...
This world will never be
What I expected
And if I don't belong
Who would have guessed it
I will not leave alone
Everything that I own
To make you feel like it's not too late
It's never too late
Even if I say
It'll be alright
Still I hear you say
You want to end your life
Now and again we try
To just stay alive
Maybe we'll turn it all around
'Cause it's not too late
It's never too late!
Usagi sat underneath the tree biting slowly into the pork buns she had found in the lunch her mother had prepared for her this morning. It was probably delicious, and full of the rich flavors Usagi loved, but in truth she couldn't taste any of it. It simply left a salty after taste in her mouth and made her even more thirsty than usual. The air around the school was cool and there was a slight breeze that blew Usagi's hair to the side of her and a few thin stray hairs glided across her cheek as she returned the pork bun to her lips.
"U-sa-gi!" Usagi looked up with a blank stare on her face as the red head approached her cheerfully.
"Naru-chan..." The girl sat down beside her with one of her grandest smiles.
"Where have you been, Usagi?!" Naru demanded grabbing hold of her arm. "I haven't seen you in forever!" She cried. "I tried all weekend! And then Mizuno-san and Kino-san didn't even know where you were!" Usagi turned away from her and placed the pork bun back into her boxed lunch. "I had something important I wanted to show you!" She whined.
"Gomen... Naru-chan." She said in a hallow voice and Naru paused as she continued to grip hold of Usagi's arm. She seemed to notice the way Usagi's shoulders slumped differently then usual. They looked as if something heavy was pressing down upon them.
"Usagi... are you alright?" She asked, and Usagi nodded slowly.
"Hai... I'm just tired." She said, and Naru tightened her grip on Usagi's arm as she looked her face over. "I didn't get enough sleep last night, and I had to run really fast to get to class on time." Naru let go of her arm and sat back against the tree, a smile returning to her face.
"Just think, Usagi, if you go to the university next year you won't have to worry about that. You can schedule your classes later in the day!" Usagi nodded again slowly and picked the pork bun back up and bit into it absent mindedly.
"Hai." She agreed. Naru glanced back at her in concern, but then looked back up at the sky. It was sunny out, but even with the sun shining brightly down upon them there seemed to be an overshadowing dark quality to the sky. As if a screen had been cast of the entire city. Naru sighed, and the breeze felt good against her skin despite the sky's unusual darkness as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes.
"Nothing can dampen my spirits today..." Naru mused softly and Usagi simply bit into the pork bun.
"Hai..." She replied absently again. Naru opened her eyes and bit her lip. Perhaps there was one thing that could dampen it... Naru smiled as she leaned forward and placed her right hand strategically on her cheek.
"Usa-"
"Naru-chan." Usagi cut her off in a soft, vacant voice and Naru paused again as she watched her. Usagi's face lifted towards the darkened sky, and she didn't seem to be fully there. "I haven't been a very good friend recently, have I?" Naru froze.
"W-What do you mean?" She asked. "Well..." She changed her mind realizing what Usagi was referring to, but couldn't agree with her. "You have been rather distant lately, but so have I. Its just natural when one gets busy. Especially you and the others..." She cut herself off and her hand went to her mouth in a bit of surprise. "Just now... What was I going to say exactly?" Usagi 's chin lifted higher and she looked straight up towards the sky.
"Hai... I have been busy, but that doesn't excuse me trying to avoid you." Naru frowned.
"Avoid me?" She asked. She had noticed the time Usagi had begun to spend with Mizuno and Kino recently, and studying with them at the Hikawa Shrine, but that hadn't made Naru feel like Usagi was avoiding her. In fact it felt like the opposite.
"Hai." Usagi said again softly. Naru laughed.
"You haven't been avoiding me Usagi!" Naru countered. "I haven't been around!" Naru told her. "Umino and I... well..." She lifted her hand back to her face waiting for Usagi to pounce on her, but Usagi was still gazing upwards to the sky.
"Naru-chan..." Naru blinked and let out a silent sigh as she rested her chin on her hand and continued to listen to Usagi. "In a thousand years, we will still be friends, right?" Usagi asked. "Best friends?" Naru frowned.
"Usagi! You're talking nonsense!" She declared, but Usagi didn't move.
"Even if I became more distant, you would still be there when I needed you... Right? And I for you?" Usagi continued. Naru shook her head with a loud sigh.
"We'll have neighboring graves!" She declared loudly, not seeing the point. Usagi's head lowered and her eyes narrowed as she pulled her knees close to her chest. Naru sighed again and then leaned forward happily. "Usagi, what's the matter with you today?" She asked.
"We'll always be friends, right? Even if everything changed?" Usagi asked remaining persistent. Naru smiled sadly.
"Of course!" She told her. "Usagi," She leaned even more closely to Usagi and froze at the sight of Usagi's saddened eyes. "We would always be friends! No matter what! Even if we got too busy for one another for a time, we would always have the other's back, and would always know it." Naru said in confidence, and Usagi cast her eyes downward. "I promise!" Naru said cheerfully. "In a thousand years, I'll still have your back, and still falling into danger you have to..." Naru jolted back away from Usagi and her heart began to pound wildly inside her chest. Usagi's eyes moved upwards and she turned her head to follow Naru; shock on her features. "Save me from..." Naru finished. Her hand rested on her lips in surprise and she blinked again. "I have been avoiding you..." She realized. Usagi's eyes widened and Naru felt like she might have hurt Usagi even more, but Usagi wasn't even paying attention to her words anymore, but her right hand. Usagi grabbed hold of it off of Naru's lips and pulled it close for her to observe.
"Uso! No way!" Usagi cried and Naru cringed, but smiled as Usagi stared at the garnet ring on her finger. "Waah! So pretty!" She cried. Naru's smile widened as Usagi momentarily snapped out of her slump. Suddenly Usagi gasped as a thought occurred to her. "Did Umino buy that for you?! No way!" Usagi cried out again, but she was smiling.
"Who said Umino bought it for me?" Naru asked pulling her hand away, but her smile gave her away. "My family does own a jewelry store..." Usagi lunged forward and stared directly into Naru's eyes.
"Did he ask you?!" Usagi demanded. Naru laughed, but her cheeks were turning a bright red.
"N-No..." Naru admitted helplessly, but then she placed her hands on her hips in annoyance. "But what else does it mean when a man you've been dating for three years gives you a ring for no other apparent reason?!" Naru demanded.
"Well..." Usagi fiddled with her fingers for a moment and Naru laughed lightly.
"Usagi, if a man gave you a ring you wouldn't even think about it would you?" She shook her head playfully. "And you call yourself a girl?" Naru smiled and Usagi laughed nervously. Naru lifted her hand to view the ring in the sunlight. "Anyways, with Umino, its a miracle he got the courage to give it to me in the first place. The dweeb..." She insulted him, but still she sat beaming brightly. Usagi sat back against the tree and she sat wide-eyed for a moment.
"Naru-chan's going to be a bride..." Usagi whispered. Naru eyed her curiously with her hand still raised out in front of her, and then she let it fall to her side. Usagi had returned to the vacant, almost surprised expression she had worn earlier.
"Usagi! You're acting so strange today!" Naru said slightly exasperated by Usagi's behavior.
"Hai." Usagi agreed softly. Naru sighed and opened up her own lunch and lifted up her chopsticks.
"At least eat your food so I don't freak out entirely." Naru said putting a clump of rice into her mouth, but she continued to eye Usagi curiously, and worrisome. Usagi was not acting at all like herself. Usagi obliged her and eat the last few bites of the pork bun before lifting a few pieces of sugar candies from the bottom of her bento. She sat staring at the candies for a moment. "Usagi?"
"The future..." She whispered. Naru frowned again.
"Usagi." She said sternly. Usagi didn't look up at her, and Naru's back straightened in fear as she noticed a few tears building up in the back of her eyes. "What is it?" She asked. "Why are you so down today?" Usagi rotated the candies in between her fingers as she stared blankly at it.
"Nothing..." She said finally, ad there was a slight pause before she could continue. "Nothing I can tell you." She looked up at Naru with a fierce regret. Naru's shoulders and back slacked again and she glanced down at her own food once more, and a deep sorrow filled her heart.
"I understand..." Naru said softly putting her chopsticks down in the box and she stared down at her feet. Did she really understand? She didn't think so, but something inside her felt like it should, like it really did.
"I know you do." Usagi replied. "I don't know why I do, but I know you understand. I can feel your support... Arigato..." Naru opened her mouth to speak, but then she let the words die before they even had a chance to make themselves clear. "I've been avoiding you..." Usagi whispered. "I couldn't let you become a part of what I was. Something dangerous, but needed." Naru stared at her friend and for a moment it felt like they were in some other place and time. The world around then seemed to fall away and she could only take in Usagi's saddened features.
"I've been avoiding you so you could do it." Naru said staring intently at the side of Usagi's sadden face, her eyes glossed over. "Sailor... Moon..." Naru's muscles tightened and she straightened her back in surprise as she gripped the chopsticks tightly; her eyes open incredibly wide. Usagi's head lifted and she stared out over the school yard. Soon the bell would ring and call them back to class. Naru should eat faster, but... "Arigato, Usagi-chan." Usagi didn't move, but Naru found herself searching the schoolyard for Mizuno and Kino. They were Sailor Senshi too. How Naru knew that, she didn't know, but she did. As if she had known it before and was just remembering it. They were nowhere to be seen though.
"I won't give up..." Usagi whispered and Naru looked back to her. "I will keep going, even though its hard. As long as the others are with me, I will be able to do it. As long as they're with me..." She repeated that last part quietly.
"I believe in you, Usagi. You will be able to..." She stopped, but then she allowed the foreign words to be spoken. Perhaps they didn't make sense to her, but perhaps they would to Usagi. "You will be able to fix everything, and make it the way it was before." Usagi whipped her head back to face Naru, and Naru smiled brightly.
"N-Naru-chan..." Naru laughed and took another bite of her lunch. Usagi turned her head to face the schoolyard again and her eyes remained wide and surprised.
"Will I really be able to?" Usagi asked sadly, and Naru nodded enthusiastically.
"Mmhm." Naru confirmed. Usagi bit her lip. Naru sighed and put her lunch down. She wasn't hungry anyways. She spread her legs out in front of her and tilted her body back as she supported herself with her hands, the ring glimmering in the sunlight. Usagi looked down at the ring as it flickered with light and her fingers balled into tight fists.
"Hai..."
Luna sat down staring up at the tall door. No one was around, she could have easily transformed and opened the door herself, but she was too afraid of what she would find behind it. Would seeing Setsuna's sorrowful garnet eyes, or Hotaru's bright, happy violet ones hurt her more? Luna breathed in deeply as she prepared herself, but she couldn't make herself make her presence known. She didn't want to face it... She wasn't strong enough to face it. She had been telling Usagi to be strong, but in truth she was having difficulties remaining so. The door opened on its own after a minute or two and Michiru and Haruka stared down at her in surprise as they took a half step out onto the porch.
"Oh, Luna..." Michiru moved out onto the porch and Haruka followed after her, and held the door open for Luna. "Pluto, I mean, Setsuna and Hotaru are still inside in the kitchen. Michiru and I are going into the city." Haruka spoke, and Michiru stood with the Deep Aqua Mirror gripped lightly in her hands as she held it in front of her chest.
"We wanted to do some more research." Michiru explained, and then she grinned as she glanced at Haruka. "Haruka doesn't enjoy standing around idly for long."
"I know." Luna said and the two of them looked down at her in surprise. "Go on ahead. I'm just here to wait for Usagi. We don't seem to have anything new to tell you anyways." The two Outers nodded slowly and then once Luna had stepped into the house they closed the door behind her. Luna only hesitated another moment before making her way slowly towards the kitchen.
"And I've read almost all of Hans Christian Anderson's works, and have found more and more poems I like!" Hotaru chattered away happily telling her "Mama" everything and anything she could think of. Setsuna sat at the table beside her with a cup of tea grasp in her hands, warming her and helping her wake up. She had only been up for about an hour and a half, and Hotaru had waited patiently all morning as she slept in the darkened guest bedroom; the bedroom that had once been hers. In truth she had been somewhat surprised that Michiru and Haruka had moved into the exact same house without Hotaru and her being a factor. It was surprising and not surprising at the same time, and Setsuna wasn't sure if it was a comfort or a slight pain to be in the house knowing what she did. "I've also improved my Spanish and Russian, but its been difficult to keep up." Hotaru smiled brightly as she laughed a bit. "I think my mind has finally hit the wall in how much it can retain." she said jokingly. Setsuna smiled genuinely. She was trying hard to keep her sorrow to herself, but she wondered how long she could keep it from Hotaru. How long could she convince her it was simply from exhaustion? Truthfully... she was surprised Hotaru hadn't already noticed. The girl was the most insightful she had ever known.
"Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death." Setsuna said taking a sip of her tea, and Hotaru's smile remained wide as she leaned her elbows against the table.
"Yeah, but when Einstein said that he didn't think about someone who has had over a thousand years of education behind her!" Hotaru countered in jest. Setsuna chuckled under her breath as she put the cup down onto the saucer. Hotaru lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Setsuna just as desperately as she had done the night before on The Moon. Setsuna placed her hand on the back of the girl's head and pressed her close. "I missed you so much." Hotaru whispered. Setsuna tightened her grip on the younger girl. Yes, she was a thousand years old, but she was so young and innocent at heart. Never fully growing up, but remaining the wisest of them all. If anything, she was the Senshi of Contradictions. "But now it will be alright." Hotaru continued clinging onto her Mama tightly. "We'll fix everything and get back to the way it was!" Hotaru said desperately. Setsuna's eyes narrowed as she tried to forbid the tears from coming through her mask. She held Hotaru close to her, not letting her go for fear that if she did she would finally see through her poor act.
"Yes." Setsuna agree closing her eyes. "We will not let it be the end of everything." She finally let Hotaru pull away and Setsuna offered her a dark smile. If she could keep the tears in last night, right now should be easier to do. Hotaru smiled brightly at Setsuna in agreement, but it seemed forced from both ends. Setsuna's smile faded a bit and she glanced over at the clock. It was still a few hours until the others got out of school, and she would have to spin more details out for them. She didn't know what to tell them though. The truth was forbidden, but she had nothing else to supply them. There was very little left for them to do. All they could do... was fight. Movement from the hallway caught hold of Setsuna's attention and she turned to get a better look at what it was. Luna sat in the doorway with her tail wrapped around the base of her body. Hotaru followed her gaze and stood up happily as she saw the cat.
"Luna!" The cat's eyes darted nervously from Hotaru to Setsuna, and Setsuna could read it plainly on her face that she needed more answers. Answers she didn't dare give her in front of Hotaru even though she had a slight suspicion Hotaru could already feel it, but was banishing it from her mind. Just like Luna was banishing the forbidden subject from hers.
"Hotaru-chan..." Setsuna said remaining sitting at the table. The girl turned back to Setsuna expectantly, and Setsuna hesitated as she tried to think of a way to get her to leave them alone without her becoming suspicious of them. Setsuna offered her a bright smile and a soft laugh. "Could... Could you..." She paused as the excuse failed to come to her. Setsuna's smiled vanished and she felt the tears threatening to edge forward into being noticeable. Hotaru blinked in surprise as she watched Setsuna, and finally she could see the sadness she had been banishing from her notice. "Can Luna and I have some time alone?" Setsuna asked finally giving up on finding a lie to tell her. Hotaru's smile was gone now too, and she nodded slowly before running out of the kitchen and made her way quickly towards the study.
The girl disappeared from view, and Setsuna stared after her sadly.
"Hotaru-chan..." Setsuna whispered. Luna sat facing the way Hotaru had run with wide eyes. "I fear... In her heart, she knows the truth as well, but is simply banishing it from her mind." Setsuna whispered. Her head tilted to the side as tears finally made their way to the edges of her garnet eyes. "She knows Small Lady is... She just can't let herself think it or acknowledge it." Setsuna's eyes closed as she swallowed hard, but the lump in her throat was making it difficult to breath or talk normally. "I prefer it that way... I just wish I could have shielded all of the truth from her." Her eyes opened as the first tear skid down her cheek. The trill of a violin floated down the hall from the study as Hotaru began to play, and Setsuna clasped her hands together with a fervent plea for the pain to not reach Hotaru; that she would continue to keep the truthful conclusion forbidden from her thoughts.
"Setsuna-san." Luna's voice said more clear and less nasally than usual, and when Setsuna opened her eyes she found Luna in human form in front of her, her blue eyes wide and desperate as she clasped her own hands together prayerfully, she was already leaning forward, but Setsuna's eyes closed again and the dark, serious expression she had kept on The Moon returned as she lowered her chin and placed her hands down against her knees.
"We both know the truth of the matter." Setsuna said before Luna could even ask any of her questions. Luna froze in her tracks and a painful sound escaped her lips as if Setsuna had physically stabbed her in the heart. Setsuna could hear Luna fall to her knees, and when she opened her eyes, Luna's head was cast downward and tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.
"How can it be gone?" She demanded through her tears. "How can it just be erased like that?" Luna asked through her growing sobs.
"Think of it like this, when Death Phantom rewound the film, he essentially made it blank again. It was still in flux and the future could be saved. But when Hotaru jumped out into the darkness, it made what was in flux become permanent. She..." Setsuna pause as she continued to try to think of a way to explain it in the simplest way possible. It was a difficult concept to describe. "It was like taking developing film in a darkroom and exposing it to light. It turned black..." Setsuna said returning to the film analogy, but it did no justice to what actually occurred. "Time is usually always in flux, and the future can become anything, but you can't have it be in flux and be within it at the same time." Setsuna continued, and Luna's head slumped even lower, and in a flash of light she was back into her feline state; her being too emotional to keep the transformation any longer. "Like how you cannot know the speed and position of an atom at the same time. When Hotaru entered the changing time, she forced it to decided, and once it decided it became permanent." Luna's head lifted and the tears refused to stop, and she seemed to have stopped trying to halt them.
"But they can remember..." Luna countered.
"An afterimage." Setsuna said. "It's an echo on their minds of what had been, and plausibly they could remember everything. The future we knew did happen or else Death Phantom wouldn't have caused this paradox, but to let them remember now... What we cannot return to..." Luna bit her lip as she continued to cry uncontrollably. "It would be cruel to show them now." Setsuna whispered as she sat with her face now completely blank and vacant. "We have a hard fight ahead of us, and Death Phantom is going to be taking a great amount of care in keeping an eye on the on goings here. Once they begin to fight, he will eventually make himself known, and I fear he will be what causes our undoing." Her eyes cast downward and her hands tightened into fists as they sat on her legs. "But... no matter what, as long as we have breath..." Her voice was growing stern instead of its usual lack of emotion. "We will keep fighting!" Setsuna said, and then her muscles relaxed again as she returned to her somber state. "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." Setsuna quoted. "A wise man once said that..." She said tilting her head to the side sorrowfully. "I will not let that be the truth of it..."
Luna was sobbing without any internal controls as she shook her head in despair. The Forbidden Subject seeping through her entire being and the pain ripped through her along with it as her heart shattered. She sobbed loudly and she gasped for air, but it was impossible. Setsuna kept her face turned away from Luna as she too cried softly to herself. Luna's head lifted high as she let out another impossibly pained cry.
"Diana!"
"Usagi-chan!" Usagi glanced back behind her to see Makoto for the first time that day as she walked up behind her as they left the school.
"Mako-chan... Where were you and Ami-chan at lunch today?" She inquired. Makoto smiled shyly.
"Well... um... we were having a sort of conference over our communicators with Haruka-san and Michiru-san." She explained. "You were talking to Naru-san already, and we didn't think it wise to say anything in front of her."
"Oh..." Usagi responded softly. "I guess that's okay." Makoto walked beside her silently for a moment longer.
"Usagi-chan, Makoto-chan!" They glanced back to see Ami hurrying after them in a quick jog. She slowed to a walk beside them and offered them a bright smile. "We should make our way to The Crown." She told them. "Minako and Rei are already there." A few minutes later they entered into the air-conditioned arcade and sure enough Minako and Rei sat at the counter talking to Motoki.
"Rei-chan! Minako-chan!" The two girls turned in their chairs to face them and Makoto let out a small chuckle.
"It still is surprising to me that I've never seen you all here together before, or at least, noticed it. Funny how you notice something for the first time and then you always find yourself seeing it after that." He said, and no one had the heart to tell him that it was indeed because they had never been together before.
"Yeah, funny isn't it." Rei agreed taking a sip of her milkshake.
"So..." Minako began as Motoki walked away from the counter to help another gamer nearby. "What's the plan?"
"Michiru-san and I were going to return to the mansion and stake it out for awhile." Ami explained. "And I was thinking you could help Haruka out with something. She didn't specify what it was exactly, but she said she would appreciate the help from you." Minako bit her lip and seemed to think it over suspicious of what the woman's actual intentions could be.
"Where?" Minako asked. Ami pulled out the paper she had written the address and handed it to Minako. She frowned as she read it.
"A dojo?" She asked tilting her head to the side as she looked back up at the others. "What does that have to do with our mission?" She asked. Ami shrugged.
"She said something about seeing something suspicious there recently." She said putting her hand to her chin as she spoke; appearing not to fully believe it. Minako placed the paper in her skirt pocket.
"Well, we won't know the truth until we find out." Minako said standing up. Rei sucked down the last few sips of her milkshake as she stood up as well.
"Usagi and I will head over to their house." Makoto said, and Usagi nodded slowly in agreement.
"Luna said she would be going there and to meet her after school." She agreed. Rei placed the glass back onto the counter with a sigh of refreshment and wiped her mouth with a napkin.
"I'm sorry." She said finally. "I can't be of any assistance today until later. I'm expected at The Shrine. Grandpa can't run everything all of the time." She confided and then she side as she shook her head woefully. "I tell him we should hire somebody to help him for when I can't be there, but the man is stubborn." Minako nudged her with her elbow.
"Maybe he should hire a cute love interest for you." She said jokingly, and Rei's face contorted in annoyance.
"I am not interested. Thank you." She said, and then her eyes opened. "Anyways, with my luck he wouldn't be cute."
"With your luck it would be Jed-san." Makoto added and Rei glared at her.
"Never." Rei growled. A soft laugh escaped the others and Usagi found herself grinning slightly as well. Rei noticed the grin and heightened her act dramatically. She lifted her head high and placed her hands on her hips. "I can't stand him, ne..."
"Come on." Minako said grabbing hold of her arm. "I'll walk with you for a bit." She said as she began to pull Rei away from the counter and Rei mockingly flailed her other arm behind her as Minako dragged her. "We can't have you being late for work!"
"Its not like he pays me!" Rei complained loudly as they exited the arcade. Usagi giggled and Ami smiled as she and Makoto began to make their way to the door as well.
"I'm glad we got Usagi-chan to smile again, even if it was for a little while." Minako said almost happily as they walked in the park. Her hands pressed against the back of her head as she walked proudly with her blonde hair swaying behind her. Rei didn't respond, but she had a small smile on her face as well. Minako's smile faded and her eyes glanced up at the darkened sky, her blue eyes sad and pensive. "Do you really think we can do it?" Rei's smile vanished as well and her face fell back into its serious mask.
"We have to." She said. "The royal family cannot end." To have that beautiful light go out... it was unthinkable. Minako continued to walk looking upwards and she sighed, but she agreed. The white light of that beautiful planet could not vanish from the night sky. She couldn't live without it...
"I just wish we knew mor-"
"Konnichiwa!" A loud, bright voice cried out in front of them and it startled Minako into jumping in panic out of her pensive state and forming a defensive pose, and Rei stood in surprise beside her. A girl probably a couple years younger than them, maybe a year or two younger than Hotaru stood in front of them. She smiled brightly at the two of them, and her eyes remained closed tightly as she continued to smile. Her head tilted to the side happily as she stood in front of them, and as she did so her pink hair moved to the side with it. "Konnichiwa!" She repeated happily.
"K-Konnichiwa..." Minako replied and Rei remained beside her with a confused and quizzical look on her face, she could only blink once before the girl's eyes opened and her body straightened. Her eyes were just a shade pink lighter then her hair and they had an almost mischievous gleam in them, and the pink worked wonderfully with the bright yellow bow wove through her looped hair. Though... Minako couldn't decide how her hair-style worked exactly. "C-Can we help you?" She stammered. The young girl bowed and then with a flick of her hand a single rose appeared in between her fingers. The two Senshi blinked in surprise, and the young girl held it out to them.
"Take this as an invitation to visit our show sometime down this street." The young girl said cheerfully pointing down deeper into the park.
"S-Street performer?" Rei asked. The girl laughed happily in agreement, and she placed the rose into Rei's hands. She stared at it in a confused state as to what to do with it exactly, but then held it closer to her chest not wanting to seem rude. The girl's eyes sparkled, and then she flipped backwards away from them and posed happily blowing a kiss before she disappeared out of sight. Minako glanced at the flower with a deep scowl. "What a strange girl." Rei stated finally. "A strange aura..." She looked up at Minako who seemed to be drawn in by the flower. "Minako?" Minako looked back up at Rei's face and laughed dismissively.
"Nothing, nothing." She said. She looked back towards the direction the girl had gone before the two of them turned to continue their way towards The Hikawa Shrine.
"Onee-chan, what was that?" The blue hair girl inquired, the other two beside her stood with their arms crossed as they watched the two girls walk away.
"And what was the deal with telling them to come watch us? We aren't actually going to preform are we? I don't think we have the time." The green haired girl complained. The pink haired girl's eyes narrowed.
"She reminded me of her." She stated plainly. The three of them blinked and turned back to view the blonde girl more closely.
"How can you be sure?!" The red haired girl demanded. CereCere shook her head.
"I can't be, but there was something... familiar about her."
Notes: I've always agreed with the people who suggested Naru knew Usagi was Sailor Moon, or at least suspected it. And for this, even if she hadn't know while at school, she would have at least found out along with the rest of the world when she became Neo Queen Serenity. If her and Umino actually would ever get married I don't know. They were a cute couple, but I'm not sure if I would see them actually getting married. But they are in this...
And now we have come to the subplot I wasn't sure I wanted to keep in. I just felt like... if I didn't, my story wouldn't be... accurate? Does that sound okay? They won't have a heavy part in the story like they were going to originally (They were originally going to be the ones to save Usagi at the fountain, but that changed pretty quickly). They just have to, for all sakes and purposes, be there. I'm just afraid it will get to complicated (even more complicated) and take away from the story, but I couldn't bring myself to take them out. They get ripped off in the anime anyways. Oh, and another reason they won't be in it a lot is because I wouldn't be able to pull of their characterization. I haven't seen SuperS in years, and only know their manga counterparts that are less developed (One good thing about filler episodes)!