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.

36. Final Preparations

A/N Hey guys! Well, I'm still slowly making a comeback from my little accident. The good news is that I'm no longer doped up on pain meds so I can think clearly again, the bad news is that I'm still stuck with this bulky cast on my arm, and that makes typing a real pain in the ass. So forgive me for keeping this note short. I know I usually hand out individual hugs to everybody, and I would love to give one to every single person that reviewed the last chapter and has sent me get well wishes, but it would probably take me five hours to type up that list with just my left hand. So I'm sending out about a thousands hugs, and I hope all of you except them as a show of my gratitude to you all. You guys are the absolute best.

I also want to give a huge thank you to Mina-chan. Without her taking the time out of her busy schedule to help me it would have probably taken me weeks to get this chapter ready. But she stuck by me, even through all of my OCD-ness when it comes to wording and editing, and because of that this story is ready to continue. I love you, Mina-chan! Now on with the show.

ENJOY!

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The Galactic Trinity

Chapter 33

Final Preparations

---

Tears welled brightly in the hazel eyes of the teenage girl that was sitting on the bottom step of the grand staircase of the Elysian palace. Her pale blonde hair fell over her face as she bowed her head to nuzzle the dark gray cat that was sitting on her lap.

Orion purred and rubbed his head gently against her cheek. "Everything will work out, Katie," he said softly.

Next to Katie, Alex sat ramrod stiff. His sapphire eyes blazed like the dark blue flame at the center of a candle as he glared at the closed door of one of the palace's many parlors. "They're both being idiots!" he growled.

Right on cue, raised voices came from the closed room.

"For crying out loud, Drew! I don't see why you're taking this so badly!"

There was a muffled snort. "Are you blind? Of course I'm taking it badly! You just calmly announced that you intend to travel to the future where the evil entity that wants you dead more than anything in the universe just happens to be. You may as well tie a ribbon around yourself like a Christmas gift and walk right up to him!"

"Now you're just being a drama king!"

"No I'm not! I'm just trying to keep you alive!"

"Andrew's letting her build her steam up," DJ muttered with a shake of his head as he joined the twins. He sat down next to Katie and wrapped an arm around her. "You'd think he'd know by now to cut her off early before her temper snaps."

"DJ," Serena chided from where she sat in a nearby chair, trying to pretend that she wasn't listening in on the argument as well. "It's not our place to get involved in Jess and Drew's disagreement."

"Yeah right," he snickered as he looked around at the quiet crowd that was assembled in the palace foyer. "That's why everyone is hanging around eavesdropping."

Serena's cheeks flushed a bit. "I just want to make sure that things don't get too intense between them. We all know how hot Jess's temper is, but it takes a lot for Drew to get this angry. And when he does get mad he can be as scary as she is. People can do impulsive and stupid things when they lose their temper, and I don't want either of them to hurt the other in a moment of stupidity."

"Hmph!" Rini huffed and rolled her eyes as she slid down the wall she was leaning against to sit on the floor near Serena. "You act like you expect the two of them to tear into each other or something. I know they can both be hot headed, but I seriously doubt that they are going to start swinging punches at each other."

"Of course not!" Serena agreed quickly. "But they both have a tendency to speak before they think when they get mad, and those tongues can be razor sharp. I would hate for either one of them to unintentionally hurt the other one's feelings."

Darien chuckled as he entered the foyer with a steaming cup of tea that Serena had asked for. "You can't protect everyone from everything, love. Even couples that are as crazy about each other as Jess and Drew are will have their share of arguments. And there is nothing you can do about that. Hell, even we aren't immune to that. You know I love you more than life itself, but that has never stopped us from fighting."

Serena smiled and took the cup carefully from him and set it on the table next to her. "Okay, so we have a history of bickering, and you were really mean to me when we first met, but we've come a long way since then."

"Yeah, now you two only get into it about once a week instead of three times a day," Mina drawled from where she was draped sideways across a chair with her legs dangling over the arm. "At least now when my phone rings I only have about a five percent chance of it being Serena screeching about how much of a jerk you are, Darien."

"Thanks a lot, Mina!" Serena hissed with a glare. "Need I remind you of the times that you've called me up in tears because Kunzite had to delay or postpone something that you two had planned because something came up with his work?"

The self-proclaimed love goddess waved a casual hand. "Nope! I remember each and every incident quite well, thank you. And trust me, I made him pay every time he bailed on me." Her china blue eyes twinkled mischievously. "Besides, make up sex is the best."

"Oh my god! I think I'm going to hurl!" Emma sputtered as she stood up from where she had been sitting next to Alex. "Could you please try to keep your hormones in check when I'm around, Mina, and remember who I am? That is way more information than I ever wanted to know about you and dad!"

Mina yawned boredly. "Are you sure you're my daughter? Honestly! Sometimes you act like you don't have a drop of Venusian heritage in you. Sometimes I think you take more after your father than you do me."

Emma's silvery gray eyes flared in disbelief. "That's not such a bad thing! At least dad knows when to keep his damn mouth shut instead of blurting out the first perverted thing that pops into his head!"

Katie giggled and raised her face from Orion's fur with a silly grin. "Oh really? Need I remind you of some of the things that you've told me that I could have gone without hearing? That's the pot calling the kettle black!"

"Don't compare me to her!" Emma almost shrieked as she lifted her nose imperiously.

Mina burst into laughter, almost falling out of her chair. "Oh ho! So the truth comes out! You can try to act prudish, but you are affected by Aphrodite's bloodline just as much as I am."

Lita, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to her, reached up and yanked on her friend's long, golden hair. "Give the poor girl a break, Mina! After all, she does have a point. You do run your mouth entirely too much."

"Amen!" Raye agreed wearily. "You have no idea how many times I've wished that there was some kind of a magic spell or something that would strike you mute, Mina."

Mina stuck her tongue out at the raven-haired priestess and then scrunched her face up into a pout, but she didn't bother saying a word in her defense. She figured the others would just pick on her again if she did.

A soft laugh came from where Queen Serenity was seated on a settee with her husband at her side. She laid her silver head against his broad shoulder and sighed, "Oh, Jon! Doesn't this just remind you of the good old days?"

The golden haired king snorted. "Oh, yes! My ears still ring to this day from the sounds of the squeals and screams of five rambunctious little girls. Sometimes I think it's a miracle that I survived as long as I did."

"Papa!" Serena exclaimed in a shocked tone. "We weren't that bad!"

"Ha!" Nebula barked from Serenity's lap. "Keep telling yourself that, missy! There for a few years we had a constant turnover rate with the castle servants because it was almost impossible to find people willing to work in a place where they had to deal with cleaning up after you girls."

Luna snickered from her spot on Serena's lap as she uncurled herself and stretched. "I still well remember the day that every single groundskeeper walked off the job after someone froze the fountain in the garden and burst the pipes."

All eyes turned toward the silent, blue haired girl on the window seat.

Amy's large blue eyes blinked innocently as she looked up from the book she was reading. "What? I didn't mean to do it. I was young and still learning how to use my powers. And I would have fixed it…if I could have figured out how to do it. I thought it would melt and everything would be fine. Unfortunately I didn't foresee that the burst pipes would flood the garden."

Peals of laughter burst from Mina as she sat up properly, squishing poor, brooding Artemis in the process. She batted her lashes playfully. "Why Amy, dear! I thought you were supposed to be a genius. I can't imagine you letting something that simple get by you."

Amy's gaze was as cool as frost. "I was seven years old, Mina. At least I wasn't running around telling everyone who they should or should not be with. It was no wonder people used to hurry away when they saw you coming."

Mina actually looked angry as she growled, "Why you…!"

"If you two are going to have a bitch session then take it somewhere else," Katie snapped at them. "There's enough arguing going on around here right now, and I can't hear what's going on in that room with all of this clucking! This is worse than being on a chicken farm!"

"Ooo, somebody's feeling cranky," Lita drawled sardonically.

Katie rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the closed door. But Jess and Andrew's voices had dropped in volume so that she couldn't hear much more than muffled sounds. "I wish super-hearing was a perk of this whole Trinity thing," she grumbled.

"Tell me about it," Alex seconded. "Of course, I don't know what we could do to break them up even if they start really getting into it. None of our usual blackmail tactics will work on them because they haven't done the things that we can blackmail them for yet."

"It's gotten quiet in there," Rini noted. "Knowing those two, they've probably made up by now and are in there making out."

Normally the twins would react in horror to any implication that the people that would one day become their parents were enjoying a little touchy-feely time, but instead they simply wrinkled their noses in identical gestures and muttered, "Ew!" together.

But DJ sensed the tension in them and glared at his sister. "Now is not the time for jokes like that, Rini."

She folded her arms and returned his glare with one of her own. "Whatever! I was just trying to lighten the mood. God! I can't wait for Helios to get back here. Hanging around you people is a major drag."

"Did I hear someone mention my name?" Helios chuckled as he stepped through the front door. "I wasn't gone that long, was I?"

"It sure felt like it!" Rini grumbled. "Being around this gloomy bunch makes every minute seem like a year."

Darien tugged on one of her pink pigtails and grinned. "Hey! We're not being gloomy. You're just being moody." Then he turned to face the dream priest. "I take it everything is calm."

Helios inclined his head. "As much as can be expected, your highness. I delivered Ladies Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn safely back to their home. They also made me promise to tell you that they are ready to join you at a moment's notice if you need them. All you have to do is summon them."

Serena laughed softly and shook her head. "I never doubted them for a second. What about the others?"

Helios returned her smile. "The generals are still enjoying a round of sparring, and Jayden and Hannah have joined them. King Edward and Queen Althea are taking a stroll around the lake. And Lady Pluto and Skye are attending to our surprise visitors."

"Hmm…" Serena mused. "I guess that's for the best."

In the aftermath that had followed Jess's unexpected display of power, she and Pluto had revealed that they had both disappeared in order to bring a couple of guests into Elysian. Jess had gone to get Talon, while Pluto had traveled to Crystal Tokyo in order to bring Kyrian back with her. None of them had pieced together the reason for the two sorcerers to be there yet, since Jess and Andrew had almost immediately begun arguing after that, but they figured that there must be a point to them being there.

Skye definitely hadn't been opposed to Kyrian's presence, much to everyone's surprise. She had taken one look at her secret love and had grabbed him by the arm to drag him away from everyone to presumably some remote place where they could talk privately.

Katie shot a quick look at Emma and grinned when her golden haired friend winked slyly at her. Skye had been bordering on what appeared to be depression the last few days since Kyrian had returned to Crystal Tokyo. Perhaps by now she had finally come to terms with her feelings for the tall, dark haired sorcerer and was ready to commit to a relationship with him. The two blondes sincerely hoped so. They knew that their auburn haired friend was crazy in love with Kyrian, and they wanted them to be happy together.

The smile slid from Katie's face as the angry voices behind the door began rising again.

"You're crazy as hell for even thinking about doing this, Jess!"

"I'm not crazy! I'm perfectly sane, thank you very much! And I would think that you, more than anyone, would understand the reason why I want to do this."

"You're not going!"

"Excuse me!"

"You heard me! You're not going!"

"Why you pompous, stuck up, son of a bitch! Just who the hell do you think you are? You can't tell me what I can and can't do! You're not my father!"

"No, but I am your fiancé!"

"Who gives a shit? That doesn't give you the right to order me around! In case you haven't noticed, I happen to be a grown woman and I don't need a man to take care of me!"

"You tell him, girl," Lita cheered softly.

Then Andrew's voice yelled loudly, "Well you sure as hell could have fooled me, princess!"

Raye shook her head. "Ooo, those are fighting words there! For the twins' sake I hope Andrew is wearing an athletic cup, because Jess just might decide to go for the family jewels after that."

Darien, DJ, Alex, Helios, and Jonathan all shuddered at the ominous imagery those words invoked.

But the room behind the door fell deathly silent after that. There were no screams, howls of pain, or crashes to indicate that the fight had escalated. In fact, the assembled group would have believed that the room was empty if they didn't know for a fact that Jess and Andrew were in there. But the heavy weight of anticipation pressed down on all of them as they waited to hear what would happen next. And the lack of noise was definitely more nerve racking than the yelling had been.

Everyone jumped when the parlor door opened quietly and Jess walked out. Her face was flushed and tears shimmered in her eyes, but her cheeks were dry and her expression was calm as she simply walked by everybody like they weren't even there and slipped out the front door.

Katie stared at the closed door in shock for a moment before she set Orion to the side and scrambled to her feet. She rushed to the parlor and froze a few steps inside the doorway.

"Daddy?" she said in a softly hesitant voice when she saw Andrew. He was sitting on the edge of one of the sofas, hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his head bowed so that his fingers could bury themselves in his sandy hair.

His head rose at the sound of her quiet voice and he smiled sadly at her. "No matter what I do, I can't keep your mother completely at my side. She's always one step ahead of me no matter how hard I try. But her fire and spirit are just two of the many things that make me love her so much."

Tears burned in her eyes as she flew across the room to sit next to him and hug him tightly. "Oh, daddy! I know you love mom, and I'm sure she knows it too. You are just trying to protect her so that she doesn't get hurt."

A reluctant chuckle rumbled in his chest. "Yeah, but I'm wasting my time trying to do that. I should know by now that she's going to do what she wants."

"Is everything okay in here?" Serena asked as she and Darien appeared in the doorway.

Andrew heaved a sigh that sounded as if it came from his toes. "Yeah, everything's fine. Or at least it will be once Jess and I both cool off. I know better than to let her get under my skin like that anyway. In the two years that we've been together I can count on one hand the number of arguments that I have actually won against her, so I shouldn't have even wasted my breath trying. She's going to do what she wants to do, and there's nothing I can do about that."

"Yeah, she can be pretty stubborn once she's set her mind to something," Serena giggled softly.

"Stubborn!" Katie snorted. "That's putting it lightly. She's completely bull-headed! I know I've never won an argument against her. Alex has been able to soften her up enough to get her to bend a couple of times, which is totally unfair considering that she has always told us that she loves us equally. But I guess even she's not completely immune to that innocent puppy look of his."

"It's the eyes," Serena and Andrew said together, and then they began to laugh.

"They do seem to have a power all of their own, don't they?" Andrew chuckled.

Serena waved a casual hand behind her toward Darien. "He's the worst. I think he is definitely the master manipulator when it comes to giving those looks. I've lost count of how many times I've fallen victim to them over the years."

Darien sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What are you two talking about?"

Serena turned to him and patted him on the cheek. "Nothing, honey. Drew and I were just admiring the hypnotic quality of sapphire blue eyes."

He rolled his deep ocean orbs. "Yeah right! If my eyes are so hypnotic, then why am I still constantly picking your clothes up off the bedroom floor after I've asked you a hundred times to please either hang them back up or put them in the hamper? And besides, you do a fairly good job of giving puppy dog eyes yourself."

"Tell me about it," Katie muttered. Then she flushed dark red when the three adults turned to look at her questioningly and stuttered, "I…It's just that DJ has Serena's eyes, and he definitely knows how to pull off the sad puppy look."

Biting her lip to hold back a knowing smile, Serena faced Darien once more before poking him in the chest with a finger. "I don't know why you complain about my clothes anyway. Nine times out of ten it's your fault that they end up on the floor anyway because you have a hard time keeping your hands to yourself."

Katie squeaked in mortification at the implication and slapped her hands tightly over her ears as her blush went from brick red to the dark purple of a plum.

"Okay! Time for a change of subject!" Andrew interjected quickly. "What do you two think about this whole going to the future thing? Are you going to go too?"

Serena's tiny white teeth gnawed on her bottom lip uncertainly as she glanced up at Darien with an expression that clearly stated that she had made up her mind, but she was worried about how he would take it.

"Well," she hedged carefully. "I've been thinking about that. It seems really strange to me that Trista would offer to let all of us go to the future to help protect Crystal Tokyo, but at the same time it tells me how serious the situation there may become since she's willing to take such a drastic step. She's even gone to Chronos and Zeus and gotten permission for this. They even told her that no one that goes will suffer any ill effects from there being two of themselves in the same time. So a big part of me is really saying that I should go."

"I'm going," Darien stated firmly.

Serena's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? Wow! That's a pretty quick decision for you. You usually take your time to study and analyze everything carefully before you decide on something, especially about something this big."

He shrugged. "Like you said, Trista has gone through a lot of trouble to work things out so that we can go. I figure that she wouldn't have gone through the hassle if she didn't think it was pretty important for us to be there."

Serena nodded, but a small frown turned her lips down. "That's true. But honey, what about your little problem? I don't know if it's such a good idea for you to go."

His brow furrowed in confusion. "What little problem?"

She sighed in exasperation. "I'm talking about the tiny little fact that you detest your future self. If you go you're going to have to work with him. And the last I heard you said that you wanted to rip his spine out and shove it down his throat."

Katie made a choked sound of surprise. "That's just silly! How can anyone hate a person that is themself? Besides, my Uncle Darien is a great guy. There's no reason for anyone to hate him."

Darien ran a hand through his hair. "Serena, you're taking things that I said out of context. And anyway, it was years ago when I said that and I was still pissed about that nasty little trick he played on us. But I've had time to think about it, and now I can even understand why he did what he did and why I'll do the same thing when the time comes. I've gotten over being angry with him, and I'm sure that I will be able to work with him just fine. Keeping Crystal Tokyo safe is much more important than holding an old grudge."

"I guess that means we're going then," Serena replied as she reached up and gently untangled his fingers from the silky black strands.

"Okay! That's enough weirdness for me," Katie drawled as she got up from the sofa. "I have no idea what you guys are talking about, and I don't want to know. I think I'll just grab the guys and go practice some more. I'll catch you later!" She fled the room, calling out her boyfriend and brother's names as she went.

Andrew shook his head fondly as he watched her go. Then he heaved a deep sigh. "I guess it isn't rocket science to figure this out. You guys say that you're going. And if Jess is so determined to go, then I will too. Someone has to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't overdo things, and I seriously doubt that my future self would be able to handle two of them at the same time without losing his mind. So it's probably best that I go and save my future sanity. But what about everybody else?"

Serena shrugged. "I don't know. No one else has really said anything about it, so we'll just have to wait and see what they decide. The choice is theirs to make. I won't order anybody to take part in this fight."

Darien chuckled. "I'd be surprised if anyone stayed behind. They all have just as much vested in the future as we do. Even if we decided to stay here, I have a feeling that they would go anyway."

"You're probably right," Serena agreed grudgingly. "We really do have a stubborn group of friends, don't we?"

---

Skye stomped through the outdoor entrance into the training room, dragging Kyrian behind her. She slammed the door after them and then pushed him, slightly forcefully, against it. "Okay, start talking! What are you doing here?"

His lips turned up in a smirk. "What? No hello kiss? Haven't you missed me?"

Her slate blue eyes rolled. "It's only been a few days since the last time I saw you. I've been too busy basking in the relief of having you gone again to even think about missing you."

He pulled off the sunglasses he was wearing to reveal his humorously glinting dark eyes and stuck them in the breast pocket of the buff colored button down shirt he was wearing. Unlike the last time she had seen him when he had been sharply dressed to attend the prom with her, he was sporting a much more casual appearance. His shirt was slightly rumpled and had been left untucked with the sleeves rolled back over his muscular forearms. He also wore a pair of worn, faded jeans that looked as soft as butter and molded to his form perfectly. The laid back look that was completed by a pair of brown, scuffed hiking boots was slightly ruined by the black, braided, silk strap that ran diagonally across chest and held his sheathed sword on his back, but in Skye's opinion he still looked good enough to eat.

She lightly touched the hilt of the sword, just visible over his shoulder. "Are you expecting to be attacked here?"

His grin grew. "I always like to be prepared. And besides, I never know what kind of problems I may run into with you around. I just think of it as being like my security blanket."

She made an impatient huffing sound and stepped away. "You make it sound like you expect me to attack you at any moment."

He snagged her around the waist and pulled her against him. "Like I said, I never know what to expect when I'm with you." His eyes roamed intently over her face before he said softly, "You have missed me. I can tell."

She turned her head away as she felt her cheeks begin to heat up. "What are you doing here?"

He gripped her chin gently to bring her face back to his. "You're changing the subject."

Her eyes flared and turned a bit panicked. "No I'm not! I was just asking a question. Anyway, what makes you think I've missed you?"

His fingers moved from her chin to stroke the delicate skin under her eyes. "Your make-up doesn't completely cover up the circles under your eyes, darling. Have you not been sleeping?"

She shrugged. "I've just had a little insomnia. It's no big deal. And it definitely doesn't have anything to do with you!"

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," he chuckled. "I know I've missed you. So why don't you just go ahead and admit that you've missed me too?"

She wanted to do just that. But the lack of sleep coupled with the surprise of having him just show up out of the blue had made her cranky and emotional. Her temper snapped when she felt hot tears begin to burn in her eyes and she stomped on his foot as she screeched, "Get over yourself!"

Now Skye was a slim girl, but she was 5'11" and packed quite a bit of muscle onto her slender frame. She'd also inherited large feet from her father, which had made her self-conscious in the past when shoe shopping with her friends. But she was glad to have them now as she brought her foot slamming down on his. That would teach him not to tease her!

However, her feeling of childish satisfaction turned to dismay a second later when her sneaker merely bounced harmlessly off his large, sturdy boot and he snickered, "That tickled!"

She sighed heavily and crossed her arms petulantly. She should have known that it would take more than that to hurt Mr. Magic Macho Man. She was used to being eye level or even slightly taller than most of her friends, and if she had stomped on any of their feet she would have gotten at least an "ouch" out of them, but not Kyrian. He had taken after his Uncle Evan when it came to height. He had surpassed Talon's 6'2" height by the time he was fifteen. And while he had never made it up to Evan's height of 6'8", he stood an impressive 6'5" thanks to the recessive genes passed to him by his petite, dainty mother. It still amazed her to this day that a woman like Anya could have ever given birth to such a giant of a son.

Of course, he also had the added protection of wearing those heavy boots as well, and she sneered, "What do you do, special order shoes to fit those monstrous feet of yours? I doubt any shoe store would stock boots that size."

He stared down in confusion at his feet for a moment before he looked up and shrugged. "Yeah, there's a store in Crystal Tokyo that orders in what I want in my size. I even had the steel toes in these reinforced to help protect me from temperamental sailor scouts when they're throwing a tantrum."

Electricity began sparking at her fingertips. "I am NOT throwing a tantrum!"

"Oh, pipe down, woman, and come here and give me a hug!" Kyrian almost growled as he reached forward to pull her into his arms. Thanks to his shielding abilities he felt only the mildest of tingles from the energy radiating off of her. He pushed her head down onto his chest and let his fingers comb through her tousled auburn curls.

"No, you're not throwing a tantrum," he told her gently. "You're just tired, cranky, and probably half sick from not sleeping well. I've been the same way the last couple of days since I had to leave you. I can't eat. I can't sleep. I've just been rattling around my apartment. I haven't even been to class. I tried going home for a while, but my mom was driving me so nuts trying to pull me out of my 'funk', as she calls it, that I had to leave."

The rumbling of his chest against her cheek had a calming effect on Skye, and she gradually relaxed against him until she even wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed him tightly. Then she turned her face into him and rubbed her nose against his shirt, breathing in his fresh air and sunshine scent before she whispered softly, "I did miss you, you big idiot!"

He bent down so he could speak directly into her ear. "How much did you miss me?"

Goosebumps burst across her skin and she fought back a shiver as she felt his warm breath brush her ear. She closed her eyes for a moment to savor the sensation before tilting her head back to look up at him and arch a brow. "Are you hinting at something, Kyrian?"

The playful twinkle in his eyes grew brighter. "I was just wondering what a guy had to do to get a kiss around here."

"What makes you think I want to kiss you?" she retorted, but she couldn't stop the tiny smile that played around her lips.

He grinned down at her. "Because you like me. You may not be able to bring yourself to say that you love me yet, but you definitely like me. I can tell."

"You sure have a high opinion of yourself," she muttered, even as her hands began sliding up his chest like they had a mind of their own.

His breath hitched in his chest at her touch. "No. It's just wishful thinking. You may not want to believe me, but I love you beyond all reason, and my deepest desire is that someday you can return my feelings."

Remembering her earlier feeling of depression at not sharing her feelings with him before, and not knowing how long she would have with him before they had to part again, she decided to throw caution to the wind. After all, her parents hadn't raised a coward.

She linked her hands around his neck and asked slyly, "And what would you say if I told that I loved you right now?"

"I'd say that I loved you too and that I was one hell of a lucky man," he returned smoothly.

She pulled his head down to hers so that she could whisper against his lips, "I love you, Kyrian." And then she kissed him with everything she had.

Kyrian couldn't stop the groan that rumbled in his throat at the taste of her. Sure, they had kissed a few times on prom night, but there had still been a certain amount of reservation in Skye when they had. This time she was giving herself over to him fully and was holding nothing back. He let her take control for a minute, luxuriating in the feel of her tongue as it slid past his lips to engage his own in a heated duel. But then he wrapped both arms securely around her waist and straightened up, taking her with him.

Skye broke the kiss with a gasp and then giggled when she found her feet dangling several inches above the floor. "If anybody else had tried that they would probably be in the hospital with a severely injured spine."

He grinned and pressed his forehead to hers. "No. If anybody else had even put their arms around you they would be in the hospital with multiple broken bones because I would stomp the shit out of them."

"Ooo! Possessive much?" she teased him gently.

His eyes bore seriously into hers. "When it comes to you, definitely."

She rolled her eyes at him. "So you never did tell me what you're doing here. Not that I'm complaining or anything. But I'm curious."

He shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. Trista just showed up out of nowhere and asked me if I would come with her. She said something about needing my help with something, but once she mentioned that we were coming here and that you would be here I jumped at the chance without asking any questions. I was just glad that she gave me a few minutes to shower and change, because I had been bumming around in the same clothes for two days."

Skye wrinkled her nose at him. "Thank goodness for small favors. That was decent of Trista though. She usually doesn't have much patience when she wants somebody to do something. She barely gave me, Emma, Jay, and Hannah time to grab any of our stuff before she brought us to the past."

Kyrian chuckled and then rubbed his nose against hers in an Eskimo kiss. "I'm telling you this in the strictest of confidences, but I think my Uncle Evan may have a lot to do with softening Trista up a bit. They started seeing each other recently, and they seem to be pretty serious about it."

Her eyes widened. "Really? I didn't think they even knew each other."

"They met a while back when Evan came to the palace with me," he told her. "It was the craziest thing I've ever seen. He took one look at her and fell like a ton of bricks. I know he's had a few girlfriends over the years; after all, he and my parents have been around since the Silver Millennium. But I've never seen him like this."

"Hmm…" she mused as her gossipy side flickered faintly to life. "I just might have to talk to Emma about this. She'll be able to check Trista over and tell if there are any fireworks going on with her."

He slid her down his body to set her back on her feet. "Speaking of the others, I guess we should probably go see what's going on. As much as I adore being alone with you, Trista brought me here for a reason, and she might flip her lid if I stay hidden with you for too long."

"If we must," she sighed. "But once all of this mess is over with and I'm back home we'll be able to work on our relationship. And I promise you that I won't put up with your playboy reputation. The first time that hear about you flirting and carrying on with some other girl somebody's going to get hurt."

"Ooo! I like a forceful woman," he practically purred. "Don't worry, sweetheart. You're all the woman I need. Now give me another kiss before we have to go rejoin the others."

---

As the group inside the palace began to break up, Orion looked around eagerly. He saw his brother and Luna conversing together a short distance away, but he ignored them for the moment. He knew that he and Artemis still needed to talk some more if they hoped to clear the air between them, but that could wait until later. Right now he had someone more important to talk to.

He looked toward where Queen Serenity was standing together with her husband, Princess Serenity, and Prince Endymion, and was once again startled by the resemblance between the moon princess and her former mother. They were both the same height and had the identical slender, almost painfully delicate looking bone structures that were typical of Lunarian women. They also shared the same heart shaped faces with large, round eyes set in them. But where the former queen was on the extreme side of pale with her luminescent skin and silver hair, the princess was more Solarian in her coloring. Her hair shown as bright a gold as her former father's and she had his vibrant, light blue eyes. And while her skin would still be considered pale by most, she did have just a touch of a light tan.

He had been denied the pleasure of meeting the next heir to the throne of the moon kingdom and her husband when he had visited there in the past, but Nebula had trusted him enough then to tell him the truth about Serenity and Endymion's secret marriage and the daughter that they had. At the time of his visit Serenity had been in hiding in Elysian with Melody while Endymion been occupied fighting against Beryl and her forces on Earth.

But that was all irrelevant at the moment. He looked all around Queen Serenity for any sign of Nebula. She hadn't strayed much further than two feet away from her former mistress since the whole blow up earlier, and he was hoping to catch her alone for a moment or two so that he could try to talk to her. But as he searched he saw no sign of her.

Scanning around quickly, he caught sight of a bushy, rust colored tail slipping through the slightly open front door and hurried after her. He squeezed through the crack in the door and bounded down the front steps calling, "Nebula!"

Her body stiffened and she turned with a hiss. "What do you want?"

He skidded to a stop, careful to keep several feet of space between them in case she went crazy again. He wasn't stupid after all. "I…I just wanted to talk to you for a minute."

"I'm a little busy right now, in case you haven't noticed!" she snapped as she turned away.

"I know," he replied meekly. "There's a lot going on at the moment, so you may not be ready to hear everything that I have to say. But I don't want my presence here to interfere in any way. In fact, I want to help. I can assist Katie, DJ, and Alex in how to use the swords."

Her head whipped back to him, her amber glare almost slicing straight through him. "I don't need your help! I am very much aware of how those swords work and what they can do. I was there during the first Trinity and assisted them then, remember."

He shook his head. "I know you were, but you've got a lot on your plate. You have three neophyte Trinity bearers that need to cram in a lot of knowledge in a short amount of time. And, if I'm not mistaken, you are neck deep in helping the Celestial Crystal holder try to evolve her powers and you have five others that you are training. That's a lot to ask of one person. I am very familiar with those swords. You don't guard something for centuries and not learn anything about them. And I am well versed in tactics and battle strategies. I know you hold a very low opinion of me right now, but I'm here and I'm willing to help."

Nebula sucked in a hissing breath at his words, but her ruffled fur did smooth out. "Fine! I'm only doing this for the sake of Jess and the kids, but you can help. Serenity, Jonathan, and Edward's time here will be up soon. They will try to show the kids everything that they can, but once they leave the new Trinity bearers will still need guidance. I may not think much of you personally, but I would be a fool not to accept your help. We'll need all we can get if we hope to defeat Discord once and for all."

Orion bowed his gray head. "Thank you, Nebula. I will try to do all that I can."

She turned away again, but her voice was softer when she spoke. "Now if you will excuse me. I need to go find Jess and smooth things over with her. We have a lot of work to do, and we don't need any arguments between us."

Orion watched her go with a slightly more cheerful, yet resigned look on his face. He could tell that she still wasn't happy about having him there, but at least she had accepted his help. That was a start. He was just grateful that she was no longer trying to rip his throat out.

But how long would her acceptance last when she found out the terms of his deal with Selene? He would just have to wait and see.

---

"So you're not speaking to Andrew at the moment, huh?" Talon asked the fuming blonde woman at his side carefully.

Jess sighed and sent a small rock skipping across the lake. "No. Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't love him, but…" she broke off abruptly and sat down hard on the bank. "Sometimes I think he doesn't see the real me, you know. I know he only acts the way he does because he wants to keep me safe, but I'm not some spoiled, pampered, five year old princess anymore. I am a sailor scout! And a damn good one too! I've spent a lot of time debating with myself why I was ever born to begin with. But now I'm really starting to think that I was born for this fight. Does that make sense?"

Talon nodded as he took a seat next to her. "Yes, it does. As you know, there were two prophecies made about your birth in the Silver Millennium. The problem with prophecies is that most people take them for face value and don't bother to read between the lines. The moment that the people of the Earth and the Moon heard that a union between Endymion and Serenity could result in a power that could possibly be destructive, they jumped to conclusions and demanded that the betrothal be void. They completely ignored the part where it mentioned that you could be the world's salvation."

She laid back and put her hands behind her head. "That's just a typical human response. People are leery of anything that may bring them harm. Their survival instinct kicks in and they figure that it's better to avoid the situation all together, even if it means the possibility of giving up something better in the long run. I'm just grateful that Serenity and Endymion were too stubborn and in love to give in. If they had, then I wouldn't be here."

"And what a travesty that would have been," he quipped as he grinned at the reincarnated princess. "I've always been glad that I was the only person that heard the second prophecy and that I chose to keep it to myself. There would have been pandemonium if people had had any inclination that you existed, especially since it called you the angel of darkness. But I believe that it merely spoke of your shadow powers. Prophecies can be vague like that."

"Well I think it's all stupid!" she grumbled. "What gives people the right to decide the outcome of other people's lives just because someone makes a prediction or a prophecy? Maybe your old leader really was a seer or something of that nature, but still doesn't mean that it's right for others to say who can marry and who can't, or who can be born and who doesn't deserve a chance at life."

"And I agree with you," Talon assured her hastily. "It took me a while to see it your way, but eventually I did. Beryl spent years chasing after Endymion, thinking that she would be able to keep him and Serenity apart by making him want her. She thought that if she had him for herself that it would keep the prophecy from coming true. But the moment I came across you in that stable that night I knew that it was already too late. The power that I felt coming off of you told me in an instant that you had been born from a union between the Silver and the Golden Crystal. I admit that I became intoxicated at the thought of having such power for my own."

Jess stared up at the fluffy, white clouds floating in the vibrant blue sky. "Sometimes I wish I could give it all away to someone else so I wouldn't have to deal with it. The prophecy was wrong anyway. I don't have the power to save the world. Not without destroying it, anyway. I can help protect it, and I can use a portion of my power to help seal away evil, but if I were to unleash the full power of my crystal to defeat Discord I would take the entire planet with me. So in reality I can only bring about the Earth's destruction, not it's salvation."

Talon raised an eyebrow sardonically. "Is that what you really think? You're wrong, princess, so very wrong. Your future children are two bearers of the Galactic Trinity. They are the only ones with the power to get rid of Discord for good and save the world. If you had never been born and then died in the Silver Millennium so that you could be reborn here, then those children would never exist. So I believe that you have fulfilled the prophecy. You will be the world's salvation. You will save it from Discord by giving life to your son and daughter. I truly believe that was what the prophecy spoke of."

She propped herself up on an elbow to look at the brown haired sorcerer in surprise. "Wow! That was pretty deep, Talon. Looking at it that way, I guess it does make sense. Everyone thought the prophecies were about me personally because of my crystal. But in reality it meant the kids. In order for them to exist, Serenity and Endymion had to be together in the past so I could be born. Then we all had to die and be reborn here so that the twins and DJ could be born. It makes complete sense now. Who would have ever thought you could be so philosophical?"

His pitch-dark eyes glittered laughingly at her. "I've been known to have my moments from time to time. But now I think I'll take my leave for a while. Someone wants to talk to you, and don't think he would enjoy an audience."

Jess closed her eyes and sighed, but she nodded. She had felt Andrew nearby, watching her, for the past several minutes. But her pride was still wounded enough to not acknowledge him. But her anger had cooled down enough by now for her to be able to think clearly, and she knew that they were going to have to talk things out at some point.

She opened her eyes and sat up as Talon got up and walked away. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she looked across the lake. She could see Edward and Althea on the far side, strolling together hand in hand, and she marveled over the fact that they still seemed to be so in love after all of this time. Their mortal lives my have been cut tragically short, but they had still been together in the Elysian Fields for centuries upon centuries, and they still acted like a couple of newlyweds. Serenity and Jonathan were the same way.

It made her wonder what she and Andrew would be like after they had been together for many years. From what little bit she had been able to pick up from the kids, she knew that they were married and still together in the future. But were they happy? She had no doubt that they were probably great companions. She and Andrew had always been very compatible, despite their differences in personalities. But did that spark still exist between them? Did her future self's heart still beat a little bit faster every time her husband walked into the room? Did he still feel the same way about her?

'I guess I'll get a glimpse of that when I go to the future,' she told herself as she felt Andrew approach her. His aura, hot, just like the sun, reached out to envelop her. It should have been stifling since the day was warm and sunny, just like all days in Elysian, but the warmth from him wrapped around her just like a comforting cocoon. It was soothing. She felt him sit down next to her, but she didn't look his way. No matter how much she loved him, she still had her dignity to uphold.

Andrew sat in silence for a moment, but then he bumped his shoulder lightly against hers. "Sorry," he mumbled.

He sounded so miserable that she almost caved right then. But the situation between them was much more serious than her wearing one of his shirts and getting paint on it or him forgetting to bring home a cherry coke from the arcade like she asked him to. She always loved the way he made her feel so loved and protected, but there were times that he needed to set it aside. She was a fighter. She had trained for years for situations like this. He was just going to have to accept that.

"What you said hurt," she finally said, cringing a little at how little girl like her voice came out sounding. So much for the strong, confident woman façade.

He sighed deeply. "I know. I have no right to tell you what to do. I've known about you being a sailor scout from almost the very beginning of our relationship. So I really shouldn't be surprised that you're so determined to join this fight. But damn it…I just want to keep you safe!"

She finally turned to look at him. He was sitting with one leg stretched out in front of him and the other one pulled up with his elbow resting on his knee. He was leaning back slightly, braced by his other hand on the ground, and was staring out over the lake the same way she had been.

She took a moment to admire the sight he made with his sandy blonde hair gleaming in the sunlight and his beautiful, clear hazel eyes. She had tried many times to capture his image on paper, but portraits were not her forte when it came to her art, and she had never been able to completely duplicate his features. When he smiled his mouth hitched up slightly higher on one side than it did on the other and the corners of his eyes would crinkle just a bit. She doubted that there was an artist anywhere that could replicate him exactly as he was.

But right now he wasn't smiling. His eyes were clouded with worry and his brow was wrinkled in concern as he stared off into the distance. Her heart went out to him, but she wasn't going to give in to him on this. Going to the future and helping out as much as she could was something that she had to do. According to Trista, if she didn't, their future would be cut painfully short.

"Do you remember," she began softly, "the night of Serena's birthday party from hell, when that youma came into the arcade and trashed the place? That was the night that you found out that I was a sailor scout."

His face turned toward her, now creased with confusion instead of concern. "Of course I remember. That night definitely ranks on my list of the top five most memorable nights of my life. I doubt I'll ever forget it."

She laid her cheek against her knees and gave him a hint of a smile. "After you chased me down to my apartment that night you told me that you would learn to deal with the fact that I was a sailor scout and that you would stick with me, and you did. You stood by me through all of the crap that we went through with Discord before and you've supported me through everything in my personal life as well. But you've never before treated me like I was weak or helpless…until today."

He closed his eyes for a moment like he was in pain. When he opened them again, they were as anguished as his voice. "I've never thought that you were weak…ever! And if anyone is helpless around here it's me. From the moment I found out that I was a crystal carrier I swore to protect you. But in reality I probably need more protection than you do. You are so much more powerful than I am, and a much better fighter. So why would you need pathetic little me to look out for you?"

Her head snapped up and her eyes blazed. "Excuse me! Just where the hell did that come from? You can drop that Mr. Pitiful act right this second, Andrew Furuhata, because if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here! You rescued me that day in the mountains when you stabbed Discord to keep him from running me through with his sword. And that night on the bridge, when he ripped my crystal from me and I was lying helpless at his feet, you attacked him to keep him from blasting me into little bitty pieces. And don't even get me started on all of the other times you've yanked my ass out of danger's path!"

He shook his head and reached out to cup her cheek in his hand. "You would have found a way out of those situations without me. You're strong and intelligent, and always at least a step ahead of me. And it's not fair for me to hold you back just because I'm selfish enough to want to keep you at my side."

She melted under his loving gaze and turned her head slightly to brush her lips across his palm before nestling her cheek back into it. "Oh, Drew! You're not being selfish at all. But I do think you're seriously underestimating your own power and abilities. We're a team. The only reason why I feel confident enough to run into a battle and start blasting any baddies that are hanging around is because I have faith in you. I trust you to keep an eye on my back and what's going on around us. I know that can't be easy because I tend to lose my head a little when I go into a fight. But you've always kept me safe, and I don't think I could ever trust anyone at my back as much as I do you. I do understand your fears and reservations about this upcoming fight, but I have to do this. I just hope you can understand."

He moved his hand from her face to the back of her neck and pulled her forward until she fell against his chest. Then he wrapped both arms around her and hugged her close as he buried his face into her hair. He breathed in the scent of her citrus shampoo that clung to the silky, sun warmed, caramel blonde strands before he whispered, "You are one stubborn, hard headed woman."

She giggled as she snaked her arms around his waist and squeezed. "Yes I am. But would you want me any other way?"

"No. I guess I wouldn't," he admitted as his lips twisted in a wry grin. "So I guess we're going to the future, huh?"

Her head flew up so quick that it almost bashed him in the nose. "You mean you're coming with me?" she asked in wide-eyed shock.

He tugged on her braid playfully. "Of course I'm coming with you! You didn't expect me to let you go without me, did you? Especially not after that impassioned little pep talk you just gave me."

"B…but…" she stammered. "You hate the idea!"

"Hate is a strong word to use," he hedged. "I dislike the idea of you getting wrapped up in this fight. But if you're going, then I'm going. Who else is going to watch your back?"

She shrugged. "I was thinking that I would appeal to your future self. If you're still the same person in the future, I don't think you would let anything happen to me."

He chuckled lightly. "No offense, sweetheart, but I think I am more comfortable thinking about my future not knowing that I have a reservation waiting for me at the nuthouse. And I'm pretty certain that is where my future self would end up if he had to deal with two of you at once."

"You don't have to put it that way!" she pouted playfully. "You make it sound like I have the ability to drive anyone bonkers."

"No, not completely bonkers, just slightly mental," he teased her. Then he rolled away from her and to his feet as she lunged at him with a laughing snarl. "Hey! I didn't mean it in a bad way. I just meant that you keep me on my toes."

Jess was suddenly standing, having executed a move that would have made even the strictest of sensei proud of their student. At first glance she looked pissed, but Andrew knew her well enough to notice the barest hint of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth and the amused twinkle in her eyes.

"You are so not funny!" she growled in a voice that was meant to be threatening, but fell far short of its mark.

"Oh, I don't know," he returned in a lofty voice. "I think there are a lot of people that find me humorous. I've been keeping people entertained in the arcade for years. That's how I always scored the big tips."

"Uh huh!" she muttered with a roll of her eyes. "I hate to break it to you, sweetie, but I think your tips had more to do with all of the teenage girls that like to come in and ogle your butt than it did your winning personality."

Blonde brows arched over hazel eyes. "Really? Is that your way of saying that you think I have a fine ass?" He craned his head over his shoulder to try to look behind him.

Laughter pealed from Jess's throat like bells. "I never pegged you for being such a narcissist! But yes, you have a very nice ass. It was one of the first things I noticed about you."

He took a predatory step toward her. "One of the first, huh?"

She nodded. "The first thing I noticed was your eyes. I was sitting at the counter at the arcade and you came over to ask me what I wanted. I looked up and got sucked into your eyes immediately. After that, I started taking in the rest of you and I liked what I saw. But then you turned away to get my drink and I was like, 'Ooo baby! I'd like to take a bite out of that!' Why else do you think I spent the entire afternoon sitting there and talking to you?"

His lower lip jutted out in a pout. "So you were just after me for my body and not for who I am on the inside?"

"Oh, now you're just fishing for compliments!" she chided as she slapped lightly against his arm. "You know I love you for who you are. The outside wrapping is just an added bonus. Besides, can you honestly say that it was my personality that drew you to me that first day?"

A slight flush appeared on his cheeks as he grumbled, "Well, no. I turned around and saw you sitting there and felt like somebody had just hit me in the chest with a sledgehammer. I thought you looked like an angel."

She snorted in disbelief. "Yeah right! I've been called many things over the years, and angelic is not one of them. In fact, most people would probably compare me to the devil before they would an angel."

Andrew smirked as he snaked his arms around her waist and jerked her slightly, pulling her off balance so that she fell flush against him. "That just goes to show you that other people are fools. When I look at you I see the whole package. I see a strong, independent, loyal, and loving woman wrapped up inside a beautiful siren with mile long legs."

Now it was her turn to blush as she squeaked, "Mile long legs!"

"Mmm hmm," he murmured as he leaned down to nuzzle her neck softly. "You said that you liked my butt, and I'm telling you that I like your legs. Especially when they are wrapped around me."

"Drew!" she protested as her face flamed. "Stop! You're embarrassing me!"

He chuckled huskily. "You're still such an innocent sometimes."

"It's not funny!" she grumbled. Then she asked, "So are we okay now? I mean, after our fight and everything?"

He lifted his face from her neck to look at her with sincerity. "Yeah, we're okay. I'll just be glad when it's over."

She nodded. "You and me both." Then she closed the gap between them to kiss him gently.

Their lips had barely brushed when an indignant voice interrupted them. "Pardon me, am I interrupting a private moment?"

Jess bent back over Andrew's arms at her waist to hang her head upside down and glare at the intruder. "Of course you're interrupting a private moment, Nebula! That seems to be one of the things that you excel at."

The rust colored feline sniffed indignantly. "Well fine, Little Miss Smarty-pants! I came down here to apologize for my atrocious behavior earlier and to see if we could talk like civilized people, but I guess you've decided to sulk and hold a grudge."

"Oh, keep your fur on, Bula! I was just teasing," Jess muttered as she righted herself and turned to face her advisor. "Everybody is entitled to a good, old fashioned temper tantrum every now and then. Heaven knows I've had my share of them."

Nebula shifted nervously. "Yes, well, it was entirely out of character for me. I should have thought before I acted and I'm sorry that Katie was almost caught up in my…display of displeasure."

Jess giggled and dropped to her knees to scoop up the cat that had been with her for so many years. "And I'm sorry that I blasted you back on your furry little butt. It's easy for your emotions to go into overload when dealing with matters of the heart."

"Matters of the heart indeed!" Nebula snorted. "The only thing I'm dealing with is a major pain in my tail. But in the interest of all of the things we have going on right now, I have decided to put aside my differences with Orion for the time being. As much as I hate to admit it, the lying furball is quite knowledgeable about fighting and he's willing to help out. I would be a fool to not take him up on his offer. The more brains we have on the job, the better."

"I agree," Jess replied with a nod. "I know where we are supposed to go and what we're going there for, but we owe it to our futures to be at our best when we go."

"And you know what that means, don't you?" Nebula said, her voice taking on a commanding tone.

Jess sat her back on the ground and stood. "Right! It's time to get back to work. I want to go into this fight at my strongest. And in order to do that I still have some fine tuning to do."

Then a growling sound filled the air and her expression turned sheepish as she placed her hands over her stomach. "But can training wait until after lunch? I'm starving!"

Andrew burst into laughter while Nebula shook her head and muttered, "Honestly, girl! I don't think you'll ever change. May the gods have mercy on your children."

---

Lunch was a chaotic affair. Lita and Aurora had worked together to produce an assortment of sandwiches along with various sides such as potato and pasta salad. But with the palace being overrun be so many people, they decided that it was best to serve lunch as a buffet, so they sat the food that they had prepared, accompanied by several kinds of chips and dips, on a long table that they had set up on the terrace.

The generals, ravenous after their strenuous training session, fell upon the food gratefully, even beating Serena to the punch for once. Eventually everyone had helped themselves and had settled on the bright green grass of the palace lawn to enjoy an impromptu picnic.

Trista finished first, and then stood to address the group. "Everyone, please continue eating. I just wanted to take a moment and tell everyone exactly what's going on. As I explained earlier, Discord will soon make his move on Crystal Tokyo. And when that time comes the attack has the potential to be devastating to the city. There is no way to stop the attack completely, but the more hands that we have on board to help protect Crystal Tokyo, the less destruction there will be."

Rini's hand paused with a potato chip halfway to her mouth. Her eyes grew impossibly wide. "Are you saying that Crystal Tokyo could be completely wiped off the map?"

Trista gave her a sad smile. "I'm saying that I have seen that to be a possibility in one of the possible futures. When the attack happens, you, along with DJ, Katie, Alex, and the rest of the younger group, will lure Discord back out of the city. But he's grown his army to massive proportions and he will split it, taking part of it with him while leaving the rest to ravage Crystal Tokyo. And we're not talking about just the guardians and sentinels that you've become accustomed to fighting. Discord has been experimenting with his creations and has developed what can only be called genetic nightmares. He has made humanoid giants that could take down a building with one swing of their arms and large, tank-like animals that can mow down anything in their path and are so highly venomous that it makes the sentinel poisoning from before look like a common cold."

A collective hiss of disbelief ran through the group.

"That doesn't make any sense," Alex finally muttered. "We're the ones that he wants to kill so badly. So why would he leave behind a chunk of his forces instead of turning them all loose against us? What is he going to gain by destroying Crystal Tokyo? If he manages to take one of us out and disrupt the Trinity, then he's planning on just blowing up the whole planet anyway."

DJ shook his head. "Because he knows that he would still be at risk. Even if he got rid of us; mom, dad, and the others could try to seal him away again."

"There is that," Trista conceded. "But there is something else that he is after as well. And he knows that the only way to get it is to conquer the city and probably the palace also." Her gaze lingered on Jess for a moment.

Jess looked around as every eye flicked to her. She swallowed the bite of food in her mouth before glaring belligerently. "What? It's not like this is big news or anything. He's been after me for a while now, so we should all be used to it."

"And you still want to go, knowing that?" Andrew grumbled next to her.

She bumped his shoulder with hers. "Hey, I thought we had agreed on this already. Besides, he or one of his tacky little minions would have to catch me first."

Andrew sighed. "Do I need to remind you of that night on the bridge? He had you pretty good then."

She fluttered a hand at him as she reached for a handful of Jalapeño Cheetos. "No, you don't have to remind me. I remember every excruciating moment, thank you! I admit that he caught me off guard that night. But it won't happen again."

"Ahem!" Trista interrupted them. "If I may continue. The point is that while Crystal Tokyo has some of the most advanced security cautions set in place, there is no way that they can stand up to an attack of this magnitude. Even the attack by the Black Moon Clan wasn't as potentially destructive as this one, and most of you know how that turned out.

Shivers rippled through Serena, Darien, the inner scouts, and the group from Crystal Tokyo. That was definitely an experience that they all remembered.

Katie's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "But the security has been beefed up since then. Aunt Serena set up those wards around the city to keep anybody from getting in. Shouldn't that stop them?"

Trista shook her head. "Those wards are directly linked to the Silver Crystal. Neo Queen Serenity would be able to hold them at bay for a while, but the drain on her energy would eventually kill her if she kept it up for too long. The inner scouts could also cast their energy to protect the palace like they did before, but the palace grounds would be all that was protected, leaving the rest of the city at the mercy of Discord's army and without enough people to keep them safe."

Serena nodded. "So you're thinking double the troops, double the protection, huh?"

"That's one way of looking at it," Trista answered. "It could be extremely advantageous to have two of each of you there. Discord wouldn't be expecting it, and it could give us the edge that we need to defeat his army."

"Well we're going," Darien stated as he reached for Serena's hand. "We've already decided that. And I think it's pretty safe to say that Jess and Drew are going too."

Trista nodded her approval. "I had figured as much. I've already spoken to Amara, Michelle, and Hotaru, and they have agreed to go as well."

Serena looked around at her four remaining scouts. These women were the ones that had been some of her closest friends and had stood by her since they were all fourteen and had been thrust into the sailor scout lifestyle.

"Mina, Raye, Lita, Amy…" she began carefully. "I love you girls dearly, and I hope you know that. You've been by my side and supported me since before we even remembered the first thing about our past lives. Together we have faced down everything from youmas and psychotically obsessed queens to possessed sailor scouts and evil entities. I have never looked at you girls as being merely my sailor scouts or sisters in arms. I have always believed that the strings that tie us together were much stronger than that. You are truly my sisters in everything but blood, and I would never ask or demand that any of you take part in this fight. The decision of whether or not to go is entirely up to you."

"You better shut it up right now, Meatball Head, before I light your ass up!" Raye growled. "Do you honestly think that I would let you go traipsing off to the future without me? You've lost your damn mind if you think that!"

"And that goes ditto for me!" Mina exclaimed. "You just said it yourself. We always stick together. And before you go getting your back up and thinking that I'm just saying this out of duty, let me tell you that I'm not. All of our futures are on the line here and we have to be strong. And we are strongest when we are together."

"I'm in too!" Lita declared passionately. "We've always been a team, and that's how we work best. Besides, I'm not about to sit back and let the rest of you have all the fun."

Amy's blue eyes glittered brightly. "I'm with you guys! We've always vowed to keep the planet safe, and we never specified that it had to be in this time. We've already gone to the future once in order to save the world, and now we're going to do it again."

"Well I guess that settles that," Serena giggled. "Not that I ever thought for a second that any of you would stay behind. But the decision was yours to make."

"Well I can't speak for the other guys, but I'm going," Jadeite drawled. "For one thing, I'm not letting my firefly go into a fight without me. And for another, I live to kick the shit out of bad guys."

"Same here!" was Nephrite's response. "If Lita's going, then I'm going. Anyway, we have to protect the future if we want to make sure we have one."

Mina leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially in Serena's ear, "Don't you find it interesting that the first two mighty generals to speak up and say that they will go wherever their ladies go are the two that haven't screwed up the nerve to propose yet?"

Serena hid a grin behind a hand as she whispered back. "It is definitely interesting. Maybe this means that they will get their butts in gear soon."

Kunzite cleared his throat before speaking in his rumbling baritone. "I'm going as well. This fight isn't just to save the world for ourselves, it's for our children too." He glanced over to where Emma sat next to Alex, and his steel gray eyes softened for a moment.

"It's for everybody on the planet," Zoicite stated firmly. "We may have come a long way from who we used to be, but our mission has never changed. We must do what we can to keep the Earth safe."

"Well I guess that covers everyone," Darien grumbled good-naturedly. "It looks like we're all on board for this battle. I suppose my next question is why they are here." He waved a hand toward Talon and Kyrian.

"Talon's my fault," Jess quickly answered. "When Trista and I were talking earlier she said that Discord has given a few of his creatures some of his mind manipulating powers so that they can help track me, or the at least the future me, down and trap me. So since Talon is the only other person I know of that has that ability, I thought he could help me make sure my mental defenses are as strong as I can make them. Expanding my powers won't do me one bit of good in a fight if some brain whammy gets by me and spaces me out."

Talon inclined his head to her with a chuckle. "It's always a pleasure to be of service to you, princess."

"Smug bastard!" Andrew growled under his breath. He had grown tolerant of their one time enemy, but it still chapped him when the other man played his blatant flirting games with Jess. He knew he didn't have anything to worry about, but still! The guy was married and had a baby on the way for crying out loud!

"Be nice!" Jess hissed as she elbowed him in the ribs. Then she turned her attention back to the time guardian. "When you said that you were bringing somebody back too, I had no idea that you meant Kyrian."

Trista shrugged. "As you know, the brand of magic that Talon and his people control is most powerful when they work in pairs so that they can feed off of each other's energy. Anya has progressed too far into her pregnancy to ask her to expend her energy needlessly, so I decided to bring in Kyrian instead. There was another person that I started to bring…"

"I wonder who that could have been," Skye snickered, still slightly in shock at the news that the usually stoic, prim, and proper Trista had hooked up with the always laughing and jovial Evan.

"…but I thought that Kyrian was the better choice," Trista finished, giving the auburn haired girl a stern look. Then her garnet gaze went to the tall young man that was sprawled out casually on the grass at Skye's side. "I figured that there was no way that you plan on sitting out in this fight. So I thought you might like to help out with the training."

Kyrian slid his sunglasses down his nose and pinned her with a glittering onyx stare. "You figured right. It's just not in me to sit back while there's a fight going on. But I don't think I'm really needed to help with the training. It seems to me that there are more teachers than there are students here already."

Trista's lips twitched like she was almost going to smile. "Modesty has its time and places, but this isn't one of them. Jess!" she snapped, turning back to the befuddled looking blonde. "On the nights that you have spent training here, what seems to have been your most predominate powers?"

Jess winced as she thought about all of the damage she had inadvertently inflicted in Elysian during her secret cram sessions. Thankfully, the magic that surrounded this place always repaired whatever she blew up. "Um…mass destruction?" she mumbled hesitantly.

A pent up sigh rushed out of Trista. "Yes, yes! I'm well aware of the more explosive side of your power. But I was speaking of the other."

Jess tilted her head thoughtfully. "I've been working on shielding techniques, but it's not going very well. I can do small ones like the one I did in front of Katie earlier, and sometimes even those backfire on me. I thought I might be able to make them bigger so that they could cover a larger area and possibly even channel my energy through them to radiate out in an attack, but I haven't figured out how to focus the energy properly."

This time, Trista did smile as she nodded her head in Kyrian's direction. "Well there's your answer. Kyrian may not be a crystal carrier, but he's the strongest shield I have ever known. I think he may be able to help you."

"Whoa! Wait just a minute!" Kyrian exclaimed as he sat up quickly. "I can't teach her! She's the one that taught me how to use my shielding abilities when I was just a kid."

Trista's expression turned smug. "And how do you think she knew how to teach you? Life is nothing but a circle, and time follows that same circle. By coming here and helping Jess, you are ensuring that her future self has the knowledge that she needs to teach you later on. You are both students and teachers in this scenario."

Eyebrows shot way up under the dark chocolate colored hair that fell over Kyrian's forehead. "No offense, Trista. I get the whole Lion King, circle of life reference and all, but this isn't Disney. And the last time I checked, my name wasn't Simba. You can't be serious about me teaching her the same stuff she taught me."

"Hey!" Jess snapped, starting to look angry. "You got a problem about working with me, Houdini?"

His eyes skittered away from hers as he grumbled, "No. I guess not. It's just…weird. I know you're not exactly the same person I've known my whole life, but when I look at you it's hard to tell the difference. It's kinda freaky."

Alex leaned over and clapped him on the shoulder. "Welcome to our world. Now you know what our lives have been like the last few months."

"I hate to interrupt," Queen Serenity spoke up then. She and the other three temporarily resurrected monarchs had been watching and listening quietly over on the sidelines, but now she stepped forward. "I know that all of you have a lot of discussing and planning to do, but my and the other's time here is beginning to grow short. And I believe that I promised my great granddaughter that I would share some pointers with her."

"Oh! Right!" Katie exclaimed eagerly as she picked up the silver sword next to her and scrambled to her feet. "I'm ready whenever you are, Grandma Serenity."

"And you two," Serenity declared as she spun around to fix the two former kings with a gimlet gaze. Edward had unearthed an old pack of cards from somewhere, and he and Jonathan had been passing the time by playing poker. They were using potato chips in lieu of money, and the stack in front of the earth king was considerably bigger than the pile the moon king had in front of him.

Serenity sighed and touched her fingers to her temples. "Dear Selene, save me from overgrown boys that masquerade as men. Do you two think you can set aside your game for now so we can get back to work? I know you've spent some time with the boys, but if I know you as well as I think I do, then you probably spent more time goofing around than you did actually teaching them anything valuable."

"Do you think you could ever learn to stop being so bossy? I count myself lucky that I didn't marry you. You're more ill tempered than a shrew sometimes," Edward fired back. But he hissed out a pained breath a moment later as Althea reached out and pulled a hank of his coal black hair and turned to glare at her. "And you're just plain abusive!" he declared.

Jess's resemblance to the former earth queen was more evident than ever as Althea narrowed her bright green eyes on him and crossed her arms threateningly. "Oh, stop whining and take it like a man, Edward! Serenity's right. We're running out of time. You and Jonathan have spent the past ten centuries challenging each other to your silly little games, and I'm sure you'll spend the next ten centuries doing the same. So I think you can afford to take a short break from trying to prove how superior you think you are to focus on something serious for a change."

"I was losing anyway," Jonathan grumbled. "Let's just call it quits, Ed. What have you got?"

Edward smirked and laid his hand down. "Two pairs, Kings and Jacks."

Jonathan crowed as he set his cards down. "Full House, 8's over 5's. Ha! Looks like Lady Luck decided to shine on me this time."

"Yeah, luck is all you've got, because your skills stink," Edward grumbled as he gathered up the cards.

"Okay!" Nebula spoke up briskly. "This is how we're going to work things. DJ, Katie, and Alex, you three are with Serenity, Jonathan, Edward, and…" she paused for a moment and took a deep breath before muttering, "…and Orion. Jess, I want you working with Talon and Kyrian. The rest of the teen brigade is with me."

Rini, Emma, Skye, Jayden, and Hannah groaned at her proclamation.

"I don't want to hear it!" she snapped, cutting off their grumbling protests. "I've been watching all of you, and you've gotten lazy lately. You need a good practice session to whip you back into shape and get you back on top of your game. You won't be able to bungle your way through this fight. So you five are going to train until I think you are performing to the best of your abilities. Even if I have to take you all the way back to the basics."

Rini's mouth popped open, but the rust colored feline interrupted her first. "And don't think you can talk your way out of this, young lady. I won't let you pull rank on me either. Princess or not, you need to be prepared for this fight. I'm sure that your parents would agree with me if they were here."

"There go your plans for your afternoon make out session with Horseboy," Jayden snickered.

Skye and Emma each had to grab one of Rini's arms to hold her back from jumping the laughing blonde boy.

"If you don't mind," Kunzite said to Darien. "I think I'm going to find someplace to catch a quick nap. And I'm going to take Mina with me too. She's almost dead on her feet."

It was true that the love goddess appeared heavy eyed and running low on her usual pep juice.

"That's not a bad idea," Raye agreed as she smothered a yawn. "Some of you have been here longer than the rest of us and have gotten some sleep. But it was late night when Trista came and got us and I had just gotten in from the club. So I'm running on vapors at this point."

Jadeite waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "I'm sure we can find a bed somewhere."

"She meant to sleep in, you pervert!" Lita drawled as Nephrite smacked the blonde general on the back of his head.

"That's a good idea," Serena told them. "All of you guys should probably grab some sleep."

"You should probably join them," Darien whispered in her ear. "You didn't get any sleep last night, so I know you've got to be feeling pretty run down yourself."

She shook her head, watching as her past parents walked away with DJ, Katie, and Alex. "I'll sleep after Momma and Papa leave. I don't want to miss any of this time with them."

He sighed and smoothed a thumb over the light purple shadows under her eyes. "You are so stubborn sometimes."

She gave him a tired, but radiant smile. "I know. But that's one of the reasons why you love me."

---

Crystal Tokyo – The 30th Century

"Can either of you hear what they're saying?" Ryssa hissed to the two boys that were practically dangling from the balcony railing as they attempted to eavesdrop on the adults congregated on the patio below.

"We would be able to hear them if you stopped bugging us every five seconds to ask us if we could hear them!" Kyle whispered harshly as he swung his platinum head around to glare at the dark haired girl.

Ryssa almost flinched at the irritation sizzling in his bright blue eyes, but instead she lifted her chin imperiously and muttered, "Well I was just wondering."

"Aw, lay off of her," the chestnut haired Nick said softly as he rolled his dark green eyes at both of them. "She was just asking a question, Kyle."

"She's always asking questions, just like a girl," Kyle grumbled.

Flames began simmering in Ryssa's violet eyes. "I am a girl, Hotshot! And there's nothing wrong with asking questions. That's how you learn things."

"Easy," Nick cautioned as he left his spot at the railing and stood between the arguing duo. Then he told Ryssa, "We haven't picked up on much yet. Just that Rini, DJ, and the others will be coming back soon, but they didn't say when."

"They also said something about some other people possibly coming back with them as well," Kyle said as he once more leaned far over the railing in an attempt to hear the conversation below.

"Who?" Ryssa asked insistently.

"We don't know," Nick answered, cutting off Kyle before he could snap at Ryssa again. "But whatever's going on, it sounds like it's going down soon."

"Hannah's coming home?" a tiny voice popped up. Making all three kids whirl around in surprise to find a small boy with wheat blonde hair and inquisitive blue eyes looking at them hopefully.

"Corey!" Nick squeaked. Then he cleared his throat before speaking in his normal voice. "You scared us, big guy."

"Great!" Kyle growled. "Hey kid, I thought you were keeping watch for us so that you could come tell us if any of the adults head this way."

"Don't fuss at him!" Ryssa snapped. "He probably just got bored staking out the staircase by himself. Didn't you, sweetie?"

Corey's blonde waves bobbed as he nodded his head. "Yeah. There's nothing going on. So did I hear you guys say that Hannah is coming home?"

Ryssa stooped down in front of him and smiled. "You sure miss your big sister, don't you?" When he gave her a gapped toothed grin and nodded, she patted his shoulder. "Well it does sound like she'll be back soon, but we don't know when. So why don't you go and keep a lookout for us for just a few more minutes, okay? Afterward we'll tell you everything we found out."

"Okay!" he chirped before skipping back inside.

Nick and Kyle went back to leaning over the rail again while Ryssa stood there watching them. She could hear the faint murmur of voices from below, but couldn't make out any of the words. She wished that she could join the boys and listen in, but after she had almost pitched headfirst over the rail a little while ago and Nick had to scramble to pull her back, she figured she was safer just letting them do the listening.

She watched in silence for a few minutes, not wanting to interrupt them again in case they missed something important. But curiosity started getting the better of her. She had just opened her mouth to ask what was being said when a hand landed on her shoulder. She started to scream, but found her lips covered by warm fingers.

Heart pounding with dread, she looked up slowly until her eyes met the blue gaze of her father. Normally Jadeite's eyes were bright and laughing, but right now they appeared stern as he shook his head once to tell her to be quiet.

Zoicite stood a few feet behind him, holding an ashen-faced Corey in his arms. The little boy's eyes were teary as he looked at Ryssa apologetically for getting caught.

Kunzite and Nephrite slid around them and silently approached the two boys that were almost dangling from the rail. Quick as cobra strikes, they each reached forward and grabbed one of the boys. Kunzite took Kyle while Nephrite handled Nick, wrapping one arm around their waists to haul them back and clamping the other hand over their mouths so that they couldn't yell out. After a few seconds of wrestling, they managed to herd the eavesdroppers inside.

Nick, Ryssa, and Kyle huddled in a group as they quailed under the weight of their father's annoyed looks. Zoicite sat Corey on his feet and nudged him to go over and stand with his fellow eavesdroppers.

Kunzite folded his arms across his broad chest as he surveyed the four children. "Well men, it looks like we have a conspiracy on our hands," he said in a steely voice to the other generals. "Kyle?"

Kyle sighed, but raised his head to meet his father's gaze head on. He squared his shoulders before he replied, "Sir?"

"Would you care to tell us why you were dangling from the balcony like a monkey in an attempt to listen to a conversation that we told you was adults only," Kunzite asked in the same, firm voice.

"We just wanted to hear what was going on," Kyle answered in a voice that wavered just slightly.

Jadeite choked on something that sounded like a snort of laughter and turned away with his hand over his mouth. Nephrite knocked him upside the head before turning back to the troublemakers. "And why should what we adults are talking about matter to you kids?"

"Because you never tell us anything!" Nick shot back, his green eyes fearless. "We may be just kids, but we're not stupid! We know something's going on, something big."

"That's right!" Ryssa added, jumping on the bandwagon. "First Rini left. Then DJ, Katie, and Alex left too. Jayden and the others have been gone a long time as well. And it's all because of this Discord thing. Now you adults go around all the time whispering to each other and having secret meetings. I think we have a right to know what's going on."

Jadeite had sobered up and was rubbing the spot on his head where Nephrite had smacked him. "Ryssa…" he began.

"No, she's right!" Kyle interrupted. "Something is threatening our home. The city is on lockdown. The outer scouts and a lot of other people have moved into the palace. And we each have a sibling wrapped up in whatever is going on behind the scenes. So I think we do have a right to know exactly what's going down."

Corey sniffled and shuffled his feet. "I miss Hannah."

Zoicite scooped the youngster back up into his arms. "Hey buddy! Don't get upset. I'm sure your sister misses you too. And she'll be coming back soon. I promise. She just had to go away for a while so she could learn how to fight against the bad guy."

"Zoicite!" Kunzite snapped. "Don't say too much!"

"That's not saying too much," Nephrite contradicted. "I think they deserve to know why the other kids disappeared anyway. They're going to find out sooner or later when things go down."

Jadeite stared at his daughter for a moment, who was almost a perfect miniature of her mother. Then he groaned deeply. "Aw man! Raye will roast me for this."

"Wear something fireproof then," Ryssa quipped back, violet eyes smoldering as she tossed her raven black ponytail over her shoulder. "Mom will get over it. At least you know I'm not a baby."

Kunzite pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine. We will tell you the basics. But before we do you have to promise us that none of this will reach any of your mothers' ears."

Four hands shot up into the air as each of the kids solemnly swore, "I promise!"

---

Elysian – Present Time

"Damn it!" Jess snarled as the shield she had been working on imploded in on itself and the burst of energy knocked her back several feet where she landed on her butt.

Andrew rushed to help her up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she grumbled as she dusted off the back of her fuku skirt. "But I think my ass is going to have a permanent bruise on it by the time I'm done."

"You did much better this time though," Kyrian said as he joined them. "That shield was definitely the largest one that you've managed to conjure yet. I'd be willing to bet that it had a two hundred foot radius"

"But I couldn't hold it," Jess grouched. "Making a shield doesn't do me any good if I can't keep it up."

Kyrian tilted his head thoughtfully. "Making and holding shields isn't your problem. It's when you try to radiate your energy out that things fall apart. Instead of flowing out, it's like the energy converges back in toward you. I think you're holding back too much."

She rolled her eyes. "Well I kinda have to. I've been taught for years to keep my powers on a tight leash so that the planet doesn't self-destruct. So I'm still trying to learn what the right amount is and how much is too much. And that's not exactly easy."

A safe distance away, Talon chuckled where he stood next to Serena and Darien. "Do you think she'll ever get a handle on those powers of hers?" he asked them.

Darien shrugged. "I don't know. Part of me wishes that she would give up on trying to evolve her strength. We've all known from the beginning that the Celestial Crystal was dangerous for her to use, and I don't want to see her hurt or accidentally killed because of it."

"Oh, both of you hush!" Serena scolded. "I can't say that I'm thrilled with this either, but I trust her. Jess may be rash and hotheaded, but she knows her limits. I trust her to not overdo things."

"Hmm, I guess we'll see," Talon mused. "In the meantime, she looks like she's starting to wear down."

He caught Kryian's eye and gave him a slight nod. The two of them had been teaming up together at random times while Jess had been training to attempt to break into her mind and try to distract her. So far she had been doing pretty well at holding them off.

Jess was busy talking to Andrew, so she didn't notice when Kyrian stepped out of her sight and began mutely glowing as he channeled his energy to his future father to give his powers a boost.

Serena and Darien both leaned forward eagerly as Talon shot a blast of his mind manipulating energy toward Jess. It usually took her a few moments to erect her mental defenses against an attack, and since Talon was also able to project whatever he was seeing in her head, they had been treated to quick, holographic clips from Jess's past, which amused Serena, Darien, and even Andrew to a point. Jess had given them a basic rundown of her life this go around, and would pop up with random stories from time to time, but it was interesting to see her past from her perspective.

Serena had giggled for almost five minutes when she saw a partial memory from Christmas morning when Jess had been ten. She had declared that Jess had been absolutely adorable in her red pajamas with her tangled hair bushing out wildly around her. Jess had politely growled at her to shut up before stomping away with an extremely flushed face.

"Huh," Talon muttered as Jess's back stiffened under the onslaught. "She's gotten stronger than I gave her credit for. I know she has to be tired, but she threw up her mental defenses before I even got a peek this time."

"You sound surprised," Serena said with a hint of pride in her voice. "You've always known that there was something special about her."

Talon nodded. "I have. The moment I saw her past self at the age of five I knew that she would grow up to be a force to be reckoned with. Sometimes I am surprised that I didn't connect Sailor Shadow with the reincarnated princess any sooner. Her sheer stubborn will alone should have made it obvious. Any little girl that had the nerve to march across a bloody battlefield couldn't grow up to become anything other than brave and fearless."

"Reckless and impulsive you mean," Darien grumbled. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning her bravery for a moment. But she does have that streak of wildness in her that could get her in trouble."

"Hmph! And I wonder where she could have got that from," Serena huffed. "We may not share any common genes with her in this life, but her personality has remained much the same as it was. And I just happen to know a certain someone that has just the tiniest problem with a hero complex and throws himself into dangerous situations if he thinks there's even the slightest chance to save someone."

"Ha!" Darien barked. "Like you're not just as guilty, maybe even more so. Need I remind you of all of the times that you've almost gotten yourself killed?"

Serena stuck her nose up in the air. "It was all for the good of the planet. You can't blame me for that."

Talon eyed the now glaring couple with trepidation. "Um…I didn't mean to start an argument."

The tense moment was broken by Jess stumbling over to them. She let her transformation fade as she dropped onto the ground next to Serena and fell over so that her head rested in the blonde's lap.

"I am so dead!" she groaned. "I could lay right here and sleep for the next century."

"You've worked hard and made some excellent progress," Serena praised her as she stroked back some of the burnished curls that had come loose from Jess's braid.

"It's not enough though," Jess mumbled. "I have to do better."

"Sweetie, we've already told you. Nobody expects you to be anymore than what you truly are," Serena mock scolded her.

"Yes they do," Jess barely whispered as her eyes flickered shut. "If I don't get stronger my future self will…yell…at…me…" Her voice faded away entirely.

"Did she seriously just fall asleep?" Kyrian asked incredulously.

"Shh!" Serena shushed him. "She's had a long night and a very busy day. Let her get some rest while she can."

Andrew chuckled humorously. "Why don't you guys go check in and see how the kids are doing? I'll stay with Sleeping Beauty." He lifted Jess slightly so that Serena could slide out from under her. Then he took her spot.

Serena giggled as she watched the other woman's head loll heavily onto her fiancés leg. "She's really out of it. She usually wakes up if somebody so much as breathes in her direction."

"Not when she gets this worn out," Andrew answered with a grin. "She could give you a run for your money when it comes to sleeping when she passes out like this, Serena."

Serena wrinkled her nose at him, but smiled. Then she grabbed Darien's hand. "Come on. Let's go see what all the other little geniuses are up to."

Talon and Kyrian fell into step behind them as they made their way across the Elysian grounds to where the others were. It seemed that the two separate training sessions were over, and the eight teens were now together in a group. Serenity, Jonathan, Edward, Althea, and Trista, along with all four felines, were standing over to the side watching as the young fighters shot attacks toward a group of practice dummies that had been set up.

"How are they doing?" Serena asked as they approached.

Serenity shook her head. "As well as can be expected, I suppose. We've walked the three through everything that we can and shown them every trick we know, but I'm afraid they won't be able to put it to much use until they are actually confronted with a fight."

Nebula nodded soberly. "She's right. The power they wield is too strong to allow them to practice with it against any sparring partners without seriously hurting someone or killing them. They can practice their moves and techniques with the others, but I fear they have gone as far as they can until the time of the actual battle comes."

"Yeah. Being confronted with an actual enemy is a lot different than training with friends," Darien replied. "When you're faced with a life or death situation you have to make split second decisions."

Talon chuckled darkly. "So let's give them something that they can really fight against then."

Nebula tilted her head thoughtfully. "You mean by using your illusion powers again?"

The sorcerer nodded. "Yes. I should be able to give them quite a challenge if Kyrian is willing to give me a little extra juice."

The younger man shrugged. "What the hell. I'm game."

Orion snorted. "What good will illusions do? They may as well be fighting nothing."

Nebula rolled her eyes at him. "I think you just might be surprised at how realistic his illusions can be. Very well, Talon. They're all yours. Let's see how off guard this little surprise takes them."

Talon inclined his head. "As you wish. But all of you may want to back up a bit. This could get hectic."

The whole group retreated back a discreet distance. Then Talon closed his eyes and began to glow faintly. Kyrian followed suit as he lent his magic as well.

The nearby trees rustled loudly, drawing all of the teens' attentions. But that was all the warning they got before at least fifty guardians and sentinels crashed through the foliage to surround them.

The spectators watched in awe as the eight teens moved like a well-choreographed machine. Sailors Crescent Moon, Ishtar, Callisto, and Caloris, along with Flame, immediately formed a circle around DJ, Katie, and Alex, who stood back to back with their swords drawn and ready. Multicolored energy swirled to life around them.

"Amazing!" Jonathan sighed as he eyed the scene like he wished he could jump in.

Edward shrugged. "Yeah, it's impressive. But let's see if they can keep it together."

After a few minutes, it was proven that while young, the group was definitely able to keep themselves together. Sailor Crescent Moon used her wand to take out quite a few of the threats, while Ishtar with her golden bow and arrows and Callisto with her hailstorms of electrically charged stars proved to be equally as lethal. Caloris and Flame racked up an impressive number of casualties themselves by combining their water and fire powers to essentially boil the enemies.

In the meantime, DJ, Katie, and Alex held back, only using their powers to take out an enemy when the others were too busy to stop one from getting through. They were conserving their energy exactly the way that they had been told.

They were steadily plowing their way through the forces, and there were only about ten left, when a dark, inky cloud of vapor, an exact replica of Discord, burst from the trees. The teens all froze for just a fraction of a second at the sight, but then they settled back into business. DJ, Katie, and Alex all turned their attention to the evil entity while the others concentrated on dispatching the remaining enemies.

Talon sent a surge of his mind-altering energy toward the three, just like Discord would be sure to do, but caught nothing more than a few brief glimpses into their minds before they shook his control. Katie, in particular, seemed to almost toss his energy back into his face, much as Jess had done earlier. It appeared that the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

It wasn't until the three Trinity bearers had dashed forward, teleporting around to avoid the burst of seemingly dark energy that was sent their way, to send their glowing swords slamming into the cloud that Talon let his illusion fade. He opened his eyes to look at the others with a smirk. "I think they're about as ready as you're ever going to get them. If they can keep their focus like that during a real fight, then Discord doesn't stand a chance."

"That could be a big if," Luna spoke up. "Think about it, Serena. How many training exercises did Artemis and I put you girls through only to have the planned routines fall apart in the heat of battle?"

Artemis nodded. "She does have a point. Things can go seriously wrong without a moment's warning."

"That's true," Orion agreed. "But teaching them a strategy can give them a solid foundation upon which they can build on. When the time comes for them to fight, they may have to variate from the routine, but at least the basic principle is there."

Artemis's hackles raised. "And if things get too chaotic we'll end up with a bunch of kids that are stumbling around blindly. That could get them all killed."

"Down boys!" Serena exclaimed, stepping between the two glaring felines. "The point is that this fight is going to happen. We can't stop it. And the kids will be involved no matter what we do, so we're just going to have to put our faith in them and hope that things turn out okay."

"Always the cheerful optimist," Darien chuckled as he put an arm around her shoulders.

"Talon! You asshole!" Katie's voice rang out. "I know that was you that just pulled that crap! It wasn't funny!"

Talon sighed and shook his head. "Like mother, like daughter. Sometimes I wonder if you guys just created clones instead of having children the conventional way. Each one of them is so much like one of their parents that it's almost scary."

"Yeah, it is," Serena said softly as she looked out over the assorted teenagers and evaluated each one.

Rini may have inherited a healthy dose of Darien's dry humor, but her overall personality mirrored Serena's own more closely. She could be bubbly and outgoing, and she was rabidly loyal to those she cared about. She also shared her mother's love of food, manga, and anime.

DJ was almost a carbon copy of Darien in more than just looks. While he wasn't quite as cynical and hardened by life experiences as his father, he was sharply intelligent and completely devoted to his schooling. It was very clear that the boy wanted to do something productive with his life.

Katie was a bit of a wild card, just like her mother. But underneath the short temper and sarcastic wit beat the heart of a true fighter. She had her loving side and she was artistically gifted in her music. She was poised to take the world by storm, and she would fight every step of the way to get there.

Alex, like Andrew, was ambitious and smart. But his laid back attitude allowed him to go through life at a steady pace. He accepted whatever fate decided to hurl his way with a calm level headedness that most people would envy.

Emma was so much like Mina that sometimes it was easy to forget which one you were speaking to. Every now and then a hint of Kunzite would flare up in her tone or her silvery gray eyes. But overall she was as exuberant and as giddy as her mother.

Lita and Nephrite were so much alike in temperament that it was impossible to say which one Skye took after. But with her brash ways and love for a good fight, there was denying her parentage.

Jayden, to put it bluntly, was Jadeite in miniature. He was the smooth talking jokester of the group that enjoyed ogling girls. But when he got serious his telekinesis and fire power was definitely a handy thing to have around.

And sweet little Hannah, she could get loud when she needed to be heard, much like Amy could. But for the most part she remained quiet and watchful as her brain constantly processed information at computer speed.

These were the young people that they were placing the hopes for the future of Earth on. And Serena sincerely felt a surge of hope as she looked at them.

"I think they can do it," she said softly.

---

A/N The end is coming. Soon everyone will be in the future and the final fight will begin. It should be humorous though when the past and future selves meet. They've all been working hard, and now the time is coming to see if it will be enough. Thank you again to everyone for staying supportive and being understanding of why the chapters are slow in coming. If I had a real Silver Crystal, I would give it to Mina-chan in appreciation for all of the help she's given me. I can't make any promises about when they'll be ready, but we've been working on Rekindled and Bad Boys as well. So hopefully we'll be able to get those out soon. I also want to say thank you to everyone that helped make Candy Kisses a success. Your response was overwhelming! As always, drop me those reviews to let me know what you think. Lots of love and hugs to you all! Be safe!

~Sere~