AN: You are all probably about to hate me. Or maybe love me. I feel like there could be two extremes with the reveal in this chapter.
And for the record, as this chapter was very Michiru centric, all of it was written to Violin music.
Disclaimer: Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha… just read the previous 13.
Last Time on Age of Aquarius: The Sunspots attacks on the Earth were becoming more frequent as a major assault loomed over the heads of the Senshi. At least Mina is finally out from under her mother's thumb! And the Senshi are working on a plan to keep the Sunspots out of Juuban. But there's still something happening to Michiru: Something that has been wearing down her endurance, affecting her scrying, and affecting her transformations ever since their visits to their homeworlds. It's a problem which has eluded even Pluto's knowledge of the evil and supernatural. How can that be? ... Unless what's happening isn't supernatural at all – but something for all intents an purposes normal…
Symptoms Indicative of a Postive Result
VENUS GOES ROGUE
Tuesday, April 22rd
Following the return of Sailor Venus and Mars from their mysterious vacation (which the senshi have stated was actually a recovery period for Mars after a difficult battle) it seems that tensions are running high between Venus and her family. Neighbors report hearing Venus arguing with Aino Hikari (her mother) shortly before the girl sped off at twice the speed limit permitted in a residential area. When she was pulled over (and found to be driving without proper identification) Venus then proceeded to resist arrest, abandoning her car on the side of the motorway and flying out to sea.
The officer reports she was untransformed at the time. It is still unclear how she maintained her wings in her human form. Venus has not been seen since, though an as-yet-unidentified helicopter was seen heading off in the direction she disappeared in.
The Senshi have declined to comment. But when interviewed, the Ainos had this to say:
"The Venus who returned made it clear that she had no interest in pretending to be my Minako anymore," a tearful Aino Hikari informed us. "My family is devastated."
VENUS RETURN RAISES QUESTIONS
Wednesday, April 23rd
A picture off a security camera has clearly shown Venus, in her untransformed state as Aino Minako, with wings that eye witnesses confirm do, in fact, seem to be attached to her body. This is markedly different from everything we know about Sailor Moon's wings (the only other senshi known to have them).
Venus was also reported to have sped away from her house in a rage yesterday, and subsequently disappeared following an altercation with the Tokyo Police.
Everyone is wondering what's happened to make the darling of the senshi have such a change in attitude.
It should be noted that, while little is known about the senshi's past or current enemies, the Ainos have publically ascribed to the theory that they target the senshi specifically, while the senshi market themselves as being the guardians of Earth (which would apparently be in danger from these forces with or without them).
There is evidence to support both sides. We wonder whether this difference in opinion is the cause of Venus irate departure from the Ainos' home, or if something larger is going on.
For their part, the Ainos are distraught. "I just want Minako back," Aino Hikari told us.
We reached out to Venus via her twitter handle actualSailorV we have yet to receive a response.
"So," Sailor Jupiter said to Venus as the four inner senshi stood in the storeroom of Juuban's second largest supermarket, guarding Sailor Moon as she held the glowing Silver Crystal out in front of her. "You've been living with them for two days; spill."
Venus smirked, keeping one eye on the storeroom door and the other on Sailor Moon as she began the work of growing another crystal point out of the concrete floor. "Well," she said, "It's… not as awkward as I thought it would be. Like it was still really strange the first morning when I woke up and wasn't sure if I could make coffee or which plates to use – I don't think they own anything that isn't fine china."
It wasn't just the china either. Her room was bigger than she and Kara's at the Ainos' put together. She had her own bathroom with its own bathtub. She had a door out onto one of the Penthouse three balconies. And while she'd only peaked in, there'd definitely been a chandelier in the music room.
"I think," Mercury said as she scanned their surroundings with her visor. Is her palm-top still broken? Venus thought. "That Jupiter meant 'what do they do when they're at home being themselves.'"
"Exactly," Jupiter said, hitting her hammer against her palm. "Like: do they watch TV? Do they read? Do they argue? Are they messy?"
"Have you walked in on them yet?" Mars teased.
"No!" Venus said, blushing to the roots of her hair.
"Really?" Jupiter raised her eyebrows. "I did not imagine those three being subtle."
"Guys!" Venus groaned. "No, I have not walked in on them." Though she had gotten bombarded by way more of Setsuna and Haruka's emotions than she'd ever wanted to.
There was a flash from the center of their circle and they all directed their attention fully to Sailor Moon. The point of the new Crystal Pillar was now shining through the concrete floor.
Sailor Moon's brow was furrowed, Venus noted. But she wasn't sweating or pale and her arms weren't shaking. I'll leave her to it a while longer then.
"They're really laid back," Venus told the other inner senshi. "Haruka reads, which I'd never have guessed."
"What sorts of books?" Mercury wondered.
"I mean I didn't look – I didn't really wanna bother her. And so far I think Michiru's the messiest."
"Really?" Mars and Jupiter exclaimed.
"Well relatively speaking," Venus chuckled. "Not like Usagi… or me. I've only been there for three days – I think I'm still processing everything."
She hadn't even left the apartment the first day. She'd tried to. She'd been neglecting Makoto and the bakery big time.
But Haruka'd intercepted her well before she got to the door
"You can give yourself one day off," she'd said. "One day. Then tomorrow, see if you want to brave the cameras."
It had been insanely hard: trying to do nothing. She'd reorganized all the furniture in her room, then put it back when she wasn't sure if she was allowed to move it. She'd paced across the balcony outside her room and the one outside the living room. She'd opened and closed every cabinet in the kitchen. After a few hours, Setsuna'd taken pity on her and let her help guard the Time Dimension (during which she'd been afraid of annoying Pluto with her questions and yet never felt even a hint of irritation from her. Mild amusement, sure. But nothing else. It had even felt like Pluto enjoyed the company).
"You're in Setsuna's old room, right?" Mercury asked.
"Yes – that is weird. All the walls look like the Time Dimension. It's kinda creepy as hell," Mina sighed. "If only I could give it a make-over."
"Who said you couldn't?" Jupiter shrugged.
"You should just ask," Mars added. "Haruka'd probably say yes – I mean she did go out and get all your stuff for you."
And I've a sneaking suspicion you did too, Venus thought. Rei'd come over the Penthouse at the end of her first whole day there. And she'd stayed the night. When she'd woken up, all her clothes had been in six bags outside her door along with six more bags worth of her stuff. Furthermore, Rei and Haruka'd already been awake, drinking coffee together (which Rei never did) and Artemis had somehow shown up in the night, because he was lounging across Rei's shoulders. All three of them had felt smug and mischievous.
"How'd you get all of that past my mother?" Mina'd exclaimed to Haruka.
"Eh." Haruka'd shrugged. "She's not the most observant person."
And they'd all refused to comment further.
"Maybe she'd let me paint it," Venus shrugged. "It doesn't exactly feel like a good time to bring it up though. I mean with the new enemy. And Hotaru's situation."
"How are they coping with her living with her Dad?" Jupiter asked. "Souichi's alright, right? Do they get along?"
"It must be awful for Hotaru if they don't," Mercury worried.
If only they knew he had her communicator, Venus thought. Pluto'd brought it up to her the very first day.
"I'm aware that he has it," Pluto had said. "It was an unfortunate choice on his part. I want you to refrain from telling Hotaru."
"Why?"
"Because Souichi Tomoe is not out of chances yet," Pluto'd told her. "And it will be better for he and Hotaru in the future if they can rebuild their relationship now. This enemy has… complicated that." She'd shaken her head, and Venus had held back her protests due to the sheer amount of pity and compassion that'd flooded out of Pluto. "Keeping her out of battle can hardly hurt her. And we have other ways of reaching her if we're desperate," Pluto'd continued. "So I'd like you to refrain from telling anyone that Souichi has stolen the communicator. There's still a high likelihood that he will give it back to Hotaru of his own accord… but if she discovers it before that point," Pluto'd said, staring out into the depths of the Time Dimension. "There'd be no chance for him to have a place in her life again. Not even I'd be able to convince her to change her mind."
Venus sighed. "They get along… it's a work in progress." She shrugged. "I dunno. The house has been pretty quiet since I moved in. Setsuna's always busy. And Haruka and Michiru are usually out… Not to mention Michiru's been sick. So even when they're all home, it's not like they do much."
"How long's she been sick?" Mercury frowned. "I thought she said she only had the flu."
"Dunno, and she says it's the flu, but I'm calling bullshit," Venus whispered, freezing when she heard a sound from outside. Whoever it was passed the building without opening the back door. Venus sighed and carried on, saying: "no normal flu would make Setsuna as frustrated and unsettled as she's feeling about it." Venus shook her head. "It's literally the only thing they've argued about since I got there."
"Do you think it's related to the enemy?" Mercury asked.
"Probably," Venus said.
Sailor Moon, Venus noted, had just clenched her jaw from the effort of growing the Crystal Point. Her eyes were closed now, and sweat was starting to roll down her face.
"Alright," Venus said. She nodded to Mars, who walked up to Sailor Moon and put her hands on her shoulders. "Let's take a break for tonight."
~AgeofAquarius~
Haruka'd never understood how anyone could hate mornings. Waking up with the sun was a good start to any day in her book. Sure, it meant she didn't get nearly as much sleep as one was supposed to, but that was the whole point of coffee.
Dawn had the best view from the balcony, or the helicopter, after all. And early morning was the quietest time to run. Not to mention, it was the best excuse to cuddle with her girlfriends before they woke up.
So she knew something was up when she turned over, looking for Michiru and Setsuna, but found only empty sheets.
Then she hears the retching.
"Again?" she murmured, immediately up from bed.
The past week, Michiru's been on and off sick. The flu, she kept insisting, though if that was the case, it was the strangest flu Haruka'd ever encountered. It seemed to come and go as it pleased, much to Michiru's frustration.
Haruka knocked lightly on the door of the master bath.
"Come in," Setsuna called at the same time as a miserable voice groaned: "go away."
She'd already pushed through the door though. "Michi..."
"I'm gross; go back to bed," Michiru said. Her head was pillowed on her arms as she leaned over the toilet.
"Setsuna's here."
"She's not happy about that either," Setsuna murmured as she filled a cup from the tap and then knelt next to Michiru to offer it to her
"I keep telling you; you might catch it," Michiru protested, though she grabbed the water and sipped carefully, spitting into the toilet bowl. "I hate this."
"We know," Haruka sighed and knelt down on her other side. Michiru relaxed as Haruka began to rub her back. Haruka looked at Setsuna, "Are we sure this is the flu?"
"I swear if you two keep asking that, you're both sleeping on the couch," Michiru snapped. Hesitantly, she pulled herself away from the toilet, sighing when nothing felt amiss, and promptly leaned back into Haruka's arms.
"Well if I had a better theory about what was related to your future, I would drop it," Setsuna said, putting her hand on Michiru's forehead. She cursed. "Still no fever."
"Isn't that good?" Haruka asked.
"No, because if she had the flu, she should have gotten a fever by now." Setsuna combed Michiru's hair. "Are you alright to move back to bed?"
"Maybe. I do have a couple hours." Michiru sighed. "Why does there have to be rehearsal today?"
"Surely you could call in sick?" Setsuna worried, but Haruka was shaking her head.
"No," Michiru said, scowling "No one skips rehearsal unless they're in the hospital. Everyone else can practice with this flu – so can I."
"Hence why she has it in the first place," Haruka muttered.
"You can still rest a few hours," Setsuna said. "Go lie down, I'll bring you toast."
"No." Michiru groaned, just the thought makes her nauseous.
"At least crackers, then,"
"No."
"Love," Setsuna said firmly. "You barely had anything yesterday either: you need food."
Michiru closed her eyes and thought. "If they were chocolate and ginger cookies that might be okay…"
Setsuna and Haruka traded glances over her head. Setsuna frowned and raised one of her eyebrows. Haruka shrugged.
"Whatever you want," Haruka assured Michiru.
"I'll pop out and get some," Setsuna said.
~AgeofAquarius~
To: Mizuno Ami
From: IT .jp
Subject: Service Alert
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff
We have detected a dangerous malware program which has breached the university servers. We are working hard to clean our systems.
Please report any and all service interruptions you encounter while using the University's website or computers in order to help our IT department.
We would like to remind all university associates at this time to please be careful of any suspicious emails found in your inbox, especially while using the university network.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Thank you,
The IT Department,
University of Tokyo
There hadn't been a sunspot attack in three days. And while Ami was less than relaxed about that, it did give her time for a task she'd unfortunately had to bump from her to-do list numerous times over the past few weeks.
Ami bit her lip as she tinkered with the fried inside of the Mercury palm top. She'd never had to think about repairing the parts inside. And while the wiring would be easy enough to fix, some of the memory and processors inside the computer were still giving her trouble.
Logically speaking it's very much like Lunar Command's design, Ami thought as she fitted her own processor into the space where she'd just removed a fried one. Just a few decades more advanced and about a thousand times smaller…
Just then her phone rang, and she ignored it at first, carefully fitting the piece into place.
She hit the power button on the palm top and sighed: still nothing.
Her phone rang again and she reached for it, smiling when she saw the screen.
"Hi Daichi," she said.
"Ami!" he exclaimed. "Thank god you answered – look I'm really sorry."
"About what?"
"When you left the café during the fight last weekend – remember I gave you back your purse?"
"Yes,"
"Well see, I accidentally mixed up your USB with mine. They look the same – I didn't even notice until I plugged it in and realized it had twice as much memory as mine – how did you ever get it to hold 100?"
He plugged it in… oh no! Ami realized. That had everything on the hard-drive…including that malware on it.
"Daichi listen – there was a very serious malware on that USB. I was working on a program to neutralize it – oh I'm so sorry! You're computer might be ruined by this?"
"Malware?" Daichi said. "I didn't notice. Lemme look… yeah my computer's fine."
"What?"
"Well I have this program I designed for my own computer to combat viruses – that probably stopped it."
"How!" Ami exclaimed.
"Hey, I'm a genius too, yah know. Gotta be to keep up with you."
"I…just… you neutralized it?" Ami stammered.
"Yeah, why, you need it?
"Can you upload the program to the USB before you bring it over?" Ami asked.
"I'm free tomorrow morning, I sure can. Is this helping with your saving the world gig?"
She grinned. Finally she'd be able to get some answers from the Mercury hard-drive. "It just might!"
~AgeofAquarius~
"Ginger and chocolate cookies," Setsuna complained as she scanned the aisles. "Ginger cookies – fine. Chocolate cookies – fine. Ginger and chocolate…" The super market hadn't stocked them. The three specialty shops she'd checked hadn't stocked them. The time doors were not equipped to answer her query about such an item's location. Finally she'd caved and checked the internet. And was now in her fifth store and an entirely different country.
Thus she found herself wandering the third aisle of cookie-based products muttering under her breath and swearing every time she saw ginger, but not chocolate; chocolate, but not ginger…
"At this rate I'd do better the try making them myself," she said aloud. "Why of all things to want when you're sick do you pick chocolate and,"
"Excuse me," someone said behind her. She turned and saw a young man holding out a package with a smile on his face. "I think you were looking for these."
"Yes!" She grinned and thanked him profusely.
"No problem, you missed them; they were on the bottom shelf."
"Of course they were," Setsuna muttered, shaking her head. "Thank you,"
"Oh, no problem. I've been there," he grinned. "My girlfriend sent me out for the strangest things when she was pregnant. Had to drive into the city a fair few times."
"Uh," Setsuna stammered.
"Don't worry," he said. "You'll both laugh about it later." And he waved at someone behind her. "Anyways, good luck," and with one more wave he moved on while she stared after him, remembering to wave her hand only after he had passed.
Setsuna looked at the cookies in her hand.
That is… ridiculous, she shook her head as she carried on down the aisle. "Impossible," she muttered. She exited the aisle and turned in the direction of the registers. "That would not be the reason for her whole future to…"
But do I know that? she thought. Do I know that for sure?
She had spent eons gazing through time at the whole of existence, and had even devoted a fair bit of time to the progression of humanity. She had spent the blink of an eye, in comparison, tracking the futures of specific individuals.
It is so ordinary! How could it possibly affect a future that drastically…
When Chibiusa'd been young, her whole future had been a hazy mess of fog and sand. And it was clearing gradually as she aged, especially since her journey to the past. She'd seen the same thing with Hotaru, and determined in time that perhaps that was the nature of children, who were young enough that innumerable fates and futures still lay at their feet.
I suppose for a child that hasn't even been born… the possibilities would be nearly infinite… It's not unfathomable that it could affect their mother's future in the same way for that timeframe at least…
"It's still insane," Setsuna muttered. "Completely, ridiculously…"
She caught sight of something as she neared the registers: a whole shelf of tests in various blue, pink, and white packages. And she stopped in front of them, staring for a long while at the plus signs and smiles shown on the examples.
Could it really be so… mundane?
~AgeofAquarius~
Haruka and Michiru looked away from the news as soon as the telltale lavender light appeared in the coatroom. Setsuna walked in as it faded and Michiru lifted her head from Haruka's shoulder and sat up when she noticed the shopping bag in Setsuna's hand.
"You found them!" Michiru said, eyes lighting up as Setsuna pulled the package of cookies out of the bag.
"Of course," she said, bending down and kissing Michiru. "They were easy to find."
"Is that why you were gone an hour?" Haruka asked, gesturing to the empty space beside her.
But after greeting her with a kiss, Setsuna opted not to take the offered seat. Haruka frowned when she sat down on the coffee table in front of them instead, putting the shopping bag slightly behind her. Was there something else in it?
Setsuna sighed, leaning forwards and clasping her hands together as she looked between the two of them, gaze lingering on Michiru, who'd made quick work of the cookies' packaging.
"I have a theory about what's happening to you," she told Michiru.
Both Haruka and Michiru sat up straighter. Haruka whipped out her phone and the TV behind Setsuna was silent in an instant.
"What is it," Michiru asked as she and Haruka leaned in towards Setsuna.
Setsuna shook her head, looking down at her hands. "I don't want to tell you until I'm sure. It's highly implausible." Setsuna looked up at them. "I need Michiru to prove my theory."
"You're being cryptic on purpose," Michiru accused, eating another of her cookies.
"And if I'm wrong you'll only thank me for being so," Setsuna countered. She looked down at her hands again, took a deep breath, and then looked back up at Michiru, moving her arms so that her elbows were propped up on her knees and her head rested on her hands, laced together under her chin. "Let's assume, for a moment," she said to Michiru, "that you don't have the flu."
"Not this again," Michiru rolled her eyes.
"Michi," Setsuna said as she stared at her. "Humor me."
Michiru shook her head. "Fine," she said, taking a bite from a third cookie.
Setsuna smiled. "Okay. How long have you felt sick?"
"About a week."
"Alright… Are there any times it's worse than others?"
Michiru looked up as she considered. "Mornings, obviously – when ever things smell bad, it doesn't exactly help."
Setsuna raised her eyebrows. That might be something… "And does anything smell bad… that you'd say doesn't usually?"
"This is to prove your theory?" Haruka asked.
"Laundry detergent," Michiru responded at the same time.
Haruka's eyebrows shot up as she and Setsuna both focused on Michiru.
"But, Setsuna, I swear that's just because I'm already sick."
"Still assuming you're not. Anything else?"
Michiru sighed. "Vanilla tea," she carried on. And Haruka frowned as Michiru began ticking off things on her fingers. "Oil paint, my violin polish, wine, a lot of the leftovers."
"I knew they weren't going bad!" Haruka exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell us this?"
"This seemed entirely unimportant," Michiru retorted.
"Hush," Setsuna ordered them both. "Next question: Have you noticed anything different when you transform?"
"I'm more tired afterwards," Michiru said. "But we knew that… otherwise, no. My attacks are as strong as they've ever been. But…"
"But?" Setsuna asked.
"The Aqua Mirror has been acting up lately," Michiru confessed. "At least in relation to this. I've asked it what's wrong with my future before. But it just stays on the first thing I always see when I glance at it now."
"Which is?" Setsuna asked.
"Well when my hair isn't getting in the way, it's Haruka's eyes," Michiru said.
"I swear she's imagining her hair being in her face," Haruka added.
"I am not!" Michiru said, glaring at her.
Setsuna though was stuck on something else. She muttered under her breath. "Haruka's eyes and your… oh!" She bit her lip to stifle her smile.
"What?" Haruka and Michiru asked, leaning closer to her.
Setsuna shook her head. "My theory's not as implausible as I believed in that case… I'm still unsure how it could have happened… unless."
"What?" they asked again.
"I could have overlooked... that event," Setsuna was muttering to herself. "No I almost certainly did."
"When you're done being lost in time," Michiru prompted.
"Sorry," Setsuna shook her head, looking at them both seriously. "It is possible that what's happening to Michiru was caused by a magical point when we visited our homeworlds."
The two of them nodded, frowning at her.
"The magical points," Setsuna continued. "Are capable of astonishing magic. And they can have even more… dramatic effects when their sailor senshi is involved. It's likely that one or both of you did something there – when you were both together on Uranus – that caused a reaction."
"The room glowed!" Haruka realized.
"The one on Neptune did as well when I awakened it," Michiru said.
"But don't you remember – it glowed a lot brighter after we… uh…" Haruka predictably turned bright red.
"I didn't notice, actually," Michiru carried on, smirking at Haruka. "I was much too distracted by a very sexy Sailor Uranus."
Setsuna nodded. "I am guilty of not noticing earlier, as at the time I tried not to spy too closely at those moments between the two of you… but yes, I would say that if the entire room of crystals glowed, you certainly caused a reaction."
Haruka groaned, running a hand through her hair. "I bet that sort of thing was frowned upon in the past… do you think the magical point was a holy place?" she asked, wide eyed, one hand pulling at her hair. "Did we disrespect it… has it cursed Michiru?"
"That would depend," Setsuna said to Haruka. "Were you able to connect with your planet at all? Perhaps feel its emotions?"
"Yes."
"And did Uranus feel angry?" Setsuna asked.
"No!" Haruka said with a quick shake of her head. "No – it felt happy! Like I was feeling just a thousand times more. Oh God: I didn't realize it was doing magic. All I wanted was to make something happy happen there and now it's gone and –"
"Hold up," Setsuna said, raising her hand palm out. "What did you just say?"
"I didn't… realize it was doing magic?"
"After that," Setsuna said, staring at Haruka as she fit in the final piece of the puzzle.
"I wanted to make something happy happen?"
"Did you think that?" Setsuna said. "Actively? While you and Michiru were together there?"
"I suppose so?" Haruka whispered.
"She definitely said something like it at least once," Michiru said.
"But I don't understand?" Haruka frowned. "Why would that… cause a reaction… that hurt Michiru?"
"I don't believe the planet was trying to hurt her," Setsuna said, shifting her gaze back to Michiru. She'd set aside the cookies at some point and her hands were resting in front of her. Setsuna reached out to clasp them both as Michiru met her eyes. "I think the planet was in a very volatile state, certainly excited at having such an integral piece of its magic reawakened after a thousand years. I believe it tried to act upon your wish to make something happy a bit too literally."
"So… what's wrong with me?" Michiru asked.
"Nothing's… wrong exactly." Setsuna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, squeezing Michiru's hands. "Michiru," she said. "You're late, aren't you?"
She heard Haruka gasp as Michiru tilted her head in thought. "Late…?" Then her eyes widened and she released Setsuna's hands, covering her face as a burst of laughter escaped from her. "You think I'm,"
"She is late," Haruka cut in.
"No," Michiru shot back. "What I am is irregular. Besides stress always throws my cycle off, and I've had no shortage of that lately."
"And has it ever skipped two whole months before," Setsuna said, raising one eyebrow.
"Well no, but." Michiru's laughter trailed off as she shook her head, still smiling at Setsuna. "That… can't possibly… I mean it's ridiculous."
Setsuna shrugged. "Nor is it unprecedented. Mina was created by her planet's magical point in her first life. And it's a known fact that the Moon's Crystal Obelisk played a role in Serenity's creation."
"But I still don't think,"
"Very few things actually enhance your sense of smell, Michiru," Setsuna told her gently.
"I still think you're wrong."
Setsuna sighed, turned, and reached into the shopping bag behind her.
"I could be wrong," she said. "This could help us know for sure."
And she opened her hand between them, holding the pregnancy test out to Michiru.
Michiru met her gaze for a long moment before sighing and snatching the test from Setsuna's palm.
"I swear it's going to be negative," Michiru said, rising from the couch and walking quickly out of the living room.
When she'd gone, Setsuna turned all her attention back to Haruka, who sat with her head bowed, furiously wringing her hands in front of her.
"Haruka?" Setsuna asked after a few minutes.
"This is my fault," Haruka muttered.
"No," Setsuna rushed to say. "If anything it's both your faults… or no one's." She reached out and covered Haruka's hands with her. "I could still be wrong."
"But… you're probably right," Haruka whispered looking up at her. "And… this would explain her future… disappearing?"
"I did enough research shortly before I got home to say it is possible," Setsuna shook her head. "And now I find I'm kicking myself for not bothering with such trivial, mortal events before."
"You're only human," Haruka teased, a small smile on her lips. But it was gone a moment later. "This is terrible timing," she whispered. "All I want to feel is happy and I can't because –"
They looked towards the main hallway suddenly as they heard a door click, and both sighed when Minako, not Michiru, shuffled into the kitchen a moment later, yawning and then waving at them on her way to the coffee machine.
"Morning," she said yawning again. She glanced at the two of them and frowned. "Is Michiru still sick?"
"In a manner of speaking," Setsuna said.
"Well that's cryptic." Mina yawned again, glaring at the coffee maker. "Come on please," she begged, bouncing up on her feet and rubbing her hand over her eyes. "Make the coffee… make the coffee."
"Did you remember to put water in it first?" Setsuna asked.
"I… oh," they both watched Mina duck away to hide the blush on her face. "I am tired, okay. We had a late mission last night."
"It's fine," Haruka said immediately. "Don't worry about it."
Setsuna watched as Mina did a double take.
"What… no sassy remark?" Mina asked, moving to the kitchen doorway and leaning against it. "What happened… why does Haruka feel terrified?"
"A number of reasons," Setsuna said.
"This doesn't explain the hair thing?" Haruka said, thoughts still on Michiru.
"I think it would actually," Setsuna replied. "You're most likely right – Michiru's hair hasn't been in her face. I believe the mirror is simply showing her something she's not ready to see ye –"
But Mina interrupted her. "Michiru?" she called as she whirled around and watched Michiru pass the kitchen, getting slammed by her emotions as she walked quickly past. It was such a mess of them from someone normally too composed for her to read that Mina put a hand to her forehead to sooth the headache and walked out into the living room.
Then Michiru appeared from the hallway, staring at something in her hands.
"Michiru," Setsuna said as she and Haruka stood.
"I…" Michiru looked up at them, and then back at what was in her hands. And then at the two of them again. "I'm uh…" She looked towards the coatroom as Setsuna and Haruka moved towards her.
"Michi," Haruka said softly, reaching for her.
Michiru began shaking her head. The test in her hand fell onto the floor. "I… I need to think."
"Michiru!" they both said, running after her.
But she had already bolted to the coatroom. "I'll be back later!" she called.
Setsuna and Haruka made it to the threshold of the coatroom just in time to see Michiru slam the front door.
"What happened?" Mina asked.
Haruka and Setsuna looked at each other, and then back at the test strip on the floor.
In the results window of the plastic strip was a tiny, blue plus sign.
~AgeofAquarius~
She gasped as she took in the bright lights all around her: every shade and color of the rainbow.
"Hello!" she called into the dark space, reaching out for a larger, orange light, so similar to Venus…
She'd been venturing further and further into the vacuum of darkness each time she was here, no matter how unsettled or cold or even frightened she felt when she woke.
She had an idea who these lights could be. And perhaps, if she could reach them, she could learn more about their enemy.
She gathered fire around her like a shield against the absolute cold as she stretched further, further, further. At last the bright orange light was right before her – a pretty, round crystal with a steady light within.
"Show your true form," she whispered, reaching out for it. "Show me."
The crystal lit up brighter as she reached for it, and she gasped when an orange silhouette appeared around it, forming the shape of a person: with small horns on their head and four eyes on their face that all widened at the sight of her.
"Who are you?" she asked.
But the ghost in front of her didn't answer immediately. They reached out their hand, lacing their fingers through hers.
"Sol…" they whispered.
That was what all the lights in her previous visions had whispered. "You're Sol?"
They frowned. "You are…"
"I'm not. I'm Ma –"
"You shouldn't be here!" the ghost shrieked. "Go – go!"
"No!" she insisted, holding fast to their hand as they tried to tug it away. "Answer my question: Who are you, where are you?"
"GO!" they shouted.
"I can't go!" she cried. "Not until you tell me who you are!"
They looked at her, and she noticed then the faint symbol on their forehead, a circle with two tails that arced around it like a galaxy's arms…
"I am Sirius."
"Your star," she realized and gasped as the person before her glitched, their whole silhouette flickering.
"Go," Sirius whispered again.
"Wait, wait, stop!" she yelled, grasping firmer to Sirius hand. "I want to know… your name. Your real one."
But Sirius shook their head. "I don't remember," they said, and winced, their hand squeezing hers as their other came up to clutch the right side of their chest. "You have to go," they said, "I can't…"
"What's happening…"
"My power's… being used." They gasped, all four of their eyes rolled back in their head and she saw the symbol on their forehead change from orange to black, the color spreading through their silhouette until it had disintegrated. She grasped for the hand that had held hers and felt nothing there.
"I'm sorry about this," Sirius voice whispered.
Sirius crystal was still in front of her. She reached out for it.
And jerked back as she heard something shriek, the earsplitting sound echoing in the black, vacuum.
Before her eyes, Sirius crystal exploded into dozens of tiny shards, racing away from her into the blackness.
Within it, she saw Sirius symbol light up far away, the orange color also emanating from a horribly familiar pair of serpentine eyes.
Rei gasped, jerking away from the fire and scrapping her elbows as she fell back on the floor of the shrine.
Panting, she scrambled to her feet, backing away from the fire and reaching for her communicator.
"We need another meeting tonight," she said to Mina. "I saw something."
"Let's meet at the supermarket a little earlier," Mina answered. "Say eleven, they should have closed up by then."
"Okay."
"Good, I'll make sure the others know." Mina paused and then asked: "are you alright?"
"Of course I am!" Rei snapped.
"Hmm… not sure I believe that," Mina said in a teasing tone.
"Well then come over and see for yourself," Rei huffed.
"Great!" Mina said. "I'll bring lunch."
Rei smiled. "Thank you," she whispered into the communicator.
"Any time," Mina said. "Besides, I sorta need your help with something,"
"Like what,"
"Looking for someone."
~AgeofAquarius~
Restaurant Reviews
Thursday April 24th
Unpopular opinion: I personally don't think the Sailor Senshi have anything to do with the enemies who come to Earth to destroy us. But I know there's little point arguing that since I've very little evidence to support it. So instead I'll say this: I don't care whether they're bringing enemies to Earth or not. As long as Sailor Jupiter keeps making pastries, she can attract all the evil she wants.
Seriously. If you haven't gone to Kino's to try their pastries and cakes by now, you've been missing out on the singularly best thing in Tokyo. Everything is homemade. I never leave without at least an armful of food.
Truly, I don't care if the rest of the world burns – as long as I still have Kino's pastries.
~"Let There Be Cake"
After calling in sick to work for the first time ever and driving around for a few hours, Michiru'd started to feel hungry. She'd also gotten nowhere with thinking.
After the third time that she nearly rear-ended someone, she pulled off the road and parked the Porsche, leaning her head on the wheel.
That stupid blue plus sign… The image on the test result had floored her so much that it continued to dominate her thoughts. Why is this the positive outcome; there's nothing good about this.
She didn't even know how to start to think about it. She'd never considered this… in fact before Hotaru'd given her the opportunity, she'd abandoned all fancies of raising any child. It certainly wouldn't have been fair to bring them up in a family of senshi, constantly surrounded by battles and fighting. It was why she'd shot down Haruka so many times when she brought up the hypothetical futures where they might adopt children. "We could hardly give them a normal life," she'd said time and time again. "It wouldn't be fair."
She'd jumped at the chance to raise Hotaru, the one child who could actually benefit from being raised by Senshi. She'd even selfishly argued for keeping her away from Souichi for months longer than necessary. Hotaru was hers. Hotaru was the reason her family was complete. Hotaru was the reason she'd gotten to realize her dream at all.
Hotaru had also made her greedy. In the two years she'd spent raising her, and even more so since she'd moved back in with her father, Michiru'd found herself thinking of and shooting down the same fancies of more children that Haruka'd often brought up. Hotaru was special. It wouldn't be right to adopt a normal child and force them to share their lives.
But this one wouldn't be normal, Michiru thought. There's no way.
They might be a senshi too…
Like Chibiusa…
But Chibiusa was also Chibi Moon. And Neo Queen Serenity would supposedly never transform into Sailor Moon again after she was born.
Would I lose my powers? Michiru thought, curling her hands into fists on the steering wheel. I can't even imagine…
She'd never had to consider this future before, had never even entertained raising another child, much less creating one.
But Usagi must have, Michiru realized as she sat in the car. Goodness she's probably had years to think about it with Chibiusa here…
She straightened up and put the car back into drive, navigating her way over to the pastry shop. It was nearly lunchtime. Usagi and Mako would certainly be taking a lunch break around now.
I could go under the pretense of joining them for lunch… and bring it up.
Finally having some sort of plan in mind, she felt a little bit calmer as she drove across Juuban. She even chuckled a bit as she neared the district where Mako's bakery resided.
She'd never imagined going to Usagi for advice.
Michiru parked the Porsche down the block from the bakery at 11:24 and checked her hat and scarf one more time in the rearview mirror. Hell if they're going to recognize me today, she thought.
When she got out of the car, she glanced down to check her outfit was perfect and frowned.
Can they tell in the pictures? She wondered, sucking in her gut. She felt both self-conscious and ridiculous. Of course no one could tell. She couldn't tell.
Makoto's bakery was mobbed when she walked through the door, so Michiru hung back at one of the seats by the front window, watching Mako and Usagi (and even Usagi's mother) rush back and forth behind the counter.
Usagi caught her eye barely a second after she was in and waved. She was so much more perceptive than they gave her credit for.
Am I going to do something that makes them suspect... no of course not, they won't possibly guess... Michiru sighed, closing her eyes and trying to center herself. No one will know, she thought. I am just here to have lunch. I can absolutely make the questions sound casual.
Finally, when there were only two customers left, Michiru approached the counter.
"Michiru!" Usagi grinned at her, leaving the last two of the customers to her mother. They did a double take and Michiru glared towards them until they looked away. If the press showed up, she'd know exactly who to blame.
"Good morning." Michiru smiled as Usagi leaned over the counter beaming at her. "How are you, Usagi?"
"Tired," Usagi complained with an exaggerated pout that made Michiru laugh. "But we started the third crystal point last night so that's coming along." She sighed. "When they're all done, I am taking a whole day off for a nap. These things really cut into your beauty sleep."
"I'd imagine." She glanced down at the pastries and sandwiches in the display case and her stomach growled.
"I understand that sentiment completely," Usagi nodded seriously. "Lunch comes much to far after breakfast – here!" she reached into the display and pulled out one of the pastries "We have your favorite," she grinned, waving it in front of her. "Still warm."
It was definitely still warm. Michiru could smell the too-sweet, cinnamony smell of the apple filling quite sharply in her nose. She automatically took a step back.
"Are you alright Michiru?" Makoto asked as she leaned in the kitchen doorway. Even Mrs. Tsukino was looking at her.
"Fine," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand and a light laugh. "Perhaps not the apple turnover today. I've been feeling sick lately."
"Awww no," Usagi pouted. "You can't eat anything?"
"No, no." Michiru laughed. "I can," she assured Usagi. In fact she wanted to eat something badly now that she was here looking at all the food behind the glass. She regretted storming out without the cookies this morning. "Maybe just something… lighter," she said, scanning through the options.
"Oh sure," Usagi grinned, following her gaze and pointing things out in the display window. "There's the plain croissants and the bread – Mako-chan makes really good bread. It is actually amazing. Oh! Or there's…."
As Usagi rambled on, Michiru's eye caught something else in the display: a pastry crispy on the outside, with cheese baked onto it.
Sausage and cheese, the label read. The cheese looked like it had been baked to perfection and all the pastries looked puffy and stuffed. She suddenly needed to have all of them.
"What about that one," Michiru asked, pointing to it.
"That's… not exactly light," Makoto cautioned.
"And I thought you didn't like sausage and cheese stuff?" Usagi said, frowning
"Well… why would you think that?" Michiru said, brushing back her hair and trying to appear aloof. Is that true? I think that is true.
"Cause you said so last time we got it as a pizza," Usagi told her.
She had said that. It had been true. Now though, the combination seemed to her to be the only think in the world worth consuming.
Why does Usagi have to know her friends so well, Michiru cursed as she shrugged.
"Well," she tried to bluff. "That's only the pizza place - I have a lot more confidence in Makoto's baking skills."
There: Mako was grinning and blushing, and Usagi was nodding as though that were perfectly logical. And she was dying to eat.
"I'll have three," Michiru told Usagi. Each pastry looked to be the size of both her fists. Three was a reasonable number of them, surely?
"Oh okay!" Usagi said "Hey – if you stick around a bit, we usually take a lunch break soon."
She'd known that from the mirror. She'd timed her arrival to coincide with it. See, Michiru reassured herself. I can just get perspective from a normal conversation and none of them ever have to know.
"Why don't you guys take one now," Ikuko suggested, waving at a new group of people trailing into. "I think I can handle this."
"Sweet!" Usagi said, grabbing two boxed lunches from under the counter, and waving Michiru over to the window.
"We could get another mob of customers any minute now," Mako worried. "You might need the help.
"No customer of yours has anything on how Usagi gets when she's hungry," Ikuko said, crossing her arms confidently as she smirked. "I can handle it."
"She has me too!" Nephrite said as he came out of the kitchen with a fresh tray of baked goods.
"Exactly," Ikuko nodded.
"But," Makoto protested, "but you've already been such a huge help all day. I can't thank you enough for helping with the wedding order. And you've already done more than enough helping with the rest of the day."
"And I am more than happy to do a little more," Ikuko insisted. "Have lunch with your friends, Makoto. You work too hard."
"Pleeease, Mako-chan," Usagi begged, waving Mako's lunch box in the air.
"A-alright," Mako said, untying her apron.
"Yes!" Usagi cheered, opening her lunch. Michiru sighed in relief when its contents didn't make her want to be sick.
"So," Michiru said, running over the conversation she'd planned out in her head. "How is the work on the crystal points going?"
"It's good," Usagi said through a mouthful of rice. "We finished the one at the Shrine, and the one here over the weekend." She gestured towards sheet-covered object in the corner of the shop that Michiru'd noticed when she'd walked in. "We started the third one last night. But it's a lot harder to make one in the middle of the supermarket – at least without attracting attention."
"We moved a pyramid of boxes to cover it," Makoto said as she dug into her own lunch. "It'll take a while for them to move all of them, but we might have some explaining to do if they go through them quicker than we thought."
"I wouldn't worry," Michiru said, noting as she bit into the sausage and cheese pastry that the flavor really was the most heavenly thing she'd ever tasted. "How have I never liked these before?" she murmured.
"Huh?" Usagi asked.
"Nothing," Michiru said, waving a dismissive hand. She glanced around. No other customers had stayed to sit down. The only person who appeared to be listening was Usagi's mother.
"Isn't it strange," she said, glancing between Usagi and Makoto. "To think you're building Crystal Tokyo right now."
"Ah…" Usagi smiled to herself as she glanced down at her lunch, drawing patterns in the rice with one of her chopsticks. "Yeah… it's a little strange." She bit her lip. "I'm still not sure it's possible that I'm going to be Queen in like…three years."
She'd be my age, Michiru considered for the first time as she ate more of her pastries. When she becomes Queen and when she has…
"And there'll be Chibiusa in four," Michiru reminded her.
Ikuko looked up sharply at that. Michiru hoped it was only because she hadn't considered how close it was, and not because Usagi'd neglected to tell her mother the timeline for that.
"I know," and she was floored by the look on Usagi's face – a grin the likes of which were normally reserved for saving the world or gazing at Mamoru. "It's hard to imagine that she'll have to go back to the future soon," Usagi said. "And then that I'll have her back… and she won't know me at all and I won't really know her. I get to meet her all over again." She sighed. "And I remember how small Hotaru was… but I can't imagine Chibiusa being that small and at the same time I can't wait for her to be that small because then she'd fit in my arms."
"Easy there," Makoto laughed. "You still have four years to wait."
"I know," Usagi said, sticking out her tongue.
"Good," Makoto said, wagging her eyebrows at her friend. "Don't want any accidents messing up the timeline."
Michiru coughed, choking on her pastry.
"Are you alright?" Usagi said immediately.
"Fine," Michiru squeaked, very aware that she was blushing. "Don't worry about it," she set her pastry aside and leaned over the table towards Usagi. "It must be daunting though," she said. "Knowing you're going to lose your powers too."
Usagi looked away. "I… keep trying not to think about that." She said, taking a breath.
"Hey, you'll still be able to wield the Silver Crystal," Makoto said. "You'll still be the most powerful person on Earth. Plus, all of us will still have our powers." She flexed her arm muscles. "You can count on us."
"I know…" Usagi sighed. "But I think that might be the hardest thing – watching you all go off to fight battles and knowing I'm next to useless to go with you." She said, putting her head in her hands. "I won't ever be able to use the Silver Crystal in battle the same way I use my power as Sailor Moon."
Makoto put her hand on Usagi's arm and Michiru opened her mouth, aching to reassure her, but closed it again. What could she say, when she now faced the same doubts?
And I don't even have the Silver Crystal, Michiru realized. I'll be useless…
But Usagi seemed to shake herself out of her own funk. She straightened up a few moments later. "But," she said, her eyes closed as she smiled. "Then I think about Chibiusa… she's an amazing Senshi… and she's worked so hard to master her powers." When she opened her eyes they were sparkling, gazing far away. "And I remember something Endymion said once… about the Earth and the Moon's powers wanting to be together. And she makes that possible," Usagi grinned. "She'll be an even more powerful senshi than me, I just know it. And…" she put her hand over her heart. "Powers or not, I'll always be a senshi in here." She glanced between them both. "So… If I have to let go of being Sailor Moon, for her… of course I will. I don't even have to think about it."
Michiru swallowed hard, picking at the pastry in her hand.
"Michiru?" Makoto frowned. "Are you okay?"
She only realized then that there was a tear on her cheek. She hastily scrubbed it away. "Fine," she said quickly. "Just… thinking of Hotaru." There, that's a good cover, she thought. Mako was nodding. And so was Usagi.
"You guys must miss her so much," Usagi said. "I can't even imagine having Chibiusa gone so much. I even missed her on the nights she used to stay over at Mamoru's."
"Mhmm," Michiru nodded, biting into the last of her pastries. How had she eaten three so quickly? "I just wish it were possible to visit her, but even the hat and scarf wouldn't confuse the press for long," she said, fiddling with the hat on her head. "And I can't risk her identity like that."
"You can't see her at all," Usagi gasped. "Wait! I have an idea!" she stood up, running behind the counter and returning with her purse, digging around in it. "Aha!"
When she whipped out her hand, it held a pink pen with a red jewel capping the top.
"You can use the disguise pen!" Usagi said. "I found out last week it still does a pretty good job of masking my identity. I walked right by a slew of cameras and only a few people glanced twice at me."
"Really?" Makoto asked. "Do you think Luna and Artemis could make more?"
"Maybe – they probably thought it wouldn't work… and they've been wicked busy too." She shrugged. "Of course I don't know if it was entirely the magic… I asked the pen to turn me into a man just to be sure. But here – " she held the pen out to Michiru. "You should try it!"
Michiru didn't think turning into a man would be a very good idea right now. Not until she had figured out what she wanted.
She still had no clue. In fact she felt as though she had even less of a clue.
But she did take the pen. "I will try it," she grinned, standing up from the table. A good excuse as any to not hear Usagi talk about Chibiusa anymore. Why did I think that would be helpful? "In fact…Hotaru should be on her lunch break soon." Or at least she hoped so. If not she could figure out another plan. But she needed to leave lest Usagi or Makoto figured her out. "I'll see you both later."
"Good luck!" they called as she hurried from the shop.
She paused outside the building to straighten her scarf and her hat, which were askew, and then continued down the sidewalk.
"Wait!" someone called behind her as she reached her car.
Michiru whirled around. It was Ikuko Tsukino, hustling down the sidewalk with a bakery box under her arm.
"Here," Ikuko said, holding it out to her. "You're going to want the rest of these."
She glanced through the plastic window as she took the box. All the other sausage and cheese pastries from the display case had been stuffed inside. They looked delicious. "Uh… thank you."
"Of course," Ikuko smiled. "Eat as many of them as you want and don't be surprised if you absolutely despise them tomorrow." She chuckled and shook her head. "At this stage, whatever you feel like you want, get as much of it as you can. Cravings and morning sickness are the most miserable combination."
Michiru froze, dropping the box into the passenger seat. "I'm sorry, I think you're mistaken."
"Dear," Ikuko said, raising her eyebrows. "I'm not blind, nor deaf. And I've been in your spot twice. And nearly all of my friends," she said. "I asked questions the very same nature as yours when I first found out about Usagi." She smiled "I was young then. She wasn't exactly planned. Goodness: we hadn't even moved into the house yet."
Michiru stared at her.
"It's very different for you," Ikuko said "In fact, I imagine the times you're facing are a thousand times more terrifying than being a newly wed with a studio apartment..." she reached out, surprising Michiru with a hug. One that, Michiru found, was by no means unwelcome. "It is okay if you're confused. Or scared even," Ikuko whispered. "You don't have to know what you want right now. I didn't." she squeezed Michiru tighter. "Make the choice that's best for you."
Michiru sighed and let herself enjoy the hug for a few moments, but pulled away once she felt tears gathering in her eyes.
"Thank you," she said stiffly. "But I can handle it."
"I'm sure you can," Ikuko said gently "But you're even younger than I was... and there's points in all our lives where we all need a little bit of mothering." She squeezed Michiru's shoulders. "I can do that, if you need one."
~AgeofAquarius~
The maroon jacket and grey pants of a Mugen professor gave Michiru uncomfortable flashbacks to her days as a student there, and the campus covered in all the students wearing the same green plaid skirts and ties and blue bows on their uniforms certainly didn't help.
But her knowledge of the grounds and the building helped in one way at least. Souichi'd rebuilt it from the original blueprints. So everything was in exactly the same place.
It was not, as it happened, the fifth graders' lunch period, but it was easy enough with the fake Mugen badge to knock on the door of Hotaru's class and claim to be escorting her to an important practice exam.
And of course her daughter was more than willing to play along. "Yes – I told you about it last week," she said to her literature teacher with the most practiced look of innocence on her face. They had perhaps trained her to get away with things a bit too well.
"I have an extra note from her father here," Michiru added. She'd gotten very good at forging Souichi's signature over the years when they'd always needed it on Hotaru's paperwork.
"Oh – well go on then," the frazzled literature teacher said.
Hotaru practically skipped out the door and all the way down the hall.
As soon as they were in the elevator though, with no one around to spy, Hotaru dove at Michiru, squeezing her.
"Gentle," Michiru murmured, though she hugged Hotaru back just as tightly.
"How are you here?" Hotaru asked, looking up at her as the elevator moved towards the ground floor. "Why's your hair in a bun?"
Michiru smirked and pulled the Lunar disguise pen from the pocket of her suit coat. "We still have a few tricks up our sleeves," she said. "It was Usagi's idea." She bent down so she could kiss Hotaru's forehead and beamed at her. It had been a whole week since they'd seen each other at Rei's party. "I thought, unless you were opposed to it, that you wouldn't mind spending the afternoon with me."
"Hell yes!" Hotaru said. "I… I mean just yes,"
"I will overlook the language this once," Michiru winked, crushing her close again. "It's so good to see you."
No one questioned the Mugen student walking with her professor through the lobby, or even off the campus. And Michiru reveled in the first taste of anonymity either of them had gotten in ages.
Ice cream was their first stop, and she was grateful her favorite flavor was still one she wanted to eat. Hotaru would certainly notice the smallest change in her behavior.
"And so Kara says her mother's been talking to the press non-stop," Hotaru was saying as they walked through the park. "And she's been arguing with Kara's dad about what they want to do." Hotaru took another bite of her ice cream."Her dad wants to give Mina another chance, but Hikari's being a bi-itter, uh. Bitter about it."
"And how does Kara feel?"
"She wants Mina to come home," Hotaru said. "And she asks a lotta questions about the sailor stuff when we hang out." She frowned. "I think her Mom's really confusing her. It's not fair."
"It certainly isn't."
"And I still haven't found my communicator yet," Hotaru pouted.
"You will," Michiru assured her, feeling a little bit guilty. She knew where it was, had known since she'd looked in the mirror for it. But Setsuna's insisted it was best to let this situation resolve itself without their intervention. "I promise it'll make its way back to you."
"Not soon enough," Hotaru sulked. And she looked so downtrodden that Michiru led her over to one of the benches by the pond.
She pulled Hotaru close once they were sitting down. "I am at least comforted to know being a senshi isn't interfering as much with your normal life in the meanwhile," Michiru said.
"But I want it to!" Hotaru protested. "I want to help you all! I want to fight with you!"
Michiru sighed. "I know," she rubbed her hand up and down Hotaru's arm. "But I am selfishly a little glad you are not fighting as many of these fights as you could be." She gazed out at the still water of the pond. "Being Neptune consumed my whole life when I was fifteen – four years older than you are. There's days I don't know who I am without her."
"But why would you want to?" Hotaru asked. "She's a part of you like Saturn's a part of me. A really big part."
"I suppose," Michiru sighed. "Some times I think it's unfair to you," she told Hotaru. "There isn't a day in your life that you've lived without being part of the senshi," she shook her head as she smiled, remembering. "Goodness, even before you learned you were Saturn, we were telling you about the Sailors as bedtime stories."
"Yeah," Hotaru said. "How's that unfair? I loved those. I still love those." She snuggled closer to Michiru. "I still remember lots of my other life," she said. "And even before the Death Busters, I was pretty lonely," she said. "I had friends in elementary school, but I never got to see them much. And Mommy and Dad were busy at work a lot." She shrugged. "I used to ask Mom and Dad when I was getting siblings and they always said all they needed was me."
"Oh?" Michiru murmured, looking away from Hotaru.
"And… after the accident…" she shivered. "I had powers I didn't understand, just like I do as Saturn. But Dad never helped me understand what they were… I guess that was because he had the Death Busters in his head," she carried on. "But still – you always explained. Even when my powers were scary." She looked up at Michiru. "So I don't feel like it was unfair. You guys even made all my weird powers seem cool."
"Nothing about you is weird," Michiru said immediately. "You have an amazing connection to the universe that very few people will ever have. Maybe you're not normal," she said, ruffling Hotaru's hair. "But neither are you weird. You are special. And important."
Hotaru grinned at her, turning and wrapping both arms around Michiru. "See – you're a good mom," she said. "Why would it ever be unfair to me that you raised me?"
She was getting choked up again. At least these tears she didn't have to explain away. But…
"I'd still give anything for you to have a normal life," Michiru murmured. "Try not to be mad at me, that I'm relieved you've been spared the last few battles.
"But you just said I'm special and important!" Hotaru said, frowning at her. "I'm not a little kid anymore – Mina was only a year older than me when she was fighting alone – and that's only going by what grade I'm in." She crossed her arms. "I like that you guys try to protect me. But you can't feel guilty just because I have a destiny too. You'd have no control over that no matter who raised me." She said. "I'm meant to be Saturn. I'm meant to protect the Earth… And you." She bit her lip. "I hate watching you guys fight on the news and being powerless to do anything about it." She rubbed her eyes. "I want to protect you too. I want you to be proud that I can fight."
"Oh Sweet Pea," Michiru murmured, hugging Hotaru tightly. "I'm proud of you no matter what," she whispered.
They sat for a while, enjoying the sun and the sound of the dragon flies buzzing over the pond, while Michiru hugged Hotaru and tried not to think the millions of other thoughts going through her head.
She couldn't feel guilty about Hotaru being a senshi. Was it right to feel guilty about the chance that another child of hers could be one? Particularly when, unlike Hotaru, she'd had a hand in determining that fate… did it matter?
Even if it doesn't, it will still cripple us if I decide to… She pushed away the thought before it got farther than that. She needed more space. She needed more time to think.
"Mama?" Hotaru asked after a while. She'd been holding Michiru extra tightly for the past few minutes. "When I was Saturn, when we fought the snake, your energy felt really strange."
She pulled away from Hotaru. Her daughter's eyes were closed and her brow furrowed as she concentrated. "I can even feel it a little now… It's still really strange."
"Don't worry about that," Michiru assured her, standing up from the bench to put some space between them. "Setsuna's found a solution to that."
"What's wrong with you?" Hotaru asked.
"Nothing," Michiru said. "I promise." She checked her watch and sighed. Mugen would be getting out soon. "Come on," she said, holding her hand out and putting her arm around Hotaru's shoulders when she stood up. "I have to take you home now."
~AgeofAquarius~
The sun had just begun to set when she finally wound up at the beach, parking the car and gazing at the setting orange circle on the other side of Tokyo's skyline before walking to the stairs and down onto the sand.
She kicked off her shoes, standing at the water's edge and sighing as the cold seawater rushed up over her ankles.
She wrapped her arms around her waist as she listened to the gentle crash of the waves on the shore, and breathed in the soothing smell of the ocean. When the whole sky had turned orange and pink from the sunset and most of the beach was cast in darkness by the sea wall, she chanced removing the scarf and hat from her head, letting her distinctive hair fall freely behind her, blowing in the sea breeze, hoping there would be no Press near enough to recognize her.
She waited until the sky had changed to a dark purple and blue, the bright orange of the sunset sinking closer to the horizon line.
She wrapped her arms tighter around herself. It was getting chilly.
Perhaps she could face them now.
She closed her eyes, concentrating on Setsuna. I'm at the beach she called out in her thoughts.
We'll be there soon, Setsuna replied.
Michiru sighed, soaking in the sounds and smells of the sea and gazing out at the bright orange horizon.
"What do I do?" she whispered amid the soothing sounds of the ocean's swells breaking over the beach. She took the Aqua Mirror from her bag and scowled at it. "Why didn't you warn me?"
There were Haruka's eyes as there always seemed to be now and, just as always, partially obscured by a curtain of aqua hair. She reached up to brush hers back and stopped.
"Your hair isn't in your face, Michiru," Haruka'd said.
Michiru moved her hand away from her face, frowning at the mirror and swallowing the lump in her throat as she took in the two distinctive features together in its depths: her hair falling across Haruka's wide, deep blue eyes.
Slowly, she moved the mirror away from her face, careful not to move her head, until she was gazing only out at the sea once more. Her hair was blowing behind her. She had a perfect view of the water and the horizon – which was now a deep red line surrounded by the orange sunset and the soft pinks of the scattered clouds.
She took a deep breath, and brought the mirror back in front of her sightline.
Dark blue eyes gazed back at her, partially obscured by a fringe of hair the same aqua as her own.
The aqua hair resided solely within the mirror's depths, she realized. It had never been her, physical hair.
Just as it had never been Haruka's eyes…
Michiru's hands were shaking as she covered her mouth and held the mirror to her chest so she would not have to look at it. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, trying to push back the urge to cry, and focused on the soft sounds of the waves lapping at the shore. She sank down so that she knelt in the wet sand, the water soaking the hem of her skirt.
Why now? she thought.
Behind her, she heard the creak of two heavy doors swinging open, and the soft sounds of two pairs of feet making their way across the sand.
"Hey," Haruka whispered as she and Setsuna knelt on either side of her, wrapping their arms around her waist.
"So this is what was affecting my future," Michiru murmured, leaning her head against Haruka's shoulder.
"It disappeared," Setsuna confessed. "Which I'd only ever seen happen in very anomalous circumstances. I never thought it could be something like this."
"What does that mean?" Michiru asked, turning the mirror over in her hands and gazing at the back of it.
"I believe it simply means there are too many possibilities for any future to be distinguished right now."
Michiru sighed, closing her eyes. "I don't know what to do," she whispered. "I mean the enemy…"
"They could attack at any time," Haruka worried. "And we're still bracing for a larger offensive."
"Don't think about that," Setsuna advised.
"I can't help it," Michiru cried, shaking her head. "It would be irresponsible to…" her voice cracked as she began to cry, despite her best efforts not to.
She felt Haruka's other hand cover hers and let go of the Aqua Mirror so she could clasp it tightly.
Setsuna's hand brushed across her cheek, turning her face so she could look at her.
"If you were just a normal 21-year-old, what would you do?"
"Not be making this decision," Michiru snapped. "Since I wouldn't have had magic to…" she nearly laughed. It came out as a hiccup instead. "This wasn't supposed to be possible." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "In fact it was the one situation I thought I'd never have to deal with as a lesbian." She laughed again, feeling ridiculous for crying at the same time. "It figures this one," she glared at Haruka, "could cause just as much trouble."
"I'm uh," Haruka muttered, "sorry."
Michiru sighed, her gaze softening as she looked at Haruka. "What should I do?"
"I-I… I'm not making that decision for you."
"You're the reason this is a problem,"
"Half the reason," Haruka protested. "You seduced me."
Setsuna sighed. "I could… make it so it wasn't a decision you had to make."
Michiru stiffened "How?"
Setsuna looked at the two of them. Haruka was staring desperately at her, Michiru's gaze had fallen back to the Aqua Mirror. She turned it face-up in her hands.
"I could go back," Setsuna said gently. "I could stop you both from causing that reaction on Uranus."
"You would have to cross your own timeline," Haruka worried.
"Not if I was careful," Setsuna insisted. "And if I stop you, it never has to be a problem."
"No!" Michiru said quickly, shaking her head. "I mean that's… too dangerous for you."
"But it is a solution," Setsuna said. "I can go back. And it would never be a problem. It would never happened. It's still fairly early on, nothing's changed for you so much that it would affect the events of the past few weeks." She watched Michiru closely. Her fingers had curled quite tightly around the Aqua Mirror. "It wouldn't have happened. You wouldn't even remember it. But I would, and so I'd know it was possible if you ever wanted to try i-"
"She's not an it!" Michiru exploded. "She's…" and then she froze, staring at Setsuna.
The beach was silent for a few moments, save the ever-present whisper of the waves crashing across the beach.
Haruka sniffed. Michiru turned to gaze out at the fast-fading sunset, now only the finest strip of red and orange across the horizon.
"You'll be down a soldier," Michiru whispered.
"It's happened before," Setsuna said.
"Not for so long… I mean who knows how my transformation will be effected as this continues."
"Well the girls handled the Dead Moon mostly on their own while we raised Hotaru," Haruka reminded, "You can do this."
"But we were stronger than them," Michiru stressed. "Mostly at least."
"And as more of us get our stronger powers, like Mina and Usagi, it wont matter," Setsuna said.
Michiru sighed. "And if I lose my powers, like Serenity will?"
"Well the Queen in the Silver Millennium could still use the Silver Crystal," Haruka said.
"As can Neo Queen Serenity," Setsuna added. "So I can say with near certainty that you would never lose all of your powers – Especially if you're able to awaken Neptune. And It's equally likely you won't lose them at all," Setsuna continued. "I know for a fact Makoto had a daughter of her own in the 30th century and she could still transform."
"And us?" Michiru whispered. "Did the three of us have other children?"
Setsuna shook her head. "You and Haruka didn't have any," she said "But your path has been altered since my rebirth here, so your future was always more flexible."
"Why was it changed?"
Setsuna looked up at the sky. "That is something I can't say"
The tide had retreated now, only the occasional wave washing up to tickle their knees. They watched the last of the light dip below the horizon line.
"So..." Haruka cleared her throat. "She?"
"I don't know where that came from." Michiru murmured. Then she groaned.
"What?" they both asked.
"I'm going to get fat!" she cursed.
Haruka snorted. Setsuna covered a chuckle with her hand and the both of them shifted closer to her, their hands wrapping around hers where she held the Aqua Mirror.
"You'll be beautiful no matter what," Setsuna murmured.
"And it will just give you a better excuse than normal to buy more clothes," Haruka teased.
"I never need an excuse," Michiru scoffed.
She leaned back in their arms, gazing up at the millions of stars overhead.
"And I might get mood swings… I could be absolutely horrid."
"We can handle it."
"And..." Michiru frowned. "How do we tell Hotaru?"
"Uh..." Haruka considered. "Right away."
"Delicately," Setsuna added.
Haruka groaned. "She's going to ask how this happened."
"I actually think she'll figur..." Setsuna began to say.
But she was cut off by their communicators; all three were beeping the frantic alert that signaled the sunspots approach.
"Fifty approaching from the sky," Ami's voice came through as they watched overhead. "No… sixty – they're grouped too close for me to see!"
The three outer senshi scrambled to their feet, noticing the large black cloud approaching, blocking out all the stars. They watched as it covered the city and gasped as hundreds of lights in many colors lit up within it, glowing as they divided, all of them diving down towards the city.
They had transformed and leapt up onto the nearest building by the time the first explosion lit up downtown, dozens of sunspots appearing black against the cloud of fire and then brightly colored as they circled the dark city. "That's Minato ward," Neptune said, gazing into the mirror "Near the Tsukinos house."
"They're blanketing Juuban," Pluto murmured, gazing at the pattern of their lights in the dark sky. "Come on!" she said, summoning the Time Doors.
"Neptune, wait," Uranus said as Neptune and Pluto stepped into the Time Dimension.
"If you're about to tell me not to fight," Neptune warned.
"No, but we should be careful."
"They are raining out of the sky," Neptune fired back.
"She's right," Setsuna said. "That looks like hundreds – we need everyone on hand."
She opened the doors onto the chaotic scene of the central shopping district, pedestrians and cars rushing in every direction to avoid the blasts from the sunspots hovering overhead.
Uranus summoned the Space Sword. "Stay behind us at least," she said, rushing out into the battle. "Space Sword BLASTER!"
~Á Suivre~