Neo Queen Serenity leaned over the security console of the council room, reviewing footage and documents from the now resolved war with the Black Moon Clan. It was imperative that the security of Crystal Tokyo and Earth improved after such a devastating crisis. King Endymion was engaged with the relief groups outside the castle walls, doing what he could to aid the wounded citizens and damaged infrastructure. Her devoted senshi were out as well, doing their bit of disaster relief while subtly scouting on any remnant threats within the city, and her heir, Usagi SL, had been sent to her quarters to rest after a counselling appointment to make sure the events of time traveling hadn't harmed her mental faculties, and that the brainwashing from Wise Man was all cleared.

Something like this should never happen again, the queen scolded herself. In the future, and the past…

"Your majesty," spoke a cool voice from the doorway that had just opened. "You summoned me?"

Serenity turned around to see Sailor Pluto bowing in the threshold. "I did, please, come inside, Pluto." The senshi obeyed and crossed inside, her garnet rod held firm in her right hand. She took her place beside the queen at the console. "I called upon you for your advice, and hopefully, your participation." The Queen continued. "You know the fabric of time better than any senshi, so you are my expert. There are many theories on if time can be manipulated through time travel; tell me, did Small Lady's adventures to the 21st Century cause any significant changes? Aside from defeating Black Moon, of course."

"No, my Queen, it seems our outcome is the one that was meant to be," Pluto responded. The senshi had been very distant in the past few days. The last thing she had remembered was breaking the taboos of leaving behind the door or Space and Time, and then stopping time soon after. She had passed from this life… but the power of the Silver Crystal was fearsome, and the senshi suspected nothing else to be the reason why she stood here today.

"Everyone here in Crystal Tokyo has expressed their interest in strengthening all the areas Black Moon targeted when infiltrating our security, which is absolutely logical. Tell me, Pluto, the accounts of the destruction of your peers, the other Outer Senshi," Neo Queen Serenity had now turned completely away from her console to stand face to face with Pluto.

"Thanks to your great power, Queen, they stand alive today. In the beginning of the invasion, however, they were simply overwhelmed in terms of power. Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus's strength could not withstand the attacks of Black Moon, and their own power seemed to barely make a dent," Pluto answered with respect, but deep in her mind wondered why the Queen had not summoned those senshi instead if she wanted an account of their encounters. "The eventually perished in battle, which allowed the Black Moon to come even closer to the inner solar system, and earth. The invasion was so quick, as you know."

"I do," Serenity nodded in understanding. "If we go about our lives focusing on our future, what is the probability that the invasion of Black Moon will happen again in the past?"

"My Queen?" Pluto asked, making sure she understood where this was going.

"My past self, Sailor Moon, is now aware of the Black Moon threat, years from her timeline. Even though they were defeated in the future, our current time, what is the probability that Sailor Moon will face them again when she becomes Neo Queen Serenity?"

"Well that would go into what you mentioned earlier: the theories of time travel effecting time. In all my years of studying time and protecting it, the best answer I can ever give is that all the theories are true. They exist in their own separate timelines and universes. There is a universe where the events we live will go on and on, time existing in a vacuum. And then there is a universe where when we try to change something in the past it can only make things worse in the future, and then there is the timeline that doing even the slightest difference in the past, even as small as spending an extra second in a location can drastically change the future. All these exist, just in their own space, yet timelines can often overlap. It's a mystery even I can only learn so much of."

"I was looking over dossiers of the old Silver Millennium, and encountered a file on Princess Saturn…" The Queen turned back to her console and typed in a few commands and a digital file appeared on the main screen of the dashboard. "Not many people know the story. It was meant to stay confidential, for what reason, I am unaware. I never understood why my mother would order a file locked away the instant she willed it to be documented… seconds before the event actually happened. This senshi… she cleared the rest of the Silver Millennium, correct?"

"Yes, your Majesty. Sailor Saturn swung down her glaive and reaped the kingdom… including myself, Uranus, and Neptune."

"It must be difficult, to be a senshi who has to kill everyone, even their comrades, for the greater good…" The Queen sympathized. "Do you find it strange, Pluto, that all the other senshi of the old kingdom reincarnated, except for her?"

Pluto swallowed hard. She could feel her throat drying and closing up. She could not lie to the Queen. Even if she wanted to, she knew she couldn't, because she could sense that Neo Queen Serenity already knew. "She did, your Grace…"

"Is that so?" Neo Queen Serenity asked, still reading the file, her tone still gentle. "Was it rather recent? Is she still too young to join her sisters-in-arms?"

"No, your grace… she was killed. A long time ago…"

The Queen was silent, yet continued to review the screen, so Pluto resumed.

"I'm sure your next question is 'by whom?'… and it pains me to say, it was done by none other than Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus…"

"What was their motive?" The Queen asked quietly, resuming the scrolling of her digital files.

"You know Sailor Saturn's natural instinct and purpose… they were trying to stop her from destroying the world. It was for the greater good."

"And Saturn could not be reasoned with?" Serenity asked.

Pluto chuckled remorsefully, "If only that were true. A Guardian of Destruction cannot be reasoned with."

"Did they even try?"

Pluto's lips went tight. "No, your Majesty… like I said, there would be no need-"

"When I first became Sailor Moon, Luna would constantly reinforce the notion of strength as a team. The more senshi we had, the more complete we were, and the greater our strength. I believe the loss of Saturn has caused our current future. I refuse to believe that a senshi would not be able to coexist with us simply because of what we believe to be her nature. We will find out…"

"Queen?"

"I would like to see the death of Tomoe Hotaru." The command took the senshi by surprise. "That was her name, wasn't it?" Serenity asked.

"Yes, your Majesty. It was…"

"You have the ability to show me the past, correct?"

"Yes, your Majesty," Pluto repeated. She stepped to the command console and entered her own data, pulling up logs of Space and Time. "These files…" Pluto swallowed, nerves rising in her chest, "Are memories surrendered by Uranus and Neptune. As you know, all Senshi have surrendered the memories related to being in the field when you ascended the throne, simply for confidential intelligence databases. This one right here, shows the… the death of Tomoe Hotaru…"

Hotaru had just come home from another dreary day at Mugen Academy. She lived a lonely life, without any friends, and her father, locked away in his laboratory during almost all hours of the day. Her mother had long since passed, and no extended family kept in touch.

She dropped her school bag on the kitchen island and dragged her feet to the refrigerator and yanked the door open. Rummaging through its contents, she pulled out an individual bottle of an aloe drink and broke open the cap. She closed the door behind her gently with a tap of her foot and raised the bottle to her lips, tilted her head back just a bit and began to peacefully chug the refreshing drink. She felt its coolness spread down her esophagus, behind her ribcage, into her stomach, and somehow, her brain.

The house was stark silent as she pulled her drink away, gasping for breath after the long consumption. It made her just a little happy. She was away from school- away from the reminder that she didn't have anyone. And not seeing her father was enough for her to ignore the pain of a daughter who knew he didn't want anything to do with her.

Hotaru then pulled up a barstool at the island and sat down, clicking open her school bag to pull out her text books and notebooks. She would study for an hour or two, then dreadfully take herself throughout the house to find her father, or Kaori, anyone who would be preparing dinner. After having that meal alone, she would bathe, and then read a book until she fell asleep. At least she had her books. They made her feel what other people felt. The joy of a family, the rush of a loved one, the sense of accomplishing a monumental adventure-

The door opened. Hotaru leaned back in her barstool to see if she could get a glimpse of the foyer. She could have sworn she heard the front door open!

"Hello?" the girl asked the silence. "… Papa?" Her ears strained the best they could, hoping to pick up a sound. She wanted to ignore it, but she couldn't. Her stomach was twisting with anxiety. "Hello?" She asked once more, getting up from her barstool. Hotaru's soft feet padded against the wooden floor of the kitchen, and then onto the cottony carpet of the hallway. "Pa-"

Hotaru froze. Something had moved in the living room, that's where a new sound had come from. It was only a few feet away. The girl's eyes scanned the hallway quickly, her instincts telling her that she needed a weapon. To the right of her in the hallway was one of the many end tables topped with hosta plants, and beside it was an umbrella. It would make for a pitiful weapon, but if she swung it hard enough, it would at least have the same effect as being hit with a golf-club. Or at least she hoped. She picked it up quietly and raised it like a club, inching closer to the opening of the living room.

When she made it to the threshold, she pressed her back against the wall and peered over into the room as discreetly as possible. Her eyes surveyed the room, looking for the intruder. Just when she thought to put down her guard, dismissing the sounds as nothing more than paranoia, a hand pressed over her mouth from behind her and an arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her against a warm body. Hotaru's heart pumped violently with fear, and she dropped the umbrella to reach up to claw at her captor's face, murmuring against the hand that silenced her.

"Stop that," a voice hissed in her ear. It startled Hotaru to register that the voice belonged to a woman. As Hotaru resisted further, she began to kick her legs about, hoping to loosen the woman's hold on her.

"My partner told you to stop," came another voice. Another woman stepped into view from inside the living room, approaching the terrified girl. "We'd really like to make this quick, for everyone's sake." The woman had incredibly short rustic golden hair and serious blue eyes, eyes that shared feelings of pity and anger. "It's just the way it has to be."

Hotaru didn't have to be told what was going to happen. She at first thought that maybe she was going to be kidnapped and held for ransom- her father was a well-known wealthy man, so a kidnapping wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility, but that wasn't what was going to happen. Her mind told her this was going to be her death. She opened her mouth as best she could while being muffled by the other woman's hand, and quickly bit down on her fingers. The woman behind her yelped in pain and reflexively pushed Hotaru away from her.

Hotaru took this opportunity instantly, but due to the overwhelming sensation of fear and life-preservation, she made a mistake. While the front door was only ten feet away, she dashed back into the kitchen. She could hear the two women quickly exchange disgruntled words before she heard their footsteps coming after her.

"Papa!" Hotaru shouted. "Papa! Kaori! Help!" She began throwing pots and pans off the stove and onto the floor, wanting to create as much noise as possible to get her father's attention, if he was in the house. "Help!"

"Shut up!" growled the voice of the blonde woman. Hotaru turned around upon hearing her, and saw her quickly storming down the kitchen towards her. "Stop making this harder than it needs to be!" Her companion, who Hotaru now saw to be a woman with turquoise hair, was making her way to barricade the doorway to the hall.

"Make it quick," the woman muttered to the blonde.

Hotaru then ripped a long carving knife out of a knife block on the kitchen counters and poised it threateningly at her attacker. "Leave me alone! Go away! Or I'll stab you!" She could feel herself trembling.

"You wouldn't be quick enough," the woman commented as she began to take cautious steps closer.

"Haruka," the other woman said in a warning tone. Hotaru watched as she indicated to the hallway with her head, and her heart sped up even more. Could this other woman hear something within the house? Was it her father?

"Papa! Papa! I'm in the kitchen! Help!" Hotaru screamed hopefully, praying that her father would come in any second now to save her.

"Haruka!" the woman repeated, this time sterner. Then the blonde had grabbed a hold of Hotaru's wrist, pressing into the middle of it to force her hand to let the blade go, but Hotaru reached over with her other hand to grip the blade, and tried pushing to down towards this woman named Haruka.

"I don't have time for this," Haruka muttered under her breath, and with quick strength, pulled the girl to the floor with a heavy thud, causing the youth to smack her head against the hardwood. Hotaru did her best to fight the dizzying feeling, kicking her legs against the ground to keep the woman from gaining control on top of her. "Stop," Haruka grunted, a hand succeeding in pinning one of Hotaru's arms above her head.

"No!" Hotaru could feel the burning tears fleeing from her eyes. She tried to push the knife up to her attacker, but Haruka was too strong, and was working on disarming her. "Papa!" She screamed. "Papa! Papa-"

"Stop!" Haruka shouted fiercely, silencing the fighting girl underneath her as she turned the blade around and punctured through Hotaru's chest with a disturbing popping sound. The blade broke through her shoulder blade and wedged into the hardwood floor. There was a moment of stillness from all three within the kitchen. Haruka stared beneath her as Hotaru groaned. The woman kept her aura of stoicism, but inside herself she was horrified at her so-called accomplishment. She stood up from the girl and looked towards the other woman, who seemed surprised at her own emotions, as well.

"It is done, then?" the woman asked, looking sorrowfully at Haruka. They both glanced at Hotaru, witnessing the disorientation of the dying. Hotaru's left hand moved weakly to the handle of the blade, attempting to grab it, but couldn't seem to achieve it. Blood began to spread quickly underneath her back in a crimson puddle, soaking her uniform and staining the floor. It stuck to her hair as she began to hyperventilate, trying to bring herself up in a last attempt to survive, but began choking and sputtering blood as her tears continued slowly. Hotaru could sense that the women had eventually left. Left her to die. She knew not much time had passed since their departure that her father came into the kitchen, Kaori behind him, rushing hysterically to her. She heard her father's questioning tone, but none of his words. He muttered something about not pulling the blade out… but she had already bled out so much already… Hotaru could see the bloody prints of Kaori's heels as she ran to the phone to dial for an ambulance in a panic.

Her father shouted her name. Shouted it in a way that finally sounded like him, after feeling like a different man for years. Hotaru passed, with all her blood all around her, pale and gazing off into the afterlife, held in her father's arms.

Neo Queen Serenity stared at the monitor, her face bright pink with emotion, her brows stern. Pluto herself felt incredibly moved, and shut her eyes tightly for a moment to will the tears away. Such a death.

"Pluto…" the Queen finally spoke up. "We are sending Small Lady back."

"For what purpose, My Queen?" the senshi asked, thankful for a moment to respond with routine.

The Queen raised a shaking finger to the monitor, pointing adamantly before speaking, "To prevent this. Small Lady has awakened and is a senshi. It will be her mission to find Tomoe Hotaru, and use her strong heart to protect her at all cost. You, Setsuna…" Pluto felt an awakening in her heart at the addressing of her name, "will make sure of this. I command you, as your queen, to prevent the death of Saturn. Keep your mission confidential, yet do what you can to not have your presence questioned. Speak the same words as Uranus and Neptune if you must, but do not ensure their accomplishment. Small Lady must not know the true nature of her quest, to prevent it from being sabotaged somehow. Do this, Pluto."

Pluto listened to the weight of this mission, for both her, Small Lady, and the world. She pondered if keeping Saturn alive really was the catalyst needed to ensure the safety of Crystal Tokyo, and if this was so, that would mean that Saturn would not destroy the world once awakened. But if a particular law of time travel appeared, it could mean that preventing the Black Moon crisis would simply bring about a different crisis. It was a gamble, but it was also an order. Kneeling on one knee and bowing her head, the senshi simply replied:

"Yes, my Queen."

FIN.