A/N So terribly orry for the long depay in updating. I've been wrestling through some serious writers block, so it's taken a while to get this chapter the way I like it. And real life as always loves to get in the way. LOL Apologies in advance if there are some errors. I have about a half hour to post this tonight and if I don't pot it, I may not get to it until Thursday...and you all have waited long enough so I'm hurrying a bit. ^^

So on November 18th I am leaving for an eight day cruise where I will have absolutely NO internet (as it costs almost $1 per minute). Yikes! I am going to try to get in one more update before I leave though.

Thanks as always to everyone who reads, reviews, and follows this story. I truly hope I don't disappoint. :)

Chapter 13: Love Surpasses Time

Jadeite watched as the cat leapt up at Rhiannon and gasped aloud as that strange symbol flickered upon her forehead once more bringing back memories of one very strange fortune telling. "That symbol! What is it?"

"I don't believe it." Luna said. Warmth filled her heart as she beheld the reincarnate senshi of fire. Now there was hardly any doubt. Fate had brought all of them together again. Surely that had to mean they would have a second chance. Fate would not be that cruel.

"Believe what?" Rhiannon piped up, her initial surprise slowly turning back to annoyance at being left clueless in the exchange. "And what symbol? What on Earth are you all talking about?"

"We have to talk. I have a lot to explain, and someone to introduce you to. Please come inside." Luna headed towards the abandoned shell of a building whose basement was the entrance to the old city. Rhiannon looked warily at everyone, clearly wondering if it was a smart idea to go into a dark place with a talking cat leaving a bunch of strangers to seal her in. Luna waited patiently halfway to the entrance until Rhiannon stepped forward.

That left the men to talk alone. There was an awkward silence as each was still adjusting to the new information in their own way, but finally Matai spoke up, telling the four as much as he knew about the satiation quickly and succinctly. He could not help but feel that there were still too many missing pieces.

After listening intently, one hand on his chin, Kiral began to pace. "So then it would seem we need to protect you and the princess, recover as much of our memories as we can quickly, search for leftover relics from the Moon, and find a way to take down Emperor Rubeus." Already he seemed to speak with authority, taking charge of the situation almost instinctively, his face an unreadable mask.

"Oh yeah, take down the emperor, that'll be easy as growing trees in the desert." Zach quipped flashing Kunzite a wry look. How did the man make it sound so simple? Kiral narrowed his eyes at the interruption, but even Jadeite barely managed to suppress a chuckle at the joke.

"I'm serious. Being who we apparently are, it is our duty. We will have to find a way to make things right. Now, what do you all remember, and have any of you, well, discovered any talents?" Kiral did not mention that to him it was so much more than duty. One day they were brothers simply trying to get through classes and the next Matai is a prince fighting monsters. Oh no, he was never going to let Matai out of his sight again. Only Allah knew what might happen next if he did. He turned to Nephrite first.

"It seems that I can communicate with the stars. They were the ones who sent me here. Other than that a few scattered memories. We wore uniforms I believe." Nephrite offered his input with a shrug, seemingly disappointed that he did not have more to tell.

Matai nodded, interjecting. "Nephrite is correct. I know that too." He looked down at the tuxedo and billowing cape he was currently sporting. "Have any of you been able to fully transform yet?"

"I have, once. And I killed a droid with fire. It came right out of my hands." He subconsciously looked at his palms as he spoke. It still surprised him.

That left Jadeite who was full of youthful enthusiasm and eagerness to show off. So instead of telling them, he showed them, coming up with a swirling mass of blue energy about the size of a cantaloupe in his hands. "This, and apparently I can track magical energies. It's how I found you." A smile came to his face at the somewhat surprised looks on the others' faces.

"I think I remember you always being a whiz at that magic stuff." Zoisite answered to Jadeite's glee. "And knives" Matai added with an appreciative smile.

As the five men continued to compare notes it became evident that Kunzite and Zoisite could recall the most besides Matai, who had had a little help from Luna. And it seemed Nephrite and Jadeite were awakening to their powers the fastest.

Kunzite jumped in again. He liked an orderly world where there were concrete steps to every plan and things behaved as they should. His mind whirled, trying to put all this information together into a course of action. "Rubeus does not know of our existence yet I am sure. SO we have the element of surprise. Perhaps the princess should return home and go on as usual. One of us will need to watch her at all times but the less he knows about us for now, the better. If she should suddenly disappear from her house he may surmise that she has help.

Matai wanted to object. If he could he would seal her away from this crazy world until they had had a chance to make It safer for her, but he also knew that she would never choose that. It was not her way. And Kunzite made sense. He bit is tongue for the moment and let the planning continue.

"Me and Nephrite could try to seek out the Moon relics through the stars and with mindflight. Maybe we could get your fortuneteller friend to try as well." He looked pointedly at Jadeite, "she seems to be the real thing."

"Oh, she's real all right," Jadeite answered, unable to stop his eyes from focusing on the building she had left through.

"We'll rotate the watch schedules. And we will need to practice. The sooner we all learn the better."

"Wait" came a voice from the shadows. A young girl with straight blonde hair entered the clearing. She wore a black miniskirt that came to a few inches above her knees, topped by an orange colored blouse that looked like silk and a pair of orange pumps to match. Clearly she had been listening to their conversation. In her arms was a white bundle with pointy cat ears. Kiral watched her walk fearlessly into their midst, a girl alone in the night approaching strangers. The summer wind stirred her blonde hair which wavered softly about her face. She had a sort of fragile cuteness to her that contrasted with the confident strides she was taking. It piqued his curiosity to say the least.

As she approached, Matai noticed the girl was holding Artemis, with enough clumsily laid bandages around him to make him half resemble a mummy. She approached the group, her eyes taking in each and every one of them. "Add one more to your guard schedule." She said simply in a no nonsense tone.

Artemis spoke up. "I've told her everything. She wants to help."

Kiral looked at her, meeting her confident gaze with steel. "Who are you? This is a very dangerous situation. It is no place for civilians. You'll only get in the way."

Margaret's blue eyes widened in indignation. She walked nearly chest to chest with the young man, though he was a head taller than her. "Too dangerous for civilians? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you sure look like a civilian right now…Kunzite. That is your name isn't it?" She poked her finger right into the young man's chest expecting him to back up.

Kiral felt a rush of adrenaline at her touch, her finger hit his chest, and it could just as well have been an electric shock for the chill that went through him. Instead of backing up, he suddenly grabbed her wrist, feeling the small delicate wrist and smooth skin beneath his hands. Pulling her hand away slightly, he wondered why his pulse was racing. She had a point as much as it grigged him. "Point taken…for now. But what can you possibly do, throw your hair clip?" He smirked, releasing her wrist to fold his arms over his chest.

"I may not be able to transform, but I am still Sailor V!" Margaret spun on one foot and passed her hand in front of her eyes, her two fingers making a V symbol, smiling widely. "And I will find a way to protect the princess, no matter who gets in my way, understand?"

Kiral watcher as she spun, her hair billowing out to almost form a halo about her head. She had such serious eyes for someone so girlishly beautiful. It was then that realization dawned on his. He had seen her before. "I see, you're the one who attacked that robber." He and Matai had intervened at the last minute, but the girl had not been so defenseless. When she nodded, clearly proud to be remembered he knew he had the right one.

Jadeite interrupted, "I hate to interrupt the reunion, but maybe we should get clear of here. That wave of energy that called us all here was not exactly subtle. It might have tipped off our enemies to us don't you think?"

"The kid's right." Nephrite spoke up. "We should get below ground."

"I am not a kid!" Jadeite pouted, shooting a fiery stare at the brown haired general.

Nate knew that reaction all too well from his younger days. "Hey OK relax. I didn't mean anything by it." He chuckled at the overdramatic facial expressions on the young teen. "But you're right. Let's get out of here."

As a group they ran for cover at the entrance to the underground. For Zachary this was familiar territory. Margaret had a tough time navigating the rickety and sometimes missing steps with high heeled shoes but she refused to let anyone get near her to help, especially not KIral, and made it down with only a scraped knee.

Above them in the clearing a portal opened and a droid fluttered out. On its back were oversized butterfly wings with wires going from the wing frames into the body. In a grotesque sense it was both human and flying insect. Back at base Sapphire watched the video feed from its eyes as it flew around the clearing. The droid was fast, an excellent for surveillance but had no defensive abilities whatsoever. As it zipped across he could see light footprints in the dusty concrete. Someone had surely been there but they were gone now.

He ran a hand through his dark hair, a perplexed expression on his face. "What could have caused that spike?" He wondered aloud, his voice echoing slightly in the large empty space. It seemed that there was no more information to be gleaned by looking from above, so he recalled the droid. However he immediately had second thoughts and relayed new coordinates to the droid. He sent her flying to the place where he had found Rubeus chasing two girls. He could still hear her voice in his mind calling his name. How could she have known him? He was a ghost, the man behind Rubeus' arsenal. No one knew him.

"Oh come on Sapphire", Rubeus had said when he pressed him about the girl. "You're second in command under me, the emperor. How can she not know you?" Sapphire hadn't believed a word of it. Now he watched as the droid flew over the site. He didn't know what he hoped to see, dared to see.

Patsy and Beth found shelter in the first floor of an abandoned store. The second floor had crumbled into the first. It was dusty, small, and a bit frightening with the creaking of beams and rubble above. They sat in the darkness, arms around each other's shoulders, shaking with fear, weariness, and shock. All Patsy could see was Sapphire, standing before her in the flesh. In her dreams she had seen him die so many times, had known he died back then when that blue coat of his fell from the hanger even thigh she wasn't there. That part, of all her dreams and visions, was the most clear. She would watch the coat fall in agonizing slowness, wanting to scream but no sound would come.

As impossible as it was for him to be alive, even Beth had seen him. For the first time her sister knew she wasn't crazy. It brought tears to her eyes. They had talked in the darkness a long time. She could hear Beth's breathing had slowed down. She was asleep, something Patsy's mind wouldn't let her do right now. Carefully she eased from under her sister's arm and crept out into the night. Her heart raced, fearing Rubeus would be waiting. But the night was still and quiet save for her footsteps.

She walked back to the spot where she had seen him. Maybe Patsy hoped he would be there, she didn't know what drew her out. Her heart hammered in her chest as she stood in the very spot and raised her head to look up into the sky. "Oh Sapphire, where are you? Will you ever come back to me? You promised you know. You promised. If only I could talk to you again Sapphire…." Above, wings fluttered in the night wind as two sets of ears listened.

Luna had given Rhiannon the briefest of explanations and introduced her to Sarah. She sat down next to the shaken blonde who tried to put on a friendly smile that failed to hide the fear in her eyes. They talked, introducing themselves. Rhiannon remained guarded, not revealing too much. That was until Sarah asked her what she did. That question always came up, and the one right after it was "Can you do a reading for me?" It never failed. She would become a novelty until after the reading when the fascination would wear off and they would go, leaving her alone again. This time would be no different.

With a sigh she admitted, "I do readings and tell fortunes for a living. Sometimes…I can see things in the flames of a candle, things about people's lives." She waited for the request, knowing she would honor it just for that one brief moment of pretend friendship. But the request never came. Instead Sarah's soft blue eyes looked on her with compassion.

"Oh how hard that must be! Everyone must either beg for readings or get frightened away! It must be terribly lonely. And what if you saw something bad?" Sarah reached out a hand and laid it on Rhiannon's wrist. "If we become friends I promise I won't ask you for a reading. We can just do normal things. Maybe when this is over we can hang out?"

In that moment Rhiannon's heart melted. Here was someone that truly understood, and was willing to be a friend without anything in return. It was almost surprising enough to bring a tear to her eye. "Sure, I'd like that. Maybe we could go to the park and watch the boys play ball. Some of them are pretty cute!" Both girls shared a laugh, only interrupted by Luna re-entering with a strange stick in her mouth.

Luna had tried to explain things to the girls in very general terms. But without any proof, or their henshin wands, there was little reason for the girls to believe such a farfetched tale of a princess and sailor soldiers. They rather thought it a grand game. So Luna had come up with an idea. Sure she could not access the brooch. It was either destroyed or taken. But surely something as minor and innocuous as the lunar disguise pen might have gone unnoticed?

And it had. She was able to materialize it with a sigh of relief. But the worry was not over. The pen got its power from the silver crystal. If the crystal was still whole, even if far away, the pen should still be able to draw a little bit of power from it. If it didn't work, then it was certain that the silver crystal was destroyed for good. "If this doesn't work, the girls will NEVER believe me!" Luna tossed the pen down at Sarah's feet. "Sarah, I want you to try this. It's a disguise pen. You just say what you would like to be and hold it up high alright?" Luna practically held her breath.

Sarah smiled, thinking this great fun. "Really? That sounds pretty farfetched Luna. But if you say so OK. You said I was some sort of princess right? So here goes! Pen, please make me into a beautiful princes!" To their shock a white light shot down from the pen enveloping the girl in light for a second. When the light faded there she stood, looking just like Princess Serenity in her flowing white gown. Luna gasped in recognition and surprise, tears almost springing to her eyes as she beheld her beloved princess.

At that moment Matai and the others made their way into the room. Knowing how well he had hit it off with Sarah as himself, he kept his disguise. As he passed into the room he gasped in surprise and grabbed the wall with one hand to steady himself. There before him was the very woman from his dreams, the dreams that had haunted his nights for so long. It took his breath away and he was speechless. Matai took a step towards her, wide eyed. He reached out a hand hesitantly to touch her, to see if she was real, but carefully as if the image might disappear at a touch.

Sarah looked down at herself, completely surprised to see how she appeared. She truly did look like a princess. It was then that she saw Tuxedo Mask enter with some other men. Her cheeks immediately flushed yet she could not take her eyes off of him. He seemed surprised to see her too ad for a moment their eyes locked. All the breath left her body. Her heart raced and her cheeks felt hot. She took a step towards him, beckoned by the mysterious dark-eyed gaze. He reached out a hand towards her tentatively, as if he thought she might break. Hardly aware of what she was doing she reached out a hand too, and he clasped it in his warm gloved hand, pulling her closer. Suddenly she was being held close. She could feel he was shaking slightly, and she was speechless, lost in a daze.

Tingles suddenly pulsed through her body as the dress and princess-like appearance began to flicker in and out until finally with a last burst of light it collapsed back into the pen. Sarah found herself in her smudged and dirty clothes, in the arms of Tuxedo Mask. IF she had been blushing before, her face was crimson now. Feeling immediately awkward she immediately backed up, though she could not keep from looking. "Oh! I'm sorry! Goodness, what was I thinking?" She laughed and rubbed the back of her head trying o clear the awkwardness. Surely a man so dashing and handsome wouldn't be interested in her clumsy self. He probably had a gorgeous girlfriend.

Matai was startled back into reality trying to get his bearings. Suddenly he felt awkward for holding her so close like that as Sarah looked so uncomfortable. She didn't even know who he was, how could she return his feelings. Besides, maybe she already had a boyfriend in this incarnation. Surely a beautiful girl like that would not be interested in an orphan like him. "Oh, um, sure. No problem." He managed to sputter out, backing away a few steps.

Luna had watched the whole scene quietly, her heart going out to Tuxedo Mask. It must be had, she knew, to be the only one of the pair who remembered. But the passing moment did not deter her joy. It had worked. The disguise pen had worked! While it was true it didn't seem to have as much energy as it normally did, it also was not in close proximity to the crystal. "The silver crystal is here. It's still here!"