A/N: Definition of FanFic: FICTION (a non realistic story) made by a FAN (an ardent follower and admirer) of another person's work, using that person's ideas to make an original story. As such, the only thing the FAN owns is their respective original story and original characters; NOT the object(s) of their FANdom.

"SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!"

A torrent of freezing water tore flooded the shadow that had moments before tried to strike Saturn from behind, completely freezing it solid before it shattered into billions of ice crystals, completely destroyed.

"Was that the last one?" the Mercury Senshi asked, as she moved over to where Saturn was.

'Your left!'

Saturn's glaive moved, slicing apart the shadow that came at them from the side. "That was the last one. Right, U-chan?"

'Yes,' a voice echoed in their minds, 'There are no more youma in the area. But, you have other guests.'

Sure enough, a moment later, three more figures came into view, all wearing Senshi uniforms similar to Saturn and Mercury's. "What happened to the youma?"

"We killed them." Saturn replied simply, and the two turned away from them to walk away.

"Wait!" The blond haired Senshi, Venus shouted, "We're all Sailor Senshi! Our duty is to find and protect the princess! We should be working together! Why do you keep rejecting us?"

"We have our own objectives," Mercury replied, "We don't need help finding the princess, nor do we wish to team up with you. To be honest, you three would just burden us."

High above them, Usagi sat on the top of a large building, listening to their conversation as she watched them from above. Although she couldn't help them by fighting alongside them physically, she had been determined to help her sisters any way she could. And thus, she began to train in battle support and how to defend herself, aiding them in various ways throughout their many battles. It had taken her many years to control and hone her abilities, but she never gave up, and eleven years later here she was, a brilliant support specialist to her two allies.

"And just who might you be, sitting all the way up here?" Usagi spun her body around. Without her noticing, somehow a man in a black tuxedo had managed to get close enough to be within striking range of her.

"No quick movements," He ordered, pulling a red rose from his tux, "Wouldn't want anything to happen to your pretty face. Now tell me, why are you so interested in that meeting down there? You wouldn't be plotting something, would you?"

"..." Usagi stared at the man. She didn't know why, but this man seemed very familiar. But even so, he was the one threatening her with a... rose. Moving backwards ever so slightly, her hand edged towards her pocket when-

"Ah."

Before the man could move, he was pinned to the ground, the silence glaive at his throat. In the same instant, Mercury had picked up Usagi in her arms and retreated to the opposite side of the roof. "And just what the hell were you plotting?" Saturn hissed, venom etched all over her voice, "I don't know who you are, but you just made a huge mistake."

"Wait!" Saturn stomped on the masked man as Venus, Mars, and Jupiter arrived on the roof, "Tuxedo Kamen is on our side!"

"...Hmph." With a vicious kick, Saturn sent Kamen flying into Jupiter, who caught him. "And Usagi-chan is on ours. This is your only warning. If you so much as come near her again, I will kill you. It doesn't matter if you are a Sailor Senshi, enemy, or ally; anyone who comes near her again will meet the same fate."

"How dare you threaten us!," Venus shouted angrily, "I'm the leader of the Sailor Senshi! Who do you think you-"

She went silent as the glaive rose to face her, Saturn glaring at the four of them. "Get your facts straight, Venus. While you are the leader of the princesses' personal guard, the inner Senshi, you are not the leader of all of the Senshi. To be honest, none of you inner Senshi are anywhere near as capable as the Outer Senshi. Or me."

She wasn't being arrogant, nor was she being conceited. It was just a fact; one that both she and Mercury knew well.

"Wait a moment! Who are you? You're not one of the inner Senshi! Nor are you one of the Outer Senshi!"

From behind Venus a small white cat appeared, a yellow crescent moon on its forehead. However, once he noticed the weapon the girl was wielding, his surprise turned to shock and awe. "T-that's the Silence Glaive! There's only two people in the universe who can wield that! You! You must be Sailor Saturn!"

"Saturn?" Venus asked the cat, "Artemis, I've never heard of a Sailor Saturn!"

Artemis ignored her. "Are you truly her? Why have you awakened?"

Saturn nodded. "I am indeed Sailor Saturn, the Soldier of Ruin and Rebirth, as well as the Soldier of Silence. I was awakened by Sailor Pluto in order to combat the Dark Kingdom, who has begun to break the seal that was placed on them long ago, as well as to protect the princess. Although an Inner Senshi, Mercury was also awakened at an early age and trained alongside me."

"Who is Sailor Pluto?" Jupiter asked Artemis, frowning slightly at the unfamiliar name.

"The Guardian of Time and Space," Artemis replied, shocking Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, "She is the oldest and wisest of the Solar Sailor Senshi, and the only one who has lived since Silver Millennium. Her duty is to watch over time itself. She also acts as an advisor to the queen and princess, as well as the unofficial leader of the Outer Senshi. She's pretty much the second-in-command of the Solar Sailor Senshi as a whole. When she's around, anyway. But if she awakened Saturn, then things must be serious..."

"Why?" Mars asked, "What is so special about Saturn? I mean, are the Outer Scouts really that strong?"

"There is no real comparison," Artemis replied, shaking his head, "The Inner Scouts' primary duty has always been to act as the princesses' personal guard. Protecting her has always been your main objective, and a certain amount of training was required. However the Outers were different. Their duty is to protect the Solar System from outside intruders, and to wage war on any force that would try to harm us in the name of the queen. They are battle-oriented Senshi who are devoted to the queen and princess, and who are authorized to act independently as needed. As such, they are much more capable than you all. However, Sailor Saturn is not one of the Outers. She's a special Senshi."

"What do you mean special?" Venus asked, "How is she different from the rest of us?"

"Sailor Saturn is the Senshi of Ruin and Rebirth. Her duty is; if need be; to bring an end to everything so that a new beginning may occur. She is by far the strongest of the Solar Sailor Senshi, second only to the princess herself. Her powers are such that if fully utilized, she could destroy an entire galaxy with a single swing of her glaive if deemed necessary. And if she's been trained by Pluto, her combat skills are top-notch."

"But still," Artemis continued, "Why was Mercury awoken early as well? Did something happen?"

Saturn thought about the question for a moment, debating whether to answer or not, and was relieved when Mercury herself responded. "The three of us have known each other since we were small children. For all intents and purposes, we're sisters. Very close sisters. When Saturn was awakened, the Dark Kingdom began to increase its activities, so it was decided to awaken me, as well."

"That would also explain why the three of you are so protective of each other," Venus replied after a moment, "Look, we're sorry for the misunderstanding earlier. Can we all meet together and at least talk? Even if we don't work alongside each other, we can still talk and communicate with each other, right?"

Mercury and Saturn glanced at each other for a moment, neither of the two very willing to agree without consulting Pluto first.

"Stop."

Everyone turned to Usagi, who until now had not spoke a word to anybody. She was glaring daggers at Sailor Mars, who for her part looked absolutely astonished. Immediately Saturn brandished her weapon once again as Mercury moved further back, "What happened, U-chan? What did psychic-girl do?"

Venus and Jupiter got in into fighting stance as well, anxiety showing on their faces as they glanced warily at the glaive in front of them. Mars however, stopped them. "It's okay, guys, it was my fault." Still slightly amazed, she turned to Usagi, "I'm sorry for being rude. I just wanted to know a little more about you, but I guess that's not the best excuse..."

It was unusual for the fiery Mars to apologize so quickly, but then, the Silence Glaive did have that effect on people. Usagi stared hard at Mars for a moment. "I think talking with each other is a wonderful idea. How about we all meet at the Crown Game Center tomorrow? We can sit down and have a long chat. No transformations. Or mind searching."

"That's fine," Venus replied, looking at her companions for confirmation, "What time should we meet? Is the afternoon fine? How will we know each other?"

Usagi smiled, "The afternoon is fine. And just look for me; I'm sure you'll find me quickly. Until then!"

In a burst of light, they disappeared, to the astonishment of the three Inners and Artemis. "It looks like Mercury is more powerful than before," The cat commented, "To be able to teleport by herself is extremely impressive, let alone taking someone with her. Anyway, let's call it a night, you guys."

As the Inners and Kamen dispersed, Mars stayed behind, staring at where Usagi and Mercury had just been moments before. What is it about that girl..? She noticed me trying to read into their thoughts... And why does she seem so familiar, like I should know her..?

"The nerve of that- that man!" In the living room of the Meioh household, Hotaru was currently pacing back and forth, going on an angry rant, while Ami and Usagi sat on the couch. "I swear, the next time I see him, I'll send him straight to hell!"

The fact that it was Hotaru, aka the Senshi of Ruin and Rebirth saying so, it was a viable threat.

"Still, 'Sagi-chan," Ami said, changing the subject, "Why did you agree to meet with them without talking with us? You know we always talk things through with each other first."

Usagi sighed and reached her arms out to Hotaru. Picking her up bridal style, Hotaru took her into the kitchen, followed by Ami, and began to prep for dinner after setting Usagi down in a chair at the table. "It was Sailor Mars." Usagi answered as Ami poured her a cup of water, "She was trying to poke into our minds for information. I almost blasted her out of reflex. It's not good with her trying to pry for information. I thought that we would be better off telling them what we want them to know ourselves. I'm sorry for making the decision all of a sudden, especially since I'm not a Senshi..."

"Don't be silly, 'Sagi-chan," Ami said, rubbing Usagi's head, "To us, it doesn't matter if you're a Senshi or not, you're still a valuable part of the team, as well as our precious Usagi! So stop that moping!"

"Thanks, Ami-nee," Usagi smiled bashfully, "Still, I wish I could be of more help to you-mph!"

Usagi fell silent as a finger was pushed against her mouth. "Hush now. Didn't we say not to talk about that anymore? You saved Ami-nee's life that day. Do you regret it?"

"Never." Usagi replied immediately, then smiled as she realized what Hotaru meant. She knew, if she had to choose between walking and her sister, she would choose Ami every time.

"Then enough about that. Back to tomorrow. I have to go to the Time-Gate to talk to Mama, so I can't go with you. Please, please be sure to be careful. Ami, make sure to protect U-chan. U-chan, if you feel something is wrong, use that power; call out to either me or Mama, and we'll be there immediately. Okay?"

"Don't worry, Ho-chan. We're going to be at Crown the entire time. It'll be perfectly-"

"U-chan."

"...Okay. We'll be careful."

"Good. Now, let's eat."

Dinner was relatively quiet, Usagi preferring to use her mouth to eat more and talk less. However, when she was finished, she sat quietly for a moment, then looked at the others. "Hey... is it really alright for you to not look for the princess? I know what Puu said and all, but-"

Once again, the blond girl was silenced; this time by Ami pushing a small cookie into her mouth. "How many times do we have to tell you, 'Sagi-chan? Remember what Setsuna-san said? Our duty's not to look for the princess, it's to protect you, the Silver Guardian. And that's a duty that we will happily follow through with. Even when the princess does appear. For us, you're our most important person."

They both knew about Usagi's fears. Deep down, it tormented her how instead of looking for their princess, they were protecting her. She loved them both, but felt she wasn't worthy to have protectors, especially when said protectors (or, at least one of them) were supposed to be protecting the princess herself. She wasn't a Senshi. All she knew was that she was distantly related to the Moon and Venus royal families. But even so, she was merely a Silver Guardian; one whose duty was to watch over the Ginzuishou, an ancient relic of the Moon Kingdom, until she could return it to the princess.

And yet, to not even try to find the Moon Princess... It felt like she was denying the one thing that made her even a little close to the others, like she was betraying her duty! And Ami and Hotaru knew it was tearing her up inside.

"Usagi-chan." Hotaru gently stroked her cheek, looking her directly in the eyes, "Don't you trust Mama?"

"Of course I do!" Usagi, shocked, cried, "I-"

"Do you trust me?" A whisper.

"Yes." A reply.

"Then no more worrying. Remember: Ami-nee and I are Senshi. If we felt that there was something wrong with our duties, then we would never agree to it. And stop selling yourself short; you're very important, and so is your duty. Now come on, it's time for bed. If Ami-nee was ever late for school, Saeko-san would kill us all!"

Lifting Usagi up again, Hotaru carried her away to the bedroom the three shared when together while Ami cleared the dishes, smiling slightly at the pair. It wasn't as if Usagi couldn't go here and there with her wheelchair; rather, Ami and Hotaru had gotten into the habit of carrying her once they had found out their training made them very physically fit. And Usagi herself was very, almost unnaturally light.

As Hotaru came back into the kitchen, Ami's face turned serious. "How much was it today..?"

Hotaru shook her head, "She tried to hide it, but the moment I put her in bed, she was out. It's drawing more and more energy every day. She was so drained, she didn't even notice that I was feeding her my own energy whenever I picked her up."

"Usually 'Sagi-chan's really in tune with people's aura's and their energy. If it's gotten to the point where she's beginning to not notice something she always does..."

"Yeah. It looks like we're beginning to run out of time. Ironic, seeing as time's almost completely stopped for the three of us."

"Are you going to search outside of the city tomorrow?"

"Yeah. The only thing we know for sure is that it's somewhere in this country. For all we know, a youma could have it, or it could be buried far underground. There's even a possibility that some normal Earthling could have it!"

"It doesn't matter; we'll find it no matter what. If a youma has it, we'll kill it and take it back. If it's underground, we'll blast the earth away until we get to it. If a human has it..."

"...Then, we'll take it from them." Hotaru finished, the symbol of Saturn burning brightly on her forehead, "I doesn't matter if they're Earthlings or even Senshi. And if they refuse to hand it over..."

"They'll die." Ami stated simply, her eyes colder than her icy powers as she looked at the night sky through the window, "If it's for Usagi, we'll do anything, no matter what the cost or who gets in the way."

"Mm. Now Ami-nee?"

"Hm?"

"Let's go to bed too. I was serious about your mom killing us."

Outside of Crown Game Center Rei Hino, Makoto Kino, and Mamoru Chiba leaned against the wall, waiting for their friend. "I can't believe Minako got detention today of all days! It's already been half an hour!"

"Calm down Rei, see, there she is."

Indeed, the beautiful blond girl with deep blue eyes was running up to them as they spoke.

"Sorry-*hah* I'm late-*hah* you guys!"

"It's okay. Are you all ready?" Makoto looked at her friends, "Even if it is Crown, I think we should still be on guard. Especially you, Mamoru. Saturn made it clear that she'd pretty much kill anyone who comes near that girl with ill-intent, and she was staring at you the entire time."

Mamoru brushed the comment aside, "That was merely a misunderstanding. I'm sure that we will get past that in no time."

"Nonetheless," Minako nodded, looking through the glass doors, "Let's try not no piss them off. We're here to make allies, not enemies."

With everyone in agreement, Minako opened the door and they went in. "Man, it's even more crowded than usual!" It was. Crown was always a fairly popular place amongst teens, but occasionally there would be a day where there was a lot more people at the diner area than usual. Up until this point, they had never bothered to find out why it was so crowded on such days, but it looked like today they had no choice. Pushing their way through the crowd closer to the counter, a melodic voice began to fill their ears...

~You've reached the deepest part~
~Of the secret in my heart~
~I've known it from the start~

Entranced, they moved closer subconsciously. As they finally made their way to the front of the crowd, they gasped in unison, their breath taken away as they gazed at the image they were seeing. Sitting atop the ordering counter was a young girl whom the word beauty did no justice. Her lovely blond hair cascaded all around her, long enough that it almost reached her ankles even as she sat down. Her eyes half-shut, the tiniest hint of blue peeked out as she swayed ever-so-slightly to her song, the lightest of smiles on her face.

The group couldn't move; couldn't even blink as they continued to watch her every motion, her voice touching their heart and soul. It wasn't until her song finished that the spell wore off. The crowed erupted; it was a sight to behold. There were tears of love in every girl's eyes and most of the guys' as well; the few men who weren't openly crying were hugging their girlfriends (and in some cases, wives) tightly, holding back the tears with all of their might. But every person in the room was cheering and applauding. People had stopped playing games to move over to the diner. All of the girls in the room were crowding around her, but the men were keeping it seemed a certain distance away from her, save one.

"Another beautiful song," The blond man behind the counter, leaning beside her praised, wiping the tears out of his eyes, "Usagi-chan, you're definitely something else. Even the goddesses above can't compare!"

"Thanks, Motoki-nii," Usagi gasped amidst the hugs she was receiving, "I love singing here; it always makes me feel better, no matter how I'm feeling beforehand."

"And I always love it when you do sing here. In fact-ah. Hey, guys! You came at a great time! Come over here!" Usagi turned to see where Motoki was looking, and gave a small gasp as the four people made their way over to the counter. "Did you like the performance? She always draws everyone over here!"

"Mamoru was entranced, "Motoki, who is this girl? She seems so familiar..."

"Ah, everyone, this is Usagi-chan. She's pretty much like a little sister to- ah, Mamoru, I wouldn't get try to- too late."

Before Motoki could finish, Mamoru had taken Usagi's hands in his. "A pleasure to meet you, my goddess. I'm sorry if I seem to forward, but your voice and beauty touched my heart!"

"Um... I don't think you should- ah, too late."

This time, someone had taken Mamoru's hands. Off of Usagi's. At the same time, they had lifted him off of the ground. Now, Mamoru was a strong, bold man. But a better man than him would have cowered in fear as he was lifted several feet off of the ground by some rather hardcore... gentlemen, and promptly dragged towards the door.

The other three girls were speechless. "Uh, what just happened..?" Makoto finally managed to voice.

Motoki sighed. "You guys probably didn't know this, but Usagi comes here about once a week. And as you can see, she's..."

At this point, Motoki covered Usagi's ears with his hands. Usagi, used to such actions from him and her sisters, didn't resist and instead began to eat a float that a (rather seductive looking) girl bought for her. "Well, as you can see, she's so damn pretty and talented, ninety-five percent of the people in here would (and a few have tried to) kill their parents to have a chance with her. In fact, many a fist fight have broken out over stuff like who would get to even come near her."(At this point, he uncovered her ears, she didn't notice) It's gotten to the point where men are banned from coming a within a certain radius of her; let alone touch her. Mamoru was just lucky that those two weren't here when he tried that just now..."

"But girls are still allowed to?" Makoto asked, watching as a particular leaned against Usagi (but still kept her hands to herself, wary of the other girls glaring at her).

Motoki shrugged, "She doesn't associate with people outside her family very often, so she takes these chances to make new friends."

"Still," Rei said as she watched Mamoru struggle in vain as he was lifted onwards to the door, "We can't just let him get massacred!"

"Um..."

The entire arcade fell silent at the sound of Usagi's voice, the three men carrying away Mamoru stopping to turn towards her as well (a certain girl moving far away from Usagi under the men's critical eyes).

"I think this girl here would be troubled if you beat up her older brother," She said, pointing to Rei, "Could you please let him off just this once?"

After a nod the men dropped Mamoru unceremoniously on the floor, and, with another nod towards Usagi, went back to their spots in the diner.

"Thank you!" Usagi called after them, then turned to the three girls (after finishing the float), "Sorry about that. But, I'm glad to see that you made it here safely. Couldn't wait to talk, huh?"

That's when Rei finally realized it, "It's you! The girl from last night!"

Minako was shocked. Makoto, however, was slightly amused.

"Well, so much for Mamoru-san getting past his 'misunderstanding'."

A/N: And, thus, we bring a conclusion to the first true chapter of Duty of the Heart~

As you can see, being raised under different circumstances and with different people definitely changes how a person looks at things. This is especially apparent in how Ami, a girl who wants to be a doctor to save lives, makes it clear that she has no real hesitation when it comes to killing a human (let alone a Senshi) in order to keep Usagi safe. And when we couple that with a responsibility as an older sister... Well, it's safe to say that Ami has certainly stepped up to the Protector role with flying colors. And possibly streamers.

At any rate, here we now see how Ami, Hotaru, and Usagi have turned out, over eleven years later. The three are a tight-knit group, and Ami seems to have gained some of Hotaru's distrust of people, while Usagi seems to have regained a bit of innocence due to growing up in a proper home. But is everything really how it initially appears? After all, Hotaru and Ami seem to be hiding something huge from Usagi...

Tell me what you think! As always, I love to hear from you readers! And one more thing: Points to whoever can figure out what song Usagi was singing!

Until next time!