Darien wasn't paying much attention to the astronomy teacher. He knew what most did not know about the planets, and he used the time to think. Mrs. Unichi was talking about the Asteroid Belt, about how it was possible that it had once been a planet destroyed by a meteor. He heard a barely audible sound and looked at Atia.

The girl was pale and looked like she'd been caught in the act of a crime. There was a faint snap as she broke her pencil into two pieces. She whispered a single word that he couldn't understand and closed her eyes. When she opened them, tears shimmered in her eyes. Atia put one hand on her leg, the one nearest him, and the other glumly picked up a pen.

The boy reached under the table and put his hand over hers. She looked at him with a slightly startled expression, then smiled sadly and laced his fingers with hers. Her hand was ice cold. He glanced up at her, and she had the look of one that was upset but comforted.

When the bell rang for lunch, Atia sat while Darien stood. "Are you hungry?" he asked gently, not bringing up in incident.

"Not really." She put her stuff into her backpack and stood, then followed him out of the room and into the lunch-rush melee. The girl shoved the bag into her locker, then followed Darien down to the cafeteria. Atia got a soda, Darien the regular entree.

"Let's go outside," Darien said. He figured she could use a break from the school. The two wandered outside and found a tree to sit under while the rest of student body played around. Atia watched some of the older boys wrestle and was startled when she heard Darien call one of them. "Andrew!"

A sandy-blonde haired fellow jogged up to them. "Hey, Darien! What's up?"

"Nothin' much. Andrew, this is Atia. Atia, this is Andrew. He's a close friend of mine."

"You're the new girl, huh?" Andrew sat in front of them.

Atia smiled. "Word gets around quickly, I see."

"Like wildfire."

*

Rini sighed and tapped her foot. Serena was late again. After school, the two had planned to go the store to get Serena's parents an anniversary present. She heard her future mother's voice and turned around to face her - and found herself face-to-face with the girl from her dreams.

The brunette looked startled at seeing her but smiled. "Hello, Rini."

"Hi!" Rini smiled widely.

"You two know each other?" Serena asked in surprise.

"We met at the dance academy," the newcomer smoothly lied with a smile. Rini blinked in confusion but smiled in agreement. How had the girl known she was taking dance lessons? The girl glanced at her watch and sighed. "I have to go. I'm supposed to meet a cousin of mine that lives..."

There was a small burst of air as someone rushed up behind the brunette and clamped her hands over the girls' eyes. Serena heard a familiar voice laugh and whirled around to see Darien. She shrieked and ran over to him, hugging him tightly.

The girl was shouting and batting at the person behind her, who was, in turn, laughing happily and refusing to let her go. She was talking so fast it almost seemed like she was speaking in a different language. The brunette finally wriggled out of the taller girl's grasp and spun around to face her.

Atia was laughing fit to burst. Rini stifled a gasp and stared at her. Ia...it's you! "You...were...so...angry, Autumn!" she managed, laughter dying.

Autumn gave a fake scowl. "Gee, I wonder why," she said sarcastically. Then she smiled. "This is Rini, the one I was telling you about from the academy. Rini, this is my cousin, Atia."

"Ah." Atia stared at her with a smile. "Nice to meet you." Rini saw a hint of confusion in her eyes.

"And this is Serena," Autumn added.

"Hey! I recognize you," Serena exclaimed. Atia stared at her blankly. "At the library?"

Atia's face lit up with a smile. "Oh, yes! That's right! I'm sorry; I should've recognized the pigtails. It's cute," she said, cocking her head to one side before Serena could give an outburst. "Maybe you could show me how to do it sometime."

Serena beamed. "Sure."

"This is Darien," Rini said with a grin to Autumn. "He's a friend."

"Of everyone, so it seems." Autumn smiled at Serena, who was still hanging on his arm.

"He's my boyfriend," Serena giggled happily.

"You two make a cute couple." Atia smiled. Darien searched her face but saw no sign or surprise or remorse - only approval that resembled that of a guardian.

"Wait. You came up here with him, didn't you?" Serena squeaked, and they all saw a jealous storm coming on.

"We're in college together. I was showing him how to do some advanced trigonometry and chemistry problems. You're lucky, Serena. There aren't many boys like him anymore." The praise mellowed the blonde.

Strange, Darien thought. It's like Atia knows how to deal with her, like she's known her before...

"Come on, Atia." Autumn tugged her wrist. "You were going to show me how to jump brick walls on Radiguna today - remember?"

"Ne? Oh, yeah. See you guys tomorrow," Atia said, waving. "I thought you knew how to jump bricks," she added to her cousin as the two turned and walked off.

"I do, but Guna doesn't..." Autumn's voice was lost in the rush hour traffic as they disappeared from view.

"Darien, Serena, listen to me." Rini grabbed their hands and stared up at them. "You cannot tell Luna, Artemis, or Diana that you met them. Please."

"Why?" Serena asked with a frown.

"Just please don't."

*

No sooner had the trio purchased a present for Serena's parents than the new enemies attacked again. They were quick to transform and arrive on the scene. There was no sign of Sailor Solar, Sailor Moon noticed. The leader acted quickly as she saw the other senshi arrive.

"Stop right there!"

"Wha? Who are you?!" a woman demanded, dropping her victim to the ground.

"I am pretty soldier Sailor Moon, champion of love of and justice! And in the name of Moon, I shall punish you!" Sailor Moon delivered her famous speech along with her hand signals.

For a brief instant, the upside-down black heart on the woman's forehead faded, as though the speech had reminded her of someone. She shook her head, smiled. Turned towards Sailor Moon. "Well, Sailor Moon, I hope you had a nice today - because it'll be your last!" With that, she hurtled a blast of power at the girl.

An arrow suddenly flew into the middle of the power, and the goldish mist vanished. The woman shrieked and looked around for the source, but none of the senshi held bows. Mini Moon smiled; she recognized the arrow. And that could only mean one thing.

Sailor Mars took advantage of the woman's distraction and fired. "Celestial Fire Surround!!" She scored a hit on the woman, who yelped in surprise and whirled back around to face them.

"Why you-"

"Sparkling White Pressure!!" Sailor Jupiter doubled the blow.

The woman shrieked again and released an almost unearthly amount of power at all the senshi. A single, sharp word, strong and clear, echoed throughout the park. The power exploded harmlessly and vanished. "Damnit!" The enemy stomped her foot and was obviously seething. "Show yourself!"

There was a rustling sound in the tree behind the woman, and the enemy turned about. A figure swung down from the tree and planted her feet in the woman's gut, sending her crashing to the ground. The figure did a neat front-tuck in the air and landed gracefully, then turned around. "Anything else?"

She was a sailor scout about the age of the Inner Senshi and was as tall as Jupiter. The girl had long brunette hair and amber eyes. She was lean and muscular with well-defined curves. Her fuku was like nothing they'd ever seen before. The skirt was a slightly darker shade of lime green. Her high heels had a band around her ankle, like Venus's, and were the same color as the skirt. Her gloves began at her wrist, leaving her arms bare. Her choker and glove bands were that same shade of green, along with her neck flap. The bows were a light lavender. Her bodice was what struck them as odd. It ended above her skirt and only reappeared a small distance below her cleavage, leaving her midriff bare. She had no tiara but had a black cross that had squares at the end of the lines on her forehead.

Mini Moon gasped and looked up at Pluto. The woman had a funny expression on her face, astonishment and dread mixed into one disbelieving look. She whispered a word so faint that the littler sailor didn't think she had heard her.

The enemy woman wobbled back to her feet, coughing. "You'll pay for that!"

"Oh?" The girl picked the arrow out of the ground, stared at it, crossed her arms and glared at the woman. "Your power didn't even leave a mark on my arrow!" In truth, the slender little shaft had not the slightest blemish whatsoever on it.

The woman hissed, then sneered. "What planet are you from, brat?"

"I am from no planet but my heritage is from the planet Saturn, from which I am a sub-sailor of." Her soft voice grew hard, and her amber eyes hardened. "I am Sailor Destruction, scout of destruction and devastation. I'm here to aid the senshi in the fight between them and the one you call master."

The woman snorted. "None of you will ever defeat him. He's more powerful than you can ever imagine or hope to be." She paused, as though reconsidering. "Well, maybe there's one. But he'd destroy her in a heartbeat."

In the time that it took to blink, the new sailor had a bow in her hand, and the arrow was strung in it. She released the string, and the arrow flew straight into the heart of the woman. She screamed and fell to the ground. A giant black shadow erupted from her back with a bird-like cry. The woman's body went through the stages of decomposing within five seconds, leaving behind a complete skeleton.

The brown-haired sailor scout backed away from the shadow, but she wasn't afraid. Pluto gently grabbed her arm when she came within range. "You've grown up."

"Pluto!" Sailor Destruction whirled around and faced her with a radiant smile. "Do you know how long I've waited to see you?!"

"Quite awhile, I'd gather." She stared at the girl. "You look just like your mother. I'm so glad to see you." The girl hugged her. "Is Solar with you?" she whispered.

"She's here."

"Uranus World Shaking!!" Uranus struck at the shadow, but it flew up into the sky and avoided the blast. Angry now, it dived at her. The sandy-blonde saw red eyes buried deep within the shadow. In the beast's eyes she saw people, great multitudes of people, fighting to the death. It held her transfixed, and she couldn't move.

"Uranus!" Neptune leapt at her cousin, pushed her out of the way of the oncoming shadow. She didn't seem to have time to move, but then abruptly fell beside her cousin as though she had been roughly pushed. There was flash of light, and Sailor Solar was on the other side of where Neptune had been.

The shadow screamed, and the senshi cowered under the sound. They had no time to question either of the new senshi. It circled above them, like a predator bird hovering over its prey. Jupiter and Mercury shot at it, but it did no good, only made it more angry.

"Pink Sugar Heart Attack!!" No one expected Mini Moon's attack to hit it, but it did. The shadow shrieked again, took on the shape of a diving bird.

"Black Lightening Bolt Ace!!" Solar shot at the bird, and it rocketed back up towards the sky, shoved back by her attack. It squawked angrily, wing-like mist struggling to get to the senshi. The power seemed frozen in the air, keeping the bird away from the senshi.

Destruction lined up an arrow towards it, but then lowered the bow. "What are you waiting for?! Shoot it!" Uranus said in alarm.

"Destruction, shoot it," Pluto murmured, staring over at Solar in worry. "She can't hold it back forever."

"It's not my place. Sailor Moon." She turned towards the other girl. "You have to destroy it."

"Why me?"

"Because only you have the power. I would only make it angrier." Destruction gave a faint smile.

Sailor Moon regarded her in silence. She looked familiar. Not like Solar, but like she knew her in real life, not just in her memories. "Right. Moon Crisis Power!!"

The shadow snapped.

With a blood-curling scream, it shoved itself against Solar's power with all its might. Solar's outstretched arms began buckling, and she gasped in surprise. As it continued to fight, it began pushing her back. Her determination to keep it away showed by the grooves left in the ground by her boots.

"Just let it go, Solar!" Pluto ran over to her friend. "Let it go."

"It didn't like her power-up; it would kill her. It moves faster than light when angered." Her voice didn't sound as strained as it should've been. The shadow suddenly flew straight up, and Solar fell back with a curse. Her power disappeared. "It's almost like someone else is controlling it..."

Destruction stared in horror as lightening began to flash inside of the shadow. "Solar! What's it doing?!"

"I don't know." The woman was still sitting, rubbing her hands together as if they pained her. "It looks like..." She suddenly heard a high-pitched screaming. "Ach!" It hurt her ears beyond any reasoning, and she clamped her hands over them. Pluto and Destruction heard the noise as well, and it brought the littler senshi to her knees. The others didn't seem to hear it.

"Puu??" Mini Moon asked in alarm, running up to her. "Puu, what's wrong??"

"Make it stop! It hurts!"

That was all Super Sailor Moon needed. "Rainbow Moon Heart Ache!!" The shadow screamed and vanished into the air.

"Oh..." Solar removed her hands from her ears. They were covered in blood, and she blinked hazily. The sound had made her light-headed. "Ow..."

"My head." Pluto removed her hands with a wince. Blood trickled out of her left ear, and she put her hand back on it and pushed on it to stifle the stream. "Mph..." Destruction was still on her knees with her hands on her ears. Mini Moon knelt beside her.

"What was that about? What's wrong with you three?" Tuxedo Mask asked, concerned.

"You didn't hear it." It was a statement, not a question. Solar stood up, head pounding. Just like before. "It was a screaming noise, like a whistle. I've only heard it one other time in my life, and I had hoped that it would be the last."

"You don't mean...?" Pluto stared up at her. Solar touched her friend's wrist, and the bleeding and blood vanished. "It can't be...?"

"I don't know." Solar turned to Destruction and touched the girl's shoulder. The brunette sat up and stared at her uncertainly. "I...it just doesn't make sense!" she said in frustration. "The only thing I know is that the shadow bird was getting ready to release some sort severe energy blast. That was the lightning. The whistle was the sound it produced as a result of its gathering power."

"You said you heard it before," Uranus said evenly. "Where?"

Solar looked down briefly. "In a battle long since over."

"Solar. Why do I feel like I've known you before?" Super Sailor Moon asked gently.

The woman looked hesitant to answer. She glanced at Pluto, and the Guardian nodded. "Because you have. A long time ago. I knew all of you. And you knew me. But now..." she smiled sadly. "Now you don't know me."

"But we will in time, won't we?" Venus asked.

Solar's eyes softened. "You want the truth." Ten pairs of eyes watched her. "The truth is, I don't know. It all depends on fate. I'd like for you to get to know me...but if it wasn't meant to be..."

"Solar!" Pluto grabbed her arm. "What are you talking about?!"

"I'm here to try to make right what I did wrong. It may cost me my life to fix the mistake I made back in the Silver Millennium." Pluto went pale. Solar stared at the ground quietly, heaved a sigh.

"What sort of mistake?" Neptune asked with a frown.

The scout glanced up at the sky and shook her bangs out of her eyes. "Falling in love."