Chapter Nine, Time:

She was old, very old. More than a millennium she had lived,

but she felt as though she were older and had lived longer. She

felt as old as the time gate. A time gate that had been around for

a very long time and had seen countless guardians of time. Sailor

Pluto sighed a deep sigh and allowed her mind to wander. Her

crimson, garnet colored eyes glittered like the garnet colored

jewel on her tiara. She was used to being alone. Now being with

the scouts was difficult. Sometimes she could barely bring herself

to wake up as Trista and spend time with all the scouts. Michelle

and Amara were easier to be around. Hotaru too. But she still

felt that grat chasm between her and them. The great chasm that

she felt separating her from the entire world. She wondered if

she would ever feel like part of this world. Her childhood still

existed in the past, during the Silver Millennium. A past she

would rather not remember, but she was still haunted by it.

Most of all though she felt like she still belonged in the Silver

Millennium, not here in this strange century with these foreign

people. Even more than she wanted to exist in the Silver

Millennium though she wanted to exist in the eighteenth century

with her love. A love that had died a long time ago, and a huge

part of her heart died along with him. She felt like she had

just a small piece of her heart left for anyone else. The only

thing to comfort her was knowing she was fighting for love and

justice, keeping the world safe from monsters.

Trista sat quietly at home, staring into the fire.

Thoughts dancing through her mind like the flames dancing in

the fire. Fleeting doubts, curiousities, and thoughts

flickering in her mind.



The rest of the outers showed up at the house later to

spend some time together.



"There's no peanut butter left in the fridge!" yelled

the usually quiet Hotaru.



"Check the bottom shelf towards the very back!" Amara

yelled back as she entered the kitchen.



"So you're finally up? Ah, here it is."



"Yes I'm up. It's Michelle that takes twenty years to

get out of bed in the morning," joked Amara.



Trista nodded her head in agreement as she entered the

kitchen. "So what are you making with peanut butter small one?"

she asked Hotaru in endearment.



"Just a peanut butter and banana sandwich," Hotaru

responded.



"Sounds yummy," mumbled Michelle as she walked into

the kitchen, yawning. She looked at the clock. "What am I

doing up before noon?" she wondered out loud as she saw the

digits reading 10:08 a.m.



"I don't know, but I plan to take advantage of it,"

Amara teased, coming up and tickling her love from behind.



"Hey!" Michelle said between giggles. Soon they were

both on the floor rolling around in laughter as Hotaru and

Trista looked back and forth at the scene before them and

each other.



Hotaru raised her eyebrows. "They are strange ones,"

Trista commented as she left the kitchen with Hotaru who had

her sandwich in hand.

The next day was the outer scout meeting.



"I call this meeting to order!" Trista commanded as

Hotaru, Michelle, and Amara took their appointed seats for

the outer scouts' meeting.



There have not been any major attacks in awhile,"

Trista observed out loud. The others nodded their heads to

show that they understood and noticed. "Any suggestions on

how we should be prepared?"



"First of all we need to make sure our guards are

no less down than if we had just had an attack. It's easy

to almost forget about our other life when the attacks are

few and far between," said Amara.



The others nodded their heads again in agreement.

"So true," Trista said quietly.



"I say otherwise we just continue with our regular

training and meetings," Amara finished.



Michelle and Hotaru nodded their heads in agreement.



"All right," Trista quietly agreed.

Later that day, while Hotaru was away at a

sleepover with the inners, she had a discussion with Amara

and Michelle.



The three sailor soldiers were sitting at home

having a discussion. "Do you think we're missing out on

anything?" Michelle asked.



"Nah," Amara said. "Just girly stuff."



Michelle giggled and leaned her head on Amara's

shoulder. "I'm sure you're right love."



Trista stared at the two of them as she smiled.

"You know you two would have died to be as free as this

back in the Moon Kingdom."



"Tell us about it," Michelle requested.



"Well...there isn't much to tell. Just the usual

stuff. Your parents would not accept two women being in

love and refused to let you see one another."



"Did we eventually win them over?"



"The war started soon afterwards, so who knows.

But I think you would never have been able to win them

over to be honest. They were all such traditionalists

back then," Trista said honestly.



Michelle and Amara grunted in disgust.

"Traditionalists," they both said in disgust.

The next day she spent reading with Amy at the

library while most of the others went ice skating.



Trista and Amy sat in the big chairs in the

library reading their books. Amy had one out on Quantam

Physics and Trista was reading up on alternate

dimensional theories.



They smiled at each other and sat down to their

quiet reading time together, each relishing the alone

time and quietness.

The next day was the meeting for all sailor scouts.



"We call this meeting to order!" Luna announced as

all the sailor soldiers sat down in their respective chairs

in human form.



"Really LUna, things have been quiet for awhile.

Is it actually necessary to continue to have all these

weekly meetings?" Mina asked.



"I suppose bimonthly would be enough now," she

reluctantly conceded.



Mina smiled and Serena shouted "Yippee."



"It's nice to finally have some peace," Hotaru

commented. The others nodded their heads in agreement.



Seeing as there were no new events or fears, the

meeting was quickly over.

Later that day she spent with Raye on the

balcony. The long black hair mingled with the long dark

green hair that blew in the wind on the balcony. Raye

and Trista were having a serious discussion about their

worries that new enemies would be arriving soon.



"And with all the time we've had off I'm

worried they're going to be really tough ones, and we

won't be prepared," Raye said.



Trista nodded her head. "I know what you mean.

We need to keep training and meeting as hard if not

harder to prepare for what's to come."



"Do you know something Trista?" Raye asked.



"Not exactly. It's more of a feeling you know."



"Yeah I know exactly what you mean. I have the

same feeling."



Trista lay in bed that night staring at her

ceiling. She would have to get back to her post soon at

the time gate. She wouldn't miss anything from this

world. That was a lie. She would miss seeing Amara and

Michelle snuggled in each other's arms. She would miss

hearing the sound of their laughter. She would miss

the feeling of Hotaru, who could stand near her but

barely seem to exist. Just like the Hotaru she remembered

from the past. She sighed-the past. A horrible time full

of darkness and her mother's hands all over her body. She

shuddered. She would miss the smell of Michelle's perfume.

The taste of Amara's pancakes. The sight of the little

child Hotaru and small lady, Rini. She would miss it, but

she would be more at home at her post than in this house,

on this earth. She preferred to wait in the infinity of

time rather than deal with the drone and peculiarity of

everyday life. A life of sorrow and pain for her, but she

had new memories to replace the old ones. She knew it

didn't work that way. She knew the old memories would

always haunt her, but the new ones would bring her some

peace and comfort through the dark memories.

To Be Continued...