The Galactic Trinity

by PrincessSerenity1976

Sequel to Lunar Princess of the Earth. Three teens are on the run from an enemy in Crystal Tokyo. They find themselves in present day Tokyo with our favorite heroes. What will happen when their identities are revealed? Read to see. Full summary inside.

14. Uh Surprise!

A/N It's back! After some reevaluating and restructuring I am happy to say that I have decided that I'm ready to continue with this story. I'm very happy with the way things have turned out so far, and I hope you will be too. To thank all of you for your patience and kindness I have a nice long update for you. Now before I go any further I want to give out my hugs to my wonderful supporters. BIG HUGS TO:

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Thank you guys so much! You are definitely an inspiration to me. So anyway, when we left off the future Katie had attacked our heroes while at a hospital fundraiser. DJ and Katie were having a little tiff over the fact that Susan (who we know was really Sasha in disguise) had thrown herself at DJ and kissed him. Jack and Sasha were scared that Discord was going to kill them, so they ran away. Serena, Darien, and the others were trapped inside an energy barrier while the trio faced off against future Katie, who managed to capture DJ and Alex. She told her past self that she had to choose which one to save or she would kill them both. Luckily help from the future showed up just in time as the oldest children of the scouts and generals appeared on the scene. Future Katie tried to slip away, but her past self chased her down and they ended up in an alley where future Katie almost killed Sailor Eclipse before leaving her with an ominous warning that someone close to her may die.

So things are about to take a wacky turn. The scouts and generals are about to find out some things about their own futures and we have a bunch a crazy teens running around. Sounds like fun to me. And there's a little surprise at the end that I hope you'll like. Okay, enough out of me!

ENJOY!

The Galactic Trinity

Chapter 12

Uh…Surprise!

Sailor Pluto landed on the roof of an apartment building as silently as a cat. She took a deep breath to steady her slightly rattled nerves. It had been a long, eventful night, and it was far from being over. She definitely wasn't looking forward to the upcoming confrontation.

"Might as well get it over with," she muttered as she headed for the edge of the roof. She froze a moment later as a shiver ran down her spine. She wasn't alone.

She reached out with her senses to see if she could identify the person she felt watching her. She may not walk the spiritual plane like Raye, be able to since disturbances like Hotaru, have a magic mirror to look into like Michelle, or even be able to consult the stars the way Nephrite could, but she wasn't completely ignorant when it came to reading auras. And this one hit her like a slap to the face.

She turned to face the shadows behind her. "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be in this time."

"Hello to you too, Trista," a deep voice replied as a man dressed in black stepped out of the darkness. "I should have known that you would be able to sense my presence."

She heaved a sigh. "I'm going to have a stroke yet from all of this stress. You can't be here. I'm already using my garnet orb to protect Katie from feeling the effects of having her future self present in this time. It would stretch my powers too thin to have to cover your past self as well."

"Don't worry about it so much," he told her. "I'm not planning on staying here long enough to cause any problems. I just felt the need to check up on her and make sure she's okay."

"Really?" Pluto drawled. "It wasn't too terribly long ago that you attempted to turn her into shish kabob with your sword. Why the sudden change of heart?"

He ran agitated fingers through his hair. "I don't feel like playing this game with you. I just want some answers. You knew all along what was going to happen when you brought us here to this time, didn't you? You knew that he would die and that the Trinity would be left incomplete, leaving Crystal Tokyo wide open for Discord to run rampant over the globe while we were all caught up in grief and anger."

Pluto's head jerked up to glare at the man in front of her, her garnet eyes glowing in indignation. "I did not. The events that happened that night were spawned from an alternate timeline. I knew that such a path existed, but I never dreamed that it would be followed. The life that you have led since then isn't the one that existed in the future that I saw for you. And it all happened because of one moment of hesitation."

He crossed his arms across his chest. "What do you mean one moment of hesitation?"

The time guardian shook her head sadly. "Why do you think Katie is risking her life by plotting to double cross Discord in order to change the past? She was tied to him as tightly as she once was to you and would do anything to get him back. When she first defected to Discord's side I thought that she had gone insane just like everyone else did. I suppose I'm really to blame for that. She overheard me talking to Hotaru the night after the funeral and that spurred her to make the choices she did."

His arms dropped to his side. "And what could you have possibly said that would have made her team up with our greatest enemy? She sold her very life to him. If she makes one wrong move he will rip her soul from her body. What did she overhear that would cause her to walk away from everyone like we didn't even exist?"

Pluto arched a brow at him. "Are you sure you want to know?"

He growled in frustration, pulling his dark glasses from his face before pressing the heels of his hands to his swirling, multicolored eyes. "Of course I want to know! I wouldn't have asked if I didn't."

Pluto's shoulders slumped. "Fine. But I warn you that the truth may be hard for you to hear. The night that Discord launched that mass attack here in the Tokyo of this time and you two boys got into that heated argument, one tiny thing went wrong that sent the timeline spiraling down the path that it has taken. Katie rushed to try and break you two up and found the two of you about to blast one another into oblivion. A sentinel had also found you as well, and it attacked while you were distracted by your fight. This is where the change happened. Katie could have stopped the sentinel, but she hesitated and decided at the last minute to throw herself between you two just as you released your attacks. She discharged her own energy in defense. The result of your three energies clashing together paralyzed the three of you for a moment and the sentinel took advantage of that and attacked. You know how the rest of that played out."

"Of course I do!" the man snapped. "I was there. I lived it. I still dream about it every damn time I close my eyes. But I'm still trying to get your point. Are you saying that Katie messed up by getting between us instead of going after the sentinel?"

Pluto nodded. "That one little event changed the entire fabric of time. If she had chosen to destroy the sentinel all three of you would have walked away from that rooftop that night. Eventually the Trinity would have been bestowed on you and you would have faced Discord. Life would have been very different for you then. That's why Katie has always felt that she was to blame for his death. She heard me tell this to Hotaru and came up with a plan of her own to try to set things right."

He began pacing. "What she's planning is suicide! She can't possibly take Discord on by herself. Her powers are unstable just like mine are as result of that night. I know as well as she does how hard it is to control the energy of the earth, moon, and sun at the same time. If she had her full moon power intact she might have a chance, but not the way she is now."

"She's fully aware of that," the time guardian said evenly. "She has no intentions of confronting Discord herself. If she succeeds in changing history it will be up to your past selves to deal with Discord. Even if he kills her for her betrayal it won't matter because time will be rewritten. Everyone's existences will be changed."

He stopped his pacing, a hopeful look appearing on his face for the first time in fifteen years. "Do you think she can pull it off?"

Pluto smiled gently. "What do you think?"

A grin curved up the corners of his lips. "You know what? She's probably stubborn and hard headed enough to do this. She never knows when to give up."

"No she doesn't," Pluto said softly. "Now get out of here and back to your own time. If you pass out because there are two of you in this time I'm not lugging you back home."

He gave her a mock salute. "Yes ma'am!" And he leapt away. He was going home all right, but he had one more stop to make before making his time jump.

Pluto shook her head in amusement. "They may get older, but they never grow up."

She dropped from the roof to a balcony below and slid the door open quietly. She had barely stepped into the room when she heard a soft hiss. She dodged to the right and swung out her hand, deftly catching the knife that had been aimed at her head milliseconds before.

"Were you expecting someone besides me?" she asked the darkened room.

"Damn, Trista! How about a little warning next time!" a voice said in exasperation. "I'm just glad you have fast reflexes or I might have skewered you."

There was a click as a lamp turned on, bathing the room in soft light and revealing the other occupant. The blonde woman standing by the table sheathed her sword and sat down on the sofa.

"I wasn't aware that I needed to announce my arrival in my own apartment, Katie," Pluto answered dryly.

The younger woman huffed and rolled her swirling eyes. "Like you didn't know I'd be here. I've got to go back and report in soon, but I had to know what happened after I left."

Pluto let go of her transformation as she walked casually into the kitchen without a word and began making a cup of tea. Katie watched her in disbelief for a moment before scrambling after her,

"Come on, Trista!" she complained. "I've got to know what happened. I can't rely on my memories anymore because things are different now. I need to know if I'm on the right track."

Trista set the kettle on the stove on the stove and turned it on before facing her. "What exactly did you say to your past self tonight? You didn't reveal too much information, did you?"

"Of course not!" she protested. "I just roughed her up a little and told her to get her shit together or that somebody close to her would die. I didn't reveal any names or particulars. Why? Did she take it bad?"

"You should know," Trista replied as she took a cup from a cabinet. "Don't you remember what you were like at sixteen? You were a high-strung bundle of raging emotions. Of course she took it badly. When I left Andrew and Jess's place a little while ago Darien was treating her for a mild case of shock. Luckily Helios showed up and used a sleep spell on her to calm her down. She'll be okay, but you scared the hell out of her."

"That's exactly what I meant to do," Katie retorted. "Maybe if I'd had somebody step up and tell me how bad I was screwing up back then instead of tiptoeing around me like I was an emotional freak things wouldn't have gotten out of control to begin with."

"You can't change everything," Trista told her. "That fight between DJ and Alex will still take place no matter what timeline we're in. You can't stop that, no matter how much you want to. That is something that has to be settled between them. Your past selves are at an awkward age, not quite yet adults, but not children anymore either. They're growing and learning who they are. And conflicts, even between friends and loved ones are to be expected."

"Yeah, but I can change the outcome to make sure that things are different this time," Katie muttered.

Trista tilted her head as she studied the fractured woman in front of her. "That is true, but even the most well laid plans can go wrong. You may save the life of someone you love, but you may also put your own existence in peril."

Katie's jaw tightened in determination. "That's a risk I'm willing to take. But I plan to do everything in my power to make sure all three of us survive. The future will change. I'm staking my life on it."

---

She was running, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, her heart pounding in her chest until it felt like it was going to explode. Sobs tore up her throat and choked the breath from her as tears blurred her vision and poured down her cheeks in wet rivers, but she pressed on, knowing that she couldn't stop now.

'I've got to stop them!' the thought repeated over and over through her head.

Flashes of light from the streets below told her that the others were battling the onslaught of enemies that had suddenly invaded Tokyo in full force, but she was fixated on the two pinpoints of energy coming from the roof of a tall building a couple of blocks away. The bright gold and red orange energy were her beacon, guiding her to where she was needed most.

She was almost there, only two buildings away, when a wolf looking sentinel sprang at her from the shadows. She ducked with a shriek and spun to face it, her hands already beginning to glow silver as she confronted her attacker.

A hand grabbed her arm, jerking her out of the line of fire, and she looked up to find the dark, shadowy figure of a man standing between her and the mutated wolf.

"Go!" a deep voice growled at her. "I'll take care of this. You've got to get to that rooftop. You're the only one that can stop the past from repeating itself."

For some reason his voice galvanized her into action, and she left him behind as she continued on her quest. In two leaps, she found herself on the large roof of one of the tallest buildings in downtown Tokyo, and confronted with a scene straight from hell.

Two teenage boys, both swathed in black, were facing off against one another. They were glowing with barely suppressed energy as they yelled at each other in anger. They were so consumed in their argument that they didn't realize that they had drawn an audience.

The large form of a tiger sentinel was bounding toward the two, and they were completely oblivious to it. She screamed a warning at them, but they couldn't hear her over their own yells and the rushing sounds of their swirling energy.

She began running toward them, frantic to save them from the danger that was heading their way, and found her way blocked by a tall, blonde woman with swirling silver, gold, and red orange eyes.

"You will not interfere with my plans!" the woman snarled at her.

"I'm not afraid of you!" she screeched as she rushed her, knocking her out of the way. She heard the woman scream in outrage and then the sounds of a scuffle. She glanced quickly over her shoulder and saw the same dark man that had saved her from the wolf pinning the woman to the ground.

She never slowed momentum. She flung herself into the path of the tiger that was about to attack the two boys and flung out her power in a desperate attempt to protect them. Silver erupted at the same time gold and red orange exploded from behind her. The result of the three energies being released created an explosion that rocked the entire building beneath them.

The sentinel was vaporized by the blast, and she turned to face the other two, somehow knowing what was about to happen next. She lunged forward and grabbed one of the boys by his black sleeve, flinging him away from the edge as the roof began to crumble beneath him.

She heaved a sigh of relief as she saw him land safely several feet away. And then the bottom fell out from underneath her, plunging her into darkness…

Katie jerked awake, soaked in sweat and biting back the scream that was clawing its way up her throat. She sat up and looked around in wide-eyed panic until she realized that she was in the bedroom that she had been sharing with her brother for over a month.

She flopped back against the pillows and forced herself to take deep, steady breaths as her heart rate returned to normal. What had that dream been about? Why had she seen Alex and DJ going for one another's throats like that? It didn't make any sense.

She pressed a hand to her forehead. What was going on? She didn't even remember going to bed. The last memory she had was being at the hospital fundraiser.

She jerked upright again as the memories began trickling in. She remembered the party, catching Susan in DJ's arms, performing with Michelle, arguing with DJ before stomping away, and then the guardians and sentinels had shown up.

There was something else though, something that was nudging at the back of her brain but was being held back like it didn't want to be remembered. She gasped as a face appeared in her mind.

"That woman," she whispered. It was all coming back to her. That woman who could command the guardians and sentinels had attacked them. She had captured DJ and Alex and threatened to kill both of them if she didn't choose which one was more important to her.

Like that was even possible. Alex was her blood, her twin; and even though she was still a little peeved at DJ, he was her love and that would never change. There wasn't a thing in the world that could make her ever choose between the two of them.

She shivered a little as she felt something inside her. It felt like an aura brushing lightly against hers, one that was warm and familiar, but different. And the strange thing was that it seemed to be coming from right outside.

She got up from the bed and crossed over to the window, pushing it up and sticking her head out. All she could see was the bustling city before her, but she wasn't really expecting to see anyone. After all, she was on the top floor of a twenty-story building. The only way that someone could be lurking outside her bedroom window would be if they could fly. But still, that aura had felt so familiar.

She ducked back inside, never once looking up to the roof level above her. If she had, she may have seen the man up there that had been gazing down at her.

"She's just as I remember," he said softly. He spun around a second later, his hand automatically going for the sword at his side. He relaxed when he saw who had snuck up on him like a ghost.

"Helios," he greeted shortly.

The white haired priest eyed him carefully. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you are here. There are few people that can break through my sleep spell. What I fail to understand is why you did it. She deserves some sleep after what she has been through tonight."

"I know she's messed up right now, but I had to do it," the man replied. "You're a timeless being like Sailor Pluto, so I'm sure you can understand why I did it. Wouldn't you do anything for Rini if it kept her happy and safe?"

Amber eyes narrowed at him. "Of course I would! But I fail to see where giving Katie nightmares is supposed to make her happy. And wouldn't Sailor Pluto be upset to learn that you're showing the girl the events of what needs to happen in order to set the timeline right again?"

He snorted. "What Pluto doesn't know won't hurt her. I'm doing this to save the Katie from my time. If her younger self can manage to set things right without her having to get involved, then Discord won't kill her. I know she and Pluto both say that if she dies it won't matter because time will be rewritten and she'll be alive again. But if something were to go wrong…I can't take that chance. I lost her once when she joined Discord. I can't go through that again. You are the guardian of dreams, Helios. You know better than anyone how our dreams can affect the outcome of real life."

Helios nodded. He had seen firsthand how powerful dreams could be when he had watched his king send nightmares to his past self several years before during the Black Moon invasion. He had thought for a while that Endymion had lost his mind when Serenity had been attacked and placed under that sleep spell, but he had figured out later that the king had done it to strengthen the relationship between his past self and his princess.

"I do understand," the priest said softly. "Those of us that are aware of the ominous future that may lie ahead are now treading in dangerous territory. We have no way of knowing what the outcome may be. Let's just hope that it goes in our favor."

"That's all we can hope for," the man replied. "I guess I better be getting back to my own time now." He jumped away into the night and hurried to the secluded grove that was ideal for making time jumps without the bright pink light that accompanied them being noticed.

He removed a chain from around his neck that held one of Pluto's precious time keys and in moments he disappeared in a flash of light. He reappeared in the barren courtyard of the Crystal Palace of the future.

He heard a tapping sound behind him and turned to find himself face to face with an irate, foot tapping, pink haired princess.

"So you're the one that stole my time key. I figured as much," Rini accused him acidly.

No remorse showed on his face. "Yes. I had some things I needed to check on."

"That was stupid to go through the time plane without Pluto to guide you. You could have been caught by Discord, you idiot!" She held her hand out expectantly. "Give it back."

He looped the chain around his neck and tucked the key away under his shirt. "No can do. I think I'll hold onto it for a while longer. I may need it again."

She growled low in her throat. "Shouldn't you be off somewhere drowning yourself in a bottle of whiskey?"

Instead of getting mad at her words, he grinned at her. "Nope! I gave it up."

She stared at him in disbelief. "You're telling me that you've spent every moment that you haven't been fighting for over a decade in an alcohol induced stupor and you suddenly gave it up?"

"Yep!" he chirped cheerfully as he began walking toward the palace. "Did Lita save me any dinner? I'm starving!"

Rini just watched him walk away, her mouth gaping open in shock. What the hell had happened to cause such a dramatic change in him? He had seemed almost happy, and he had smiled at her. She hadn't seen him smile in fifteen years. And he was asking for food? They usually had to almost force feed him. He wasn't interested in anything unless it was liquid and intoxicating.

She rubbed her temples. "I must be losing my mind."

---

Present Day

"I must be losing my mind," Rini moaned as she looked around at the group of teens in front of her. She had been shocked almost to the point of speechlessness when she had shown up after her date with Helios to be greeted with the sight of the new arrivals. "What are you four doing here?"

"They said that Pluto sent them because she thought we needed help," DJ growled. "I still don't see why she did it. We had everything under control."

"Ha!" Jayden retorted. "Yeah, I could see that you really had it under control, being tied up the way you were and all. You were dangling like a fish on a line. Way to go!"

A snarl ripped out of DJ's throat. "Keep it up, Flamethrower!"

"Oh, both of you pipe down! We don't need the two of you having a pissing contest. The point is Trista asked us to come, so we did," Emma insisted as she walked over and handed Alex a glass of cola before settling herself on his lap. "There you go, Cupcake."

Alex groaned. "Please don't call me that in front of people. It's embarrassing."

Jess was choking on laughter as she watched her future son squirm in discomfort, his eyes flicking toward the stoic Kunzite every few seconds like he expected the man to attack him at any moment.

"Well I'm confused," Mina complained. "It seems like lately we have strange kids from the future popping up everywhere. Dealing with Rini was bad enough, now there's eight of you."

"Well excuse me! I didn't realize that I was such a bother," Rini retorted hotly.

Serena quickly put an arm around her. "Mina didn't mean it like that. Did you, Mina?" She arched a brow reprovingly at her head scout.

"Of course not!" Mina hastily reassured them. "But I'm getting jumpy from all of the strange vibes flying around here." She stared intently at Emma. "You're the same girl that was here to visit Alex on Valentine's Day, aren't you? But you don't look the same."

Emma grinned, clearly enjoying herself. "Yep, I'm one and the same. Last time I came Serena let me borrow the Luna Pen to disguise my appearance."

"Way to go, Meatball Head!" Raye muttered darkly.

"Not me! The future me did it!" Serena squeaked. "And I'm sure I must have had a good reason to do it."

Darien, Andrew, and the generals watched from the relative safety of Andrew's kitchen as Serena and Raye began bickering back and forth.

Zoicite glanced between Darien and Jadeite. "Aren't you going to break them up?"

Jadeite snorted. "Are you kidding? I'm not getting in Raye's way. The last time I tried to stop her from needling Serena she set my ass on fire. I couldn't sit down properly for a week. Thanks, but no thanks."

Darien agreed whole-heartedly. "Just let them get it out of their systems. They'll work through it soon enough."

And it was true. It wasn't long before the two of them ran out of steam and fell silent.

Rini then took over again. " I can understand Puu sending Skye and Emma. But why did she send Jayden and Hannah? They're too young to be dealing with this mess."

The normally quiet Hannah's face turned red with indignation. "I beg your pardon! I seem to remember a certain night when I stopped a guardian that was sneaking up on you without you knowing. So don't go getting all high and mighty on me, your highness!"

Jayden looked equally outraged. "You tell her Hannah! We may only be fourteen, but we each have quite a few victories under our belts. Besides, Trista probably thought that she needed to send a real man along to help keep all these lovely ladies safe."

"Real man!" Skye barked. "Puh-lease! I've seen infants that exude more manliness than you do. Get real!"

Jayden waggled his eyebrows at her. "One day you'll see the benefits of having a younger man around. I'm willing to wait. You know I like my women older."

A quiet laugh had everyone spinning around to see Katie standing in the doorway leading to the hall. She still looked tired and worn out, but there was happiness in her eyes as she took in the sight of her friends.

"Katie!" Jayden called out, not missing a beat as he hurried over to the blonde girl and enveloped her in a giant bear hug. "Skye keeps turning down my advances, but you won't turn me away, will you?" He looked at her with playful blue eyes.

She smiled at him as she ruffled his blonde curls. "Of course not, Jay. You know you're my number one guy."

He turned to DJ with a superior smirk. "You better watch out, Tux Boy. You've got some competition."

DJ rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm really scared!"

He got up from his seat and walked over to where they were to pull Katie into his arms. He felt encouraged when she hugged him back instead of pushing him away. "I thought you were sleeping."

"I woke up," she said simply as she leaned further into the hug. She was still a little upset with him, but right now she needed his comforting touch.

A few seconds later she was ripped from his arms as Alex picked her up and spun her around. She laughed and wrapped her arms tightly around her brother. "Put me down, Lex!"

He set her back on her feet and pulled back to look at her with concerned eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she told him. "I think I just got overwhelmed earlier."

"Overwhelmed my ass!" Jess snapped. "That psycho bitch had you pinned to the wall by your throat. I saw the whole thing. What possessed you to go running after her like that? You could have been killed!"

"She's right." Andrew said as he walked out from the kitchen. "You had no business going after an enemy alone like that. Anything could have happened."

Katie felt thoroughly chastised by her future parents, and she hung her head as tears began to prick her eyes. "I know. It was a stupid move. I'm sorry," she said miserably.

For the fourth time in as many minutes, she found herself caught up in a too tight hug. This time it was Jess squeezing her within an inch of her life. But she didn't complain about it. After the night's events and that horrible nightmare, she took comfort from the closest person she had to her mother.

"I'm making a mental note to myself to ground you in the future the moment you get back from this trip," Jess ground out in a voice that was heavy with suppressed tears.

Katie forced out a giggle as she carefully extracted herself from the confining arms. "Well it wouldn't be the first time, and knowing my luck it won't be the last either."

"Just promise me you won't pull anymore crazy stunts like that," Jess insisted.

"Um hm," Katie mumbled noncommittally as she looked around the room, refusing to meet her future mother's eyes. If she saw that woman again she knew that she would go after her. After what that bitch had done to them tonight she wanted a piece of her.

"Kathleen Kimberly Furuhata!" Jess snapped. "I mean it young lady! You are not to go chasing down or confronting any enemies by yourself or I will personally lock you up somewhere and make sure you don't set foot anywhere near a fight. Do you hear me?"

Katie's eyes jerked to hers, irritated hazel clashing with annoyed blue. "Fine! I promise, okay!"

"Ugh!" Jess groaned as she sat back down on the sofa. "I can't believe I said that. Thanks a lot for making me sound just like my mom. Now I'm having flashbacks of every time she preached to me about something. Don't get me wrong, I loved the woman like crazy, but damn she could nag when she wanted to."

Jess's little tirade eased the tension in the room and allowed everyone to have a good laugh.

Katie took a seat on the floor between DJ and Alex before looking questioningly at Emma, "So where do we stand? Have introductions been made yet, or are you guys here under cover?"

Emma grinned. "Nope! You're just in time for the show. Trista told us to be honest about our identities. We were just thinking about the best way to do it."

"Don't look at me!" Rini declared vehemently. "The last time I did introductions I made a real mess of things. I'm not going there again!"

Emma stood up. "I guess the best thing to do is just get it over with." She took a deep breath. "I'm Emmaline Minako Aino. I just turned seventeen years old, and I'm sure you can guess from the name exactly who my parents are."

She inclined her head to Mina and to Kunzite, who had come to stand behind his fiancé. "I am also known as Sailor Ishtar and I'm the leader of Princess Serenity's scouts in Crystal Tokyo."

Skye got up next. "I'm Skye Makoto Kino. I'm sixteen, almost seventeen years old. I'm the only daughter of Lita and Nephrite. I am Sailor Callisto."

Jayden stood with a goofy grin on his face. "I'm Jayden Jadeite Hino. I'm so close to fifteen that I don't even consider myself to be fourteen anymore. I like my fire hot and my women hotter! Everybody calls me Flame."

Everyone turned to the last teen as she made a gagging sound and muttered, "Oh good grief," under her breath. No introduction was really needed. Her shoulder length blue hair made her parentage pretty obvious.

She gave a short curtsey. "My name is Hannah Ami Mizuno and I'm fourteen. I am Sailor Caloris " she said in a quiet voice.

"And don't let her 'Little Miss Mouse' act fool you," Jayden inserted smoothly. "At first glance she may appear all meek and timid, but she's really a tiger on the inside."

Her green eyes snapped furiously. "I'll show you tiger, you egomaniac!" she screeched at him and threw a snowball that had suddenly appeared in her hand at his head.

The blonde boy merely laughed as he froze the snowball in mid air with a simple flick of his wrist and then vaporized it in a small burst of flames.

"Oh, Great Spirit, there's two of them!" Raye whispered in a mixture of disbelief and horror as her eyes darted back and forth between Jadeite and Jayden. "This so cannot be happening!"

"Tell me about it," Lita moaned next to her as she took a good look at the girl that had just introduced herself as being her daughter. She was almost as tall as she was with a slim, athletic build, curly auburn hair, and slate blue eyes. She shot a glance at Nephrite to find him staring at her with a look of shock that mirrored her own.

Amy cleared her throat nervously. "Well this is surprising, but I can't say that it is completely unexpected. We couldn't assume that Serena and Jess were the only ones to have children in the future. I'm just a little shocked that Pluto would allow this much time travel."

"This is so cool!" Mina squealed exuberantly. "I have always been a little jealous of Serena and Rini, now I get my turn."

Kunzite ran a hand through his platinum hair as he watched the two blondes that were now jumping up and down and hugging at the same time. "I think I need a drink. Somebody please tell me they've got something stout around here."

Darien clasped his shoulder. "Let's head next door to my place. I'm sure I've got something to take the edge off."

They knew that it was a cowardly move on their part, but all of the men slipped out quietly and left the women to deal with the new arrivals. After all, they were the legendary sailor scouts. Surely they could handle a handful of teenagers without any trouble.

---

One Week Later

"That's it! I can't take it anymore!" Raye screamed as the sound of an outraged squeal, followed by a deeper laugh filtered in through the shrine's open doors. "That brat is getting on my last nerve! I'm ready to call Trista and tell her to come get him and drag his ass back to Crystal Tokyo! Or better yet, I'll just make sure that I never quit taking my birth control pills. I've never seen myself as the motherly type anyway."

Lita looked up from where she was scrubbing the wooden floor. "Raye! That's a horrible thing to say. Would you seriously consider erasing the existence of your own child?"

Raye grimaced as she pushed her sweaty bangs away from her forehead. "No. I wouldn't really do that. But Jay is such a pain. It's just that every since he showed up he and Jed have been practically attached at the hip. And when the two of them are together they get into trouble. Do you know what happened the other day when I took them to the mall with me? I stopped into a shop for just a moment to look at something, and when I came back out I found the two of them staking out Victoria's Secret like a couple of perverts. One Jadeite was bad enough! Why couldn't I have gotten a girl like the rest of you?"

"It's not that bad," Mina said breezily as she flitted around with a feather duster. "Serena and Jess both have boys and you don't hear them complaining about it."

"That's because their sons are normal!" Raye snapped.

"Not according to Kunzite," Mina replied. "Every since we found out about Emma he's been threatening to kill Alex. I pointed out to him that they've been a couple for a long time and obviously his future self must be okay with it, but he's convinced that Alex is only after her for one thing."

Lita sat back and wiped an arm across her brow. "I've heard Andrew muttering similar things about DJ. I guess he's trying to protect Katie's virtue. It's kinda sweet. Besides, it's not just the boys that can act badly. I know you guys always thought I was boy crazy back in the day, but I think Skye is ten times worse. If she sees a guy that she thinks is even remotely hot she's on his trail like a bloodhound before you can blink. Both of my busboys disappeared during the dinner shift the other night and I found them with her hanging out in the back alley. She was playing both of them like a flute."

"Jayden! You moron!" a female voice screeched from outside, making the three women sigh and shake their heads.

"Even poor Amy isn't immune," Mina giggled.

Lita nodded. "I don't see how two people as quiet as Amy and Zoicite could possibly have a child that can get as loud as Hannah. At least things have calmed down some since Trista worked her magic and got all of them in school.

Raye groaned as she stood and stretched her back. "I guess we should have left those two back at the apartment, but I promised grandpa that I'd help out with the spring cleaning and I need every pair of hands I can get. I just wish that everybody else would hurry up and get here. If everyone would pitch in we'd have it done in no time."

There was the soft patter of feet and then Amy appeared in the doorway. "I'm so sorry I'm late. My meeting with my professor took longer than I anticipated, but I'm here now. What can I do to help?"

"We're just about done in here," Raye told her. "But then we still have the main part of the shrine and the living area to go. After that we'll probably have to go out and finish the raking and cleaning up outside because those two knuckleheads out there haven't stopped bitching at each other long enough to get anything done."

Amy looked confused. "The outside looks great. I think Hannah and Jayden did an excellent job. I'm pretty sure they cheated and used their powers, but it looks fabulous."

"I don't care what they did as long as it got done," Raye declared.

Lita got up slowly, stretching out her cramped muscles and grabbing her bucket. "I need more hot water."

Amy waved a hand and the bucket filled with water. "Raye, if you would be so kind. If the kids can do it and get away with it, we can too."

The fire priestess grinned and focused her attention on the water. In matter of moments steam began rising from it.

"I know it's a blatant misuse of our powers," the blue haired woman apologized. "But we'll be here all day and night if we don't do something to speed up the process. Where is everyone else?"

Lita snorted. "Our illustrious generals scattered at the first mention of cleaning. Darien's working and Serena got roped into something by her mother."

"Her aunt and uncle from out of town are visiting the Tsukinos," Mina volunteered. "Mama Ilene threatened to sic Papa Ken on Darien by telling him that Serena was knocked up before the wedding if she didn't come over and make an appearance. Andrew had to run over to his parent's place because of some drama with his sister and Jess is sick with that flu that's been going around this season."

Amy nodded. "Okay, that takes care of the over eighteen crowd. But what about the teen brigade? Where are they all hiding?"

Raye rolled her eyes. "Supposedly they have two big tests on Monday in Trig and Chemistry, so they said that they have to study. Sounds like an excuse if I ever heard one. But I couldn't exactly argue with them about it. School is important, and after seeing the way they fight I can't call them lazy."

There had been two attacks in the week since the kids had arrived, and both times the elder heroes had pushed over to the sidelines to watch in shock and pride as the younger ones had dispatched the guardians and sentinels quickly and with little fuss.

"Hey mom, I mean Raye," Jayden called out from the doorway, Hannah standing right beside him. "Hannah and I are all done out here and we were wondering if there was something else we can do so we can hurry up and get this over with instead of spending our entire Saturday here. We want to go hang out at the Crown."

A speculative gleam lit Raye's violet eyes. "Do you think you two can handle cleaning the main room of the shrine?" Both heads nodded. "I don't care how you do it as long as it's clean. Just be careful not to break anything and don't let anybody see you doing anything out of the ordinary."

"Yes ma'am!" they both stated with a salute before they hurried away.

Mina watched them go with a small smile on her lips. They were hardly more than children right now, just barely breaking into the big, wide world. But she was the goddess of love, and she could see things that other people couldn't.

"So the plot thickens," she whispered to herself.

"Did you say something?" Lita asked her curiously.

She shook her head. "Nope! Nothing at all! Now let's get cracking. This place isn't going to clean itself you know!"

---

The Time Gate

"So would you like to explain to me exactly what it is that you're doing?" Discord asked in a dangerously soft voice that had every creature around him trembling in fear, all except one that is.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Is that what you called me back here for? I was busy."

He pierced her with his glowing red eyes. "Busy doing what, getting my army killed. I told you to go in and destroy those three brats, something that you should have been able to accomplish in a few short minutes. But instead I find myself standing here a week later with my forces severely decimated and those little bastards are still alive."

"I never claimed to be a miracle worker," she sneered. "I can handle any one of them in a one on one situation, but I'm not stupid enough to take on all three of them at once."

"So split them up!" Discord exploded. "That should be simple enough to do."

"Ha!" Katie barked. "Have you not paid attention to the way they move? They are never alone and their backs are always covered. There's also the little problem of having both the senior and junior guard of Crystal Tokyo there. I can't fight them all by myself and they have four crystals between them that were powerful enough to seal you away for a thousand years. What chance would I have against them? I've been accused of being crazy over the years, but that's too far out there even for me."

She broke off with a gasp and gripped her chest as a powerful burning sensation ripped through her. The tattoo on her shoulder flared as it someone had stuck a hot brand to it. Her knees trembled, but she refused to give in to the urge to fall to the ground. She wouldn't give this bastard the satisfaction of bringing her down.

He chuckled darkly and stepped in front of her to grip her chin and force her eyes up to meet his, much like he had done that night so long ago when she had been nothing more than a scared, wounded teenager in a ruined party dress.

"Don't forget, my pet," he hissed between his teeth. "I hold your life in my hands and I can choose to terminate it at any time. I doesn't matter that it was my future self that placed the bond on you. I'm still the one that's in control. Is that understood?"

She fought back the urge to spit in his face. "Yes!" she gritted out.

He released her and she couldn't stop the sigh of relief that escaped her as the pain vanished. She wanted so badly to rip this monster apart with her bare hands, but she knew it would a futile effort. She just had to hang in there a while longer and try to buy some more time.

Discord wandered over to the time stream. As he pulled his fingers through it scenes from many different times and places began to swirl together. "Are you familiar with the term Chaos Demons."

Katie blinked, taken off guard by the question. "Y…yes. Sailor Mercury explained it to me in history years ago. Chaos was an entity that was similar to yourself, only not nearly as powerful. It was responsible for spawning several other smaller entities such as Metallia, the Doom Phantom, and Pharaoh 90; all of whom were defeated by Sailor Moon and the Silver Crystal. After all of these lesser creatures were defeated, Chaos himself came to this solar system to attempt to destroy it. He had possessed the body of one of the most powerful sailor scouts ever born, Sailor Galaxia, and he used her in his attempt to conquer this galaxy. He was almost successful, but in the end Sailor Moon banished him."

"Very good. You know your history," Discord said in amusement. "But did anyone ever tell you where Chaos originated from?"

Katie shook her head. "That part is unknown. Some think that he was created at the beginning of time; others say that Chaos was born from the Galaxy Cauldron, but nobody knows for sure."

Discord turned to face her with a sinister grin. "That's not entirely true. I am very much aware of how Chaos came to be. You see, I was spawned by the Galaxy Cauldron at the dawn of the universe. I was created in an attempt to balance out the pure positive energy that was flowing throughout space as the planets and star seeds were born, kind of like yin and yang. I traveled around aimlessly for thousands of years as the universe began to grow. When I would happen along a small civilization I would take great pleasure in annihilating it. But the universe is a vast place and eventually evolution sped up until the galaxies were filled with planets and moons that were teeming with life and positive power. Not satisfied with the progress I was making alone, I manifested my powers to make a copy, or clone, of myself. Thus Chaos was born."

Katie's eyes widened in horror, "You are the one that created Chaos?"

He looked pleased with himself. "Yes, but unfortunately it didn't turn out exactly the way I had planned. Chaos inherited my passion for death and destruction, but sadly something during the copying phase kept all of my powers from being passed on. But Chaos was still plenty strong enough to wreck havoc, so I turned him loose. Eventually Chaos spawned Pharaoh 90, who then created the Doom Phantom, who in turn gave birth to Metallia. Each time the powers were weakened, but they all still held enough power to turn planets into rubble.

But there was one little corner of the universe that called to us more than any other place, the Milky Way galaxy. It had managed to somehow escape my knowledge for a few millennia, and when I found it I thought it was paradise with its nine well-populated and powerful planets along with the sun and the moon. I was determined to destroy it all."

Katie couldn't help but smirk. "But that didn't work out so well, did it? My great grandparents managed to seal you away."

He actually looked a little nostalgic at her words. "Ah yes! The fair Serenity and her golden knight, Jonathan, and that dark prince, Edward, threw a tiny wrench into my plans. I knew that the gods had been perturbed with my actions for quite some time, but they are sworn to not get involved with mortal affairs and god powers are the only thing strong enough to destroy me. The only human who might have ever had a shot at taking me down would be your mother and her Celestial Crystal. But unfortunately for her with its power being half from Earth the planet would explode if she were to ever be able to channel enough fury through it, and she's proved herself to be too much of a bleeding heart to allow that to happen. She came close though the time I killed your father. There for a minute I thought she might actually do it."

He ignored the growl that came from the blonde woman and continued. "I never thought that Apollo, Gaia, and Selene would find a loophole in the law that would allow them to aid the mortals in their battle against me, but they did. They created that damnable Trinity and it was almost the end of me. I guess I got lucky that those fools didn't fully comprehend how to wield the powers of the gods."

"Is there a point to this story? I've heard it all before," Katie snapped in annoyance. "You were sealed away. And then several years later your…descendant I guess you could call her, Metallia, picked up where you left off. She managed to devastate the Earth and destroy the Moon Kingdom before she was sealed away by Queen Serenity with the power of the Silver Crystal. The other planets suffered from this loss and soon their civilizations vanished, with Earth being the only exception. A thousand years later Metallia was destroyed by the reincarnated Princess Serenity. Your other offspring have tried as well to take over the Earth, and they all were destroyed, Blah, blah, blah…I could go on all day. So why the impromptu history lesson?"

A sinister grin unfurled on Discord's lips. "I believe I've found a solution to our little problem of having too many do gooders in our way."

A shiver raced down Katie's spine. This did not sound good. "What are you planning?"

He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "You'll find out soon enough. For now I want you to continue with what you were doing. The three brats are your only concern. Leave the rest of them to me."

---

Crystal Tokyo

King Endymion stepped out of the doors of the palace and looked around. The setting sun was washing over the landscape and bathing it in a sea of contrasting shadows and warm light. A few people were milling around, mostly the groundskeepers that were packing up after a day of work. But there was no sign of the person he was seeking. He felt that she was nearby, but he didn't see her anywhere.

He smirked to himself. He may not be able to see her physically, but he was always able to find her wherever she was thanks to the deep soul connection he shared with her. He allowed the magnetic pull to lead him into the massive gardens of the palace. After twisting and turning through the maze of paths for several minutes, he finally reached his goal.

A small gazebo was nestled into the back corner of the garden. It was quiet and peaceful there. Red roses that he had planted himself grew in abundance around it with a few white ones scattered into the mix, compliments of his son. And there, sitting against one of the cushioned benches with her eyes closed, was the one he had been searching for.

Neo Queen Serenity didn't look any older than her early twenties, despite the fact that she had been ruling over Crystal Tokyo for almost two decades and was the mother of two nearly grown children. Her skin was still just as smooth and flawless as it had ever been and her hair still shown just as bright gold as it ever had.

Her eyes remained closed, but her lips turned up in a small smile as he approached her. "So you finally tracked me down, huh?"

Endymion chuckled as he took a seat next to her. "It's wasn't exactly hard to do. How was your meeting?"

Her nose scrunched up as her clear blue eyes opened. "Long and boring, as usual. I'm just thankful it's over. I'm hoping for a nice quiet evening. Maybe we can curl up with a movie and have a junk food binge-fest."

He tapped the tip of her nose with his finger. "That sounds good to me, but we have to get through this dinner with the visiting delegates first."

She pouted prettily. "Aww, do we have to, Darien? Can't we get somebody to cover for us?"

"I'm afraid not, my love," he said as he laid a quick kiss on her pouting lips. "But I promise you that we'll veg out when it's over. Now buck up and put your queen face on. I know that it will be boring, but Lita's doing the cooking so the food will be good."

"I guess that's something to look forward to," Serenity grumbled as she stood and smoothed out the skirt of her long, white, formal dress.

"Look at it this way," Endymion said cheerfully, trying to lift his wife's spirits. "It won't be much longer until you can start passing some of these responsibilities on to Rini. She's close to graduating and she'll be eighteen soon. Then it will be time for her to start taking on the duties of being crown princess."

"That's true," she sighed as she thought about her almost adult daughter. It was hard to believe that so much time had passed. It seemed like yesterday that she had held Rini in her arms for the first time. Now she was a grown woman and practically engaged. She and Helios were just waiting for her birthday to make it official.

Thoughts of Rini naturally led her to thoughts of DJ, her tall, strong, intelligent son. She felt proud of who both of her children had grown to be. But she was still their mother, and she worried about them.

She looked up at a cloud that was drifting lazily across the darkening sky and whispered, "I wonder how my babies are doing."

Endymion put a gentle arm around her. "I'm sure they're fine. We taught them well. And in a way, we are still with them."

Serenity sighed. "That's true. Well come on! Let's go wrap up our royal duties so we can enjoy the rest of our night and be normal."

He laughed and offered his arm to her. "As you wish, my lady."

They backtracked through the gardens and had almost reached the palace when they heard a voice desperately calling, "Serena! Serena, where are you?"

"Mina?" Serenity answered as she caught sight of her distraught friend. "What's the matter?"

Mina shook her head. "Just follow me. You're not going to believe this!"

The king and queen looked questioningly at one another before shrugging and following the scout of love. She led them down the winding halls of the palace until they reached one of the meeting rooms on the ground floor. They went inside to find all of the inner scouts and the generals congregated there, standing in a group in the middle of the room.

"What's going on?" Endymion demanded.

No one spoke, but they parted so that the monarchs could see the other two occupants of the room who had been hidden until now.

"It's Jack and Sasha!" Serenity exclaimed.

Endymion growled next to her. "What the hell are they doing here? Is this another one of Discord's tricks, sending in his little lackeys to try and attack us?"

"Darien, stop!" Serenity snapped. "Raye, do you sense any evil intent from either one of them?"

The priestess shook her head. "No. But that doesn't mean anything. Discord is one sneaky bastard. He could be blocking my senses somehow."

"I seriously doubt he would be able to block you," Serenity said as she stepped toward the teens.

Endymion grabbed her arm. "No way, Sere! You're not going near those two little traitors."

She turned to look at him with calm, serious eyes. "Let me go, Darien. I really don't think they've come here to hurt us. Look at them. They are scared out of their minds."

'They should be!" Endymion snorted. "They have some nerve showing up here after all that they've done."

The door behind them slammed open, and everyone took a step back at the sight of the furious woman standing there.

"So I heard correctly. They are here," Jess hissed in deadly voice.

Serenity jerked her arm out of Endymion's grasp and stepped between her friend and the two that she was glaring at. "Jess, calm down. Let's hear what they have to say before we jump to conclusions."

Hatred and anger burned in Jess's sapphire eyes. "Get out of my way, Serena! Those little bastards helped Discord with his evil plans. Because of them my daughter was kidnapped and tortured. Right now both of my children are in a fight for their very lives and you want me to brush it off like it's nothing? I don't think so! I would have thought that you would feel the same way since Rini and DJ are both involved in this as well. Now step aside!"

With every word she had spoken the level of power around her had increased. Her eyes began shining with a bright blue light and a matching blue glow surrounded her. All the furniture in the room began shaking and pictures fell from the walls.

"She's gonna blow!" Jadeite squeaked as he and the other generals and scouts flattened themselves against the wall, hoping they were far enough out of the way to not get caught up in the attack if Jess chose to strike.

Serenity stood her ground in front of her. She glowed silver for a moment as she called forth the Silver Crystal. "Jess, don't make me use this."

The enraged Jess barked out a harsh laugh. "I can't believe you're protecting those little parasites! They knew what they were doing would hurt people, but they did it anyway. I want them to pay for what they've done."

There was a flash of bronze light, and then Jess found herself pinned to a wall by a heavy weight. She looked up in surprise to find her husband glaring down at her furiously through snapping hazel eyes.

"Are you ever going to learn how to control that damn temper of yours?" he yelled at her. "What the hell were you thinking? You could have hurt someone!"

Everyone sighed in relief as the power surging around the room faded away.

Jess buried her face in Andrew's chest and began crying. "I'm sorry! I was just so angry at the sight of those two. I want this to be over with. I want my kids back home where they belong."

"And they will be soon," Serenity said softly before turning to face the teens. "Why did you come here?"

Sasha stared up at her through teary green eyes. "Please, your majesty! We didn't know where else to go. We are afraid that Discord has decided that he no longer needs us. And when a person in his service has served their purpose, he kills them. We are afraid for our lives!"

"Serves you right!" Jess growled from the circle of Andrew's arms.

"Jess, please!" Serenity beseeched her. "I believe they are telling the truth. In our past when we were fighting them they suddenly disappeared without a trace. This could be the reason why."

"Yeah, but what do we do now? Do we take them in or let them take their chances with Discord?" Lita mused.

Jack stood up and looked Serenity squarely in the eye. "We both know what we've done is wrong. Discord took us in when we were just kids and made us believe that you were the ones that had wronged him. We thought we were repaying him for giving us a place to live after our mothers abandoned us in the middle of nowhere. I won't blame you if you decide to turn us out, but I'm begging you to at least hear what we have to say. We've been with him for a long time and we know the way he operates."

Sasha nodded. "We thought this mission would be simple, but it has been anything but that. Your past selves along with DJ, Alex, and Katie have thwarted our every attempt at fracturing the Trinity, so now Discord has brought in some psycho chick assassin that he's setting loose on the past."

"Hold up just a minute! What assassin?" Endymion interrupted. "I don't remember Discord having any assassin working for him."

Jack shook his head. "We don't know where she came from. She just showed up and took over. I haven't seen her, but Sasha had a run in with her that shook her up pretty bad."

"She's creepy!" Sasha declared with a shudder. "She looks normal enough until you get to her eyes. They're all weird and swirling with different colors."

"That's strange. I don't remember anyone like that. Do any of you?" Mina asked. Heads shook all around.

"Something must have changed," Serenity muttered. "This is when I wish I had a way to contact Pluto. I bet she knows what's going on. But with Discord stationed at the time gate I have no way to reach her. I'll just have to wait for her to get in touch with me. Luna!"

The black feline appeared seconds later. "Yes, my queen."

"Have the maids prepare a couple of rooms for our guests," Serenity informed her.

Both teens were shocked. "You're going to let us stay here?" Sasha asked in disbelief.

"For now," she replied shortly. "I would like to have the chance to talk to you some more. This doesn't mean that I trust you, but I'm not about to toss you out if Discord is looking to kill you. If you are telling the truth you will be safe here. I will have people keeping an eye on you though. One wrong move and I'll let Jess tear you apart instead of stopping her. Is that clear?"

They both bowed their heads. "Yes, your majesty."

Serenity turned to sweep regally from the room. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an extremely long and boring dinner to go attend."

She stopped when she felt a hand on her arm and turned to find Jess looking at her with wet eyes. "Sere, I just wanted to apologize for losing it earlier. I guess I must have snapped or something."

Serenity smiled brightly at her. "Hey, I understand completely. I'm worried about them too. But we just have to keep having faith."

"I know," Jess sighed. "By the way, you wouldn't have actually used the Silver Crystal against me, would you?"

Serenity's blue eyes twinkled with humor. "I don't know. You wouldn't have actually gone supernova on those kids, would you?"

Jess's mouth fell open. "You knew I was trying to scare them, didn't you?"

Serenity tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Of course I did. I've known you for a long time, and I knew that you would never go that far over a couple of powerless teenagers. If you really wanted to get back at them you would simply kick their asses the old fashioned way. But the dramatic flare was a nice touch."

"I didn't mean for it to go quite that far, but somebody was a little late coming in," Jess rolled her eyes in Andrew's direction.

The blonde man looked offended. "Well if you hadn't run so fast I would have been able to keep up better."

She turned her nose up at him. "It's not my fault you're a slowpoke. And did you have to tackle me into the wall so hard? I bet I end up with a bruise the size of California on my back. Plus you yelled in my face!"

He glared at her. "Excuse me! You were so worked up that it was hard to tell for minute if you were still acting or if you had really blown your stack." Then he grinned at her. "The tears were very convincing."

She wiped away any lingering wetness. "I thought so too. So do you guys think those little snots will actually be able to tell us anything useful?"

"I guess we'll find out later," Serenity said, and then sighed as Endymion tugged on her arm. "I know, I know. Let's go and get this over with."

"Sorry, sweetheart. I'd get us out of it if I could," Endymion told her.

"I know," she replied. "I just hope I don't have to sit next to that woman from France again. She always talks to me like I'm a five year old child or something."

"It's probably because of the meatballs," Endymion said as he patted the buns that were on top of her head. Whenever she had any serious business to take care of she wore her hair in the traditional style of the lunar royal family.

Serenity gasped. "Don't you dare turn into a jerk now, Darien Shields, or I swear I will blow off this dinner by saying I have a headache and leave you holding the bag."

His face paled. "You wouldn't do that to me, would you? Who would rescue me from all of those lecherous women if you weren't there?"

She sniffed daintily. "You should have thought about that before you decided to insult my hair. Really Darien, I thought you had finally outgrown that juvenile habit. I guess I was wrong."

"Wait Serena!" he cried, chasing after her as she marched away. "You're not really going to lay out on me, are you? Serena…" his voice faded down the hall.

---

Tokyo – Present Day

Darien walked into the bedroom, stripping off his jacket and tie before throwing them over a chair in the corner. He began working on the buttons of his shirt, anxious to get into something more comfortable after a long day at the hospital.

A smile touched his lips as he heard a voice humming over the sound of the shower in the next room. He was debating whether or not to join Serena in the shower when he heard the water turn off. He felt a slight pang of disappointment for not getting here a few moments sooner, but he shook it off.

He shrugged off his shirt (drool) and undid his pants before letting them drop to the floor (more drool). He reached for an old, worn out t-shirt and pulled it over his head (damn) and then flopped onto the bed in nothing but that t-shirt and his boxers (fans self…he's so hot for a fictional anime character, isn't he).

He closed his eyes and focused on relaxing for several minutes until he heard the bathroom door open. He opened his eyes and turned his head to smile at his future wife. She looked so adorable with nothing but a towel around her and her long blonde hair streaming damply down her back.

She beamed when she saw him. "I thought I felt you come in. How was your day?"

He rolled over onto his side and propped his head up on a hand. "Fairly busy, but it seems like this flu epidemic is finally dying down, thank goodness. I did have one interesting case in the emergency room though. One of your students came in after a little accident."

Serena's face immediately became worried. She had taken that part time job at the preschool that her professor had told her about. She hadn't been there very long, but in true Serena fashion she had bonded with the children very quickly and become one of the favorites among them.

"Oh no! Who was it?" she asked in concern.

Darien grinned. "An adorable little girl named Samantha. She recognized me from the times that I stopped by to pick you up and immediately informed her parents that I was the man that her favorite teacher was going to marry."

Serena giggled and sat down on the edge of the bed. "That little imp! She is something else isn't she? She kinda reminds me of how I used to be, always getting herself into one scrape or another. So what was it this time? Please don't tell me she jumped off of something again to see if she could fly. I've caught her doing that on the playground more than once."

Darien chuckled. "No, it wasn't anything like that. It was actually a very normal kid injury. She got a new bike for her birthday a couple of weeks ago and was attempting to ride it when she fell off. She was complaining of shoulder pain so her parents brought her in to make sure it wasn't anything serious. Luckily she just jammed it and bruised it up a little bit. She'll be fine."

"Thank goodness!" Serena sighed. "I hate to think of any one of those little sweethearts getting hurt. I'm glad you were there to take care of her."

Darien reached over and pulled on a piece of her hair. "I'm just doing my job. She was a cutie though. So how was your day?"

Serena jerked the strand out of his fingers. "Fine, I guess. I had to go to my parent's and suffer through a few hours of listening to boring recounts of my aunt and uncle's recent trips and hear them brag about how well my cousins are doing. After that I went and helped the girls do some spring cleaning at the shrine for Grandpa Hino. We had Jayden and Hannah with us so we went to the Crown after that to let them have some fun. Then we went over to Lita's restaurant for a late lunch and I came home."

"Sounds like you had a full day," he commented as he sat up. "Perhaps that means you'll be ready to turn in early tonight." He leaned forward and nuzzled the soft skin of her neck.

"You are so bad!" she replied breathlessly before she scrambled away from him. "Hold that thought, mister! I just remembered that I promised Andrew that I'd get you to come over and check on Jess when you came home. So before we get wrapped up in…other activities…we should take care of that first. She really didn't look good when I popped in earlier. She was burning up with fever and had a horrible cough."

Darien's brow furrowed as he went into doctor mode. "A bad cough, huh? That sounds more like she picked up a nasty cold or a possibly a respiratory infection instead of the flu."

"Well let's go check on her," Serena declared as she jumped up from the bed. She ignored the heated looks Darien shot in her direction as she dropped her towel and quickly pulled on her favorite pair of old sweats and a t-shirt that she had stolen from him. She cast a few appreciative glances his way as well as he pulled on a pair of worn, faded jeans.

In just a few minutes they were knocking on the door of the next door apartment. It opened to reveal a pale faced, anxious looking Andrew. His anxiety faded to relief when he saw that Darien was with Serena.

"Thank God!" he exclaimed. "I was hoping you'd get home on time for once. I think she's getting worse and I don't know what else to do for her. She's really starting to scare me. She usually gets snippy when she doesn't feel good and fusses at me about hovering, but she's just lying there sniffling, coughing, and looking pitiful."

"Well let me take a look at her. I'm sure she's just caught a bad cold or something, but let's make sure," Darien said reassuringly as he followed his friend inside with Serena right behind them.

Quiet voices were coming from the living room where six teens were crowded around a large coffee table surrounded by stacks of books and piles of papers.

"Are you guys still studying?" Serena asked in disbelief. "You've been buried in those books and notes all day. It's after eight. Why don't you give it a rest for the night?"

Rini stretched her arms over her head. "She's right, guys. We've been at this for hours. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm starving. We haven't had anything since lunch."

DJ looked slightly irritated. "But we haven't been over that last section on…"

"Give it a rest!" Katie moaned as she flopped back onto the floor. "My brain has officially shut down. I don't think it can absorb one more thing."

"Mine shut down hours ago," Skye muttered as she laid her head on the table.

"Same here," Emma agreed as she slumped against Alex. "If I have to look at one more book I think I'll pass out."

Alex chuckled. "Well if you do you'll just have to stay here because I'm not carrying you home."

"But…but…" DJ stammered as he stared at his Chemistry book with a forlorn expression.

"Please, DJ," Katie begged as she sat up on her knees with her hands clasped in front of her and giving him her best puppy dog eyes. "We're all tired and hungry. Can't we save that last little bit until tomorrow? Pretty please!"

"Fine!" he finally said in a cool voice, but inside he was jumping for joy. The past week between him and Katie had been extremely awkward. They weren't fighting or anything, but there had been a feeling of distance between them. Seeing her playful side coming out made him feel loads better.

"Even super genius's have to take a break sometimes," Darien chuckled. "Why don't you lot head next door to our place. There's some money on the kitchen counter, so order up some pizza and chill out with a movie or something."

All six teens beamed at the suggestion. Rini and Skye were the first ones out the door. Emma grabbed Alex by the hand to hurry after them, but he held back to address Andrew.

"How's mom feeling?" he asked, not paying attention to his slip up of calling Jess "mom".

Katie paused in gathering up her belongings, concern evident in her eyes. "Yeah, how is she? She sounded horrible when I took her some tea earlier."

"Well I won't lie, she's pretty sick," Andrew told them. "But that's why I asked Darien to come check up on her. I'm sure he'll come up with some ideas for making her feel better. Now you guys scat and don't worry about your mother. She'll be fine."

"Come on, Alex!" Emma cried, pulling on his hand. "You know if we let Rini and Skye order the pizza they won't get anything good and I want at least one with mushrooms and black olives on it."

Katie finished stacking her books and then skipped over to Andrew to place a smacking kiss on his cheek. "Bye daddy! See you later. Tell mom I hope she feels better." Then spun around to fling herself at DJ. "I'm so hungry! Feed me before I faint!"

The three adults laughed as they watched DJ pull her onto his back and piggyback her out of the apartment.

"I guess they finally got over whatever argument they were having," Serena giggled in amusement. "I'm glad. DJ's been moping around all week."

Andrew nodded. "Katie has too. It's nice to see them acting normal again."

The sound of muffled coughing caught their attention and Andrew hurried down the hall to the bedroom. In the middle of the king sized bed was a blanket covered lump that shook in time with the coughs.

"Oh Jess!" Serena cried, running over and sitting on the side of the bed. She gently touched the mound of blankets. "You really did catch something bad, didn't you?"

The covers shifted a little until a face could be seen. Fever bright eyes stared out from above a red, swollen nose. Her skin had lost its light tan so that she looked like a ghost.

"Stay away! I don't want you to catch this," she croaked. A shiver racked her and her teeth clacked together like she had been caught in an ice storm.

"You're definitely running a high fever," Darien concluded from the way she was shaking. "Are you hurting anywhere?"

"Ar..are you ki..kidding. I th..think my aches and p..pains have a..aches and p..pains," she chattered.

Darien nodded. "I'm assuming you have all of the other bothersome symptoms; head and chest congestion, cough, sore throat, and headache."

"Yes," she whispered.

"It's not the flu," Darien stated. "You just happened to pick up a nasty little cold bug. How's your stomach?"

She grimaced. "I don't feel like eating, but I'm not nauseous."

He gave her a gentle smile. "Well that's good. Keep the fluids going. We don't want you getting dehydrated. Other than that all I can say is take Tylenol for the fever and some cold medicine for the congestion."

"I just took some," she told him. "Now I just want some sleep. I'm sure I'll be fine."

Andrew chuckled and tucked the covers around her. "You better be. You've got the kids worried. Most kids think that their mother is invincible."

A soft smile touched her lips as her eyelids drooped. "I'm not today. Maybe I'll turn back into Superwoman tomorrow." She opened her eyes to glare at Serena and Darien. "It's Saturday night, I'm sure you have something better to do than to sit around babysitting me."

"Not really," Serena said as she swept the dark blonde bangs back from Jess's forehead. "We sent the kids to our place to order pizza, so we'll probably just end up hanging with them for a while."

"Sounds like fun," Jess whispered wistfully. "Go with them, Drew. I know you haven't eaten yet. And the last thing I need is you hovering over me like a lost puppy."

"But…" he began.

"Go!" she ordered, coughing a little. "I'm going to get some sleep." She rolled over on her side and curled up into a ball. She was out before anyone could speak.

"I guess her highness has spoken," Andrew muttered sarcastically. He turned sheepish when his stomach growled. "Okay, so I guess I am hungry."

"Come on," Serena giggled, grabbing both men by the hand. "We can't let those little studyholic teenagers hog all the food."

---

Discord watched as the power he had been pouring into the shallow stone basin swirled around like a living being. Soon he would see the results of his newest plan. If this worked he would perfect tool for keeping Serenity and the others distracted from those bothersome little Trinity bearers, leaving them open for his apprentice to strike them down.

A sinister grin appeared on his face as there was a flash of light from the basin and a misty figure began to rise from it. "It's been a long time, my old friend. Now tell me, what is it that you desire the most?"

"Revenge!" the mist hissed.

"Then you shall have it," Discord told it. "Now go and forth and wreck your havoc on those which you harbor such hatred."

He smirked as the mist disappeared. Things were about to get very interesting. He turned back to the basin. "Let's see how much more damage I can do," he cackled with glee.

---

Serena woke up as a beeping noise penetrated her dream. She sat up and looked around the living room at sleeping teenagers that were sprawled across the floor.

After indulging in pizza everyone had settled in to watch a movie. Judging from the way the main menu of the DVD kept repeating itself; it was safe to say that everyone had given into exhaustion before the movie was finished. Even Andrew was still there, passed out on one sofa while she and Darien occupied the other.

The beeping noise continued to blare and it had her scrambling out of Darien's arms and running for her purse where she pulled her communicator from it. As she hit a button Amy's face filled the screen.

"Serena," she answered, seemingly wide awake considering it was the middle of the night. "There's something going on at the park. My computer's not picking up on any sentinel or guardian activity, but something is definitely happening."

"I'm on it, Amy," Serena said confidently.

"Should I call the others?" the blue haired woman asked.

Serena thought about it for a moment. "How strong is it?"

Clicking sounds came over the communicator as Amy tapped away on her computer. "I'm not getting a strong reading, but there's quite a few of them, eight, maybe ten."

Serena did some quick thinking. She, Darien, and the kids made eight. If Andrew came along they would be nine. "Don't bother anyone else yet. I think we have it covered. There's no since in waking everyone up if it's nothing that's a huge threat."

Amy nodded. "All right. I'll keep my communicator on just in case. If you run into trouble call me and I'll rally the troops."

"Got it!" Serena replied before ending the call. She turned to wake everyone up, but was surprised to find them all awake and alert. "I take it you all heard."

Darien nodded. "Yeah. Let's go check it out. Drew, are you coming with us?"

Andrew paused for a moment to feel Jess through their bond and found her still sleeping soundly. "Yeah, I'm coming."

"Then let's go!" Serena exclaimed as she pulled out her transformation broach. "Moon Eternal Power!"

Bright lights and energy rushed through the room as everybody transformed. A few seconds later they were all leaping from the balcony and speeding toward the park.

Despite the late hour the park was full of people. There had been a music festival that night and it had carried on well into the early morning hours. But what struck the heroes as being odd when they landed in the park was the number of people lying motionlessly on the ground.

Tuxedo Mask bent down to check on one of the victims and was startled at what he found. "They've had their energy sucked out of them!"

Sailor Moon gasped. "What? How can that be? Discord has no use for human energy."

Tuxedo Mask looked grim. "I don't know what's going on, but this definitely looks like a youma attack."

"But we destroyed all of the youma," she argued. "There weren't any left after we sealed Discord away. And besides, his never went after energy."

"I know that!" he snapped back.

"Now, now, you two little lovebirds aren't fighting, are you?" a sickly sweet voice asked from above them. Dark energy swirled around, and when it faded a woman floated in midair. It was one woman that they had thought that they would never see again.

"Endymion, Serenity, how nice to see the two of you again," she drawled. "Isn't this a cozy little reunion? But I don't recognize any of your comrades. What happened, Serenity? Did you decide to trade in your precious scouts for newer models?"

Sailor Moon clenched her teeth and snarled. "And just where the hell did you come from? I defeated you years ago."

A furious hiss escaped the woman. "Yes you did, you impertinent brat! But my dear friend Discord has seen fit to resurrect me. Now I have the opportunity to take my revenge on you like I wanted to all those years ago. And this time I will be the victor!"

Phantom slid over to Tuxedo Mask's side. "I may be missing the obvious here, but who is that?"

Tuxedo Mask balled his fists up at his side, his eyes flashing with anger behind his mask as he glared up at the woman that had caused them so much grief in the past. He sucked in a deep breath before forcing out the name that left a bad taste in his mouth, "Beryl!"

A/N Ooo…Beryl's back! The stuff is really going to hit the fan now! Just wait until everybody else hears about this. Coming up next time : Old friends make a reappearance, Jess comes face to face with the woman that killed her a millennium before, the trio discovers the identity of the woman that has been attacking them, and our mystery man from the future will be revealed. I am so psyched to have this story back on track! I will try to update a quickly as possible, but work and home have me super busy right now. But please don't let that stop you from telling me what you think. I'm begging you, review me please! Later gators!

~Sere~