I Do not own Sailor Moon or any of its licensed properties.
There was a sweet scent in the air. Something like pancakes and flowers. Jasmine, maybe but she couldn't be sure. The sun was streaming in through the curtains, and a gentle breeze was wafting across her face and hair. Usagi rolled over, away from invading light, mildly surprised that her alarm hadn't gone off nor Luna hadn't woken her up with the sun so high. She snuggled down into the white fluffiness that was surrounding her.
"Luna, are you feeling okay? Seems like you slept in for a while." When she didn't get a response, Usagi felt around for her mentor's weight on the bed. Unable to find the usually verbose cat, she rolled over again, intending to scan the room. It was then that she noticed the strange follow of the walls. A mild sky blue, but definitely not her usually pink and rabbit style.
Bolting upright, she immediately reached for her broach, but was shocked a second time in as many seconds, to find it was not attached to her blouse. Fear throated to overwhelm her until she noticed out of the corner of her eye her second most important piece of jewelry.
"You can transform if you would be more comfortable, but you should know that we won't fight you." A calm voice kept Usagi's thoughts from sinking too deep into the sadness of her romantic situation. Whipping around into a defense position, she noticed for the first time a woman with long black hair with a strange greenish tint, holding a tray of food. Now she understood the pancake smell at least, as it began to drift through the room. As much as Usagi wanted to scarf down the proffered food, she had been a scout long enough to become a little wary of strangers. She was surprised to feel a sense of trust for the new woman though. Moving towards a small arm chair and side table, the stranger placed the food down and turned back to the blonde.
"Eat please. You are going to need all of the energy you can get to handle what is to come."
An unsolicited imaged flashed through Usagi's memory of this same woman, in a green fuku, staff in hand, talking with her mother, Queen Serenity in the Silver Millennium.
"Pluto." It wasn't a question so much a realization. With a small smile and nod of recognition, Usagi shot across the room, engulfing the remembered friend in a tight hug.
"Hello Serenity." Pluto returned the hug with a look of endearment as an older sister looking at her long lost sibling. They stood in this embrace for several moments, Usagi revealing in the fact the inner scouts weren't the only ones to have survived. Eventually though, the taller woman gave one last tight squeeze and pulled away. "Princess, I really must insist you eat something. We have much to discuss, and I would rather you didn't collapse from malnutrition in the middle of it."
"Only if you promise to stop calling me princess. It makes me uncomfortable in daily life. I am Tsukino Usagi in this era."
"Then I must in insist you call me Meiou Setsuna."
Quickly agreeing to the terms, Setsuna helped Usagi to the arm chair near the food, where she happily began inhaling the food.
"I see your appetite hasn't changed with the new era." Setsuna went about straightening the room while the young blonde was immersed in her food.
"If my memory serves, you were never much of a cook." Usagi eyed the other woman, who had frozen in place, curious as to what she was about to learn. It was with a sigh of resolve that Setsuna made her way back to the arm chair, only to sit on the coffee table across from it.
"We will get to that in a minute, however, I am curious about a few things myself. Maybe you can fill in a few holes for me."
"Okay, I think I can handle your questions, just please understand there may be something I don't wish to talk about. All I ask is for you to respect my feelings on certain topics."
Curious as to what she could mean, Setsuna, didn't realize how quickly she would get her answer.
"Why haven't you asked where you are or why you are here and not at home?" It took a second, but Usagi wanted to think through her answer, without reasoning any suspicion.
" Well, to be honest, I did freak out before I knew you were well… you." She began, "Then I assumed that I am safe with you, here, wherever here is. What would the point of stressing out in the time being be?"
"That makes some sense, but aren't you worried about where the other scouts are and why they haven't rushed to your side? Or at least why one of them wasn't at your side when you woke up?" The older woman frowned when thinking about her strange behavior. Truthfully, she was happy that the inners weren't harassing them everyday about her progress, but the must be worried about their princess, at the very least. The young woman stood and began making her way to the window a sad smile on her face.
"I am sure they are doing just fine."
Apparently that was case closed. This worried Setsuna to no end. The inners had the strongest relationship to the princess and for her to be so ambivalent about their absence as well as lack of communication made her realize, more than anything else, there was something horrifically amiss.
"Well, any how, we will make sure to let them know you are up and about and feeling better. Then, at the very least they can get word to the prince, who I am sure is out…"
"NO!" The shout broke the calm of the room as she spun to the woman. "No," she proceeded more calmly, "I mean, they shouldn't be worrying about me for the moment. I am sure there are much more important issues they need to be dealing with." This thought was much quieter as she turned back to the widow she had been gazing out of. In the morning sun she could see a gorgeous garden and a large grounds. Setsuna caught what was a nearly inaudible whisper, "I am sure he has much bigger, more important things than remembering to worry about me."
She was frozen at this revelation, afraid of what she had heard, praying it couldn't be true. The prince of earth surely couldn't be that obtuse as to forget the love of his life and soul mate, particularly when she was in trouble. She regained her senses as Usagi tired back around, acting as though she hadn't heard the last depressing statement.
"All right, we wouldn't tell them anything until you are ready. In the mean time is there anything you would like to know or is there anything you need?"
"Actually, how long have I been here? Are my parents okay? Do they know where I am?"
"You're parents are fine, they think you are staying at a friends house for a few weeks." Setsuna explained, still not forgetting the bigger issues at hand. "You have been asleep for about 4 days. You really needed to recover after that last attack. Speaking of which, Usagi-chan, what happened during that attack? Did they sneak up on you?"
Usagi looked at Setsuna contemplating the situation, and she realized there was no point in lying. What difference would it make in the end to the Guardian of Time? She gathered up her courage and looked the woman in the eye.
"No, they didn't sneak up on me, Setsuna-chan. I knew they were coming, there just didn't seem like a reason to fight anymore."