Author: Abigail aka Moonchild aka Drive Me Mercury
Email: abigail@makenai.org
Rating: PG-13 (subject to go up or down)
Chapter started: 2-10-03 Chapter ended:
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all characters and settings belong to the one-and-only Naoko Takeuchi. All created characters and plots within this story are my own.
Note on continuity: Call me crazy, but that whole fall-asleep-for-thousand-years spiel in the anime never made sense to me. It just seemed totally pointless, and was never fully explained. And as far as I can tell, it never happened in the manga – Chibiusa was 902 and still a kid because her powers hadn't emerged yet, and everyone else just had unnatural long life because of the Silver Crystal. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I still don't have reason or desire to incorporate that plotline into this fic (besides it makes things too complicated for me). So, at this point in the story, Crystal Tokyo has been created on Usagi's 22nd birthday in the year 2002, there is no catastrophic world-freezes-over looming, and life goes merrily on. (Birthdays and dates are just estimations by me. The timeline gets messed up anyway when you try to compare ages between anime and manga. I'll try to be consistent, but in the end, they're not really that important.)
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*Chapter 1*
-'Neesan-
Crystal Tokyo, 2008:
There wasn't a member of the world community who wouldn't recognize the palace in Crystal Tokyo – with its tall crystal spires and shining, glass-like surface that sometimes blinded onlookers in the afternoon sun with its glare, the construct was truly an amazing piece of architecture. There were considerably fewer who could say they had actually seen the interior of the great building. It was true, though, that the innards of the palace did not disappoint. Long, crystalline halls stretched like miniature cathedrals, decorated lavishly with engravings and furnishings from the finest artisans in Japan, and demanded a revered awe from anyone who walked them.
At the moment, however, a loud clamor echoed up and down one such hall that was anything but reverent – the sound of tennis shoes slapping the polished marble as short figure ran as fast as she could, expertly weaving between and around (and occasionally bumping into) startled passersby. Three black tails bounced wildly behind her head, while her arms held some small package secure against her chest.
Setsuna heard the commotion stop outside her office door, where she was typing up reports (twenty secretaries in the queen's service and -she- was loaded down with palace bureaucracy!). Within a few moments the door swung silently open a foot or two, and a raven-haired head peeked in. Seeing the dark-skinned woman was busy and facing away from her, she stepped into the room. She peered around the room with a child's curiosity, and finding nothing interesting or different, focused again on the only other occupant of the room. Step by step, she crept closer to the older woman, quiet as a mouse, until she was just an arm's length away…
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Miya jumped back. Sometimes she could swear the guardian of Pluto had eyes in the back of her head. Setsuna swiveled her chair to face the young girl. "What are you doing making so much noise before noon?"
The girl shifted her feet. "I'm hiding. Well, actually George is hiding."
Setsuna raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What is George-kun hiding from?"
She pulled a fat white rabbit out from under her zippered sweater and set it on the desk. "From Tomozawa-san. She's really angry with him."
"Miya…" Setsuna gave the girl a stern gaze that said 'What did you do now?'
"It wasn't his fault!" the child protested. "He had to go to the bathroom, and… he kinda did it… on Tomozawa-san's big padded desk chair."
Setsuna could just imagine the palace's stressed-out head secretary reacting to such a crisis. "Is that all? I thought your mother didn't like you playing in the main wing of the palace."
Miya rolled her eyes. "The staff quarters are boring!"
Setsuna acknowledged this with just a sigh. "Alright. But I have work to do you know…"
"Okay." Setsuna was always busy with one thing or another, when she didn't disappear altogether for days at a time, so Miya was used to this. She hopped onto the second chair in the Time Keeper's office and started to spin herself. Her mother, Makiko Kawabe, was one of the several full-time staff members at the Crystal Palace who resided in the small housing complex adjoining the back of the main building. Her husband had died when Miya was too young to remember. She was always occupied with work during the daytime, so it was up to Miya to amuse herself. Like Setsuna had said, she didn't approve of her daughter being in this area of the palace without supervision, but the main wing provided a much bigger playspace and a wider variety of people, which suited Miya's tastes much better than the drab staff residence. Among the in-house staff she was the only child near her age, so most of the time she only had George for a playmate.
At nine and a half years old, she was still short (three foot six) and hated it. Her midnight black hair was done up in three braided pigtails, and she'd proudly attest to the fact that she'd been doing her own hair since she was seven. Her bright blue eyes could change from widely innocent to mischievous in a second and she hardly ever passed up an opportunity for a little devilish fun (or any offer of sweets, for that matter).
She'd known Setsuna, otherwise known as Sailor Pluto, for as long as she could remember, and she thought of the woman almost as an aunt or older sister. Setsuna didn't mind if Miya hung out in her office when she was bored, and then there were those rare and fun occasions when just the two of them would take a shopping excursion to the mall or go out for chocolate sundaes. Most of the time, however, she was busy with palace work or important jobs, so Miya begged more than she actually got to go. But in any case, Setsuna was cool. How many kids could say their second-best friend controlled time and space?
"Neeeee, Setsuna-san, show me the time gates?"
"Miya-chan, you've seen them a hundred times."
"But what if something's happening there right now? You should check!"
Setsuna smiled to herself, knowing there had been no trouble in Time in twelve years. "If anything should happen the monitors will alert me. You know that very well."
"But that's no fuuuuuuun…" She swiveled in the chair more, then stopped to pick up her rabbit, who was happily nibbling on a pile of important documents. "George, don't eat those…" She deposited the animal in her lap and paused for several moments in thought. Setsuna-san, can I ask you something?"
"In a minute," the dark-haired woman answered distractedly. Miya frowned and continued to pet the rabbit in her lap, being quieter than normal.
About five minutes later, Setsuna exited her software program, and took the last pile of documents from the printer and stacked them. Miya looked up expectantly. "Finished?"
"Nearly. I need to take these to the Queen's office."
"I'll take them!"
"I don't think so. I remember what happened the last time I gave you an errand."
"Ehehe…" the younger girl grinned guiltily. "But that was an accident."
"It was –just- an accident that those papers ended up all the way out in the dog's pen?"
"Weeelllll…"
"Listen," Setsuna begain, standing. "I'm going to be taking a trip to the outskirts next week with Uranus and Neptune. Your mother's going to be busy with the Winter Festival, so I want you to be super good."
"You're leaving?!" the girl pouted.
"Just for a little while. Now promise me that you'll do what your mother says and –no- pranks."
Her only response was a frown.
"Miya…"
She started spinning the chair again, explicitly ignoring Setsuna's last words. "Why does everyone make such a big deal out of the Winter Festival? I think it's boring."
"Promise me," Setsuna insisted.
Miya stopped the chair suddenly and looked up. "Okay. I'll promise, but only if you tell me something."
"Certainly. What is it?"
"You have to tell me who my real mom and dad are."
