Destiny Waits For No Sailor

Hello again! This promises to be a long note. No, I'm not planning to
be annoying and attempt my (sad) humor, but I have a lot to say.
1. Many thanks go out to my buddy Christina, who is my official co-
conspirator... Namely, I write and she helps me think of what it is I
am writing.
2. For all of you who know and love Galena, do not fear. I will be
writing both alternately, to appease all parties involved. Except
those who hate fanfiction. But then why would you even be reading
this? Okay, I'll shut up now...
3. Those of you who have read "Mommy, Who Is Sailor Earth?" will be
ahead of the game a bit, just to tell you. That was a slight spoiler
on my part, because I wrote it before I decided on this story. Sorry!
(And this is about ten years later than that story was, by the way.)
I am now officially dissuading you from reading it until everything
with Tara is reveled, if you catch my drift. (Read on, you will!)
4. All names are the American dub. Haruka is now "Alexandra", Michiru
is "Michelle" and Hotaru is "Hannah". These were the suggested
American names, and I'm rolling with it.
5. Galena is not making an appearance. Sorry.
6. If you've got any ideas for the next chapter, or episode, or
whatever, e-mail me or Christina. Duncan@chicago.avenew.com for me
Ladybug142@aol.com for Christina
And don't forget-send gifts to both of us!

Since I'm obviously getting boring, I'll let you go. Enjoy the show. I
cross my heart that the next one will have a shorter author's note.
Rated PG
Kate Butler and Christina
* * * * * * * * * * * *

She knelt before the fire in a meditative manner. The sparks
licked the ceiling ever so slightly, just as they had for generations.
Pulling on a piece of dark hair habitually, she sighed. "Mother,
you mustn't eavesdrop on me when I'm meditating."
The black haired woman in the doorway was taken aback. She
gasped audibly. "Tara, how in heaven did you know?"
"You taught me well, Mother," retorted the girl. She stood to
her full height, which notably taller than her five-foot-three mother.
"I can sense auras as well as you can."
"I see." The woman was oddly silent.
Turning to her mother, Tara looked into the purple eyes. "Is
something wrong?"
"Nothing, but I would like you to meet with the Queen and the
Princess."
The girl shook her head. "How many times must I tell you? I
refuse to serve the Queen. It would interfere with my being at the
temple."
"You sound too much like me when I was young." She stepped
farther into the room. Her kimono was red and white, and very much the
same as her daughter's. "But I think that you need to make friends,
like all girls your age."
Tara turned away from her mother and stared at the flames. "I
must protect the temple."
"Your father and I can do that." She smiled sadly. "You are
turning out to be lovely, Tara, and I want you to live the life of
someone who is lovely. I don't want you to become a stubborn old
temple maiden like I have."
The girl swung around. Green eyes evaluated the woman with
loving care. "You're no 'stubborn old temple maiden', Mother," she
said, smiling. "But your aura tells me that something important is
afoot."
"Very true, daughter." Crossing her arms beneath her chest, the
priestess tried to look intimidating.
"Now, will you get over to that palace or will I have to drag
you there by your robes?"
Tara laughed in spite of herself. "For this one time, I will
listen to my mother..." She began to exit the room. "...the Mistress
Mars."
Raye's eyes snapped wide open. "That girl," she sighed, biting
her lip. "I don't think that I will ever truly understand how she does
it."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Pink hair flew everywhere as Reeny threw on her dress. "Why did
I have to inherit Mom's habits?" she asked the little pink cat that
sat watching her.
"And why am I turning into a total nag who hyper-analyzes
everything? Like mother, like daughter, Reeny," Diana responded,
jumping off the bed.
Reeny pulled her hair into the family style and glared at the
cat. "Wrong answer, Di," she responded, a bit annoyed.
"Just because you don't like it doesn't make it a lie. I'm your
guardian cat. You're not supposed to like anything I say."
At that, Reeny laughed. The clock on the wall chimed three
times.
"I really am late!" She took off through the marble doors.
"Don't..." Diana grimaced as she heard six loud thumps. "Trip
down the stairs," she finished.
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"The palace is so big!" breathed Tara, her wooden shoes clicking
loudly on the marble floor.
The ceilings went on for hours, vaulting high into the sky. Many
of them were clear glass, reveling dozens of bright stars.
"I wonder what all the constellations are supposed to be," Tara
thought aloud, pausing to admire the beautiful sky that spread before
her.
A voice came from behind her. "That one that looks like a ladle
is the Big Dipper, and there's a smaller one around there somewhere,"
it said.
Tara whirled around to come face-to-face with a short girl in a
long white gown which was trimmed with gold. Red eyes smiled at the
tall girl.
It was the Princess.
"Please forgive me for acting like such a fool, Princess," Tara
addressed the woman, bowing deeply. "I had yet to realize that I was
in the presence of greatness."
The Princess chuckled. "Cut it out!" she squealed. Seeing that
the dark haired girl had no intention of getting up, she sighed.
"Please don't bow! I hate it when people bow!"
Tara snapped up, as though she had been pulled by a thread. She
blushed. "Then, Princess, I apologize for acting like such a fool."
"And don't you call me 'Princess' either!" She folded her arms.
"Yes, miss."
"My name is Reeny. Not 'Princess', not 'miss'. Got it?" Reeny
tugged a pink pigtail. "How bad does my hair look?"
Tara began. "It looks..."
"And don't you lie because I'm the princess. I hate that, too."
"Your left ponytail is crooked, Reeny," she said shyly. Reeny
sure was a master at getting her own way, noted Tara.
Reeny stamped a foot. "Diana was right! I am turning into my
mother!"
"Of course I'm right," came a new voice from behind Tara. "I'm
always right, Reeny. We've been through this dozens of times."
The princess lowered her red eyes at someone-or something-
unseen. "If you start, I'll lock you out of the Palace tonight!"
A small pink cat with magenta eyes walked between the two girls.
Tara jumped a mile into the air.
Reeny sighed. "She might be a nag, but she's harmless, really."
The black haired girl scanned the area. She looked up, down, in
circles, under her own kimono, and over Reeny's shoulder. "You mean...
that cat... She talks?"
The cat laughed. "My name is Diana. I'm the princess' guardian
cat."
Tara's green eyes grew wide. "Cats...don't...talk..." She
stuttered.
Playing with a pink hair, Reeny smiled. "You haven't been to the
palace many times, have you?"
"I've never been here, actually."
Cat and girl looked at one another. "Is she who Mother spoke
of?" asked Reeny in a surprised voice.
"I am quite sure of it," returned Diana.
Blinking, Tara looked at Reeny and the cat. "The Queen was
speaking of me?"
"In context," Diana responded.
"So to speak..." Reeny gulped. "Your name is Tara, yes?"
"Mm-hmm."
"And you're the daughter of a temple maiden named Raye?" Diana
questioned.
"Yes."
Reeny's red eyes got wider. "And your father's name is Chad?"
Tara took a deep breath. "I would like to know what this is all
about!" she exclaimed, wringing her robes in her hands.
"You'd best see Serenity about all this." Diana began to walk
away.
"Wait!" yelped Reeny, running clumsily in her gown. Seeing Tara,
who was standing still, she stopped. "Are you coming?" she asked.
Tara sighed. "I'm coming out of respect for you, Princess Reeny.
Not because I like royalty-I don't."
Reeny nodded. "Understood."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

The Queen's Parlor in the Crystal Palace was a room that would
dwarf any other parlor on the planet. Filled to the ceilings with
plush couches, pillows, wing chairs, and polished mahogany tables that
Tara could see her own reflection in, it seemed more like a rare
exhibit on upholstery that would be seen in the Tokyo museum than an
actual room.
And, on a beaten-up, soiled blue couch sat Queen Serenity.
Slightly short, she was, with long blonde hair which swept the
floor a bit. Her dress was the purest white, with gold trim at vital
areas, much like the gown the princess wore. Fabric in the back of the
dress created the semblance of wings. And the effect was done well,
for the Queen appeared to be more angel than woman.
Small pieces of hair had eluded her pigtails and they moved in
an unseen wind as the Queen stood. So did her bangs, which reveled a
golden crescent moon on her forehead. A crown with a large red stone
set in it balanced high on her brow, giving her the look and elegance
of a Goddess.
"My Queen." Tara bowed as low as she could, hair bunching on the
ground as she nearly doubled over.
Serenity walked forward slowly, and put a hand on the bowed
girl's shoulder. "Rise, Tara, and make yourself comfortable." Her
voice was like velvet.
Tara, without so much as blinking, made her way to the nearest
couch. Sitting carefully, she clasped her hands together and sat up as
tall as she could. "Thank you for your blessing, Your Highness. I walk
in your light everyday."
Reeny, who had flopped down in the nearest chair, looked at Tara
as though she was speaking ancient Aztec languages. "Are you always
like this, Tara?"
"Like what?" asked Tara, turning to the lounging Princess.
"Are you always so quiet and serene and such a brown noser?"
asked the sarcastic Princess.
"Reeny!" scolded the Queen, who was making herself comfortable
on the ugly couch. "What would your father say?"
"He'd probably agree," muttered Diana under her breath.
"And sit up! You're going to wrinkle your dress if you sit like
that!"
Reeny yawned, straightened her back, and sat up. "Is that better,
Mom?"
The Shinto watched in amazement. How was the Princess permitted
to be so lax and rude around the Queen? And how could the Queen allow
her to talk back in such a way?
"Now, Tara, how did you go about getting here, to the Palace?"
asked Serenity, smiling at the girl.
Tara smiled back. Serenity's smile could warm the polar ice
caps. "My mother, that is, Mistress Mars, told me to come here to meet
you and the Princess."
Serenity's light blue eyes widened. "You know she's..."
"Mars? Oh, yes. Her aura told me so, and has for years, Your
Highness." Tara hung her head. "Unfortunately, she never told me of
this herself."
"Sometimes, it is hard to tell your children about secrets that
you hold in your heart." Looking at Reeny, her eyes turned sad. "But
sometimes, it is much harder to tell a child of something-or someone-
that they are destined to become."
Reeny caught the sad stare. "Uh-oh."
"Luna, come." As the Queen said this, a black cat with a moon
upon her head entered the parlor. She walked very slowly and looked
older than any of the people in the room.
"Mother!" exclaimed Diana, racing towards the cat.
Luna smiled at her child. "Queen, I am prepared to help you,
Reeny and Diana in anyway I can."
The Queen nodded. Luna did a back-flip, and a locket with a
crescent moon and several tiny stars upon it appeared.
"Reeny, you are Sailor Moon now." Serenity's face was stern and
adult as she cradled the little broach in her hands. "Since you have
reached the maturity of being able to use the Silver Crystal, you can
take up the challenge of being Sailor Moon. Do you accept it?" Blue
eyes met red.
Tara felt time seemingly stop. Sitting on the couch, she watched
as Reeny stared at the tiny locket. Which path would she choose?
Freedom, or an unyielding bond to the world?
"Why?" the princess asked, looking at the symbol of the Moon on
the circle of gold.
"The Royal Guards are sensing strange forces from the Andrommeda
Galaxy. We need to be prepared for the worst, should a threat arrive."
Serenity held out the locket. "Do you accept it?" she repeated, pale
lips tight.
"Yes." Reeny took the tiny circle and bowed. "In the name of the
Moon," she breathed, in some sort of trance.
Tara watched in awe, but her eyes were not fixed upon the people
so much as something unseen...their auras, to be exact.
It was as though part of the mother's aura was dislodging itself
and attaching that of the daughter. It was amazing to watch. Tara
could not take her eyes off the event-she watched in a mixture of
amazement and horror; not even her mother had ever reported seeing
auras transferring from one person to another.
Once Reeny had broken her trance and walked back to her seat,
the Queen looked at Tara.
"And you, Tara... Well, I do believe you should talk to your
mother." Serenity smiled.
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Mother?"
Both Raye and Chad had already heard the footfalls on the steps,
but the voice of their daughter confirmed all fears.
Chad smiled. If someone had told him, one thousand years
previously, that he would come to love a cold temple maiden, he would
have laughed. Now, he had two temple maidens to love, each more
beautiful than the last, but both as stubborn and set in their ways as
twin oxen. Not that he would prefer it any other way...
"Be brave," he said, clutching Raye's sweaty hand in his.
Raye just nodded.
"Mother? Father?" Tara opened the door, peeking a head through.
Black hair, which had been her mother's oriental donation to the gene
pool, fell around her face. Sweat ran down her cheeks.
Stepping all the way into the room, she straightened to her full
height. She wiped perspiration from her forehead and neck.
"You didn't have to run home." Raye tried not to sound like she
was scolding the girl, but it came across harshly.
Tara blushed and lowered her head in a revert bow to her mother.
"I'm sorry. I had studying to do and assumed that I best hurry
back..."
Chad sighed. "Come in, Tara. Your mother and I have much to tell
you."
Nodding, she knelt down across the table from her parents. It
was a rare occasion when she was allowed in her parents' room, and it
usually meant that trouble was ahead.
"Her Highness said you would want to speak with me." Tara tried
to smile, but both adults looked stern.
Raye nodded. "You met with them, yes?"
"Yes, Mother. I was permitted to see Princess Reeny accept the
challenge of being Sailor Moon." Tara remembered in amazement the
sight she had seen with the auras; she would later have to mark it
down in her notes of spiritual phenomena.
"And what did you think of Sailor Moon?" Chad seemed sterner
than his normal self, which was a sign that something was not right in
the world.
Tara thought deeply about her father's question before
answering. Since childhood, Tara had been intrigued not by Sailor Moon
but by Sailor Earth... Her mother would always avoid answering the
question of who Sailor Earth was by writing the Scout of the Earth off
as a kind and loving being who protected the world with help from her
friends. But a doubt was rising in her mind...
"Mother," she began, a knot coming to her stomach, "who is
Sailor Earth?"
Raye sighed. Chad smiled grimly.
"It is time."
The High Priestess rose, walking slowly to the antique chest
that sat in the most distant corner of the room. Tara recognized that
chest-artifacts and memorabilia from her mother's childhood were
stored there. In fact, many of the clothes had been Tara's favorite
toys as a young girl, and a few items had become awe-inspiring relics
from a distant past that no one seemed completely certain of.
The woman pulled a tiny box from the depths of the box. On it
was a tiny symbol. An Earth.
Raye knelt back down and placed the box carefully on the table,
opening it towards Tara with the utmost care.
On the white lining sat a beautiful locket. It had the same
symbol as on the top of the box-that of the Earth-on it. The Earth
symbol was green and tan, but the rest of the locket was gold.
"Tara..." Raye spoke slowly, a tear running down her cheek.
Watching silently as her child picked the locket up and ran her
fingers over it as though it was made of glass, she finally did what
she had so waited to say for an eternity. "Tara, you are Sailor
Earth."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"I knew you would come here once Raye told you." Serenity's
voice cut clearly through the midnight air. Her back was turned to the
road, but she sensed the presence and heard the footfalls. "You are
much like Raye."
Turning to face Tara, the Queen smiled. "Do you accept?"
She then noticed that Tara was crying. "Why?" asked the girl,
tears running down her pale cheeks. "Why did it have to be me?"
Serenity saw the Locket of the Earth clutched in the girl's left
hand. "She gave you the locket, I see."
"Yes," Tara managed to sniffle.
Wrapping her arm around the girl's waist, Serenity led them to a
weather-beaten park bench. She thought about her words first and then
spoke, clearly and concisely, to the girl.
"I hated being Sailor Moon."
Tara's eyes grew and she temporarily stopped crying. "You..."
she stuttered, unable to talk.
Serenity smiled and nodded. "Oh, yes. I was Sailor Moon long
before Reeny was even born."
Tara nodded, not responding.
"What do you think of that? Of my being Sailor Moon, I mean."
"I think..." Tara bit her lip. "Your Highness, my answer is
rather rude..." she trailed off.
The Queen smiled. "You're going to tell me that I was a ditz and
a meatball-head, aren't you?"
Tara blushed.
"But I saved the world. And that's what's important." Serenity
sighed and looked to the skies. "How important is the temple to you,
Tara?"
Tara looked up with the Queen. She was about six inches taller
than the woman next to her, but she felt like a giddy child in the
presence of the Queen. "I would risk my life and all of the cosmos to
know that Cherry Hill was safe."
"And would you risk the lives of your friends?" asked the Queen,
smiling up at the stars and the Moon and the planets.
Tara looked down at the locket. "I...I don't really have... I
don't have any friends, Your Highness." She swallowed despite the lump
in her throat.
Serenity sighed. "If you accept the challenge of being Sailor
Earth, you will forever have the companionship of five other girls,
the Princess included." Tara made no notable reaction. Serenity
continued. "Would you risk those lives as well?"
Tara chose not to use words, but to nod. "But, pardon any
rudeness, Your Highness, what does my love of the temple have to do
with becoming the Sailor of the Earth?" She stared up at the stars,
looking for the planet Mars. Her mother.
Bowing her head, the Queen of the Earth sighed. "Tara, if you
choose to ignore this calling, then the galaxy will become overridden
by an evil force. I promise you that.
"You were chosen because you are the daughter of a Sailor Scout
from the past. You are the eldest child of a Planet Mistress. You
were, therefore, chosen. But you are the youngest of the five Galactic
Scouts." Serenity sighed. "We all agreed to give the youngest child
the chance of becoming Sailor Earth. She was to be the least obscure
of the Galactic Sailors. We all knew that from day one."
Tara was confused. She was just a young girl from a temple in
the heart of Crystal Tokyo. What was the Queen trying to tell her?
"The road ahead looks bleak, Tara. You can guess that; I've seen
you glance at my aura a dozen times, and I know exactly what you're
reading. You're just like your mother. And your mother would have been
the perfect Sailor Earth."
"I think she makes a better Mistress Mars," Tara thought aloud
in a sleepy and meditative voice.
The Queen chuckled. "That she does. And, when you were born, we
all knew that it would be you-the Sailor of Earth."
Tara yawned, staring up at the sky. Finding Mars, she meditated
and imagined her mother as the Sailor of Mars. As if giving a
blessing, the imaginary image winked.
"I accept, Queen Serenity. What is my first quest as the Sailor
Scout of the Earth?"
Serenity sighed. "You and Princess Reeny must find the other
four Galactic Sailors. They are the daughters of the other
Mistresses."
Tara blanched. It looked like she had her work cut out for her.
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Walking along one of the up-scale residential areas of Crystal
Tokyo, Lyra sighed and adjusted her huge orange backpack. A Royal
Guard car rolled down the street, reminding the residents all of the
possible danger that faced the world.
"I don't see what everyone is so worried about," she thought
aloud, playing with a curly blond hair. "After all, the Planet
Mistresses could whip any of those evil idiots into shape while
balancing Mom's fine china on their heads." Lyra laughed at the visual
picture that created. She laughed lightly. "And they're worried? Ha!"
Opening the door of the light green house on the corner, Lyra
smiled. Home, sweet, home...
"Lyra!" came a voice. The youngest brother, Paul, jumped on his
oldest sister and nearly knocked her to the floor. "How was big-kid
school?"
"Fine. Where's Ma?" In the house run by Mina-the-Warden, you
always had to be on your toes and report in.
"Feeding Lila. Guess what?"
With Paul attached to her school uniform skirt, Lyra made her
way up the stairwell. "Tell me, and then I have to go talk to Ma."
"Bobby got in trouble for throwing food at lunch again!" Paul
squealed, finally letting go. "Isn't that...um...cosmic?"
Rolling her eyes, Lyra patted the boy on the head.
"Intergalactic," she responded, taking off for her parent's room.
Of course, that was where her mother was, as always.
Sitting in her old and tattered orange and yellow floral dress,
spooning peas to a wiggling and ill year-old girl named Lila, the
pagan goddess that was really mere woman sat. She had all off her
perfectly blond hair pulled back with a giant red bow, and had a bit
of green baby food on her face. But she didn't look a day older than
she was, and her cheery outlook on life hadn't changed, not even after
having eight annoying, runny nosed, hyperactive, and chipper kids.
"Ma, I'm home." Lyra walked quietly into the room, observing the
scene without really entering it.
Without looking at her eldest child, Mina smiled and shoved a
spoon in the baby's mouth. "How was school?"
Lyra sighed. "I didn't have astronomy today, like I was supposed
to." She sat on the floor, which was the only seat clear of clutter.
Mina blanched. "And why not?"
"There's this new girl in school named Tara, and she lives at
that really old temple up on Cherry Hill. She's awful nice but a bit
eccentric; she went on about the Queen and that creepy Crystal Palace
for most the conversation we had before school. And then I had to miss
astronomy to show her the ropes."
Her mother watched with obvious interest but refused to move so
much as a muscle in her face. "Is that so?" she managed, turning to
her daughter and wiping all signs of emotion from her face. "Did she
mention a Silver Crystal at all?"
"Nope." Lyra raised an eyebrow at her beautiful mother. "Is
something wrong, Ma?"
"I don't think so..." Scooping up the baby, she passed the child
off to Lyra. "Go get your father and tell him to watch house."
"Why?" Lyra got out of her mother's way as the woman began to
tear the bedroom closet apart.
"Because we are going to the Crystal Palace."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"The Crystal Palace is creepy, Ma! And it's all angular and
sharp and evil looking!" Lyra sat down on the steps leading into the
giant building.
Mina crossed her arms. "This is no time to act like the big baby
you are, Lyra! There is something wrong, and I want to know what!" She
pulled on her daughter's uniform top. "Now you get up before I have to
get mad!"
The girl jumped up. Rule number one-do not get Mina-The-Warden
mad.
"But how are we supposed to get in to this thing? We're not
even expected..." Lyra sighed. Not only did she have to go into this
ugly, creepy and possibly possessed building, but she had to do it at
four in the afternoon with her overly excited mother. Why hadn't she
just shut up about the eccentric girl with the Crystal Palace
obsession?
"Like this!" Her mother held a small, round object near what
appeared to be the Palace's entrance. "Venus Mistress Power!" she
called, waving it in an odd motion.
A yellowish-orange glow illuminated the door. It opened slowly,
allowing just enough room for the two people to pass through.
"What the... You're... My mother is..." Lyra couldn't word her
amazement at what had just taken place. She stood, instead, gaping at
the door which had opened.
"Yes, I'm Mistress Venus. You're right, I did open that
confounded door instead of going all the way around to Security. Now,
come on!" She grabbed Lyra's wrist and dragged her daughter into the
Palace.
"How can you be Mistress Venus?" Lyra gasped as her mother
pulled her down the winding corridors of Crystal Palace.
"Why not?" retorted Mina, turning a rather sharp corner with
little care, as though she had walked the path they were walking
subconsciously hundreds of times. "When I was just a bit younger than
you, I became the Sailor Scout known only as Sailor V, and later,
Sailor Venus."
Lyra gasped. This was deep. "And then what?" she asked,
following her mother at her break-neck pace.
"Let's see..." Mina made another sharp left, picking up her
pace. Lyra was starting get wonder if they had accidentally enter some
sort of amusement park maze instead of the Crystal Palace. "We beat
this idiot named Beryl, then... hmmm... Alan and Ann, the Dark Moon
Family, uh... The Death Busters and Pharaoh 90... Oh, and I can't
forget the Dark Moon Circus, or whatever those Amazon guys were. And
then, Serena-or the Queen, whichever you prefer-took care of Galaxia
and Chaos and all that fun stuff."
Lyra stared at her mother with blank brown eyes. "Huh?"
Mina chuckled, slowing her marathon to more of a brisk walk.
"Never mind. I'll have you help me tell it all to the little ones as
they get bigger."
They stopped in front of a gold-plated door with embedded
crescent moons-everywhere. On the top, on the bottom, even on the
doorknobs, which were already crescent moons to begin with.
"Whoa." Lyra gasped at the door.
Her mother straightened her bow and grinned at her child. "Lyra,
as they say in America-'you ain't seen nothing yet'!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Venus, dear, relax." Serenity, the Princess, and the new girl
from school sat in the parlor and had seemed to be discussing business
when Lyra's mother had unceremoniously burst in upon the three.
The woman known as Mistress Venus, clad in a ratty dress and
battered slippers, continued ranting about calling a "Meeting of
Mistresses" and things of that sort.
Lyra watched in horror, blushing deeply and keeping her head
bowed. Her mother, her beautiful, adult, loving warden of a mother was
standing in the parlor screaming at the Queen.
Serenity reminded the girl of a block of ice. Cool, unwavering,
yet visibly affected by every change. She would melt soon in the hot
air that was coming from Lyra's mother.
The Princess jumped up after a few minutes, and the dark haired
girl followed her. Without words, the duo grabbed onto one of Lyra's
wrists and dragged her off, into the sunset-lit marble hall.
"I apologize for my mother." Lyra bowed her head and studied the
grain of the hard floor. "I do not know why she reacted like that."
The Princess swept a pink pigtail behind her shoulder. "No
bother, really. She cut our work down a lot by dragging-oof!"
As the Princess spoke, the other girl elbowed her in the
stomach. "Don't mind her," she spoke slowly and softly, as though the
Palace was holy ground.
"Tara, right?" asked Lyra, smiling at the strange girl. Green
eyes sparkled beautifully, and a green and tan locket with the symbol
of the Earth dangled around her neck.
"Yes." Seeing the curious gaze towards the locket, Tara blushed.
"It was a gift...from my mother..."
Lyra smiled. "May I see it?" she asked, amazed.
Tara removed the locket. "Be careful," she warned, handing it to
the blonde.
Smooth and perfectly round, the charm weighed next to nothing.
The earth symbol shined in the dying light.
Running her fingers over it, Lyra began to get a strange
sensation... And a familiar feeling...
"My mother has a locket somewhat like this..." The vision of
Mistress Venus opening the door came to mind. "She...my mother, I
mean... She's Mistress Venus."
The Princess opened a large door at the end of the hall. A
garden spread before them.
The garden was full of roses.
"Wow..." Lyra glanced over at the beautiful scenery. "This is
unbelievable... Whose is it?"
"It's my father's garden." Waving her pink hair, she smiled.
"Oh, Princess..."
"Not Princess!" the pink haired girl exclaimed, blushing. "It's
Reeny. Is that okay with you?"
"Reeny... It suits you much better." She managed a smile.
Tara walked to a rosebush, oddly silent. Reeny sat down on a
park bench. "What do you think of this palace?"
"I hate it. It's big, empty, quiet..." Lyra shuddered and
focused on the garden.
Tara smiled at that. "I agree!"
"But so is the universe. And you study astronomy."
The blonde started. "How did you know?" She whirled around and
locked gazes with a pair of strong red eyes.
"I know a lot, Lyra."
"And my name..."
Tara turned briskly around. What was Reeny up to?
Reeny smiled. "You are the daughter of a Mistress. I can use the
Silver Crystal. And Haley's Comet will be in line with the Moon,
Earth, North Star and Sun on the night of Northern Lights. Do you have
any idea what that means?"
The black haired girl gasped and opened her eyes wider.
"The Silence?" asked a shocked Lyra, swallowing hard.
"If Saturn has her way, yes," giggled the Princess, smiling.
"But, in the Mistress' cases..."
"The Eve of Mistresses?" asked Tara, amazed.
Reeny nodded. "You've been studying some ancient lore."
"What's that?" asked Lyra, running a hand through her blonde
hair.
"You cannot learn that until you find your true self." Tara
looked up at the stars. "Serenity is teaching us about astronomy,
Lyra."
Lyra looked up with the other girl. "But why are you staring at
Polaris?"
"Maybe I should ask, why aren't you staring at it, Lyra?" Reeny
craned her neck to see the little beacon that shone in the now night
sky.
"What's that supposed to..." Thinking of Tara's locket, and her
mother's Mistress powers, and all the odd little phrases that didn't
seem like sayings Reeny would use, she gasped and turned quickly to
the Princess. "Excuse me!" She bowed a bit, and then ran the other way
as fast as she could.
Tara sat down on the bench next to Reeny. "That was a really
mean trick to pull on the poor girl, Reeny."
"I know her mom," Reeny said solemnly. "And she would never tell
the poor girl."
Tara shrugged. "She doesn't have to know..."
"Sometimes, you need to nudge someone a bit before they come
around..."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sipping her tea, Mina sighed. "I wish you had called and told me
about Reeny." She looked into the blue eyes that she had stared into
since age fourteen.
"Would that have made you any more comfortable telling her?"
Serenity solemnly asked. "The Eve is near...
"Yeah, yeah," Mina waved a hand, as if dismissing all of
Serenity's caution. "Why can't we just cross that bridge when it
comes?"
"Far too dangerous," a black cat scolded from the tabletop.
"After all, if Saturn pulls anything..."
"So what are we going to do?" asked the woman wearing the big
red bow. She slammed a fist on the table. "We're supposed to send six
kids into a battle with Saturn? We all know how strong that little
nymph is!"
Fingering a pigtail thoughtfully, Serenity lowered her head.
"Venus, there is no better choice, alright? The Galactic Sailors have
to be brought into the world sooner or later..."
"I vote for later!" snapped Mina, glaring at her friend.
"Mina, I have never seen you so adamant and stubborn on a
subject." A white cat jumped up on the table. "Why are you acting like
this?"
"Artemis..." Mina sighed and rubbed her temples.
Serenity shook her head slowly. "Sometimes, when your children
are in danger, you have to go that extra step." She watched for a
reaction in the light pair of blue eyes. "Is that what this is all
about? Lyra's safety?"
Mina nodded, a tear running down her cheek. "That's why I was
blessed that my parents never found out about all my Venus stuff. They
would have been scared to death..." She sniffled again, louder, and
wiped a tear away.
"But we can protect the girls," Serenity said softly, patting
her friend's hand. "And that is one thing that neither of our Earth
families could manage."
"I still... I don't know..." Mina began to cry.
The door opened slowly. "I hate to interrupt, Your Highness,
Mother, but..." Lyra walked into the room, bowing to the Queen.
Wiping her eyes, Mina brought herself to look at the girl.
She was about five-foot and had unyieldingly curly, corkscrew
dirty blond hair. Light brown eyes that always sparkled seemed to be
filled with a new energy, and her always cherry-colored lips were
pressed together in an apprehensive half-grin. Beautiful in a slightly
mysterious manner, she was her mother's daughter...
"Sit down, Lyra," said her mother, choking a bit on tears. "I
need to talk to you..."
Lyra took up a chair. "What's wrong, Ma? You look as though
you've been..."
"Crying? Yes, she has, dear. And there are reasons why."
Serenity smiled in her calm yet warm way. "Tea?"
Lyra shook her head. "Can you tell me, Ma?"
Serenity spoke first. "Your mother isn't very good with secrets,
and I'm afraid that her ability to divulge things has not improved
over time. I'm going to help her out here, first, by saying that you
are not who you think you are.
"You are Lyra, the daughter of Mina and Andrew, but you are far
more than that, as is every daughter of a Planet Mistress ever born.
Mina?"
The other nodded. "I love you, Lyra, with all my heart. But you
are the oldest daughter of a Planet Mistress, and, therefore, you will
be something special." She sniffled a bit.
"I'm the only one of the Mistresses that have multiple children,
and I've sort of become a mother bird for the other Mistresses'
daughters, and I don't like this whole business one bit! I'm surprised
that the others even dared to have children after knowing what could-
and will-happen..."
Serenity looked at her friend. "Venus..." she said, gritting her
teeth.
"Alright, alright..." Mistress Venus bit her lip. "I'm going to
'let the cat out of the bag', Serena... I just had to get that out,
first..."
Drawing an item out of her purse, she sighed. Lyra strained to
see what it was.
Her mother laid a tiny brown box on the table. It was smooth and
sanded, and there was a symbol on what appeared to be the lid.
A tiny, light orange star in a circle of gold.
Lyra gasped. "I read about this... It's the Galactic symbol for
the North Star!"
Opening the tiny box, Mina reveled to her daughter a tiny golden
locket with the same orange star upon it.
"It's called the Locket of Polaris." Serenity smiled. She knew
that Mina, in her state, would forget that key fact.
Lyra gasped and took the tiny circle in her hands. It felt
exactly like Tara's... And she felt a sensation when she held it, one
ten times stronger than that which she felt with Tara's locket...
"Lyra, you are the Galactic Sailor called Sailor Polaris. The
Sailor Scout of the North Star. You stand for all that is in the
galaxy to protect." Mina began to cry a bit. "If you accept this
locket, you accept the mission to protect the galaxy from harm. You
accept the mission to fight alongside and to find the remaining
Galactic Sailors, no matter the terms of the fight or the dangers you
face. Do you accept these challenges along with the Locket of
Polaris?"
Holding tight the locket, the symbol of her own future and the
future of the universe, she nodded. "I accept."
Hugging her daughter, Mina began to cry. Such was her way.
And with her mother, Sailor Polaris also wept.
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"And then, if I carry the one..." Biting on a pencil eraser, the
girl glared at the page of math homework. "No, that's not it either!"
Phoebe slammed the textbook shut with a loud 'thump'. Standing
up, she raised the back of her hand to her pale, banged forehead. "Oh,
woe is me! What horrible fate lies ahead?" she exclaimed, staggering
about her dark orange and crimson bedroom in an overly dramatic
manner. "I cannot complete my matrixes... Whatever shall I do?"
"You shall sit right back down and do that homework!" came a
stern voice from the doorway.
Phoebe whirled around to face a pair was lowered blue eyes. As
vast as the sea, they stared at her, strict and severe.
Blushing very deeply, the girl studied the tan carpet. "Hi,
Mom." Diving for the desk and tearing through her math book to the
right page, she looked up and smiled sweetly. "I was just doing my
matrixes when you came in," Phoebe said, studying the problems that
lay before her.
Walking to her daughter, the doctor glanced at the page. "You
dropped a negative," she corrected, running a hand through her own
blue hair. "Right...there." She pointed a blue fingernail at the work
that was scribbled all over the notebook's little lines. Seeing one of
the doodles in the margin, she sighed.
Phoebe grimaced at the sketch of Sailor Mars attacking her
private school. "It's not like you think..."
Crossing her arms under her chest, Amy looked at her daughter.
"Really, Phoebe?"
Blushing, she looked at the doodle with increasing guilt. "I
just... It's harmless..." She looked up, ice blue eyes surveying her
mother's face.
"You know I hate going to Brighton, Mom!" she exclaimed,
standing up to her full height. "It's an old, shapeless, ugly and
really boring school... They don't even have a dance team!"
"Brighton Academy is a school for geniuses, not dancers!" Amy
retorted, waging a finger at her daughter. "And, besides, I spent some
of the best years of my life at that school!"
Phoebe could feel her temper build up inside her. Though she
had not inherited her father's trademark of turning into a monster
when provoked, she did have a short temper which was often accredited
to him. She gulped. Should she take a shot at her mother?
Looking at the world-famous pediatrician who had governed an
entire hospital for years, she smiled evilly. Why not? With Amy,
everyday was a science-based debate team contest, with a full-out
mother daughter war, in most cases.
"Then, why did you drop out?" asked her daughter, flipping some
long, midnight blue hair behind her back. "And how is it that you made
all of your best friends while at Crossroads?"
Amy paled, sticking her hands into the pockets of her perfectly
white lab coat. She looked positively ill. "That's none of your
concern!" she snapped at her daughter.
"Yes, it is!" Phoebe hollered back, her voice rattling the light
brown house. "How do I know that you didn't drop out because
Brighton's a lousy school?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"You can't. But you have to have some faith."
"Faith? Mom, I hate private school. It's boring, and most the
students there at least have friends." She sighed and looked back at
the matrixes. "Besides, you're totally too tough on me. Just because I
can't do matrixes..."
Amy shook her head. "You can do matrixes. You love math,
sweetie. You just don't apply yourself."
"Apply, apply, apply! Can you imagine, Pheebs? I actually
married this nag!" a new voice teased lovingly.
Amy whirled around to face Greg, trying her best to glare
itimadatingly. Phoebe giggled at her father.
"I send her in to get you, and she turns this into a screaming
contest about Brighton. Again..." Greg put his arm around his wife.
"And, by the way, Phoebe, you won... They heard you down the block."
Shaking her head, Phoebe smiled. "They did not!" she retorted,
laughing.
"That reminds me... We need to talk to you, Phoebe." Her
mother's voice turned suddenly stern. "It's important."
Phoebe grimaced and felt for the little round piece of jewelry
that she had hanging around her neck. "The Eve?"
Greg nodded. "It's very near. And there are already three other
Galactic Sailors..." he trailed off, looking sad.
Amy ruffled his dark hair. "I think that we'd best pay a visit
to Serenity."
"Why?" Phoebe's voice came across as urgent.
"I want to find out which girls have been discovered. And how
long it is until the Eve..." She smiled again. "And how hard it is to
let a child accept." Swallowing hard, she glanced at the floor, a tear
in her deep blue eyes.
Greg took both the blue hair woman and the feisty girl into his
arms. "My girls..." he murmured. "My two Sailor Ladies... Everything
will work out. Promise."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"This is totally cool! And I though I knew everything about the
stars!" Lyra ran a gold-painted fingernail over the star chart. "I
didn't know that the Andromeda Galaxy is so beautiful!"
"Hey, Mom," came Reeny's high voice over the sounds of Tokyo's
Crystal Library. "Why are we studying the Andromeda Galaxy, anyway?"
"Didn't you pay attention when we had the briefing in the
parlor?" The black cat's voice rose over the din. "Diana! Will you
please talk to that girl?"
Diana yawned and looked, blinking, at her mother. "Oh, fine..."
Glancing at Reeny with her red eyes, she shook her head. "Bad girl!"
she scolded sleepily.
Tara laughed at the exchange. Patting Luna, she sighed. "This
whole thing about evil forces at work makes me slightly nervous. I've
never dealt with real evil before..." she trailed off, nervously
glancing at the book before her.
"How old are you, dear?" asked the Queen, eyes warm and loving.
"Thirteen... Your Highness."
Reeny's eyes nearly removed themselves from their sockets.
"You're only thirteen?" she asked, amazed. "Whoa."
"The youngest by a good year..." Serenity nodded thoughtfully.
"What do you feel right now?"
Closing her eyes, Tara took a deep breath. "Sailor energy coming
this way. Two Scouts..." Her breathing deepened. "Conflicting energies,
but it's as though the two are related... I see blue hair..."
"Amy..." Serenity smiled and looked back at her book. "Just as I
thought. You are good at sensing things, young lady."
"What makes you say that, Your Highness?" asked Tara, fidgeting
a little.
"Mistress Mercury and her teenage daughter, Phoebe, will be here
in about fifteen minutes."
Tara's eyes widened. "I could figure that out?"
"Obviously." The Queen seemed to drop the conversation.
Reeny smiled at her friend. "Can you do that creepy paper thing
like your mom?" she whispered over the table.
"What 'creepy paper thing'?" asked Lyra, glancing up from the
star charts.
Tara smiled slyly. "I can banish evil spirits from here to the
Andromeda Galaxy and back."
Lyra giggled. "How about aiming for the librarian?" she
whispered, smiling.
The black cat looked at the girl. "Lyra..." she warned.
Lyra grimaced. "Shutting up..." she replied, scooting away from
the cat.
"What's wrong?" asked Reeny.
Lyra glanced nervously at the cat. "I just hate black cats..."
she trailed off.
At that, Diana laughed. "My mom may be a nag, but she's not that
bad, Lyra..."
Lyra shook her head. "That's not it. I just...I'm kind of
superstitious, that's all."
Serenity raised her head and smiled a secretive smile. "That's
alright, Lyra. Everyone is afraid of something."
"Bees..." thought Tara aloud.
"Turning into the teen version of Mom," Reeny smiled, getting a
glare from the Queen.
Lyra blushed. "But your fears have some foundation... No
offence, Highness..." She shrugged. "Mine don't..."
"Thunderstorms," Serenity said.
"Excuse me?" asked Lyra, cocking her head.
"I'm terrified of thunderstorms. Always have been." Serenity
looked back into her book as though nothing had happened.
"She is. You should see how clingy and nervous she becomes
during a storm." A black haired man in rather elaborate military dress
walked behind the Queen's chair and put his hands on her shoulders.
"It's amazing to me that the Queen of the Earth is afraid of a little
storm now and then."
Lyra and Tara stared at each other. Having no idea who this man
was, they both stared at their research material, blushing.
"Daddy!" exclaimed Reeny, jumping a good mile into the air and
nearly pouncing on the man. "I thought you had to be in Europe!" She
gave him a hug.
Endymion smiled. "The conference got out early." Seeing the two
girls sitting, staring at star charts and books, he raised an eyebrow.
"Reeny, darling, who are your friends?" he asked, smiling gently to
the girls.
Lyra blushed and looked up. "Galactic Sailor of Polaris," she
said.
"Galactic Sailor of the Earth," Tara called herself, bowing a
bit.
Endymion gasped. "Already?" he breathed, looking at his Queen.
Serenity nodded, looking up. "They're so young, aren't they?"
she asked, swallowing.
Reeny looked at her father, seeing the fear in his blue eyes.
"And I'm the Galactic Sailor of the Moon," she breathed, gulping.
"This is so sudden," he said, shocked. "After all, you just got
through being Sailor Chibi Moon."
"Daddy! That was years ago... Ten, to be exact," she said,
crossing her arms under her chest. "I am not a little girl anymore.
And I am going to be Sailor Moon, like it or not!" Red eyes lowered to
slits.
"Now, that's not very fair to your father," came a new, female
voice. It was slightly squeaky, but it had a commanding and almost
eternal ring to it. "He never said that he was going to prevent you
from your life as Sailor Moon."
Five faces turned to glance in the direction that the voice
originated. An adult woman with a white lab jacket on stood behind
both Endymion and Serenity. Next to her was a teen girl with icy blue
eyes. The girl wore worn-out jeans and a tank top. Both had blue hair,
but the younger one's hair was more midnight blue than royal blue.
"May I present the Mistress Mercury," Serenity smiled.
The woman bowed. "Pleased to make your acquaintances."
Walking forward, the new girl struck a dramatic pose. Midnight
blue hair flying at odd angles, right hand high in the air and lift
hand on her waist, she sighed. "Enchanted by a new age, I am the
dramatically beautiful and powerful Phoebe!" She opened her arms
widely. "I embrace all people and their own unique qualities. Come
forth, children, and reap the fruits of my love!"
Reeny looked helplessly at her two friends. "We're supposed to
work with that?" she asked, surprised.
Poking a pencil into the Princess' ribs without much care, Lyra
smiled. "Hi! I'm Lyra."
Tara poked at the binding of the book with her finger. "I'm
Tara..." she ventured, unsure of what to say to such an exuberant
person.
"Pleased to meet you!" Plopping down in one of the library's
wooden chairs, she smiled slyly. "I'm sure that we'll see a lot of
each other. After all, what you are, I am!" She opened a book and
began to read.
"You must excuse her. She's a bit dramatic at times..." Amy
shook her head.
Phoebe sighed. "English translation-'She's not perfect, like me,
so you're just plain stuck'." Phoebe kept reading her book, as thought
the little passage was nothing important.
Sighing, her mother rubbed her temples. "As if I haven't had a
long enough day already..." muttering, she smiled at Serenity. Despite
her headache and insane actress daughter, she was happy to see her old
friend. "Well, Serenity, it seems as though you have done quite a good
job of find the new Sailors," she said, sitting in a chair.
Endymion smiled. "Too good... I didn't even know about it!" he
replied, rubbing the back of the Queen.
Serenity just kept her eyes on the book. "I try to do the best
job I can..." Not even her expression wavered.
Amy shook her head. "You're worried about the Eve of Mistresses,
aren't you?" she asked, looking at her friend with a worried
expression.
"I didn't see it coming soon enough..." Serenity looked up and
sighed deeply. "I didn't call a Meeting of Mistresses... I've been a
stinky Queen."
"Don't say that!" Endymion scolded, also sitting down. "You've
done a great job!"
"He's right," Amy said, looking down. "Meetings aren't
important, and it didn't really matter if you saw it coming in
advance..."
"Huh?" asked the Queen, reverting back into her teenage
vocabulary. "What do you mean by that?"
"Phoebe's known since she was about six years old." Amy sighed.
"She found the locket in my bedroom and asked me... Could I have
lied?"
"The Locket of the Sun... The Sailor Scout of Phoenix..."
Serenity sighed deeply. "Amazing."
Phoebe looked up after hearing Serenity's mention of the locket.
"That's me. And, may I say, that locket is the single most beautiful
thing that I have ever seen." Reaching under her shirt, the girl
removed her locket. It was crimson with a darkened orange sun symbol
engraved upon it.
Tara, Reeny, and Lyra all looked at the locket. Indeed, it was
beautiful.
Tara took out the Locket of the Earth. Reeny removed from her
chain the Locket of the Moon. Lifting a piece of silk from around her
neck, Lyra began to add her locket to the congregation.
"Don't do it!" warned Luna, jumping up.
Too late.
Sparks exploded all over. Streaks of energy flew throughout the
room, illuminating the library with many colors, most of them bright
and glowing.
"Now you've done it!" scolded Diana, shutting her eyes to block
the blinding radiance. "One of you guys have to brave the light and
put your locket back on!"
Serenity, who had shielded her eyes with a hand, sounded urgent.
"And please hurry!"
"This is ludicrous!" shouted Reeny, squinting. "Who knows what
that stuff is going to do to us?"
"What's going on?" Lyra cowered in her chair, afraid to move. "I
can't even sense what it is!"
Tara just shut her eyes and prayed.
Phoebe, who was staring into the light show with an odd smirk,
sighed. "Jeez! I don't see what you're so afraid of!" Plucking up the
Locket of the Sun from the table top, she smiled as the lights died
down and the sparks disappeared. "See?" she asked, hanging the
disc-shaped item back around her neck.
"What was that?" breathed Lyra, looking at her locket with
caution.
Serenity sighed. "One of you four have not yet accepted the
challenge..." she responded, trailing off softly.
"Challenge? What challenge?" asked Phoebe, looking at the Queen
with a raised eyebrow. "Did I miss something?"
"Bingo," muttered Reeny, polishing her locket on the Princess
gown.
Amy sighed. "I told you long ago of your identity, but I never
gave you the terms of the challenge." The woman ran her hand through
the shaggy, trademark blue hair. "Are you ready?"
The girl shrugged, twirling a dark hair in her fingers. "Shoot."
"Will you please try to take this seriously?" scolded the
doctor, crossing her arms. "This isn't some math problem or B-plus
exam, Phoebe. Perhaps the most serious thing in your life, this is."
Phoebe took the tiny locket in her hand. "I understand."
"Alright." Taking a very deep breath, the Mistress of Mercury
looked to her daughter. "Your challenge is a many-sided venture,
Phoebe. It encompasses working together with the other Galactic
Sailors, no matter how stubborn they act. You must always fight for
love, justice, and honor, and you have to be sure that no evil goes
unopposed. You must hold all living things with a great respect, and
oppose all who threaten the future-or the tradition of the past."
Thinking of her life as Mercury, Amy smiled. "You must live your life
as best you can, and defend the past by protecting the future. Do you
accept the challenge?"
Green eyes of a temple maiden looked on...
Light brown eyes of a teen with seven siblings stared...
Red eyes of a Princess, the blue eyes of both a Queen and her
King... they were all just common bystanders.
Ice blue eyes and eyes of the deepest blue locked. Mother and
daughter exchanged unspoken words. All was silent, as though someone
had stopped the turning of the planet in order to catch this one
precise moment in history.
And the world began turning again.
"I accept," said Phoebe.
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Stirring the pot of rice, an auburn haired girl looked around
the tiny apartment. It was spotless, as always, and the beds were both
made with hospital corners.
"I'm quite proud of myself," Alice thought aloud, leaving the
rice to warm on the back burner. "Whoever said that kids accomplish
nothing on a day off of school?"
Of course, she had blown off her sewing project for the third
straight day in a row, but who was counting?
Glancing at her watch, Alice noted, much to her delight, that it
was seven p.m.
"I know that opening the restaurant will take up a lot of my
free time, Alice," her mother had said about a month previous, smiling
sadly. "But, after about a year, we'll be off on the right foot and
I'll have much more time on my hands."
Fondly recalling her mother's little speech, the girl sat down
and focused her brown eyes on the lump of various fabric on the coffee
table. It was supposed to be a patchwork quilt... Instead, it looked
like Dr. Frankenstein's monster.
"Oh, well..." Sighing, she flipped on the television. "I think
there's a good movie on..."
A few minutes later, a voice overcame the sounds of the movie
and directed itself at Alice.
"I am not seeing this!" it exclaimed. "I am not seeing my lovely
daughter watch a made-for-TV movie while her much neglected quilt lays
on the table, discarded!" Lita crossed her arms and lowered her deeply
green eyes. "Tell me what I am seeing, Alice Aurora Kino..."
"Uh..." The girl blushed and looked at the fabric ball. "I was
just going to work on that..." She fumbled for the scissors.
"When will you learn?" the older female asked, picking up a
finished section of the quilt. "You need to stop procrastinating and
start doing, young lady." Her voice was stern, but still had an edge
of love in it.
"Hey, I cleaned the whole apartment, top to bottom!" protested
the girl from her place on the couch. "You can't yell at me!"
"Want to bet, Alice? I can yell at you until my face turns
orange, because I am your mother and you are going to fail sewing!"
Tossing down her piece of the quilt, Lita walked to the kitchenette,
which was more an extension of the living room than an actually room
on its own accord.
"Please don't be mad, Mom," said Alice, staring at her project.
Lita sighed and dished out two plates of rice. "I'm not mad,
I'm...exasperated." She paused and added some chicken to the plates.
"There's a difference. And this dinner looks really good."
"Thanks." Stitching up a seam of the project, she smiled sadly.
"I'm sorry it's just me and you."
"I'm not!" retorted the woman, handing her daughter a plate. "If
I were married, we wouldn't even have a restaurant!"
Alice smiled at the quip and dropped the subject. "I signed up
for a peer tutor program at school," she said, picking at her chicken.
"Are you tutoring or being tutored?" Lita took a heaping forkful
of chicken. "Mm... Alice, you have developed the Kino touch, young
lady."
She blushed. "I'm tutoring for Biology. My charge is this
thirteen-year-old who has never been in public school before."
"Really?" Her mother's interest had been caught on that tiny
detail, and she watched her daughter with wide eyes.
"Yeah. I guess her mom's some sort of temple lady and she's home
schooled this kid about Shintoism all her... What?"
Lita had dropped her fork and knife on the floor. Regaining her
composure, she shook her head. "Nothing..."
"Something," responded Alice, putting her plate on the table and
resting her elbows on her knees. "What is it?"
"Remember my friend Raye?"
"The one who got smashed at the Palace Christmas party and
started raving about Dark Messiahs?" asked Alice. She remembered that
event well...
"No, that was Michelle..." Lita smiled at that one. "Raye was
the one who whined about her 'baby' and leaving her with a
babysitter."
"Oh!" Alice counted on her fingers quickly. "Wasn't that kid,
like, five, by then?" she asked, thinking.
"Yep." Lita smiled and ate more. "I think that you've got Raye's
'baby' as a charge."
"Whoa." Everyone knew that Raye's temper was second to none.
Alice wasn't thrilled about tutoring some kid that was like Raye...
"My sentiments exactly," responded her mother.
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"It's really nice of you to tutor me," Tara said quietly,
walking with the older girl. "I've never before attended real school."
"So I've heard..." Alice kicked a stone and smiled at the thin
and extremely tall girl. Tara had to be around five seven or so, and
she dwarfed even Alice.
An awkward silence followed. Both girls had their traditional
Crossroads Junior High outfits on, though Alice was near to attending
the High School. Tara had been placed in the Junior High, though her
marks were not quite high enough. Her knowledge of ancient history had
pulled her through precisely at the border.
"Hey, you know what?" A memory of the previous night fluttered
into Alice's mind. "Our mothers know one another!"
"Really?" Green eyes grew wide.
"Yep." Running a hand through the shoulder-length auburn hair,
Alice explained. "When I was about seven, I got dragged to this boring
Christmas party at Crystal Palace with my mom."
A light went off in Tara's brain. Crystal Palace?
"And, I guess, your mom was there. You were younger at the time
and she was sort of worried about you in a totally wicked way. And
then, some funny lady named Michelle got smashed..." She smiled.
"That's not the point, though. My point here is that your mom and my
mom know each other and I think that is totally wicked cool!"
Rolling her eyes, Tara nodded. If Alice's mother knew the crisp
temple maiden, that meant chances two-to-one in favor of her being a
Planet Mistress. After all, few were left. And if she was a
Mistress...
Looking at the girl beside her, Tara shook her head a bit.
Alice didn't seem to be made of much Sailor material. She was kind
of...bubbly and unstructured. Tara liked structure. Structure was a
good thing. And Alice seemed to be clinically lacking structure in her
life.
"So, you live with both parents?" asked Tara quietly.
Alice blushed and stared at the pavement. "What makes you ask?"
"I thought everyone has two parents-a mother and a father.
According to my mother, High Priestess of the Shinto Religion, parents
should be respected and live in household of peace and harmony." Tara
bowed her head in and reverent motion. "That's just what I had always
been told."
"What a nice little dream world you live in!" commented Alice
without sarcasm. "But, sometimes, there aren't two parents or the
parents are both mothers, or both fathers, or there aren't parents at
all..." Sighing, Alice looked at the black haired girl. "I don't know
who my father is, and I don't know if my mother knows who he is,
either... It's just me and Mom."
No structure...
Calling the Shinto realization of the world a "dream world"...
"Don't you think that calling my world a 'dream world' is a bit
harsh?" spoke up the younger girl, pulling on a piece of hair gently.
"I mean, I've never really been outside the temple, and you find it
necessary to criticize the life I live."
"It's a dream world, Tara," huffed Alice. She didn't seem cocky
or arrogant, just...right, perhaps? "Because you have not yet seen the
real world, you hide in the world that you have had created for you.
I'm not making fun of it, I am just saying that it is possibly not
true."
Tara sighed. She didn't like the way Alice was acting one bit.
She may have had a point, but she didn't have a nice way about sharing
that point...
"Here we are!" Walking up to a large apartment complex and using
a key card, Alice through open the door. "Apartment 4B-up the stairs
three times and hang a left. I'm going to grab the mail first."
Tara climbed the stairs, gripping the keycard in a hand and
thinking to herself.
"If Alice is a Sailor, she has a Galactic locket..." She said
aloud, quickening her pace. "And the box would be in her apartment..."
Opening the door, Tara placed her backpack on the floor. A
living room opened to a kitchenette. Two bedrooms were in the back,
seemingly connected to a tiny bathroom.
Hearing Alice's feet on the stairs, Tara dove for the first
bedroom and closed herself in the bathroom. It had little ducks on the
wall tile and smelled of tea...
"Are you here?" came a voice.
"I'll be right out, Alice. I'm in the washroom." Tara gulped and
listened for her response.
"Alright. I'm going to make some green tea."
"My favorite!" Having yelled her reply, Tara opened the cabinets
in the bathroom. Nothing.
Cracking the door, she glanced around the larger of the two
rooms. It was light green and pink, with wall hangings of various odd
symbols.
"Weird place..." Tara ducked into the room. She felt dirty
wandering around a strange apartment and looking for brown boxes with
Galactic symbols...
One of the wall hangings caught her attention. It had five
symbols on it, and they were none other than the Galactic Symbols.
Earth...
Polaris, the North Star...
Phoenix, the Sun...
And the fourth symbol, a wavy shape that looked like a flag...
Aurora Borealis.
Gasping, Tara frantically glanced about the room. The shelves
were pretty much clear of clutter, but no boxes stood out.
Then, something caught her eye.
A tiny box sitting on the nightstand.
Picking it up, Tara evaluated the symbol.
Aurora Borealis.
Sailor Aurora Borealis, the Sailor of Light, was none other than
Alice Kino.
Which made her mother, whoever she was, the Mistress of Jupiter.
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Alice looked out the window at the sun. Setting over the city,
it cast an eerie glow that probably would have given a Sailor Solider
the creeps...
She impulsively turned on a lamp. The hatred she felt for
darkness radiated somewhere deep within her...in some subconscious
part of her.
Tara had spent a good hour talking about the Sailor Soldiers and
the Planet Mistresses and other silly things that seemed too much like
fantasy. Sure, they existed, and everyone knew it, but that didn't
mean the girl had to go on and on about them...
"And that locket..." thought the girl aloud, picking up her
sewing project.
When Tara had given Alice her little Earth shaped locket to
hold, Alice had gotten some sort of sensation running through her
veins. It was strong, and it made her feel a rush and power that she
had never felt before. Something about that locket...
Hearing the door shut, she smiled a bit. "Hi Mom." Her eyes
didn't look up from the fabric.
"What's wrong, Alice?" asked Lita, depositing her purse on the
couch. "You haven't yet started dinner."
"You're late." Her voice was as cold as ice.
Her mother blushed. "I'm really sorry about that, dear," she
responded, going to the tiny refrigerator and removing some leftover
macaroni-and-cheese and grabbing two Diet Cokes. "I had to be at the
Palace..."
"Why?" Alice asked, looking up at her mother with wide eyes.
"And why didn't you tell my about it?"
Lita sighed and put the dish in the microwave. "I just...had to.
And I didn't know until today the my presence was required." The hum
of the microwave oven was loud, and it drowned out the sound of a
tired sigh.
The girl put down her sewing. "I want the whole truth, Mom," she
said abruptly, sitting back in her chair. "I want to hear the true
story of who you are."
The woman was shocked. Alice had never spoken so dryly, so
curtly, and it was not of her nature to be blunt. Removing the dish of
pasta and taking two plates and forks to the table, she began to
explain.
"My name is Lita Kino. My parents were killed in a place crash
years ago. When I was young. In the twentieth century."
Alice gasped. "That makes you..."
"Thousands of years old. That's right. And I am able to be so
old because of who I am. The Mistress of Jupiter.
"I was born during the Silver Millennium. I'm not sure where, or
how long I lived there, or how my being Jupiter came to pass. All I
know is that I lived in the Silver Millennium, it was destroyed, and I
was reborn in twentieth century Tokyo to kind and humbling parents.
"They died, and Sailor Moon, the Champion of Justice, found me
and I joined her cause. We fought side by side for years, along with
other Soldiers...
"Tara's mother is a Sailor, isn't she? And so is the woman who
got smashed, and the Queen, and your buddy Mina..." Alice's brown eyes
were wide with amazement. "They're all Sailor Soldiers!"
Lita sighed. "Not for long. Soon, the Eve of Mistresses will
come, and we will be Planet Mistresses, sworn defensive protectors of
the Universe. And six new characters will take charge-the Galactic
Sailors of the Moon, Earth, North Star, Sun, Light, and of Comets. And
they will rule eternally."
Alice listened as her mother spoke. Something seemed to change
in the green eyes; years were lifted off her face and she seemed to be
reborn, her smile lighting up the room. The girl secretly wondered if
all the Planet Mistresses were the same way.
"And you, dearest child, are the Galactic Sailor Aurora
Borealis. The Sailor of Light."
The auburn-haired teen gasped loudly. Her brown eyes grew very
wide. She stared at her mother, shocked. "Me? A Sailor?" she asked,
nearly choking on her dinner.
Lita got up and walked to her room. Her daughter tried to calmly
sip the Diet Coke, but instead spilled it down the front of her shirt.
Me? A Scout? Alice thought to herself as she wiped the drink off
her clothing. I don't think I'll be a very good Sailor Soldier... I
can't even sew.
"Alice?" Lita came into the living room, frantic, pulling on her
big, green parka. "We have to go to Crystal Palace right away. Grab
your coat."
The girl raised an eyebrow. "Why? What's wrong?" she asked,
following the urgent command.
"Every of the Galactic Sailors has a special locket. And I have
yours... Sorry, I had yours..." She trailed off and grabbed her purse.
Alice was perplexed. "What does that mean?" she asked, pulling
on her shoes.
"Your locket is missing, Alice."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Reeny, can you keep a secret?" Tara asked urgently.
The Princess, who was sitting on the kitchen counter, swinging
her legs absently, looked up from her ice cream. "Sure, Tara. What's
wrong?"
Picking at a loose thread in her temple robes, Tara swallowed
hard. "I found out who Sailor Aurora Borealis is..."
Reeny smiled and clapped her hands like a small child would.
"Great! That means we only have to find one more Sailor! Where's is
she?"
Tara shrugged. "At home, I suppose. I don't think she's going to
join up with us."
"Why?" Reeny arched her eyebrows.
Tara mumbled something very, very softly.
"Huh?"
"I kind of... stole the Locket of Light..." Tara whispered, not
looking up.
"YOU WHAT?" exclaimed Reeny, jumping off the counter and
knocking her bowl onto the floor. "How in the name of Heaven did you
do that? And why, in the name of the Moon Kingdom, would you want to
do something so...bull-headed and stupid?" She sighed deeply and began
to clean up the discarded dessert.
The Sailor of the Earth sighed. Why had she done it? I can't
tell Reeny that I just don't like her, thought Tara. That would be
extremely stupid. "Uh... I didn't think she was good Scout material,"
she lied, helping the Princess clean up her mess.
Reeny stood and crossed her arms under her chest, getting
chocolate ice cream on the gown. She didn't care much, either. "You
just didn't like her, did you?"
"I would attack both Heaven and Hell to save this world, and you
know it! And I wouldn't do something to compromise the safety of Earth
unless I felt it was completely necessary."
"So, you really don't like her?" asked Reeny, throwing the bowl
into the sink. "This doesn't make sense, Tara. You seem much more
level-headed than you're acting."
"I just... I got weird vibes from her, Reeny," attempted the
blushing temple maiden. "I get weird vibes from you, and Lyra, and
even Phoebe sometimes, too."
"Obviously." Reeny held out a hand. "Give me the Locket of
Light, Tara."
The girl shied away. "No..." she trembled. When Reeny wanted
something, she could be pretty intimidating.
"Yes. We're going to give it back to that girl!" Reeny commanded.
Tara removed from her pocket the little pendant. "Here..." she
said, handing it over.
It was lavender and midnight blue, with a bit of gold trimming.
The symbol looked a bit like a flag waving in the wind, and it shed a
bit of...glow? Light? Reeny couldn't tell.
"Alright. Let's go up to the parlor and explain to my mother.
Then, we can call the girl and her mother..."
"Mistress Jupiter." Tara sighed, blushing. "I'm sorry, Reeny...
Something just...came over me when I saw that box."
"It's okay, Tara," Reeny said, putting her hand on the other's
shoulder. "It's not too late...yet..."
"What do you mean?" Tara ran a hand through her long hair.
"Never mind." Reeny exited the kitchen with grace.
"Does she always talk in riddles?" thought Tara aloud, running
after her friend.
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Oh, dear... My, oh, my... This is an interesting problem,
Jupiter." Queen Serenity sat, as always, on her tattered old couch.
Her dress was perfectly white, as always, and her blue eyes shone
knowingly.
"I know, Your Highness. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out
where it went." Lita slammed her fist onto the end table near her
chair. "When I find out who stole it..."
"Mother," warned Alice, sitting a little taller in her seat,
"watch it..."
"Sorry, sweetie." The Mistress of Jupiter recoiled her hand and
stroked her long ponytail instead. "It just makes me very angry. I
can't imagine who would do such a thing..."
Alice shrugged, and quietly sighed. "I haven't the faintest who
would steal a locket. The only two people in the apartment today were
me and Tara."
"Tara?" Serenity's eyes grew to astronomical proportions.
"She's a girl from Crossroads, but she a whole lot younger than
me." Watching Serenity, Alice grew concerned. The Queen didn't seem to
be breathing. "She just entered the school, and she doesn't seem to
know what she's doing, because she's always been home-schooled... Are
you okay, Highness? You seem pale."
Serenity let out a tiny gasp and clutched her chest a bit. "I'm
fine... Luna," she spoke to the black cat which was sitting on the
floor, "find Diana, Reeny, and Tara and bring those three here."
The cat nodded and was off.
"You don't think that Tara's behind this, do you?" asked Alice,
growing a bit defensive. "I mean, she can be pretty cranky and she's
definitely in denial of how the world really works, but I don't think
she stole that locket... What?" The glances she was receiving from
both the Queen, her mother, and the white cat that remained in the
room made her blush.
Serenity turned grim. "Tara is the Galactic Sailor of the Earth.
She was chosen to be the Sailor of the Earth by age, but she holds
this world in a special place. The Shinto worship nature, and bow down
to a Sun Goddess. Tara is the incarnation of all those beliefs.
"If you did not get along with Tara-and I can tell that you and
her are of conflicting personas-she may have stolen the locket,
knowing that your disagreement on the ways of the universe could
possibly affect the abilities of the Sailors."
Carefully taking this in, Alice sighed deeply. Serenity, in her
regal and non-threatening manner, was announcing the way things were
in the world Alice was about to enter-the world of the Scouts. And she
had quite a point.
"I understand." Twirling an auburn hair in her first finger and
thumb, she looked to the floor. "I understand."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Tara and Reeny walked in silence. The marble halls echoed with
the sounds of footfalls hitting the floor. In one hand, Tara gripped
the sides of her temple robes. In the other, she held the Locket of
Light.
Reeny shook her head slowly as they walked. What a stupid kid,
she thought to herself. She's going to have to learn a whole lot to
make it as a Scout. I hope she learns.
"I'm sorry, Reeny. I know what you're thinking, and I'm sorry. I
just thought that it would all work out better if we let Alice be a
normal kid..."
Note to myself, Reeny thought. Tara can read minds.
Just then, Diana and Luna came running up. "You two are needed
right way!" Luna exclaimed.
Diana nodded. "The would-be Sailor Aurora Borealis is here, and
her locket is missing!"
Tara blanched. Reeny stared at the floor.
"What?" asked Diana, sweat-dropping. "Did I say something
wrong?"
Luna sighed. "I think we found our culprits." She clicked her
tongue against her teeth. "Why did you two take Aurora's locket?"
Reeny's eyes popped open, wide and surprised. "I didn't do
anything!" Diana and Luna looked at one another. "Seriously! It wasn't
me this time!" The cats sighed in unison. "Why don't you two ever
believe me?"
"I did it." Tara's voice was soft and resigned. She stared at
the ground and held out the locket. "I took the locket."
"Earth, how could you?" asked Luna. "I mean, Tara... Sorry..."
"It doesn't matter. The point is, I took it, and the
Princess..."
"Didn't! Ha ha! Told you so!" Reeny stuck out her tongue.
Diana snickered. "Whatever you say... 'Serena'..."
"I am not acting like Mom! I am not!" Reeny protested, throwing
a fit in the hall.
Luna sighed. Those two fought like sisters, not guardian and
charge... "We'd best get Aurora's locket back to her..."
Tara sighed. "Alright..."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"How could you steal my locket?" Alice was livid. She usually
didn't have much of a temper, but when she got mad, all hell broke
lose. "It was mine! And besides, I let you into my home, gave you tea,
helped you with your bio homework, and, all the while, you were
sitting around with my locket, the Locket of Light, in your pocket! I
should throttle you, Tara!"
Tara stood, staring at the floor. "I didn't think you'd make a
very good Scout," she commented softly.
"That's not your decision to make, now is it?" Alice bristled,
angry. "This wasn't fair to me! Who do you think you are?" she asked,
pacing and clutching her locket to her chest. "I'll show you!" She
held the locket high. "Aurora Borealis Galactic Power..."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you..." commented Serenity,
closing her eyes.
"Make-up!" Alice yelled.
A giant flash of blinding light appeared, filling the room.
Reeny dove behind a couch, screaming. Tara grimaced and began to pray.
Luna and Diana hid under a chair. Lita covered her head in a pillow.
Serenity sat on her couch, silent, with her eyes closed. "Happy
yet, Alice?"
Alice's voice was weak. "What's happening?"
"You tried to use the locket without first accepting the
challenge of being a Sailor. And now, you are blinding us all."
"And how do I stop this?"
"First, did you learn your lesson? Did you learn not to act on
impulse?" The Queen's voice was stern.
"Yes..." Alice sighed.
The Imperium Silver Crystal appeared before Serenity. Sucking
all the light out of the room, the little orb promptly disappeared.
Reeny came out from behind the couch. "Is everything okay in
here?" she asked, brushing herself off.
"And you, young lady, should be better prepared to use the
Silver Crystal, should that danger arrive." Serenity glanced at her
daughter. "Running and hiding never got me anywhere, and it won't help
you, either."
Diana, from her hiding place, sniggered. "Reeny's turning into
her mother... Ow! Watch it, Ma!"
Alice held her locket. "So, what's this challenge I have to
accept."
Lita grimaced. "I forgot all about that. Alice, do you accept
defending the universe?"
"I do."
"Do you accept protecting all the innocent from whatever evil
does arrive?"
"I do."
"Do you accept..." Lita paused, swallowing hard. "Do you accept
the challenge of working alongside all the other Scouts for the good
of the universe?"
Alice remained silent, thinking of what a jerk Tara had already
been. Do I really want to work alongside that? she asked herself.
Thinking of a universe taken over by evil, Alice sighed. Do I
really have a choice?
"I do. I accept the challenge of being a Sailor Scout."
Lita smiled at her daughter, knowing that those few words had
just changed their lives.
"Welcome to the Scouts, Sailor Aurora Borealis."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Maybe this just isn't working out, Michelle!" Alex cried
loudly, yelling at the aqua haired woman that sat across the table.
"I think you're right, Alexandra! None of this seems to go as
it's supposed to anymore!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
SLAM!
Haley, a brown haired teen who was sitting on the couch, began
to count down. 3...2...1...
SLAM!
"Hmmm... That was a three-second delay. Michelle's really
getting mad today." Hannah looked up from her university readings.
"You'd think that they were an old married couple."
"Technically, they are," commented Haley, not glancing up from
her newspaper. "I mean, they've raised both of us from scratch
and...you know..."
Hannah shook her head. "Why can't you say it? It's not a dirty
word, and most everybody is supportive."
"I don't see what you mean, Hannah." Haley turned the page.
"Say it. Say what you were about to say." She looked at the
younger girl with cautious purple- almost black- eyes.
Haley laughed. "Say what? I was just going to mention that they
live together." She blushed and looked up at the older girl. Aqua eyes
met purple.
"You are such a little prude, Haley! You are afraid to admit
that our parents are two lesbians!"
Haley blushed a deep crimson and focused on the floor.
"I am not." Her voice lacked conviction.
Hannah stood to her full height. "You think you're awfully
special, don't you? You are such a pathetic little kid. You're just
this goody-goody that sucks up to Alex and Michelle and expects to get
everything she wants." She put her hands on her two slender hips.
Hannah had been a very quiet girl, but the arrival of the younger
child had turned her into a rather bitter person.
Haley felt her anger building up. She wasn't usually a person
who got into fights, but Hannah seemed to set her off. "I am not a
goody-goody! And I don't get everything I want! You take that back!"
"No way, you little music-school reject! You are such a snob!"
Hannah yelled at her adopted 'sister'.
"I am not! And, at least my dad didn't try to possess me with
the spirit of some evil entity!" Haley yelped, clenching her fists and
jumping off the couch. "You're nothing but a snot! I wish you had
never been reborn!"
"I wish that Alex and Michelle had never been dumb enough to
adopt you!" Hannah screamed.
"I wish Sailor Saturn would cut your head off with the Silence
Glaive!"
Hannah blanched. "Where'd that come from?" she asked,
swallowing.
"And I wish that Sailor Uranus would get you-good-with the Space
Sword! And I wish that Sailor Neptune would get you with her Mirror
thingie! And I wish I were a Sailor Scout so that I could kick you
into next week!" Haley wasn't giving up with her tirade.
"You're just a rotten little brat!" retorted Hannah, forgetting
about all the Scout-related comments. "And you think that-just because
you're a stupid little Galactic Sailor..."
"What'd you say?" asked Haley, stopping in mid-sentence. "A
Galactic Sailor?"
Hannah had caught her mistake. "Nothing..."
"I'm a Sailor?" Running to find the two adults, Haley ignored
her sister.
Hannah paled and then blushed. "Alex and Michelle are going to
kill me..."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Alexandra had short, straight, and slightly spiky blond hair.
She sat at the kitchen table, eating salad quietly. All was well since
she and Michelle had made up, but everyone was oddly silent.
Indeed, the whole 'family' was eating as well. Michelle had made
her specialty, which was Japanese meat strips, and both she and Hannah
seemed to be enjoying them. Haley, the vegetarian of the group, ate
some pan-fired noodles left over from nights before. Everyone was
content.
Until Hannah spoke. "The Eve of Mistresses is upon us."
Michelle began to choke and took a long sip of water. "Excuse
me?" she gasped, turning a greenish color. She appeared to be quite
prepared to vomit.
"The Eve of Mistresses is upon us," Hannah repeated, gingerly
eating. "Tonight, at midnight, the Silence will come."
Alexandra threw down her fork onto the table. "Oh no you won't!
I don't care who you are or who you think you are, Hannah, but there
aren't going to be any 'Silence Glaive Surprises' tonight."
"Alex..." warned Michelle firmly.
"I swear it, Hannah," she continued, ignoring the moderating
force which sat across from her. "If you pull anything, we'll all come
after you. I promise."
"Do you forget what the Eve of Mistresses is, Alexandra?" asked
Hannah coolly. She stood slowly, laying her napkin on her chair. "I
will be at the meeting with the rest of you. And then, the world will
end." She began to vanish. "And none of you can stop me."
She was gone.
Michelle and Alexandra looked at one another, not talking.
"Excuse me?" came a soft voice.
Both looked at Haley, and then back at one another.
"Get your shoes on, Haley. We have to go to the Palace."
Alexandra was immediately in action.
"I am not getting into a car with you," retorted Haley, still
eating. "And does this whole thing have anything to do with that
Galactic Sailor thing Hannah mentioned? Am I really a Sailor?"
"Not yet. And if we don't get to that Palace, you never will
be." Michelle threw on a parka and took out a small disc. "Alex?"
Stuffing something brown into her pocket, Alexandra nodded.
"Uranus Mistress Power!" She took Haley's hand.
"Neptune Mistress Power!" Michelle took Haley's other hand.
"Teleport!" they announced in unison.
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"So, let me get this straight," Haley breathed, looking down at
the little brown box that Alexandra had placed in her hands. "You two
are Sailors Neptune and Uranus, Hannah is Sailor Saturn, and Auntie
Susan is really Sailor Pluto."
"So far, so good," commented Alex.
Haley took a deep breath. "And I am a Sailor named Sailor
Comet?"
"Correct," Michelle said. She stopped and looked into the deep
aqua eyes of her daughter. "Now, I am required to ask you the
following questions."
"And I am too, so bear with us." Alex cleared her throat and
took a deep breath. "Do you accept the challenge of protecting the
world, no matter how bleak the future promises to be?" she asked.
"Yes." Haley looked at the box with its strange comet symbol.
Beautiful...
Michelle, in her high and melodic voice, took her turn. "Will
you promise to work together with the other Galactic Sailors for the
good of universe, no matter your personal opinion of each?"
"Yes." Haley opened the box as Alex took over.
"Do you promise to use your powers for only good?"
"Yes..." The locket inside the box was the most beautiful thing
she had ever seen. The comet was orange, with a silver tail. The
locket itself was orange as well. Haley gasped despite herself.
"Haley, do you accept the heartache, the power, the beauty, the
sorrow, the wonder, and the challenge of being the Sailor Scout of the
Comets?" Michelle's voice seemed to gain an eternal quality. It
carried through the marble halls, echoing, reverberating, and rumbling
through the cavernous entity that was Crystal Palace.
"I do." Haley held the locket high. "I do!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"I call the Meeting of Mistresses to order." Serenity's blue
eyes were sad, mournful, and yet strong. From her seat in the middle
of the parlor, her voice filled the room with a firm quality.
The black, white, and pink cats all sat in a line upon a small
chair. The two older cats looked grim and adult, but the youngest
looked positively bored.
"The Eve of Mistresses," Luna said solemnly. "A night that will
change all of your lives forever." Her auburn eyes scanned the room.
Six Galactic Sailors... eight adult and 'normal' women... and one
Queen of the Earth.
The white cat smiled a bit. "Tonight is the night of the True
Planet Mistresses. Tonight, your powers are simply defensive."
The little pink cat yawned. The others looked at her. Her
magenta eyes grew wide. "Oh! My turn!" She smiled at the crowd. "I'm
supposed to tell you what's going to happen tonight. I'm no good at
this guardian stuff, but...
Luna growled.
"Okay, sorry." Her face turned serious. "At midnight tonight,
you will no longer be able to transform into Sailor Soldiers, with the
exception of Sailor Pluto. You will, from now and forever, be stuck
using your Planet Mistress Powers." She smiled. "Okay, Ma, I'm done."
Luna hung her head and sighed. Taking a deep breath and putting
on a determined face, she looked up. "And, tonight, the Galactic
Sailors will take over the official and offensive duties of protecting
the Universe."
Serenity placed her hands in her lap. "Our Galactic Sailors are
going to introduce themselves."
"We are?" the Princess asked from her lounge chair.
Serenity smiled, swallowing and groaning inwardly. "Yes, you
are."
Reeny pulled herself from her plush seat. She threw a pink
pigtail over her shoulder. "I'm Princess Reeny, and I'm the Galactic
Sailor of the Moon. Please don't bow, or call me Princess, 'cause I
hate it." She sat down.
The pink cat sighed and watched as the next Scout stood.
"My name is Tara. All my life, I have held nature highly. I am
Shinto, and my religion believes deeply in the power of natural
forces." She looked at the woman sitting next to her. "I am Sailor
Earth, the daughter of Mistress Mars."
The blonde popped up. "I'm Lyra. I love stars! And astronomy!
And I really like all the people I've met here... Though I think this
Palace couldn't get much creepier if it tried!" She smiled widely.
"I'm Venus' kid, and I'm also Sailor Polaris."
Luna nodded to the next girl.
"I am the marvelous Phoebe, the eternal Queen of everything and
all." Seeing the glance she was receiving from her mother, she bit her
lip. "Uh...I'm the daughter of Mercury and I'm also Sailor Phoenix.
Thanks." She sat down.
The next girl rose, auburn hair flowing about her shoulders.
"I'm not really pretty, or smart, or anything special, and I didn't
think that I'd make a good Sailor Scout at first. But, when my locket
was stolen, I knew I would." She glanced disdainfully at Tara. "I am
Alice. Sailor Aurora Borealis. And my mother is Mistress Jupiter."
Haley slunk farther into her seat as Alice sat down. She felt
out of place-she was elder than the rest of the girls, and she was the
only one whose real parents weren't present. But, when the black cat
looked at her with those impossibly auburn eyes, she stood.
"My name is Haley. I am the adopted child of Mistresses Uranus
and Neptune. As long as I can recall, Hannah-that's Saturn-and Susan-
Pluto-have been important parts of my life. They are my 'sister' and
my 'aunt'.
"I don't know what I'm doing here, and I don't really think this
is the best position for me to be in. I'm not even a real Scout by
blood."
Michelle looked at her daughter with large teal eyes. "Destiny,"
she said, "waits for no Sailor."
Haley nodded. "Whatever caused me to be a Sailor, and whatever
power endows me the ability to remain a Sailor, I know not. But, I do
know this-I'm going to be the best damn Sailor Comet that the world
can have." She bowed. "Thank you."
Hannah, clad in a long, purple dress, stood suddenly. The
grandfather clock read five minutes to midnight. "This has all been
fun. I do love you all dearly, but the Galactic Sailors will not be
able to fight the new evil that is coming. I must call the Silence."
Sailor Pluto, who was the only in attendance wearing a fuku,
looked at Hannah. "Don't, Sailor Saturn. Don't do this to yourself. Or
to us."
"I'm sorry, Susan." She sighed. "I love you. And Michelle. And
Alex. But I've got to do this."
Luna looked at the six stunned Galactic Sailors. "Don't just sit
there! Transform!"
Saturn raised a hand into the air. "Saturn Planet Power...Make
Up!"
Phoebe jumped up and grabbed her locket. "Come on, you dopes! We
can't just sit around on our butts while Saturn kills the world.
Phoenix Galactic Power... Make Up!"
"Moon Galactic Power... Make Up!"
"Earth Galactic Power... Make Up!"
"Polaris Galactic Power... Make Up!"
"Aurora Borealis Galactic Power-whew, what a mouthful... Make
Up!"
"Comet Galactic Power... Make Up!"
Six lockets were raised high into the air as voice spoke in
unison.
"Scout Power!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Somewhere, far away in the Andromeda Galaxy, a brown robed man
opened his eyes slowly. He looked at the starry night sky through an
ancient telescope. Looking at the Milky Way, he smiled. Sun, Earth,
Moon, North Star, Haley's Comet... all were aligned. And he knew, in
the Northern reaches of Earth, the Aurora Borealis flickered brightly.
"It is time," he breathed, looking to the two women and two men
behind him. "Tell the king that Earth is ready to be ours."
"The day has arrived?" asked one of the women. She was a well-
figured woman in tight green clothing.
"Yes... It has..." The brown robed man cackled.
"Oh, don't do that!" said the woman, exiting the room. "I hate
it when you have to cackle!"
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sailor Saturn stood before the group of Galactic Sailors. The
six girls were a motley mix of colors-crimson, orange, gold, midnight
blue, silver, pink... All seemed a bit apprehensive of the woman that
had previously been well known as the Dark Messiah.
"You can't fight me!" Saturn raised her hand and the Silence
Glaive appeared. "I am the Bringer of the Silence; the ender of the
world."
"You can end the world over my dead body!" Sailor Phoenix
hollered loudly, glaring at the other Scout. "We are the Galactic
Sailors, and we protect the wonderful world of Earth!" She looked to
Moon. "Come on, Sailor Moon! Give us an awesome speech!"
The pink haired girl paled. "Okay... I am the Sailor of the
Moon! I protect the world!"
"On behalf of the Moon, you will right wrongs and triumph over
evil!" Diana came running up to her charge. "You can do it, Sailor
Moon!"
Gaining a bit of confidence, Sailor Moon cracked her knuckles.
"On behalf of the Moon, I will right wrongs! And though you're not
evil, we will save the world from the wrath of your Silence Glaive!"
Saturn smiled grimly. "I will miss you, Princess." She raised
the Glaive. "Silence Glaive... Surprise!"
The Scouts all grimaced and covered their eyes. The beautiful
world was about to come to an end...
After several silent minutes, Sailor Moon opened a pair of
tightly closed eyes. "Hey!" she exclaimed, surveying the area.
"Nothing happened!"
The rest of the girls looked up from their hands. "You're
right!" exclaimed Lyra, smiling.
A woman, who was about twenty years old, sat on the floor
weeping.
"Hannah?" asked Sailor Comet, stepping forward. "Are you
alright?"
"My Silence Glaive..." cried the dark-haired lady. "It didn't
work... I'm just a lousy old Planet Mistress..."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"My, my... What a sad little planet this Earth is." A man,
garbed in clothing of deep crimson and black, smiled wickedly. "I
think we'll have fun destroying it." He sat back in his throne.
"Illness! What have you to report?"
The brown-robed man who had earlier been looking at the stars
appeared. "My King," he said, bowing, "there are six Sailor-suited
girls called the Galactic Sailors on Earth. They fight to defend their
planet." He looked down, and a scroll appeared, floating above his
hands. "And there are eight other defensive women called the 'Planet
Mistresses'."
"What else?" the King asked.
"The Queen, Serenity, can wield a crystalline orb named the
'Silver Imperium Crystal'. It has magical properties." Illness rolled
up his scroll with a gesture. "Nothing further."
The man nodded. "Very well. Organize an assault on the planet,
beginning immediately. I expect that you will find Greed's help useful
in the mission." The King smiled. "And be sure to eliminate those
Sailor girls. I'm sure they are to be a bother." He waved a hand.
"Dismissed."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

And that, my friends, is where the real story begins.

Galactic Sailors Say!

Alice: (smiling wickedly) Today, Tara learned that stealing other
people's lockets is bad.

Tara's voice: I heard that!

Reeny: (walking into picture) And today, we learned a new word-
lesbian.

Alice: (mad) Hey! I'm doing this skit!

Reeny: (giggling) Yeah, right!

Diana: (appearing) There you are, young lady! You're late for language
class!

Reeny: But...

Alice: Ha!

(Reeny and Diana leave)

Phoebe: (coming out of a door with a towel around her) Hey, Alice,
what's up?

Alice: (blushing) We're on camera.

Phoebe: (eyes growing wide) Oh my god! You mean that Kate was stealing
Biles and Hosmer's idea today? (runs frantically away)

Alice: (sighing) We also learned that, sometimes, bad guys wait an
episode before plotting evil things.

Brown Robed Man: (appears) Ha! (starts cackling)

Green Clothed Woman: (chasing man away) Don't cackle!

Alice: (shaking head) I give up... I'm done.

Reeny: (running through) I don't want to work on my Spanish homework!

Diana: (chasing Reeny) You come back here!

Lyra: (appearing) I can think of something we learned.

Alice: (annoyed) WHAT?

Lyra: (smiling) When Butler promises no appearances by Galena, she
means it!

Galena: (appearing) Really?

Lyra: Uh...

Alice: (crying) THIS IS A DIASTER!

Haley: (appearing and smiling) Why don't we just cut to our crummy
version of the American dub theme song and leave it at that?

Alice: (still crying) Roll credits...

Song: The Galactic Sailors are cool,
The Galactic Sailors go to school.
Not one is a fool...
We're the Sailor Scouts.

Saturn didn't end the world...
Of course, that's because she
lost all her powers, but still...
That part's beside the point...
We're the Sailor Scouts.

Yay, Sailor Scouts!
More to come of the Galactic Scouts...
Until then:
Kate Butler and Christina