"Say your piece," Usagi said as coldly as she could manage, sitting stiffly on the couch opposite Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna.

Setsuna sighed as she looked at her princess. Usagi's face was wary and closed, almost devoid of emotion. The only thing that she could read was a hint of fear around her eyes. That nearly broke Setsuna's heart. Her princess was afraid of her. "I know it won't mean much for me to say this, but I'm sorry for what happened between you and the Inner Senshi."

"I'm sure you are," Usagi replied icily.

"We never met in this lifetime," Setsuna said. "When you passed through the Time Gates to go to Crystal Tokyo, I watched you but was unable to interact. I was not allowed back into the time stream until just over a year ago."

"What are you talking about, let back into the time stream," Usagi asked. "Luna told us that you were the Guardian of the Time Gate. What prevented you from stepping in?"

"I may be the Guardian," Setsuna admitted, "but I don't really have the kind of control over the Gate that you might think. There are rules I am bound by, oaths that are enforced by the magic that powers the Gate. I am allowed limited control at certain times when there has been tampering with the time stream. Wise Man and Diamond had been messing with time and I was freed to take steps, like when I sent Small Lady back and allowed all of you to travel forward. But the price I pay for that control is having to stay locked outside of time for certain lengths of time. I was only allowed to re-enter the time stream last year."

Setsuna paused, staring into Usagi's eyes. She could swear she'd seen Usagi's composure crack when she'd mentioned Small Lady. "I saw what happened, but I was unable to act. I am not allowed to alter the past. Once the time stream is set, it is inviolate."

"So you saw all the others turn against me," Usagi said flatly.

"Yes," Setsuna replied wincing. "And I know why they turned against you."

Usagi's eyes teared over despite her best efforts, but her voice was steady as she responded, "They turned against me because they believed that I wasn't fit to be the princess, and that I was dragging the team down. Mamoru said that none of them should be bound to me because of what happened in a past life."

"That's not the reason why they said it Usagi," Setsuna replied, glancing over at Haruka and Michiru. They had been staring wide-eyed at the two of them, following the conversation like it was a tennis match. Setsuna was sure they were shocked too. Their memories of the princess had been of a warm and loving girl who had drawn them into a family despite the loneliness of their positions. She sighed as she continued, "Those were the reasons they gave, but there was something beyond that, something beyond their control. You see, Usagi, they were being influenced like Mamoru had been before you traveled to the future."

"What do you mean by influenced," Usagi asked. "I know the dreams Mamoru had been having were what drove the first wedge between us, but we'd gotten past that with Chibi-Usa's help."

"I know," Setsuna replied sadly, "but it was that very trip to the future that caused this all. When you defeated Diamond, dark energy was released. He'd been drawing power from the crystal and storing it in himself for quite a long time by that point. When he died, the energy attempted to follow his last commands, the destruction of the Sailor Senshi. It managed to infect all of the others, causing them to turn on you."

Usagi was very quiet for a moment. She'd lived with the pain of her friends rejection for years now and it was very tempting to believe that it had all been caused by an outside agency. Something deep inside her wanted to believe what Setsuna was telling her, but she was reluctant. If she accepted that, she would have to forgive the others for hurting her. "And suppose I believe you," Usagi finally asked. "What then? Do you expect me to reform the Sailor Senshi? To bring everyone back together as if nothing ever happened?"

"No, I don't," Setsuna replied sadly. "I hope that someday you'll be able to forgive them, but I don't expect you to do so anytime soon. They hurt you badly, whether or not it was their fault, and you need time to heal. As for the Sailor Senshi, that's why I searched for Haruka and Michiru. They were to have awoken six months after your defeat of Diamond, when another enemy reared it's head. However, Diamond's interference threw the time line out of skew. The enemy who they were supposed to battle with you never emerged, so they didn't wake up. When I found where you had gone, I woke them and brought them to you. If the Sailor Senshi are needed, we will take up the responsibility. You don't need to accept the others again until you choose to do so."

"Besides," Michiru added, joining the conversation, "the others are in no shape to help you either."

"What do you mean," Usagi asked.

"When I came into the Time Stream again," Setsuna replied, "I removed the last traces of dark energy from Mamoru and the Inner Senshi. But by then, the damage had been done. Not only had they alienated you, they had also fought amongst themselves and alienated each other. None of them have spoke to each other for the last six years. If I hadn't watched through the Time Gate, I'm not sure if I could have found them myself."

Usagi felt a guilty flash of satisfaction at that, even though she shouldn't be happy about something bad happening to someone else. They had hurt her badly and somewhere deep inside her, in a dark corner of her mind, she felt that justice had been done. "So if you aren't here to force me back into being Sailor Moon, what do you want?"

Setsuna was silent for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was full of sorrow, "Once, long ago, we were a family, all nine of us. We didn't always get along, but we were always there for each other. I had hoped to salvage some of it. I'd hoped you'd be able to accept the three of us into your lives."

Usagi felt her heart tugging at Setsuna's obvious loneliness when something tugged at her mind. "Wait a minute," she said. "You said nine of us, but with the three of you, me and the Inners it only makes eight. Who's the ninth?"

"The ninth is Sailor Saturn," Setsuna replied. "I wasn't able to find any trace of her. The girl I had suspected was her disappeared three years ago and I don't know what happened. One day she was there and the next she was gone."

"But she's still alive, right," Usagi asked hesitantly.

"Yes, princess," Setsuna replied. "Our powers bind us together. All of us will know when one of the Senshi dies. The bonds between us now are weak with distance, both physical and emotional."

"I see," Usagi said, staring at the three woman sitting across from her. She'd always prided herself on being able to read people's body language, and she could almost taste the tension pouring off the three of them. They were desperate, Usagi decided. For her to accept them.

"Can you please give us a chance," Michiru asked softly, her voice pleading. "I know you're mad at the others, but we never did anything. We want to be with you. I can remember my past life now and it's not much different than my life now is. I've always been isolated from others, felt alone in the world. But you, the princess brought us together and made it so we were never alone, that we always had someone to rely on. And if it hadn't been for you, I would never have met Haruka." Michiru reached over and took Haruka's hand in hers, grasping it tightly.

"I've always been different too," Haruka said softly. "I've never fit in with other girls. I was always too masculine. I was never comfortable in a dress, always preferred men's clothes and men's sports. Most of my way through high school, I passed myself off as a guy. Then Setsuna found me and woke my memories. She brought Michiru back into my life and she brought us to you." Haruka stopped a minute, her voice too thick to continue. "I remember when we first met in our previous lives. I was rude, arrogant, standoffish and a general pain in the ass, but you broke through that in a matter off days. You introduced me to Michiru. Everything that was good in my life came from you and I want to be part of your life again."

Usagi didn't realized it, but tears had started flowing down her cheeks. She launched herself across the coffee table, arms spread wide as she grabbed the three in a hug. The three Outer Senshi were surprised, but quickly gathered Usagi in a warm group hug, assuring her that everything would be all right now.

* * *

Zach stared at the canvas in front of him. Painting had always been a hobby of his. When he'd been younger, he'd seriously considered going into art. Fortunately he'd had a teacher who had crushed his aspirations. He hadn't liked that at the time, in fact he'd been rather bitter about it for a year or so, but he finally had accepted that art wasn't where his talents lay. High school had introduced him to chemistry and biology and he'd found an unexpected talent for it. He'd made his goal to become a biochemist, but he'd never truly abandoned his art.

Art was a release for Zach. When life had grown too frustrating, he'd retreat to his room and paint. When he became too depressed, he'd paint. Now he was painting an image he'd recreated a thousand times before, that of a girl who'd haunted his dreams since he was a child. His brush fairly flew across the small canvas, moving whites and blues to frame her beauty.

He heard the door open and saw Usagi dragging herself in. Looking over at the clock, Zach was startled to discover the time. He hadn't even made dinner yet! He set his palette down and dropped the brush in the can of mineral spirits to clean off the paint and jumped to his feet. "I'm sorry, Usagi," he said as he crossed the room to enter the kitchen, "I lost track of time. I'll get dinner started now."

Usagi grunted in response. This had been a long and exhausting day and she wanted to sleep more than anything in the world, but she knew she'd pay for it if she slept on an empty stomach. She flopped down on the couch wearily and picked up the remote. Switching the television on, she flipped through the channels, looking for something to watch. Five minutes later, she turned it off disgustedly. Forty channels and nothing's on worth watching, she thought absently. She glanced over at Zach's easel, noting that he'd started painting again. She'd seen him do that frequently and always found it fascinating to watch. His style of painting was forceful and energetic and fun to watch. I wonder what he's painting now.

Usagi gasped softly as she saw the image that was half-finished on the canvas. Ami's eyes stared back at her and caused Usagi to shiver. "My god," she whispered. "Zach really is one of them, but how?"

Zach came out of the kitchen and noticed Usagi staring at his painting. "You really shouldn't be seeing this," he chided, drawing a sheet over the canvas. "It's not finished yet."

"Who is that," Usagi managed to asked, staring at him. His resemblance to Zoicite was uncanny now that she was looking for it, but the expression was wrong. Zach was always smiling and she'd never seen Zoicite do anything but sneer. Not to mention Zach had a normal male laugh, not a high pitched cackle like Zoicite had. "She's a dream," Zach replied simply. He saw her confusion and elaborated, "It's an image that I see in my dreams pretty often. Ever since I was a child, this face has haunted my dreams. Kinda ruined me for other women too. I always wind up measuring them to her and they never stand up to that."

"Why are you painting her now," Usagi asked, starting to recover from her surprise.

"When the guys were over last night, we got to talking about it," Zach said. "We've all been having similar dreams all of our lives. Jason thinks it has to do with a past life. He thinks it's why we are such good friends now. That we had a bond that transcended death. Anyway, each of us has dreamed of a woman. We looked for them for years, but never had any luck finding them. We decided to give it one last try. We're going to hire some private investigators and we'll need some way to let the investigators know what they look like, so we agreed to make pictures of them. Guess this sounds kinda strange, huh?"

"A little," Usagi replied. She was convinced that she'd somehow wandered into another dimension. She knew somewhere deep inside that Zach was telling the truth and that she had known him before. "I'm not really hungry. I think I'm going to go to sleep."

"All right," Zach said in surprise. Usagi had never been one to miss meals before, but she got to her feet and disappeared into her bedroom. He watched as the door swung shut behind her and wondered what had happened. She looked drawn and worn out, as if she'd gone through a wringer. Well, he was hungry, so he went back to fixing dinner.

To be continued.