Chapter 6: A Princess Speaks, A Guardian listens.

"So she really misses them?" Marmoru asked his girlfriend, as he and the rest of the inner senshi were now gathered at the Crown cafe late in the evening . It had been almost a week since Usagi had gone to visit the Sailor Senshi's youngest member at her father's home to see just how the young child was coping since the events with Galaxia and she was only now informing the rest of the team on what she had heard the young child say. Usagi nodded sadly and continued to speak,

"She really does. Hotaru said that she forgives Haruka and Michiru for what they did and she really wishes that they would come back."

"She does?" Makoto asked her odango headed friend, as she stirred her cup of coffee. Usagi nodded again and replied, "She said that the only reason that they did what they did was to protect her and that they would never do anything to willing hurt her. She still loves them."

"Well at least some one misses them." Rei spoke up, her fiery personality beginning to show itself once again. "Rei-chan, please calm down." Makoto pleaded with her friend, " Hotaru may be young, but she does have a point. Haruka and Michiru may be head strong and arrogant when it came to to dealing with us, but I remember seeing them with Hotaru a time and how they got along. They were like an real family."

"Your point being?" Rei asked her taller friend. "What I am saying is that Haruka and Michiru was possibly the closest thing Hotaru has ever had to having a family. Not to mention that it is more than possible that Haruka and Michiru thought of them selves as a family and acted as one."

"Mako-chan is right." Ami interjected, "The three of them along with Setsuna were a close family. It would not be impossible to believe that Hotaru still loves them."

"And yet, those two sacrificed Hotaru and Setsuna without hesitation." The fiery miko snorted, "If you ask me..."

"That is enough, Rei-chan." a very stern voice spoke up frpm the table. When every one looked they were surprised to see that the stern voice came from Usagi. " Yes we all know that what Haruka and Michiru did was reckless and arrogant, but you reminding us of their past actions is not helping one bit."

To say that the girls were shocked to hear their normally carefree and bubbly friend speak with such a stern and serious tone in her voice, would have been correct. Especially Rei, who was basically told to "shut up" by her normally child like friend. All they could do was listen to what stay silent and listen to what Usagi had to say as she continued to speak.

"I know you are not too happy with the way Haruka and Michiru treated us in the past, nor are you happy with them running away rather than facing us after what they did. But I am not too happy either, I saw them kill Saturn and Pluto with my own eyes. Not to mention that Haruka slapped me in the face. I should be furious with the couple and i am, but right now our main focus should be on dealing with the couple when they come back and finally face us."

"How are you even certain that they will even come back and even then, how can you even forgive them?" Rei asked with a accusing eye.

"Rei have you forgotten that letter they left us? Believe me they are in pain and will face us in good time." the blue eyed blond replied, "Besides... you slapped me once, remember? And I forgave you."

Rei was about to open her mouth and say something to contradict her friend, but at that very moment the raven headed miko began to think. The letter that had been left for them by the guilty couple did sound like they were truly sorry for their actions and that they did blame themselves for what they had caused. they did not even try to defend themselves and their action, they basically thew the blame on themselves withouth hesitation. Maybe it was possible that both Haruka and Michiru had left not because they were afraid of what the rest of the senshi had to say about them, but because they were just too ashamed of their actions to face their fellow senshi and their princess.

The miko just sighed heavily and replied, "Okay, maybe you do have a point and that they truly are sorry. But they still need to answer for their actions."

Usagi frowned a bit and replied, "Yes, I know and believe me I will ensure that they are punished when they do finally return."

For the next few minutes the group of girls and one guy just sat there and stewed on what had just been said. It was very clear to see that Usagi was willing to forgive the traitorous couple and give them a second chance to start a working relationship with thewm as well. But it was also clear to see that something inside the normally carefree and child like young woman had changed, and every one at the table took notice of that fact as well. She was starting to act more mature and was giving herself more voice when it came to their almost daily meetings at the shrine.

They all wondered just what could have caused such a change in Usagi, maybe it was the princess that was deep within her starting to show itself or maybe she was just starting to finally mature on her own. What ever it was causing this change they did not know, all they knew was that their leader and and friend did have a point. Haruka and Michiru needed a second chance to start a new relationship with them and prove that they could be trusted again. But as the group sat in their seats, they did not realize that their little conversation was being watched from afar.

Looking into a small portal that she had made, Sailor Pluto listened in on her princess and her friends talk about the situation concerning her fellow outer senshi. Ever since the battle with Galaxia hand ended the lone solder of space and time had returned to her post at the space time door. Partly due to the fact that she was the guardian of space and time and that she had a duty to protect the Space Time Door. But there was another reason why the goddess of time returned to her post and it was of a personal nature.

Ever since that fateful battle with the infamous senshi of the galaxy, Pluto had been going over the events of that horrible day in her mind and even though it happened almost a month ago, the memories were still very fresh in her mind. Having her friends/team mates turn on both her and their adoptive daughter really had affected the time guardian greatly, but what had Sailor Pluto really feeling horrible about that day was the fact that she had known that Uranus and Neptune were going to turn on her and Saturn.

As the guardian of time, Pluto had the ability to see into the future while she was at the gates of time and over the centuries the goddess had seen a number of events that had shaped the world and the people that live in it. But her role as guardian had prevented her from interfering in those events and as such she allowed them to run their course in history. Even if her intervention would prevent the deaths of thousands if not millions, she was nothing more than a observer cursed to watch history play out.

Sailor Pluto fore saw her fellow team mate's betrayal weeks in advance while she was at the gates of time and as much as she wanted to warn her friends of what would come of their ill fated plan and outcome, the senshi of time knew she could not tell her companions about their plan's tragic out come. But there was a reason just why the eldest of the senshi allowed both herself and her adoptive daughter to be "killed" by their fellow team mates.

Sailor Pluto knew better than any one else just how cold and aloof Uranus and Neptune could be at times, considering that she knew just how they were back during the time of the old Moon Kingdom. Even when Queen Serenity herself would invite the two outer senshi to spend time on the moon, both Uranus and Neptune would usually tend to stay by themselves most of the time and not even bother to socialize with anyone from the inner planets. They were just to interested in protecting the solar system from outside threats and did not care too much for socializing with anyone else. But that was a long time ago and a new kingdom was set to rise again with their "princess" and her lover were set to become the new rulers.

With this new kingdom the senshi would have to learn to work together to ensure that this new utopia would not meet the same fate as the old Moon Kingdom. That meant that the normally cold and aloof pair would have to change their attitudes and learn to work together with the rest of the senshi, a task that was easier said than done. But with their recent actions during the crisis with Galaxia and their new found guilt, both the senshi of the wind and the senshi of the sea were now starting to see the errors of their ways. A fact that Sailor Pluto took notice in, as she watched the two senshi travel to America and begin the long process of finding themselves once again.

The goddess of time felt guilty for allowing the events of Galaxia to transpire as they did, allowing herself and her adoptive daughter to go through such traumatic events just so that the time streams would stay intact and flow as it was supposed to. But it was a small price to pay considering the many positives that were to come out of it and so far one thing was starting to show itself in her princess.

Usagi was starting to show a bit more maturity and was even starting to assert herself more when it came to matters concerning the senshi in general. Specifically the matter with Uranus and Michiru. Despite their actions the young woman and future queen was still able to find it within her heart to forgive the two older women for what they had done, but yet she still saw the need to punish them none the less. She took it upon herself to go and check on Hotaru and see if the young child was alright, but the most surprising thing off all was the fact that her princess came to the defense of the couple when her fellow senshi spoke ill of them.

Usagi was maturing and the princess that was she was, as well as the queen that she was destined to be was starting to show themselves. Now it was up to Haruka and Michiru to change themselves and see the errors of their ways. All the time goddess could do right now was stay at her post for the time being and watch as these events as they transpired and hope that her two fellow team mates would learn from this horrible experience.

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A/N: Okay, I know that this chapter is shorter than the others but I felt that it needed for the story to progress. There is more to come so hold on. Also, if u have any suggestions IM me and i will get back to you - UH-60