The sound of chirping crickets came through the open window, the light evening breeze blowing against Lena's bare arms. She pulled her brush absentmindedly through her hair as she gazed at the moonlight reflecting over the sea. With a sigh she dropped her arm to the side, letting the brush dangle, and closed her eyes. Behind her she heard the door open and quietly click shut. Moments later she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders.

"You don't get views like that back home," she heard Hale's husky voice next to her ear. Nodding slightly, Lena leaned back against his chest as his arms wrapped around her shoulders. "I should spend more time here."

"You would be welcome," Lena said softly. She felt Hale's lips press against the side of her neck as his arms unfolded from her shoulders, his hands running down her arms and moving to her waist. She exhaled as one hand moved upwards, cupping her breast gently. A soft moan escaped her lips. "Hale…"

Lena opened her eyes, heart racing. What the hell was that, she thought, blinking rapidly at the sunlight pouring through the window. Turning her head slightly, she saw a pair of sock-clad feet propped on the side of her bed. She followed the feet with her eyes, seeing they were attached to Hale who slept in a bedside chair, his arms crossed over his chest as his head leaned against the chair's high back. She smiled slightly, pushing herself to a sitting position.

Her movement woke Hale. Quickly moving his feet from the bed he jumped up, his face groggy as he blinked at her. "You're awake."

"I am," she said, the memory of her dream heating her face.

"How are you feeling?"

"Great actually. Better than I've felt in a while," she admitted. For the first time in weeks there was no dull headache behind her forehead. Hale reached over and took her wrist, lightly pressing on her pulse points as he stared at his watch, taking her pulse. "What happened?" Hale hesitated, dropping her wrist. Lena raised her eyebrows at him expectantly. "Well?" she prompted.

"You passed out," he started slowly. Lena laughed.

"I seem to be doing that a lot," she joked. Her smile faded when she saw Hale's face harden. "What's wrong, Hale?"

"I don't know exactly what happened," he said. He pulled the bedside chair closer and sat, leaning his elbows on the edge of the bed. "I was talking to Michiru and Haruka on my way to the gardens and we heard you cry out. We ran out and saw you on the ground. You looked like you were in pain. I went to you and…" He paused, his lips pressed together to one side.

"And?" Lena prompted him again, poking his arm.

"And you passed out. We brought you back here. You've been asleep for nearly three days now."

Lena leaned back against her pillows, hands clenched tightly. While her memories of that night were fuzzy, she knew that he was holding something back. She remembered being in the garden courtyard with Coran, his heated threats, the anger that had built up. Anything after that was a blur of pain.

"Where's Michiru?" she asked.

"She and Haruka went back to Crystal Tokyo yesterday. They had a meeting with the queen and wanted to let your parents know what happened," Hale explained. "I offered to stay with you."

"That was nice," Lena said softly. Her brow furrowed as a thought crossed her mind. "Why didn't they just call my parents?"

Hale exhaled sharply and leaned back in the chair. He shook his head. "I think they thought it would be easier to hear in person? I don't pretend to know how their minds work."

Lena laughed. Michiru and Haruka did have a special way of acting in ways that were confusing to her. It was as if they shared one mind sometimes.

A gentle knock on the bedroom door caught their attention. Lena turned to see the tall figure of Sailor Pluto in the doorway. She wore a soft smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I hope I'm not disturbing," she said, leaning her Garnet Rod next to the door. Lena shook her head. Hale's chair scraped backwards and she turned to see him scramble to his feet.

"I'm going to go get you something to eat," he announced. Before she could speak, he was out the door. She stared after him, confused.

Sailor Pluto laughed softly. "He cares for you."

Lena felt heat rise to her cheeks. Sailor Pluto smiled as she sat in the chair Hale had abandoned. She sat straight as she gazed at Lena, studying her. Lena fought the urge to squirm under her stare.

"It's not often I'm able to leave the Space-Time Door," she said. She smiled and chuckled softly. "I'm afraid that doesn't do much for my social skills."

Lena hesitantly smiled, unsure if the Guardian of Time had just made a joke.

"How are you feeling?" Sailor Pluto continued, leaning her head to the side quizzically.

"I'm better," Lean said. She frowned. "I just wish I knew what was going on. Hale told me what happened the night of the party, but I could tell he was leaving out something big. I don't remember anything but pain."

"I imagine you wouldn't," Sailor Pluto said, nodding. Lena's brow furrowed in confusion. The Guardian of Time sighed, her rigid posture relaxing. "It's very troublesome being in charge of time. You know so much but can reveal so little."

"What?"

Sailor Pluto shook her head. "I'm sorry, disregard that bit of complaint. You're right; Hale did leave out part of what happened the other evening. Michiru believed it was best not to tell you everything until they had figured out what had happened." She paused, giving Lena a sly grin. "Fortunately for you, I disagree with them. They might not understand what's happening, but I do, and the longer you don't know the harder this may be for everyone."

"This doesn't make any sense," Lena said. She leaned forward, hands clenched together. "What happened that night?"

Sailor Pluto seemed to lose any rigidness in her body as she leaned back into the armchair. "Before I explain that, let me begin by telling you about the past. I do warn you though: there are some things I cannot, and will not, tell you. There are some things that are not my place to tell." Lena nodded. With a sigh, Sailor Pluto continued.

"During Silver Millennium Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, and I were given the task to guard the Outer Solar System. It was very lonely, not only because we were unable to join Queen Serenity, but because it kept us from our own courts. The Inner Courts were governed much as they are today, the Guardian Soldiers serving not only as princesses of their respective planets, but also as their planet's guardian. Our planets - Uranus, Neptune, Pluto - weren't as lucky."

"You didn't guard your own planets?" Lena asked.

Sailor Pluto lifted a hand, rotating it side to side. "Sort of," she started. "But in the end, not really. We were tasked with guarding the Outer Solar System. That wasn't our initial task; at first we were similar to the other Sailor Soldiers. We served as guardians of our planets. Then outside forces started encroaching on the Solar System and Queen Serenity gave us our tasks. So in our stead, we each created our own guardians to protect our planets. These three guardians were trained as warriors, just as we were. Queen Serenity allowed us to give them a small bit of our Sailor Crystal, not enough for them to be Sailor Soldiers, but enough so that they were able to draw from our planets and have the ability to protect them."

Sailor Pluto paused, exhaling slightly as she took Lena's hand. "Lena, I believe that when you received the crown and became Princess Neptune, something inside you awoke. Something inside you became who you once were and has been fighting to come out. It's my belief that what happened the other night was just the beginning of you becoming Neptune's Guardian Protector."

Lena pulled her hand from Sailor Pluto's straightening her back. "What are you saying? Am I a Sailor Soldier now?"

"No, no," Sailor Pluto said quickly with a shake of her head. "Our Guardian Protectors weren't nearly as powerful as we were. But they were powerful in their own right with their own abilities and protected our planets in ways that we were no longer able to. In our present time, the three of us Outer Guardians are here in Crystal Tokyo, with our courts instead of on our planets. Michiru took on a new role though."

"She's no longer the protector of Neptune," Lena said softly, staring at her hand.

"No, she's not. That role has now fallen to you."

"He looks like an arrogant son of-"

"Lena!" Aneko looked flabbergasted at Lena's muttered observation of the Duke of Callisto. Lena rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. She knew she was acting petulant, but nothing else had stopped tonight from happening. Petulance was all she had left.

"He is a very nice young man," Aneko continued. "He was top of his class, a skilled archer, and I hear Princess Jupiter has just made him leader of her army."

"Oh how lovely," Lena said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Does he bake as well?"

"I don't know. You'll have to ask him on your wedding night," Aneko said, equally as sarcastic. Lena fought the urge to stomp her foot as her mother floated away, her harsh face smoothing as she waved to someone.

"Very mature," she heard someone murmur next to her. Out of the corner of her eye, Lena could see the soft aqua hair of her cousin.

"Shut up," she said. Michiru laughed, her musical voice causing several heads to turn and smile, which only made Lena's scowl even darker.

"I know this is not what you want," Michiru said, sobering quickly.

"How do you know what I want?" Lena muttered. She felt her cousin's arm drape over her shoulders.

"A role in life, vastly different than the path you've been forced upon?" Lena followed her cousin's gaze across the room, spying a tall woman with shining blonde hair. Michiru sighed. "I know because I want it too."

A day later Ami declared Lena was well enough to get out of bed and move around on her own, despite Hale's disagreement. Lena slipped out of the room, fleeing the growing tension created by their disagreeing diagnosis.

Although it had been many years since she had last visited Triton Castle, she walked through its halls on autopilot, her feet seeming to have a memory of their own. When she reached the gardens, she found the smallest garden nook, hidden behind a wall of shrubbery with a single vine-covered door. The garden was simple, small white flowers poking above the ground and a single pink-bloomed cherry tree spread its wiry branches. A moss-covered fountain sat in the far corner burbling cheerfully. Lena brushed a few stray leaves from the stone bench and sank onto it.

Pluto's words had left her shaken. Guardian Protector. Lena had never heard of such a thing. In all the years her mother had made her study Silver Millennium's history it had never come up. There had been so many books, so many lessons... how had "Guardian Protector" never come up even once?

And then there were her own memories... she remembered her time during Silver Millennium. Didn't she? With a small cry of frustration she buried her face in her hands.

"Hi," chirped a small voice. Startled, Lena lifted her head to see a tiny pink-haired girl peeking into the garden. "Pretty."

"Small Lady," Lena said, standing and giving a curtsy to the tiny princess. The girl leaned her head to the side, confused. Lena inwardly cringed; Neo Queen Serenity had told her none of the princesses curtsied to her daughter since she was so young and no higher than any of them.

"Are you by yourself?" Lena asked, returning to her seat and patting the spot next to her. Small Lady skipped across the garden and climbed onto the seat. She sat somewhat primly, her hands folded neatly in her lap. But her legs swung happily.

"Mama is here," she answered. "She's with Puu."

"Puu?" Lena questioned. Small Lady nodded, and Lena decided not to press.

"Mama said 'go look at flowers,'" Small Lady continued. She pointed to the cherry blossom tree. "It's pink!"

"It is," Lena agreed. She stood and plucked a single blossom from the tree, handing it to the girl. "Pink like your hair."

The girl giggled and held the flower up to her hair. Her eyes sparkled as her smile widened.

"Small Lady!" Lena heard the frantic sound of the queen's voice. "Where are you?"

"She's here," Lena called back, giving the girl a smile. Serenity appeared through the garden gate, her body visibly relaxing when her eyes found her daughter.

"Oh thank goodness," she said softly. "Small Lady, you scared me! I told you to go look at the flowers, not wander the entire garden! I have been searching..." Serenity trailed off, glancing between her daughter and Lena. She gave a small shake of her head and smiled. "It doesn't really matter I suppose."

Small Lady hopped off the bench and skipped to her mother. "Look Mama," she said cheerfully, holding the pink blossom up. "It's pink like me!"

"It certainly is," Serenity replied, bending down to place a small kiss on her daughter's forehead. Without standing, her eyes shifted to Lena.

"Lena," she started, rising and taking her daughter's hand. "Setsuna tells me she explained to you some of your past, of your life before the fall of Silver Millennium. She and I discussed this, and I think it's time you are given back your memories..." Serenity paused, her eyes not quite meeting Lena's. "That is... your true memories."