Hi toeveryone and anyone who's reading this! Sorry its been ages since the last update, but, well, the plot bunnies decided to form a trade union...

EmpressAuthor--sorry, I mucked up the timeline again--it's changed to what I previously told you. See Chap 4 for details. If you wantme to bemore specific, you can reach me at the personal messaging thing has installed.

Disclaimer: You know the drill. Not mine, never will be, I bow down to the all-knowing creator of Sailor Moon, etc.

Electrum was playing with a couple of mice she'd found holed up in one of the steps in Nephrite's rotten stairs. Jadeite was bored.

'Electrum?'

'Yes?'

'Talk to me.'

'I can't. Anyway, you'd think after a good ten months in a crystal you'd be a little bit more used to boredom.'

'Well, I'm not. Who's Sailor Pluto?'

'No! Just—here.' Electrum handed Jadeite one of the mice. 'His name is Kyanite.'

'What?' He accepted the tawny mouse gingerly. It bit him. He grimaced.

'Kyanite. After a friend of mine.'

'A friend?'

'No! No like that! Never!'

'Ahhh,' Jadeite had the grace to look ashamed. 'Sorry. No need to overreact… Just out of curiosity, though, why'd you react like that?'

Electrum was hitting her forehead repeatedly, muttering things like 'Get out of my head!', 'images! Images!" and things of that sort.

'Electrum?'

'Um…'she said distractedly, pounding her forehead yet again and causing the mice to squeak in terror, 'he's like…oh, my brother!'

'Ah.' Jadeite said, and flushed. 'Sorry about that.'

'S'okay. I'm all right now, just the shock…'

Just then the air rippled, causing both of their attentions to shift to the space where the portal had been. A teenager hovered in the air, tied-back silver hair grazing his shoulder blades, gold eyes piercing.

'Heya, Gaea,' he grinned. 'I heard you got yourself into a mess. Good to see you, Lord Jadeite.'

Electrum stared at him. His shoulders tensed, and the expectant look in his eyes faded.

'Er…Nice to see you too?' Jadeite tried to break the awkward silence. Kyanite the mouse scrambled out of his hands and ran to Electrum, who absent-mindedly petted him.

'He's got no idea who you are,' Electrum said flatly. 'Gave me a bit of a shock too,' and she grinned slightly, wryly, and the tension in the boy's shoulders eased.

'Oh, Gods, Ky, it's so good to see you! I'd hug you, but Jadeite here already has the wrong sorts of ideas…'

'Oh, gawd,' Ky, or so he seemed to be, looked utterly and completely horrified. 'You're kidding me. Ewwww!'

'No joke.He's even nuttier here than back home.'

'Hey! What's that supposed to mean!'

'Chill out, man,' the two teenagers said simultaneously, sounding very much alike. They grinned at each other with an ease of familiarity, as if they'd done this many times before.

'Oh, by the way,' the boy said, 'My name's Kyanite.' In response to Jadeite's puzzled expression, he added, 'We haven't been introduced. I know you, but you don't know me. And I don't know about you, but I hate feeling like a third wheel.'

'Oh. That Kyanite. Now I get it.'

'Only now?' Electrum's tone was bitingly sarcastic, reminding Jadeite of Zoisite so strongly he couldn't resist asking, 'Did you take sarcasm lessons from Zoisite?'

Kyanite laughed, took one look at Electrum's furious face, and quickly corrected his facial features.

'So,' Electrum said, 'Why are you here, Ky? Last time I heard you, we were jumping through the time portal…'

'Oh. Well, I accidentally appeared, you know, when the whole thing's over and the senshi are clueless and all and, well, the Dark Kingdom's been busy disintegrating.'

'Ouch,' Electrum sympathized. 'So, naturally you got out of there?'

'Well, you know me; I did a little poking around first. After I lost a chunk of my hair, I decided the smartest thing would be to turn around and go home.' Kyanite admitted, grinning.

Electrum winced. 'Show me?'

He sighed. 'Here,' he pulled the dark red band from his hair, causing the silver waves to spill out over him. There was a large gap in the middle of the waterfall.

'Ouch,' Electrum repeated, and grinned.

Kyanite glared and was about to make a furious retort when he was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. A boy stood beside him. He couldn't have been more than eleven, and his long ebony-crimson fringe flopped into his eyes. Kyanite sighed and waited for the kid to make his point.

'Hi everyone,' he said…

Gaea's future—Crystal Palace

'Who is she?' Junior Sailor Venus asked the table, head buried in her hands as she sat with the other Junior Scouts discussing their newest problem. One that they were completely unequipped to deal with.

The Younger Sailor Mercury typed away at her trademark Mercury computer. 'I couldn't get a clear enough reading, girls, so if we're going to identify her we'll need to get closer. And seeing how she destroyed us last time, that's going to be a major problem.'

Venus nodded, and frowned. Mars opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a guard's voice.

'You can't go in there, miss!'

The door swung open, revealing a dark-haired young woman dressed in an oddly familiar blue uniform. She pushed the guards aside; they stood back, awed. Mars rose to her feet.

'Just as a hint, girls,' the teenager said in a light tenor, 'you might want to remember the 'he' bit. Unless you want to end up a bunch of ice-crystal pincushions.'

Mars poised herself for attack; Venus gestured for her to stop. 'Excuse me?'

'His name is Zoisite, he works for the Dark Kingdom,' she paused, as if expecting a response. When she didn't get one, she sighed and continued. 'You know--your respective parents' first enemies?'

Blank stares followed this statement, and she sighed again.

'Wait,' Mercury said, and did something with her computer. She stared at the screen for a moment, and passed it to Sailor Venus. Who looked at the data in shock.

'What the--?'

'The firsts,' Mercury supplied. 'During the year I sulked.'

Jupiter frowned. 'So, basically, we don't have much on them…Except they were supposed to be dead as a doorknob like a thousand years ago.'

'That,' the girl said, 'is precisely the Dark Kingdom's specialty.'

'How do you know?' Mercury asked the question on all of their lips. 'You don't look nearly old enough to have been there.'

'Appearances can be deceiving—take a look at my friend Gaea…But I digress. All you really need to know is that I've got some inside on them, and a bunch of people who have a fighting chance against Zoisite—if his comrades don't show up.'

'His what?'

'Mercury, check your files. Listen, I have to go—just, avoid engaging anyone. If you can, get the city in lockdown until the Seniors get back, okay? Thanks—and if you come across people dressed like me—solid uniform jackets, not striped—don't get in our way.'

She disappeared out the door before Venus could order followers.

Present—Nephrite's Mansion

'Tanzanite,' Kyanite said warningly, 'what the hell are you doing here?'

The boy in question grinned. 'Doesn't Vega always give you those lectures on language?'

'Tanzanite, do you really want a black eye tonight?'

Vega smiled. 'Despite the sheer amusement of watching you bicker, there has to be a reason for you to show up here. Out with it, Tanz, or I'll let Ky hurt you.'

'Hey! That was so uncalled for!'

'Oh, get a backbone. Now, reasons?'

'Well, Sailor Pluto isn't co-operating, and, well, we've got a situation back home. The senshi, the Seniors, I mean, they're on a diplomatic trip to Nemesis. Metallia's power means they can't teleport back, and the trip by ship will take them at least a month.'

'I take it,' Jadeite said, 'that's not a good thing.'

'And you'd be right,' Tanzanite said. He looked at Gaea. 'How much?'

'None of the details; just the basics—i.e my family history.'

'Fun.'

'Tell me about it. So, do you and Vega have a handle on this situation?'

'Well, in a manner of speaking…' Tanzanite shifted on both feet. Kyanite looked at him and frowned. Electrum glared at both of them.

'We're coming here. With the juniors. Everyone else will apparently not be touched, but Metallia'll be wary of our lot. So, basically, because of the power concentration here, we'll be able to put up a pretty decent cloak.'

'Okay…Ever heard of screwing up the timeline!'

'I believe Vega's exact words were, "we don't have a choice. And if Electrum wants to make a fuss, crystals last a damned long time."'

'Ouch.'

Kyanite grinned. 'Serves you right.'

'For what? Not wanting the timeline to go screwy? Forgive if I don't want to end up a paradox.'

'True…' Kyanite blinked. 'Anyway, can we come in?'

'Oh, right,' Electrum waved a hand, and the two boys stepped through the portal, followed by a starburst of light comprising the—Jadeite flinched.

'What the hell are the Sailor Scouts doing here?'