Michiru ran from the room after her daughter, though she didn't have a clue what she was going to say to her. She didn't even know how much Haruka had heard, though it was clear from the broken-hearted expression on the girl's face that it was enough to bother her greatly. As she walked towards Haruka's bedroom, she heard a light sobbing coming from inside. Slowly she pushed the door open.
"Haruka?" she asked quietly. The young girl still sat in her wheelchair, head buried in a pillow resting on top of her bed. "Haruka, angel..."
"Go away!" Haruka snapped. But Michiru did not go away. Instead she walked into the room, up to her daughter, and rubbed her hand gently, starting from her neck, over her shoulders, and onto her back.
"I guess you heard, huh?" she asked.
"Yeah, I heard," said Haruka. "How could you not tell me something like that?"
"Dear, you're just six years old. I couldn't burden you with something like that," Michiru began, but that didn't seem to phase Haruka in the least.
"I'm old enough to know who I am!" she yelled, rubbing away the burning tears. "Tell me, mama, did you ever think of me as your daughter? Or have I always been just some mistaken form of your old partner?" The child's words were beyond her years, filled with the frustration that yearned in her heart. That desire of every child to know who she is and where she comes from. Michiru's heart lay heavy with guilt as she realized how her feelings about Haruka laid so heavily on her daughter's shoulders.
"You are always my baby girl, you know that," said Michiru reassuringly, though even she herself was not so sure of herself as she said it.
"If you could change me back," asked Haruka. "To this girl from before - Tenou-san? Would you do that, if you could?"
Michiru opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out. Change her back? The question rung hard in her ear. And had anyone else asked it to her anytime before now, she probably would have answered yes without hesitation. Yes, of course change her back. Rid her of the pain she suffered in this state, take her back to Haruka Tenou, the girl Michiru knew and shared so many times with.
But as Michiru gazed into the longing eyes of the child in front of her, this child who was not the person she knew before, but a new person who longed for love and acceptance, she could not answer that way. And she began to wonder if it was for Haruka's sake that she longed for her to change back or her own.
"I heard what you said to Papa," Haruka went on. "I know that if the Sailor Senshi don't awaken, then something awful might happen. So I know I have to become a senshi too, right? To beat this enemy called Chaos?"
Michiru nodded.
"And what happens to me after we beat Chaos?" Haruka asked.
Michiru shook her head. "I don't know, angel," she said quietly. "I don't know anything that's going to happen."
There was not more than a moment's pause before Haruka replied, "I'll do it."
The Uranus transformation pen was kept safely guarded in Michiru's drawer. It had remained there every since they bought the house, yet somehow as Michiru gathered her courage to open the drawer once again, she saw that not a speak on dust had formed on it. It was just the way she picked it up that day.
Michiru delicately fingered the blue pen, almost feeling Haruka's old lifeforce within. Refusing to give way to regression again, she turned and handed the item over to her small daughter.
"What do I do?" Haruka asked as she accepted the gift.
"Hold it into the air," Michiru said. Her daughter complied. "Now say, 'Uranus Planet Power.'"
"Uranus Planet Power," Haruka repeated and just as the words left her lips, she was instantly surrounded by a warm golden glow. The power flowed from the ground into her body, changing her outfit and giving her a surge of energy. When she looked again, she was wearing a dark blue sailor fuku, adorned with a yellow bow. Her Uranus brooch remained in place.
"It this okay?" she asked. Michiru placed her hand to her mouth and nodded.
"You can perform different attacks," she went on to explain. "Your principal attack is called 'World Shaking,' but please don't use it inside the house. Your other attack it called Space Sword Blaster. For this you need your talisman." She reached into the drawer again and drew out a jeweled saber. Haruka's eyed widened at the sight of it. She never knew her mother would keep such amazing possessions. As she unsheathed the sword from its ivory-like covering, she found it to have a red, almost crystalline blade, which glowed forth with power as soon as her hands gripped her handle.
"Wow," she admitted. Michiru smiled.
"I re-emphasize why you aren't you use that inside," she said.
"I remember," said Haruka, re-sheathing the sword once again. She then touched her hand to her brooch and reverted her appearance back to her normal self again. "I don't know how much help I'll be," she added on, looking disheartened down at her immobile legs. She had not budged from her position in the wheelchair during either transformation.
"Don't worry," Michiru assured her. "You may very well be the most help of all."
The next day after school Setsuna returned to the house, along with Usagi, Mamoru, and Chibiusa.
"Haruka, this is Setsuna, you'll know her better as Sailor Pluto. And of course, Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask."
Haruka's eyes widened. "You guys were Sailor Senshi too?!" she exclaimed. "How come no one tells me these things?" She stared at Usagi. "What about Chibiusa?"
"Her as well," Usagi said. "She is Sailor Chibi Moon."
"Did you know about this?" Haruka asked her best friend.
"Not since just an hour ago when my mama and papa told me," Chibiusa admitted. She glared angrily at her parents who only looked back at her with amused smiles. "Anyone else we should know about?"
"Actually," said Michiru, pulling out the school directory that Haruka had brought home. "There are four other students in your grade we think may carry planetary powers." She pointed down the list. "Their names are Makoto, Ami, Minako, and Rei."
"I know Makoto and Ami," Haruka announced. "They're in my class."
"And I met Minako before," said Chibiusa. "We played together at recess the other day."
Setsuna smiled. "Excellent. Then I'm sure you will have no problems giving them these." She put out her hand and placed on the table four transformation pens, one orange, one red, one green and one blue. "You must be careful not to mix them up," she warned the two girls. "Listen carefully. Ami is Sailor Mercury. Makoto is Sailor Jupiter. Minako is Sailor Venus and Rei is Sailor Mars. Can you remember that?"
"Sure we can!" the girls answered in practical unison. Setsuna smiled and handed the transformation pens to the girls, after which Michiru sent them to the living room to start on homework. She had utmost confidence in them to complete their task, at least until Chibiusa peeked her head around the corner to ask,
"Could you repeat those names just one more time?"
A/N: What's everyone think? I tried update in a timely fashion this time. (I've been very busy working on the Castle of Invented Senshi website.) And no major cliffhangers either. Thank you again for all your comments. I try to respond to as many as I can. -Katrina