Chapter 13

I can feel all the stares burning under the sun. There's the click of Mercury's computer followed by Mars' heels against the gravel. However, Sailor Moon's eyes are solely on Nephrite. She probably sees the ghost that cared for her best friend, but he isn't that man.

"Lita!" That voice catches me off guard. I'm surprised that I hadn't seen her before. Rini runs out from behind Pluto and I find myself kneeling down to meet her.

"Princess, what are you doing here?" I reach out, but stop as my side aches from the movement.

She steps forward and wraps her arms around me, and in that moment my armor fades until I'm back in my tattered clothes. It feels as if I had detransformed. "Pluto's been looking after me."

"Would someone mind telling us what's going on?" Venus stands now with her hands at her side.

Pluto steps forward. "Yes, but not here."

I can hear the sirens converging on us. Pluto turns around and summons a portal. Nephrite and I step through first with Rini close behind. I don't know where we are, but the air is colder than it once was. We are surrounded by trees, and for the first time in awhile I feel like I'm on familiar ground.

"Damn it." I feel the light streak of blood soaking through what remains of the bandage on my side. I lean against the tree as Nephrite reacts.

"Makoto."

The others walk through, and Mercury is the first to notice my discomfort. "You're hurt."

I nod. "It's not as bad as it looks." Regardless I know that the Amy in this time won't accept that answer.

"Where are we?" Uranus turns to Pluto.

Mars turns. "We're in the forest behind the shrine."

My eyes widen. So many questions bolt through my mind. Were my future sins still recognized in the past? Rini is still at my side, and though I try to stay positive her concern is heartbreaking. "You'll be okay right, Lita?"

"Why do you keep calling her that?" My past self stands with her arms crossed.

I go to speak, but Pluto interjects. "Because that is her name." She kneels down and places her hand on my wound. "Raye, I will need some water and fresh bandages."

Mars nods. "If you can bring her to the temple-"

Pluto shakes her head. "That's not an option. Please, just hurry."

I remember this feeling from back in my time. They all look at me as if I am stranger. Even my younger self doesn't recognize that I am what she is destined to become. Nephrite is at my side which seems to draw Mina's attention. I don't know what thoughts are going through her mind.

"What was Rubeus doing here? I thought we defeated him in the past." Mercury speaks candidly to Pluto.

"There are rifts being created in this time line. The actions of the past are in jeopardy of being erased."

Serena steps forward. "What do you mean?"

I sigh. "It means things have changed."

My younger self kneels down beside me. "So does this mean that you're me?"

I nod. "Many centuries in the future."

I'm sure that she wasn't the only one looking at the scars on my body. This is, after all, what the aftermath of war looks like. Raye returns, in her civilian clothes, with a first aid kit in hand.

Pluto closes her eyes. "Makoto, stop talking."

The name change seems to draw attention from Amy. The others detransform back into their civilian identities while I slide to the ground and lean my back against a tree trunk. Rini is over near my younger self, telling her about the future, but I can't help but wonder if that is allowed in the rules of time.

"You're... Nephrite, aren't you?" Serena steps forward with her hands hanging loosely at her side.

Nephrite bows. "Yes, your highness."

Pluto starts dressing my wound. "Yesterday's enemy will become today's friend."

I cringe the moment the gauze touches my skin. Nephrite places his hand on mine. I'm not sure if the others notice, but my younger self looks at the two of us. I know her face. It is one of instant recognition. I nod slightly and she turns away.

When it is done, I still feel their stares on me. Nephrite helps me stand and Rini runs to my side with Luna P in her hands. I look to Pluto. "Why did you take her to the past?"

My question piques the curiosity of the younger senshi. "Because our victory was not certain."

I nod. "Is it now?"

She sighs. "Not when time is this unstable."

We never once enter the shrine. Pluto makes excuses, but I know that she is just looking out for me. The next few hours feel like some sort of lecture. The sky is still shifting into that deep purple that I will always recognize. These people around me, though I have known them for so long, are filled with naive optimism. Pluto explains everything precisely as it is, but she leaves out details of what has happened to Crystal Tokyo; however, I'm sure that they already understand that if I'm here it can't be good.

"Are you alright?" Nephrite places a hand on my shoulder.

I nod. "Yes, but I'm just not sure if they should know so much. Knowledge like this will probably change the future."

He turns. "I'm sure Pluto knows what she's doing."

Rini sits down next to us. "Lita, is mama and papa alright?"

I sigh. "They'll be fine. Neph and I won't let anything happen to them."

She continues to hug Luna P close to her chest. "Why did this happen?"

Nephrite leans forward. "Sometimes life throws us curves, but we'll get through them and be stronger because of it."

"Those are wise words." Amy stands over us with a smile on her face. "Rini, Trista wants to talk to you."

She nods and rushes towards the others. "Okay."

Amy sits down next to us. For a long moment none of us say anything. "I was just wondering. If you are Lita, then why are they calling you Makoto?"

I smile. "It's complicated."

One by one the others come over and ask me similar questions, but what I notice is that my younger self is keeping her distance. It is getting late, and I know that everything has just begun. I didn't think it would be possible to feel anymore different than before, but seeing my old friends has put everything in perspective. I've seen too many worlds fall to darkness, and I will do all in my power to make sure it doesn't happen again.

"She's scared of what she'll become." Pluto stands leaning against the wall to her apartment in this time.

I close my eyes. "It's because I didn't hesitate to kill Rubeus."

She nods. "That and other things."

I sigh. "Then she'll come to hate me. He won't be the last."

"I know."

"So what do we do now? People in this time are in danger. Wiseman will likely regroup and send Emerald to attack next."

She turns. "To him, this is a game."

I nod. "And he has Endymion. Nephrite and I felt the energy of the golden crystal."

She pauses. "If we defeat them in this time then all traces of them in the time stream will correct itself."

"What are you talking about?"

She smiles. "It is true that the time stream is fragile, but it is because of Nemesis' temporal generator. It is simultaneously maintaining the planet's existence in this time. Once it is gone the planet will revert back to the future and these past events will be erased."

I step forward. "How can you be so sure?"

"Cronos told me."

Cronos... his words still echo in my mind. He had faith in me when didn't want to have faith in anything. "I'm sorry."

She turns. "It's not all this straightforward. The others in the future are facing trials of their own. We must succeed here if they are to succeed there."

"I understand."

"Until then I will watch over the senshi of this time while you and Nephrite handle the enemy."

I raise a brow. "Oh? By the way you were explaining things to them, I assumed that you were encouraging their involvement."

She shakes her head. "No, they are too young."

"Alright." I push off the wall.

"Makoto."

I turn. "Yes."

She turns away. "Just remember that the next choices will be yours and yours alone."

I smile. "They always were."

The thunder in the sky bellows through the night and I can't help but watch as the lightning flashes over our heads. Nephrite stands at my side watching and admiring just as I am. "Can you feel that?"

He nods. "He's here."

Across the city is the slow build of dark energy. There are shadows emerging from every corner of ever street and I know that we'll have to move. "Tell me about the gold crystal."

"It's an amplifier for natural energies. That's probably why it works well with the silver crystal."

I sigh. "Well then. We are going to do what I wanted to from the beginning."

He smiles. "I'm ready."

I close my eyes and summon the power of the storm. Lightning surges from the sky into my body and I feel nothing short of refreshed. I watch as my armor wraps itself around my body and I smile bigger than I ever have.

"Come." I clap my hands together and ready myself. The energy surging through my body is unlike any other. "My servant, I summon you."

Nephrite takes one step back. The dragon is nothing short of magnificent. "Makoto?"

"If this doesn't get them to come here then I don't know hat will. Do whatever you can."

He nods and disappears to the streets below.

"That was a bold move, Jupiter." Wiseman stands behind me and I can do nothing but smile as my dragon circles over our heads.

I turn. "Where is Endymion?"

He steps forward. "What does it matter? You and I both know that his role in this is minor."

I nod. "But his crystal isn't."

An explosion erupts in the distance. Normally I wouldn't have reacted, but the energy I sense is so familiar. Wiseman bows his head. "This life is so strange isn't it?"

"Playing with time in this way will only damage the future you want."

He turns. "Silly girl, it was never about capturing this time. You can be so gullible."

I look to my dragon in response to his words. I hadn' realized that Wiseman would be this petty. "Find her." And with my words the storm travels.

"I just want you to experience what it's like to have everything taken away from you. Here, in this time, you are vulnerable and naive. I respect your skill, Jupiter, but I will break her so that she can never become you."

I can feel the weight of his words. Lightning dances around my fingers as I walk towards my opponent. "Fight me."

He sighs. "I already am."

I have to have faith in Pluto. The future depends on me focusing on the situation at hand. A flash of green light appears in the distance. I take this as my cue and throw the lightning that has been traveling around my fingers. The energy hits him straight on and I watch him stagger back towards the edge.

That painful laugh echoes behind me. "Emerald."

She floats over our heads and slowly makes her way towards Wiseman. "Wiseman, why are you playing with this insignificant woman?"

I summon the storm. "Don't think that I don't remember you, Emerald."

She laughs. "Oh? Then I must have left quite an impression."

I smile. "Yeah. Wiseman turned you into an ugly monster and had you charge at us like some mindless pawn. Are you sure that you're on the right side?"

Her expression changes into one of pure disgust. "You have some nerve-"

"Do I? He would kill you if it benefited him. I have seen it before-"

"Enough." Wiseman steps forward. "Emerald, has our prisoner been detained?"

She pauses. "Yes."

Emerald snaps her fingers and a flash of dark light appears between us. It is not what I see, but what I feel, that bothers me. Pain, unrivaled by anything else pulses through my veins. My younger self is on her knees, cuts riddle her body and I find desperation welling up in the back of my chest.

She looks up and our eyes meet. In this time she is Lita Kino, Sailor Jupiter. Her and I are generations apart. She has no idea what memories constantly flow in the back of my mind nor what I feel in knowing what she will experience. Where the hell is Pluto? I thought she was going to protect them.

"It's like looking in a mirror isn't it?"

I look up at Emerald who stands behind her with a fist of energy. "Touch her and I will kill you."

She laughs. "If she dies then so do you."

Wiseman clenches his fists. "Enough talk. Emerald, finish her."

Everything seems to slow right down as react, but something catches Wiseman's eye. He disappears less than a second after I move. That is when I feel my servant approaching. Emerald brings her fists down, but it never makes it to its target. The energy from my dragon hits her hard, and I find myself standing over her. Her eyes are cold and filled with anger.

I kneel down. "He's not coming back for you."

She spits in my face. "Bitch."

My younger self watches as I raise my fist. "Wait."

I shake my head. "There's only so much mercy that you can show."

She struggles to stand. "Why are you so heartless?"

I close my eyes. "Because I have to be."

Emerald goes to hit me, but I catch her fist and send a surge of energy into her body. She screams and my younger self pushes me off of her. "Stop it."

"You have no idea what you're doing."

She shakes her head. "I know that this is cruel."

Emerald's eyes are wide now, but I'm not sure why. It could be because I'm arguing with myself. "Stand aside."

"I won't."

I find myself pushing her down and grabbing Emerald by the throat. "Where is Nemesis?"

That's when I see them; tears falling from eyes filled with fear. Emerald looks up at me as if staring at death itself.

"There's no way you're me. I wouldn't do this."

The words don't come as a surprise to me, but for some reason they hurt in a way that I hadn't anticipated. "You don't know anything."

"I know that killing only brings sadness."

My grip lessens, something that I know Emerald notices. Why the hell am I caring about what she says? Frustration causes my body to shake. "Tell me where Nemesis is and I will spare your life." Emerald doesn't say anything. "This is a one time offer."

She slowly reaches towards her ears and unhooks her earrings. I take them in my hand and realize what it is that I am holding. Sapphire's teleportation devices. I let go of her and turn back to my younger self. "So you're just going to let me go?"

I look back to Emerald. "If she wasn't here, I would have crushed your throat in the palm of my hand."

And just like that, all I hear is the echo of the storm.

My younger self walks beside me, but neither of us say anything until we leave the roof of that building a few blocks behind us.

"Are you alright?"

She shakes her head. "How can you ask me that?"

I clench my fists. "The future isn't what you think. Much has changed, and being gentle gets you nowhere."

"But what you were going to do is unthinkable."

I sigh. "You won't think that, one day."

She turns away. "Then maybe it would have been better if you had let her kill me."

In the back of my mind I know that she doesn't mean it. We are, after all, the same person, but I know this time period and I know that she is passionate about loyalty and principle. She is a child who thinks that grey doesn't exist in a world of black and white. I understand her anger, but I also understand that she is young. Still, even after our exchange in words, we continue walking side by side.

There are centuries between us, but there's something lingering over our heads... recognition. The storm is ours and it is obeying its master without a fault. Lita Kino, Sailor Jupiter, and Queen Makoto are the same person in the past, present and future. We both know that this is how things were and will be, but we're both too stubborn to let go of our pride. That is the silent truth between us. By Jove, I don't think I ever realized how difficult I can be until this very moment.