Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or related characters. Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha/Toei Animation/DIC.
Author's Note: Just so there isn't any misunderstandings. All of the sailor senshiare children right now and their parents are on the Moon talking about their future. The only one who isn't a child is Setsuna.
Chapter II: Meeting on the Moon
"But they are so young!"
Shouts and protests broke out in the large chamber as representatives from various planets rose from the circular table, arguing furiously with one another.
"We must continue our tradition," stated the ruler of Neptune coldly, her eagle-like eyes sweeping across the large chamber."It is their duty as princesses."
"They are just little girls!"
"Please, everyone, you must calm down!" Cried Queen Serenity. Silence slowly spread across the room as all heads turned to the queen, waiting for her to set things right.
"I know this may be difficult since they are the only children we have," The Queen sighed. "However, we are growing old and have protected our solar system for centuries. We will need our heirs to carry on our line of magical powers and become the ruler ofthe planets."
"Everyone here also has responsibilities," Setsuna added. "As a matriarchal society, the princesses will have to learn to defend our kingdom."
Queen Serenity nodded. "Which brings us back to training the princesses. How shall we do this so that everyone is satisfied?"
"I think it would be best if all the princesses train on the moon under your guidance," declared the ruler of Venus. She smiled softly and leaned back in her chair. Problem solved.
"That seems logical," the King of Jupiter, nodded.
"No, it won't work."
All heads turned to Urana, ruler of the planet Uranus. The young queen shook her head, her shoulder length blond hair swaying elegantly.
"The outer planets, excluding Saturn, have a different task than the inners. It is our responsibility to protect the Solar System from outside enemies, while it is the inner planet's responsibility to protect the royal family, especially Princess Serenity," explained Urana. "Their tasks are different, therefore I believe that it would benefit them if the inner and outer scouts trained seperately."
The ruler of Venusrose from her seat, pushing her chair back so it slammed loudly onto the marble floor. "Why is it you always have to disagree with me, Urana?"
"I was merely stating the facts-"
"Ever since we were young children you always had to go against me in everything!"
The rulers from the other planets stared, dumbfounded at the fight going on between the two queens. As queens, they had to learn to control their emotions and avoid causing any disturbances or fights that might lead to consequences they might regret later on. All the audience could do was watch in disbelief as the two woman continued to argue furiously with one another.
"That is because you do not think out you ideas!" Retorted Urana, her head held high.
Seeing this made the golden-haired goddess of love even more furious. Urana always thought that she was superior to her. She couldn't stand that woman any longer. Aphrodite grabbed her cup of water and flung it across the room nearly hitting Urana. However, the queen of Uranus ducked and the cup smashed loudly against the wall. A deep and long silence followed that seemed to scream in everybody's ears.
The audience glanced back and forth between the two woman. They were both standing up and glaring at each other, niether backing down.
"Sit down both of you," said the King of Saturn, finally breaking the silence. "You are both acting like idiots!"
Aphrodite picked up her chair and sat down, glaring at Urana. After glancing at Serenity, Urana shrugged and seated herself back down.
"Urana has a point," agreed Queen Serenity, ignoring Aphrodite's angry glare.
"I could take them in and train them," announced Setsuna. Everybody turned to look curiously at the young Queen. Though she was one of the younger rulers, everyone respected Setsuna greatly and were more than willing to listen to what she had to say.
"You already have too much to take care of," said Serenity, concerned for her friend.
"Its all right," replied the youngest ruler. "They will be able to learn a lot on Pluto, plus it would be easier to teach because we share the same task."
"All right," declared Serenity. "I think we are all set. The outers will train on Pluto from age 10 to 18, while the inner senshi will be instructed in my castle starting at age 13 and continue until they reach 18."
"That hardly seems fair," commented Urana. Though she did not always have the time to communicate with Haruka, she still hoped that she would be able to raise her and watch her grow up into a young woman. It was hard to admit, but she would surely miss her daughter if she were to be gone for that long.
"Haruka and Michiru need to become strong to protect us from outside attacks."
There was a short pause before Urana asked, "What about Princess Serenity and Hotaru?"
"The silver crystal and crescent moon wand are very powerful weapons, so many enemies will be drawn to their power. If I hand it to the princess, I'm afraid she'll be in danger. I do not wish to teach the princess to fight."
"You know we all will protect the princess with our lives," Queen Mercury spoke sincerely. People from around the table nodded in agreement as they looked at their queen.
Queen Serenity smiled softly, touched by the loyalty of her friends.
The queen of Saturn smiled bitterly and said, "As for Hotaru, we all hope that we will never see a day when the Soldier of Destruction is needed."
An eerie silence filled the room as everyone contemplated a situation where they would need to awaken Saturn. Their thoughts were interrupted as Queen Serenity cleared her throat loudly, indicating that they should continue with the meeting.
"Now... On to the next topic, trades."
Chairs scratched the marble floor as the meeting finally drew to an end. People muttered softly to one another and a few stayed behind chattering cheerfully with the queen.
"What do you think of this?" Urana asked, walking beside the ruler of Pluto.
"Its only eight years. I'll take good care of Haruka and Michiru." Setsuna looked back as she heard footsteps approaching them.
"Ah, Neptina," muttered the queen of Uranus. She looked up, pretending to study the ceiling so she could avoid talking to the ruler of Neptune.
"Are you still mad at each other?" Chuckled Setsuna, her eyes sparkling brightly.
"I'm not the one who is holding unreasonable grudges," Urana replied, still staring at the ceiling. "I just don't want to start another argument."
Setsuna sighed as she glanced at Neptina. If only they could make up and become friends again. They used to be so happy together. Why were they both so stubborn?
Setsuna slowed her pace, waiting for the queen of Neptune to catch up.
"How are you doing these days, Neptina?"
"Fine, I suppose," she replied.
"You two should make up," advised Setsuna. She lifted her fingers silently counting. "It's been ten long years since you last spoke to one another?"
"I'm not a forgiving person," Neptina replied coldly, her hands shaking slightly.
The three continued walking in silence while Setsuna tried to start a conversation between the two queens beside her. However, they resumed ignoring each other throughout the whole walk out of the palace.
"Hold on," Setsuna said softly, suddenly stopping. "I forgot to tell Queen Serenity something... I'll be right back."The young ruler turned around and dashed back down the hallway, leaving two uncomfortable figures standing together.
Serenity and Setsuna slowly treaded through the crowded room full of chattering ministers and advisors. Everyone was tired after the long daybutwanted to engage themselves in lively conversations withone another after not having seen each other for a long time.
"How is little Ami? I haven't seen her since she was a tiny baby!" A beautiful brunette asked.
"Great, how about dear Minako?"
"Oh, we should get together sometime."
Serenity laughed softly as she listened to the various conversations.
"Its good to get together once in a while. However, I think it has been too long. We have drifted apart and there are so much misunderstandings to sort out. Urana and Aphrodite for example."
Setsuna nodded smiling bitterly. If it weren't for Queen Serenity, the meeting room would have been torn apart by now because of the little disagreements they all had. There was also the conflict between Urana and Neptina but Setsuna didn't want to worry the Queen. Serenity had enough to worry about without knowing about the conflicts of the outers. Setsuna shook her head and sighed.
Suddenly they heard a giantcrash from outside the room followed by another sound of shattering glass.
"You go tell Haruka to keep away form Michiru! Deep Sea Sumerge!"
The entire room shook as another attack followed. Mimisters, queens and kings ducked under tables as the walls started to shake, chunks of wood and stone raining down from the ceiling. From her position under the table, Setsuna could see the chandelier hanging above the table swinging precariously from side to side.
As the shaking ceased, people started to stick their heads out from under the table. Meanwhile, Setsuna was already on her feet and heading towards the door of the chamber. What were Neptina and Urana doing outside in the halllway? She knew she shouldn't have left them out there alone with one another. But for crying out loud, they were two times her age. Couldn't they handle themselves like abults?
The large room steadiedand people scrambled to their feet. Chairs had toppled over and many people were still sprawled on the floor, shocked and confused at what had just happened. The elegant chandelier hanging on the ceilinglooked as if it may fall any second. People from underneath it quickly scuttled away to a safer location.
"I have no idea what you are talking about!" Came a shout from outside.
"Deep Sea Submerge!"
"Uranus World Shaking!"
Queen Serenity briskly scrambled to her feet and dashed out of the chamber. Everyone else followed and rushed to the door to find that the queens of Uranus and Neptune have transformed and were in battle.
"What am I talking about?" Sailor Neptune repeated, scowling at Uranus from across the hallway. "As if you don't know."
"Oh, please enlighten us all," Uranus replied haughtily.
"Your horrible little Haruka-"
"You leave my daughter out of this," growled Uranus. Raising her gloved hand, she formed a fist and charged at Neptune.
Coming to her senses, Setsuna ran forward and caught Uranus firmly around the waist.
"You keep out of this," shouted Uranus as she struggled to escape from her friend's firm grip.
"Urana, calm down," Setsuna whispered as she dug her heels in to the floor.
"Are you too much of a coward to fight me alone?" Neptune asked, laughing bitterly. "I guess I should of known you were one all along."
Snarling, Uranus shoved Setsuna away and charged at Neptune.
Serenity furiously slammed her hands down on the table.
"Could you two give me a good explanation for this?"
Urana and Neptina stared at the floor. They were back in the meeting area where everything was a complete mess. Chairs were sprawled all over the floor, the chandelier had plummeted from the ceiling and the door hanging on its hinges.
"No..." They both whispered.
"No?" Serenity sighed. "We could fix this portion of the palace but that's not the reason I am disappointed."
Neptina looked up, confused, "Why are you disappointed then?"
"Because I thought that we had all overcome our differences and learned to understand each other."
"We have," said Urana sincerely, looking up and meeting the queen's eyes.
Serenity raised an eyebrow. "You have a strange way of showing it."
Urana smiled softly as she glanced around the room. It reminded her so much of the day that the three of them accidently blew up the dining hallin Charon Castle. Ruby... Neptina...
Urana sighed softly as she glanced at Neptina. "I promise I'll try to work things out with Neptina."
Serenity smiled as she turned the the Queen of Neptune. "What about you?"
"I'll... also try."
Outside the stars shone luminously, illuminating the dark gloomy night. Fireflies zipped playfully around the palace garden while the wind whistled softly gently twisting around the towering trees.
"Something is on your mind," Setsuna stated. The young queen closed her eyes feeling the cool summer breeze whip against her face and her long dark hair flow freely in the wind. She steadied herself on the tree branch she was sitting on and studied Neptina below her.
Her friend had a sour look on her face ever since Urana had left. Setsuna could tell that something was bothering her friend but she couldn't exactly figure out what.
"I have been having unpleasant visions lately about Michiru and Haruka," muttered the sapphire haired queen. Neptina stared coldly at the fireflies zipping around her. Everything was wrong. This wasn't how she wanted her life to be. If someone had told her things would end up like this a hundred years earlier, she would have laughed in their face. She imagined a loving family, with her three best friends, Urana, Setsuna and Ruby by her side. She imagined them spending time together laughing and telling jokes. How wrong she was. "Ruby..."
Setsuna smiled bitterly as she looked down at Neptina. How did it end up like this? Urana and Neptina once promised one another to be friends forever. Have they forgotten? They loved each other very much. They stood up for one another and made sacrifices for each other. They cared deeply for one another and kept no secrets between them. Setsuna remembered the story her mother had told her when she was younger. Her mother, Neptina and Urana had blown up the dining hall of Charon Castle and grandfather was going to send them all to the dungeons. However, Urana knowing how much the other two girls were afriad of the dungeons, had stepped forward and said that it was all her fault and that she should be the only one that is punished. However, the other two girls said that they wouldn't let Urana go to the dungeon on her own.
Setsuna smiled softly at the story. She treasured any memories she had left of her mother. She had taught her a lot before she and father died. It was because of those memories and lessonsleft by herparents, that Setsuna had the strength and wisdom to rule over Pluto at such a young age. She still missed them dearly and wished every day that they were back with with her. Shaking her head, Sestuna shoved the painful thoughts of her parents out of her mind.
She had something else to do. Turning her head to Neptina and found herself speaking softly to the Queen, her voice not revealing any of the thoughts of her parents that had been haunting Setsuna's mind just a few moments earlier.
"Still... did you have to be so rash earlier with Urana?"
Neptina replied, "I brought up Michiru to become a responsible and competent ruler. I won't let Haruka corrupt her. It seems that Urana lets that one run around wild. She has no sense of discipline."
Setsuna sighed and pushed herself off the tree branch, gently landing on her feet and smiled at Neptina. "The future is always in motion. Nothing is set."
Neptina glanced uncertainly at Setsuna.
"Each person will determine his or her own destiny," Setsuna stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on Neptina's shoulder. "I have some business to attend to, I'll see you later."
Neptina watched as the young woman soon disappeared into the darkness. The queen of Neptune sighed and gently placed her hand on the weathered trunk of the tree, thinking deeply.
All these memories from before were full of joy and cheer. Ruby,Urana and I had so much fun together. Why have things changed so much?
Author's Note: I didn't like this chapter too much. It was too long and the information bit was really quite boring but it was important for everyone to understand what was going on.