It had been once again another exhausting day for the royal advisor Osaka Naru. Once again, the king and queen were "sick" with sudden fevers and exhaustion at the exact time they were needed with a public appearance. This was the new Silver Millennium. People didn't get sick anymore, and Naru knew it. Regardless, she stood on the podium, delivering the message to the people with Sailor Sun at her side.

Girls' Day was in a few days, and the royal family was expected to make a proper appearance, along with the high priestess of the Hikawa Shrine, to do a proper traditional ceremony to usher in good fortune. Without it, the evil spirits would surely curse the land. At least that's what tradition said would happen.

Naru wasn't one to believe in superstition. She didn't particularly believe the dolls harbored evil spirits either. However, after the battle in Shinjuku MS and all the weird things that happened leading up to it, Naru wasn't putting anything to chance anymore. The festival absolutely had to go on as scheduled. And the queen was being a child again.

Naru flung open the door to the royal chambers, expecting to find Serenity and Endymion in bed, faking sickness as they giggled about something under the covers, but instead they were looking out over the city on the balcony. Huffing, Naru strode over, her heels angrily clicking on the crystalline floor. Her long formal dress caught the wind coming in from the balcony, billowing out behind her.

"Serenity," Naru frowned, pulling on her best friend's ear. She was completely ignoring protocol, but Naru rarely followed it away from the public eye.

"Oooowie," Serenity whined like a child. "Naru-chaaaan, what are you doing?!"

Naru frowned some more. "You're acting like a child. You're avoiding responsibility!" She jabbed her finger at Endymion. "You're really no better."

Endymion simply honored the accusation with a shrug. She wasn't wrong. They were acting childish, avoiding responsibility and leaving it all to Naru. True, Naru could handle it extremely well, but it still wasn't necessarily fair.

"Naru-chan!" Serenity whined some more. "Please let go! We have a good reason, okay?"

Naru narrowed her eyes. This would be good. It always was.

Serenity rubbed her ear gingerly, finally free of Naru's vice-like grip. "Look, do you remember when I told you about the UFOs?"

Naru paused. That conversation was a long time ago, but she remembered it as if they'd spoke just yesterday. Usagi had been sick for two days after the second attack by that strange general Pifite. Naru brought her chicken noodle soup along with Sasami and Juri. She remembered it so clearly, as everything started to make sense. The strange events that surrounded Tokyo, Usagi's assemblage of friends, even the senshi. It all came together. Everything became clear.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"The people who came with those UFOs, they called themselves the Black Moon Clan," Serenity continued. "They weren't from that time, they were from this one. When Chibiusa first appeared from the future, she was about this age, about 900."

"The clan, with the help of an aspect of Chaos, began poisoning Crystal Tokyo, unleashing chaos across the land," Endymion added.

"And while I know we chose our own fate, changing the future into something we all wished to create," Serenity continued, "there's still that fear that the Black Moon Clan, even Chaos, will return once again."

"I've had this strange feeling," Endymion added, "that something is off, something is wrong. For the past two days, something just feels off."

"That's why we had to skip," Serenity concluded. "So we could keep watching over everything, to make sure Chaos hadn't returned. I hope you can forgive us."

Naru unfolded her arms. How could she be mad after an explanation like that? She drew her friend into her arms for a tight embrace. "Always watching, always thinking about everyone's well-being." Her friend may now be queen of a new Era, but she was still the same Usagi underneath. That same ever-vigilant Sailor Moon still continued shining in her heart.

"But," Naru added, pulling away then socking Serenity in the shoulder, "next time, tell me these things! Geez!"

Serenity giggled even as she rubbed her shoulder gingerly. Naru was still the same, nearly a millennium later, still ever protective with a mean right hook. "Okay okay! I surrender! I'll tell you next time. I promise!"

...

The day had been once again a long one and Naru still wasn't done. She'd dressed down, wearing a simple orange turtleneck and blue flared skirt tied in the back with a ribbon-like bow. The peach blossoms were in bloom, coinciding perfectly with the Girls' Day celebration. Some of the blossoms fluttered by in the wind.

But Naru wasn't here to look at peach blossoms, no matter how beautiful they were. She had to go fish her younger sister out of a store again. Naruru had run off with Ruruna to go spend money. True, they had money now that Naru was the royal advisor, but that didn't mean Naruru needed to go blow it all in one day in the Guccicci store. Naruru had an obsession that needed to be addressed.

Naru paused for a moment, taking the opportunity to look out over the city. In the afternoon sun, the place glistened just like crystals. Nearly a millennium later, and the place still impressed her. She didn't want to lose the place to any form of Chaos. She still recalled how destructive that Shadow Galaxy had become. After the battle, Usagi detailed what had happened in Shinjuku MS to everyone, including Naru. She told them of her conversation with Chaos. She told them of what Queen Galaxia had intended on doing. She told them of how she stopped them with everyone's help.

Presently, Serenity and Endymion's story about the UFOs and the Black Moon Clan was still fresh in Naru's mind. If Chaos did return, would she have any power to help stop it? Even with her close position to Serenity and the senshi, she still felt like a mortal among gods.

Caught in her own thoughts, she hadn't noticed someone approach her. She was a an unknown senshi not much taller than Naru. Her deep aqua hair was pulled back into what would be pigtails if she hadn't tightly rolled it into loops. On either side, two loops intersected each other, twirling around and eventually becoming one large loop that nearly reached her shoulders.

Her sailor collar was navy blue with one magenta stripe which matched her choker and heart necklace she wore. Her front bow was the same color, accented by an equally magenta brooch shaped like an 8-pointed star. Her outfit was two pieces, showing off her midriff. She wore no skirt but instead pants with a X-shaped waist band, the center of the x situated right below her belly button. The sides of the X were cut out, showing off her hips. At the bottom of her navy blue pants were two stripes, white over magenta. Her gloves were short, reaching about half-way up her forearm and capped with two magenta rings.

She observed Naru for a moment, watching the advisor as she babbled something about Guccicci. "Osaka Naru."

Naru turned suddenly. She hadn't noticed anyone behind her and was surprised to someone she knew. "Theta Draconis?" As an advisor, Naru had encountered many senshi from across the galaxy. They came to visit on occasion, though mostly for diplomatic measures. She'd seen Theta Draconis once, and the girl was particularly memorable, mostly because of her odd hair and often incomprehensible manner of speaking. But the girl had changed her outfit, choosing pants instead of a more standard skirt. "What are you doing here?"

"So yeah," Theta Draconis replied, "it's Sailor Space Gas now. And I'm penciling in a schedule change, kay?" She crossed her arms in front of her, making an x shape with them. Smirking, she called out a command, "Harmonic distortion."