage and no matter how hard the other senshi tried to keep them apart, they'd always bump into each other and an argument would ensue.

One day Uranus was on guard at the front of the palace when Jupiter approached her. She told her that Serenity had asked to speak with her in the library. So Jupiter and Uranus switched places, as the blonde went to go see her queen.

"Hime." she said, bowing once she reached the library. "You asked to speak with me?"

Serenity nodded and gestured for the soldier to come sit with her. Once they were both sitting down, she spoke. "I see things between you and Neptune are still very tense, am I right?" she asked quietly.

Uranus sighed, casting her gaze to the floor. "Hai, we've been fighting a lot lately." she muttered.

"What if I told you I've made arrangements for you to have a break from life here?"

The sailor scout looked up at her with confused eyes. "Nani?"

"I've been discussing things with rulers from other planets for a while now and one of the rulers I was talking with wanted one of our sailor scouts to come spend a year on their planet as an honorary guardian to learn about where they live and how things work over there, which would help a lot with the alliance we're trying to form with them. And I thought since you've already been having problems with Neptune that you could use a break so I arranged for you to leave in five days."

The older girl's eyes widened slightly and she stared down at the floor once more. "Wow that's a lot to take in." she whispered, trying to understand everything in her head. "Which planet are you talking about?"

Serenity sighed. "I was afraid you'd ask that." she muttered. "But I should tell you. I'm sure you remember the starlights, correct?"

Uranus's mouth dropped and she felt her heart stop for a moment. "Wait, wait, wait you're saying I have to live with them for a year?"

"I knew you wouldn't react well to this but I was talking with Kakyuu and she was worried because Kinmoku is rather big and there's only three guardians there so they could use any alliance they get."

"Hime, I don't want to be disrespectful but why them? I still don't trust them, you know that." she protested.

"I know Haruka, but they aren't bad people, I promise, and I know you know that deep down. You can't back out now, gomen. But it will be good for you to have some time away from here."

"But what if something happens while I'm gone?"

Serenity smiled and grabbed one of her hands. "Haruka including me there's still eight scouts left who can protect the planet if something happens. Besides the chances of something happening is very slim. Please do this for me, it'll be good for you." she pleaded softly, her voice sweet and reassuring.

Both sets of blue eyes met and Uranus sighed. "Ok hime, I'll go."

The queen stood up, smiling. "Arigatou." she whispered, as she let go of her hand and walked away.

"Better start packing." the lone scout muttered as she stood up.

/

Five days passed by rather quickly and soon it was time for Uranus to leave for Kinmoku. She'd packed a small bag of stuff and was standing outside the palace saying her goodbyes. All the scouts were there except Neptune which didn't surprise her too terribly much.

"I'm going to miss you." Venus said, as she took her turn hugging the older scout.

Pluto walked up and Venus stepped aside. "Take care Haruka." she said softly, giving her a quick one arm hug.

As Pluto walked away, Saturn came running up and jumped into her arms. "Don't go!" she pleaded, as she dug her nails through the woman's uniform.

She sighed and smoothed the younger girl's hair down as she hugged her. "I'll be back soon Hotaru, I promise." she whispered, giving her a soft kiss on the head.

The youngest soldier pulled away and smiled at her, although the tears glimmering in her eyes didn't fade. Mars was next, and she hugged the blonde quickly before pulling away and smiling. "Have fun." she whispered sweetly.

Jupiter was the next to say her goodbye and it was obvious that she was on the verge of tears. She didn't say anything and simply embraced her tightly before walking away.

The last one of the sailor scouts was Mercury who approached her slowly. She extended her hand towards her and opened it revealing a tiny yellow computer with the planetary symbol of Uranus on it in dark blue. "It's for you." she said, as the older girl took it from her. "If you ever need anything you can contact us with it. I'm sure you've seen the one I have, before. I made it. It's the same model but I customized it for you."

"Arigatou Mercury."

The shorter girl smiled and gave her a quick hug. "I'm glad you like it. Take care." she whispered before pulling away.

Uranus tucked the tiny computer away in her skirt pocket right as she was approached by Neo queen Serenity. She bowed as she fell to the ground on one knee.

Serenity chuckled. "You don't have to bow every time you see me Haruka." she said quietly.

The other blonde stood up, a small blush crossing her cheeks. "Gomen."

"No, no, it's alright." she replied sweetly as she walked over to her. "Have a good time." she said, before planting a final kiss on the woman's head.

"I'll try." Uranus responded with a smile. She took one look at the palace hoping that Neptune would come running out to say goodbye, but just as she expected the blue haired soldier didn't appear. She let out a small sigh and walked towards the open field. She waved at the sailor scouts gathered in front of the palace and lifted her arm high up in the air.

She closed her eyes and began concentrating. The sign of Uranus appeared on her forehead beneath her tiara and she was surrounded by a bright yellow light. She kept concentrating on Kinmoku and tried to follow the directions Serenity had given her.

She felt her feet land on something firm and when she opened her eyes she saw that she'd arrived on a planet. The sky was a brilliant reddish orange and there was a large light brown palace in front of her. She saw a figure in the background who was slowly approaching her. She remained in her place and as the figure grew closer she could tell that it was Princess Kakyuu.

She looked just like Uranus remembered. Her long red hair was still up in it's usual style and she still had on the same dress as she'd worn on earth, the fabric still looking as pristine as ever. Her red eyes held friendliness and happiness and she smiled at the foreign sailor scout. "Welcome to Kinmoku, Uranus." she said sweetly.

The blonde bowed slightly. "Arigatou Kakyuu."

All of a sudden the palace doors opened and out walked three people Uranus remembered all too well. In the middle stood Fighter who looked the same as she did all those years ago. Her black hair was still tied back in it's usual ponytail and her uniform was still the same. But she looked more mature like the twenty-three year old she was, but her blue eyes still had a mischievous look to them.

On her right stood Healer who was was watching her cautiously. She didn't look much different other then the fact that she looked much more mature. She still had that look about her that warned anyone who came near her to back away or else.

Then on her left was the last starlight, Maker. The brunette was studying her carefully, her purple eyes focused on her. She looked the most mature of the three but she still looked fairly unapproachable.

"What is she doing here, hime?" Fighter asked, as her and the other two lights walked towards them.

"Uranus is going to be staying here for a year. It will help her learn more about our planet and will help us build an alliance with the people on earth." she said cheerily. "So I'm going to need you guys to all try and get along, ok?"

"Ok." came the response from all three of them.

"Good. Maker?"

The tallest starlight looked up. "Hai, hime?"

"Can you please show Uranus to her room? It's the empty one at the end of the long hallway."

The brunette studied the foreign scout for a moment before she spoke. "Follow me." she said blankly as she began walking towards the palace.

She led the older woman into the palace and Uranus was in awe of it's beauty. There were murals on practically every wall and in front of every room there was an ornate vase containing a variety of flowers. Every door had some beautiful engraving on it and there were multiple chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.

She followed the starlight wordlessly down the hall, the tension between them making her feel even more uncomfortable. Eventually the brunette stopped in front of a door that had an engraving of some kind of flower made out of fire on it, the vase by the door containing only red and white flowers.

She opened the door for the blonde to enter and gestured slightly for her to go on in. Uranus said nothing and simply gave her a wordless nod to which the younger girl walked away.

Closing the door behind her, she took a moment to observe her temporary living space. There was a mural of several foreign planets above a decent sized bed which was covered in vibrant red blankets with matching pillows. There was a dresser in the corner which had an engraving of red flowers running along the right side. In the other corner were three bookshelves each filled with books, and down beside that was a large mirror. Hanging from the ceiling was a small chandelier and in the other corner was an entrance to a small but private bathroom.

Sighing, she put her bag down on her bed and began pulling her clothes out. She walked over to the dresser and opened the top drawer which happened to be empty. She carefully put her clothes away, leaving one set of pajamas out on her bed. She tossed her bag on the floor beside her bed and grabbed her pajamas walking to the bathroom to change.

She transformed back into her regular form and put on the soft clothes. She exited the bathroom and laid down on her bed, staring at the ceiling for a while before she heard a gentle knock at her door.

She got up and walked over to the door. She opened it to find Kakyuu standing there, smiling gently at her. "Hello Haruka. Can I talk to you?" she asked quietly.

The blonde nodded and walked over to her bed, sitting down on one end where as the fireball princess sat down on the other end. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I wanted to let you know how your schedule is going to be. Tomorrow at around noon we'll be having three visitors, one of the elder fighters, one of the elder makers, and one of the elder healers. First I'll tell you about each group though. You see the starlights each represent a certain group of people in our royal community. Fighter represents the people who go to war and are in charge of protecting our people. Fighters generally work as guards and there are many here alongside the starlights. Maker is represented by the people who are in charge of making important things and fixing things. And Healer is represented by our people who work in hospitals and others who have healing powers. Most of these people are ordinary people but since they're not regular town people who live everyday lives, they generally wind up in one of these categories, understand?"

Haruka nodded. "I think I understand."

"Good. So tomorrow the three elders will come and talk to you and they will assess you individually to see which group they think you fall into. You will then be assigned to whichever starlight is in charge of that particular group. That starlight will then show you around Kinmoku and you will share guard duty with them. As well you'll be asked to take special classes during the day about that particular thing, so let's say if they deem you a fighter, Fighter will show you around and you'll have to take training lessons during the day. I know it's a lot to take in but do you think you can handle all of that?"

"I think I can."

Kakyuu smiled. "I'm glad. All I ask is that you give the starlights a chance, they don't mean any harm really. They need time to adjust to you as well." she said softly. She then stood up, smoothing down the skirt of her dress quickly. "Anyways breakfast is at 8, there's a small clock beside your bed you can use as an alarm. It's getting late so I suggest you get some rest."

Haruka yawned, reaching over to grab the small clock. "Alright." she muttered, as she tried to figure out how to set the alarm.

"Good night." Kakyuu whispered, as she left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

The blonde finally managed to get the alarm set and put the clock back down. She got up and turned the light off. She managed to make her way back to her bed in the dark and crawled under the blankets.

She shut her eyes and tried to fall asleep but her heart ached for home, for Neptune, for all that she didn't have. Eventually she managed to fall asleep, waiting for the next day to come.