A Trick of the Mind?

Chapter 2 – Planet Called Gaia

Disclaimer: The plot and a few original characters (that will emerge later on in the story) are the only things that belong to me. Damn! XP

The sky was glowing a vibrant orange with tints of pale pink and red. Setsuna's dress nearly blended into the sky she was looking into. It was pale orange with puffs of pale pink and a few red spurts here and there. The dress fit tightly around her figure, and hung a little loosely at the hem right above her kneecaps. Her feet were covered with orange sandals with thin heels that gave her about two and a half inches in height. Her hair, green and healthy as ever, was tied up in a loose bun secured with a ribbon that started out red and slowly faded into orange.

She began to breathe heavily. Her day had gone so well, but as the sun knew everyday that it must go to sleep every night, she too knew this. Mamoru touched her face, gently rubbing her cheek and smiling all the while. He, too, began to breathe deeply, knowing very well that he would have to say goodbye to Setsuna and they would have to go their separate ways.

"Setsuna," Mamoru started unsteadily and slowly, "there's something I have to ask you."

Setsuna's POV

"Setsuna, there's something I have to ask you."

I could feel my face turning a pearly white, matching the moon hovering above us. 'What on earth could he have to ask me?' I thought. His voice was unsteady and nervous, the very thing that unnerved me so. Shakily, I moved his hand away from my face and stared deep into his mesmerizing blue eyes that had captured me in the first place.

"Y-yes?" I asked in response. My mind felt like it'd turned into a pair of legs, pacing up and down a long room filled with filing cabinets, each holding memories, questions, answers.

The huge sigh he let out could have been heard across town. Mamoru nodded, ripping his hand away from mine and holding my head steadily, much different from his quivering voice. "Setsuna, darling, how long have we been together?"

My eyes opened widely and I could've sworn my jaw dropped three feet. "Uh… about… about two months…"

"Well, I think that since we've been together for so long, we should stop slinking around and express to everyone what we feel for each other."

I sighed. I didn't know what I was thinking! "Oh!" I exclaimed. "You mean you want to tell everyone that we're dating, right?"

He shook his head. I could feel his strong grip getting lighter as he slid his hands off my face and withdrew from his jacket a small black box. "I mean, will you marry me?" He clicked open the box to reveal a three-karat diamond ring on a platinum band. Mamoru pushed the box toward me, and I felt a rushing sensation surge through my body.

'Oh my God!' My mind began to wander. I probably sat there, staring at it with vacant eyes, for about three or four minutes before he said again, "Will you marry me?" So many thoughts raced this way and that. Would it be a good idea to marry after only two months of dating? How did he pay for that rock? How will we pay for the wedding? Where will we live? What will I do with Hotaru?

Finally, I nodded my head and tears streamed down my cheeks. I took the ring and placed it daintily on my finger, then threw my arms around him as more and more tears came pouring out. "I love you…" I whispered in his ear as he swept me up off the ground and swung me around. He carried me out of the park we'd had our date at, down the street, and to his apartment…

Next Morning

Setsuna's POV

I woke up in Mamoru's bed. Nothing had happened, I knew that much, but why was I there? My throat felt dry and I was feeling groggy and dizzy. I remembered having a lot of champagne with Mamoru, talking, laughing, kissing… The clock on the nightstand next to me blinked '12:00'. Oh no! Hotaru!

I threw the sheets off of me and slipped on my shoes. Grabbing my purse, I kissed Mamoru, who was still sound asleep, on the cheek and rushed out the door. Not even bothering to call a cab, I ran down the street as quickly as I could. People would stop and stare at me, but I didn't care. I remembered one night when I came home late at night, and Hotaru was huddled in a corner of her room, crying wildly.

When I got home, I was surprised to see Usagi there. I didn't know it yet, but my makeup was smudged and my eyeliner had run all down my cheeks, but I didn't have time to look in a mirror. Quickly, I straightened my dress and smoothed out my hair and, with all the poise and grace in the world, I walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, hello, Setsuna!" Usagi exclaimed, stifling a giggle.

"Mommy!" Hotaru ran up and wrapped her arms around him. However, this brief moment of affection was ruined when she pulled back and shot me the sternest look I'd ever seen come from her. "Where were you? And why is your makeup all messed?"

I sighed and knelt to her level. "I was with a friend, and it started to rain so we went to my friend's house and I ended up staying there."

Then I realized the ring was still on my finger, and the amount of light sparkling in from the bay window in front of me could not be could. Sure enough, when it shone in the glowing light sent from the sun, Usagi raised her brow suspiciously. "Setsuna, that's a beautiful ring. Is it a Harry Winston?"

I looked at the ring and nodded. "Yes, it is. Why do you ask?"

"Just that Harry Winston diamonds are meant purely for engagement rings. I wasn't even aware that you had a boyfriend, Setsuna. Who is the lucky man?"

"Oh… umm… I don't. I just liked the ring so I bought it."

"Three karats on platinum must have cost you an arm an a leg, am I right?"

I was beginning to get nervous. "Usagi, I'm sorry to be rude, but I've had a rough night, so I'll ask that you leave. There is a meeting at Rei's today, is there not?" She nodded, gathering up her purse. "Then I'll see you at four. It is at four, correct? Like all the other meetings she holds?" She nodded once more, gave Hotaru a peck on the cheek, hugged me, and left.

~ * ~

Setsuna sighed loudly. She had thought that Usagi was going to figure out her little "secret". However, she couldn't refuse her own "daughter", whom asked her the very same questions the moment after she heard the ding that meant Usagi was in the elevator. "Mama," Hotaru said timidly, "are you getting married?"

Hotaru's eyes were large and glassy, portraying such innocence that even the toughest senshi, Haruka, would not have been able to deny her a truthful answer. So Setsuna said and placed Hotaru on her lap, bouncing her knee slowly. "Yes, honey, I am."

"To who?"

"Mamoru-san."

"Really?"

Hotaru was ecstatic. You could see it in her very expression. Her mouth was wide in both surprise and approval. Her eyes were set in such a way that was in sync with her mouth's expression. Her tiny little dimples at the corner of her mouth were huge and deep with happiness. She was delighted.

Setsuna nodded gracefully. "Yes, honey, I am." She stole a glance at the microwave, which blinked '3:47'. "Oh, honey! We have to book it! The meeting at Rei's is in thirteen minutes!" She set Hotaru down and ran to her room to change, fix her make up, and brush her teeth. Her hair was in a total and complete mess, but she didn't have time for anything extravagant, so she just put it up in its normal do; a half bun.

Hotaru ran to the door and flung it open, only to be greeted by the grinning face of Chiba Mamoru. "Hey, Hotaru!" Mamoru said, giving her a warm hug and friendly peck on the cheek. "Where's your mum?"

"Oh, she's in her room changing for the meeting today, Daddy." Hotaru gave a smart-ass kind of smirk and walked out into the hallway of the apartment building, patiently waiting for Setsuna to come out.

"Daddy? Hmm… Setsuna must have told her." Mamoru walked into the apartment and greeted Setsuna with a big kiss. "Ready?"

"For what?" she replied, desperately trying to get her eyeliner right. "Are we going somewhere?"

A puzzled look came over Mamoru. "Yes, actually," he said, "we have dinner reservations at a really fancy French restaurant. Have you forgotten?"

Setsuna looked up suddenly, sending a dark blue line going down her cheek. "What? I thought that was tomorrow night! I'm so sorry, honey!"

"And I'm so sorry you don't look good with that line on your cheek." Mamoru chuckled.

Setsuna sent a dirty look at him and began to rub it off. "Oh, fuck it!" Mamoru's eyes widened and his mouth opened. "What? What?"

"I-it's just that I-I've never heard you curse before."

"Whatever. Anyway, you're coming to the meeting at Rei's tonight, right? Since I can't come with you on that date?"

"Well…"

"Oh please, Mamoru! It's been nine months since you and Usagi had that fight and you had those three dates with Rei. It's time you got over it! You're coming."

"But Setsuna… we… erm…"

"You slept with her?"

"N-no?"

She rolled her eyes at her fiancé and continued to quickly apply her makeup. Finally, after about a minute or two, she got up and promptly slapped him. "Yes, I know you've slept with other women, as all men do, but you don't lie to me about it, damn it!"

Mamoru's head drooped into a bow, and he sighed loudly. "Yeah, I'm sorry. It's just… this time it wasn't my fault. She kind of… forced me."

Setsuna sighed again. "I don't care. Now come on, we're going to be late."

"Okay." Mamoru replied, following Setsuna out of the apartment and into her car. Hotaru hopped into the back seat, smiling widely.

Setsuna buckled up. Then Mamoru. Then Hotaru. After she was sure that Hotaru was buckled up (she had a habit of just pretending) she stepped on the ignition and was off towards the shrine. The trio arrived after about five minutes of silent driving, and hurriedly entered the shrine, only to find that the meeting had already begun.

Rei turned towards Setsuna and Hotaru, and smiled. "Well, I'm glad you finally made it, you two! Hurry up and take a seat. Luna's going to talk about our new possible ally. Luna?"

Setsuna and Hotaru sat down behind Michiru, closely followed by Mamoru. He was very uneasy about being here, seeing as 1) he was the only male and non-senshi and 2) he wasn't exactly sure that Rei wanted to be around him. After all, she greeted Setsuna and Hotaru with a warm smile, and him with the cold shoulder. Luna stepped up to the "podium", followed by Artemis and Diana. They were all in human form.

She cleared her throat and began. "Hello senshi, and Mamoru. I hope you've been having a pretty good summer." They all nodded, except for Usagi. "Well, I have good news, and bad. We may have potential allies from the planet Gaia, the parallel equivalent of Earth, but we also may have potential adversaries. Now, we must send one of the senshi, and I'm really debating on who it should be. Artemis?"

"The leader seems to be Sailor Jasmine, whom seems to be a senshi of earth. She sounds like a pretty nice girl, but we're not sure. We want to send a compatible senshi to greet her and to see if she would like to be ally or foe, but we've only been able to come up with two potentially compatible senshi, and they are still very iffy. Diana?"

"Well, Haruka, you seem to be very much like this Sailor Jasmine. You each have similar interests regarding physical activity. However, Setsuna seems to have the more compatible personality and traits. Even so, there is still one more with the same social status and concerns – Minako. Any three of you would be good choices to send, but the problem is, who's willing to go? It takes a lot to travel to a parallel universe, especially if the particular planet is the parallel equivalent of your own."

"Thank you, Diana. That was very well said." Luna smiled down at her daughter and nodded. "Now, with a show of hands, who thinks that Haruka should be the one to go?" Michiru, Hotaru, and Makoto raised their hands. "Three? Okay. Setsuna?" Usagi, Rei, Ami, and Minako raised their hands. "Four. All right. And last, but certainly not least, Minako?" The rest of the gang – Mamoru, Setsuna, Chibi-Usa, and Haruka raised their hands. "Four. Okay. It's a tie. Now, we weren't just going to make you go! Out of Setsuna and Minako, who is willing to go?"

Setsuna and Minako both exchanged glances. Maybe now would be a good time to tell them that I'm getting married? Setsuna thought nervously. "I would go," she started, "but I've Hotaru to take care of and I cannot miss any days at my job. I blew all my vacation days with Hotaru at the beach three weeks ago."

Minako nearly growled at Setsuna. "Well, I have school and a boyfriend and a life. You have a job and a daughter who isn't even – I mean, and a daughter. Top that, goody-goody."

Leaning over into Mamoru's ear, Setsuna whispered, "Should I tell them?" He nodded and then she replied with a nod of her own. She stood up and went to the front of the room where Luna, Artemis, and Diana had been standing. Clearing her throat and smiling widely, she announced, "Everyone, I have an announcement. For about two months now, Mamoru and I have been dating –" a gasp emerged from the small audience – "and… well… we're getting married."

At her last bit, the waterworks started. They were all tears of happiness and joy, except for Usagi and Chibi-Usa's. She had known that Setsuna was going out with Mamoru – all the signs were there – but she didn't feel like she had to accept that fact until now. She whipped around and faced Mamoru, staring deep into his mesmerizing blue eyes. "How could you?" she whispered dramatically, "How could you marry her?"

Mamoru cast a dark look at Usagi. "I can marry anyone I wish, and I don't need your permission, Usagi. And it just so happens that I choose to marry Setsuna, and she has chosen to accept my proposal. How can I spell it out any clearer for you?" He got up and went up to Setsuna, planting a big kiss on her rose red lips. Everybody, except for Usagi and Chibi-Usa, gave out a whimsical "aww" at this and started clapping.

Minako, tears streaming down her cheeks with merriment, shook her head fiercely. "I'll go, Setsuna! I'll go! You stay here with your new fiancé and plan your wedding. I'll go!"

Setsuna smiled gratefully at Minako and drew her into an embrace. "Thank you so much, Minako! You're definitely going to be one of my bride's maids!" Minako took Setsuna into another hug, the tears uncontrollable now.

"Thank you! Anyway," she wiped away the tears and everyone went silent. "When do I leave, Luna? And what do I do?"

Luna cleared her throat. "Well, you'll need to leave as soon as possible. However, we won't be able to arrange a P.U.T.P, or Parallel Universe Transportation Pod, until the day after tomorrow. We will take care of everything for you. What you need to do is talk to this Sailor Jasmine. You need to try and persuade her to our side."

Minako nodded assuredly. "I can do that. Well… I'm going to head off now. I have a date with someone."

"Claude?" Makoto mused.

"Yes! Do you have a problem with me dating Claude?"

Makoto mimicked Minako in a frog-like voice. "Do you have a problem with me dating Claude?"

"Shut up! Just because he's French you automatically assume there's something wrong with him! Well, you know, not all French guys don't bathe and wear a lot of cologne to cover up the smell, and not all French guys are little horn dogs you have to bat away with a stick."

Makoto chuckled. "Well this one is. And granted, he does bathe – occasionally – but he is what you would call a horn dog you have to bat away with a stick. I caught him in the park the other day with… Rei!"

Minako turned towards Rei with stern eyes. "What happened between you and Claude?" she angrily muttered through gritted teeth.

"Nothing! Nothing, I swear!" Rei replied, raising her hands in surrender. "I would never do that to my friend! He was just helping me with… with my geometry homework. You know how I am with math!"

Minako cooled down. She believed Rei, even though she shouldn't have. Rei was lying like a rug, and Makoto and everyone else knew it. I suppose she just wants to believe everyone… no matter how fishy the story is. Ami thought logically, knowing very well that Rei was excellent at math, even if she didn't really like the subject.

Slowly, the shrine emptied, and it left only Rei, Setsuna, and Mamoru (Hotaru had gone home with Chibi-Usa and Usagi). "So," Rei started slowly, choosing her words ever so carefully. "Where did you get the money for that rock on Setsuna's finger?"

"I-I've been saving up for quite a while now. I think about… six years? Yeah, six years. The ring was originally intended for Usagi, when I thought we had a chance. But then Setsuna and I started dating and I figured, hell, she's the best thing that's happened to me in a while, why not just tie the knot? So I went to the jewelry store a few weeks ago and picked out a totally new ring, same price though, because I knew Setsuna wouldn't want a ring I'd picked out six years ago that was intended for Usagi originally. And here we are."

A/N: Well, it has been soooooooo long since I posted a chapter in this story. Let me lay out the problems:

I hadn't been able to come up with good ideas for this chapter, hint why I didn't write anything.

My computer was down for a week so I kind of couldn't write anything.

Well… I hope that this keeps you busy for a while, because I'm going to have a hard time trying to get inspiration from things. And in any case, please read my Harry Potter fic, Nowhere but Up, and review this story and that! Thanks

Luv,

P*e*a*c*h*y