Chapter 5: Dreams Explained

Celeste dropped her luggage unceremoniously onto the beige carpeting. She nudged the door closed with her foot. She was half way across the room when she remembered to lock the door.

Her jet-lagged body was screaming for sleep, despite the fact that it was mid-afternoon in Tokyo. After setting her watch to local time, Celeste pulled a clean set of clothes out of her suitcase. She wanted desperately to take a shower first.

The warm water relaxed her, easing some of the strain and weariness that plagued her body. Finally willing herself into action, Celeste reached for her shampoo bottle. The aroma of the shampoo and the massage of her scalp relaxed Celeste even further.

Satisfied that she was completely cleaned, Celeste allowed herself to soak under the streaming water once again. She sighed contentedly, resting her forehead against the cool wall of the shower unit. She slowly, dreamily, closed her eyes.

* * * * *

"I thought that you would be happy for me," she said, turning to study the landscape. 'Why she is so against this? I thought that she was my friend.'

Pluto sighed, then studied the landscape before them as well. Conflicting emotions were battling inside. The friend part wanted to say that she was overjoyed, but the ever vigilant warrior part reminded her of the conflict of duty the situation would cause.

"I am happy for you," she finally said. She wanted her friend to have some true happiness. 'Before everything ends,' Pluto thought miserably, tightening her grip on the garden wall she was sitting on.

She gave Pluto a quizzical look, annoyed that the Guardian of Time was still studying their surroundings. Then she noticed her companion's rigid postured. She crossed her arms and legs in one movement.

"You could act like it, you know?" she said, frustrated, looking out once more. "Are you jealous?"

"Jealous? Of you and Charon?" Pluto gave a half-smile, completely noticing the frustration she was creating in the red-head. "I am happy for you, Sol."

Pluto paused, her half-smile growing. "Although I am not sure what you see in him."

"Oh, Setsuna-chan, you are too cruel," she cried. Then, grudgingly, she allowed herself to smile.

Setsuna's expression softened. "I am truly happy for you and Charon, Tennyo- chan."

* * * * *

With shaky hands, Celeste turned off the water and pulled the shower curtain back. More memories flooded through her mind. The barrage was threatening to overwhelm her.

Somehow she dried herself off and got dressed. She only dried her hair with a towel before brushing and braiding it so that it hung down her back. Noticing the tears spilling down her cheeks, Celeste flung herself unto the bed, sobbing into one of the hotel pillows.

'All those people gone!' her mind screamed, as image after image flickered across it. 'Why? Why?!'

There was no answer. Slowly the tears subsided and Celeste rose to go wash her face. The cool water felt good against the red, blotchy face her tears had created.

Regaining some of her composure, she returned to the main room. She numbly straightened the pillows and sat down on the bed. Sighing, she decided to lie down.

"Why am I here? Why was I reborn?" she asked aloud. Again, there was no answer. "Did Setsuna die in Beryl's attack on the Moon Kingdom?"

She didn't know. As the Guardian of Time, Pluto's first duty was preserving the Timeline. However, it was that duty only that superseded her loyalty to Moon Kingdom. But even Setsuna could be rebellious and allow emotion to take control, part of her argued.

Giving up on sleep, Celeste walked to the sliding glass doors that lead to the balcony of her room. The sun was now setting in Tokyo, increasing the shadows of the city. Somehow Celeste knew that the answers she was looking were here in Tokyo.

Question after question plagued her, as each new fragment of what could be memories was revived. 'Why did Pluto call me 'Tennyo-chan'? What part does Charon play in all of this? What part do I play?'

"Konbanha, Meiou-misu," Celeste greeted, not turning away from the glass doors.

"And to you. Although, there is no need to be so formal," Setsuna replied in English. She walked across the room, admiring the view from the glass doors as well.

"How did you know I was here?" Celeste asked.

"I know you well, Celeste-chan."

Celeste crossed her arms, realizing that was the only answer she would get from Setsuna. "Then how did you know Gypsum and Galena are in Tokyo?" she retorted. "Are they friends of yours as well?"

"Of course not," Setsuna reprimanded, her violet eyes boring into Celeste's green ones.

Sighing, Setsuna turned her attention back to the sunset. Celeste noticed as a sense of pain and weariness in the tall, green-haired woman. She wished that she hadn't snapped at Setsuna but she wanted to know how Setsuna knew where Gypsum and Galena were.

"I know Gypsum and Galena are in Tokyo because they attacked a friend of mine," Setsuna said finally with resignation.

"How long ago?" Celeste asked in shock.

"A few days after the attack on you," she replied, her voice still soft.

"Is your friend okay?"

"The doctors hope she will recover. I wasn't there to help her, and now Mako-chan is paying for my mistake."

Celeste felt sorry for Setsuna, wishing that she would not blame herself for the attack. However, as the Guardian of Time, shouldn't she had known of the attack before it had happened? Celeste shook her head, however the friend's name seemed familiar.

"Mako-chan? As in Makoto?"

"Hai," Setsuna answered, turning to face Celeste. A gleam of interest flickered in her eyes. "Why do you ask? Do you know Kino Makoto?"

"The name Makoto seems so familiar to me," Celeste murmured. She paused, deliberating over her next question. "Was I Sailor Sol?"

Setsuna smiled. "What makes you think that, Celeste-chan?"

"I have been having these dreams. There are so vivid, Setsuna, as if they are memories. But there are of a kingdom on the moon and a young princess's court."

Her eyes pleaded with Setsuna. "Am I losing my mind?"

"Iie," Setsuna said. "They are memories. You are realizing your past. Your new ability to speak Japanese is one example. You have never studied Japanese, ne?"

"I have never studied a foreign language," Celeste said, shaking her head.

"Yet you greeted me in Japanese."

"It seemed appropriate." Celeste paused. "What does 'tennyo' mean?"

"It means 'celestial maiden' in Japanese."

"Was that my name or part of my name? You called me that once on a garden wall." Celeste's voice trailed off.

"Your name was Shinsei Tennyo, the 'celestial maiden nascent.' And, yes, you are Sailor Sol."

"What happened to the court of the Moon princess?" The fragments were now beginning to fall into place for Celeste, recreating a life that she once had.

"They have been reborn, as well. They have faced numerous enemies as the Senshi of their respectful kingdoms. They live here in Tokyo, as I do."

"And the rest of the royal families of Sol?"

Setsuna turned toward the Tokyo skyline, hoping to mask the tears that were welling in her eyes. "Queen Serenity had only enough strength to send the Senshi and a few select others to be reborn," she replied softly.

"Don't the Senshi remember their families? Their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers?"

"No, their memories are sufficient to explain their roles as Senshi. No further. Princess Serenity remembers her mother only."

"Her mother was Queen Serenity. Of course she would have to remember her lineage. Was that your decision, Setsuna? To deprived them of memories of their families? To deprive Princess Serenity the memories of her father?"

"I did it to protect them," Setsuna replied, her tone defensive. "Why give them memories of families they can never see again? They had enough to cope with resuming their roles as Senshi.

"Am I to give them those memories now, Celeste? Destroy their trust in me by revealing I have kept memories from them?"

Celeste shook her head softly. "I don't know, Setsuna. It seems unfair that they don't remember their families."

"I didn't make that decision lightly," Setsuna said, watching the lights of Tokyo at night.

"There are many things that I know that I can never reveal without jeopardizing the Timeline. The Timeline must be preserved at all costs, Celeste."

"Did you die during the attack on the Moon Kingdom?"

"No," the Guardian of Time replied softly. "The Timeline forbade my participation. I was at the Gates of Time when the attack occurred."

"You knew it was going to happen." Celeste's tone was emotionless.

"There was nothing I could have done to stop it and still preserve the Timeline, Celeste."

The two were silent for a moment, preoccupied by thoughts of the Silver Millennium. Finally, Celeste turned to Setsuna. Her green eyes locked with Setsuna's violet ones.

"I want to see Makoto."