Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon

"Get it off!" Usagi shrieked, bolting upright and clutching at her stomach. Luna was thrown into awakeness and hopped back onto the bed next to the panting blonde.

"Usagi, are you alright?" The blonde just breathed for a moment, her eyes flitting back and forth across the room. Both occupants jumped at a knock at the door.

"Usagi, are you all right?" asked Ikuko, entering her daughter's bedroom. Usagi turned and gave her an obviously fake smile. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yeah, but it's nothing important," Usagi said. "Just about a bug. There was a giant cockroach on my stomach and I wanted it gone. That's all. Stupid, right?" Luna meowed reprovingly, but couldn't tell Usagi that it was a big deal with Ikuko present.

"Is there anything else bothering you?" Usagi swallowed under her mother's look. Ikuko could guess that maybe something was going on, but she couldn't guess what. Usagi's grades had been getting marginally better of late, most likely because of a tutor Usagi had mentioned she was working with. Her daughter hadn't been acting over the moon or spending much more time on her appearance, so it wasn't a boy. And she would have heard if she was fighting with Naru, but the two seemed closer than ever. And yet she's been acting like a cat in a roomful of rocking chairs. What is she hiding. Well…I know I got up to some things I didn't want my parents knowing about at her age, and it wasn't anything really bad. Maybe I should trust her more.

"Nothing's bugging me, mom. I just haven't been sleeping well lately. Maybe it's all the horror movies from three years ago come back to haunt me," she joked. "This was The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati, next I'll be dreaming about The Ring, or Friday the Thirteenth. Nothing important." Ikuko frowned.

"If you say so, dear. But you, know if there is a problem, you can always talk to me about it. Always. No matter what, I will still love and support you." Usagi buried her face in the crook of her mother's neck and stayed there for a few moments.

"Thanks, mom," she said with false cheer, "but I'm growing up a little. I have to take care of some things on my own, right? Um, not that there's anything I need to take care of right now." The blonde laughed nervously and started playing with her hair. And this moved her clothes enough to catch her mother's attention.

"Usagi, what's that under your shirt?" Her daughter froze, she noticed, blood draining out of her face. She shrunk back a little, trying to escape the moonlight's revealing shine.

"W-what? There's nothing under my shirt?" Ikuko frowned, and had pulled up her daughter's shirt hem before the blonde could flinch away.

"Bandages! Usagi, you're hurt and you didn't tell us. Who did this to you?"

"N-naru did the bandages for me. I just tripped and got a few scrapes! Really! It's nothing big, I just didn't think it was worth talking about!" Luna meowed and Usagi meeped as her mother pulled away the cotton wraps. Thankfully, there were only a few scabs against her otherwise smooth stomach. "S-see? Nothing, really." Ikuko gave her daughter another look, pursing her lips.

"I'll trust you about this, Usagi. But remember that you can tell me anything." She kissed her daughter good night and left the room. Usagi fell back onto her bed with a sigh.

"That was close, huh, Luna." The mau kept her ears on the door for a few seconds before she was sure that Ikuko had returned to her room.

"Yes, it was, I suppose. Usagi, your nightmares are not unimportant. It is a completely natural response to what is happening to you, and I wish that I didn't have to do this to you.

"Wasn't I this age when I started back in the Silver Millennium? I bet I didn't have nightmares then."

"The onset of adolescence is when someone could begin serving as a senshi, but often they appointed people who were several years older than you are now. You would probably have been at least sixteen, by the current calendar, before you became a senshi. Seventeen or eighteen would be more likely. I truly wish I could have let you grow up more before this happened, but the fate of the world is in the balance." Luna sounded genuinely apologetic, and Usagi scratched her behind the ears.

"…Whatever. Thanks, Luna. Good night." Usagi buried herself back under the covers, but her skin began crawling whenever she closed her eyes, conjuring images of that youma's face pressed up against hers, screaming and biting. She hoped Luna would go back to sleep soon so that she could grab a manga. Otherwise it would be a long four hours until dawn, because she knew she wouldn't be sleeping again tonight. If she started crying, she didn't notice.
+++++++++++++++++++

"Odango Atama!"

"Jerkwad!"

"Runaway train!"

"Bump in the road!"

"Fat thighs!"

"Big nose!"

It was another day, another morning, and another argument between Usagi and Mamoru in the street. As any listener could see, it had degenerated very much over the course of several minutes. Arguments to insults, insults to name calling, and now they had fallen to the level of making faces. Bonus points to Usagi for stretching her mouth like that, although the bags under her eyes detracted from her looks.

*Riiiiiinng*

"I'm late!" Usagi yelped and bolted off to school Mamoru just shook his head, only to turn around and run right into a grinning Haruka.

"Do my eyes deceive me, or was our resident Ice King actually emoting," he teased. "Seriously, you should just admit that you have it bad for her already and get it over with."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Mamoru demurred. Remember the princess. Remember the princess. He yawned loudly and continued on his way to the Crown for his morning caffeine. "I couldn't care less about that loud-mouthed, immature, idiotic, pretty little runaway train." Haruka smirked but let the pretty comment go uncommented upon.

"Are you sure about that? You've been awfully tired lately. Perhaps she's been haunting your dreams?"

"Believe me, Haruka, she's not the one haunting my dreams." That singular honor goes to the moon princess, though lately Sailor Moon has been showing up, too. Oh yeah, and the reason I'm so tired is that a few days ago I remember that I've been spending a good many nights tailing Sailor Moon and helping her fight. The things I do to get my memories back. At least once Sailor Moon showed up I knew I wasn't mentally disturbed. Recurring dreams about a woman in white for more than a decade had me beginning to wonder.

That discovery had been quite a shock. He'd been having blackouts lately, where he'd come to hours later in a completely different place. A trip to the doctor's office had revealed nothing, but the princess had told him that all would be revealed soon after. She apologized and said that she knew what was happening, making him question his mental stability more than he already had. Then it happened. Three days ago there had been a youma attack in broad daylight at a church. He'd woken up in his armchair at his apartment watching a news report about it. A clip that someone had shot with a cell phone had come on and suddenly everything had come rushing back to him.

He'd spent the rest of the day experimenting with his transformation and praying that no one would question him about it. Luckily, that night, the princess had explained that one of the reasons she had asked him for help was his own inherent powers, which she had shaped a little. The enemy—youma she called them—were attempting to take over the world. She needed something called the Ginzuisho, and she wanted him to help Sailor Moon, who was fighting to protect Earth. He hadn't found out much more beyond that—he'd woken up and hadn't dreamed of her again—but Sailor Moon was beginning to appear in his regular dreams, and he felt uncomfortably as though he was two-timing someone, even though he wasn't in a relationship with either of the women. Worse, that annoying blonde was showing up too, and he was starting to worry that he was turning into some kind of pervert.

"Earth to Mamoru," Haruka called for the third time, shaking his arm. He realized that he was sitting in the Crown with his coffee in front of him. "Are you alright?"

"Just tired," he said, and raised the cup to his lips.
+++++++++++++++++++

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Usagi squealed, glomping onto Ami at lunch. Clutched proudly in her hand was the algebra test that had been handed back earlier that day. Written at the top of Usagi's was a bright red 87%.

"I-uh-y-you're welcome," Ami stuttered out as Usagi dragged her over to a circle of eight or ten people sitting under a tree.

"Guys, I'd like to introduce you to Mizuno Ami the wonder-woman," Usagi declared. "She was nice enough to tutor me, and look!" A round of applause and congratulations went up at the sight of the paper. Usagi was well liked by almost everyone in school, and avoided Queen Bee status solely by dint of being flighty and somewhat ADHD, but her poor grades were equally well known, and a common subject of friendly teasing.

"So what did you get?" Umino asked Ami, scooting over for them to sit. "I managed 102%."

"M-me too," Ami stuttered, uncomfortable at being the attention. She wouldn't want to stop being Usagi's friend for anything, but there were some parts she'd briefly consider trading. She sat on the sidelines listening as the conversation devolved into boys, pop culture, movies, and other such gossip. Then someone brought up the inevitable.

"So do you really believe this Sailor Moon stuff?" There was a moment of silence as everyone contemplated the question. Usagi and Naru carefully schooled their faces into blank expressions. Umino spoke first, luckily drawing attention away from the fact that Usagi's 'blank face' made her look like she was enduring horrible torture, and trying not to react.

"Yeah, I do. I was involved in the attacks at both the contest and the circus. I think Sailor Moon saved me both times. There's too much evidence to the contrary."

"Evidence? The only evidence is a couple of blurry videos shot from cell phones? I think it's a hoax," said another boy dismissively.

"Exactly. How could half a dozen different cell phones all shoot the same video if it were a scam? And I heard that the so-called bride and groom weren't real. No one knew their names or where they lived."

"Naru said that she saw Sailor Moon." Attention focused on the redhead.

"She's real, and she's really protecting us," Naru said firmly. "A lot of people would be dead or worse if she weren't."

"Scary…"

"What do you think Mizuno?" The shy girl squirmed under the attention.

"It…it goes against every law of science, physics, and sense that I can think of. But all the same something in me is screaming that Sailor Moon is real." The bell rang and everyone dispersed back to class, Ami pondering her honest answer.
+++++++++++++++++++++

"Big," Usagi said quietly as she craned her head to look up Ami's apartment building. Naru grabbed her arm and jerked her in after them. Ami had invited the two over to her apartment after school, and Usagi had jumped at the chance. Naru wasn't sure why, but she went along with it too, since Ami was a very nice person.

"Don't swallow any flies," the redhead teased as they stepped onto the elevator. Ami hit button 18.

"Wow, you live high up," Usagi chirped. "I bet you have a really great view, huh? Isn't it a little scary, knowing it's such a long way down? I'm afraid of heights, so I don't think I could deal with it. Or as the brat says, I'm afraid of grounds."

"Grounds? And whom are you referring to as 'the brat'?" Ami asked as they got off the elevator.

"Grounds. My bratty little brother says it's not the height or the fall that kills you, it's the ground. I think he read that joke in a book somewhere. But he's right: if you're four miles off the ground you can fall three and a half and not get hurt."

"That's rather morbid," Naru said drily, sharing a surprised look with Ami. "Every time I forget and keep thinking you're all sunshine and smiles you prove me wrong." She shook her head and looked at Ami. "At least this is better than when she got obsessed with ghost stories and horror movies when we were eleven. I couldn't sleep well for weeks, and I had to drag my old nightlight out of retirement."

"Oh? Did you have the same problem?" Ami asked Usagi.

"Nope! It's sorta weird. I'm scared of creepy crawlies, thunder, heights, and snakes, but not the dark. Ghosts, ghouls, goblins, and graveyards: great! Haunted houses just make me laugh." She did so. "Given that I'm Saiiiii-" she trailed off, realizing what she had almost spilled, and her mind raced for a way to save the situation. "Maybe it's because cats aren't supposed to be afraid of mice and stuff, and we are winning over all the beasties of the night. It's humans who are in charge, is all I'm saying. You know?"

"That…is an interesting point, I suppose. We are what they should have nightmares of, in a sense, not the other way around. We're here," Ami said, and opened the door.

"Cool…" Usagi said. It was clear that Ami was well off from both the size and décor of the apartment.

"Yeah," Naru agreed. She turned to Ami with a teasing grin. "You said your mom's a doctor, but is your dad a yakuza boss or something? 'Cause I know rich and this is rich." The grin slid off her face when she saw the look on Ami's. "Sorry, touchy subject? That was pretty rude of me."

"And I should think before I speak?" Usagi cut in nervously, hoping to ease the tension.

"It's okay," Ami said quietly. "My parents were both well off before they got married and had me. The thing is, they weren't very compatible." She smiled wryly. "Point in case: I was born five months after the wedding, and I wasn't premature. My dad is a painter and he was always very laid back and careless. My mother isn't exactly strict, but she can be very serious. It's part of her job. They went through a nasty divorce when I was seven." She stopped as Usagi and Naru looped their arms around her and pulled her into a group hug, and wordlessly hugged them back. It was clear this was still a touchy subject. If anyone was crying, no one commented on it. "Anyway," Ami murmured, "I still see him in the summer and over winter break, and he'll stop by if he's in Tokyo for some reason." They separated and moved into the main area, dropping the subject.

"Hey, what games do you have?" Usagi asked as she saw the devices attached to the TV.

"Not that many, which is sort of why I invited you over," Ami replied, smiling at their confused looks. I've only ever played single-player except for a few times when my mother was joined in, so I mostly don't bother. I was hoping to try my hand against you." Usagi grinned like a shark.

"Be warned, Ami, I am a video game queen. I'm not going easy, and you're going down," she purred threateningly, and all three broke out laughing.
++++++++++++++++++++

"Usagi, I have news," Luna said that night, hopping through a window. "I found—are you alright?"

"Just moping," Usagi said dully, flipping morosely through a manga, with a pile of them off to the side. She also had a pen in one hand, but Luna decided not to ask. "Ami beat the pants off me all afternoon. And it was her first time playing some of the games! I think my high score on Sailor M may be in danger." All of Usagi's five high scores on the game were a full digit larger than the sixth place score, Luna remembered.

"Doubtful," said Luna. "That game at the Crown is a one-of-a-kind version I installed especially for your training at central control's suggestion."

"Wait, what?"

"I set up that game using some old Lunarisian technology and hypnotized the young man into thinking he'd ordered it. It incorporates some of the programs that were used to train the senshi's reflexes, reactions, and judgment. Although if she does manage a high score, she's worth looking into as a possible senshi."

"Then start looking," Usagi said bluntly. "Her top score is number four." There was a beat and then it sank in. "Omigod! That would be so cool if she were another senshi! Which one do you think she is, huh?"

"Quiet!" Luna hissed. "That is wonderful news, though. I'll follow her for a few days to see if she rings any bells. Meanwhile, though, I've found the next attack's location. It appears that the Dark Kingdom is getting more wary, as this plan is on a much smaller scale than before. It couldn't catch more than two-dozen people, so they no doubt hope it will be too small to evade our notice."

"What are they doing?"

"Tomorrow will be the opening of something called Crystal Academy. The Dark Kingdom is going to drain all the people there. What's wrong?" the Mau asked when she saw that her charge had gone dead white.

"Ami is attending the opening tomorrow," Usagi said quietly. Then she called Naru on the communicator. "We've got trouble. Planning time."
++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Hello, I'm here for the Crystal Academy opening," Ami said quietly to the desk attendant. The woman pointed and Ami walked down the hall until she saw the room marked Crystal Academy Cram School. She entered.

"Welcome, take a seat," said the pretty, brunette teacher. "You're almost late," she added, not quite chidingly, as she handed Ami a jump drive. The girl flushed.

"M-my mother couldn't drive me so I had to take the bus."

"Well, you're here now. Take a seat and start working." Ami did so and began working through the problems on the screen as they appeared. They weren't too difficult, but the background kept shifting colors like a lava lamp and was giving her a headache. Ugh. Maybe I can convince mother to let me drop out for medical reasons. These graphics are awful, and the questions really aren't very difficult. She was on fifteen when she felt the hair on the back of her neck rise and looked around.

"Hey, what's wrong with everyone?" She yelped. All of the other students had slumped over their keyboards, unconscious.

"You aren't a very good student, are you?" she heard a deep voice say behind her. Stomach in knots, she turned around and screamed. The teacher had transformed into a seven-foot tall black and green monster, recognizable only by its scraggly mop of red hair and file-folder. It was thin enough to look almost skeletal, but its wicked claws and fangs made up for that. The door burst open and a blonde and is that a cat? raced in.

"Stop youma! You have no right to these people's energy! I am Sailor Moon, and in the name of the moon I'm going to punish you!"

"You and what army?" It asked. Then a faint sound was all the warning it needed and ducked to the ground to avoid a glowing tiara racing toward the back of its head. Ami saw that it had been thrown by Sailor Moon, who was somehow also climbing in the window. Then a black cat raced up to her and flipped, dropping a blue pen into her hand.

"Yes, that symbol! Take this and say Mercury Power: Make Up!" it urged. Wait, a talking cat. I must be going crazy. But as she opened her mouth to scream, or babble, or stammer out a question, she felt the words pour out into the air.

"Mercury Power: Make Up!" There was a flash and the world changed. She felt herself floating, encased in a cocoon of water and light. It poured across her body, forming cloth she felt against her skin. Boots on her feet, gloves on her hands, and the cool weight of metal on her forehead. She settled onto the ground and looked at herself. Then the world flashed again and she felt herself flopped against a wall, her cheek aching. The thing had hit her. Hard.

"Are you alright?" asked Sailor Moon, crouched beside her. On second thought, it must be the fake Sailor Moon, as she could see the real one swatting at the monster with a ring of light. Suddenly it jumped back to avoid a flurry of roses thrown by a man at the window. Is he wearing a tuxedo? She put a hand to her face and the glove came back stained red, but not enough to be serious.

"People work hard night and day to achieve their dreams, and this is one way they do so. Don't dare to mock those sacrifices," Tuxedo Kamen said harshly to the youma. "Now, Sailor Moon!" It looked at him, and only just dodged when Sailor Moon attacked from behind while it was distracted.

"What spells do you remember?" the cat asked urgently. "She needs help!"

"I don't," Ami began, but she felt herself stand and suddenly she did remember something. "Mercury Spray Shroud!" she called, and the room filled with a light mist. The youma swung around wildly.

"Where did you go, bitch!" it shrieked. Behind you, Ami thought, wondering why it couldn't see Sailor Moon. Then she sliced the glowing ring into its stomach and it burst into dust. She saw the man at the window smile and fall away.

"Alright, it's gone," the real Sailor Moon said. "Can someone kill the fog? I kind of need to see, too. I almost didn't get the youma except it was really loud." Ami couldn't see how she couldn't see, but she relaxed some mental tension she hadn't realized she'd tensed, and the mist dissipated. "That's better," Sailor Moon said, fiddling with her silver mask. Then she looked at Ami and frowned. "I can still tell it's you, crud. Luna, Naru, get her somewhere safe while I call for help." Ami felt the fake Sailor Moon grab and yank her down the hall, and she finally accepted that she wasn't dreaming. I just hope I'm not insane, either.
+++++++++++++++++++++

"Okay, let me see if I understand this. Ten thousand years ago there was life—intelligent life and civilization—on all of the planets. Despite the atmosphere problems and distances between them." Ami had moved past hysteria into some form of universal acceptance, and seemed to be eerily normal. Her face was blank and her eyes fish-like, not noticing the park.

"Yes, though it's closer to fourteen-thousand, I believe," said Luna.

"Right. Fourteen-thousand. The hegemon civilization was on the moon, and the sailor senshi were its champion soldiers. And how did the planets communicate?"

"In order, yes, yes, and they used warp-gates that literally folded space so you could walk from one planet to the next."

"Then some cataclysmic war happened and killed almost everyone and left the planets uninhabitable except for Earth. Earth was spared because it was where the attack originated from and they didn't want to destroy their home."

"Yes. Gaia would have also been eventually destroyed by Metaria, but it needed a base of operations at the time."

"This war ended when the empress magically imprisoned the conquering army somewhere, but almost everyone had died by then. The survivors from both sides settled on Earth, but their culture degraded into vastly more primitive forms and had to redevelop."

"She wasn't an empress, just a queen, but yes."

"The definition of an empress is a ruler who rules other kings and queens, so from your description, she was, regardless of the title she used. She then magically sent the souls of the dead senshi forward to be reincarnated around the time the enemy broke out of jail."

"Yes."

"I am one of these reborn warriors, charged with saving the world from the forces of evil."

"Yes. Specifically, Sailor Mercury."

"Okay. I am not crazy, not dreaming, not hallucinating, and not having a Wizard of Oz experience."

"Yes. Wait, I mean no. I mean… you are perfectly sane, albeit in shock."

"It was a shock to me too," Usagi—now out of her Sailor Moon guise—added, putting her hand on Ami's shoulder.

"Everything I know about basic physics, anthropology, astronomy, planetology, technology, archeology, and science in general is wrong."

"Not at all," said Luna, and for the first time Ami looked to snap out of her funk, blinking, and then her eyes focusing on Luna. "Magic often works with the laws of science, and often is, in fact, interwoven tightly with them. There were several different branches of thaumology—which was the study of magic—and often mages needed to have a thorough grounding in non-magical science before advancing to the higher levels of study." Ami looked slightly relieved.

"Does that mean I have to do better in science to be a good senshi?" Usagi asked worriedly.

"It certainly wouldn't hurt to bring your grades up, but it isn't a necessity for senshi, since their magic is a little different. It would be like an English literature specialist learning Chinese or Latin: useful, but far from necessary."

"Okay," Ami cut in, "I don't want to believe this is true, but something in me is screaming that it is and that this isn't the end of the world as I know it. Or that it is, and that the end is a good thing. Somehow. I'm going to ignore the question of how life was able to flourish on planets with such harsh environments—much less the gas giants. I'm going to ignore the question of how the planets first communicated with each other over such huge distances, and the question of how the planets' inhabitants could all be so genetically similar in spite of coming from different planets." There was a wobble in her voice that warned just how close she was to completely losing control, and some tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "I'll even ignore the question of how the 'demonic army' could wipe out so many people so quickly. I just want to know one. More. Thing." Her eyes focused square on Usagi. "Did you become friends with me just because you knew I was one of the senshi?"

"What! No!" Usagi yelped and went nose to nose with Ami. "I swear Ami, we only started to suspect anything yesterday when Luna said that the Sailor M game is secretly a senshi training machine and I told you had high score number four and she said she'd look into it. I swear we didn't even suspect before then!" Her blue eyes were wide and truthful.

"She's right," Luna cut in. "If I had known you were a senshi then I would have awakened you in a much safer situation the way I did Usagi. However, the reason the two of you hit it off so quickly may be because you subconsciously recognized each other as former comrades."

"Okay," Ami said faintly, and took a shuddering breath. Then suddenly she tackled Usagi and was sobbing almost hysterically into her shirt, choking out the occasional word like "die," "sense," "friend," and "scared". Usagi quickly wrapped her arms around the girl and began murmuring soothing words while Naru scooted around a hugged her from the other side. They stayed like that for a long time, Luna even winding her way in and rubbing up against Ami encouragingly. Finally the bluenette calmed down enough to breathe slowly, and eventually she pulled herself together. "T-thanks," she choked out quietly. "I think I'm going to be a-all right. I just need to tilt my worldview a little. A lot. Ohhh." She pulled out of the hug and groaned, massaging her head. The others let her, not sure about what to do other than offer support. There was a moment of just breathing, and then, "What part do you play in this?" she asked Naru.

"I'm not a senshi," the redhead admitted ruefully. "I just figured out who Usagi is and offered to help, since heroes always need more help than they get in stories and manga. Besides, she's my best friend." Ami nodded unsteadily.

"Alright, I think I need a little more data. What can senshi do, to start with?"

"First, we should get you your disguise," Luna said. "Transform the same way you did before and focus on keeping your identity secret. We'll also get to see what other abilities you have."

"Mercury Power: Make Up." No one had gotten a good look at how Ami's first transformation had gone, so they took the time to appreciate it now. She was immediately shrouded in a veil of light while streamers of water erupted from her pen and twisted around her. Most of them tightened and began forming her fuku, but a few stayed separate. Then one wrapped around her forehead, forming a golden tiara with a band of sapphire running through it. The second one twisted down to the already formed glove on her left hand and poured into it, stitching blue threads into it in a vein-like pattern. The third twisted around her face, forming a silver mask almost identical to Usagi's, Kamen's, and Sailor M's. The glow faded and Sailor Mercury stood before them. "Now what?"

"Luna, do I go naked when I transform, too?" asked a horrified Usagi.

"I was naked?" gasped a now similarly mortified Sailor Mercury, blushing.

"Yes and yes," answered Naru sharply. "But the light keeps us from really seeing anything and it's just us girls. We've washed each other's backs at the public baths and the hot springs in Okinawa, remember Usagi? Now as Luna was saying…"

"All senshi share a few basic abilities," said Luna. "The first is enhanced physical capabilities: you can run faster, jump higher, and hit harder than any normal human."

"Moon Power: Make Up!" announced Usagi, and in a few seconds Sailor Moon had joined Sailor Mercury. She grinned and jumped straight up in the air, and must have rose thirty feet before coming back down to ground, barely clearing the treetops.

"The nudity wasn't that bad, I guess," mumbled a still embarrassed Ami, smoothing out her skirt. "I couldn't see anything. But do these skirts have to be so short? I don't want to flash the world." Usagi flipped up her own skirt to check and hastened to reassure Ami.

"That's not my panties, it's just the fuku. It's like wearing a leotard with a skirt, or a bathing suit. Haven't you ever done gymnastics?"

"No, but I love swimming. I can live with a bathing suit." Ami took an exploratory jump in the air and made over ten feet. "Enhanced balance too, I should have fallen on my face. Does the suit also cushion the impact from landing?"

"That's probably the second senshi power," responded Luna. "The senshi are surrounded by a magical armor that partially absorbs the force of most physical and magical attacks. You still get hit, but it does much less damage. A punch is like a blow from a pillow."

"That would explain why I wasn't badly injured from the attack when I first transformed."

"This armor has other properties, but I forget exactly what, I'm afraid."

"How strong is it exactly? Can it stop a bullet, or just physical blows?"

"I'm not certain," Luna confessed. "But that brings us to the last universal senshi ability: accelerated healing."

"How accelerated?" asked Ami, her medical interest immediately intrigued.

"I'm not certain, but the gash on your cheek has already begun scabbing over."

"You know the attack at the church?" Usagi piped up. "The beetle youma cut up my stomach and Naru thought I was going to need stitches, but I was all better in two days. My mom wasn't at all suspicious. There aren't even any scars!"

"That is fast…" Ami trailed of into thought. Two days instead of two weeks or more with stitches. That means our healing may be at least seven or ten times as fast. If that applies to things like building muscle and bone growth, it would be incredibly useful for training. Which makes sense if the senshi were originally intended to be soldiers. I wonder how far it goes. "Did you have to stay in uniform the entire time?"

"No," Luna responded on Usagi's behalf. "Being transformed offers you the full array of powers you can access, but you are always a senshi, even when out of uniform. Some things, including the healing, carry over to your civilian form. Usagi, for instance, can run extremely quick even in civilian guise."

"Oh, so that's why I can do that."

"Would that explain my intelligence?" Ami asked worriedly.

"No. On the contrary, your intelligence was probably one of the main reasons you were chosen as Sailor Mercury in the Silver Millennium. It was an appointed position, so there were some form of trials whenever a new senshi was needed, in which the candidates displayed their abilities."

"I see. How did you impersonate Sailor Moon back there?" Ami asked Naru.

"This," Naru replied, and held up the pink wand. "It lets you disguise yourself as someone else. It's called the disguise pen."

"That is a useful resource. So what can I do as Sailor Mercury specifically?"

"Well," began Usagi, "as Sailor Moon I have two attacks, really. The first is this: Moon Tiara Magic!" The disk cut off a tree branch before returning to her. "And then I can also…YAAAAAHH!" The enhanced yell echoed through the grove of trees, blowing off some leaves, and the others moved to cover their ears before realizing they didn't have to. "Yeah, I found out that it only hurts the bad guys when Tuxedo Kamen got my tiara back at the circus," she said smugly. "I can also use them to listen for people who need help so I know where to go, but we've mostly been finding attacks before they start, so I haven't been using it much. That's how I got the youma in the mist. You did that, right?"

"Yes," responded Ami. "I think it was…Mercury Spray Shroud!" A chill mist filled the clearing, obscuring the trees and bushes.

"Hey, I can see now," commented Usagi. Naru and Luna both concurred. "I couldn't before. Did you do that on purpose?"

"Hmm… Hypothesis: I can choose if I want to allow people to see or not. Mercury Spray Shroud!" Mist reappeared, no thicker than before to Ami's eyes, but there was a noticeable change in the others' reactions.

"I can barely see the hand in front of my face," said Naru, wrapping her arms around her chest.

"I can barely see my own tail. Also, my hearing and smell seem off."

"I can still see fine," said Usagi. The mist disappeared.

"That confirms it," said Ami. "Next: Mercury Tiara Magic!" Nothing happened. "Well, it looks like I can't do that. This is… worrisome, since I appear to lack offensive capabilities beyond the physical enhancements."

"Your tiara should do something," said Luna. "Otherwise it wouldn't have formed in the first place. The same with your left glove." Ami frowned and twiddled the fingers of her left hand, causing the blue threads to sparkle. I feel…something, she thought, and tried again. Naru's phone rang.

"Sorry, guys, I'll get it. Hey, there's no one there." Ami tried again, and Naru's phone rang again. "How are you doing that?" she asked Ami, wide-eyed.

"It appears as though my glove can affect electronic equipment to some degree. I'l have to discern what it can do and whether it is limited to simple devices or includes computers," she said. "Wait, I believe I have an intuition about my tiara." She stroked the band of sapphire and a screen descended over her eyes like an electronic veil. "Incredible. This is incredible. I can see so many different things with this. I think I'm seeing magic, maybe, and heat, and electromagnetic signatures, and maybe even x-rays. I can see how old the trees are, and where all the animals are hiding nearby. I can tell how healthy you all are, and where there are vulnerable points I can target. It's…it's rather beautiful."

"I'm not surprised," said Luna. "I think can remember Sailor Mercury being closely tied to information and tactical decisions. Wait, that reminds me of something." She did a flip and a communicator dropped out. "No." Another flip and a purple henshin wand appeared. "Not that either." A third flip produced what appeared to be a calculator. "Here it is," she said, disappearing the other two items. "I am proud to present you with the Mercury Computer, a tool from the Silver Millennium." Ami took it and began fiddling with it curiously.

"It seems like I should remember this," she said absentmindedly. Then she turned her attention back to Luna. "I still lack offensive abilities, unless this fires lasers. Do you have a weapon of some sort? Something that can harm a youma?"

"Sorry, but if I did I would have already given it to Naru," the mau replied. "Perhaps you'll remember one during a sparring session, since Usagi now has someone she can practice with. However, I must point out that everyone should return to home, as night will fall within the hour. We can arrange more meetings tomorrow at Usagi's home."

"My mother will probably be at work, so mine might be better," Ami volunteered.

"Very well. We shall meet at noon."
++++++++++++++++++

And the battle is joined. I've got some comments about the various different names I've been using, such as calling Sailor Jupiter Lita instead of Makoto. I'm using the English anime name's for the senshi's past lives, so Ami in the Silver Millennium will be Amy, Rei will be Raye, Haruka will be Amara, etc. Usagi will still be Usagi, but there'll be a tradition that the heir/heir is known by a diminutive of their parent's name to all but their friends until they are grown. So as Serenity's daughter Usagi would be Princess Serena, and if Chibi-Usa ever shows up she would be known as Usa or Chibi-Usa instead of her real name (because my version of Usagi wouldn't name her daughter after herself). As for things like henshin/transformation, well, I'm just a little eclectic. See you in a week.