Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 3: Crystal City.
Act 1: Generations.
Episode 7: Not them again!
By Razor Knight
Last update: February 26, 2019
"Triple Shot."
Moon dodged the ball of death, moon and earth energy. It was really like a mini-Sailor Planet Attack, and packed enough of a punch that even the two more experienced Youngers didn't want to be hit by it. She was both proud and annoyed by that... Her daughter was a Cosmic Senshi, but her attacks could be stronger than Guardian Senshi ones. She was only ten, but could have kicked Rex around.
"Damn... Tired."
There was a catch, of course. Her 'triple' form was too draining to use for more than a few seconds. "You need to train your powers individually. The more used you get to them, the longer you'll be able to use them together." She powered down and helped her daughter up.
Hotaru walked to them. "But you should also do other things, find a hobby. Being a Senshi is not a full-time job."
"So that's why you teach?"
"It keeps us busy while we don't have anything to fight."
Usagi nodded. "I was a bit surprised when she told me what she had decided to study, back then, but Hotaru is a very good teacher." She was also one of the few teachers who didn't try to impress Senshi by giving their kids good grades for no reason.
"And Chibi is good with a brush," Hotaru said. The older Usagi was a good writer, who even now kept writing, but few knew the younger Usagi was a good artist. For decades now, she had been using three different pseudonyms, working on different styles of painting for each one.
"So, what do you want to be when you grow up? Besides being a Senshi, I mean."
"I'm gonna be Tsuki's wife."
Hotaru was sure it had been decades since she had seen her wife frozen in shock. "Chibi, don't tell me you never thought that could happen."
Usagi smiled awkwardly. "Uh, I did, but..." She wanted to say it, the old 'you're too young to think about that' line, but she had been Kyouko's age when she realized what she felt for Hotaru. "I'll blame my genes for that. Have you told Tsuki you like her?"
Kyouko nodded. "Yep. But she thought I was joking. Kind of hurt."
Hotaru hugged her. "Not many kids at your age think seriously about that." She looked at Usagi, who smiled. "But if you have patience, you can tell her later on, when you know she'll understand. She may even grow to like you that way too."
Mako saw the younger woman walk to the door. "You're really leaving, huh?"
Hisako stopped and turned to her. "I have a promise to keep. I won't lie, I liked working here, and I also had fun cooking, but..."
"Don't worry, I get it. Doing what you like with the one you love by your side? Go for it. It worked for me and Kage, after all."
"I'll come visit once in a while."
"Good. Now go, your future wife must be waiting."
Hisako blushed at that. "Yeah. Thanks for everything, Mako. See you later."
Mako saw her open the door and smiled sadly. "See you later, kid."
Serenity looked at the reports with mixed feelings. True, Michiru and Haruka were doing an excellent job outside the city, but she hated seeing them, alone, branded as criminals for it. She knew to fight the real root of the problem they were trying to fight it could take ages.
'Maybe you will have to start a war to end all wars.'
"Don't even joke about it."
'Sorry.'
Serenity suddenly looked up. "I guess that must be their third ship."
Gin could sense what Serenity meant. 'Oh you've got to be joking. Not those guys again!'
"Gin?"
'You only fought them once. I had to deal with their big ship, and two of these. I really hope this is their last one.'
"I'll have to tell the others. We'll need all the mages we can get."
'At risk of angering you, making their ship explode from a distance is an option.'
"Not for me. They must have millions of innocents with them."
'Right. Do it the hard way, then.'
Hours later, the Senshi were meeting in a large room, one which had been nicknamed the 'War Room' as it was used for battle planning. Serenity had just finished telling the others about the incoming 'visitors.'
Rei frowned. "So the Kh'Sun are back. What's the plan?"
"We wait for their carrier ships to come. They will attack several cities at once, so we need to be ready to defend them all."
"Why not just go to their main ship now and destroy them all?"
Serenity looked at Hikaru. "Because their carriers are filled with their cannon fodder. Slaves from other races, from countless worlds, who help them invade other worlds because the alternative is death."
"I know most of you," Usagi said to the Youngers, "have already killed evil beings before. But we're talking about innocents here. Slaves. Millions of them. Could you still do it?"
"That is why we'll wait for them to leave the main ship," Ami guessed.
Serenity nodded. "I've already told the Youma and the Demom Hunters about it. Our forces will spread and minimize the damage their carriers could do. The Younger will stay here and defend the city. And me and my daughter are going to go to their main ship and deal with the main enemy."
"Why only you two?"
"I could do it on my own, but I may need someone to bring me back." She looked at Hotaru. "If we have to spread our forces too thin, you'll be in charge of the city's defense."
"Do we really need a chaperon?" Hisako muttered.
Rei nodded. "Hisa, this is not going to be a small scale battle. Each of their carriers has thousands of pilots, of ships ready to come out as a swarm. Don't overestimate your powers."
"... Sorry."
Serenity smiled. "I doubt those ships can individually be a threat, even to our youngest members, but there may not be a moment when it's just one ship shooting at you. Be careful, everyone. That means the Elders, too."
As expected, he aliens did not target only Crystal Tokyo. There were at least a dozen carriers, and they attacked as many large cities around the world. Younger Mars looked up at the sky. "I see mom wasn't exaggerating."
Saturn nodded. 'Use your weakest blasts. We don't need to be flashy in this battle, we need to last for as long as we can." She looked at Younger Venus and Younger Saturn. "That means you two."
Younger Saturn seemed ready to protest, but then her suit's colors changed to gray. "Got it."
Younger Venus smiled as she saw the ships approaching. "Let's try weaker than weak. Wisp!"
Saturn saw a ship explode and nodded. "Good idea. Use Hunter magic, these ships are weak."
Younger Dragon Mercury smiled. "This is going to be fun."
"Your definition of fun worries me, Taka," Younger Nemesis said with a sigh.
Venus looked at her Dragon. They were in London, and it brought many memories back. "Been a while."
"I'll go talk to mom when this is done," the Dragon said. "Wait until you meet our newest Prime."
A woman walked up to them. "That would be me."
Venus looked at the woman. Even though she was an adult now, she could still recognize her. "Hello Tia."
The woman nodded. "Prime Huntress Sylph, at your service."
Venus noticed something. "Hey, why so stiff? It's still me, Minako."
Tia smiled. "Sorry, you've got more power than I remember. How's the little one?"
"The 'little one' is in college now."
"Heh. Time flies, as they say."
It had been pretty easy to find the ship, and to teleport to it. It was also all too easy for them to get to the core. "I miss having to dodge."
Moon smiled at Serenity. Yes, these creatures kept shooting at them both, but they didn't even feel the hits. "Me too. So, what are we doing here?"
Serenity scanned the corridor. "We have to get to the core and overload it."
"Do we need to go there to do that?"
Serenity sighed. "No, I already found it."
"The so-called Sen'shi are not reacting as expected."
The Nh'Prowr looked at the soldier. "Explain."
"They are not fighting back, just standing there and letting us shot. Yet neither of them seems to be hurt, after several barrages of our weapons."
The alien looked to the side. "Do we have a visual?"
"Yes," another aliens said, and an image of the two Earthlings appeared in the command room's main monitor.
"Send in the-"
"Sir, one of them is charging an attack."
Moon looked at the rapidly cooling, massive dust cloud that had, a minute ago, been the Kh'sun's last mothership. "Well, that was almost stupidly easy."
"I agree. I'm starting to see what you mean by 'living in a boring city.'"
"Let's go back, then."
Serenity smiled. "You really worry about her. That's good."
"About Kyouko? Yeah. I try to play the 'mentor' role while training, but in a real war like this, I can't help but worry."
"Sorry for dragging you along, then. By the way, your little girl seems to be following your footsteps when it comes to love."
"Heh. Yeah, we've know for a while. She's confessed twice to Tsuki, but that girl thinks she's playing around."
"Maybe you should 'butt in' this time around?"
Moon shrugged. "I'll talk to Naru about it. She and Umino haven't noticed it yet."
Serenity paused for a second. "And then there's also Takamaru."
"Huh? What about him?"
"Oh, you hadn't noticed. He... Ami once told me he only likes those who are either powerful, or those he sees as smart. Kyouko is powerful, and quite smart. Do the math."
"... Wow. I never knew that."
"But Tsuki is also smart, and quite powerful."
"... Wait, so he has a crush on both of them?"
"Yes. So things could go wrong in many ways."
"Well, let's just go back. I'll figure out what to do - if anything- later."
Usagi looked at the finished painting and nodded. Another fine work of 'A. C. Ibushi.' It was quite amazing how well hiding your secrets in plain sight worked.
One week had passed since the Kh'sun's final invasion. The world had mostly forgotten about the Senshi's role in their previous invasion - or chose not to remember - but this time around, they had earned the respect of many. Specially once Serenity's hidden plan came to light. It was not that she had left the Younger Senshi guarding their city to protect them. The world saw it different. The Senshi backed their words with actions, sending the older, more experienced and powerful members out, leaving their own city to a bunch of 'kids.'
The world owed them big. Serenity wouldn't call in that favor, but the world didn't need to know that.
She saw her daughter walk in, looking upset. "Kyouko, did something happen?"
"I... Taka told me he likes me."
"Oh... What did you tell him?"
"I couldn't answer. I always see him with Tsuki, I thought he liked her. I don't know what to do."
Usagi sighed. "Do you like him?"
Kyouko nodded slowly. "As a friend, not the way I like Tsuki."
"Remember how it hurt when Tsuki thought you were joking? Well, confessing and having the other person not answer either yes or no is worse."
Kyouko's eyes widened. "I... Sorry."
"It's not me you need to apologize," Usagi said, then sighed. "And Takamaru likes Tsuki too."
"Huh?"
"You can't choose who you fall in love with, but sometimes your heart chooses more than one person."
"Mom, can you come with me?"
"I can take you there, but you need to tell him how you feel yourself."
"I know. I just want you to stop me if I try to run away again."
Ami opened the door and saw Usagi and her daughter there. She was obviously upset, but smiled nonetheless. "Hello."
"Hello, aunt Ami... Is Taka here? I need to talk to him. To apologize to him."
Ami nodded. "I see... He's in his room."
Kyouko walked in, then sighed. "Mom, stay here. I can't- I won't be a coward."
"Good."
Ami smiled as the girl walked further into the house. "Taka's luck with girls is that bad, huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well..."
Kyouko stood outside the door for almost one minute, collecting her thoughts. "Taka? It's Kyouko. Can I come in?"
"It's not locked."
His tone was cold, but she couldn't blame him. She walked in and saw him glaring at her. "Sorry for being a coward. I just... I always thought you liked Tsuki. I can't return your feelings, because I-"
"You like her too, huh?" Takamaru said, his glare turning into a sad stare. "Oh well, I guess I have bad luck when it comes to love."
"Why you say that? You could still-"
"Confess to Tsuki? I already did. Three days ago."
Kyouko pouted. "So I was the backup plan, huh?"
Takamaru shook his head. "No, I just saw a chance to tell her. It could have been you first."
"So, she also said no?"
Takamaru nodded. "I am a bit upset, at both of you, but I guess it's fair, you confessed to her first."
"What does that mean?"
"She told me she already had someone she liked, but that she didn't deserve to confess to that person, because she had already childishly ignored their confession twice. She didn't tell me that person's name, but I knew it had to be you."
"That..." Kyouko blushed. "Are you okay with telling me this?"
"I like both of you, but I'm not so mean as to stand between you. If I didn't tell you that bit of information, Tsuki would probably keep playing cool until we're in college. Honestly, good luck, Kyouko."
"Thanks. Friends?"
"Friends."
Kyouko walked back to the entrance. "Mom, sorry to drag you here. I'll go see Tsuki now."
"Want me to go with you?"
"No, I want to tell her what I feel, properly this time. I'll be fine."
Ami smiled as Kyouko vanished. "They grow up fast."
"Too damn fast. Can't you science guys invent something to fix that?"
Ami chuckled. "Possibly, but I don't think the Queen would authorize that project."
Naru opened the door and saw Kyouko there. "Hello Kyouko. Looking for Tsuki?"
"Yeah."
Tsuki walked out from behind Naru. "I'm here."
"Can we go for a walk?"
Tsuki looked at her mother, who nodded. "Sure, let's go."
Once they were far enough, Kyouko sighed. "Takamaru confessed to me today."
Tsuki gasped. "He did?"
"That face you're making is all the proof I need."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I rejected his confession, and he told me he had confesses to you too, and you told him you had someone you liked..."
"Damn that boy."
"Tsuki, you already know how I feel about you. I said it twice, because I'm that serious about this. I would do it again, but don't you think it's a bit unfair?"
Tsuki stood there, frozen in place, for nearly one minute. She knew? She still felt the same? She wanted to talk, but she couldn't. Her mouth wouldn't move.
"Don't worry, I'll wait." Kyouko said, and started to walk, but felt something pull on her sleeve. She turned to see Tsuki, holding her by the shirt, and looking quite mortified. "Tsuki..."
"I've always been bad at telling others how I feel, but you're right, asking you to confess again wouldn't be fair." She smiled sadly. "Running away now, or making you wait, would be unfair to Taka too. I like you, Kyouko. A lot."
Kyouko blushed, then hugged her. "I like you too, Tsuki."
Right then, Hisako and Hikaru walked by, and noticed the two girls. "Hi!" They both noticed the younger girls were blushing, but holding hands, and made an educated guess. "You look cute together."
"... Thanks."
"Does Taka know?"
"Yeah."
"Oh. No snow storms, so he's not over-reacting."
Hikaru gave her girlfriend a short glare. "You can be quite a jerk, Hisa."
"Thanks, I try."
A/N: Know that moment you realize you never really bothered giving many of the Senshi a 'civilian' job? Yeah. Fixed it for a few of them here.
As for Usagi "hiding her secret in plain sight," just look at the pseudonym mentioned, A. C. Ibushi. Took me five seconds to come up with that one. Anagrams are fun.
