A/N Sorry about the long wait everyone. Work has been extremely hectic lately and I've got family in town visiting on top of that, so it's seriously cutting into my writing time. But I think I've tired everybody out with sightseeing and they're sleeping now, so I'm taking the opportunity to put the finishing touches on this chapter and post it while I have the time. Thank goodness I'm a nightowl, or this chapter may have sat on my flash drive for a while. I apologize in advance if any of the editing seems way sloppier than normal. My family has me completely frazzled and I admit that I've had a few drinks. That's probably not the best thing when trying to proofread, but oh well. Anyway, let me give out my hugs to you wonderful reviewers. BIG HUGS TO:

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Thanks bunches you guys! Your words always mean so much to me. And to those of you that are reading my season rewrites, I can't make any promises but I hope to update Rekindled really soon. I also want to thank all of you that have made Chapter 1 of Lunar Princess's prequel, When Bad Boys Go Good such a success. I never thought that it would be received so well. That story may be slower in updating, but I will get it updated as quickly as I can. Okay, that's enough out of me. This is a nice long chapter for you here. I hope you all like it.

ENJOY!

The Galactic Trinity

Chapter 15

Drama With a Side of Heat

"What!" three feminine voices squealed at the same time while a fourth deeper, masculine voice chuckled.

The three men congregated in the kitchen cringed at the window shattering sound and then rolled their eyes at one another.

Kunzite tossed back his drink in one gulp. "I swear they get louder with every passing year. Do you think they'll ever outgrow it?"

Darien shook his head. "Just be glad you weren't around back during their middle school days. I think my eardrums were permanently damaged during that time frame."

"Ha!" Andrew snorted. "I think Kunzite would agree with me that the high school days were pretty loud. You got to escape most of that torture by either being dead or away at college."

Darien snickered at him. "Could you imagine what it would have been like if Jess had been around back then?"

Andrew groaned. "As much as I love that woman, I have to say that I'm glad I didn't meet her until later. I don't think my nerves could have handled it."

Right on cue another round of squeals came from the living room, making all three of them jump in surprise. Then there was the sound of stomping footsteps as Katie barged into the kitchen.

"Honestly!" she fumed. "Those three are such blondes! Do they have to shriek like idiotic fangirls just because stupid Talon knocked up his wife? They act like he's the first man in history to impregnate a woman. Geez! Any man can father a baby!"

Just then Serena blew into the kitchen in a whirlwind of golden hair. She skidded to a stop in front of Darien, bouncing excitedly. "You're not going to believe this, but Talon's going to be a daddy! Isn't that amazing!"

Darien looked dumbfounded. "Uh, yeah…amazing," but he was already speaking to her back as she spun and dashed back toward the living room where the excited buzzing increased in pitch once more.

"See what I mean?" Katie commented snidely as she threw open the refrigerator, pulled out a can of cherry coke and popped the lid.

Andrew eyed her warily as he stirred the sauce he was making. "I'd be careful drinking those if I were you. Those belong to Jess and she flips if we run out."

Katie jerked her chin stubbornly. "That's just too bad! It's what she gets for giving me a migraine with her, Serena, and Mina's squawking. I could barely concentrate on my homework for all of the noise. DJ almost had to yell to explain the math to me so I could hear over them."

DJ appeared in the door with a confused expression his face. "Did I miss something? Serena almost ran me over in the hall and now she, Jess, and Mina are about to clobber Talon to death. The poor guy looks like he could use some help, but I'm not about to go in there."

"Smart decision," Darien commended him as he took a sip of his drink.

"I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid enough to get in the middle of that," DJ replied as he plucked the can from Katie's fingers. "What's got them so worked up anyway?"

"Hey," Katie protested as he took a long slurp from her drink. "If you must know, Mr. Genius, evidently Talon and Anya did the deed one too many times and now they've got a little bundle of joy heading their way."

DJ almost spewed cola everywhere but managed to choke it down. He went into a coughing fit while the other three men's jaws dropped at her blunt assessment of the situation.

"But…how…what do you know about things like that?" Andrew sputtered.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Come off it, dad! I'm sixteen, not six. I know about the birds and the bees and where babies come from. I'm a sailor scout, not a nun for crying out loud! Come on, DJ. You promised we could watch a movie."

Andrew watched in silent shock as his future daughter hauled the teenage boy out of the room by the arm. It wasn't until he heard the front door open that his voice began to work again. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"Next door to watch a movie," Katie called back before shutting the door behind them.

Andrew ran an agitated hand through his hair. "The moment that girl is born I'm going to lock her up someplace until she's thirty. I bet my future self has a million gray hairs thanks to her."

Kunzite grunted and looked at the clock. "Well if you value your son at all, you better hope that he has my daughter back here in the next five minutes or there's going to hell to pay. I told Emma to be back by eight, and it's almost that time."

Almost as if his words had conjured them, the front door opened and in walked Alex and Emma. Andrew closed his eyes for a moment and said a silent prayer of thanks that at least one of his kids seemed to be responsible.

Jess's voice floated out from the living room, "Hey, baby, how's dinner coming? I'm starving!"

Predictably, Serena's voice joined hers. "Ooo! Did somebody say dinner? My stomach's so empty I think it's touching my backbone!"

Darien shook his head and chuckled. "And that, gentlemen, is the woman that will one day be queen."

Crystal Tokyo – The Far Future

DJ shifted his numb arm a little, trying to get at least some of the feeling to come back to it, but he didn't move too much for fear of waking the woman that was currently curled up asleep with her head on his shoulder and an arm flung across his chest.

He gritted his teeth to keep from groaning at the pins and needles sensation that erupted along his nerve endings, but he must have made some noise because the blonde head shifted and then rose to blink at him with hazy, tricolored eyes.

He chuckled. "Good evening, Tinkerbell."

"Huh?" Katie muttered in confusion. Then comprehension lit up her face. "Shit! What did you let me fall asleep for?" She sat up quickly and put some distance between them.

DJ sat up as well, rubbing his aching arm. "You cried yourself out and then fell asleep. You looked exhausted so I figured a short nap couldn't hurt."

Her face burned red as she remembered what had happened. Discord had granted Metallia a new body and now that bitch was plotting her revenge on Serena and the others. She had panicked because these events could change the timeline drastically and interfere with her own plans to set the future straight. In her panic she had escaped to her one safe place to discover DJ there waiting for her, and in a moment of weakness she had clung to him for comfort.

Embarrassment washed over her. She had fought so hard over the years to turn herself into a strong person and had prided herself on the fact that she didn't have to be dependant on other people in order to survive. But ever since her prince had recently started shoving his way back into her life, she found herself reverting back to her old self. She began craving the security of once more having someone stand at her back instead of having to keep watch over her shoulder.

It had been a hard fifteen years, but somehow she had made it this far. The determination to drag her brother back from death's clutches had ignited a fire in her that had driven her forward. It had been a long and gruesome battle, but it had been one that she'd thought she could win. Now she wasn't so sure about that.

She sighed and pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. They still burned and felt gritty from her earlier breakdown. "How long was I out?"

DJ checked his watch. "Not long, maybe an hour at the most. You still look tired, though. Why don't you lie back down and try to get some more rest?"

She shook her head and jumped to her feet. "I can't. I've already stayed here longer than I should have. I have to get back and see what's going on. Maybe I can find some way of throwing a wrench into Metallia and Beryl's scheme. I don't need them messing things up for me."

He got up off the ground and wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her back against his chest. "I don't want to let you go, but I know you will go no matter what, so I won't even bother starting an argument with you about it. I just want you to promise me one thing."

She looked at him over her shoulder. "What's that?"

He kissed the tip of her nose. "I want you to promise me that you'll be careful. I know you keep saying that if Discord kills you for betraying him it's no big deal because time will reset and it will be like it never happened. But I can't help thinking about other possibilities. Like, what if something goes wrong and he still dies? I don't want to lose you too, not after all this time."

She smiled sadly at him and gently pulled herself from his arms. "I'm dead either way. If I can't keep Alex from dying, then I would still be bonded to Discord. If that happens I will attempt to kill the bastard myself. If I do he will probably still have the chance to terminate my life. All I can do is hope that I can injure him enough that he won't be far behind me."

DJ's look turned murderous. "So that's it? You've just reconciled yourself to dying no matter what? That's pretty effing selfish of you! You may not place a whole lot of value on your life, but a lot of other people do. Can you even begin to imagine the emotional chaos that happened when you left? Your parents were a mess. They lost both of their kids in the span of just a few days. Everyone thought you were dead! Your dad almost had a nervous breakdown, but he forced himself to keep it together for your mom's sake. She was so screwed up that my dad had to keep her sedated for weeks to keep her from blowing up the planet and taking everyone with it."

Katie opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off as he raised a silencing hand.

"Oh no, hear me out here. I'm just getting warmed up," he told her harshly. "I guess I should have hunted you down years ago and told you all of this. Maybe then you would be more sympathetic to all of the trouble you caused. Let's see, Emma was in just as bad of shape as your mom. There for a while we wondered if she would ever recover. She tried to kill herself twice, but luckily she was kept under such close watch that neither attempt worked. Here's another little tidbit for you. Did you know that your brother had proposed to her? Yeah, she's got a ring and everything. And don't even get me started on my mother and her hysterics. She always thought of you and Alex as her adopted children, so it hit her really hard."

Katie shook her head violently and clamped her hands over her ears. "Stop it! Just stop it, okay! I knew that my leaving on top of Alex's death would hurt people, but I did what I felt like I had to do at the time. You don't have to be such a sanctimonious bastard and rub it in!"

"But I haven't even gotten to the good part yet," he protested with smirk so cold that it sent chills down her spine. "Let's talk about what your leaving did to me. I was already blaming myself for my part in Alex's death. If I had just kept a cool head and tried to talk things out with him instead of flying off the handle, we never would have been fighting on that rooftop that night. Instead we were both so focused on our anger that we grew careless and gave that sentinel the chance to sneak up on us. I felt like I lost a brother too that night.

Then the night of his funeral you came to me, looking like an angel. I can still picture every moment of that night in my head with crystal clarity. I can still taste your lips and the way your skin felt against mine. I can even still hear the way you whispered and moaned in my ear. You put a curse on me that night. I tried to erase you from my memories by drinking. I even tried to sleep with other women, but I never could. No matter what I've done, you are always right there at the forefront of my mind."

Katie raked him with a scathing glare. "Oh, grow up, DJ! You're not the first man on earth to have been screwed over by a woman, and I'm sure you won't be the last. This whole ordeal would have been a lot easier to deal with if you had just kept thinking of me as your evil ex-girlfriend and kept your nose out of things!"

Rather than getting riled, DJ just smiled at her. "Ah! But there's one bit of fault in that logic."

She snorted. "And what would that be?"

His smile grew wider. "You're not my ex-girlfriend. I don't remember us ever officially breaking up. So that means we're still a couple."

She gaped at him. "I think all that whiskey you've drank over the years has fried your brain. I broke up with you the night of the hospital benefit, remember. We didn't speak to one another for weeks after that, not until the day that everything fell apart."

"But you came back to me," he said softly. "When things were at their absolute worst it was me that you came to for comfort."

"Because you are my weakness!" she screamed at him. "Whenever I'm near you I go back to being that needy teenage girl again and I can't stand it! You're like a poison in my blood! And no matter how much I bleed I can't get rid of you! So please, if you ever truly loved me, then stay the hell away from me!"

She teleported away before he could say anything else, leaving him staring at the spot where she had been only moments before. It took a few seconds for his shock at her outburst to wear off, then with a growl he disappeared as well.

He reappeared in the courtyard of the Crystal Palace, beside the black, wrought iron fence that enclosed the grave of his best friend. It was a place that he normally avoided, but now he felt compelled to go there.

"Your sister is still just as crazy and stubborn as hell, Lex!" he exclaimed to the stone marker that held the elegantly engraved inscription Alexander Andrew Furuhata, beloved son, brother, and friend, you will never be forgotten. The date of his birth and that of his death followed that.

Was the time coming when they would erect a second stone next to that one with identical dates except that the year of death would be fifteen years later and the name at the top would read Kathleen Kimberly Furuhata?

DJ shook his head. If that happened they might as well dig a third hole and bury him right beside them. Then everyone could commiserate on their folly and how they had failed to even gain the god's favor and be granted the Galactic Trinity.

He turned at the sound of soft footsteps behind him and wasn't surprised to see Emma coming up behind him. She looked a little shocked to see him there, but offered him a sad, but gentle smile as she walked by him and through the gate to take a seat on the ground next to the grave.

She leaned her back against the stone and regarded him curiously. "In the fifteen years that I've been holding my daily vigils here I've run into everyone except you at least ten times. I was under the impression that you never came here."

He shrugged. "I don't. As a matter of fact, this is the first time I've been here since the day of…since the day they put him here." He observed the colorful array of wildflowers that covered the grave. "Did you plant those?"

"Hmm?" Emma blinked at him as if just waking up and then looked down where her fingers toyed with the petals of a flower. "Oh! No, Katie did this a few weeks ago. She just waved her hand and they appeared. They're beautiful, aren't they? Of course I can just hear what Alex would have to say if he could. He would probably complain about them looking too girly to be on his grave, but I know that deep inside he would really love them."

DJ was actually able to chuckle as he too was able imagine his friend complaining about how girls had such silly notions, but he wouldn't really mean a word of it. If there was one thing that had been important to Alex, it had been keeping his mother, his sister, and Emma happy. So if Katie had conjured these flowers and Emma adored them, then he would go along with them.

But this wasn't helping him unravel the problem with Katie. He had to find some way to save her from what she pictured to be her only fate. If only there was some way to break the bond between her and Discord. Then she would be free of him.

"Hey, Emma," he began hesitantly. "You know a lot about soul bonds, don't you? I mean, I know you are an expert about soul mates and the ties between them, but there are other types of bonds that you have studied, aren't there?"

She nodded. "Yes. There are many different kinds of bonds besides the ones that exist between soul mates. There are those that exist between a parent and child and those between friends. Some are stronger than others. Take my father and yours for example. They are more than just mere friends or a king and his subject. They performed a ritual back during the Silver Millennium and became blood brothers. The moment they did that they strengthened the bond between them and joined a piece of their spirits."

"Can soul bonds ever be broken?" DJ asked her.

She looked as if she were in pain. "Yes, they can be broken. This usually happens when one of the people dies. It's a very excruciating experience that makes you feel like you are being ripped apart and set on fire from the inside out. Words really can't describe the agony."

DJ clenched his fists in anger. He knew that Emma was remembering her own tortuous experience when Alex had died, and he hated making her relive that, but he had to know. "Is there any other way to break soul bonds?"

She shot him a startled look. "If one person wanted to bad enough they could. But most people usually choose to block the connection rather than sever it to spare both parties the pain of the separation; much like what Katie did with the bond between you two when she left. The link still exists, but nothing flows through it anymore. You can no longer sense where one another are or what you are feeling. It's as if it's not even there."

Then her gray eyes narrowed seriously. "You're not thinking about separating yourself from her after all this time, are you? That would be a stupid move to make. It would be more humane for someone to just kill both of you and get it over with quickly. At least that way you won't suffer."

He shook his head. "It's nothing like that. How would someone go about breaking a bond of subjugation?"

Emma's mouth fell open in a silent 'O' for several seconds before she snapped it closed again. "Is that what you're talking about? DJ, there's no way to break the connection between Katie and Discord."

He glared at her. "You just said that bonds could be severed. Which one is it, yes or no?"

"Yes, a regular soul bond could be broken," she told him as calmly as she could. "But a vow of subjugation is something entirely different. It goes beyond just the joining of souls. When a person makes a vow like that to another they literally hand over their life force to whomever they are pledging their loyalty to. After that they have no free will of their own. That person controls everything in their life. The only way that someone could be released from a vow like that is if the person in charge decided to return their life to them or…"

"If they die," DJ finished flatly. "Damn! Kat sure got herself into a hell of a mess this time, didn't she?"

Emma smiled sadly. "She always was the impulsive one out of all of us. I wish I had better news to give you, but the best we can hope for now is that she's successful in her plans to stop Alex's death. If she can do that then the past will change. I just hope that her interfering in the past doesn't throw things off any worse than what they already are. If I were her I would tell my past self exactly what she needs to do instead of trying to scare her away and let her take care of things the way that they were originally supposed to happen. That would throw Discord into a tailspin because the bond would be broken since it would never be made in the first place, and he wouldn't even have the satisfaction of being able to kill her for it."

DJ's eyes widened as he mulled over her words, and then a huge grin appeared on his face. "That's it! That's what I need to do! Emma, you are an absolute genius."

She tossed her long golden hair over her shoulder. "I've been known to have my moments of brilliance, but…Hey! Where are you going?"

DJ called back as he hurried away. "I've got some things I need to go take care of."

"But your mother was wondering where you were!" Emma protested to his retreating form.

"Tell her I'll be back later. She'll understand," his faint voice floated to her on the wind.

She crossed her arms and grumbled, "Who does he think I am, his messaging service?" Then she leaned back against the headstone with a sigh. "Baby, I'm so glad you weren't insane like the rest of our friends. I think that's what kept us from having any issues in our relationship, and I'm thankful for that."

She sat and watched until the last sliver of sun dropped below the horizon before rising to her feet. "Well, your sun has gone to sleep again after another long day of shining brightly. I guess it's time for me to say goodnight as well."

She bent and pressed her lips to the stone that still held the sun's warmth. "Goodnight, my heart. I love you."

Tokyo-Present Day

Serena reached down and tickled the toes that were peeking out from under the blanket next to her on the couch. "Hey! Are you awake?"

"No," Jess muttered sarcastically, keeping her eyes closed. "Don't you know I'm the queen of multitasking? I can sleep and watch TV at the same time."

"Come on!" Serena pouted. "You're going to miss the best part of the movie where Bella runs to Edward and throws herself into his arms. And then when he realizes that she's alive he gives her that kiss that rocks her world."

Jess snorted. "Like we haven't watched New Moon about a thousand times. I've got the whole thing memorized by now. And anyway, you know my views of it; I think she should have picked Jacob. He's way hotter than Edward."

Serena gasped. "That's not true! Take it back! Edward is much more romantic than Jacob."

Jess yawned. "Oh, Edward knows all the right words to say to make a girl's heart melt, but Jacob's got it going on in the body department. If I had to choose between the vampire and the werewolf, I'd pick the werewolf. That boy's got an ass that just begs to be squeezed."

Serena rolled her eyes. "You've become depraved. Besides, where's your sense of romance?"

One sapphire eye squinted open to glance toward the glass balcony doors. "He's standing outside sharing a drink and some manly conversation with your other half. Now be quiet and enjoy watching your favorite vampire get his girl while I take advantage of this peaceful moment now that Mina, Kunzite, and Talon all finally decided to leave."

Serena huffed, but fell silent as she sat back and watched the final scenes of the movie. Darien and Andrew wandered in just as the ending credits began rolling across the screen.

Andrew began shooing Jess off to bed as the two couples said their goodnights, and Darien and Serena took their leave to make the long, ten yard trek to their own apartment, promising to send the twins home when they got there.

Serena was reaching for the doorknob when Darien suddenly grabbed her from behind and spun her around in his arms before pressing her back against the wall. His head swooped down swiftly and captured her lips before she could utter a sound. They stayed that way for several moments before Darien finally pulled away with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Well someone's feeling frisky," Serena whispered breathlessly.

"I was just thinking," he said in that husky tone that had made her fourteen-year-old heart go pitter patter when she had first become Sailor Moon and she had been crushing hard on Tuxedo Mask. "I don't have work tomorrow, and you have a day free from classes and working at the school…" he trailed off seductively.

Serena smiled up at him. "What did you have in mind?"

He trailed his fingers down her neck. "I was thinking maybe we could crack open a bottle of wine and perhaps run a bath in the Jacuzzi tub."

She toyed with the hair at the nape of his neck. "That sounds promising. So what's the occasion?"

He looked mildly affronted. "Do I need it to be a special occasion to spend a romantic evening with my soon to be wife?"

She poked him lightly in the chest. "You were eavesdropping on me and Jess."

"I was not!" he tried to deny, and then he hung his head. "Okay, maybe I was just a little. But I wasn't really listening in, it's just that the door was open and your voice carried out to me."

"Sure it did," she replied in a patronizing tone that clearly told him that she didn't believe him one little bit.

Darien groaned and pressed his forehead against the wall above her shoulder. "You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"

A smile curled up Serena's lips. "Oh, I think I may have an idea about how you can make it up to me."

"And what would that be?" Darien asked, grinning at her teasing, playful tone.

She slipped nimbly out of his arms, making sure to rub her body sensuously against his as she did. When he hissed a breath as if in pain and closed his eyes for a moment, she whispered seductively in his ear, "Why don't you grab that bottle of wine and join me in the bedroom to find out?"

That was all the encouragement that the reincarnated prince needed. He grabbed Serena's hand and flung open the door to their apartment in one easy, fluid motion. He pulled her behind him as he strode into the kitchen and snatched a chilled bottle of her favorite white zinfandel from the refrigerator before proceeding down the hall toward the master suite. As he passed by the living room on the way he called out to the three teens inside, "Alex, Katie, your parents want you home. It is a school night and you all need your sleep. The same goes for you DJ. Is your sister home yet?"

The dark haired boy nodded. "Yeah, she came in a little while ago."

"Good," Darien replied, continuing on. "Well we're off to bed. See you in the morning."

Katie snickered as they disappeared. "Off to bed with a bottle of wine? I bet neither one of them have sleeping in mind."

"Yeah, it looks like the honeymoon's starting early," Alex agreed.

DJ clamped his hands over his ears. "Please, stop, you guys! I think I'm about to be struck deaf and blind."

"And probably dumb, too," Katie giggled. "And I mean the mental type, not the no speaking type."

"Very funny!" DJ growled, tugging on her long, light blonde ponytail.

She squealed in outrage and leapt at him, knocking him backward on the couch as she pinned him down. "You are so going to get it for that. Nobody pulls my hair."

Alex flushed brick red at seeing his sister and his best friend in such a compromising position. He cleared his throat nervously. "Um, I'm going to go on to bed so that you two can say goodnight without me having to witness it and lose my dinner. But you guys behave yourselves and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

DJ was busy trying to fight off Katie's tickling fingers, but he managed to flip his friend off behind his attacker's back.

Alex chuckled as he turned to leave. He had only taken two steps when there was a loud bang from the direction of the balcony. All three teens turned startled eyes that way as something crashed hard into the glass and slid down it slowly, leaving behind a giant red smear of what appeared to be blood.

DJ and Alex cursed loudly.

Katie screamed.

Andrew walked out of the master bathroom and shook his head as he took in the sight of his fiancé sprawled out on her stomach widthwise across the bed. She had managed to free her hair from its braid and it flowed around her like a molten river of shining, dark golden caramel, but that appeared to be as far as she had gotten in her preparations for bed. Her feet were bare, but she was still fully clothed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a form fitting, bright yellow knit shirt.

He eased down next to her and began rubbing gentle circles across her back. "Are you still that tired, sweetheart?"

She turned her head toward him and let her eyelids slowly flutter open. "Not really. I got a lot of rest since you did everything but tie me to the couch all afternoon and evening. You're really bossy sometimes. Did you know that?"

He smirked at her. "So I've been told. I only do it for your own good. What would happen to you if I weren't around to remind you to eat and make you get the rest you need? You'd probably be unconscious in an alley somewhere."

She scrunched her nose at him. "Contrary to popular belief, I am perfectly capable of looking after myself. Besides, if you weren't here I'm sure Nebula would be around to drive me insane. I am so glad that she stays with Dawn in Elysian most of the time. I would much rather deal with your fussiness than her overbearing criticism. I had enough of that growing up, thank you very much!"

Andrew couldn't help but chuckle. "I sure hope you would prefer me over a talking furball with a questionable mental balance, especially since I'm the one you're marrying."

"Aww, don't worry, baby. Your position in my life is safe," Jess teased him. "I may be stubborn, but I'm not stupid. You're not going anywhere."

"I'm reading between the lines here, but I'm going to assume that's just a twisted way of you saying that you love me," he teased back.

She rolled onto her side and propped her head up on a hand. "You know I love you. I hope you never doubt that."

He reached over and tapped her nose with a finger, smiling when she scrunched it up. "Of course I would never doubt it. I'm just grateful that you're willing to put up with me. According to my mother and my sister I'm not an easy person to live with."

She snorted with laughter. "I'm not exactly a candidate for the world's most agreeable person either. I know I have a horrible temper and tend to be loud and overreact about things. Sometimes I find it amazing that you stick around with all of my moodiness and bitching."

Andrew tried to look indignant. "Hey! I don't allow anyone, not even you, to talk about you like that. I don't care if you are talking about yourself. Take it back!"

Jess burst out into full-blown, gut wrenching laughter and rolled to her back, clutching her stomach as she laughed like she hadn't done in days. "You are so goofy sometimes!" she gasped out breathlessly.

Andrew moved closer to her and grinned. "It's good to hear you laugh again. I mean, really laugh. You had me worried while you were sick."

She rolled her eyes at him. "It takes more than a nasty old cold to keep me down. You should know that by now."

"I know," he sighed. "But I just hate it when you don't feel good and I feel like there's nothing I can do to make you feel better." Then he brightened some. "You know what? Your birthday is in a couple of weeks, the big Two-O."

Jess threw an arm over her eyes and groaned. "Don't remind me! Serena already brought it up earlier. Why does she always have to make such a big ordeal over these things?"

Andrew smirked. "That's just the way she is. But I think it's a day to celebrate too. So how about this, I want you to think about what you want. We'll go anywhere or do anything you want to do that day. It'll be your choice. What do you say?"

She still looked a little wary, but she nodded. "Okay, I'll think about it. But do you know what I'm thinking right now?"

"What's that?" he asked gently.

An evil smile twitched her lips. "I'm thinking that you look entirely too good lying there in nothing but those boxers and that I'm wearing entirely too many clothes. Do you think you could help me with that problem?"

A heated look entered his hazel eyes. "I think I might be able to do something about that."

He snaked one arm around her waist and pulled her across him, grinning when she let out a squeal. His other hand found its way to the back of her neck and pulled her head down so that he could take her lips in a scorching kiss. Jess put a hand on either side of his face and moaned deeply into his mouth as she pressed herself fully against him.

Quick as a flash, Andrew sat up with her in his arms so that she was straddling his lap. He groaned and broke the kiss as her hips did a wicked little shimmy against his. He trailed his lips to her ear. "You are not a woman, you are a seductress. Now let's see about getting you out of these clothes."

He was reaching for the hem of her shirt when she froze in his arms. Her head shot up and her eyes were bright and alert. "Did you hear that?" she asked him urgently.

He was confused. "Hear what?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. It sounded, well, almost like somebody screamed."

Andrew cocked his head listening. "I don't hear anything. Maybe you just heard the kids coming in and playing around. You know how they are."

Jess chewed her bottom lip. "You're probably right, but I'd feel better if I checked and made sure. I think I'll swing by the kitchen too and get me something to drink. I'm a little thirsty."

Andrew grumbled a bit to himself about his moment being delayed, but he got up and tugged a pair of sweatpants up over his hips and a t-shirt over his head. "I'll come with you. I could use a sip of something myself."

They walked down the hall, pausing at the twin's bedroom door to knock quietly. When they didn't get an answer Andrew pushed it open to reveal an empty room with a still neatly made bed and futon.

Jess growled. "Where are those two? I thought Serena and Darien said they would send them straight home. I don't care if they are teenage superheroes; they need to get their sleep so they can go to school. I won't have my kids growing up ignorant!"

Andrew chuckled. "I don't think we have to worry about that. They're both pretty smart kids. They're probably just finishing up a movie next door or something."

"Yeah, I guess so," Jess grouched as she stomped down the hall toward the kitchen. She let out another growl when she discovered that there were only three cans of cherry coke in the refrigerator.

"There are more in the pantry," Andrew reassured her as he reached around her to grab a can of Dr. Pepper. He popped the top and took a sip as he leaned his hips against the counter. "So should we go and get them, or let them come home on their own?"

She shrugged. "I guess we'll just leave them alone and let them do their own thing. Besides, they're just right next door. It's not like they're out prowling the city or anything."

Now it was Andrew's turn to growl. "The better not be. Of course being next door might not be the safest thing for certain people either."

Jess sputtered on her drink for a moment before exclaiming, "I thought you had finally reconciled yourself to the fact that Katie and DJ were seeing each other."

"I said that I leave it to my future self to pass judgment on the situation, not that I accepted it or approved of if," he corrected her. "There's a big difference. But what kind of future father would I be if I didn't look out for my daughter's best interest?"

Jess snickered. "You're so cute when you go into overprotective father mode. But the point is you'll have plenty of time to play daddy in the future. Katie is an almost grown young lady and we have to respect her choices. And she's mature, so I trust her to make good decisions."

That brought a smirk from Andrew. "You mean when she's not running around and acting impulsive like her mother?"

She stuck her tongue out at him only to let out a squeak a second later as he unexpectedly jerked her against him and found a much more pleasurable use for that particular appendage. Their drinks sat forgotten on the counter.

"Let's go back to bed," Andrew whispered against the skin of her neck as he pressed a kiss there.

"Sounds good to me," she replied back as she turned away with a playful smile and a twitch of her hips.

Just then the front door banged open and Alex ran in, looking wild eyed and more than a little scared. "Good, you two are still awake!"

"Alex! What in the world…" Andrew began.

"No time for that!" the teen told them, already turning back toward the door. "Just hurry up and come next door."

"Wait a minute!" Jess protested, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him to a stop as she spied something on his shirt. "Is that blood?"

"It's not mine," he said quickly. "Come on! You'll see for yourself."

They followed him quickly down the hall and into the neighboring apartment where they could hear several raised voices trying to talk over one another. Katie was frozen in the living room doorway, her eyes glazed over as if she were about to pass out as she stared at something inside.

"What's going on?" Andrew and Jess demanded at the same time as they approached her.

When she didn't show any acknowledgement of their presence they looked past her, and straight into a scene that looked like it should be in one of those CSI TV shows.

Andrew cursed severely under his breath.

Jess slapped a shaking hand over her mouth to keep from screaming out loud.

"I love you so much," Serena moaned as she arched her back against the door behind her. She smiled to herself as she looked down at the dark head of the man that was currently paying a lot of attention to her chest. The bottle of wine that he'd held a few minutes before now lay forgotten on the floor next to them.

Darien's head rose as he felt her fingers thread through his hair. His eyes sparkled like twin sapphires in the dim light of the one small lamp that was burning in the room. "What do you find so humorous, my love?" he whispered huskily as his head dipped down again, this time to lay a line of open mouth kisses across her collarbone.

She sucked in a breath. "I was just thinking that as nice as relaxing in the Jacuzzi with a bottle of wine sounded, I should have known that we would barely make it through the bedroom door."

"Are you complaining?" he asked as he reached behind her to grasp her rear and pull her firmly against him.

"You know I'm not," she gasped as heat flooded through her. She tightened the hold of her legs that she had wrapped around his waist, suddenly very happy that she had decided to wear a skirt today. That could prove to be very convenient if they stayed on this same path. "Kiss me," she begged him, pulling his head up while lowering hers.

Her dark prince happily complied, plundering her mouth fully and deeply, reveling in the contented mewling sounds coming from her throat. He didn't break the contact between them until he felt her slender fingers feverishly tugging his shirt up. He pulled back slightly so that she could pull the t-shirt over his head, and groaned deeply a second later when she raked her nails gently across his chest. "You're a temptress."

She laughed lightly. "Is it working?"

"Oh yeah," he breathed as he dove back in to capture her lips once more, pinning her securely between his body and the door. She responded just as eagerly, her lips and tongue matching his easily. They both knew that things were moving swiftly between them, but the night was still young enough since neither one of them had to get up in the morning. There would be plenty of time to take it slow and savor the moment later.

Her fingers were fumbling with his belt and his hands had just slid under skirt when a shrill scream coming from the living room grabbed their attention. They both knew that it was Katie, and they also knew that something was seriously wrong. That wasn't the shriek of a girl playing around with her boyfriend or brother. That had been the sound of pure, gut wrenching terror.

That was confirmed a second later as Serena was straightening and buttoning her shirt and Darien was pulling his t-shirt back on. DJ's frantic voice yelled down the hall, "Mom! Dad! Come here quick!"

This was followed by the sound of Rini's bedroom door slamming open and her bellowing, "What the hell is wrong with you three? Don't you have any respect for…" Her voice trailed off, and then she screamed, "Momma! Daddy!"

Serena wrenched open the door and she and Darien were through it before the last sound of Rini's scream had faded. Her heart was pounding in her throat as she ran into the living room and her brain registered several things at once. Katie was plastered against the wall, a fist in her mouth as she bit down harshly on her knuckles in what looked like an attempt to keep from screaming again. Rini stood frozen in the center of the room, her maroon eyes wide and panicked as she stared toward the balcony doors that stood open with something red smeared across the glass. And finally her thoughts caught up enough to realize that DJ and Alex were each attempting to drag an unconscious body into the room.

Darien ran to help them and returned a few seconds later with a woman in his arms. Serena gasped at the sight of the sailor fuku that was beginning to fade away from around the woman's body.

"Hotaru?" she whispered in shock as the purple-skirted fuku disappeared to be replaced by a short, swishy black skirt and a pale green top. Her youngest scout was much paler than normal and her large, amethyst colored eyes were closed.

"Serena!" Darien said loudly to get her attention. "Grab a couple of blankets and spread them out on the floor for me."

She shook herself out of her shock and ran to the hall closet to grab several of the blankets kept there. She hurried back and spread a couple out on the floor like he had requested. It wasn't until he had set Hotaru down that she could see that the younger girl's clothes were covered in blood.

"Hotaru!" Rini shrieked, rushing to her friend's side and dropping to her knees beside her. "Can you hear me, Hotaru? Hotaru!"

"Rini, back up so I can take a look at her," Darien demanded, pushing her gently aside and taking her place.

DJ came backing through the doors holding the second person's feet while Alex followed holding the shoulders.

Serena took a deep breath before looking up, already knowing who she was going to find, but that didn't stop the heart-wrenching cry that tore past her lips. "Sammy!"

There was her almost eighteen-year-old brother being carried in and laid next to his girlfriend. His dark sandy hair was stuck to his brow with the blood that was seeping from a long gash on his forehead and the skin around his left eye was swelling and becoming purple.

Serena stumbled over to him and sank down beside him to pull his head into her lap as the tears began to fall from her eyes. She was vaguely aware of Darien sending Alex to go fetch Andrew and Jess and DJ sitting down next to her and putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Come on, Sammy!" she choked out on a sob. "Open your eyes and call me an overemotional idiot like you always do."

When he remained silent she collapsed into hysterical tears and hugged him close as she wept into his hair. Visions of him when he was younger and annoying played through her head. She sat that way for what seemed like forever. She heard Alex run back in, followed by the sound of Andrew and Jess's voices, but she didn't look up to acknowledge them. She was too focused on the young man in her arms.

She thought back on all the cruel words she had spoken to him over the years. Granted, he had done his fair share of teasing and she had felt justified in saying them at the time, but she couldn't help but think that she would take them all back now if only he would open those slate blue eyes of his and start calling her names the way he used to.

Suddenly she felt anger burn through her. "Damn it, Samuel Kenji Tsukino, you better not up and die on me, because that is one phone call to mom and dad that I refuse to make."

"Well if I die it'll be because you smothered me to death," a groggy voice spoke to her.

Serena jerked her head up and looked down to see what later in her life she would call one of the most precious, yet heartbreaking things she'd ever seen, the sight of her baby brother glaring up at her with his bruised and battered face.

"Sammy!" she squealed, hugging him tightly as a fresh wave of tears flooded her eyes and spilled over.

He hissed in pain and then yelled, "Damn it! Back off a little bit, spaz queen! That freakin hurt!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" she exclaimed, loosening her hold on him, but not letting go.

"Where's Hotaru?" he demanded, struggling to try to sit up.

Serena held him down gently. "She's right next to you. Darien's taking a look at her now. What happened to you two?"

Sammy turned his head to look at Hotaru next to him and reached over to take one of her pale, slim hands in his as he sighed. "I don't really know what happened. We had just left the movie theater and decided to walk through the park and see if the ice cream stand was still open. I noticed that the farther we walked, the more tense and quiet Hotaru got. I was just about to ask her if she was okay when this…I don't know what it was, it looked like a cougar maybe, jumped out of the bushes at us. She pushed me out of the way and it knocked her down and bit her on the shoulder."

"Sentinel poisoning," Alex stated from where he was typing on his minicomputer. "That's what I thought I reading, but I wasn't sure. Darien, you have to remove the poison from her system as well as heal the wound."

"Got it," Darien said tensely as he held his hands over the unconscious girl and they began to glow gold.

"Is she going to be okay?" Sammy asked worriedly.

"She's going to be just fine," Serena reassured him. "Darien will have her fixed right up in a jiffy. But I'm worried about you. How did you get so beat up?"

He grinned wryly at her. "Well, after Hotaru managed to kick that wildcat off of her she transformed into Sailor Saturn and began whaling on it, but then these two other Hooter's reject looking bitches showed up and tried to jump her from behind. I figured that I may not have super powers, but I wasn't about to sit there and let her do all the work. I haven't taken all those years of martial arts classes for nothing, you know."

Serena couldn't help but shake her head. "So you decided to play the hero and engage two youma on your own? That wasn't exactly the smartest move to make?"

Sammy rolled his eyes and snorted. "Maybe it wasn't smart, and they did bash me around a bit, but I managed to keep them off of Hotaru until she got rid of that cat. The only reason I got as hurt as I did was because one of them jumped me from behind and slammed me into a tree. Other than a massive headache and an aching shoulder, I'm fine."

"Do you mind if I try to heal you?" DJ asked from beside Serena, trying to hide the excitement in his voice. Ever since he had been successful in healing Katie's scars he had been practicing on every bump and scrape the people around him got, and he'd become pretty good at it.

"I guess not," Sammy said warily. Then he looked to Serena. "Does he know what he's doing?"

"Just shut up and lie back," Serena said with a smile. "My boy's more than capable of patching up a lamebrain like you, so let him get to it. While he's doing that, why don't you tell me the rest of the story?"

Sammy gave a little jump as the warmth of DJ's golden healing power washed over him, but he continued the story. "Anyway, Hotaru killed the cat and was about to start in on the other two when she suddenly collapsed to her knees. Then there was this gust of wind and an ugly red haired lady was there."

"Beryl," Serena snarled harshly.

Sammy nodded. "That's what Hotaru called her. She told Hotaru that she was willing to let us off easy if she would deliver a message to you. Hotaru pretty much told her to kiss her ass, and that bitch got livid. She started screaming all kinds of things about you, like how you were a whore and had stolen her prince from her more than once. Then she just started rambling about how she was going to kill you and all of the other scouts and then brainwash all the guys into working for her. It was some really crazy stuff."

"That bitch is psycho!" Jess ground out from nearby. "If only I hadn't exhausted myself earlier I would have loved smashing her face in."

Sammy grinned at her. "I figured you must have done something to piss her off because she didn't have anything nice to say about you either. She babbled something about you being a freak of nature that never should have existed and how you needed to learn to keep your damn mouth shut."

Jess's sapphire eyes threw sparks at his words. "Oh she did, did she? And exactly what part of the park were you in?"

"Oh no you don't!" Andrew exclaimed. "If you think you're going gunning for her by yourself, you've got another thing coming."

Jess's face turned deceptively innocent. "I was thinking anything like that. I was thinking that maybe Serena and I, along with Mina, Raye, Lita, and Amy, would like to go take a late night stroll. And if we happened to come across that skinny little slut we would quietly pound her into the ground."

Serena's blood boiled as she remembered earlier that day and how Beryl had wrapped Darien in her clutches in an attempt to take him away from her yet again. "I think something like that could be arranged."

"Both of you knock it off. Nobody's going out hunting that witch down tonight," Darien said as he sat back from Hotaru and wiped a sheen of sweat from his brow. He looked over toward where DJ was in a similar state. "You got that under control?"

The golden glow around the black haired teen faded and he grinned as he swiped an arm across his own forehead. "Yep, he should be good as new."

Sammy sat up cautiously and moved his shoulder around gingerly before reaching up to feel the now unblemished skin of his face. "Hey, not bad! I feel like me again. How's Hotaru?"

"She should be fine," Darien answered. "In fact, she'll probably be waking up here in a few minutes. She had quite a bit of venom in her blood, but I got it cleared out."

"Thank goodness," Sammy sighed in relief. "I wasn't even sure that we were going to make it here there for a while. She almost passed out several times. And how she managed to jump up to that balcony while holding on to me I'll never know."

"So how did you two get away from Beryl while you were both injured?" Serena asked her brother.

He scratched his head. "That's the weird part. After Hotaru told Beryl off, the bitch got even madder and said that she was going to kill us both then to get to you, but right when she was about to attack us there was this flare of silver light and a woman showed up. I couldn't really see her all that well, but she reminded me of you, sis."

Serena looked confused. "Me? She looked like me?"

"From what little I could tell," Sammy told her. "All I could really see was her outline in the shadows, but she had really long hair that she wore in that old meatball style like you used to. She also looked like she was wearing a ballgown or something, like she was on her way to a fancy party. Anyway, Beryl got scared and took off."

Rini and DJ's heads snapped around as they stared at each other for a long second before they both muttered together, "Mom?"

Rini shook her head. "I seriously doubt that. I don't think mom would take the chance of coming to this time where there would be two of her, even if she found a way to make it through the time plane safely. Dad would never let her. And if she did, I can't imagine her not coming to at least say hi to us. She hasn't seen either of us for a while now."

"Yeah, you're probably right," DJ agreed, sounding a little dejected. "But it would have been nice to see her, if only for a minute."

"Aren't I enough mom for you?" Serena joked, nudging him in the side.

He smiled at her. "Sure you are, but it's not exactly the same."

"I understand," Serena said softly. Then she leaned down to whisper to him, "Thank you for healing Sammy, but right now I think there's someone else that looks like she could use some comforting." She cocked her head to the side.

DJ looked over toward the direction she was indicating and saw that Katie was still standing in the doorway, her eyes focused and unblinking on Hotaru's blood soaked form. She appeared to be almost in shock.

He got up swiftly and crossed over to her, but she didn't look at him, even when he stood directly in front of her. He took her face between his palms and forced her to look up at him. Her eyes were open wide, glazed over and dilated.

"Kat, baby, what's wrong?" he asked gently. "Everything's okay. Hotaru and Sammy are going to be just fine. Dad and I fixed them right up."

She tried to shake her head. "No…blood…I remember…blood on a green dress…just like me."

He moved his hands to her shoulders. "What are you talking about? You're not making any sense."

She craned her neck to look around him, and a shiver ran through her body as she caught another sight of the motionless Hotaru lying on the floor. "It's almost the same."

DJ glanced over his shoulder to see what it was that fascinated, yet seemed to traumatize her so much. It took him a minute to put the pieces together, and then it clicked to him. The flowing top that Hotaru was wearing was almost an identical shade of green to the dress she had worn the night she had been attacked and kidnapped. Even now he could see her the way she had looked three nights later when he and Alex had dragged her from the cold water of the bay. She had been covered in bruises and cuts, and though the bloodstains had faded some from the water, they had still been visible against the pale green fabric.

He glanced over at Alex and concentrated hard as he tried to send him a silent message. 'I think we have a problem here.'

Alex's head shot up and he looked over where the two of them stood. He took one look at his sister's stricken face and hurried over to them. 'What's going on?' he directed toward both of them.

'Blood on green…blood on green,' Katie's voice echoed in their heads.

'Does that answer your question?' DJ asked brusquely. 'She's having flashbacks to the night she was kidnapped. I don't want to bother the others since they have enough going on right now, but I think we need to get her out of here.'

'Don't…talk…about…me…like…I'm…not…here…' Katie's voice gasped, still sounding panicked. 'I…can…beat…this! I'm…not…weak!'

'Nobody thinks you're weak, but you don't have to torture yourself like this,' DJ snapped back.

'He's right, sis,' Alex agreed. 'If nothing else let's go into the kitchen where you can sit down and have something to drink. I think we're all a little rattled by what's happened.'

"Fine!" she said out loud, and turned toward the kitchen. But the moment she walked in and saw a large knife on the counter next to a cutting board on the counter, every bit of color drained from her face and she wobbled on her feet.

"I've got to get out of here!" she choked, and spun back around, crashing into Jess who had picked up on the tension and had come to check on her.

"Whoa!" Jess exclaimed, grabbing her future daughter by the arms. "Where's the fire?"

Katie jerked back. "Let me go! I've got to get out of here!"

Jess only pulled her closer. "Hey, it's okay! I thought you seemed upset. I get a little squeamish around blood too, but everything's going to be all right."

Katie struggled against her. "That's not it! Just let me go!"

"I'm not letting you go until you tell me what's wrong," Jess demanded.

Katie's eyes flashed a furious silver. "Nothing's wrong! Now let me go!"

Alex grabbed Jess and yanked her away only a second before silver sparks erupted all around Katie. The younger girl burst into sobs and ran from the apartment.

DJ followed her only as far as the door, but stopped when he saw her heading for the stairs to the roof. He felt her need to be alone, and decided to respect her wishes. He turned back to Alex, who was still holding onto a shocked looking Jess. Serena, Darien, and Andrew had also come to see what all of the commotion was about.

"She's headed to the roof to cool off," he told them, then he addressed Alex, "I haven't seen her lose it like that in a long time."

Alex nodded. "I haven't seen her lose control of her powers since the last night we were in Crystal Tokyo and she took out that guardian that kidnapped her when he grabbed her. She went supernova on his ass and blew up him and took two sentinels along with him."

"Am I missing something here?" Jess asked in bewilderment. "Why was she freaking out like that? I don't particularly care for the sight of blood either, but she was having a total meltdown."

Alex looked to DJ, who in turn shrugged and gestured back to him. He sighed and answered as best as he could. "I can't really give you the details because of the future and all, but let's just say that she has some bad memories of blood and a green dress the same color as Hotaru's shirt. I think she would have been okay, but then she saw that knife in the kitchen and it was too much for her."

Jess's eyes lit up with understanding. "Does this have to do with how she got those scars she used to have?"

DJ nodded sadly. "I could make the physical scars disappear, but she still has scars on the inside that plague her. I just hate that she always feels like that she has to run away when she gets like this."

Serena went over and put her arm around him. "She went through a horrifying experience and she's coping with it the only way she knows how. She probably also feels embarrassed by her outburst as well. Just give her a little bit to calm down and then you and Alex go check on her. I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Hey guys!" Rini chirped happily as she bounced into the crowded entry hall. "I thought you might like to know that Hotaru's awake."

"She is!" Serena squealed and rushed back into the living room, only to come to a dead stop about three feet in and slap a hand over her eyes. "Geez, Sammy! Thanks a lot! I'll probably be blind now thanks to you! Couldn't you have waited until you were alone?"

Sammy raised his head from where he had just been delivering a pretty intense kiss to the girl that was sitting on his lap to grin wolfishly at her. "We were alone until you decided to barge in and start shrieking like always, megaphone mouth!"

Serena glared at him. "Don't start on me, you ungrateful little parasite! You happen to be sitting in the middle of my living room, so that's not exactly a private place. And I respect the fact that you are an adult now, but the sight of my little brother kissing one of my friends like he's about to eat her face off is just a little too much for me to take in at the moment!"

Hotaru's pale face flushed a deep pink and she mumbled, "Sorry, Serena."

Serena smiled at her in relief. "It's okay. I'm just glad you're all right. You gave us quite a scare. Sammy already filled us in on what happened. I can't believe Beryl came after you like that. I thought for sure she would come after me or go after one of the inner scouts before she would go for any of the outers. And since you've never had a run in with her before I would have thought that you would have been at the bottom of the list."

Hotaru shook her head. "It wasn't just me, she was after Sammy as well. She knew that he was your brother and wanted to use us to get to you. I told her that I refused to be a pawn in her game. So then she decided to try to kill us. But luckily we were saved."

"Sammy said it was a woman who reminded him of me," Serena said hesitantly, glancing over at Rini and DJ.

Hotaru's look turned contemplative. "Yes. But I still don't understand how it happened. I thought it was you for a moment, but then I noticed the differences."

Serena felt like she was at the end of her rope. "So was it Neo Queen Serenity?"

Hotaru looked up at her with confusion burning brightly in her purple eyes. "No, it wasn't you at all. It was Queen Serenity, your mother."

The Time Gate

"What the hell are you doing?" Katie demanded of Discord. "I thought I was the one in charge of the guardians and sentinels, and yet you let that scarecrow bitch take one of the cats with her."

"Calm yourself, my dear," Discord replied smoothly as he surveyed the furiously seething woman in front of him. "Sailor Saturn is, without question, one of the most lethal scouts. I knew that Beryl's youma alone wouldn't be enough to overpower her, so I sent in a sentinel as backup. I would have consulted you about the decision, but you were absent at the time. Did you get your business taken care of?"

"Yes I did!" Katie spat. "And stop trying to change the subject. I didn't know when I left that Metallia was intending to launch her plan so soon."

"The time was opportune to strike, so I took advantage of it," a calm, melodic voice answered as a woman's figure appeared out of the mist.

Katie carefully schooled her features into a mask of nonchalance to keep from showing her shock as she was once more confronted with the sight of the ancient entity in her new body. "So were you successful in your mission?" she sneered.

Cool eyes were turned on her. "You may have strength and a notable amount of power yourself, Eclipse, but you are still an infant when it comes to the workings of the universe. There are many different levels of success. Right now I'm sure that poor little Princess Serenity is suffering from immense emotional confusion because her beloved brother and one of her loyal scouts have been attacked and injured. It may even be worse than that if Endymion wasn't there to heal them. Saturn could even perish if the poison is not removed from her system."

Katie smirked to herself. Even if Darien wasn't around, then DJ would be. But neither Discord nor Metallia seemed to think that the son would have the same powers as his father, and she wasn't about to tell them.

"So what can I do for you, Queen Metallia?" Discord asked jovially. "I was under the impression that you and Lady Beryl were in the process of restoring your old stronghold."

Metallia inclined her head to him. "We are, but I have expended a great deal of energy to revive the Dark Kingdom, and I wanted to seek your permission to go out and collect more energy. I wouldn't want my new body to fail, especially after you went through all the trouble to create it for me."

Discord clapped his hands together. "Of course! Take all the energy you need from those worthless humans. In fact, to ensure that you don't run into any unnecessary complications, why don't you take Lady Eclipse and a band of her guardians and sentinels with you? She has a job to do anyway, and perhaps she can accomplish that while helping you get the energy you need. You don't have a problem with that, do you my pet?"

"Not at all," Katie gritted out between clenched teeth. "I'll just go and assemble a team." She stalked away from them stiffly.

"That girl has rebellion written all over her," Metallia said softly once she was out of earshot. "One would hope that you don't actually consider her an ally."

An evil smile stretched Discord's lips. "She has obviously been a great help to my future self, and she has not proven to be completely worthless here, but she has just about lived out her usefulness. I have studied the timelines carefully, and I know that she will probably eventually betray me at some point to try to avenge her brother's death. And when that time comes she will die. It's just a question of when."

Tokyo – Present Day

"Argh! I'm so stupid!" Katie groaned as she sat down on the ledge of the roof, feeling physically exhausted after pacing for the better part of twenty minutes. Now that she had worked off some excess energy and had given her brain a chance to calm down, she felt ashamed for letting her old fears get the better of her and making her lose it and lash out at those around her.

She cringed when she thought of Jess. What must her mother's past self think of her and how she had flown off the handle? At this moment in time, she didn't think that she would ever be able to face her again.

She sighed, part in irritation and part in relief when she felt another energy join hers on the roof. She couldn't help but smile a little when a flawless, snowy white rose appeared in front of her face a second later. She leaned back against a firmly muscled chest.

A breath tickled her ear. "She'll forgive you, you know. She loves you."

"I know," she said softly. "But sometimes I feel like I don't deserve her or anyone else's love. I try not to be a horrible person, but sometimes my emotions get the better of me and I just react without thinking."

"You're not a horrible person," he whispered. "You're one of the strongest and bravest people I know. You've overcome a lot of obstacles to get to where you are today."

"And yet I'm still the weakest link out of the three of us," she sighed. "It's no wonder the gods have yet to give us the Trinity, I'm probably the one making them hold back because I'm such an emotional wreck. For crying out loud, I see blood on a green shirt and I flip out. How lame is that? At least you and Alex have your heads on straight and don't lose control of your powers the way I do."

"You've been through a lot in the last several months," he said consolingly. "A lot of people wouldn't have made as far as you have."

She shrugged. "Maybe. But sometimes it gets to be so much that I just want to run away somewhere remote where I don't have to worry about it. What would you say if I told you that I wanted to run away from it all with you? Just you and me? We could go somewhere where nobody knows us and live happily ever after."

He chuckled. "I would say that it sounds tempting, but I know you too well. You could never run away from an unfinished fight. It's not in you. You always follow everything through to the end."

A smirk turned up her lips. "Good answer. And what would you say if I asked you who the hell you are? Because I knew from the minute that I felt your energy that you weren't my DJ."

Arms closed around her. "I would say that I'm not surprised. I'm just amazed that you didn't lay me out the first second you read my aura and realized that it was different."

"I don't feel threatened by you," she said simply. "You feel like my prince, and yet you're not exactly. So I guess my next question is what do you want from me?"

The arms tightened around her a fraction. "I just want to show you some home truths. Do you trust me enough to do that?"

She thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "I do. I don't know why I do, but I do."

"Then hold on tight," he whispered. And she clasped her hands against his forearms as everything disappeared in a flash of light.

Everyone was still sitting around Darien and Serena's living room. Andrew had scrounged around through the kitchens of both apartments until he found a nice array of snacks that were now spread out on the coffee table.

Darien sat in his favorite chair while Serena perched on the arm. Jess and Andrew were on the couch with Rini beside them while Hotaru and Sammy, both looking much better since they had taken showers and borrowed some clothes, were on the opposite sofa. DJ and Alex sat on the floor by the table, crumbling chips between their fingers as they kept glancing at the clock every ten seconds.

Rini finally snapped. "Oh good grief! The two of you are driving me crazy with your moping! Go up to the roof and drag her back down here if you have to. Anything is better than watching you fidget like you've sat on an ant hill."

"Nobody asked your opinion, bubblegum brains!" DJ fired back with a glare.

Rini's maroon eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'm just tired of watching you sulk like a baby, crow head!"

"I'm not sulking, klutz!"

"Yes you are, nerd!"

"Ditz!"

"Bookworm!"

"At least I don't make out with my pillow every night pretending that it's horseboy!"

"Why you…!"

Jess grabbed Rini and held her back before she could launch herself across the table and inflict bodily harm on her brother. Serena and Sammy both fell over in fits of laughter.

"Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" Serena gasped through her laughter.

Sammy wiped tears from his eyes. "Oh yeah! There's no denying they're family. That sounded just like me and you going at it. Remember how mad mom used to get at us?"

Serena nodded. "She'd send us to our rooms and threaten us with no dessert if she heard another peep out of us, so we'd write our insults down and slide them under each other's doors. Those were the days, huh?"

"Yep!" Sammy agreed. "I just hope that your spelling and handwriting have gotten better since you want to become a teacher. If not were going to have a lot of undereducated kids running around."

Serena just smiled. "Go ahead and laugh now, techno geek. Keep it up and your precious Xbox just might have a little accident."

Sammy gasped in outrage. "You wouldn't!"

"Try me," Serena replied sweetly.

All of a sudden DJ and Alex both jumped to their feet. They stared at one another for a few long seconds.

"Did you feel that?" DJ ground out.

"Yeah," Alex bit out tersely.

"What?" everyone else asked together.

"Kat just disappeared," Alex whispered.

Andrew jumped up. "What do you mean disappeared?"

DJ was already running for the door. "I can't sense her at all!"

Everybody else followed him as he ran up to the roof. When they got there both DJ and Alex ran to a certain spot on the roof's ledge and looked around wildly.

"Damn it!" DJ yelled, slamming his hand down so hard that it left a dent in the concrete. "She was here until just a minute ago!"

"Maybe she transformed and went off to another place to think," Hotaru said.

"No, she never transformed. I would have felt it!" both boys bellowed at the same time.

"Maybe she left the normal way by the elevator," Rini supplied.

DJ rolled his eyes. "You don't get it! The three of us are linked together. We can tell where each other are at any time, but she just disappeared without a trace."

Alex had his computer back out. "I'm not reading her energy anywhere. But I'm picking up something weird."

Serena, Rini, Jess, and Hotaru's communicators began beeping wildly and they flipped them open to answer.

Amy's anxious face filled the screens. "This is an all scout alert! There's an attack happening at a carnival on the south side of Azabu. It reads like Beryl's youma, but I can't be sure. It looks like a lot of them too."

"We're on our way," the four scouts responded, already reaching for their transformation devices.

"Sammy, stay here," Serena and Hotaru cried together.

"The same goes for you two," Darien and Andrew told the boys as they transformed.

"Bullshit! Kat might be there," DJ declared, transforming into Phantom. "If she is, I have to go."

Tuxedo Mask stared at his future son and recognized the fire burning in the eyes behind the black mask. It was the same feeling that had compelled him to rush into battle every time he feared that Sailor Moon might be in danger. It was in that moment that he knew that his son was as deeply and undeniably in love as he was.

"Okay," he bit out. "But no stupid stunts."

"Whatever!" Phantom snapped as he jumped to the roof of the neighboring building, followed closely by Phoenix.

"Darien! What were you thinking?" Sailor Moon screeched.

"Chill out, Serena," Andrew told her. "They would have followed us anyway."

"Let's go!" Sailor Shadow declared, quickly following the boys along with Sailor Crescent Moon and Sailor Saturn. The others quickly followed suit as they hurried off to see what trouble Beryl was stirring up now.

Katie stumbled and gasped for breath as he hit the roof of an unfamiliar building. She would have fallen if it hadn't been for the arms still holding her. "What the hell just happened?"

The voice behind her spoke softly. "I've taken you forward about a week in time to show you an event in your life that should never take place, Pluto may disagree with my methods, but I felt this needed to be done."

"Wait a minute! You're going to show me something from my future? Isn't that breaking one of Pluto's rules?" Katie asked, trying to turn around only to find that he was still holding her tightly.

She felt him shrug. "I don't really care. I know she's working to try to fix the glitch in the timeline, but I can't sit by and do nothing. I'm trying to save two lives, and I believe that you are the only one that can do it."

"Why me?" she asked quietly. "You act like you know me pretty well. If you do then you should know that I usually manage to screw up everything I put my hands on."

"That's not true," he contradicted. "You are human and make mistakes just like everyone else. We make mistakes in life in order to learn from them and not repeat them. In this case though I'm going to show you a mistake that you haven't made yet in hopes that you learn what went wrong so that it never happens in the first place."

"Wow! That's pretty cryptic," she muttered sarcastically. "I thought Pluto was the master of speaking in riddles, but you could give her a run for her money. And could you let go of me? I may have said that I trust you, but I don't really like having people I don't know touching me."

He let out a growl of irritation but his arms let go of her. She took a couple of steps away and then turned slowly around to get a good look at her captor. She thought she was prepared for anything, but she couldn't stop the gasp that left her mouth.

At first she thought it was Darien, or King Endymion. He certainly looked like him with that messy midnight hair. He wore a black button down shirt with the top few buttons and undone and the sleeves rolled back over his forearms, a pair of faded blue jeans, and black boots. A pair of dark sunglasses hid his eyes from her, but as she watched his movements as he leaned casually against a wall and folded his arms across his chest she knew exactly who he was.

"DJ?" she whispered uncertainly.

His lips twitched up into the familiar grin that she knew so well. "Well you figured that out quick enough. I thought you would have mistaken me for my dad, Tinkerbell."

"Don't call me that!" she snapped out of pure habit, but she barely realized what she was saying. She was busy trying to figure out the mystery of the man before her. He moved like her boyfriend. His voice was a little deeper, but he still sounded like him. He just seemed so much older and mature. He looked to be about twenty-five.

She shook her head. "Okay, this may sound stupid, but how old are you?"

He chuckled. "I'm almost thirty two. I came here from fifteen years in the future from your proper time."

Katie let out a low whistle. "I don't know whether I should congratulate you on still looking good for your age or feel really creeped out because a guy that's closer to my dad's age than mine was holding on to me a minute ago."

A black eyebrow arched above the edge of the dark lenses perched on his nose. "Cute, Kat. Way to make me sound like a pervert."

She lifted her chin smugly. "If the shoe fits. And what's with the shades? It's nighttime in case you haven't noticed. I always thought that was more Alex's thing than yours. Take them off so I can see your eyes when I'm talking to you."

"Maybe later," he said shortly. "Right now we have more important things to discuss. Now a lot of this may be hard for you believe, but bear with me and try to keep an open mind. I'm sure that you've felt a rise in the tension between everyone lately. In the next few days something is going to happen that's going to cause Alex and I to get into a huge argument. I don't mean the usual I snap at him, he snaps at me, we steam about it for a few hours and everything blows over. I mean we really get mad at one another, mad enough to try to kick each other's asses."

Katie snorted. "Yeah right! Sure, the two of you have gotten into it a few times over the years, but neither one of you has ever even thrown a punch at the other."

"Open mind, remember," he reminded her. "I'm not saying that it's logical. Thinking back on it now I see how juvenile it really was. The point is that we let the stress get to us and we lashed out at each other."

Katie opened her mouth to rebuke the possibility of that happening, but snapped it shut again when the sounds of distant screams and a few loud booms reached her. She ran to the edge of the roof and looked down, shocked to see the streets filled with panicked people running from pursing guardians, sentinels, and youma. Flashes of different colored light came from several other points around the city, showing where many different battles were taking place.

"What the hell is going on?" she whispered in horror.

DJ came over to stand next to her. "It was a desperate move on Discord's part. Since he controls the time gate I think he saw something in the timeline that scared him. So he sent out a flood of his minions to saturate the city in an attempt to split everyone up and make us weaker. Sadly it worked. If it hadn't been for my mom and the Silver Crystal, the Earth could have been lost that night. But that's not what I wanted to show you. Come here."

He drew her over to the far side of the roof and into the dark concealing shadows there. "Just watch. Don't make a sound and don't move from this spot."

Katie wanted to tell him to go to hell, but she nodded instead. Her breath caught a moment later when she felt two very familiar energies approaching quickly. Two black blurs landed on the roof about thirty yards away from them. They stared one another down for a moment, as if sizing each other up.

"What the hell is your problem?" Phantom yelled. "I was just about to finish that sentinel off when decided to stick your nose into the middle of it. Thanks to you it got away!"

"Yeah right!" Phoenix snorted. "You were so busy showing off for my sister that you weren't even paying attention! Your stupid moves could have gotten someone killed."

"I was waiting for the right moment to strike, you idiotic bastard!" Phantom fired back. "That sentinel was a tricky one. I almost had it until you decided to come blazing in out of control and try to act the hero. I think you singed my cape."

"Oh cry me a river!" Phoenix sneered. "Why don't you go cry to mommy and let the real fighters around here get the job done."

"Ha!" Phantom barked. "I hope you don't consider yourself to be a real fighter. I could fight circles around you and you know it."

Phoenix's face went blood red. "I hope you can put your money where your mouth is, your highness, because you're about to get an ass kicking!" He lunged at him.

They both hit the ground hard, rolling around as the fists started flying. Muffled grunts and curses came from both of them as both managed to get in some good hits.

DJ grabbed Katie and held her back as she attempted to run from their hiding spot. "I told you not to move. You can't interfere in this."

"That hell I can't!" she spat back. "How can you just stand here and watch this? I've got to stop them. They're best friends."

"Stay put!" he ordered. "Just watch and see what happens."

She huffed but quit struggling against him. She turned her eyes back to the fighting boys who had now climbed back to their feet and stood several yards apart from each other as they panted for breath. Phantom now sported a busted lip while blood streamed from Phoenix's nose.

Phantom wiped his mouth with the back of his hand with a growl. "I've had enough playing around with you. I'm about to knock you on your ass!" He began glowing gold.

"Bring it on!" Phoenix shot back as his red orange power began to surge around him.

Katie saw something out of the corner of her eye and looked to see a tiger sentinel land on the roof. Its red eyes glowed menacingly as it eyed the fighting boys. She opened her mouth to scream a warning to them and found her mouth covered by a large hand. She froze when she still heard her voice cry out, "Stop it, you two!"

Sailor Eclipse landed near them and began running toward them at the same time the sentinel sprang forward as well. She threw herself between the two as they each launched an energy blast at the other, putting herself in the line of fire. She let out a shriek and silver light exploded around her.

The boom of the three energies colliding rocked the building and exploded in a light so bright that Katie had to close her eyes. When the brightness against her lids began to dim, she squinted her eyes open to see what had happened.

All three teens were lying motionless on the ground while a swirling cloud of silver, gold, and red orange surrounded them. Suddenly the mixture of energy was sucked into all three bodies, making them jerk.

Katie slumped bonelessly in the future prince's arms as she watched herself, her brother, and her boyfriend lying there helpless.

The sentinel had been knocked off its feet by the blast, and it snarled as it got up. Its eyes glowed brighter with bloodlust as it surveyed its enemies. The muscles bunched beneath its skin as it sprang forward.

Everything around Katie disappeared in a burst of light. Before she knew what was happening she found herself back on the roof of the apartment building.

"You don't need to see the rest of that," DJ told her as he released her. "You've had enough nightmares in your life without adding to them."

"What was that all about?" she asked shakily. "What happened next?"

He shook his head. "I can't tell you that. I'm already talking a huge risk of screwing up the timeline worse than it already is by showing you want I have. But I knew that you seeing it for yourself would be the only way to convince you."

Katie gritted her teeth together in agitation. "There you go talking in code again. I wish you would just come out and say whatever it is that you're trying to tell me. And stop hiding behind those stupid sunglasses!"

Before he could stop her she reached out and snatched them from his face. He stood there with his eyes closed tightly, which only infuriated her worse than she already was.

"Damn it! Look at me!" she demanded loudly. "You say that you are here to help me stop something bad from happening, but you won't even look me in the eyes."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "You won't like what you see. My own mother can hardly stand to look at me without the glasses and not flinch."

"What did you do, turn into Rosemary's baby or something?" Katie scoffed. "I'm sure you're overreacting. Now open your eyes!"

A tiny grin appeared on his lips. "You're bound and determined to make me tell you more than I wanted to, aren't you? Fine! But don't say I didn't warn you."

He opened his eyelids slowly and watched as his gaze met hers and her already pale face turned impossibly whiter. Her wide, disbelieving hazel eyes sparked with questions and rampant emotions.

"It's time for us to have a little talk," he said quietly.

"Silver Moon, Crystal Power Kiss!" Sailor Moon cried, aiming her tier toward two youma and watching in satisfaction as they disintegrated into dust. She felt like screaming in frustration a moment later when it seemed that four more just seemed to take their place.

"What the hell! Mercury, where are they coming from?" she asked, edging closer to the blue suited scout.

Sailor Mercury had her visor in place and computer in her hand as Zoicite stood at her back to protect her while she tried to run scans of the area. "I'm not sure. She must have a portal open somewhere nearby to constantly bring in fresh recruits when she needs them."

"If we could get to Beryl and take her out, perhaps the rest will disappear," Sailor Shadow said as she joined them. She shot a blast of energy at one of Discord's guardians, cussing a blue streak under her breath when it avoided her attack. "I could try clearing the area."

Sailor Moon quickly put her hands over hers that had begun to glow blue. "No, don't do that. That attack takes a lot out of you when you're at full strength, and we don't need you collapsing on us. We need everyone we can get right now."

Shadow looked a little peeved, but she nodded in agreement. The enemy just seemed to keep on coming, and they had already lost a few members of their force. Saturn, who had still been recovering from her earlier ordeal, had given into exhaustion. Neptune had sprung to her adopted daughter's defense and had almost been overwhelmed. Luckily Uranus was never far from Neptune's side and had jumped in. After arguing for a few moments with her older, overprotective scouts, Sailor Moon had convinced them to take Saturn and go to her apartment to protect Sammy in case Beryl decided to go after him again while they were tied up here.

All the inners and the generals were there, as well as Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Shadow, and Andrew. But they kept getting distracted as they tried to fight and keep an eye on the handful of teens that were fighting alongside them at the same time.

Not that the younger heroes needed the supervision, they were holding their own in this fight as well as the adults were. But signs of weariness and irritation were beginning to show on their faces as well at the unending sea of attackers.

Luckily they didn't have to worry about any civilians. Since it was late there had mostly been carnival workers and maybe a hundred night owls around when the attack began. Most of them had fled when it began, and thanks to the quick response of Tokyo's heroes, the rest had been able to get away with only minor injuries.

Beryl cackled from the center of the melee where she was surrounded by a protective circle of her youma. "What's the matter, Serenity? You're not getting tired, are you? The fun is only beginning."

"I hate that woman!" Sailor Moon growled. "Every time I think we have her beaten for good she pops back up again like a recurring nightmare. Why won't she stay dead?"

Beryl's eyes gleamed maliciously. "I never knew that you were capable of such negative emotions, Serenity. I thought the moon royalty prided themselves on their grace and gentility. But you're practically foaming at the mouth for a chance to tear into me. This wouldn't happen to be because I held your prince in my arms earlier, would it?"

"Shut up!" Sailor Moon screamed at her. "I am so sick of you! This is more than just me being mad because you are determined to steal the man that I love. You are a twisted, evil soul. Because of you I lost one lifetime. I am not going to stand by and let you destroy this one too. I will fight you with every last breath in my body."

Beryl snapped her fingers and forces pulled back to her side, leaving the scouts, generals, and others to gather around the moon princess.

"Serena, what are you doing?" Tuxedo Mask asked worriedly.

She shook her head. "I'm tired of this, Darien. Because of her we both lost the kingdoms that were rightfully ours. Then she almost messed up our second chance. Now she's running around attacking my family and friends. I can't let this go on. I have to stop her any way I can." There was a flash of light as the Silver Crystal appeared, floating above her palm.

Tuxedo Mask grabbed her by the shoulders. "I can't let you do this. Don't you remember what happened the last time you used the crystal against her? You ended up dead!"

She shrugged his hands away gently. "But I came back, didn't I? Besides, I was only fourteen years old and barely knew how to use the crystal then. I've come a long way since then."

"And so has she!" he snapped back. "Thanks to Discord she has received a tremendous power boost. She's not the same as she was the last time you faced her either."

"Ooo, Serenity," Beryl purred like a satisfied cat. "Does this mean that you're willing to challenge me one on one? How about we place a little wager, you versus me with no outside interference from anyone else. Whoever wins gets Endymion, the Silver Crystal, and the Earth. Does that sound fair enough?"

Sailor Moon spoke loudly to be heard over the protests of the others. "Sounds good to me. Let's get it on."

A strong wind blew discarded cups and food wrappers across the ground. "There will be no fight between the two of you on this night." There was a bright flash of light, and then a woman stood before them.

Everyone stared at the newcomer in shock. Her long silver hair was caught up in the traditional buns and pigtails of the lunar royal family and her tall, slender frame was draped in her official silver royal gown. Her lavender eyes were calm, yet held a spark of fury as she glared at the Dark Kingdom queen.

But when Queen Serenity spoke her voice was as regal and commanding as it ever was. "The time is coming, Beryl, when you will be made to own up to all of the misery and sorrow that you have inflicted on everyone here, and I look forward to the time that my daughter sends you back to Hades where you deserve to be."

"So the dead queen has decided to thwart my attempts twice in one night," Beryl snarled, but she looked scared. "Why can't you stay dead and keep your nose out of my business? This doesn't concern you."

"Anything that impacts my family concerns me," the queen rebuked. "I will not stand by and watch you try to destroy the second chance I have given them. You have no intentions of facing Serenity in a fair fight, you evil witch, and I know it."

Beryl just smirked. "And I know that you can only hold your form for only a short amount of time, and even then only during certain times of the month." She looked up to where the barest little sliver of moon could be seen in the night sky. " What do you have, two, maybe three days before the new moon wanes completely and you go back to being an invisible, soundless spirit? I think I can wait that long."

A portal opened behind her and she and her remaining forces stepped through without another word.

Sailor Moon stared at the straight back of the queen for a long moment before whispering, "Mother?"

Queen Serenity turned to her with a benevolent smile. "Hello, Serenity. It's been a while." Her gaze fell on Sailor Shadow. "You too, my little Melody."

Both Sailor Moon and Sailor Shadow burst into tears and ran to embrace the queen. They stood that way for several moments before Queen Serenity's body began to flicker and fade.

"Oh dear," Serenity sighed. "I guess I have used up all of the energy that I have for tonight. Were Saturn and your brother able to make it to you?"

Sailor Moon nodded. "Yes, and they are both okay. I'm just grateful that you were able to help them."

Queen Serenity smiled sadly. "I may not be able to do much, but I do what I am capable of doing. I could not sit by and let you walk into that duel with Beryl. Even though you were blinded with rage, your intentions were noble. You sought to protect your loved ones and the Earth. Beryl has no such notions. She is greedy and selfish and would not think twice stabbing you in the back. She would never face you in a fair fight. You will get your chance against her, but make sure you do it together. You all draw your strength from each other."

Sailor Moon hung her head. "I know. She just makes me so mad. Why can't we just be rid of her already!"

"The time is coming, my darling," Serenity soothed her. Then she turned a chastising look on Sailor Shadow. "And you, young lady, pay attention to Motoki when he is trying to look after you and don't give him a hard time. Solarians can be frightening creatures when riled to anger. Believe me, I know from firsthand experience. Your grandfather was patient man for the most part, but on the occasions he did get angry he could give the devil a run for his money."

She stepped away from them. "Now let me give the younger ones a once over before I take my leave. What a fine group of fighters you are! I'm sure you do your parents proud, both here and in the future. Watch each other's backs and keep one another safe."

"Yes ma'am," they all replied, bowing their heads in respect.

"Serenity, Darien, and Alexander," she addressed Crescent Moon, Phantom, and Phoenix. "Words cannot express the joy this old soul feels when it looks upon you. It lets me know that my life definitely had a purpose and that I fulfilled it. I would have told Kathleen this as well, but it seems that she had other business to attend to tonight."

"We don't know where she is, grandma!" Sailor Shadow exclaimed. Her earlier fears resurfacing now that the battle was over. "She disappeared right before Beryl attacked."

"Do not distress yourself, my dear," Serenity said calmly. "She did not disappear and nobody kidnapped her. She simply had other things on her mind that she needed to work out. She will return home soon."

"Thank god!" Phantom and Phoenix muttered together, looking relieved.

The queen's body flickered again and turned transparent. "I must go now. Scouts, you are doing a wonderful job as always. Pass on my greetings to the outer scouts as well. Generals, continue watching over my girls. They are like daughters to me. Motoki, I hope my granddaughter doesn't drive you crazy. Watch over her and my great-grandchildren."

"We will," they all promised her solemnly.

The translucent queen ghosted over to Tuxedo Mask and spoke low where only he could hear. "I know you will keep her safe, Endymion, but please take care of her. This battle is not over, and she will need your strength and support to see her through."

He placed his right hand over his heart and inclined his head. "I will, your majesty."

"I must go now," Serenity told them all. "May Selene watch over you all and guide you." She faded away.

"Well that was unexpected," Sailor Mars said after a moment of silence.

Sailor Jupiter nodded her head. "For real! I guess you never know who's going to pop up around here."

"Are you okay?" Tuxedo Mask asked, wrapping an arm around Sailor Moon's shoulders.

She smiled and nodded. "I'm a little emotionally shell shocked, but I'm fine."

"Then what do you say we go home and chase off your brother and the outers and go to bed so we can pick up where we left off?" he whispered in her ear. "The wine's probably warm by now, but I can switch it out for another one."

"You're bad!" she giggled quietly. "But it sounds good to me. It's good thing we don't have to get up in the morning. I also have a feeling that Azabu High might be missing some students tomorrow as well." She nodded her head toward where the group of teens were smothering yawns behind their hands.

"I think we're all out of here," Sailor Venus said. "I was just about to doze off when I got the call and I'm ready to go back to bed."

"Bull! That's code for her and dad were about to get their freak on and were interrupted," Ishtar muttered to Callisto, nudging her in the ribs as they both laughed.

The group broke apart as they all headed for home. The scouts, generals, and their respective children headed for their place while Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Shadow, Andrew, and the remaining teens headed for theirs.

Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask, and Crescent Moon landed on one balcony, while Sailor Shadow and Andrew landed on the neighboring one. Phantom and Phoenix landed on the roof.

The five on the balconies below looked up, but decided not to say anything and went inside to seek their beds. They knew that the two of them wouldn't come down from there until Katie returned, even if it took all night. So there was no use saying anything to them.

The future Katie watched from high in the tree branches as the group beneath her split up and left. She couldn't stop the smile on her face. Metallia must be pulling her hair out right about now since Queen Serenity's spirit had decided to show up and throw a wrench into her plans. Served the bitch right?

She was so busy gloating to herself that she didn't feel the approaching energy until the branch she was sitting on shuddered and she had to grab hold of it to keep from losing her seat. She looked around, surprised to find the crouched figure of Sailor Eclipse merely feet away from her.

She covered her shock quickly. "I was wondering where you were little girl. I thought maybe you'd had enough of this shit and ran."

"Cut the crap!" Eclipse growled. "You're not pulling anything on me. I know exactly what's going on around here and what you're trying to pull. And if anybody around here is going to save my brother from dying, it's going to be me!"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Katie snapped, slipping from the branch and dropping to the ground. Her feet had barely touched the ground when she was spun around and pushed into the tree trunk.

"Don't give me that shit, you bitch!" Eclipse raged, her face only inches away from hers. "I know that you're me from the future and that you sold yourself out to Discord to have a shot at saving Alex from getting mauled to death by a sentinel after he and DJ got into a fight. But now I know what has to be done, so I'm letting you know that I'm going to take care of it. So back off!"

Katie pushed her away, hard, making her stumble back. "You're going to take care of it? Don't make me laugh! I was you at one time, so forgive me if I don't have that much faith in you. If you screwed things up once, you just might do it again. So the best thing for you to do is butt the hell out!"

Eclipse shoved her back. "And you can kiss my ass! I know I can't stop the two of them from getting into that fight, but I can sure as hell stop that sentinel from sinking its fangs into my brother."

"You don't get it!" Katie snapped. "I've been working toward this for fifteen years. I gave up my family and my life just to have ten seconds in which to save Alex and change the future."

Eclipse heard the pain in those words. "I do understand. I am you, remember. I can't fully imagine what it would be like to lose my brother or anyone else close to me, but I know that I would do anything and everything in my power if I thought there was a way to bring them back."

Katie slid her sunglasses down her nose to study her past self closely with those eerie, swirling eyes of hers. "Would you really? Would you break your parent's heart and turn your back on the only man you would ever love for one shot at changing the past, even if you didn't know if it would work or not? Would you give up your life for that?"

Eclipse shrugged. "I can't answer that because I honestly don't know. I've never been in the position that you were put in."

Katie smirked. "And that's the reason why I have to handle this myself. You can't possibly comprehend the years of pain and suffering that have driven me to this point. I have learned that there is only one person that I can trust to set things right, and that person is me."

Sailor Eclipse shook her head before turning and walking away. "You do what you feel like you have to do. But I'm warning you; I'm not backing down. I know what I have to do, and I'm going to do it. So you can try to push me away all you want to, but I can be just as stubborn as you. And a word of advice, I would quit fighting against DJ so hard. The man obviously loves you. I don't know what it is that could make his past or future self love either one of us, but he does. If I were you I would grab him with both hands and never let go. Now I'm off to see my prince. Good night!"

Katie stared after her past self wordlessly as she leapt away in the direction where two bright and very worried auras awaited her. She leaned her head back against the tree as a solitary tear rolled down her cheek.

"Damn it, DJ! What have you done?"

A/N Uh oh! Future DJ may have opened up a whole new can of worms with his revelations to Katie. Now her past and future self are about ready to lock horns over this whole thing. And what was Queen Serenity doing slinking around? Let's just say that she has her reasons. The Beryl saga of this story is about to come to a close, but I still have more planned before it's over. Don't forget to click below and tell me what you think. I absolutely adore reviews. I'll see ya next update. Lots of love!

~Sere~