Chapter 11: Children of the Stars

Elsewhere in the city, soon after Setsuna had sensed that the Time Gates were being used, Mamoru was heading back to his apartment. As he was about to go into the building, he heard a strange popping sound. Looking up, he saw a flash of pink light, and three little girls floated down from the sky. He noticed that they were wearing outfits similar to the ones the Starlights wore, and, after making sure that no one else was watching him, he pulled a rose out of his pocket and transformed into Tuxedo Mask. He wasn't sure if they were enemies or not, but given that the Starlights were attacking Usagi and the others, he wanted to be safe.

"Hi, Tuxedo Mask! Don't worry, we won't hurt you!" one of the girls reassured him perkily. She had short, slicked-back blue hair and her Senshi outfit looked very similar to Sailor Star Maker's, except her armbands and collars were yellow instead of purple.

"I'm sorry! We had to be transformed when we used the Gates of Time and I'm really sorry we scared you!" another one of the girls apologized, looking rather nervous. She had magenta hair in big round buns, looking a bit like Chibi Chibi, although the Senshi outfit she was wearing more resembled Sailor Star Healer's, only with blue ribbons instead of green. The third girl wore her light brown hair up in a ponytail, and she strongly resembled a younger version of Sailor Star Fighter, except the buckled collars that decorated her neck and arms were pink.

"Are you part of the Starlights's team? Recently, they have been acting as enemies and I'm not sure we can trust anyone who is in league with them right now," Tuxedo Mask said. These girls seemed harmless at the moment, but he wanted to be cautious in case they were just trying to lull him into a false sense of security.

"No way! The Starlights are our mommies, but in this time, they're being evil and we have to stop them! I like the Senshi of this planet and want to make friends with all of you, not attack you!" the blue-haired girl declared.

"So are you the Starlights's daughters from the future? Are you with the Crystal Fruit Senshi who also came here from Crystal Tokyo? Or are you from Kinmoku?" Tuxedo Mask questioned, relaxing a bit as all three girls detransformed, showing that they meant no harm to him.

"Yeah, we're from Kinmoku, and I don't know who the Crystal Fruit Senshi are or what Crystal Tokyo is. But if they're nice Senshi, I'd like to meet them! We're the Sweet Stars! And I'm Shinobu Hoshino, also known as Sailor Star Honey!" the blue-haired girl introduced herself. She then pointed to the one with the magenta buns, and finally to the ponytailed girl. "That's Megumi, she's Sailor Star Candy, and the quiet one is Aiko, Sailor Star Sugar. I promise we won't hurt you, we want to be your friends and we don't want our mommies to be evil anymore."

"I'll trust you for now. Why don't you three come to my apartment? That way I can get to know you better and I can also explain to you who the Crystal Fruit Senshi are," Mamoru offered, reverting to his normal form as well. He and the three little girls went to his apartment. He quickly learned that Aiko was Seiya's daughter, Shinobu was Taiki's, and Megumi's mother was Yaten.

"So the Crystal Fruit Senshi are Sailor Senshi who have come from the future? I didn't know people from Earth were also able to travel through time," Aiko commented after hearing Mamoru's explanation, "But I still believe you. If you are the person Mother told me about, then you must know a lot about the Sailor Senshi of this planet, being Sailor Moon's boyfriend."

"Can we all stay with you while we're here on Earth? And go on dates with you and Sailor Moon, because I always wanted to meet her! She sounds like a really fun person!" Shinobu exclaimed eagerly.

"Probably not. I don't think I really can keep all three of you here, although maybe one of you could stay. This isn't really a very big apartment. But I'm sure Usagi or her friends would be able to take care of you, too," Mamoru answered, unsure if he even had room for three little girls to stay with him, especially since he wasn't sure how long it would take to bring the Starlights back to their senses. "I can call them right now and tell everyone what's going on, and we'll decide from there."

"Can I watch your TV? We also have TV on Kinmoku and I want to see what Earth TV is like," Shinobu asked, unsure if she liked being split up from Megumi and Aiko or not. While she was used to being in a group with the other Sweet Star Senshi, she also was curious to meet the other Sailor Senshi that lived on Earth, and thought it might be fun to stay at one of their houses.

"Sure, just don't turn it up too loud," Mamoru said, dialing Usagi's number first. Shinobu grinned and turned on the TV, which was showing a baseball game. Aiko looked at the bookshelf, searching for something she could read, however, almost all of Mamoru's books were meant for a college level student.

"Girls? Usagi wants to know how old you are," Mamoru asked, turning away from the phone for a moment.

"I'm 8 and so are the others," Shinobu answered, "Aiko just had her birthday a few weeks ago before we left our planet." Mamoru turned back to the phone to relay the new information, and Aiko finally noticed a few books on the bottom shelf that looked like they might fit her reading level. Shinobu noticed her pull one of them out, and she thought of something.

"Are any of the Crystal Fruit Senshi your kids? Do they visit here a lot? It looks like you have kid books here too, Tuxedo Mask," she said, hopping off the couch and interrupting Mamoru's phone conversation. Mamoru was about to address her when there was a flash of purple light in the room. Taiki suddenly appeared, and Shinobu looked at her excitedly.

"Mommy! You came back to us! Did you stop being evil yet?" she asked innocently.

"I don't know what you mean by evil. As long as you join me and defeat that man, I won't consider you an enemy," Taiki stated coldly, pointing to Mamoru.

"Sorry, Usagi, we have a problem here. Please get Rei and Makoto, I think they could help these girls the most if you can't," Mamoru said quickly and then he hung up, transforming back into Tuxedo Mask.

"Why would I want to beat up Tuxedo Mask? He's a good guy! Are you still evil, Mommy?!" Shinobu shrieked, shocked at what her mother was saying. While she knew they had been captured and had been turned against the Senshi of Earth, it was still surprising to hear such things coming out of her mother's mouth.

"I am not evil. Tuxedo Mask and the Senshi of Earth are. And I have no idea why you are calling me 'Mommy." I do not have any children," Taiki replied.

"What...what are you saying, Mommy? You don't remember me?" Shinobu whimpered, not believing what she was hearing.

"Of course she doesn't. That's why we came back here, because someone messed up their minds. We knew already that we would have to fight them before Sailor Moon would be able to heal them," Aiko said coldly. Her pink wand appeared in her hand, but before she could transform, Shinobu lunged at her.

"Stop it! Don't attack Mommy! Please, Tuxedo Mask, get Sailor Moon to come here and heal her right now!" Shinobu pleaded, but then she screamed when she saw what Taiki was doing. While she and Aiko had been arguing, Taiki took the chance to attack Tuxedo Mask, who was now crashed against the wall.

"Star Gentle..." Taiki's attack was interrupted by Shinobu, who had latched herself around Taiki's legs.

"BUT I LOVE YOU! YOU CAN'T BE EVIL!" Shinobu screamed.

"Sugar Star Power, Make Up!" Aiko called. At the same time, Taiki kicked Shinobu away, and she landed against Tuxedo Mask, who had just started to get up again.

"Don't attack her, Aiko! Just call Sailor Moon so she can heal the Starlights!" Shinobu pleaded. However, Sailor Star Sugar attacked anyway.

"Star Beautiful Dust!" she called, producing a cloud of pink sugar crystals from her gloved hands. She directed it at Taiki, who began to cough as the sugary dust filled her mouth.

"Fire Soul!"

"Supreme Thunder!" Two more attacks hit Taiki, slamming her against the wall and catching her on fire. Taiki glared at the new arrivals, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Moon, and then she teleported away, deciding that it would be foolish to continue. She could fight again another day and have another chance at stealing one of those Fruit Senshi's transformation wands.

"I got Rei and Makoto like you said, Mamoru, and I'm so glad we arrived in time to help you!" Sailor Moon gushed, rushing to her boyfriend's side. "I wish we could've healed Taiki, but it didn't work on Seiya so maybe we have to convince the Starlights that they want to be healed or something."

"But why did you let Mars and Jupiter attack Mommy, then? Why didn't you try to heal her?" Shinobu whimpered. She had always admired the Senshi who lived on the Earth, but now she wasn't so sure. Sailor Moon could heal Galaxia, but she couldn't heal Taiki and the others? Usagi detransformed, unsure how to answer the question. She wanted to be able to heal the Starlights without fighting them too, but she also didn't want to just let them attack everyone, especially Mamoru.

"Because I think they have to be willing to be healed. She tried it on Seiya and it didn't work," Rei answered, unsure who these girls in Starlight outfits were.

"I don't believe you! Sailor Moon HAS to be able to heal Mommy! SHE HEALED GALAXIA BUT SHE CAN'T HEAL MOMMY?! I WON'T BELIEVE IT!" Shinobu screamed. Rei was confused, and she looked to Tuxedo Mask for an answer.

"Who are these girls? Are they related to the Starlights?" she asked.