Woot-woot! They're in the future! The way things happened is going to have a twist. And…fanfare Anna's boyfriend!!! Once again, he's a cameo and NO CRITICISM!!! Crystal Tokyo is all crumbly and practically dead. Okay, here we go.

Episode: An Old "Friend"

As the team stared with fear and amazement at the future kingdom, wonderment filled their heads.

Jupiter "Why does it feel so cold?"

Venus "Is this really Crystal Tokyo?"

Mars "It seems like everything has died…"

Rini stared with fear and tears at the place she called home.

Rini (Mommy…)

She ran down the hill and towards the palace.

Moon "Rini!!"

Mask "Rini, come back!!"

They ran down the hill to follow Rini.

Scouts "Rini, where are you!?"

Mask "Rini!!"

Venus "Look! Over there!"

In the deep shrouded fog, a figure was walking towards them. Being prepared, the sailor scouts readied themselves in a defensive position.

But Sailor Galaxy felt a warm presence from the upcoming object; the same presence she felt when she was with Darien. She walked before the scouts and smiled.

Mercury "Sailor Galaxy?"

Galaxy "It's ok…We're safe with him."

Everyone looked at the figure. Its appearance revealed itself: a young man in his elegant cape; his staff, so tall and wonderfully designed; a mask covered his eyes; from a distance, he looked like a king.

"Welcome to the future."

Mars "Hey, that's Darien!!"

The team gazed in bewilderment. Darien was with them! How could he be in two places at once??

Galaxy "It's King Darien, actually."

King "You're right, Anna. I'm glad to see you. It's been so long."

Galaxy "So long? Since what?"

It was obvious they were beginning a long conversation.

Moon "Hold On! That's Darien!?"

The king walked up to Tuxedo Mask.

King "It's true. I'm your future self."

Tuxedo Mask's mind was racing. In a blind attempt, he tried to tackle down the mysterious doppelganger.

Everyone gasped except for Sailor Galaxy. Tuxedo Mask just passed right through the king!! Tuxedo Mask fell to the ground with confusion. The king turned out to be a hologram. Sailor Galaxy helped Tuxedo Mask up to his feet.

King "It's no use. I'm just a hologram, containing my memories."

Mercury "Where's Rini?"

King "She's all right. Rini's safe in the palace. We should head there as well. It's not safe to be out here."

Galaxy "Then I guess we should go now."

King "Hold on, Sailor Galaxy."

They faced each other.

King "There's something, or someone, you need to see."

Sailor Galaxy was confused. The future king motioned her to move ahead in the fog. After giving some thought, Galaxy decided to go towards the castle. The team tried to follow her but King Darien stopped them.

King "Right now, Sailor Galaxy wants to be alone."

Sailor Galaxy kept thinking about what the king was saying.

Galaxy (Something, or someone…)

As she approached the palace, she admired how tall it was. The entire outside was made of crystal. Its beauty was shown throughout the entire kingdom. It seemed conspicuous to the destruction around it.

At the foot of the palace, a lone man was sitting. An elder teenager seemed asleep or unconscious. A dark purple ninja suit gave his image a mysterious background. Short black hair covered his head.

Sailor Galaxy walked up to him and noticed that he had a sheathed sword next to him. What amazed her was its length: smaller than a katana but longer than a wakizashi; a kodachi. A trigger instantly went off in her mind at the sight of the sword.

Galaxy (That sword…where have I seen it? No…it can't be!!)

As Sailor Galaxy walked up to the anonymous man, he sensed her presence. The man's hand shot at the kodachi with speed.

"I feel I should warn you. With my speed and sword, you'll die within a second."

Galaxy "Believe me. I don't think you want to hurt me, let alone kill me."

The man unsheathed his sword.

"Then prepare for hell!!!"

His kodachi's tip ended up in front of Sailor Galaxy's face.

The ice-blue eyes gave away his identity. They stared down at Sailor Galaxy. Although the eyes were meant for fear and brutality, Sailor Galaxy saw calmness and happiness in them.

Sailor Galaxy stared at the man who drew his sword at her. The man who could handle the smallest sword with the greatest flexibilities. The man that she talked with about everything. The one who was joyous inside, yet calm outside to be reunited with her. The man she knew from her world. The man she loved.

Galaxy "Aoshi…"

Through the uniform and tiara, Aoshi saw the girl he protected before.

Aoshi "Anna?"

The more he came to realize, the lower he brought his weapon.

Aoshi "Anna Onodera? You're a sailor scout?"

Sailor Galaxy's voice began to break.

Galaxy "Aoshi…Aoshi Shinomori…you're alive!!"

She dropped to the ground and sobbed. Sailor Galaxy covered her face to hide the tears. Another survivor from her world's destruction was found.

Aoshi kneeled down and laid his kodachi next to him. He used his hand to lift Sailor Galaxy's chin. She removed her hands to reveal tears streaming down her cheeks. They looked at each other and Aoshi made a little chuckle.

Aoshi "You found me."

With blithe emotions, Sailor Galaxy wrapped her arms around Aoshi and held him tight.

Galaxy "I found you."

Aoshi gave back by holding her closely. At long last, the friends reunited. They found each other.

King Darien and the team came out from the fog.

Mercury "Sailor Galaxy!"

Venus "And someone else."

King Darien nodded.

King "Aoshi Shinomori. A ninja with a skilled swordsmanship and protector of the palace."

As they looked upon the two's happiness, Tuxedo Mask placed his hand on Sailor Moon's shoulder. They looked at each other and smiled.

Sailor Galaxy noticed the team's interruption and stood up. Aoshi got to his feet as well.

Galaxy "Hey, guys. This is Aoshi, a friend of mine."

Jupiter "Nice to meet you."

Mars "Hey."

Mercury "Hello."

Venus "How's it going?"

Moon "Hey, so how did you end up here?"

But King Darien stopped them.

King "It's not safe out here, still. We need to get inside the palace. Aoshi?"

Aoshi "Right."

Aoshi went back to his post of watching for any intrusion. Sailor Galaxy walked up to the King and bowed.

Galaxy "If you don't mind, your Majesty, I would like to join Aoshi and protect the palace."

King "Permission granted."

Sailor Galaxy smiled with gratitude. She turned and went back to Aoshi's side. The two of them walked into the fog and left the team.

King "Now, shall we go inside?"

The team followed King Darien into the palace to a chamber.

King "This is my secret base. The only area the Black Moon Clan hasn't accessed yet. For now, we're in the only safe place in Crystal Tokyo."

Moon "Oh, yeah. We're still kind of vague about that whole Nemesis thing."

King "Allow me to explain. There's a lot to absorb."

Aoshi and Sailor Galaxy walked into a cold flower field covered in quartz.

Aoshi "That night, when you neighborhood was attacked, I ran by and found you being blown into a vortex. I tried to catch you, but I was blown as well into an alternate one. When I woke up, I was in Crystal Tokyo. The king offered me a position here. I was uncertain at first, but then he mentioned you. After that, I stayed quiet and did what was told."

Galaxy "Still protective as ever, I see. Especially since you met me during that dream."

She smiled brightly while he looked away, blushing.

Galaxy "Remember when we first met? It was in front of your dojo."

Aoshi "How could I forget when I heard those thugs beating you up just outside?"

Galaxy "You came out with your training sword and kicked the crap out of them. And after that, you swore to protect me. Even when it wasn't necessary and I told you not to."

Sailor Galaxy bent down and tried to touch the flowers. Each one of them was frozen in quartz, neither growing nor dying.

Aoshi "This is the result of the Nemesis attack."

Sailor Galaxy sighed and stood up.

Galaxy "I don't think I even want to know what happened here."

Aoshi "I don't know much myself. When I came here, everything was like this."

Galaxy "How much do you know?"

Aoshi "Only what the King told me…"

King "After Neo-Queen Serenity and I took control of Earth, an unknown moon appeared in our orbit. That moon was Nemesis."

Jupiter "Hey, that's where Catzi and the Weird Sisters are from!"

Aoshi "It's the home planet of the Black Moon Clan. Each and every member contains awesome powers. And one day, it released a significant amount of negative energy and hit Crystal Tokyo."

King "Little of the negative energy was repelled by our power. It still hit us and cast an evil spell on the population. It directly hit the queen, almost killing her. Luckily, the sailor scouts protected the queen with a quartz shield. Only the four sailor scouts and I survived. Well, actually, my mind survived. My body deteriorated."

Mercury "How terrible…But wait! Did you just say the 'four sailor scouts'?"

King "Yes. All four of you protected Neo-Queen Serenity: Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus."

Aoshi "It should have been obvious: Neo-Queen Serenity is Serena Tsukino's future self."

Galaxy "Are you serious!? Well, it's not that hard to believe, but Serena!? Queen of Earth!? That's hilarious."

Aoshi "Don't forget. This is the future. People can change. Eventually, the scouts sent Rini to the future to find Sailor Moon. Sending his own daughter; what was the king thinking?"

Sailor Galaxy's mind went numb.

Galaxy "Wow. So…Rini is the daughter of Serena and Darien??"

Aoshi "Yes."

Moon "What!? That brat's gonna be my kid!?"

Mask "Who would have thought…"

King "I know this is hard, but please understand: she only time traveled for good purposes. The scouts could have gone, but they had their hands full."

Aoshi "And I couldn't leave my duty of guarding the palace. So the king sent his daughter to retrieve the Silver Crystal."

Galaxy (Serena and Darien's daughter…)

There was movement in nearby trees and bushes. Aoshi and Sailor Galaxy stood back to back, looking around their own territory. They prepared for any kind of combat. The movement was swift. Sailor Galaxy had trouble following since it was dark. But Aoshi only chuckled.

Aoshi "When will you ever learn?"

Sailor Galaxy lowered her guard and turned to Aoshi.

Galaxy "What is it?"

Aoshi's heart skipped a beat.

Aoshi (She lowered her guard!)

The moment she faced him, a shadow jumped out of the tree behind Sailor Galaxy.

Aoshi "Anna!!"

Sailor Galaxy turned around. A blade was coming at her face! She stared in terror. Its speed was so fast, she couldn't do anything. Sailor Galaxy hasn't seen this much speed since Aoshi's tutor lessons. She covered her head with her hands and closed her eyes shut.

Galaxy (Help!!)

CLANK!!!

She shook with fear. If Sailor Galaxy opened her eyes, she might have seen blood. She gave it a chance and slowly opened her eyes.

Not a spot of blood was found. Sailor Galaxy lowered her arms. She looked at Aoshi and stared. He gritted his teeth as he held onto his sword. Blades scraping together were heard above her. She looked up and saw Aoshi's kodachi wrestling with another blade. Sailor Galaxy followed the path of the other sword and found another man, struggling to break through the kodachi. Someone tried to attack her!

Before Sailor Galaxy had a chance to examine the figure, Aoshi slashed back his kodachi. The attacker jumped above them and landed on the other side of Aoshi. He turned around and pointed his katana at Aoshi and Sailor Galaxy.

His pants were neat and white. Perfectly buttoned up long sleeve blue coat. Blue gloves sheathed his hands. His dark blue hair was neatly combed on his head. But what infuriated Sailor Galaxy was the inverted black moon symbol on his forehead. He was part of Nemesis!!

Man "Well, well. Looks like the scouts made it fine through the time gate."

Aoshi "I'll go on with our duel, Sapphire. Just leave her out of it."

Sapphire chuckled. Sailor Galaxy was enraged at his attempt to attack her. She tried to run and attack him, but Aoshi held his arm out and stopped her.

Aoshi "This doesn't concern you. Just stay back."

As the two men began to prepare for their duel, Sailor Galaxy explored the possibilities o how this new Black Moon Clan member was like. Sapphire was an enigma, but Sailor Galaxy felt that she will learn the truth once either one strikes with his sword.