Chapter 5

The next day they decided to have a Senshi meeting, Haruka was not happy to see who else was there. "Seiya." She said gritting her teeth.

"Haruka." He replied in a similar fashion.

Ami was the first to reply. "We asked the Starlights here because they may know who we're dealing with."

"And unfortunately we do." said Taiki.

"The woman who you told us about is called Kitsune right?" said Yaten. "That's the name of one of the home planets of the Sailor Animates."

"No way!" said Makoto. "We beat them already!"

"Not all of them." Yaten continued. "The Sailor Animates you fought against aren't really the true Senshi of their planets, each of them betrayed their homeworlds and stole the true senshi's starseeds."

"That's right." said Usagi. "Luna didn't you say Tin Nyanko was from Planet Mau like you and Artemis are?"

"Yes, Unfortunately."

"Still weren't they all defeated?" said Urawa.

"No." said Seiya. "In all there were 7 Animates. "Iron Mouse; who took the starseed of Sailor Chuu, Aluminum Siren; who stole Sailor Mermaid's, Lead Crow, who stole Sailor Coronis', Tin Nyanko; who stole Sailor Mau's, Heavy Metal Papillion; who stole Sailor Cocoon's; Pewter Fox, who stole Sailor Kitsune's, and Titanium Kerokero; who stole Sailor Tadpole's."

"Even if we missed two." said Rei. "Galaxia is gone, are they just causing trouble, or someone else is behind them?"

"We have no idea." said Taiki. "Shadow Galactica was a large organization, it's possible that there's someone trying to rebuild it; but it's also possible that someone else is using them to his or her own ends."

"Any disturbances in time Setsuna?" Nathan asked.

"What? Oh no, I've sensed nothing unusual from the Time Gates." said Setsuna.

"You seem to be a little distracted, Puu." said Chibi-Usa.

"Distracted?"

"She's still thinking about her date with Hallen last night." said Minako.

"How did you?"

"You forget." said Asai. "She's…"

"The Senshi of Love." Everyone else echoed.

"I don't think now is the time to be thinking about Romance." said Setsuna.

"I know finding out about an enemy during your date is a little disturbing." said Haruka. "But it must have had some good points."

Setsuna blushed. "I'd rather not say…"

"Let me guess." said Hotaru. "It involved something that has six legs scurries from the light." The outer senshi knew about Setsuna's fear of cockroaches better than anyone. Haruka found it funny; Michiru found them disgusting so it was almost always up to Hotaru to get rid of any that found their way into their apartment.

"Well, yes."

"Leave her alone." said Ami. "By now they probably abandoned their hideout at the Reception Hall, if they make their move it'll be soon."

Setsuna sighed as she sat down. People who betrayed the senshi of their homeworlds. It was rather inconceivable.

"To think I spent my life dedicated to the queen of our solar system and these supposed senshi can't even show loyalty to the leader of their own planet," she sighed. Hotaru curled up next to her, a young lady with the mind of a precocious child. Somehow in the innocence that remained in her, she knew just what to say.

"Do you regret it?"

"Hmm?" Setsuna's mind had been so distracted, she barely noticed what thoughts she held in her mind and what thoughts she spoke aloud. "No, I don't regret it," she finally said. "Guarding the Time Gate was my solemn duty. I was proud to serve it out. And when our fight here is complete and I return to 30th century, I'll still be proud."

"You'll be lonely," Hotaru reminded her. Setsuna's head fell. It seemed Hotaru could be just as dispiriting as she could be encouraging. Without meaning to, Setsuna's thoughts slipped back to that time she spent guarding the gate. The outer senshi weren't always such a big secret during Silver Millennium. But as the relationship between the people of the moon and the people of the earth slowly began to degrade, the call for defensive forces became more and more pressing. Thus Queen Serenity effectively banished the outer senshi to their respective posts to keep watch over Silver Millennium from afar. Setsuna accepted this duty at a very young age, listening attentively as the Queen laid out the three taboos she should never break (incidentally by this point, she had probably about broken them all.) At first she excited and proud that such a huge honor was in her small hands. But isolation from society took its toll after while. All she saw of the people she left behind was through her garnet orb. So she learned how to be lonely, how to watch other people socializing from afar and consider it her socializing too. If she imagined herself with them, it wouldn't hurt quite so much. Her heart raced the first time she saw the king and queen. Quite literally, it had been the first time since Silver Millennium she had seen another human being face to face. And when Chibiusa began to first visit her, she enjoyed that very much. But in a way it also scared her. If these people left her, would the loneliness hurt all over again? Maybe that was why she always fought in such a self-sacrificing way. She would rather be the one who left than feel the loneliness of the survivors.

"I think you like him, Setsuna-mama," Hotaru said so completely and totally out of nowhere it nearly gave Setsuna a heart attack.

"Wh-what?" she managed to stutter.

"Hallen, of course," said Hotaru with a mischievous look to her eyes.

Setsuna shook her head. "You've been talking to Minako, haven't you?"

"She was the first to suggest it, but you give it away on your own, you know? When you're talking about the Silver Millennium, you seem sad and distant in a way. But when you're around him, that sadness goes away."

Setsuna thought for a moment. Perhaps in a way, it was true. Hallen was the first person she had socialized with that wasn't in charge of guarding some area of the galaxy. In other words, she could relax around him and forget her duties. But was that a good thing or would it ultimately lead to her being too distracted to fight? They were up against a new enemy after all.

"Tell Minako I think her suggestions are sweet," she said. "But I simply cannot involve myself now. There is too much to do."

Hotaru rolled her eyes. Setsuna's motives were noble enough, but they could easily lead into self-pity if they carried too far, and that was far more crippling in battle than any side romance. "There's always too much to do, Setsuna-mama!" she said. "You just stand there and take it and go with the flow. What would you ever do if Sailor Uranus or Sailor Moon weren't there to give orders?" Hotaru suddenly gasped, quickly covering her mouth.

"I'm sorry, Setsuna-mama, I didn't mean it like that," she said. Setsuna shook her head.

"No," she replied quietly. "Perhaps I need to hear things like that now and again."

That evening as she was preparing dinner and giving Michiru a break, Setsuna poured over Hotaru's comments a bit more. The little girl was feisty, she would give her that much. Of course she was obedient to Sailor Moon, the girl was their princess. And Uranus… well, Uranus just sort of took the lead role in the outer senshi by default. Who was going to argue with her?

"Doesn't mean I don't think for myself," Setsuna thought. Suddenly the ringing on the telephone interrupted her. Her hands still splattered with batter, she delicately lifted the phone up and balanced it between her shoulder and jaw.

"Hello?"

"Hello?" came Hallen's voice on the other line. She almost dropped the bowl of tempura she was working on.

"H-hallen," she said. "Listen, I'm sorry for what happened at the bowling alley..."

"Huh?" Hallen sounded horribly confused. "Why are you sorry? The guy who ruined everything came to see me, not you." He sounded embarrassed, and in all honesty, Setsuna couldn't blame him. If she had a friend-of-a-friend like Phil, she'd be embarrassed too. At least he didn't seem to remember her throwing a fit over the cockroach, so that was a good sign.

"Just wondering, did you want to go to dinner or something?" Hallen went on. "Just us, no extra guys. It would be my way of making it up to you." Here Setsuna giggled inwardly. She couldn't resist - this man was trying so hard to make up for the previous night she simply found it adorable.

"I think I could manage," she said. Decision made on her own. So there to Hotaru and Haruka. She and Hallen agreed they would meet at the restaurant down the street in half an hour, leaving just enough time for the tempura to cook and her to get out of the apron she was wearing and into something a little more fashionable.

"Where are you going?" Haruka wanted to know as she walked down the hall and saw Setsuna looking through her dresses.

"Out," Setsuna replied. "Hallen called at the last second. I'm sorry I won't be here, but you and Michiru and Hotaru can have the tempura for dinner."

"Michiru took Hotaru with her to the store," Haruka replied.

"Well then, you can have it," Setsuna replied. "You just put the shrimp and chicken into the deep flyer and wait until they're crispy and brown. Very easy. I'll see you later!"

With that, Setsuna rushed out the door, leaving Haruka standing alone in the kitchen with only one question:

"We have a deep fryer?"

After a rather interesting incident involving Haruka learning to put oil in the deep fryer before turning it on, she managed to prepare something that looked like it could have been chicken tempura, only extra crispy. Didn't matter, she liked it that way. For now, she sat reading the newspaper trying to get her mind off everything. Michiru and Hotaru were not back yet, and that was a bit unusual, but then again, perhaps they were getting some well-needed relaxation as well. At least until...

"Hello, there," said an eerie voice from the shadows. Haruka jolted up, but there was no one to be seen. Her fingers gently glazed over her transformation pen. She should call the others for help, but then again, she didn't want to worry them. Setsuna had enough on her mind as it was...

Haruka's body suddenly shuddered as she sensed a presence behind her. There was no doubt to be had this time, she needed to transform.

"Uranus Planet Power!"

As soon as her transformation was complete, Uranus turned around to see what looked like a Sailor Senshi dressed in bright green, accented by black stars on her chest and boots.

"And you are...?" Uranus asked suspiciously. The senshi smiled.

"Sailor Titanium Kerokero," she replied. "And in case you need clarification, yes, I am one of the Animates you and your friends have been seeking out. You've also called me Ribbita."

Upon confirming her enemy, Uranus went immediately on the defensive, positioning her fists in a fighting position, ready to make a grab for her Space Sword as need. Her opponent, however, did not seem to react at all.

"Are you sure you want to fight me?" Titanium Kerokero asked slyly. "You don't know what I'm capable of."

"Trust me," Uranus scoffed. "I highly doubt you're a threat." At this she reach up her hand to perform a World Shaking attack. But just as she went to gather the energy in her palm, her arm suddenly become locked in its upward position. Uranus struggled to move it, but her muscles were frozen. A glow of golden light formed around her wrists, keeping them rigid.

"What the...?" Uranus gasped out. She glared over at Kerokero who was thrusting out a diamond-shaped jewel. "What the heck is that?" Uranus asked.

"A retrieval gem. It harnesses whatever belongs to my master Orichalcum and sends it back to him. And you most definitely have something that belongs to him."

"And what might that be?" Uranus spat.

"Your star seed."

Uranus recoiled in shock at Titanium Kerokero's words, but she quickly regained herself. She couldn't lose her cool, especially in front of an enemy. She had to act imperturbable.

"Yeah, well, I don't mean to burst his bubble, but my star seed is mine, thank you very much," she scoffed.

"I beg to differ. You gave your Star Seed to Galaxia. And now that she has passed away, everything that belonged to her in turn now belongs to Orichalcum." She tightened her grip on the jewel, sending Uranus falling to the ground. The glowing restraints of light around her wrists began to tighten and her chest was aching. No, she could not fall here, she told herself. She had to get back to warn Pluto and the others. But the pain was increasing, and her vision was starting to blur. The next thing she knew, everything was black.

Uranus awoke she did not know how much later. The first thing that came into focus was a face, adorned with strands of aquamarine hair.

"Neptune!" Uranus jolted up a bit too soon as a twinge of pain shot through her body. She reached over to rouse her friend from her sleep and quickly gasped when she saw what was strapped on her wrist - Galaxia's bracelet.

"No!" she cried. Flashbacks of betrayal burned her mind.

"Uranus?" a weak voice asked. Apparently Uranus' outburst had awoken her companion, who looked around at the situation and gathered the missing information rather quickly.

"Our star seeds are gone?" Neptune asked sadly.

"I'm afraid so."

"But I don't understand. Galaxia returned our star seeds to us."

"Apparently not completely. When Chaos left her, the star seeds were restored to their proper forms."