Usagi's Struggles: Revelations from the Future

by Serena530

Two surprises in one event; one of which forces Usagi's hand, which leads to far reaching changes. Changes no one could have anticipated, and revelations no one could have imagined. Sequel to Usagi's Struggles. Warning: Long chapters inside

8. A Retreat and Meetings

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or her characters, and have no right to it except as a long time fan.

A Retreat and Meetings

Friday: Day Nineteen continued...

Usagi slowed after a short time of running and stopped to take in her surroundings. It was unsurprisingly quiet, and to her left at a bit of a distance was her prince and to her right at the same distance was Naru.

They were all spread out to give each other room for their individual and personal training before they came back together to work with each other.

Usagi decided to start with some basic stretching. She stretched out her arms and legs to their full length, and bent over and twisted this way and that way to make sure she was loose and didn't get any cramps.

When she finished she sat in the grass and decided to do a few exercises. She was naturally strong as a consequence of being a senshi, but there was nothing wrong with adding to that strength to make sure she was the best she could be. First she shifted onto her stomach and started with doing some push-ups.

Looking over she saw Naru doing the same and had no doubt that it was because she spotted her doing so. She turned her head in the other direction and saw her prince hanging from a tree branch doing pull-ups.

Usagi hummed thoughtfully and decided when she finished her push-ups she would see if the branches were arranged around her in a way to allow her to do the same. If it was she would do some sit-ups to give her arms a break and then do it, and if it wasn't she would just forget it and continue on with her exercises.

After doing push-ups until her arms began to burn she did ten more and then stopped. She shifted until she was sitting and shook out her arms as she looked up to check the branches. As far as she could see there were none that were thin enough for her to have a firm grip on in order to do any pull-ups.

With that discovery she decided to continue on with her other exercises as she had planned to do, and bent her knees as she lay back on the ground. She linked her fingers behind her head and began to do sit-ups, something that was a bit difficult since there was nothing to secure her feet but she still managed.

Over and over she curled up at her waist until her stomach and chest touched her thighs before easing back to press her back into the grass. Her stomach began to burn after a while but she continued on for a full minute counting down the minute but not keeping track of the number of sit-ups she was doing.

When she finished she stood up and stretched bending over and reaching down to her toes to stretch her back, arms, and legs at the same time as she wondered what else she could do next if anything before she started with her powers.

Usagi hummed and stood up straight as she decided to try an exercise she had seen people doing in parks as part of their exercise regime.

She shifted her feet until they were even with her shoulders and took a lunging step with her right foot, and bent her knee lowering herself until the knee of her left leg bent and touched the grass before lifting herself back up.

She knew that people usually stepped forward with their left foot and repeated the process, but the area around her wasn't large enough for her to move in a continuous straight line.

So instead she repeated the motion, staying in place, until her right thigh burned to the point where she couldn't do it comfortably anymore then she took a lunging step forward with her left leg and bent her knee and lowered herself until her right knee touched the grass.

On and on she continued bending her knees and lowering herself and easing herself back up again and again until her thigh began to burn with the effort.

When she could no longer take it anymore she stopped and shook her legs as she shifted from one foot to the next, and then stood still as she lifted her hands and focused on her internal power as she gazed at a bush in the distance ahead of her.

She was more than ready to start working with her powers; especially since she knew the more she did the easier and quicker it would be to use them during a fight.

Usagi took a breath and lifted her hands and cupped them together as she focused on her power. White light bubbled like liquid and a familiar image of a silver blue tinted waxing crescent moon and a waning crescent moon fused together back to back appeared within the light.

Infinite Moonlight Illusion. She thought as she thrust her hands out in front of her, and watched as silver blue tinted crescent moons flew out and scattered, rotating rapidly in every direction away from her before curving and converging on the bush she aimed at and disappearing on contact.

Usagi nodded and focused harder. She could obviously launch her attack but she wanted to be able to launch it quicker.

Maybe if I move my hands differently while focusing it will launch faster. She considered thoughtfully.

Nodding again this time she lifted her hands and brought them together until her thumbs were pressed together and could already see the white light glowing around her fingers.

Infinite Moonlight Illusion. She thought once again as she aimed at the same bush, and watched the silver blue tinted crescent moons scatter in every direction before curving and heading toward the bush. As soon as they reached the bush they disappeared leaving the bush undamaged.

Good; much quicker than the original way I was launching it. She thought. Now can I launch it with only one hand? I might be in a situation where I'm holding my scepter.

She knew that she could launch it with her scepter but it was always possible that she could forget in the heat of battle or instead of holding her scepter she could be holding on to something or someone else and could only use one hand to attack.

With that thought in mind Usagi lifted her right hand and narrowed her eyes slightly at the bush, and silently called on her power, watching as white light flared around her hand.

Infinite Moonlight Illusion. She thought and watched as again silver blue tinted crescent moons scattered in every direction before they curved in the air and headed toward the bush. Just as before they disappeared as they reached the bush leaving it untouched.

Usagi repeated the one handed attack a few more times so she felt comfortable doing it, and was able to do it quickly before she decided to move on to the modified version of her attack.

Instead of starting as she had before with cupping her hands together she raised her arm and aimed her right hand at the same bush she had been using and watched white light glow around her hand.

Infinite Moonlight Illusion Beam. She thought and watched as a white beam of light with an infinite repeating image of silver blue tinted crescent moons shot forcefully through the air. It hit the bush, but just like the other attack it left it untouched.

Usagi nodded in satisfaction and prepared to do it again.

Ami looked around as she got to her feet after finishing her exercises, and seeing that some of the others were starting to practice with their powers she decided to get started as well.

Mercury Ice Bubbles! She thought as she aimed her hands at the lower trunk of a tree. Cold bubbles streamed out of her hands and quickly flowed through the air before coming into contact with the tree, freezing the bark.

She nodded and lifted her hands and launched it again trying to do it faster since it made sense to want to be able to launch her attacks as fast as possible to make sure to hit her opponents.

As she was launching her attack yet again she idly wondered if she could possibly use two of her attacks at the same time; launching an attack from each hand.

There's only one way to find out. She thought before she switched to launching her other attack to try and work on launching it quickly.

Mercury Aqua Rhapsody! She said internally as she raised her hands. Instantly a watery lyre appeared and she played it, which instantly produced swirls of water that combined together and slammed into the ice covered bark on the tree.

She nodded at that but immediately began to launch it again focusing on cutting out the lyre so she could produce the attack faster.

Mercury Aqua Rhapsody! She thought, and this time the swirls of water came streaming out of her hands and sped through the air before blasting the tree in the same spot as before.

From there she launched it again and again, making sure the lyre didn't appear, and sent streams of water flowing through the air toward the target tree.

When she was confident in her speed with both attacks she lifted both hands, keeping them apart, and focused on launching both attacks at the same time.

Mercury Ice Bubbles! Mercury Aqua Rhapsody! She thought, her mind completely focused, and watched as both attacks came flowing out of her hands. Cold bubbles streamed out of one hand and streams of water out of the other hand, both speeding through the air and colliding against the tree.

She sighed and then grimaced as she saw a few streams of water frozen against the tree, and she decided that trying both attacks at the same time was more difficult than it was worth since it took too much concentration but that she could still use it if a situation called for it.

I'll just have to keep them separate, so they don't interfere with each other before hitting the target. She thought.

Makoto lifted her hands with a frown on her face and her lightning sparking around her hands as she gazed at a tree in front of her.

Supreme Thunder. She thought and watched as bolts of lightning streaked from her hands and slammed against the tree trunk.

She nodded and then sighed. She wished she had something else to work with. She felt like her attack had become predictable and monotonous. She knew that it couldn't be predictable since everyone that she had used it against outside practice had been defeated and weren't around to realize it anymore.

But still, she had no variety and it was irritating to have only one attack. She wondered if this was how Usagi felt when she only had her tiara to work with or when Ami only had her bubble fog.

Maybe it's something I can work on during this training trip. In fact, I will work on it; that's the point of this trip after all. She thought.

Makoto nodded to herself and lifted her hands, focusing until lightning sparked around them.

Supreme Thunder. She thought as she fired off her attack again.

Naru shifted her feet slightly in the grass as she focused on a tree in the distance. She was still surprised that she had just done exercises wearing her high heels, and it hadn't felt wrong or irritating. It hadn't been difficult at all.

But now it's time to practice with my power. She thought as she lifted her hands and brought them together.

Fire Soul. She said internally as she focused on the heat inside her and watched as a fireball came shooting out of her fingers and sped toward the tree she had been looking at. It slammed into the trunk and dissipated without leaving any burns on the bark.

She sighed. She hadn't even used the attack yet in an actual attack and she already wished she had more to work with. If nothing else she wanted something else to work with to further drive home that she wasn't Hino Rei, and would do the job better then her.

She supposed that this training trip could help with that. Maybe the others could help her figure out how she could get another attack or let her know if it was something that could only happen in specific circumstances.

Yeah that's it. I'll ask. She thought as she brought her hands up once again.

Fire Soul. She said silently, and sent another ball of fire streaking through the air toward the same tree as before.

Minako sighed as she shook her arms to rest them from the push-ups she had just finished then she lifted a hand and pointed a finger toward a low bush in the distance.

Crescent Beam. She said silently, and watched as the familiar beam of light shot off and struck the bush before it stopped. The bush was unharmed, which wasn't unexpected. The last thing she wanted was to harm the nature in the area.

She looked up to the trees surrounding her and decided to try something different. She picked a tree that was slightly behind her and jumped up high and landed lightly on a thick branch. She moved around carefully until she was facing the direction she had before, and lifted her arm and aimed her finger down at the same bush she had been targeting.

Crescent Beam. She said internally and watched the familiar light beam once again shoot out and through the air. It struck the bush as expected with no effect, which was also expected.

Minako sighed and looked around at what she could see of the others. She wished she had another attack to use. She felt her Crescent Beam was repetitive and she needed some variety.

She focused back on her target bush and as she aimed at it she considered that she might just learn a new attack this weekend. They had to come out of the trip having learned something new after all.

Crescent Beam. She thought as she launched the attack, and watched it streak through the air.

Mamoru started off throwing his piercing roses at the trees in his immediate area and in different parts of the trees. He even threw them at the ground, particularly at the base of trees.

He would use his exploding roses as well, but he knew that was too noisy and his piercing roses served the same purpose just without the noise. They were in the middle of nowhere in the forest they were in, but that didn't mean they couldn't still draw attention if they started making things explode continuously.

He did this for a few minutes, jumping up into the air and onto tree branches as he threw his roses in various directions to make sure he covered all his maneuverability bases.

When he tossed his last rose he stood back in his original position and summoned two regular roses and focused on what he wanted. Instantly they shifted into glowing red petals before they spun around his body.

Spinning Rose Evolution. He thought as he thrust his hand forward, and watched as the petals came together and shot forward in a beam toward a tree in the distance.

Nothing happened when it hit, which he expected since it wasn't meant to damage anything but his opponent. He again pulled out two roses and again they shifted into glowing petals before he directed the attack at the high branches of the same tree.

The red beam of petals went shooting fast and slammed into the branches, stopping before they went passed the leaves and into the sky.

Mamoru nodded and this time took out five roses. He wanted to see if he could make the attack stronger with more petals or if the number of roses he used wouldn't matter and it would have the same strength despite the number of roses if he willed it to.

He focused as he had before and the roses shifted into swirling glowing rose petals, and thrust his hand forward and watched the beam carefully as it sped toward the tree he was using.

He saw that there were more petals swirling, but the flow of the attack didn't feel stronger than usual. He supposed he would have to try it with an actual opponent to see if it truly made a difference.

Mamoru decided to move on and work with another attack. He focused on his internal power and gestured with a hand and an open red rose blossom appeared in his palm. Immediately the blossom burst into golden flames, and he nodded before he focused on the same tree as before.

Burning Rose Illusion. He thought as he threw the fiery blossom. It slammed into the trunk of the tree and exploded like a little bomb. The golden fire spread into large flames as the golden rose petals scattered around the tree.

Within moments however, the fire died down until it disappeared altogether without harming the tree or greenery around it.

He nodded before he summoned two more rose blossoms, and watched as one appeared in each palm and instantly caught fire.

He threw them both one at a time up high toward the branches of the same tree, and watched as they exploded against the branches and rained fiery rose petals down on the grass from the large burning flame.

Mamoru decided that was enough with that attack since he didn't think it could be improved on. They were little flower bombs; that was that.

Last but not least. He thought as he pulled out two roses. He once again focused on his powers and watched the rose petals turn black at his will.

Deadly Rose Petals. He thought as he threw them, and watched as the two flowers shattered in the air into sharp black razor rose petals as they flew toward the tree he had aimed at.

They slammed into the tree trunk and although it was too dark to see he knew they had sliced into the bark wherever they came into contact.

He didn't think he could make that attack any more destructive or deadly for his enemies aside from adding more roses in order to make more sharp rose petals. With that he pulled out a hand full of roses and willed them to turn black, which they did instantly.

Deadly Rose Petals. He thought as he threw them. He watched as they all shattered mid flight into black razor sharp rose petals and flew toward the tree in a loose group. Again it was too dark to see the results, but he was confident in the success of the attack.

He sighed and looked toward his princess off to his right. She was in the middle of using her scepter attack, so he headed over to her to see if she had much left she wanted to do by herself.

Mamoru stopped a few feet away from her and watched as she stood with a serious expression on her face as she launched the now familiar attack of a white crescent moon and blue stars in the middle of pink and blue swirls of light.

He sighed slowly as he watched her figure standing straight and tall, at least tall for her anyway, her arm outstretched with her new scepter in her firm grip and pointed at her target. Add her long moonlight hair and her sailor uniform, and there was a picture guaranteed to attract him.

Usagi lowered her arm and her scepter in the process, and looked to her prince and smiled softly at him as she sensed his desire.

"Hey love. What's up?" She asked.

"Are you finished working with your attacks?" He asked.

"Yeah. I'm just continuing to get comfortable using my scepter's attack." She answered. "What about you?" She asked.

"I'm finished. There's nothing else I can do with them to improve them." Mamoru replied. "If the others are finished we can start working on combining our attacks with each other." He suggested.

"I like the sound of that." Usagi said before she looked around at the others. Naru was the closest and happened to look over in their direction so she waved her over, and watched as she began to jog toward them.

Mamoru looked to Minako, Makoto, and Ami, and saw that they were all doing their thing. Moving around and launching their attacks from various angles.

He whistled loud and sharply causing them all to look around, and waved them over toward them just as Naru reached them.

"Is everything okay?" Naru asked.

"Yeah." Usagi said. "Mamoru just suggested that we start working on combining our attacks." She added, Naru nodded as the others quickly jogged over.

"I think we should start working on combining our attacks with each other." Mamoru said.

"All at once or just two or three at a time?" Minako asked.

"We can go with just two of us at a time." He replied.

"How should we start? Who's going to go first?" Makoto asked.

"Since it was my suggestion I'll go first. I'll start with my piercing roses." Mamoru said. "Who has an attack that will go well with my roses?" He asked the group.

"I think my fire will go well with them if they don't burn them in the process." Naru said hesitantly.

"As long as you don't want them to burn then your fire shouldn't burn them." Mamoru said.

"Alright let's do this." She said with a nod.

Mamoru responded by pulling out a handful of his vibrant red piercing roses. He nodded to her and she nodded in return, and he turned and faced the trees behind them before he threw all of them at once in a lose group.

Fire Soul. Naru thought as she brought her hands up and silently launched her attack.

The fire ball collided with the roses and when the flames cleared the roses were surrounded in fire as they continued to fly through the air. They slammed into the trunk of a tree, and stuck in the wood burning and yet not harming the tree.

"That looks good. It's sure to do those Cardians some damage." Minako said.

"I think my lightning will work well with your roses." Makoto said, and Mamoru nodded and pulled out another handful of roses.

"Ready when you are." He said.

Makoto nodded and brought her hands up in readiness. Mamoru threw his roses sharply at the same tree as before.

Supreme Thunder. She thought as she silently launched her attack.

The lightning streaked forward and collided with and wrapped around the group of roses as they flew toward the tree, and slammed into it causing the lightning to spread off the flowers and around the bark.

"That's sure to have an interesting affect on a cardian; at least if it connects." Usagi commented.

"We'll just have to practice launching and connecting our attacks from different angles." Mamoru said, and Ami nodded in agreement.

"One of my attacks should work with your roses." She said as she moved forward.

Mamoru nodded and again took out a handful of roses. He threw them and Ami brought her hands up to attack.

Mercury Aqua Rhapsody. She thought as she sent the attack quickly.

Streams of water sped toward the roses and wrapped around each one, encasing it in a thin blue watery shell, before they slammed into the tree. Just like with Makoto's lightning the water spread out and away from the roses and against the bark.

Mamoru, Naru, Makoto, and Ami practiced those combinations from every stationary angle in the immediate area to make sure they could make the combinations without standing right next to each other.

From there they moved on to combine each girl's most compatible attack with Usagi's Infinite Moonlight Illusion Beam attack.

First they tried Makoto's Supreme Thunder attack, which caused green lightning to crackle around the white beam of light with an infinite repeating image of silver blue tinted crescent moons.

That combination looked powerful so they went ahead with trying the others. Naru's Fire Soul attack was tried next and when the red ball of fire made contact it stretched and swirled around the length of the white beam.

Next they tried Minako's Crescent Beam attack, and watched as the golden orange beam of light swirled around the white beam emphasizing the silver blue tinted crescent moons.

Lastly was Ami's Mercury Aqua Rhapsody attack and the blue streams of water swirled around the moonlight beam making it look like it belonged with Usagi's original attack.

Just as they had done with Mamoru's roses they began to move around and practice combining the attacks from different areas; sometimes missing and having to try again. They crouched on the ground, leaned around trees, perched high on tree branches, and jumped into the air as they launched their attacks in their attempts to combine them.

After they were satisfied with their progress with those combinations they tried to see what could work with Mamoru's Deadly Rose Petals attack.

After a few tries they decided that only Naru's and Makoto's attacks worked best with it. The fire and lightning each wrapped around each of the black razor sharp rose petals as soon as the attacks collided.

Next Mamoru launched his Spinning Rose Evolution attack, and after considering it they determined that only Ami, Naru, and Makoto's attacks would work well combined with it.

Ami's streams of water wrapped around it just as it did Usagi's moonlight beam attack, as did Makoto's lightning, and Naru's fire seemed to cover the head of the beam like a fiery cap.

Of course like with the other combinations they practiced these to the point where they were positive they could make the combinations at any time as long as one of them was aware of what attacks were being used at the time.

"How about we spend the rest of our time this evening working on moving through Ami's regular bubbles?" Usagi suggested. "And possibly dodging attacks to make it more realistic." She added.

"Yes." Minako agreed. "Your fog is good, but only if we can function in it safely." She said to Ami.

Ami agreed and quickly launched her Mercury Bubbles, and covered as much of the area around them as she could in her cool fog.

Immediately they began to try moving through the fog and not run into anyone or anything. They didn't have success at first, and that was just with them walking around, but eventually they managed, and soon added attacks and running around which completely threw them all off. All except for Ami.

After a while they decide to stop and eat and head to sleep, so they could rest up for the next day of training.

Saturday: Day Twenty

Early Afternoon

Luna & Artemis' POV

Luna walked along side Artemis as they made their way to the Tsukino household. She could admit to herself that she was nervous. She didn't know if Usagi's parents knew about her behavior towards Usagi or not, but she was sure she would still be nervous even if they didn't.

And that was for the simple fact that she knew how she had behaved and the things she had thought and said.

She had been working hard ever since the meeting where Usagi revealed that her best friend was the reincarnation of the princess of Mars, and the guy she had liked from the Negaverse turned out to be the reincarnation of one of Mamoru's Guardian Shittenou.

She had been so clearly wrong about Naru potentially turning on Usagi, finding out her secret and telling everybody about it, and even possibly becoming evil.

Luna could admit that it was wrong of her to assume such just because she happened to develop feelings for the man when he was part of the Negaverse. Liking a certain person didn't mean one had the potential to end up thinking and acting the way that person did.

She could still remember when Artemis pointed out that Rei liked Mamoru and nothing seemed to change the way she felt about him, and her attitude certainly didn't change for the better for liking him.

But of course that could be for the simple fact that he didn't return her feelings. Although, part of her wondered if things would have gone differently for Rei if she had never gone on those dates with him back when her crush first developed. She had been given a taste of something she wanted and then it was taken from her.

Would she have turned on Usagi the way she had if she had never been given that taste? Would her feelings have developed so far without those experiences?

Luna blinked and sigh quietly as she walked along, and thought that ultimately Rei likely would have turned on Usagi even without her feelings for Mamoru, because there was more to her behavior than those unrequited feelings.

She also had to factor in what she didn't know, because she was aware that she didn't know everything because Usagi didn't trust her.

She sighed quietly again knowing that she needed to gain her princess' trust again before too much more time passed, because she worried that the more time passed the less likely it was that Usagi would trust her enough to reveal such things.

Maybe she wouldn't even like her enough to tell her even if she managed to gain her trust. Or she would wash her hands of her and no longer worry about trusting her, because she would decide she no longer mattered.

Luna knew in order to gain Usagi's trust she needed to trust her in return. She needed to let her live her life without comment, lead her Senshi the way she wanted to, spend time with her boyfriend and soulmate, and accept that their relationship would never be what it was before.

In fact, it occurred to her in that moment that the relationship she recalled fondly might have been different for Usagi. Maybe she didn't remember it fondly, so she shouldn't expect Usagi to want to go back to that.

In fact, the more she thought about it the more she thought she was right. Usagi likely didn't think of their relationship after she had first become a senshi, or at least once Rei became a senshi, to be something she wanted to recall at all let alone go back to.

And she knew that was her fault. She had done a lot of criticizing of Usagi's behavior in general, believed everything Rei had said about her behavior at fights when she wasn't there to see it herself, and refused to take her word for anything.

Most notably was her insistence that Tuxedo Kamen was their enemy and shouldn't be trusted. Usagi had never believed that and told her repeatedly that she was wrong, but she had refused to believe her because she knew Usagi had a crush on him and determined that she was allowing that to influence her opinion of him.

She had been extremely wrong in that instance. He had turned out to be the Prince of the Earth, the man Usagi loved in the past, had been in a relationship with, and her soulmate.

Luna sighed a little louder and shook her head at herself. Usagi was the first senshi she had discovered, and she had all but ruined the relationship between them. She really needed to fix it, so they could be back on good terms and she could be allowed to advise her like she was supposed to.

She closed her eyes briefly as she wondered if she did manage to gain Usagi's trust if she would even want her advice. Would she be used to getting on without it after all the time that had passed?

Artemis looked over at Luna as he heard her sigh yet again, but said nothing as they continued to walk. He knew she was worried about the upcoming meeting, but nothing except going through it would make her feel better.

He was sure that it would be fine, and he hoped that it would help her. In fact, he was sure that it would help her to further adjust her thinking.

She had made a lot of progress; especially since they learned about Naru being the reincarnation of the princess of Mars and the replacement of the senshi of Mars, and Mamoru's guardians being alive.

Specifically the man from the Negaverse that Naru had fallen for being the reincarnation of one of Mamoru's guardians. Having that information revealed to her, and finding out how wrong all her preconceived notions were, had helped her change as far as he could tell.

Luna was finally thinking of Usagi as their princess and not just trying to accept it from what she had been told, she was no longer talking about how Usagi needed to spend all her time with Ami, Minako, and Makoto, and definitely no longer insisting that she not spend so much time with Mamoru.

She was no longer living in that fantasy world Usagi had believed her to be living in.

Artemis was happy about that because while he was upset with her for the way she had been treating their princess before and after they had learned she was their princess he didn't want her to end up like Rei.

He was sure that once she was no longer trying to change Usagi and mold her into who she wanted her to be, making snap judgments about people based on little information, and thinking objectively she would be able to do her job right.

Which was to advise their princess and the Senshi. He was well aware that she would still need to do some very important things before she was allowed to do that since at the moment she was only being informed of things.

She would have to gain Usagi's trust as well as Mamoru, Minako, and Naru's, prove that she had changed, and give advice and suggestions without bias.

Artemis hummed internally as the Tsukino house came into view, and wondered if she would be allowed to do her job even then. Usagi might be used to going without her advice with how long it had been.

He admitted that even he wasn't giving much advice or suggestions, but he supposed not many situations were happening recently where he would need to or he was being asked.

He held in a sigh; he just didn't know what would happen when she and Usagi finally spoke one on one and Usagi made her ultimate decision.

The two felines walked up to the front of the house and pass the gate before Artemis automatically began making his way around to the side of the house. Luna followed silently and soon they were at the back door.

She watched as he gazed at the door and the crescent moon on his forehead glowed briefly before the door silently opened. They went through and he quietly closed the door behind them before they set about moving further into the house.

The two felines moved through the ground floor of the Tsukino household silently, and as they moved toward the living room they could hear the TV going.

Artemis looked up at the back of the couch as they reached the living room and saw the back of Mrs. Tsukino's head. He slowly rounded the couch and seeing that she was alone he leapt up onto the coffee table and sat facing her.

Ikuko did a slight double take as she took in the white cat that had appeared in front of her.

"Artemis." She said in surprise, and then blinked as a black cat, that she recognized as Luna, silently leapt up onto the table and sat beside him.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Tsukino." Artemis said. "Is anyone else home?" He asked.

"No. I'm alone. My husband is at work, but he should be back soon, and Shingo went to a friend's house." She answered, and he nodded.

"You remember Luna." Artemis said as he gestured with a paw toward her.

"Yes." Ikuko said as her eyes shifted to the black feline once again. "It's nice to see you both. How are you both?"

"I'm very well; thank you." Artemis said.

"I'm well." Luna said in a subdued tone.

"We're here because I thought it was best for us to come while Usagi was away, so you and your husband can speak to Luna; to ask her any questions you had that you might have wanted to ask when you first learned Usagi's secret since Luna was the one to actually find Usagi." Artemis explained.

"It's also so you can express any feelings you have." He added. "I think it will be good for Luna to hear."

Ikuko blinked and looked to Luna, and nodded as she recalled why he had come before to take Luna away. Her daughter hadn't thought Luna was acting right with her, and separating Luna from her and spending time with Artemis was supposed to hopefully change that.

She recalled how her daughter hadn't trusted Luna to know that she had told her and her husband about her secret life, and had made sure she couldn't accidentally hear any conversations they had involving the subject.

"I was very shocked the first time I saw my daughter transform in front of me." Ikuko admitted. "Seeing her dressed as the warrior I had been seeing on the news was beyond surprising, and that didn't even include the shock of seeing her hair change color."

"Sometimes it's still a shock, especially now when she's fighting another enemy, and I'm aware that's what my daughter is doing." She continued.

"Lately, as a way to help me understand my daughter, I've begun to think of Usagi as a sort of military or law enforcement figure with her going out and training and fighting those creatures; only she isn't using guns or batons or tasers, but other abilities." Ikuko said, and then shook her head.

"I've heard the story of how my daughter came to be Sailor Moon, but I want to hear it from your point of view." She told Luna.

Luna nodded and took a nervous breath before she began to relate the memory of her first encounter with Usagi and making her a senshi.

Ikuko listened as the black feline explained how her daughter came across her on her way to school and helped her when some little kids were harassing her, how she sensed something about her almost instantly, and carefully followed her to school and afterward as she spent some time with her friend.

Coming to understand that what she had sensed was not her imagination and that the feeling was growing stronger the more she watched her daughter as if the power inside her was aware that there was someone near that could make it so it could be used.

She learned what she could about her personality while watching her, and eventually followed her home, instinctively sure that she was the senshi of the Moon, and approached her in her bedroom.

Luna informed her of her role as Sailor Moon and of her new duty to protect the city and the planet from the creatures that were being sent out to attack and drain people of their energy. Beyond that it was her duty to find her fellow senshi, and together they would find and protect the Moon Princess.

Ikuko nodded satisfied that Luna had the same story as Usagi with only her perspective added, and decided that she wanted some answers to some questions she had wondered about.

"What did you do about the situation with Rei when you became aware of it?" She asked.

Luna would have blushed if she could, and the question was a sign to her that everything else might very well be things she couldn't answer or would be embarrassed or ashamed to say.

"I honestly didn't do much because there wasn't much of anything I could do. I tried to talk to Rei, but she wouldn't listen to me. It didn't help that I didn't really become aware that there was a problem with Rei until after Usagi quit being a senshi." Luna answered.

"I learned after a while of trying to figure out the problem between Usagi and the girls that Rei had been lying to me about what was happening during fights. That habit had clearly demonstrated her lack of respect for me, so it wasn't entirely surprising that she wouldn't listen to me." She explained.

"What did you do about the bullying my daughter endured while she was risking her life with no experience in what you tasked her to do?" Ikuko asked.

Luna winced as she recalled all the fights where Usagi was scared and didn't know what to do, and her telling Usagi more often than not that she basically needed to suck it up and fight.

"I didn't do much." She answered. "After Usagi had quit it seemed she had made it clear that she wanted a real apology for the way we had all behaved toward her, which meant we all had to think about our behavior."

"So in essence Usagi fixed her own bullying situation. She separated herself from us, forced us to think and evaluate our words and actions toward her, and give her a genuine and sincere apology. All I did was do as I was asked, and really thought about how I had spoken to and treated her and offer that sincere apology." She explained.

"Why did my daughter have to rely on a man who was only a mystery at the time to keep her safe and encourage her when she had her fellow senshi who should have helped and supported her?" Ikuko asked without responding to what the feline said.

Luna swallowed nervously and glanced to Artemis who sat silently at her side simply watching.

"There's no justifiable excuse for why Usagi had to do that. I myself wasn't much help to her aside from informing her about her tiara being a weapon she could use." She said.

"I believe the other girls acted the way they did because they didn't need help when they first became senshi, it was all instinctive for them, and they didn't understand why Usagi did." She explained. "None of us thought to really figure out why Usagi was having trouble, and we simply assumed it was because she was too lazy to put in the effort." She acknowledged, and watched the woman in front of her narrow her eyes slightly.

"Why did you name my daughter leader of that group if you were not going to give her the respect the position held? If you were just going to criticize her every action, and not listen to or give credence to her words?" Ikuko asked.

Luna lowered her head in shame.

"I only named Usagi leader because I instinctively knew that the senshi of the Moon was supposed to be the leader." She admitted. "However, what I saw before that of Usagi's behavior in her normal life and as a senshi didn't give me confidence that she could do the job properly."

"Why did it take a senshi coming from out of the country to get the situation started in the right direction for the Senshi group?" Ikuko asked.

"Because I wasn't a good advisor to them, and didn't guide the girls as I should have. I tried to be a friend to them or actually too much of a friend, and listened to one instead of listening to all of them and being objective." Luna answered honestly.

"I wasn't objective and that was where I believe all the problems started. That and my negative opinions of Usagi, opinions that I thought were corroborated by what I saw and what the girls had told me of their observations." She explained.

There was silence as Ikuko considered all she had heard. She had listened carefully to Luna's last answer, and she wasn't satisfied in any shape or form. Not with that answer or the previous ones.

"Who do you think you are?!" She told Luna in a quiet yet angry tone. "Who gave you the right to judge my daughter the way you have? Just because you came into her life and told her she was a senshi didn't give you the right to criticize her, tear apart her self-esteem, and degrade her!"

"You are not her parent or guardian! What right did you have to tell her what she could and couldn't do or should and shouldn't do? What right did you have to try and change her only because you didn't like the way she acted?" She continued angrily.

"Usagi is a teenager. I didn't like that my daughter was lazy and didn't do as well in her studies as I would have liked, but that's normal teenage behavior. It was a stage she had been going through, and not something I was concerned about." She said.

"But you who came into her life out of nowhere decided that wasn't good enough, and that she needed to be the model student, the model human being!" She snapped.

Ikuko nearly glared at the feline as she remembered her daughters behavior and mood from before what would have been the time she quit the Senshi.

"Learning my daughters secret had certainly explained some things I had noticed after thinking about it. My daughter hadn't been the best student, but she had been getting passing grades if not the high grades I would have liked. Then suddenly her grades began to go down hill without explanation. She began sleeping more than usual. She got quieter and began to skip meals." She said as she stared at Luna.

"And all without explanation!" Ikuko exclaimed. "My daughter began to change and..and deteriorate from how she used to be, and there had been nothing I could do to stop it!"

"I imagine you were supposed to be the "adult" in all of this, and instead you acted like a child. You were definitely right when you said you were trying to be their friend. You descended to their level and acted like a gossiping teenager! One who was following the popular girl!" She said angrily.

Luna could only listen silently; feeling embarrassed and ashamed of her not so recently past behavior. Mrs. Tsukino was right. She didn't have a right to criticize, judge, or even to reprimand Usagi.

She had come to understand that she wasn't the best judge of character. She had lived with Usagi for months and had seen no sign of her being so intelligent as she had learned she was or so neat, able to be on time to places she needed to be, and to actually study and do her homework.

Even as soon as recently she had thought Usagi was slipping back into being lazy about her studies, but Artemis was right in that instance just as he was in many others. Usagi didn't need to do her homework and studying in front of her just so she could see that it was getting done. As Mrs. Tsukino said she was not her parent or guardian, and had no right to try and act like she was.

Aside from misjudging Usagi she had clearly misjudged Rei, Mamoru in his capacity as Tuxedo Kamen, and Naru.

With Rei she had believed everything she had said without question augmented by her own agreement with what she was hearing because Rei was more mature and responsible, she had believed Mamoru as Tuxedo Kamen was an enemy regardless of what Usagi had said just because he was an unknown and had been collecting the rainbow crystals, and she had believed Naru would betray Usagi and possibly turn evil simply because of who she developed feelings for.

Luna also hadn't realized she had been tearing down Usagi's self-esteem, but thinking back on it now that the idea was in her mind it wasn't hard to see that she had. Her constant criticism, not really believing anything she said, along with the girls criticizing her couldn't possibly have had any other affect.

On top of that she remembered months and months back, when she first apologized to Usagi along with Ami and Makoto, Usagi saying that she had been tired and in pain from her fights as Sailor Moon.

She had not noticed that despite living with her; clearly she had been too busy not believing the few things she had still been willing to try and tell her and criticizing everything about her.

And she knew despite all that had happened over the months that she was still struggling with trusting Usagi; even knowing that she was the princess she had been looking for hadn't helped much there since she was only now really starting to believe and accept that she was the Moon Princess.

All of Artemis' words and seeing fresh evidence in the form of giving Naru the power of Mars was finally cementing in her mind that fact.

Luna sighed lightly, her head bowed in shame, she knew that she was supposed to be an advisor and guardian to the Senshi. She also knew that it was too late to be a guardian to them, especially to Usagi.

There was no way she could step into that role after the way she had behaved so far. All she could do now, if she was allowed, was give them advice based on her returning memories and all she had experienced since finding Usagi.

Artemis sat still and listened to all of what Mrs. Tsukino and Luna said as he shifted his eyes back and forth between them. Luna's answers to all of Mrs. Tsukino's questions were honest, even though they didn't paint her in a good light, but like the older woman he didn't like them.

He also agreed with her impassioned words; not to mention she made some points that even he hadn't realized or thought about. Luna wasn't Usagi's, or any of the girls, parent or guardian and didn't have the right to tell them what to do. She was only supposed to guide and advise them in their role as senshi and nothing more.

That was one of the first mistakes Luna had made; trying to parent Usagi in her normal everyday life and change her into the young girl she wanted her to be. Trying to reprimand her when she thought she wasn't behaving as she wanted her to.

And it also hadn't registered in his mind that Luna and the girls had been tearing down Usagi's self-esteem. It was obvious looking back; especially with Usagi quitting the Senshi and refusing to come back to the team for as long as she did.

And now to learn that after first becoming a senshi Usagi had been sleeping more, eating less, and underperforming in school made it even worse. All those consequences on top of facing youma and not knowing how to fight them and highly likely being extremely frightened was heartbreaking.

It was heartbreaking and shameful that their princess had been made to go through all that, and the one who was supposed to be guiding and advising her was only making it all worse and not having anything helpful to say.

It also made him wish he and Minako had come sooner than they had, but he knew logically that they had acted on the information they had and had come as soon as they could based on that information.

All in all Artemis thought this meeting was going well so far, and that Luna had definitely needed to hear everything Mrs. Tsukino said. He was very hopeful that Luna would benefit from her words and continue to improve her thinking, attitude, and behavior toward their princess.

Ikuko looked away from Luna to stop herself from glaring at the feline and trained her eyes out the window. She had not realized that she was angry with the feline, but she was glad she had this opportunity to express her feelings and let it out.

She was positive her husband would benefit from the opportunity as well; especially since she knew he didn't like that Usagi was a senshi even though he now accepted it. He needed to express his feelings and ask any questions he had. Maybe afterward he would be more comfortable about their daughters secret life.

She looked back to the felines in front of her before she focused on Luna, gazing at her for a few silent moments.

"Perhaps you should think about the questions I asked and your answers before you speak to my daughter again." Ikuko told her.

"I have no idea what my daughter plans to do about you, but I'm learning that my daughter is much more intelligent and discerning than she appears and that you might want to take that into account when you speak." She advised her, and then paused thoughtfully.

"You might also want to consider how my daughter's boyfriend will react." She added. "I've long since become aware of just how protective Mamoru is toward Usagi, and I'm sure that if he can be dismissive of my husband's unhappiness with their relationship he can be that and much more toward you with all the turmoil you have caused, and are apparently continuing to cause, Usagi."

Ikuko had never said anything, but she had seen it as clear as day. Mamoru did not censor his displays of affection for Usagi in front of her husband. It was as if he was silently letting him know that she was his, and there was nothing he could do about it regardless of how he felt.

"She's right." Artemis said as he looked to Luna. "Right on both accounts. You would do well to reflect on all that has been said during this meeting, so when you speak to Usagi you will have a much better grasp on your past behavior and can relate your understanding and change to our princess."

"Right now Usagi is the one you are dealing with, as is only right since you're supposed to be her guardian and advisor, but if Mamoru has to get involved for any reason your situation is likely to get very dicey." He added.

Privately he didn't know how Mamoru would react to Luna causing Usagi any more problems. He might see it as another example of the situation with Rei, and strongly advise Usagi to go ahead and separate herself from Luna the same way she did with Rei.

"Maybe you should also tender an apology to Mamoru when you finally speak with Usagi as a show that you have really changed." Ikuko added helpfully. "After all, it is my understanding that you thought of him as an enemy for no good reason, and encouraged the Senshi to see him in the same light despite my daughter's words against such a harsh opinion."

Artemis nodded firmly. "I agree; especially considering what resulted with your insistence on that opinion." He said meaningfully.

They eyed each other and they both knew he was referring to Rei attacking him as Tuxedo Kamen and getting him captured, how that effected Usagi, and all because she felt safe directing her anger at him because of Luna's insistence that he was an enemy.

Luna looked away and nodded. "Both of you are right." She said before she looked to Mrs. Tsukino. "I'll think about your questions and the answers I gave, and Mamoru does deserve an apology from me. Thank you for that idea since that had never occurred to me."

"When I'm ready to speak to Usagi I'll ask Mamoru to be there, assuming he isn't already there, and speak to the both of them together." She added.

Ikuko and Artemis nodded.

"Good. Now we only need to wait for Mr. Tsukino to arrive home, so you can speak to him. Perhaps he will give you something else to consider before you're ready to speak to our princess." Artemis said.

Luna nodded thoughtfully; although privately she was not looking forward to his reaction to what she would say to him.

Meanwhile...

The secret warriors had started off the day well. They had a delicious breakfast that Makoto had made and while they ate they discussed what they were going to start off doing that day.

Usagi had suggested that they should work on creating new attacks so they had something new to use against their enemy, and so that the four senshi at least had more than one attack to use.

If she and Mamoru could do it then they certainly should be able to. All it took was some imagination and mixing it with their power.

So that was what they had been doing since they finished eating that morning. They were all separated in different areas yet within view of their camp site, and Usagi had just finished creating something that wasn't actually an attack.

Her mind had completely blanked on trying to come up with attacks, so she had practiced the ones she had to help give her some ideas. Eventually her tiara popped into her mind, and she knew it couldn't work for an attack but she thought of something that could heal.

So she came up with her Moon Tiara Stardust, which she hoped could heal people affected with negative energy or possibly energy that didn't belong to them.

She reached up and pulled her tiara off as if she was going to use it to attack as she used to, and charged it up until it was a glowing white disk. Then she focused on what she wanted it to do before she threw it.

It flew in the air a short distance before it began to circle a tall flowering bush and rain down sparkling glittery dust.

Usagi hummed thoughtfully and was reasonably sure that the ability would work despite how it looked. She then caught her tiara as it returned to her and threw it again, and watched as it once again circled the tall flowering bush and rained down sparkling glittery dust.

When her tiara returned to her she caught it and paused as an idea finally came to her. She looked up to the bright sky. She couldn't see the moon but it was obviously there, so what she had in mind should work despite it being daylight.

"Alright." Usagi said quietly to herself as she placed her tiara back on her forehead then she placed her thumb and forefinger around the gem of her tiara grasping it as if she was going to remove it, and focused on what she wanted even as she gazed off at a tree in the distance.

"Moon Twilight Flash." She said, making up the name on the spot, and watched as a thick beam of white moonlight shot off into the distance toward the tree. It hit the trunk but nothing happened.

She was sure the attack would blast her opponent or at the very least blind them, and leave them open for another attack. She also thought it would be better visible at night.

She took a breath and fired the attack once more, this time aiming at a bush on the ground in the distance, and watched the thick beam of white moonlight streak through the air and hit the bush with little effect.

Usagi hummed thoughtfully. I need something more. At least one more attack that's destructive. She thought, and considered that she was the scout of the Moon, so she decided to take inspiration from her home away from home.

Whatever my new attack is it will be moonlight in color or white. She thought before she closed her eyes and focused on her silver crystal. Any ideas would be appreciated please. She told her crystal as she concentrated on the color her new attack would be.

Suddenly images and scenes of traveling through open space flashed through her mind, and the way it looked as she watched gave her an idea. She called on her power, feeling the warm pulse of her silver crystal in response, and began to implement what was in her mind.

She brought her hands together almost as if she was about to start praying and began to spin in place as her energy began to glow around her and gather in front of her chest looking like a bundle of white sparkling stars in a loose cluster.

"Moon Sparkling Sensation." She said as she stopped spinning, her eyes opening, and threw her hands forward sending the white sparkling stars forward in a loose beam.

The beam of white stars blasted forward and burst against a tree. Nothing happened but she sensed that it would be devastating despite its look to an enemy.

Now I just have to practice it, so I can launch it quickly and silently. She thought with a nod.

Makoto sighed as she stared blankly at a tree. She very much liked the idea of having new attacks; even just one. She liked her thunder but she had been wanting something more for a while now. Honestly since around the time Ami had gotten her new attacks or what had been new attacks at the time. Now was her chance.

She closed her eyes and focused internally on her power. She needed more attacks, wanted more attacks. Wanted something more to use against her enemies to make her a better fighter; to help her better help and protect her princess and friend.

She began to feel the familiar electric charged feeling of her powers building, and she immersed herself in that feeling. She knew that was where any new abilities she gained would come from.

And she was right. Words flowed into her mind and she grinned. She instinctively focused on her planet of Jupiter.

Please bring me an incredibly powerful thunderstorm. She asked it, and heard it gather and felt a slight vibration in her tiara and knew an antenna had just extended from it.

"Jupiter Thunderbolt!" She called out as she felt the thunder connect with her antenna and move down her arms. She opened her eyes to see a large bolt of white electricity in each hand, and she hurled them both at a tree in the distance and watched as they combined in the air before they slammed into the tree trunk.

Makoto nodded in satisfaction, sure that the attack would give her enemy a major jolt, and then closed her eyes once again because she sensed a second attack waiting for her.

She held her hand out at her side and vibrant pink flower petals appeared in a burst in front of her palm before spreading to swirl around her rapidly.

"Flower Hurricane!" She said as she opened her eyes, spinning in a swift circle on her foot, before she threw her arms out to her sides and sent the flurry of petals toward her target tree.

She watched the petals hit the tree trunk but nothing happened. However, she knew instinctively that it would cut her opponent. She wasn't sure how seriously, but she was sure it would be enough to hurt them.

Makoto sighed and nodded and focused now on practicing with the two attacks, so she would be able to use them faster and silently.

Ami sat on the ground as she meditated on her powers. She had already learned two new attacks before the Negaverse had been defeated, but she decided there was nothing wrong with having another.

So she did what she did before. She meditated and waited to see what would come to her. She focused on wanting another attack to help her protect her princess, to help her friends, and to defend herself against her enemies.

She sat there calmly feeling her power inside her, cool and calm, tuning out the sounds of her friends working on their own attacks, and sooner than she would have thought she sensed a power building inside her; one that felt very cold and yet soothing. She opened her eyes and stood up as she concentrated on that building power.

"Ice Water Phoenix!" She called out, and watched as water streamed out of her hands. It swirled around her and rose above her head to form the shape of what she recognized as the mythical phoenix.

It flew swiftly toward the tree she had aimed at, and blasted against the tree trunk splashing over it and freezing the bark.

Ami's eyes widened as she saw the strength of the attack. She had felt it, but seeing it was another matter. She was definitely pleased with it, and thought it fit right in with her other attacks.

Okay. Time to practice with it. She thought. I want to be able to use it to perfection; or at least as perfect as I can get it.

Naru relaxed with her eyes closed as she sat in the grass. This was what she had wanted last night; to get a new attack. To have something that would distinguish her, and further drive home that she was different then Hino Rei.

She wanted more to use then that one attack that everyone would recognize from her predecessor, who now that she was thinking about it was her older sister from the past, and more to use to do the best job she could do. She wanted to be able to protect her best friend and herself, and be equal to her Nephrite.

So she mediated and focused on her inner power as Minako had suggested when she asked, and thought about what it was that she wanted.

Warmth and heat moved through her, flowing and building, until she sensed what she thought were two new attacks revealing themselves.

She opened her eyes and stood up and gathered the power that had built inside her. She lifted her hands and brought them together, and focused on the first attack she sensed.

"Fire Soul Bird!" She said and watched as a large jet of fire streamed out of her hands and took on the form of a beautiful large bird.

It flew rapidly, its flaming wings actually flapping, and slammed into the first tree in its path before the flames disappeared.

Naru smiled in happiness and awe at the attack. It looked like an upgraded version of the Fire Soul attack since she didn't have to do anything too different to launch it. It definitely was different and better. It was more powerful and would distinguish her as different from her predecessor.

She gathered her power and launched it again just to see it and make sure she could do it again, and watched as the beautiful bird formed and flew at the same tree she had aimed at before.

She nodded to herself and then closed her eyes, and focused on the next new attack she sensed waiting inside her.

She gathered the heated power that had built up and opened her eyes before she stretched her right arm out and drew a wide ring of fire in front of her in the air that was the same height as her and framed her body directly in the middle.

"Burning Mandala!" She said firmly as she moved her arms out stretched in front of her with her palms facing outward, and watched as the fire ring moved toward her hands as if it was being sucked in before it came shooting out as eight smaller rings of fire.

Naru watched as the basketball sized hoops spun through the air and hit the trunk of the tree she had aimed at one after the other. They caused mini explosions, but the tree was not harmed.

She was not worried about that since she instinctively knew it would hurt her opponent and cause them to be blasted back and burned.

She took a breath and gathered her power as she prepared to launch it again to make sure she could before she moved to practice with both new attacks.

Minako sat with her back against a tree with her hands resting on her knees and her eyes closed as she meditated to hopefully gain a new ability to use.

Just yesterday she had been thinking that she needed another attack since she felt the one she had was repetitive, and now she had the chance to do just that along with her friends.

So as she meditated she sank into her power as it rose inside her and focused her mind on wanting something new and different to help her protect her princess and fight alongside her fellow senshi to the best of her ability.

She was unsure how much time had passed as she imagined her consciousness floating in the warmth of her power, but she suddenly sensed something new; more than one new thing.

Minako opened her eyes and got to her feet, and took a deep breath in preparation as she felt the first of what she believed was a new attack come to her.

"Crescent Beam Shower!" She said as the words appeared in her mind, pointing her arm out in front of her with her index finger extended.

Energy sparked and built at the tip of her finger before it released just as her Crescent Beam attack did, but after the beam shot through the air it split into multiple beams and shot toward the tree she had aimed at. It connected, but of course didn't damage the tree.

Minako's eyes widened slightly and she nodded after a few moments. It was obviously an upgraded version of her crescent beam, but it was still different and more powerful from the look and strength of it.

She refocused herself and closed her eyes as she felt for the second new attack she had sensed before. She felt her power surrounding her, her hair waving wildly behind her, and she opened her eyes to see a golden solid heart linked energy chain circling around the length of her body.

"Venus Love-Me Chain!" She said as she gestured firmly out in front of her with her right hand, and watched as the chain snaked forward, extending as needed, and wrapped around a tree in the distance before causing the immediate area around the chain to glow with a golden light.

Minako knew instinctively that it would hold and deliver a shock to her enemy, but she sensed that she could also use it just to hold someone or something or even lash out like one could with a whip.

She was definitely pleased with this new attack, and quickly got started on mastering it.

Mamoru, meanwhile, had no intention of creating more attacks like his princess and her Senshi since he had just created three not long ago. Instead he simply intended to pick up where he left off last night and practice the attacks he had.

Deadly Rose Petals. Mamoru thought as he threw a hand full of black roses. He watched them shatter mid flight, as usual, into black razor sharp petals that flew forward into the distance and slice up the lower bark of a tree.

He then decided to try the attack with more roses, so he pulled out two handfuls of roses. He focused on his power and watched as the red petals turned black at his will then threw them all at the same tree as before.

He watched as they all shattered mid flight into razor sharp petals and collide with the tree cutting it in dozens of places.

He nodded to himself and hummed before he decided to try something else with the attack. He once again pulled out two handfuls of roses and willed them to turn black, which they did instantly.

He threw one handful at the same tree as before and the other handful at a different tree off to his side, and watched as all the roses shattered in the air into the familiar razor sharp petals and slammed into the trees cutting them multiple times.

Mamoru nodded, satisfied that he could use the attack to target more than one opponent at the same time. He then took a deep calming breath to center himself and focused on his internal power yet again.

He gestured with both hands and an open red rose blossom appeared in his palms. The blossoms immediately burst into golden flames at his will, and he nodded before he focused on the same tree as before.

Burning Rose Illusion. He thought as he threw the fiery blossoms. They flew through the air like small golden balls of fire and slammed into the tree trunk only to explode. The rose petals spread which spread the fire, but when it died down there was no fire damage.

He gestured with both hands and once again summoned an open rose blossom to his palms and willed them to light up. Golden flames instantly engulfed them and just as he was getting ready to launch them at two different trees a distance away from each other he paused.

Surprisingly an idea for a new attack came to his mind. The flame surrounding his rose blossoms caused him to suddenly think of fire breathing, which in turn caused him to think of dragons.

Do I want the dragon to be red or gold? He asked himself as he threw the flaming rose blossoms. As they slammed into the tree and exploded he decided on gold for his new attack.

Mamoru then gestured with his hand and a single rose appeared and he easily willed it to turn gold. As soon as the petals shade changed color he surrounded it with his power until it floated inside a transparent sphere of energy above his hand.

"Rose Dragon Mirage!" He said firmly as he gestured with his hand, sending it flying forward and watched as it transformed mid flight into a massive golden dragon made of energy rose petals.

It flew forward, passing through the surrounding trees harmlessly, and slammed into the tree he had aimed for and disappeared in a flash of light. He was positive that it would blast his opponent back and cause some serious damage.

Mamoru smiled at his success. He might like this new attack better then his other ones. Still, he knew he needed to practice with it, so he summoned another rose to his hand and willed it to turn gold before he surrounded it with his power until it was encased in a transparent gold sphere.

Rose Dragon Mirage. He said internally as he gestured outward with his hand as if he was pushing the sphere away, and watched as it flew forward and transformed into a bright golden dragon made up of energy rose petals.

Again the dragon flew forward and passing harmlessly through trees and slammed into the target tree and disappeared in a flash of light.

He looked over at the sound of footsteps and saw his princess approaching him.

"Wow." Usagi said a little wide eyed. "Your new attack is beautiful, but intimidating."

"What did it look like to you?" Mamoru asked, and she laughed.

"Like a real massive dragon!" She exclaimed, and he raised a surprised eyebrow.

"To me it looks like a large dragon, but instead of looking real it looks like it's made of energy rose petals." He said.

"What do you call it?" Usagi asked.

"Rose Dragon Mirage." He answered.

"I guess that's the mirage part. Anyone but you sees a real dragon while you see what it's actually formed of." She said, and he nodded thoughtfully, then she shook her head.

"I think the girls should learn how to teleport." Usagi said, getting to the reason she had come over to him. "It just occurred to me while I was practicing with my new attacks; it's something they should learn while we're here on this retreat."

"True." Mamoru agreed. "I certainly like being able to teleport, and it will definitely be useful in getting to attack scenes faster or even retreating if necessary."

Usagi nodded and looked around at the girls and saw that they were all practicing with new attacks. They all looked interesting and powerful, but she wondered how to get their attention.

Mamoru took off a glove and brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly.

"Thanks." She said before she looked around. She waved her hand at the girls as they looked their way and gestured for the girls to join them.

"How are you all doing with your new abilities?" She asked when they arrived. "From what I could see it looks like you all have at least one new one."

They all described how everything was going well, and that they were now just practicing with the new attacks to be able to use them silently and faster.

Usagi nodded. "Well I think it would be a good idea if you all learn how to teleport while we're here." She said.

"Like I saw you do when you disappeared in a white light?" Naru asked.

"Exactly like that." Usagi said.

"It will be good for you to know it, so you can get to fights faster or retreat if need be." Mamoru told them. "I guess it can also be used to get to meetings faster or wherever else you need to go as long as you're not seen."

The girls all nodded in excitement.

"Where should we start with learning how to do it?" Minako asked.

"Focus on where you want to go, picture your destination clearly in your mind, down to the last detail, and will yourself there with your power." Mamoru explained to them.

"You should all do it one at a time to start with, and with a familiar place where you will be alone when you arrive." Usagi said, and they looked thoughtful as they nodded.

"I'll go first." Minako volunteered, and everyone except her moved and sat in the grass.

"I'll try for my bedroom." She said. They nodded and she took a deep breath, and let it out slowly as she closed her eyes.

She concentrated on her power, feeling the familiar warmth inside her, and focused on her bedroom. She pictured the space next to her bed out of range of her window and willed herself there.

A light flashed behind her eyelids and she heard the sound of what she thought were gasps before they cut off and the light cleared.

Minako opened her eyes and smiled to see herself in her bedroom. She had no idea how far she had traveled but she knew it was far. She looked around and confirmed that Artemis and Luna weren't in her room then she focused on the forest she had been in where her friends were and wanting to be back there.

Orange light blinded her and when it cleared she found herself standing exactly where she had been with everyone still sitting in the grass.

"I made it there." She said with a smile. "Artemis and Luna weren't in my room."

"Congratulations." Usagi said as she nodded, and the others said the same before Naru, Ami, and Makoto looked at each other to see who was next.

"I'll go next." Naru said before she stood up.

She closed her eyes, tuning out the fact that they were all staring at her, and focused on wanting to go to her bedroom in her house. She pictured the space between her bed and her window, recalling that her curtains were thankfully closed.

She felt for her power, the warmth and heat answering instantly, and opened her eyes as she thought she wanted to be there, needed to be there, to take her there.

Red light flashed, blinding her, and when it cleared she blinked and smiled to realize she was in her bedroom. Her eyes flashed to the door and she breathed a sigh of relief that it was closed.

Alright, now to return. She thought, and focused on the spot in the forest she had been standing in with her friends surrounding her. Take me there. She told her power firmly yet softly.

Again red light flashed and she squinted her eyes and smiled when it cleared to see that she was back in the forest surrounded by her friends.

"I did it!" She said happily.

Everyone cheered and congratulated her on her success, and then Ami stood up to take her turn.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she concentrated on her power. Once she felt the cool sensation build inside her she focused on her bedroom and appearing in the space between her bed and her door.

She willed herself there and squinted as blue light flashed before her eyes. She blinked when it cleared and looked around with a smile as she found herself in her bedroom exactly where she wanted to be.

She focused back on the spot in the forest she had been standing in and willed herself there. Again she squinted as blue light flashed and smiled to find herself back with her friends.

"Success!" She said as she spun cheerfully in place, and everyone congratulated her.

"Okay my turn." Makoto said as she popped up, and focused on her living room and the space close to the kitchen and well away from the windows. Once it was firmly in her mind she concentrated on her power, feeling the electric feeling building inside her, and willed herself there.

Green light flashed before her eyes and she blinked rapidly to clear the spots, but smiled to see that she was exactly where she wanted to be. She looked around quickly just to make sure everything was the way she left it, and then refocused.

Now to get back. She thought before she focused on the space she had been standing in in the forest and willed herself there.

Once again green light flashed and she squinted her eyes. The light cleared moments later and she smiled to see her friends surrounding her.

"Nailed it!" Makoto said as she pumped her fist in the air, and everyone cheered and congratulated her.

"Now you should try going to different places. Still make sure you aren't seen, but get used to traveling by teleportation." Usagi said.

"How long should we do this?" Makoto asked.

"Just spend a few minutes on it. Maybe two or three different locations before you stop. Mamoru and I will keep watch in case anything goes wrong." Usagi answered.

With that the four guardian senshi moved to space themselves out a bit and began to focus on different locations. All of them teleported themselves to their school since it was closed for the weekend and would be empty, the place they trained as a group, and an abandoned place they knew of.

All their attempts were successful, and they returned to the forest without a problem.

"I want you to try a destination that's longer in distance, and to start off I want you all to head to the Moon." Usagi said as she moved toward the girls. "I'm aware that all of you except Minako don't remember what it looks like there, so I'll transport you there so you can see what's there and exactly where to focus on landing."

The girls nodded and Ami, Makoto, and Naru linked hands with each other and Usagi and waited. Usagi focused on an area in front of her palace home and wanting herself and her three friends to be there and willed them all there.

A flash of white light surrounded them, and when it cleared they found themselves no longer in the forest.

Naru, Makoto, and Ami looked around in amazement at what they were seeing. The Moon Palace stood there looking large and elegant with the grand looking stairs leading up to a three door entrance that was just as grand. Three towers drew the eye upward and on to the large crescent moon resting at the top of the largest center tower.

Ami and Makoto knew that Usagi had spent a great deal of time on the Moon when Mamoru had been captured, but to see what she was staying in was another thing entirely.

Naru gazed around with wide eyes. She was on the Moon; she was actually away from the Earth and literally on the Moon. And beyond that was the Moon Palace in all its glory. This was Usagi's home in the past. This was where she likely visited her friend during royal events.

I guess I can actually be here, breathing, because of my changing DNA. She thought.

"I wish we could go inside." She said with a sigh.

"Another day." Usagi said with a smile. "Maybe we can have some meetings here or just come when we happen to have some free time and want to do something different."

"That sounds nice." Naru said with a smile as she nodded. I don't know about Ami and Makoto, but I can imagine me and Usagi here just hanging out. Minako too for that matter. She thought.

They all gathered back together, having separated and wandered a few steps away as they looked around, and held hands while Usagi focused. In the next moment a flash of white light was blinding them and they were back in the forest with Minako and Mamoru.

"Alright. We all know where we're going, and what to focus on so we should get to it." Minako said. "I'm going to focus on the top landing of the stairs in front of the doors to make sure I'm out of the way of everyone."

"I'll focus on the space at the bottom of the stairs." Naru said.

"I'll focus on the walkway closer to the stairs." Makoto said.

"Then I'll focus on the area further away from the stairway." Ami said.

"Good luck." Usagi said as she backed away to sit with Mamoru to watch.

All four girls closed their eyes and focused on the Moon and where exactly they wanted to land on arrival before they concentrated on their power.

Long moments passed and some of them frowned and others closed their eyes, their faces screwing up in determination, but nothing happened.

"This isn't working." Naru said with a huff as she opened her eyes. "Am I doing something wrong?"

"Same with me." Makoto said as she too opened her eyes. "I can feel my power build, but I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm having the same issue." Ami admitted as she blinked her eyes open. "I don't understand why the teleportation isn't working."

"I wonder if we're just not powerful enough to do it on our own yet." Minako said as she too opened her eyes. "Maybe it's too far."

"That makes sense. We'll simply have to get more powerful to do long distance teleportation." Ami said.

"But what are we supposed to do in the meantime? What if we need to get somewhere distant?" Naru asked as she looked around at everyone.

The four girls looked at each other thoughtfully, and Usagi and Mamoru continued to sit and look on. Usagi had an idea, but she wanted them to figure it out on their own for the same reason she wanted them to be able to fight without her and Mamoru.

"Maybe we can do what we just did with Usagi except all of us will pool our power and focus on one location." Ami said.

"Will that work if we're all focusing on a location? I think we would all be picturing it a little differently." Makoto asked.

"We can all be general about it or have only one of us focus on the location for all of us." Minako said, and the other girls nodded. "Let's try it. We'll focus on arriving on the Moon in front of the palace and see what happens."

Again they nodded and circled up and held hands. They closed their eyes and gathered their power as they focused on arriving on the Moon in front of the palace.

Usagi and Mamoru watched the girls as they began to glow with their individual signature color, their hair and uniforms fluttering in the breeze their energy created, before they disappeared.

"Looks like that idea worked." Mamoru commented.

"Yeah." Usagi agreed as she nodded. "Now we just have to see if they make it back."

Mamoru nodded and only moments later the Guardian Senshi appeared in a flash of multicolored light. They released each others hands and smiled and grinned each other.

"We made it just fine." Makoto announced.

"Yes, and it looks like we really will have to use this method to travel long distances, including to other countries should we ever have need to, until we're powerful enough on our own." Minako said, and everyone nodded.

"Let's take a break for lunch." Mamoru suggested, and they all headed back to their camp.

Their fire was still going and they stoked it higher, and began to cook up some hotdogs over the flame.

After they had all had scarfed down one hotdog and was starting on their second Naru looked around as she chewed on her mouthful of hotdog. They were all sitting around dressed in their senshi uniforms, and in Mamoru's case in his tuxedo, which she found amusing and surreal.

Still, she pushed aside her amusement since a question had come to her and she was curious about the answer.

"I have a question." She said after she finished her hotdog, gaining everyone's attention. "I was wondering what we would do if we couldn't use our powers for some reason. Do we have physical weapons?" She asked.

Everyone looked surprised and curious.

"I remembered that Usagi used a sword, so it made me wonder about the rest of us." Naru said.

"I have a sword from my time as Sailor V." Minako said thoughtfully.

"I have a sword I carry in my royal form that I can use whenever I wish." Mamoru added.

"I like the idea of us all having a physical weapon to use, because there really is a chance we might have a situation where we can't use our powers or our powers wouldn't exactly be right for the situation." Usagi said.

"But how would we get weapons?" Ami asked with a frown. "How did you get your sword?" She asked Minako.

"I don't know." Minako said. "I guess it just came to me like my attacks, so maybe I made it with my powers somehow."

"So we just use our powers to make a weapon." Makoto said hesitantly.

"Maybe we should do it the same way we got our new attacks; only focus on a physical weapon." Naru said.

"Then you should get started when you're ready. There's no need to move anywhere else to do it." Mamoru said.

The four girls nodded and went back to their hotdogs as their minds focused on what kind of weapon they would produce.

One by one the girls finished eating and began to meditate and feel their power rising inside them. They focused on wanting a real physical weapon to use, something that would fit their individual personalities and go with their energy attacks, something that would help them be better senshi.

Naru sat on her sleeping bag, focused inward, and immersed herself in the heat of her power. She concentrated on exactly what she wanted, but allowed for spontaneity since she had no idea what kind of weapon she wanted.

Her power eventually began to pulse inside her over and over and over again until she began to feel a warm heavy weight on her crossed legs.

She opened her eyes slowly and gasped at what she saw in her lap. She wasn't a weapons expert by any means, but she recognized these weapons from movies she had seen.

Twin double headed battle axes glowed and gleamed before her eyes. The edge of the axe blades were silver and the remainder of the blades were red. The handles were mostly red with the area just beneath the blades, a good two or three inches, being purple and the rounded bottom of the handles were purple.

Ami sat calmly and relaxed as she meditated along with her friends on her sleeping bag, and concentrated on what she wanted as her power rose and built higher and higher inside her.

She had no idea what kind of weapon she wanted, so she was leaving that completely up to her powers. She was sure her power knew her better than she knew herself, so she trusted it to help her with what she wanted and needed.

Long minutes passed before she felt her power start to pulse again and again inside her until she felt a cool strange weight on her lap.

She opened her eyes and blinked down in surprise at what she saw there. Glowing there clear as the day sky was a bow and a quiver of arrows. Its long curved handle was blue with a light blue grip and a white string, and the quiver was blue with a strap attached.

Ami pulled out an arrow and saw that the arrowhead was silver, the shaft blue, and the feathers at the end were white.

Makoto sat with her eyes closed on her sleeping bag with her legs crossed and leaning back on her hands as she meditated and focused on the electric feel of her power as it built as if it was filling every inch of her body.

As she did that she concentrated on wanting a physical weapon, something she could use with her power, something that would work well for her, something that would help her protect herself and her princess.

As she kept those needs circling in her mind she eventually began to feel her power pulse inside her. Over and over it pulsed, sending a static-like feeling through her body that wasn't at all uncomfortable, until she began to feel a light weight across her legs.

She opened her eyes and blinked down in surprise at what she was seeing. She wasn't sure what to call it besides what it looked like, and what it looked like was a glowing spear with a mace head at the other end.

The shaft was green with the immediate area just below the spear and mace head being pink, and the spear and mace head themselves were silver and seemed to weigh the same since the weapon was balanced perfectly across her legs.

Minako sat on her sleeping bag with her hands resting on her knees with her eyes closed. She did as she did when she was trying to gain a new attack, meditating. She allowed herself to sink into the warmth of her power as she focused on her need.

She had a sword, but she wanted another weapon. A different weapon to help her be a better senshi and protect her princess and prince. She trusted her power to once again provide her with something that would suit her.

As she focused she felt her power rise up and pulse gently in a repeated consistent manner, and not long after that she felt something strange on her legs.

Minako opened her eyes and looked down only for her eyes to widened at what was obviously a whip. It was different then she imagined one to be, but that was what it was. It was a chain made of delicate yet strong looking golden links, which were adorned with evenly spaced circular rubies along the entire length.

Usagi and Mamoru sat on their own sleeping bags, Usagi munching on her third hotdog, watching the girls around them as they tried to make themselves a physical weapon.

I wonder if any of them know what weapon they want or if they're leaving it up to their powers to decide. She said to her prince through their link.

We'll be able to tell by their reactions if they manage to succeed. Mamoru replied.

Usagi nodded and continued to eat her hotdog. She finished sooner than she had hoped, but decided that three was enough for the time being. Mamoru huffed in amusement, and she shot him a mock glare before she returned her attention back to the girls.

Almost twenty minutes passed before, almost at the same time, a glow began to form in Naru and Ami's laps. Red and blue, respectively, pulsed again and again before something began to take shape.

Usagi covered her mouth to hold in any sound she might make as her eyes widened in surprise at what appeared for each of them.

Those have to be choices of their powers and not them. She said as she glanced to Mamoru. I would have thought that a bow and arrows would be a choice for Rei if she was still a senshi, and I honestly never thought of battle axes for Naru.

I'm surprised as well, but I think they're good weapons for each of them. Mamoru said. Ami's personality tends more towards defense and distance fighting so a bow and arrows will be good, and depending on how strong it is she can use the bow itself in conjunction with physical fighting up close.

With Naru her fire gives her long distance attacking ability, but I think she has the potential to be an up close fighter and those axes will help. He added, and she nodded, seeing his point.

I understand. Usagi said just as they saw a glow begin on Makoto's lap. That isn't surprising. She said as the weapon finished forming.

Yeah. Mamoru agreed. It looks like a good weapon for someone who likes to fight up close, which Makoto does when she has the chance.

True. Usagi agreed. She'll definitely be able to put that spear thing to good use.

Just then a glow began on Minako's lap and they stared to see what it was; what it would be since she already had a sword. The glow cleared a few moments later, and they both hummed thoughtfully.

Usagi looked to Mamoru after seeing the coiled chain to get his thoughts.

It can work as a medium ranged weapon. Something in between long distance and up close. Mamoru commented.

Usagi looked back to see Minako holding it by one end and lifting her hand up above her head, stretching the chain.

Maybe it's a strange chain whip. She said as she stared at it. It certainly looks like it would hurt if someone was hit with it.

Yes. Mamoru agreed. "Do you want to get in some practice with your sword?" He asked out loud.

"Absolutely. I can always use more practice." She said as she looked to him, then she looked to the girls.

"Congratulations on gaining a weapon." She said happily. "Now you can start working on getting used to handling them, and figuring out how to use them."

Usagi then summoned her Holy Blade to her hand and stood up. Mamoru did the same and rested his sword lightly against his shoulder.

"Everyone spread out so no one will accidentally get hurt from being too close to a ranged weapon." He said.

The four Guardian Senshi nodded and began to climb to their feet to begin practicing with their new weapons.

Sunday: Day Twenty One

Afternoon

White, gold, red, orange, green, and blue flashed as the secret prince of the Earth and the secret Sailor Senshi appeared in the park they had originally left from to start their training trip.

They looked around and saw that their arrival was not witnessed, and smiled at each other at the success of Minako, Naru, Ami, and Makoto. They had each successfully teleported a long distance solo with no problems.

They all then nodded at each other before separating, Usagi and Mamoru sharing a brief kiss, and heading home. They had decided before leaving their camp site to just head home when they arrived.

Some of them teleported home and others headed home on foot. Usagi was one of the ones to head home on foot. She didn't want to risk being seen teleporting or have her brother home, and wonder how she got there without coming in through the front door.

As she walked Usagi thought about how pleased she was with the progress they had all made on the retreat. They had all come up with new attacks and everyone now knew how to teleport, which ultimately meant they could get to locations faster if need be. Even better, the girls all now had a physical weapon they each could use.

She was actually surprised at what Naru's weapon was, and wondered if the weapon would have been different if Rei was still a senshi.

Usagi pushed that thought away as unimportant. Naru was now Sailor Mars and her weapon was hers alone, and from how she handled it it apparently suited her.

Naru might have been surprised that I'm using a sword, and that it appears to suit me. She supposed. And it did suit her, which she herself was surprised about, but she liked it.

She also liked that she had been able to get in some practice with her sword. She always needed the practice as far as she was concerned, and every little bit gave her more experience and made her feel more comfortable handling it.

Usagi sighed as she came out of her thoughts as she finally reached her house. She walked up to the front door, and pulled out her keys and unlocked and opened the door.

"I'm back!" She called out as she closed the door and put her keys in the pocket of her sweater.

"Welcome back." She heard her mother say from where she was in the living room, and she walked in and saw her mom and dad sitting comfortably; her mom on the couch and her dad in the side chair near the window.

"Did you have a good time?" Her father asked.

"I did." Usagi answered. "I'm going to put my things in my room, and then come back down and tell you all about it."

"Okay." Her mother said as her father nodded.

Usagi turned and walked out the room and jogged up the stairs. She passed her brother's room and saw through the open door that he was there, which meant she would have to be careful of what she said to her parents in case he overheard.

She opened her bedroom door and walked inside and dropped her sleeping bag and duffel bag next to her closet before heading back out and downstairs. She entered the living room and plopped down on the couch next to her mom.

"Did you and your friends accomplish everything you wanted to?" Her father asked.

"We did. We actually did more than we thought to." Usagi said as she unzipped her sweater; reminded by the sound that her keys were in her pocket.

"So when we got there we got settled in an area," She began after glancing back to make sure her brother wasn't around. "and then we transformed and started exercising before we worked individually."

"After we had all worked with each of our abilities we began to work on combining them one at a time so we had two attacks mixing together." She explained.

"Yesterday is where we made the most progress. we all managed to gain new energy attacks, the girls learned to teleport, and the girls also managed to get physical weapons." She informed them.

"Where in the world did they get weapons from? And what kind?" Her father asked.

"The girls used their powers to make them." Usagi explained. "Minako already had a sword from her days as Sailor V, but her powers managed to make a whip for her. Ami's powers gave her a bow and arrows, Makoto's power gave her a spear with a mace head, and Naru's power gave her twin double headed battle axes."

"We were all surprised at the different types of weapons, and they spent the rest of the day getting used to them and learning how to use them." She said.

"Wow." Her mother said. "And you have a sword, and Mamoru has a sword as well right?"

"Yes." Usagi said as she nodded. "Now we all have a physical weapon to use in addition to our powers."

"Well, it sounds like your camping retreat turned out as productive as you wanted it to be." Her father said.

"Definitely." She replied. "So how was the weekend for you guys so far?" She asked, and watched as her parents exchanged a look.

"It's been okay so far." Her mother said.

"We had a visit from Artemis and Luna yesterday." Her father said. "Actually they were already here when I got home from work."

"Artemis informed me that he had brought Luna by so we could hear from her since she was the one to make you a senshi, and ask any questions we had for her." Her mother explained. "We also got to speak to her about her behavior toward you."

Usagi was surprised by that, but simply nodded and didn't ask how the meeting went. She would speak to Luna in time, and aside from that if there was anything serious she needed to know her parents would tell her.

Mr. Tsukino shifted his gaze toward the TV as he remembered that discussion. He hadn't been sure about speaking to the feline that had made his daughter the warrior she now was, but he was now glad that he had gone ahead and did what his wife suggested.

The opportunity had given him an outlet to express his anger and displeasure with that feline, and with the fact that his daughter was now a warrior dealing with dangerous beings and there was nothing he could do about it.

---

Kenji opened his front door and sighed to finally be home. He just wanted to sit and relax and not do anything; except maybe eat. He was a bit hungry.

"Honey?" He suddenly heard his wife's voice call.

"Yes?" He called back as he closed the door. He walked into the living room and smiled at the sight of his wife looking back at him over the back of the couch, but paused, his smile slipping, at the sight of two cats; one black and the other white.

He recognized both Artemis and Luna, and wondered what they were doing there since to his knowledge Usagi was still away on her camping training trip.

"Artemis." Kenji said as he looked to the white cat, and then shifted his eyes to the black cat. "Luna."

"Good evening Mr. Tsukino." Artemis said.

"Good evening." Luna said.

"Welcome home honey." Ikuko said, and he looked to her.

"It's good to be home." Kenji said, and then looked back to the felines. "Is Usagi home? Is that why they're here?" He asked.

"No. She's not back yet." Ikuko said.

"We're here to speak to the two of you. Actually Luna is here to speak to the two of you." Artemis said. "I thought it would be good for the two of you to speak to Luna and ask her any questions you have since she was the one to find and awaken Usagi as a senshi. She has already spoken to Mrs. Tsukino, and now that you have arrived you can speak to her as well."

"I purposely chose a time when Usagi wouldn't be here, so that she and Luna would not come into contact, and I thought you could also express any thoughts and feelings you have, which I believe will be good for Luna to hear." He explained.

Kenji nodded slowly as he recalled learning that Usagi had basically sent Luna away, and he also liked the thought of learning more about how his daughter became a warrior. However, he wasn't so sure about expressing anything to these felines.

"Honey. Trust me." Ikuko said. "You should really do this. I did, and I feel better for it. I'm sure you will as well."

Kenji looked at his wife and saw in her eyes that she wasn't saying something. It likely had to do with whatever feelings she had expressed to the cat, Luna, and he could admit that her eyes did look peaceful.

So she must have felt better after saying her piece to the feline that had basically started our daughter down the path of her warrior life. He thought.

He sighed. He accepted his daughter's secret warrior life, didn't like it, wasn't entirely comfortable with it, but he accepted it. Perhaps talking to Luna would not only help him learn more, but also help him feel better somehow about it.

The more he learned about her training and saw her skill for himself the more confident he became that she would be safe and able to protect herself, but he was still bothered by the danger of her secret life.

Kenji moved around the couch and sat down next to his wife with a sigh.

"Okay. I'm willing to go ahead with this." He said.

Ikuko grasped his hand and he smiled slightly at her as he squeezed her hand before looking back to the cats sitting on the coffee table in front of them.

"So where should we start?" Kenji asked.

"Perhaps you should start with Luna relaying how she met Usagi and awakened her as a senshi, and go from there." Artemis suggested.

Kenji nodded in approval. "Then that's where we should start." He said before he focused his gaze on Luna.

Luna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was not looking forward to this after how the conversation with Mrs. Tsukino went, but she knew it had to be done. She needed to give him the opportunity to express his feelings and ask any questions he had for her, and she needed to take it all in and learn and use his reactions to continue her journey to become a better advisor.

She began by explaining how Usagi had come across her one morning being harassed by a small group of little kids and stopped them. That meeting had allowed her to sense something about her, but she wasn't completely sure given what had just happened to her and she couldn't tell exactly what she thought she sensed in that moment.

When Usagi rushed away from her she carefully followed her to school and afterward as she spent some time with her friend. As she watched Usagi she gradually came to understand that she had sensed a power inside her, and that it grew stronger as the day progressed.

"As I followed her I learned what I could about her personality, and eventually followed her home sure by then that I knew exactly who she was, which was the senshi of the Moon." She said.

"I approached her in her bedroom, introduced myself, and informed her of her role as Sailor Moon. I told her that her duty was to protect the city and the planet from the creatures that were being sent out to attack and drain people of their energy, and beyond that was to find her fellow senshi and together they would find and protect the Moon Princess." Luna finished.

Kenji frowned and glanced to his wife to see her nodding. That told him that they had heard the same story at least, and it was the same one Usagi had relayed. Still, he wasn't pleased with what he heard. Luna hadn't told his daughter much of anything.

"Is that all you told my daughter? Nothing else?" He asked, and she nodded.

"I also gave her her brooch so she could transform." Luna said.

Kenji stared incredulously.

"You didn't warn my daughter about what exactly she would be facing? Exactly how dangerous being the senshi of the Moon would be, that it would be for a lifetime, how exactly she was supposed to find her fellow senshi? Nothing?!" He asked angrily.

Luna lowered her eyes and shook her head. "No. I didn't tell Usagi any of that." She said quietly.

She held in a grimace and a sigh. Now that she was hearing it it sounded very bad. She had basically given Usagi the bare basics to make a life decision on that she wouldn't be able to back out of.

Yes Usagi had quit, but she wouldn't have been able to be replaced since she was the only one who could be Sailor Moon. Of course, now she knew that was because she was the Moon Princess.

Still, she knew that was wrong of her. In fact, it was wrong of her to do so with all of the girls she had helped awaken. Looking back she actually hadn't given them much of a choice. One could say she had taken advantage of the situations for all except Usagi. Each had happened during an attack, and once she saw the planetary symbol on their foreheads and sensed their power she was all about awakening them.

Kenji sighed in disgust. His daughter hadn't known enough to make such a decision, and it likely hadn't even crossed her mind that Luna was actually telling the truth until she actually transformed and found herself standing as Sailor Moon.

And obviously by the look on Luna's face now she had never said anything more about what life as a senshi would entail.

Kenji shook his head. "Did you instruct her on how to fight once she had actually transformed into Sailor Moon?" He asked.

"No." Luna said. "There was no time. An attack happened within moments of her transformation. Once at the fight I told her to use her tiara as a weapon." She explained.

"So once my daughter was faced with a creature, likely right out of her nightmares, and wondering what she was supposed to do did you say anything." He said as he stared at her.

Luna nodded. "Yes, but at the time I honestly believed Usagi would know what to do since I believed as a senshi she would have her instincts from the past to guide her." She said.

"I suppose that's why my daughter had to rely on a mystery man in a tuxedo to help her. She didn't know what to do, didn't have those instincts, and didn't have anyone else to help her." Kenji said flatly.

"You and her fellow senshi chastised her, berated her, and turned on her because she was scared and didn't know how to fight; and because she naturally latched onto and trusted the one person out there that was always there to help her." He continued.

"I don't like that my daughter is dating that young man, but I will always be grateful that he had always been there helping her and keeping her alive without complaint and without knowing who she was aside from being Sailor Moon." He said seriously.

Luna lowered her head in shame. All of what he said was true. They had berated her and chastised her for her poor fighting ability and always relying on Tuxedo Kamen among other things.

They, she, had never stopped to even wonder why Usagi always had a harder time than the other senshi at fighting. As a guardian and advisor it was her job to notice such things and find out why, but she never had because she thought she knew Usagi's personality so well and she always believed the girls, Rei especially, when they told her about Usagi's behavior during fights.

"Did you ever tell those girls to train or even suggest it since you and the others had such a problem with Usagi's performance?" Kenji asked.

Luna raised her head. "No. At the time it seemed pointless since all the other girls didn't need it." She said honestly.

"You all thought she was just being lazy and not trying hard enough, and relying on the masked man to always be there to save her." Kenji said scathingly.

Luna nodded shamefully and regrettably. "Yes. Those were my thoughts at the time." She said quietly.

Kenji shook his head. "And the bullying? What about that?" He asked. "From what my daughter related it sounded like rampant bullying had been going on toward her from those she should have been able to trust during times where she was risking her life. And not only those times, but what sounded like on a daily bases whether she was fighting strange creatures or going to school."

"There's no excuse for that." Luna admitted. "It happened because we all thought we knew Usagi's personality, and wanted to change her for what we thought was the better, but what was really only how we wanted her to be."

"With the girls I think it was a combination of thinking too highly of themselves and being followers. With me I had descended to their level, and acted like them instead of being objective and putting a stop to such behavior." She explained.

Kenji huffed and thought she at least wasn't sugarcoating her behavior or that of those girls. From the little his daughter had been willing to explain and the facial expressions during those explanations he thought it was luck that she had not been driven to suicide.

It was probably also her boyfriend that helped keep her from going down that road if her thoughts had ever gone in that direction. He thought reluctantly.

"It took the arrival of another senshi, one that had not been with them since she had become a senshi and wasn't influenced by them, to see all the issues and get started on fixing them." Kenji said.

"It was Sailor Venus, Minako, and Mamoru that finally gave my daughter the training she needed. Minako to get the group to finally start training together regardless of the fact that she had those much mentioned instincts and supposedly didn't need to train because of it. And Minako to apparently appreciate Usagi as she was and respect her and stand by her without trying to change her. And this apparently from the beginning; from their initial meeting." He said.

"Yes." Luna agreed. "All of us aside from Rei had apologized to Usagi, but none of us could get through to Rei. Only Minako had been able to do that, and likely only because at the time she thought Minako was the princess and she needed to respect her."

"And aside from that none of us had the thought of training in mind, because at the time Usagi had parted ways from the team and they had been trying to get her back." She added, and he nodded slowly.

"And your recent behavior?" Kenji asked. "After all, you aren't living here because you haven't been treating my daughter right. Even after she became a better warrior and being the princess you had been looking for."

"It appears like your previous apology hadn't been worth much since you're behaving the same as before." He said.

Luna sighed, and didn't deny those things.

"Those are what I'm working on. The only way I can explain it is that my mind was conditioned to still see Usagi as the immature girl I first met." She said. "I'm also working on not seeing every situation as a worst case scenario, and not automatically believing the worst about Usagi based on what I believe is her behavior from before she quit being a senshi."

"I know that most of that behavior wasn't true and something the previous senshi of Mars had put into my mind, and the rest had been normal teenage behavior." She said.

"This conversation, listening to your reactions to the situations as you know them, is helping me see things differently and in a way I haven't before, wouldn't have thought of before, which is helping me to be better. To think better so I can be a better advisor to Usagi if she will still allow it. I know it's way too late for me to try and be a guardian." Luna explained.

"At least you're being honest." Kenji said, and then shook his head in frustration. "I still can't believe you made my daughter a senshi without thoroughly informing her of what it entailed, and then didn't help her when she clearly needed it."

"And I don't like that a lot of your behavior toward Usagi is based off your assumptions and what you thought you knew of my daughter based on your observations. You lived in this house, spent most of your time in my daughter's bedroom, and to me it sounds like you never took the time to actually get to know her." He continued.

"It's as if you were trying to be some kind of mixture of a constant nagging companion and a disciplining parent, and not knowing how to be either one much to the detriment of my daughter!" He snapped.

"You aren't either. Not a companion, and definitely not a parent. You're a talking cat who came into our daughter's life and disrupted it, and then had the nerve to complain about the results!" He continued angrily.

"Usagi did the best she could with what she had and at her age, and that didn't seem to be enough for you. You wanted her to be better at everything, change her into who you wanted her to be, give her further responsibility by making her the leader of that group of senshi and then complain that she wasn't doing that right even as you and the others prevented her from doing it and sometimes outright undermined her!" He said.

"You absolutely didn't have that right! You just came into our daughter's life and made her this warrior, and made sure it was kept it a secret. You didn't think about us when our daughter went out to fight those strange creatures! You were only concerned about if she fought well or not, if she was behaving how you wanted her to." He continued just as angrily.

"You didn't consider what would happen if our daughter was seriously injured or even if she died! What would have happened then?! Would you have told us or just disappeared?! Leaving us with a dead daughter and a missing pet!" He nearly shouted.

"And what about her mental health?! You and those girls had my daughter thinking she wasn't good enough to be one of them, that she was dangerous to be around, and would only lead to their deaths!" Kenji said angrily.

"We highly likely have Mamoru and Minako to thank for rebuilding what was left of her self esteem! We're lucky that's as far as it went, and we didn't have to deal with a suicidal daughter!" He snapped.

Ikuko, Artemis, and Luna gasped in shocked surprise. It was clear that none of them had considered that possibility.

---

Ikuko spoke into the silence when she realized her daughter wouldn't be asking how either of their conversations with the felines went.

"I've been thinking while you were gone. Can we see your first fight as a senshi?" She asked. "I'm curious to see how far you have come."

She didn't say it but she also wanted to know after having spoken to Luna and seen how lacking in information she was. She very much doubted the black feline was any help at all to her daughter.

Usagi grimaced, remembering that scary fight, but had no problem with that.

"Sure." She agreed easily before she got up.

She went and closed the curtains in the living room, and made sure her brother wouldn't interrupt them, before she returned to the living room. She then sat back down and wordlessly summoned her silver crystal and closed her eyes as she recalled her first fight as a senshi.

Please show my parents my first fight as a senshi starting from my run to the location to the end of the fight. She asked softly.

Her crystal pulsed warmly between her hands and she saw a bright light flare behind her closed eyelids, and when it cleared she opened them and nodded at seeing exactly what she wanted to show.

Ikuko and Kenji blinked as the bright light cleared and found themselves standing on a sidewalk at night with their daughter standing at their side. They looked left and then right and finally saw their daughter as Sailor Moon running toward them.

She ran pass them, obviously unaware of them since this was a memory, and they moved along with her by the power of their daughter's powerful crystal. Not much later they found themselves slowing with their transformed daughter and stopping in front of a jewelry store; Jewelry OSA-P.

"Isn't this the store your friend's mother owns?" Ikuko asked.

"Yes. Naru's mom owns the store." Usagi said.

Kenji on the other hand noticed the black cat standing at their transformed daughter's feet.

"Luna followed you." He said. He remembered the feline saying that she had told Usagi how to use her tiara, so he knew she would have to be there at some point.

"Yes. I remember being surprised that she was able to keep up with me with how fast I was running." Usagi said.

They follow their transformed daughter inside, passing harmlessly through the glass door, and gasped as they immediately saw people lying scattered all over the floor. Then their eyes traveled further and they were shocked to find their daughter's friend being held around the neck by a woman wearing a black dress.

A closer look however corrected them. It may have looked similar to a woman, might have even been a female, but it was obviously some kind of being with its skeletal appearance and clawed hands.

"Are the people alive?" Ikuko asked as her eyes drifted back down to them.

"Yes, but they had their energy stolen." Usagi informed them.

They listened as their daughter called out indignantly for the being to let Naru go, and watched with horror as the being turned its head all the way around until its face was facing backward revealing black and white eyes, a burn-like mark on its forehead, pointed ears, and pointed teeth in its mouth.

Then to their surprise it somehow commanded the unconscious people on the floor to rise and attack their daughter.

She clearly panicked when they all began to head for her, and ran away from the large group with Luna calling after asking what she was doing. She tripped and fell and skinned her knee and began to cry as she sat leaning back against a thick pillar.

The creature seemed to take the chance while their daughter was distracted to attack her. They unconsciously held their breath as the creature's arm stretched like rubber, and its clawed hand went speeding toward their daughter.

She screamed in clear terror and pressed back against the pillar as if she could disappear into it, but suddenly a rose pierced the creature's hand, and they look up to see their daughter's transformed boyfriend standing high in the frame of an almost skylight window near the ceiling.

"Don't give up." Tuxedo Kamen said firmly. "Crying won't solve anything."

"I can't help it!" Sailor Moon said, her voice still scared before she began to cry harder.

Somehow the red hair pieces on her buns began to glow and caused her scared wailing cries to echo dramatically causing everyone to cover their ears at the piercing sound.

The sound stopped when the large group of people collapsed to the floor, and as the creature was trying to recover they saw Luna run to their daughter's side.

"Quickly! Throw your tiara and shout 'Moon Tiara Action'. It will kill the creature." She said urgently.

Their daughter stopped crying and took a few moments to collect herself before she did as the feline said. She took her tiara off and it began to glow before it shifted into a bright white glowing disk.

"Moon Tiara Action!" She shouted as she threw it, and they watched as the tiara disk sped through the air and slammed into the creature and caused it to scream and eventually crumble to dust.

Kenji and Ikuko blinked as the scene began to fade around them until they found themselves back in their seats in the familiarity of their living room.

Usagi put her crystal away as she watched her parents. She didn't like seeing that memory; seeing a time when she was weak and afraid. It was her first fight and she could be excused for being that way, but she still didn't like to see herself that way.

As she was finishing her thought her parents seemed to have decided on what to ask, and began to fire off question after question at her, which she had no problem answering.

Evening

Makoto blinked as she appeared in what looked like a narrow alleyway in a flash of white light with Usagi and Ami. They were on their way to Mamoru's apartment, but since she and Ami didn't know where he lived Usagi had brought them.

The soulmate and bondmate of her princess and friend had contact all of them on their communicators only minutes before to see if they were available to meet his Guardian Shittenou face to face since they were finished with work for the day and currently at his place.

Of course they had all agreed since they wanted to meet the guys, and needed to meet them to start getting used to the guys and getting to know them. Not to mention getting pass the fact that they were former dark generals of the Negaverse, and people they had fought against who had tried to kill them.

So here they were slipping out of the alley unnoticed and following Usagi down the sidewalk in a quiet neighborhood. Eventually they reached a high rise apartment building, and entered and walked through the lobby to the elevator.

After waiting a few minutes the elevator arrived and let a few people off. Once they were clear the trio stepped on, and Usagi pressed a button for a floor near the top of the high rise. As the elevator moved them upward Makoto thought Mamoru must have one hell of view from his apartment.

When they finally arrived on the right floor they walked out onto a carpeted hallway, and continued on until they reached a door that was halfway, which Usagi knocked on. The door was opened moments later to reveal Mamoru.

"Hello ladies. Please come in." Mamoru said.

They all thanked him and stepped inside as he held the door open. They stepped out of their shoes and lined them up with the others already there and moved further into the apartment.

Makoto easily recognized Zoisite and Kunzite, but not the other two guys. Although, she noted that Naru and Minako were already there, and Naru looked pretty familiar with one of the unknown guys.

She was standing close to the guy with long wavy brown hair, and Minako was sitting on the couch with Kunzite. Both sets were talking; although Naru and the guy she was talking to looked more comfortable with each other.

"Everyone!" She suddenly heard Mamoru say; instantly grabbing everyone's attention.

---

"I think it's time to get the introductions out of the way." Mamoru said. "Minako and Naru have already been introduced since they arrived first, so Ami, Makoto meet my Guardian Shittenou: Kunzite, currently known as Kiyoshi; Zoisite, currently known as Akira; Nephrite, currently known as Shusuke; and Jadeite, currently known as Tadaaki."

Each guy waved as their name was spoken.

"Guys, meet two more of my princess' Guardian Senshi: Mercury, currently known as Ami, and Jupiter, currently known as Makoto." Mamoru said, and then he smiled down at his love. "And of course here is my princess, currently known as Usagi."

All three girls waved.

"Feel free to continue mingling or to start mingling as the case may be." Mamoru said to everyone, and then wrapped his arm around Usagi. "Hi love." He said as he looked at her.

"Hi love." Usagi said in return as she smiled softly.

"How do you think things went with your parents' talk with Luna?" He asked since he had caught the information in her mind when she first learned of it.

"I think it probably went well otherwise they would have said something." She said. "I'm sure they both said what they wanted and needed to say to her. I just hope that Luna learned something in the process."

"Do you plan on speaking to Luna anytime soon?" He asked.

"No. I want her to continue thinking and adjusting for a while. Let everything she's heard so far sink into her consciousness." Usagi said, and he nodded.

"I think that's a good idea, and probably for the best so you don't have to deal with any stress that cat might bring you." Mamoru said.

As soon as his prince finished speaking Zoisite moved from where he stood next to the kitchen table toward Nephrite and Naru. It was time he speak with them, which was something he should have done when she first arrived, but he was honestly nervous.

"Can I speak to you two?" He asked the couple as he reached them. They shared a silent look, and nodded their agreement.

"I owe you both an apology." Zoisite said, and watched them blink in surprise. "I'm sorry for having you kidnapped." He said to Naru before he looked to his fellow shittenou. "I'm sorry for my role in your death."

"There's no need to apologize. That happened while we were part of the Negaverse and conditioned to be out for our own gain." Nephrite said.

"Yes. There's no need to be sorry. I understand fully now what was happening during that time." Naru said, and he nodded.

"I'm still sorry." Zoisite said.

"Well I accept your apology only because your sincere about it and seem to need it." Naru said.

"Yeah." Nephrite said as he nodded. "If it will give you peace in this matter then I accept too."

"Thank you both." Zoisite said with a smile before he grinned. "Now that that's taken care of I'm going to go chat up Ami."

He then turned and walked over to where she sat in the side chair that was facing the balcony where they stood.

Seijuro and Natsumi's POV

Seijuro stood out on the balcony of his apartment and gazed idly at the view of the city his mind lost in thought. Things had not been going well recently; actually since they had come to live there.

It had seemed like a good environment for scores of energy, and it actually was, but they couldn't seem to gather large amounts because of those female fighters and that masked man.

Something must have happened with the fighters the one time their cardian managed to bring them a decent amount of energy, because it hadn't been repeated after that. Each cardian since then had been defeated; even when they believed the cardian was stronger than the previous one.

He didn't know what they could do about it to remedy the situation aside from sending stronger and stronger Cardians, but the problem with that was that they were running out of them. They were down to their last few, which was something they had not anticipated when they first arrived to live here.

Seijuro sighed thoughtfully. Maybe we should start targeting the fighters as well as gather energy to hopefully get them out of the way. Then we wouldn't have to worry about them anymore, and could collect all the energy we need whenever we need it. He thought.

Yes. He liked the idea the more he thought about it. I'll tell Natsumi and see if she agrees before putting that plan into action.

Now if only his problem with Usagi could be figured out as quickly. He had been keeping his distance from her at school, but still watched her as he usually did when he caught sight of her. She was still never alone whenever he saw her, and unfortunately still appeared to be dating that guy.

During that time he spent watching her no ideas had come to him on how to get her to turn her attention to him. Every time he thought about approaching her he remembered the previous results of that, which was a brief stilted snippet of a conversation before it ended and she left.

That was another reason why he wanted to talk to her when she was alone, because he thought he would have a better chance of talking to her and convincing her that she should get to know him.

Once she got to know him she would see that he was a good guy and like him, and then switch her affections to him and leave that dark haired guy to his own devices.

Maybe leave him to Natsumi since she seems to like him. He considered, but then he thought she was his companion and he didn't want that guy near her either.

Seijuro sighed as he considered the fact that not only was Usagi never alone but she was hard to find; at least recently. He had spent all weekend wandering around trying to spot her, but he had no luck. He hadn't even spotted the guy she was dating.

It made him angry when he realized that the two were probably together. He needed to get to her, and make some progress.

I'll try to speak to her at school again, and see if I can get her alone. He decided.

Natsumi, meanwhile, was inside in the living room lounging on the couch as she thought of the cutie guy, Mamoru, and how much she wanted to see him and talk to him. She didn't care that he was dating her classmate Usagi; she still thought she could steal him away if only he would give her a chance.

With that thought in her mind she had spent most of the weekend looking for him; wandering around to random places since she didn't know where he lived or spent his free time.

Unfortunately, she didn't have any luck, which was extremely disappointing. She had spent the time imagining finding him, alone, and talking to him and getting to know him and him falling madly in love with her.

Yeah Seijuro didn't like him because he was currently dating her classmate, but she was sure that would change when Mamoru was hers. They would all get along, and everything would be great.

Their lives would blend together easily. She and Seijuro would send out Cardians to collect energy for the Makaiju Tree, and she would have her own personal store of energy in the form of Mamoru.

I would collect his energy in such a delicious way. Natsumi thought with a sigh. But that will only happen if I can find him and talk to him.

She had been unsuccessful this weekend, but she knew exactly where he would be tomorrow. He seemed to pick up her classmate everyday after school, so she could speak to him then.

Or since she wanted to be able to speak to him alone she could sneak out of class before the final bell and talk to him then. He should be outside the school gates waiting in his car or if she was lucky he would be standing outside his car.

Natsumi hummed and nodded to herself with a smirk as she gazed through the balcony window. That was what she would do, and then she could work on taking Mamoru from her classmate.

As she gazed at her companion she thought it was time to turn her attention to her next issue; their lack of energy for them and the Makaiju Tree.

Their Cardians were defeated each time they were sent out, and the only time that hadn't happened was with their lion cardian.

But even then the next time we sent it out it was defeated, so the first time it got away it must have been luck or an issue with the fighters. She thought.

She didn't know what they could do about it. They needed energy and their Cardians didn't seem to be good enough to get the energy they collected and get away from those fighters.

Who would have thought this place had protectors. Natsumi thought with a huff. Although, I wonder if things would have been different if we had picked a different city.

She shrugged off the thought. They had arrived where they had arrived, and if they hadn't then she would never have seen Mamoru.

Can we somehow defeat those fighters since they're the issue and not the Cardians or the quality of energy? She wondered. They're the ones defeating them and releasing the energy they had gathered.

Maybe we can fight them instead. She considered. She recalled the times they had seen them fight, and thought they could easily take them if they were careful and smart about it.

If we're going to do it then it'll have to be soon; before we don't have any more Cardians to use to collect energy for us. She thought.

Natsumi sat up just as Seijuro opened the balcony door and stepped back inside before closing it behind him.

"I have an idea about our energy problem." He said.

"So do I, but I want to hear yours first." She said.

"I think we should have our Cardians go after the fighters as well as gather energy. The cardian can either kill them off with its attack or completely drain them of their energy." Seijuro said.

"I like it, especially since we're running out of Cardians." Natsumi said, and he nodded.

"What about your idea?" He asked.

"It's similar to yours, but I think we should actually go after the fighters ourselves." She said. "After seeing them fight I think we can take them if we're smart and careful."

"I like your idea too." He said with a nod. "I want to try my idea first and see how it goes and then do yours. If we continue to have trouble we're going to have to create more Cardians." He said.

"That would take energy," She said with a groan. "which we don't have much of."

"I know. If we have to we'll have to do what we have been and keep secretly gathering energy from one individual at a time until we have enough." Seijuro said, and she nodded.

"Then are we going to send one out now?" Natsumi asked.

He nodded and pulled out the few tarot sized cards they had left as he moved forward, and sat with her on the couch. It turned out there were only two, and they looked at each carefully to decide which would be best for what they wanted.

After deciding on one Seijuro put the remainder away and pulled his flute out. He brought the instrument to his lips and began to play a familiar soothing melody.

As it drifted and filled the room his casual clothing and appearance changed until he sat with long light blue hair, dark blue eyes, and wearing a dark blue full bodysuit.

Next to him Natsumi listened and closed her eyes as she changed to match him. Her hair lengthened and turned light pink, her full bodysuit was dark red, and when her eyes opened they revealed dark hot pink orbs.

The card began to float and glow higher and brighter before it began to stretch and contort as it shifted forms. Four limbs appeared to be pushing through the blank surface of the card before a full figure appeared floating in its place.

"Amanju." The figure said in a careless feminine tone as it looked at the two of them.

Natsumi gestured with her hand toward the balcony and a round portal instantly opened in the glass door showing the evening sky and nothing else.

Seijuro stopped playing his flute and lowered it, but before he could say anything the cardian turned and leapt through the opening and disappeared from sight.

"That was completely unexpected." Natsumi said as she blinked at the portal.

"Yes." He agreed with a frown. "The last thing we need is one of our last Cardians to go rogue on us. We're going to have to go and monitor it, and hopefully give it its orders before it does anything."

Natsumi nodded as she closed the portal. "Then we should get to it." She said.

They stood up and locked their senses onto the cardian before they teleported to it.

Meanwhile…

Makoto looked around and saw that Minako and Kunzite were back to talking as they had been when she arrived. Naru was standing next to the balcony with who she now knew to be Nephrite and they were once again talking.

Zoisite was now on his way toward them, so she went to the one that had been introduced as Jadeite who was leaning against the wall next to the kitchen that led into a hallway.

"So, which name do you prefer?" She asked as she joined him in leaning against the wall.

"Whichever one you want to use; they're both mine and I answer to them equally." Jadeite said.

"Okay. I'll call you Jadeite." She said, and he nodded. "So what happened to you before I became a senshi if you don't mind me asking?"

"Not at all." Jadeite said as he shrugged. "I was the first general to face them; there when it was just Moon, Mercury, and Mars. I was supposed to collect energy and then later my assignment became to eliminate the Senshi. When I failed the last time with that assignment I knew that was it for me, and from what the guys have told me I was put into an eternal sleep." He explained.

Makoto's eyes widened in surprise. She wondered if he thought that was worse then being killed, but then she thought it probably was if that was the consequence instead of being killed.

"I don't know what to say to that." She said, and he shrugged again.

"At least I wasn't aware it had happened. I knew something was going to happen at the time I just didn't know what, and then everything went dark." Jadeite said.

"Woah." She said as she nodded. "So, you remember everything; your time with the Negaverse and the past?"

"Yes; all of it." He replied. "Do you remember the past yet?" He asked.

"No; not even a little." Makoto answered. "I wish I did. I think it would have helped with some problems we had before."

"It wouldn't have helped with the former Sailor Mars." Jadeite said. "From what I saw of her when I was with the Negaverse I can tell you that she was the same in the past only then she was toned down. Even then she liked Endymion."

"Geez. What is it about Mamoru that had Rei liking him in both lifetimes?" Makoto asked. "I can understand with Usagi, since they had been in a relationship and they're soulmates, but Rei didn't have that excuse."

"She didn't always like him back then." Jadeite told her. "It didn't start until after it was discovered that he and Serenity were in a relationship. Before that I doubt she ever gave him a thought. He was just another royal and not her concern."

Makoto frowned. "Maybe she saw the way he treated Usagi and wanted that for herself, and then ended up not just wanting that kind of treatment but wanting him herself." She speculated.

"I agree," He said as he nodded. "which is a blow to my pride even if I am over it." He said as he rolled his eyes.

"What?" Makoto said as she frowned in confusion.

"I dated Mars in the past." He said. She gasped and he nodded. "I cared about her a lot, was loyal to her, but that wasn't enough for her once she started developing feelings for Endymion."

"And once she started wanting me to become more dignified, commanding, and royal I decided enough was enough. I wasn't about to change who I was to try and become a lesser imitation version of who she really wanted, so I broke up with her. I was a noble and a warrior, and that was enough for me." He said.

"I understand, and I definitely respect you for not putting up with that; I wouldn't have either." Makoto said.

Ami sat turned slightly to the side in her chair looking at Zoisite as she related her experience of being a senshi so far, but stopped mid sentence as she heard the sound of her computer going off in her subspace pocket.

She blinked in surprise before she gestured with her hand, and watched as the blue minicomputer appeared in an instant alerting everyone with its beeping sound. She opened it, stopping the sound, and clicked around rapidly as she stared at the screen, feeling everyone's eyes on her.

"Okay. I'm picking up only a single signature, so one cardian, and it's moving erratically in the direction of the Tokyo Tower." She announced.

Usagi instantly looked to Naru. "Are you ready to join us?" She asked.

Naru took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yes." She answered firmly as she nodded.

"Should we come?" Jadeite asked as he looked to his prince.

"Do you all think you're ready? Have you been able to train enough?" Mamoru asked in return. "You still haven't trained with the girls, so you guys joining might not work out for the best yet."

The guys all grimaced or shook their heads; recalling that none of them had been able to train since that one time in Elysion after they were able to transform with the new items they had been given.

"You shouldn't join us in fighting, but you should still come." Mamoru said. "You can watch from a distance to see in real time what the enemy can do, and how me and the girls fight together since returning from our training retreat."

"I think that's a good idea." Kunzite said. "We can observe for now and just focus on getting the training we need, so we don't have to stay on the sidelines and not be there to protect our prince."

"Plus, if anything unexpected happens we'll be there and can still help." Nephrite said, and Mamoru nodded.

"Then we should all get transformed and head out." He said.

With that said the guys took out their brooch pins, the girls their pens, and Usagi her brooch and began to transform.

.:xXx:.

Sailor Mars ran alongside her fellow senshi and Tuxedo Kamen after having teleported to the area, her heart racing as she headed toward her first fight as a guardian senshi.

She had meant what she said to Usagi; she was ready. She was confident in her training, in her ability to use her powers, and in her ability to fight physically.

Although, she would admit she wasn't yet ready to use her new weapons. After all, she had just gotten them yesterday, and that was definitely too soon to have any skill with them. She was only just comfortable with holding them and swinging them randomly without losing her balance and falling.

Beyond that her Nephrite had sent her off with a confidence boosting kiss to help her along. Nothing too passionate, just a slightly long brush of his lips against hers, but she had still very much enjoyed it.

So she was definitely ready, but that didn't mean she wasn't nervous. This was no longer training, but the real thing she was about to face; a dangerous creature she was running to.

Still, she ran confidently in her high heel pumps and leapt from rooftop to rooftop keeping her eyes peeled for the cardian and/or the two beings she had been warned about; the ones sending the Cardians.

A few more minutes passed before she began to hear screams. Her heartbeat picked up the pace, and her eyes kept flickering around trying to find where it was coming from.

Eventually Mercury, who was leading them, slowed on the rooftop they were running on and moved towards the edge and looked down. She then looked to them and gestured down to the ground.

They all drift toward the edge and looked around, to make sure no one and nothing was on any of the roofs with them, before they looked down and saw the cardian they were there for.

It was moving around erratically running after one person only to suddenly abort the chance and go after someone else. Once it had that person it looked like it would take their energy, and then randomly ram into a parked car before rushing at a moving car. Screeching tires instantly sounded as the driver pressed on the breaks.

The cardian paused and it was then that they got a clear view of what it looked like. It was female, as all the others were, with green tinted skin, pointed elf-like ears, solid red eyes, long almost wild blue hair, and short horns on its head.

It wore a yellow orange and black bodysuit that looked like a one piece bathing suit with matching long gloves and tall boots with spikes on the back of all of them. In addition to that there were strange white pieces on its shoulder and lower back, gold bracelets around its wrists, and a black choker with a yellow orange stripe around its neck.

Sailor Mercury looked carefully at the cardian through her visor and saw that it had a large amount of energy collected, seemingly sitting inside it as if it was a living container.

That is essentially what the Cardians are. She thought. "It's already full of energy, so we definitely need to make sure it doesn't get away." She announced.

"True." Sailor Moon said. "We should spread out so we have a better chance of hitting it and hopefully keep it from getting away."

"Yes." Tuxedo Kamen agreed as he watched the cardian.

"I think so too." Sailor Venus said.

"Then let's spread out and take care of that cardian before it does anymore damage." Sailor Moon said as she watched the cardian ramming into the car that had screeched to a stop.

The Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen silently moved along the rooftops before some of them made their way to the ground out of the cardian's line of sight.

Venus landed on the sidewalk and eased between two parked cars as she watched the cardian mindlessly beating on the hood of the car, and slowly stepped out into the street until she was lined up with the car.

Crescent Beam. She thought as she lifted her arm and pointed her finger, and watched it slam into the oblivious cardian.

"Amanju!" The cardian shouted as it was blasted back.

Venus ran forward as she watch the cardian hit the ground on its back and roll backward, and stopped next to the driver side window before she taped on it.

"Get out of here!" She said. "Reverse and drive away!"

Tuxedo Kamen walked along the edge of the roof and pulled out a handful roses before he threw them down at the distracted cardian. They rained down on it causing little explosions as it was trying to get to its feet.

"Amanju!" The cardian yelled in pain and aggravation as it ran from whatever was causing it pain.

Mars looked down from the rooftop across the street from where she had stood with her fellow senshi and Tuxedo Kamen, having decided to teleport there, and launched her attack.

Fire Soul. She thought before she sent a ball of fire streaking toward the cardian's back.

"Amanju!" The cardian screamed as it felt the heat against its back and fell forward, but somehow managed to roll with its momentum and keep running.

Sailor Jupiter appeared in a flash of green light just ahead yet off to the side of the cardian, having taken inspiration from seeing Mars teleport, and silently summoned her new weapon to her hand.

She swung it instantly and slammed the mace head into the cardian's face as hard as she could before quickly storing it away back in her subspace pocket.

After all, she had just gotten her weapon and didn't really know how to use it yet beyond holding it and swinging it around. She was going to need to find some books or watch some movies or something that had the weapon in it.

It still served its purpose regardless, and that's good enough for me. She thought as she watched the cardian.

"Amanju!" The cardian screamed in pain, its hands going to its face, as it fell back hard.

Sailor Moon stood at the edge of a rooftop a little ahead of the cardian, and seeing what Jupiter had done decided to further injure the cardian so it could be taken out.

She grasped her tiara around the gem with her thumb and forefinger and focused on what she wanted.

Moon Twilight Flash. She said internally, and watched as a thick beam of white moonlight shot down at the cardian like a laser.

Mercury had the same idea as her princess, but hoped to freeze the cardian in place so it could be finished off quickly and people could get their energy back. She focused on her power as she aimed her hands down at the cardian from her place on a rooftop and launched her attack.

Ice Water Phoenix. She thought, and water quickly streamed from her hands and formed a phoenix mid flight as it flew toward the cardian.

"Amanju!" The cardian screamed angrily as it quickly popped up to its feet and moved away just in time to avoid the beam of white light and water phoenix. They hit the ground almost at the same time, the water phoenix freezing the spot, as the cardian dashed forward.

It slammed its hands into Jupiter's chest knocking her back with a cry as it raced by.

.:xXx:.

Kunzite, Zoisite, Jadeite, and Nephrite stood and crouched on a rooftop far enough away from the fighting not to be noticed, but close enough that they had a clear view of what was happening.

They had transformed and teleported to the area where their prince was a few minutes after he and the Senshi had left, and had immediately looked around the area and saw that there was no one else watching.

No curious citizens and no suspicious beings. If the two beings they had been warned about were around then they weren't visible.

They had watched as their prince, his princess, and the Senshi spread out, some along the rooftops and others making their way to the ground, and attack the cardian.

They were good at attacking it without it seeing or hearing, and they were impressed with Mars and Jupiter as they watched them teleport to attack the cardian.

They were also surprised to see Jupiter summon a weapon to use. They had never seen her do that, either in the past or during their time with the Negaverse, and couldn't help wondering if the rest of the Senshi had weapons as well.

Jadeite winced slightly as he watched Jupiter get knocked back by the cardian since she was clearly in its way and hit the ground hard on her back. That looked like it hurt, but he was pleased that she got to her feet quickly and went after the cardian.

The Shittenou silently moved and followed the others along the rooftops as they in turn followed the fleeing cardian.

They watched them each attack the creature at least once at the beginning of the pursuit but they didn't try again when the area began to get a bit more populated. Not to mention with the way the cardian was running.

It wasn't just going in a straight line or even zigzagging. It was running straight, circling around cars and people, jumping up onto and swinging off fire escapes, and bouncing off walls. Sometimes the creature even went through a wall proving just how strong it really was, and that their prince and the Senshi would need to be very careful.

Eventually the cardian reached the area that housed the Tokyo Tower, and ran across the street, interfering with traffic, and leapt over the decorative bushes lining the edge of the area.

They slowed and stopped on the rooftop of the last building, which was across the street from the tower, and watched to see if they would fight in their line of sight or if they would have to make their way to the ground and follow them further into the area of the monument.

---

The Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen barely took in the beautiful sight of the white and red Tokyo Tower lit up in all its magnificent glory. All they noticed was its large towering figure as the cardian moved toward it.

Sailor Moon paused and brought her palms together as she stared at the cardian and focused on her power.

Moon Sparkling Sensation. She thought, and watched as the loose beam of white sparkling stars shot forward and slammed into its back.

"Amanju!" The cardian screamed as it flew forward before it slammed onto the ground and skidded along the grass.

Tuxedo Kamen pulled out two handfuls of roses and willed them to turn black as he watched the cardian struggle to its feet with burn marks on its back.

Deadly Rose Petals. He thought as he threw them toward the cardian, and watched as they shattered mid flight into black razor sharp petals.

Sailor Jupiter held her hand out at her side as she focused and a moment later vibrant pink flower petals burst into existence.

Flower Hurricane! She thought as she threw her hand forward and sent the flurry of flower petals toward the cardian.

The pink and black petals mixed seamlessly as they swirled and spun forward before they collided with the cardian.

"Amanju!" It screamed as it was cut and sliced over and over and over again along the entire length of its body.

Mars lifted her hands as she gathered her power and brought them together as she focused on what she wanted.

Fire Soul Bird. She thought and watched as a large jet of fire streamed out of her hands and formed a large beautiful bird. It flapped its way toward the cardian and slammed into the creature head first.

"Amanju!" It screamed in agony as it was practically engulfed in red fire.

While the cardian was distracted by its pain Mercury aimed her hands at the cardian as she focused on her power.

Ice Water Phoenix! She thought, and quickly sent her attack toward the flaming cardian.

Water streamed out of her hands toward the cardian and formed the large phoenix that flew toward the screaming female. It slammed into it and the screaming abruptly stopped as the cardian began to freeze.

"Finish it Venus!" Sailor Moon called quickly.

Venus responded by silently lifting her arm toward the cardian and pointing her finger toward the freezing creature.

Crescent Beam Shower! She thought and watched as energy sparked and grew at the tip of her finger before shooting through the air.

Moments later the beam split into multiple beams and streaked toward the cardian before slamming into it, and shattering its frozen figure leaving frozen pieces that had no chance of reforming to display the tarot sized card they were used to seeing when destroying Cardians.

Meanwhile…

As Tuxedo Kamen and the Senshi were fighting and the Shittenou were watching the fighting the masters of the cardian were watching as well to make sure their cardian did what it was supposed to do.

It hadn't at first, but after some firm words from An it had started to gather energy.

Unfortunately, not too long after that those fighters showed up and started to distract and fight their cardian. It didn't take much observation to notice that their cardian hadn't been doing well right from the start, but they had seen that it had been trying to get away with the energy it had.

Now as they watched their cardian be surrounded by fire and scream it was more than clear that it was going to be destroyed.

"We only have one cardian left now." An said, her light pink hair fluttering as they watched it be frozen and destroyed.

"Yes." Ail agreed. "This cardian didn't even attack the fighters unless we count it shoving the one in green and white."

"That's disappointing. It's strong enough to be able to harm them." She said with a sigh.

"Maybe it's as simple as not being able to get close to them to fight physically." He said as he pushed some of his light blue hair behind his ear. "It's time we go with your plan. We'll send out our last Cardian to focus on gathering energy, and deal with the fighters ourselves."

"Yes." An said as she nodded and stared down at the fighters. "Do you want to start now?" She asked.

"No. We should surprise them when they inevitably go to fight our cardian. That way they'll be forced to try and fight us and the cardian, which will mean they're likely to be distracted and easier to deal with." Ail said.

"Right. This time we'll succeed." She said firmly.

.:xXx:.

As the cardian was being destroyed Zoisite scanned the area, the creature's screams filling his ears, and spotted two beings on the tower not too far above the fighting; watching.

He frowned as he recognized them as the ones they had been warned about.

"Guys. Look at the tower." He said calmly without moving his eyes.

They did, shifting their eyes away from the scene below them and scanned the tower. It was only moments before they understood why he had wanted them to.

Perched and standing at the top of one of the legs of the tower were two beings that didn't look at all human, and appeared to be watching the scene as they had been.

"I wish we could hear what they're saying, because I can just see their lips moving from our distance." Nephrite said.

"Me too." Kunzite agreed. "Whatever they're saying would likely be very informative."

A few moments later the two vanished in what was clearly a teleporting maneuver, and after looking around in every direction, even scanning the length of the tower, they were satisfied that they had actually left for good.

They then teleported themselves down to the others to relate what they had just seen.