Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Stars: Chaos Theory Chapter 61: What Nightmares are made of, a sailor moon fanfic

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Stars: Chaos Theory

Act 61: What Nightmares are made of

By: Sora Kazeno

Story is going to get crazy. ^_^

Welcome back to the fifth arc of the story. If you have not read the prequel, Rebirth, I highly recommend reading that before proceeding with this chapter. There will be a lot of overlap. I have also written several shorts for Seiusa Week 2023. All are related to Chaos Theory or Rebirth. This work is now tagged as a series under The Guardian Collection on A03.

I noticed I messed up on some of the suffixes so I will be correcting them going forward after a re-watch of the 90s anime which this is primarily based off.

Michiru does not use a suffix for Usagi, per Usagi's request when they first met.

Mamoru refers to Motoki as simply Motoki.

Artemis refers to Minako as Mina or Minako. So for this story I'm going to use Minako since he has used both.

Naru refers to Usagi as simply Usagi.

Just in case you didn't know, Sailor Moon was created by the talented and wonderful Naoko Takeuchi.

Enjoy!

-Recap of previous scene and continuation-

An hour later, Usagi finally leaves Minako's dressing room to walk over to Seiya's. He should be out of his meeting. The hallway is nearly empty. She knocks on the door waiting for a response from Seiya.

"Give me a minute!" Seiya shouts from behind the door. Moments later she hears a thump. "I knew I should have moved that table!" He yells inside the room.

Usagi laughs loudly at his clumsiness. She wishes she could have witnessed him tripping into something for once.

Moments later Seiya flings the door open. "Odango!"

Usagi continues laughing for a moment and then stops when she sees his face.

He wraps his arms around her tightly. "I'm glad you're here." He whispers in her ear.

"Hmm." Usagi nods hugging him back tightly.

Seiya kisses her and pulls into his dressing room. The door closes behind them.

Usagi is surprised by the greeting she received. Within seconds of being ushered into Seiya's dressing room, she found herself pinned against the wall next to the door. Usagi didn't have enough time to process what was happening and only half kissed him back.

Seiya released his hands from Usagi feeling a little sheepish at how quickly he wasn't able to control his impulses around her. It seemed to make Usagi feel awkward. "Sorry," he hastily apologies. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you and the other night." He blushes as he explains to her. He omits the part it is also difficult for him to keep his hands off of her.

Usagi looks at him wide eyed before a blush creeps across her cheeks as well. This was not the welcome she anticipated after being absent for a few days. "I just… I'm not used to things being like this." She looks down at the ground. Something she never really discussed with anyone. "I never had this problem before…" She is rambling at this point. She doesn't want to bring up Mamoru but things were rarely ever this heated, so quickly.

Seiya takes a step back not sure how to respond at first to Usagi's statement. "I…" He stops. What can he say? Are things going too fast for her?

Usagi raises her eyes up to meet his. "Things were a lot different with Mamo-chan because of the age gap. I met when I was 14 and he was almost 19. So… it kind of complicated things…"

Seiya clears his throat. "I knew he was older but I didn't realize by how much."

Usagi grabs his hands. "I'm sorry… it just might take me a moment to get used to… such a greeting?" She smiles meekly at him.

"Okay…" Seiya hesitantly responds, not sure where this conversation is going. Does she think the other night was a mistake?

Usagi throws her arms around him, hugging him closely. "I missed you Seiya." She whispers softly. "I'm really glad I'm back here." She wants to reassure him everything is fine.

Seiya is silent for a moment just enjoying the embrace before a nagging question enters his mind. "So… Odango how did you get here? You showed up suddenly without anyone knowing and you've been traveling with us and no one told me you were coming."

Usagi hugs him tighter and doesn't want to respond so she buries her face deeper into his chest.

He lets go of her to study her expression. He raises his eyebrows at her, "you didn't….?"

Usagi laughs nervously and place her right hand behind her head. "Well… the other way would take a while and I didn't want to wait… and um… surprise?" She raises her voice slightly at the end.

Seiya shakes his head with a smile. "You and Rei-chan should get checked into the hotel first and after that is settled; I want to hear what happened in Boston." He looks at her again with a puzzled expression. "Where is your luggage?"

"At the hotel," Usagi gleefully answers. She is about to explain the issue she had trying to check into a room when she wrinkles her nose instead. She just realized how gross Seiya smelled from performing on stage. "You stink." She waives a hand by her nose.

"Well… the lights on stage are really bright and emit a lot of heat. I was about to go shower but then someone showed up at my door." Seiya responds taking a step back wondering if he really smelled that bad.

"I'll wait," Usagi said as sits down on the couch in the room with her back facing the bathroom.

Seiya gathers the rest of his things and stops by the bathroom door. "No peaking," he teases her.

Usagi whips around. "I didn't peak when you showered at my house or when Chibi Chibi tried to grab the towel around your waist!" She points out.

"Sure you didn't…" Seiya taunts and closes the door behind him.

Usagi can't help but smile a little. Okay, maybe she did peak a little bit when Chibi Chibi tried to grab the towel but how did he see that when he was running off into another room?

Rei and Usagi stare the man at the front desk in disbelief.

He apologies again. "I'm sorry but there are no rooms available at this hotel for the next four days due to several events in the upcoming days and our busy travel season is just beginning. Most of the hotels in the area are also booked." He types in the computer again. "The next rooms available will be when everyone in your party will check out."

"I have a pullout couch in my room." Minako offers to Rei and Usagi. Turning to the black haired man at the desk she asks, "Are there any rollaway beds?" She knew asking for a futon would be out of the question at this hotel.

The man types in the computer again. "I'm sorry Miss." He looks over at Rei and Usagi, "I will have to ask you collect your luggage though."

Fifteen minutes later, Usagi and Rei are sitting on the couch in the lobby with their luggage along with Minako, brainstorming.

Rei sighs. "Usagi rolls around in her sleep a lot and I'm sure I'll be all bruised by the time I wake up."

Usagi glares at Rei. "I do not!" She sticks her tongue out at Rei.

"I seem to remember that time we went camping and we shared a tent; at first I thought a phage was attacking me." Rei retorts back before sticking out her tongue.

Minako teardrops and sighs. When did she have to become the person to solve this? Suddenly Minako jerks her head to the side at looks at Usagi with a smirk. "Well Rei-chan can always stay with me and Usagi-chan… you can always stay somewhere else…"

Usagi blinks a few times looking at Minako, not quite following what she is implying. "Huh? There isn't anywhere else for me to stay."

Rei's eye twitches. "Usagi, you can be so clueless sometimes."

"Where else could I stay?" She repeats again. Looking at the expressions of her two friends, it begins to click what they are implying without words. Usagi can feel her cheeks turn a bit red at the suggestion.

Rei and Minako laugh at Usagi's reaction. Rei turns to Minako to lower her voice a little but loud enough for Usagi to still hear, "Usagi was going to sneak out anyway at night you know."

Minako nods her head several times in agreement.

Usagi's face turns even brighter red. "Hey! Wait!" She tries to object.

Yaten knocks on Minako's door, hoping to spend a little time with her this evening since things had been crazy the past two days. Sometimes it is hard to ditch Seiya and Taiki. His eyes broaden when Rei opens the door. His eyes dart at the room number to make sure it was the right one.

"Yaten-kun?" Rei responds in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh… " Yaten racks his brain to come up with an excuse as to why he is at Minako's door at this hour. "I needed to talk to Minako-chan about an appearance tomorrow."

Rei states at him with a mystified expression. "Minako-chan told us she was off all day tomorrow."

Thinking quickly, "You're right. Sorry. It's been a long day and I must be getting it confused with a different day. We often have a lot of events around the same time, tomorrow is one of the different days." He hastily retreats before things become more awkward.

Rei closes the door and shrugs. That seems out of place for Yaten. She walks over to Minako in the other room. "That was Yaten-kun at the door."

Minako nearly dropped her hairbrush. "Oh, what did he want?"

"He thought you had an event scheduled in the morning."

Minako laughs to hide the truth from Rei. This is going to be really hard sharing a room after all. "He helped me a lot to start my career and we have the same manager so I guess he wants to make I don't screw anything up." She continues to prattle on. "I was a little late to leave for an event and he hates waiting for people when it is work related." Everything Minako told Rei was true; she is just omitting the part that Yaten was here to actually just see her. She had forgotten they had made plans earlier in the day and then when Rei and Usagi showed up, it changed everything and slipped her mind.

Rei looks at Minako for a moment. "He's lucky he never had to wait for Usagi!"

Minako eagerly nods her head in agreement.

Seiya was rather surprised when Usagi showed up at his door but he welcomed the thought of having her stay with him for the next few days until they move on to the next city. They are sitting at the table near the kitchen area in the suite while Usagi explains to Seiya the events during her final days in Boston.

"I told Rei-chan some of what happened in the other timeline but I didn't go into all the details yet. I'm still trying to sort it out." She looks up at Seiya from her hands that are rested on the table. "I'm not ready to tell the others what happened. I wish someone else could."

Seiya frowns. "I understand why you don't want to tell them Odango but they shouldn't be kept in the dark, especially when something like this." His voice reveals some of his anger. "Setsuna-san was out of line for what she did to you. It was wrong." Even though a few days had passed, his anger did not diminish.

Usagi slowly nods her head and leans back in her chair. "I don't know how to handle Setsuna-san. I am angry at her but I sort of understand by she did it. She thought she was protecting the timeline."

Seiya's expression softens a little as he reaches across the table to place his hand on hers. "Odango, what if… something went wrong in that other timeline and…" He didn't want to finish the thought. So many things could have been different. He could have remained on Kinmoku forever.

"… I fought really hard to get back to this timeline… we almost didn't stop Chaos." Usagi stops, she doesn't want to picture it anymore.

Seiya squeezes her hand slightly.

Usagi looks up into his eyes for guidance. "Seiya…what would have happen if something like this happened on Kinmoku?"

Seiya is quiet for a moment thinking carefully of how to respond. "No one on Kinmoku have powers anything like Sailor Pluto so nothing like this could ever take place. But I imagine the senshi would be exiled for essentially harming the Queen and willingly putting you in danger."

Usagi can only nod her head slightly as she considers Seiya's input. "I can't exile Setsuna-san. She is a member of the Royal Court and the Senshi of Time." She sighs. She had hoped it would be easier but she still doesn't know what to do. "She had help from Sailor Charon…" There is long pause before she continues. "I wonder just how much Haruka-san, Michiru-san…. and Mamo-chan also knew."

Seiya's head snaps up after hearing their names. "They knew too?" He could understand Haruka and Michiru, but even Mamoru?

Usagi can only nod. "I need to think things are over but I'm done worrying about it for tonight," she adds as a way to change the topic of conversation.

She blushes slightly. "The other night… you had called me Usagi…"

"Oh, yeah." Seiya responds recalling that exact moment. "I didn't realize it until later. I hope you didn't mind." He responds a little sheepishly.

Usagi shakes her head. "It sounds a little weird for you to use my actual name." Usagi stands up from the chair and stretches her arms above her head. The lack of sleep from nightmares is starting to catch up with her. She walks over to her luggage to look for her pajamas.

Seiya stands up from his chair as well. "Is it okay… if I call you that sometimes when we are out in public? I don't want everyone else to start calling you Odango, especially fans."

Usagi blinks a few times. "Eh?" She responds surprised, after a moment she smiles. "Sure!" She starts to pull clothes out of her luggage and stops to laugh. "You know, I used to be really annoyed when you first called me that… I kept trying to get you to use my actually name and then I just gave up." She tries to look annoyed at him but fails horribly.

Seiya smiles are her. "Why do you think I kept calling you that?"

Usagi's eyes widen. "So you were doing it on purpose just to annoy me!" She ignores her luggage and goes over to the bed to grab one of the many pillows.

"Of course, how else was I going to get your attention?" Seiya smirks at her.

Usagi pouts at him for a moment and it quickly turns into a mischievous grin. She launches the pillow in her hands at Seiya.

He easily caught it.

Annoyed she wasn't able to hit him with the pillow, Usagi goes to grab the next one to see if she has better results. She forgets how fast his reflexes are from years of training. He completely dodges this one.

"Ugh!" Usagi scrambles onto the bed to grab a few more pillows. She clutches one tightly in her hands and tries move across the bed using her knees. She swings the pillow to connect with his shoulder but trips over a fold in the covers and falls forward onto her face.

Seiya bursts out into laughter at the display before him. "The most powerful senshi in existence is defeated by a bed cover."

Usagi slowly sits back up, glaring at him. She tries to throw the pillow at him again and at such close range still manages to utterly miss him. She teardrops.

Seiya only laughs harder.

Usagi reaches for another pillow only to realize she somehow threw all of them or they fell off the bed when she crawled across it.

Seiya picks up one of the discarded pillows and lightly taps Usagi on the top of the head. "That is how to hit someone with a pillow." He leans over and kisses her on the forehead. "But you really do need to work on your aim." He offers his hand to her to help her up from the tangled messed she created.

Usagi reaches for his hand and instead of standing up she yanks him toward her, catching Seiya off balance. She anticipated he would land next to her. She was wrong on this guess as well. He ended up on top of her. Their faces end up inches away from each other. "Seiya…" she whispers looking into his eyes for a moment before she moves her mouth to his.

He eagerly returns the kiss. After kissing her several times on the mouth, his lips begin to travel down to her neck.

Within seconds, things begin to escalate. Hands are roaming over each other and clothing is undone. Any hesitation Usagi had earlier when she first saw Seiya is gone.

Princess Serenity is seated on the throne in the Silver Millennium. She stares at the golden starseed she just extracted from Prince Endymion. She smiles and with a wave of her hand, dismisses the starseed. She turns her full attention to the badly bruised Sailor Star Fighter nearby; her last obstacle. The Starlight looks so helpless and pitiful.

"Odango, snap out of it!" Sailor Star Fighter pleads with the Princess. She is running of energy and her heart isn't in it to attack.

"You are so weak, just like the others." Princess Serenity looks directly at Sailor Star Fighter. "You mean nothing to me." She raises her wrist and golden energy erupts from the bracelets hitting Sailor Star Fighter in the chest.

Sailor Star Fighter screams. An orange flower rises out of her chest, opening to reveal a light blue starseed.

Princess Serenity laughs enjoying the appearance of this particular starseed; one of the few starseeds that escaped her in the previous battle. She enjoys the shine. "It was so hard to collect this one." Her joy of achievement quickly turns to anger. "This starseed keeps standing in my way of everything." A wicked smile spreads across her face. "The only way to make sure this starseed will no longer pose a threat is simply to destroy it."

Gold energy forms in her hands and shoots up to the starseed. Cracks begin to form on the surface. "With this starseed gone, Seiya will never return and be a nuisance again." She laughs and applies more energy. The fractures in the starseed's surface increase until it can no longer withstand the pressure and shatters into small pieces.

Usagi jolts awake with a sob. She shakily opens her eyes to realize she is in a hotel room, not the throne room of the Silver Millennium. She exhales loudly as she begins to piece together it was a nightmare, one that seemed so real. She closes her eyes tightly trying to block out the disturbing images.

"Odango, are you okay?" Seiya asks, putting his arm around her back to hold her close. When she doesn't respond he nuzzles his cheek near her forehead.

His touch snapped her out of her thoughts. She is relieved to have him next to her. "Seiya, you're still here." She closes the gap between them and wraps her arms tightly around him.

"Where else would I be?" Seiya asks, trying to keep his voice even. Usagi is unnerved making him wondering what caused it. "What happened?" He asks softly.

"I started having nightmares again," she finally confesses. "I had one the other day where I took Rei-chan's starseed when I was controlled by Chaos. And another one just now…" She pauses, struggling to say what she witnessed. "Where… I took your starseed… and…" She can't bring herself to say she destroyed it.

Seiya's eyes narrow. His anger flares. She should not be experiencing nightmares again. They battled Chaos so along ago and she was able to move past all of this. That was until Sailor Pluto forced her into another timeline against her will. If he wasn't on tour right now he would confront Sailor Pluto tomorrow. She needs to understand what she has done. But right now his focus needs to be on Usagi. He holds her tightly in his arms. "It's okay Odango, it wasn't real."

Usagi numbly nods her head as her tears keep falling. "It was horrible…" she hesitantly explains. "What if something like that happens again?"

"But it won't. You sealed Chaos in that other timeline and this timeline," Seiya reassures her. He rests his cheek near her temple. "Unless something crazy happens, I don't see a way for Chaos to return." He tries to lighten Usagi's mood.

Usagi brushes a few tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to wake you up; I know you have a busy day tomorrow."

"That's not important, you are." He whispers.

Usagi looks at him wide eyed. "I…" Instead of searching for words, she puts her arms around him again. "I love you, Seiya."

"I love you too." He rubs her back slightly.

They don't say anything for a minute, just enjoying each other's company.

"We should probably try and sleep…." Usagi's voice trails off. "I'm not sure if I can though and it's way too early to be up."

"Give it a shot," he encourages her as he lies back down.

Instead of returning to where she was previously sleeping she moves over to join Seiya and rests her head on his chest. Seiya wraps his arm around her waist.

Usagi closes her eyes, listening to his heartbeat. The sound reassures her that he is here and what she had seen was nothing more than a nightmare.

She turns away from her tarot cards, plotting her next move. The Guardian has appeared in her home world, the location is still unknown. The woman pauses; Sailor Cosmos has also been sighted on Kinmoku a few times. She doesn't have much to go by. The reports she received from Kinmoku were limited. Cosmos was rumored to be present at a celebration for Queen Kakyuu briefly but that was over six months ago. Sailor Cosmos has not been seen since.

Sailor Cosmos' appearance was confirmed by her spies in the Scarlett Palace but she needs to learn more on the whereabouts of the Guardian. The time for them to meet is finally approaching.

She stands up from her table looking out in the void outside of the large window in the room. Queen Kakyuu is hiding Sailor Cosmos, hogging her power for personal use.

She summons a few minions. "Go to the Scarlett Palace and see if there are any updates regarding Sailor Cosmos." She pauses. "Find out which direction she travels and expand the search from there. I'm growing impatient after all this time." She eyes them closely. "When she does finally return to the palace, watch her closely, learn everything you can about her. Our time to meet is drawing near."

They bow their heads and leave to carry out her orders.

Mamoru puts down the photo of himself and Usagi on his desk. He hates how things ended between them when she was in Boston. He doesn't want to give up but his options are limited. He stops himself from going down this thought process for the umpteenth time.

His focus shifts to the golden crystal next to their picture. He picks up the crystal and stares at it in his hands. How was he able to use it to teleport them out of the ruins at the Golden Kingdom? What are the abilities this crystal possesses and how the heck is he going to figure them out?

Usako would probably know. Things like this come so natural to her but he's not ready to talk to her yet. It seems too soon. His eyes turn to his e-mail inbox. He has so many started drafts of an e-mail to send to her to see how she is, knowing she wouldn't see it until she returns to Japan, which has to be soon. He hasn't bothered to look at the information about the Three Lights Tour. He doesn't want to see the smiling face of the one that stole Usako away.

The next morning, Seiya swings his arm to the side to shut off the alarm. He tries not to shift around too much since Usagi is asleep on his chest. He is glad that she was able to eventually go back to sleep. She was so upset last night. He wants to continue to stay here with her but he has to continue with the tour events. He will have a chance to have plenty of mornings like this in the future. But if he doesn't get up soon, he is going to fall back asleep. He doesn't want Taiki and Yaten to see them like this.

Carefully he shifts his body out from under Usagi until she is positioned on the pillow and sleeping her side. He is amazed she didn't wake up.

He washes up and is ready to leave thirty minutes later. He closes the door as quickly as he can, letting out a yawn. He makes a note to try to catch a quick nap in the van driving them around today.

He comes across Rei as he makes his way to the lobby.

"Usagi isn't with you? We're supposed to go shopping soon; I was just on my way to check on her." Rei asks looking to the side of Seiya for any sign the short blonde.

"No, she is still asleep," Seiya starts to explain.

"Well… at least she's sleeping," Rei adds quietly.

Based on Rei's reaction, she's aware of Usagi's struggles. "She had a nightmare last night, and sounds like it was the second one she had since she… returned," Seiya chooses his words carefully since there are lot of people coming and going in the lobby.

Rei's eyes widen. "I was afraid of that. Everything was going so well and then..." She pauses developing a plan. "I'll try to delay Minako-chan as much as I can so Usagi can sleep a little longer."

"Thank you," Seiya smiles. "Can you keep an eye on her? I'm worried."

"Of course," Rei nods her head in agreement.

"I have to be going," Seiya bows his head slightly before walking off.

Rei turns around to head back to Minako's room. When did she become the person Usagi's boyfriends also ask her to keep an eye out for her? Mamoru was obvious given their history. But then again… she has been with Usagi this entire tour. She shrugs.

She is worried about Usagi too. What if these are not just nightmares? Could they be the start of a premonition? From what she understands, Chaos was sealed in both timelines, with no way to return. But there are so many evils out there that always seem to find them when they are trying to live a peaceful life. Times like this she wishes she was back in Japan to do a fire reading but there is no way she explain her sudden appearance to Grandfather and Yuichiro.

Ami rubs her eyes. She can't stop thinking about the conversation she had this morning with the school advisor.

"Are you sure Mizuno-san? We need a decision soon if you are going to study abroad." The counselor on the other side of the desk at Keiko University asks.

"I'm sorry. Can I have another week to think about it? I'm sure I can make a final decision by then," Ami asks politely. She loves the opportunity she was presented by Brown University.

The female counselor looks at her perplexed. "Openings do not come up like this often." She hesitates. If Ami wasn't one of their highest ranking students on the entrance exams, she would never consider this request, she would have moved on to the next student already. "Okay. One week but then we need a final decision or we will ask another student."

"Thank you," Ami responds bowing her head as she stands up to leave the room.

She enjoys this university a lot and understands why Mamoru spoke so highly of the doctoral program. But to study at an Ivy League School in the United States is a really unique occasion.

Suddenly it hits her. She looks at the clock. The day is just beginning over there while hers is wrapping up. Why didn't she think of this sooner? She opens her e-mail and begins to compose a message to send to Mamoru. He would be able to answer all of her questions and give her an honest answer on what it is really like to study abroad.

Ayumi knocks on Mamoru's door. He's been really quiet the past two days since he seen Serenity, rather Usagi. She needs him to snap out of it. She picks up her hand to knock on the door again and stops when she hears footsteps.

Mamoru opens the door. "Hi Ayumi." Since they learned they were siblings they stopped using suffixes for their names. It sounded a little strange to Mamoru to call this person in front of him his sister, but it is a welcome change from having no one.

Ayumi sits down in an empty chair in his dorm room. Her eyes immediately go to the Golden Crystal. "How is it going with the crystal?"

Mamoru sits back down at his desk and shrugs. "The crystal doesn't seem to do anything. I don't even know what abilities it possesses or even if I have any special powers."

"I know you can figure it out." Ayumi encourages him. "I'll help you in any way that I can… but I don't know who could teach you how to use it. Only the King or the next in line could use it, which was never me."

"That is different than what you told me last time," Mamoru looks at her. He was under the assumption that only the King could use the Crystal.

Ayumi frowns. "That is what I thought. I went back to the ruins yesterday. The barrier doesn't seem to be there anymore. We should go back there and try to train so you can learn how to use your powers." She notices the picture of him and Usagi on his desk behind him. She gets up and walks over to the picture. "How long ago was this taken?"

Mamoru is confused by her question and then realizes she is referring to the picture. "It was shortly before Queen Beryl returned…. and when everything changed." Mamoru sighs. "It seems like I finally have the power to protect her that I've wanted for years… and she's not even here."

"Honesty, I don't think Sailor Cosmos is the one that needs protecting," Ayumi points out.

Mamoru gives her a look. "You're not helping."

"Sorry," Ayumi apologizes. "We'll figure out how to use the crystal, it is going to take time. We should head out of the ruins to try to do some training before classes resume" He doesn't budge. "And if that doesn't work… then it might be our best bet to see if Neo-Queen Serenity can help us. The two crystals are supposed to be similar." She hoped saying the Queen's name could generate a response from him.

Mamoru rubs his forehead. This should be a lot easier.

"I haven't really tried out my powers to see how they have changed since they were upgraded. This might be a good time for both of us to figure this out. I'm sure we'll need them again at some point." Ayumi gestures to the crystal as she speaks.

Mamoru looks at the Golden Crystal again. He could go and train with Ayumi or he could continue to sit here and stew. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and then grabs the crystal at he stands up, his form shifting to King Endymion.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Ayumi smiles as she pulls out her pink transformation wand with a light green crystal.

An hour and a half later, Minako is walking down the hallway with Rei to Seiya's room. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" She pouts at Rei.

"I overslept a bit and I just finished getting ready. I was about to wake you up," Rei fibs. "We can't both get ready in there at the same time." She can't tell Minako the truth of why she was letting Usagi sleep in. Usagi hasn't told Minako anything about the other timeline. She hopes Usagi will be able to tell Minako soon. Heck, Usagi didn't even tell Rei she was having nightmares again.

"Where is Usagi anyway?" Minako grumbles.

"Probably sleeping, you know how she is," Rei hopes her friend was able to sleep this entire time.

"Or maybe she's still with Seiya," Minako lowers her voice.

Rei teardrops. "Didn't they have some events this morning? Like the one Yaten-kun mentioned yesterday?"

Minako blinks and then starts laughing. "You're right! They have a bunch of different events most of the day." She pauses in front of the door double checking the number before she knocks loudly. She waits for a few moments and when she doesn't hear a response she knocks even louder. "Usagi-chan!"

On the other side of the door, Usagi rubs her eyes as she sits up. She's alone.

Minako bangs on the door again. Usagi can hear Rei on the other side of the door telling her to not be so loud.

Usagi stumbles out of bed trying to find her clothes from yesterday while Minako keeps knocking on the door. After a moment she gives up and picks up Seiya's green dress shirt. She throws it over herself and quickly buttons the top and middle buttons to keep it closed. If she doesn't open that door soon, Minako might break it down.

She opens the door right as Minako is about to knock on it again.

"Usagi-chan! I was starting to think you weren't here," Minako smiles for a moment before her expression changes to one of bewilderment. "Usagi-chan… what are you wearing… isn't that…?" Minako covers her mouth with her hand.

"It was the first thing I could find and I needed you to stop banging on the door." Usagi's eyebrow twitches slightly.

Rei can see the exhaustion in her friend's eyes. She looks closer and it's more than just being tired. She can see the sadness and anger. "Usagi, how about if we get food before going shopping?"

Usagi nods her head and turns around to go back inside the room. She is not as cheerful as usual.

Minako and Rei follow behind her. Minako exchanges a worried glance with Rei. "Usagi-chan… did something happen?"

"Let me get ready really quick," Usagi responds avoiding Minako's question. She walks over to her suitcase lowering herself to her knees; she never did finish getting her clothes out from the night before. She starts to rummage through the contents and stops when images of herself as Sailor Cosmos controlled by Chaos flash across her mind. Stealing the starseeds of her two friends in this room and destroying Seiya's starseed. A few tears trickle down her cheek. She can't stop them.

Minako is immediately by her side. "Usagi-chan, why are you crying? Did something happen with Seiya-kun?" She doesn't understand why Usagi is acting this way.

Rei can't stay silent anymore. Usagi doesn't know Rei knew about the first the nightmare she had. "I ran into Seiya-kun earlier this morning, he told me you had a nightmare."

Usagi's body stiffens.

Minako whips around to look at Rei. "So you were up for a while!" She shoots Rei an annoyed look for a moment that she was lied to.

"That is the second one you had Usagi. I know about the one tried to hide in Boston." Rei continues ignoring the look the she received from Minako. "You need to tell Minako-chan what happened."

Minako is becoming alarmed. "What happened?" She looks at Usagi crying and back to Rei, waiting for one of them to explain.

Usagi slowly nods her head. "Rei-chan… I can't talk about it right now… can you tell Minako-chan… while I get ready?" Usagi closes her eyes tightly trying to push the images out of her mind.

"Sure," Rei responds softly. She gestures with her head to the couch near the doorway for them to talk so Usagi can get ready.

Minako anxiously sits down next to Rei and listens to the rest of their story about Boston they did not tell her last night. Her confusion turns to shock and eventually anger. Minako's fists are shaking by the time Rei finishes. "How could Setsuna-san do that to Usagi-chan? It's too cruel!"

Rei can only nod her head in agreement.

"And she was married to Mamoru-san and everything?" Minako looks at Rei in disbelief.

"Keep your voice down, it's a really delicate subject to talk about," Rei turns her head to look for any sign of Usagi.

Minako lowers her voice. "No wonder Usagi-chan seemed so sad this morning." She frowns. "I kind of feel bad about teasing her for being so anxious to see Seiya-kun she went to Brazil."

"It's okay," Rei assures her. "From what I understand, everything at least seems the same. It was like nothing happened from when she fainted for a moment and woke up. Usagi hasn't found any changes since she returned and I know we would never receive an answer from Sailor Pluto if anything was different."

"That must be hard to have memories of some other timeline that none of us were a part of." She tries to pictures what she would have done in Usagi's place but she can't. "We'll try to cheer her up today."

"We'll keep her focused on everything else. Usagi hasn't told me everything, but her memories when she was controlled by Chaos this recent time were more vivid, she remembers taking everyone's starseeds." Rei looks over to the bathroom to see Usagi emerging.

Usagi tries to hide a yawn behind her hand. Her eyes are no longer red and she finally stopped crying. "Let's get some food!" Usagi tries to comment brightly to lighten the mood in room.

Minako smiles when a few fans ask to take a picture with her.

Rei and Usagi wait to the side. "I'm happy things are working out so well for Minako-chan. I have a feeling her career is going to start taking off."

Usagi nods. "She's… happier in this timeline." She finally adds.

Rei turns to Usagi, "and you're happier in this timeline too."

Usagi slowly nods her head. "It was just so strange… to be in a world with Crystal Tokyo in the future. I had finally made peace that it was impossible when I became Sailor Cosmos…" Her voice trails off and she shakes her head. She doesn't want to finish that thought trail. "But I can finally protect everyone now… and this world from anything." The corners of her mouth form into a slight smile. "That is what is important. Any everyone is happy. Well… almost everyone." Her eyes lower to the ground. "I'm just thankful Mamo-chan has Ayumi-san in this timeline."

Rei looks at Usagi surprised. "You mean they never would have met?"

Usagi shakes her head no. "The Moon Senshi would still be confined in the crystals and we…." She shallows. This is the thought that terrified her about the other timeline, "we never would have seen the Starlights again."

Rei gasps, beginning to understand more of what Usagi had experienced. The changes Usagi undergone in this timeline would have made it possible for her to just accept the other timeline. She puts her arm around Usagi, "but it's over. You're here and everyone's here. Everyone is fine."

Usagi nods her head. "Thank you Rei-chan."

Minako caught the end of their conversation and it bothered her too, the idea of never seeing the Starlights again. She and Yaten never would have… She rushes over and hugs both of friends. "We're really lucky, you know that?" The three girls hug for a few moments.

Minako glances at her watch. "I think the boys will still be busy until the last fan signing. Maybe we can swing by around the time it ends. I think they will be free later tonight since the next concert isn't until tomorrow."

"Wow… you sure know their schedule really well for events." Rei looks at Minako a little surprised. "One would think you were stalking them." She looks over at Minako. "How is your plan going to get closer to Yaten-kun?"

Minako laughs nervously. "Well… I mean it is kind of hard when they are so busy and we have a lot of different events. Everyone has their own routine before a concert." She is trying to come up with the most believable answer she can muster to her friends. "I do get to see him almost every day… so I can't really complain!" Inside Minako's heart is racing. She wants to tell them things are going great but not until the tour is over and they are in Japan. "Oh, let's go in this store!" Minako pulls them into a clothing store trying to distract them from the topic of Yaten.

Sailor Earth and King Endymion stand in a forest an hour later near the ruins of their former home. "It is secluded here and a good place to train. I've come here often." Sailor Earth was able to teleport them with some assistance from Endymion. She realizes she is going to have to start at square one. He's going to have to help more on the way back.

Endymion nods his head, not sure what kind of training they would do. "What were some of my abilities in my former life?"

"I think we should just focus on the Golden Crystal for now," Sailor Earth avoids answering his question. "This won't be easy. It took a while for your powers to surface in your past life too. Father was worried you would never inherit any of his powers." She pauses. "We can try to work on the others later on. The crystal is the most important."

King Endymion nods his head in response. He wishes he had even a fraction of the memories Ayumi has of their former lives. But his memory has always been problematic since that car accident, anything before the accident is a blur.

"Mamoru?" Sailor Earth calls his name when she sees the far off expression in his eyes. He didn't respond when she called him Endymion a moment ago. She smiles a little. "It sounds weird to not use suffixes anymore but, family usually doesn't."

"Family…" Endymion repeats slowly before smiling. "I'm glad we both happened to be at Harvard at the same time."

"You have no idea." Sailor Earth smiles back. While Mamoru may still be a shell of who Endymion used to be, maybe one day he'll have his memories back. "I think we should start with trying to see how you used the crystal to teleport. See if it can take us back to Golden Kingdom."

King Endymion looks at the Golden Crystal hovering over his silver staff. The task seems simple enough.

Setsuna shakes her head at Haruka's outburst. "She is furious at me and I'm not sure what she will do. It is best if I keep my distance from her at this time."

"You were trying to protect the timeline; that is your duty. That is what you were doing, fulfilling your duty," Haruka counters back trying to convince Setsuna she needs to reason with Usagi. "She can't be upset with you for that."

"You did something that needed to be done. Usagi needed a reminder of what she was giving up." Her eyes harden. "It was something that we didn't think would need to be done." She tried to be more excepting but then she learned about Setsuna's plan that went out of the window and she is back resistance.

Setsuna suppresses a sigh. "I am worried about the lasting effects… on the Queen." She eyes her two companions carefully. "Despite everything, she wanted to return to this timeline." There is a long pause before she continues. "Perhaps it is better this way."

Michiru gasps at Setsuna's statement, changing her outlook.

Haruka's eyes narrow. There is no way she is just going to accept this, accept him.

"The Black Moon will never return. The Earth will not see a second ice age. King Endymion found the Golden Crystal." But there is one part she struggles with the most, they all do. "Small Lady…" She stares at her hands in front of her. "We will see a form of her eventually."

"A form of her?" Michiru looks at Setsuna suspiciously. "Then her and Mamoru-san….?"

Setsuna presses her lips tightly together. She can't tell them.

Haruka becomes alarmed when she realized what Setsuna is not saying. "You don't mean…" the shock immediately transforms into anger. "Her and… no… she can't. I'm not going to let her. I'll kill him myself." Haruka stands up from her chair at the kitchen table.

Michiru grabs Haruka's arm to try to reign her in. "Let Setsuna-san finish."

Setsuna takes a moment to sip her tea. She has already alluded to what might happen in this timeline. She needs to have Haruka and Michiru on board to move forward. "Mamoru-san will move on eventually as well."

Michiru summons her mirror for a moment to see if there are any glimpses of the future described to her by Setsuna but all she sees is Neo Queen Serenity. For Setsuna to know this much, it can only mean one thing. "You went to the future since you came back, didn't you?"

"A possible future," Setsuna corrects her. "We can't make the same mistake of believing the future is always set in stone. Things can happen that were never anticipated, like the rebirth of Sailor Cosmos."

This entire conversation irks Haruka. "How can you be so calm?" In the back of her mind, Haruka is already planning a few ideas of how she can try to run over Seiya in her car and make it look like an accident.

Michiru focuses in on something else. "What do you mean Mamoru-san will move on?"

Setsuna averts Michiru's question. "Maybe this path with bring us peace."

"The hell it will!" Haruka glares at Setsuna from across the table with her arms folded across her chest. "What about Chibi Usa-chan, are we just going to let her disappear knowing what that will do to Hotaru?"

Setsuna's eyes remain on her teacup. She can't meet Haruka's icy stare. "Unless Mamoru-san and Usagi-chan are together, Small Lady will not exist."

Michiru is calmer than her partner next to her. "And you're okay with losing that little girl?" She appeals to the mothering role Sailor Pluto has always had with Chibi Usa.

Setsuna stands up, trying to keep her own emotions in check at this point. "I already tried to fix the timeline to bring her back." Her expression conveys regret, "It only created more problems when Usagi-chan chose to be Sailor Cosmos. I wanted Small Lady to be back just as much as anyone else." She looks at the women before her to emphasize the bottom line. "Unless Usagi-can chooses Mamoru-san, there is nothing we can do."

The corner of Haruka's moth twitches. She's on her own. Setsuna isn't going to help. "I'll make her understand the error of what she's done."

Usagi, Minako, and Rei continue their shopping spree in an outdoor market. Minako is trying to find a few new outfits for some upcoming events. She makes it a point to buy some clothes at each city when she has the time. Something she had always dreamed of now that she is starting to earn a partial idol's salary.

Minako takes the moment to speak with Usagi while stopped at a different vendor booth. "So Usagi-chan… how are things going with Seiya-kun?" She tries to keep her voice down in case anyone overhears them.

Usagi blushes for a moment thinking of the pillow fight. "Everything is fine… it's great actually. Why?"

"Just checking." Minako pauses to exam a skirt. "Is the tour what you thought it would be?"

"I knew everyone would busy, I just didn't realize how much. Everyone is working hard and they keep adding things," Usagi thinks back to how many times her plans had to be altered with Seiya or Minako because of a last minute schedule change.

"This is normal for a tour. Since we are only in each place for a set time, they try to cram in as much as possible. But I understand it won't be quite as crazy back in Tokyo," Minako tries her best to explain why it has been so hard to keep plans. "This is a lot more intense for the Three Lights too compared to their original debut when we first met them."

"How do you know?" Usagi looks at Minako curiously.

"Yaten-kun told me," Minako puts down the skirt and moves onto a blouse.

Usagi smiles. "You sure are talking to Yaten-kun more as this tour continues."

Minako laughs. "Well of course, we do have a performance together," Minako quickly tries to cover her tracks. Even since she called him Yaten the other night, she can't help but notice how much more she and Rei are trying to pry for information. "I mean...most of us had huge crushes on the Three Lights while we were in high school and it seems it didn't quite fade as much as I thought when I learned they were also the Starlights." Minako looks at Usagi, giving her an honest answer. "I didn't realize how much I missed them until they left. They made school so much more entertaining!"

Usagi raises an eyebrow. "Oh, is that all?"

Minako waves her hand in front of her face to dismiss Usagi's suggestion. She quickly grabs a dress nearby and picks it up. "What a pretty color!" She looks at the garment for a moment before adding. "Yeah, we all missed them." She smiles brightly. "Apparently you missed one of them a lot too." Minako winks at Usagi. "But now we don't have to miss them anymore." Minako puts the dress back down, smiling.

Rei caught up with the two. "You were really convincing saying goodbye to him when he left, pretending you didn't understand what Seiya-kun was really saying." Rei shares a knowing glance with Usagi.

Minako turns around to look at Rei. "You mean … that Usagi-chan… knew…" She shifts her gaze to Usagi for confirmation. She had really thought Usagi didn't understand what Seiya was trying to tell her.

Usagi teardrops.

Minako looks to Rei again, wanting her to continue. "How?"

"Well, at the moment I didn't know and it took me a few weeks to figure out. Usagi just wasn't the same even though Mamoru-san was back." Rei looks over at Usagi thinking of some of the conversations they've had regarding that particular member of the Three Lights the first time they were in Tokyo and upon their return.

Minako turns to Usagi again, "Whaaa… Usagi-chan…. You mean you knew this entire time?"

Usagi shrugs. "It wasn't that hard to figure out…. Especially when he told me fell in love with me right before their final concert…. Then Galaxia appeared."

Minako and Rei's jaws drop. Usagi had never told them this before.

Usagi continues, "I felt horrible at the time because I knew he was hurting and… Haruka-san and Michiru-san were right outside waiting for me to say goodbye to him..." Her voice trails off, recalling that night.

"That's why Haruka-san and Michiru-san were at the concert? I always thought it was weird to see them there." Minako recalls knows how much Haruka and Michiru disliked the Three Lights after learning they were the Starlights.

"I happened to run into them and they told me I had to say goodbye to them. It was shortly after Fighter saved me on the rooftop," Usagi thinks back to how differently things could have been if she had just told Seiya the truth then. Before she can say anything else her stomach grumbles loudly, requesting an afternoon snack.

Minako and Rei teardrop. Rei looks at Usagi in awe. "How can you be hungry again?"

Usagi can only laugh nervously. "How about we get a few tacos?"

The Three Lights enjoy their short break before the next event, relaxing in a few chairs off to the side, finally giving them a moment to talk amongst themselves.

"I was surprised to see Usagi-chan and Rei-chan suddenly show up without any warning." Taiki looks over at Seiya to try to find out more of what happened. Something wasn't adding up.

Seiya keeps his voice low since he knew the workers would be back to collect them soon for the next event. "They were able to wrap things up quickly."

"But how did they stop the creatures?" Yaten had hoped to talk to Minako last night and find out more but he did not anticipate Rei to be staying with her. He and Taiki were a bit shocked about the hotel accommodations when Seiya told them this morning.

"They just disappeared." Seiya tries to explain without going into great detail. Usagi is struggling with what happened to her in the other timeline and isn't quite ready to discuss it with everyone.

Taiki's eyes narrow, not believing Seiya's short response. "Creatures like that don't just normally disappear."

Seiya grimaces a little. Leave it up to Taiki to not let it slide. "Its kinds of a lot story… that Odango isn't ready to talk about with everyone yet."

Yaten is up on his feet within seconds. "Bullshit!" He claims; making it clear silence will not be an acceptable answer. When Seiya doesn't respond, his eyes constrict while glaring at the group leader. "You know we don't keep secrets from each other when it is senshi business. We're a team and if there is a problem we have to know what is going on."

Seiya is uncomfortable by Yaten's statement. He knows Yaten is correct. That is why they work so well as a team together, they share everything that could affect their abilities to be senshi. He is torn between what he learned from Usagi last night and his teammates. But they are going to notice the change in Usagi sooner or later.

"Seiya, what happened? We just wanted to know if there is a threat out there we need to prepare for." Taiki tries another approach appealing to Seiya's sense of duty at a senshi.

Seiya relents. There isn't anything else he can do. Maybe it is better this way not leaving them in the dark. "The creatures disappeared because they were time anomalies." Here is the hard part. "They were created because Sailor Pluto tried to change the timeline back to before Odango became Sailor Cosmos." Seiya sighs. "She was successful for a little while but Odango still awakened as Sailor Cosmos and so did Chaos. She had to fight against Chaos again since it was never sealed in this other timeline. And now, her nightmares are back."

Taiki and Yaten stare at him in baffled. Whatever they had expected to hear, this was not it.

"That is the short version," Seiya elaborates when they don't respond.

Yaten can feel the disbelief washing over him as he finally sits back down. "Changing time like that is forbidden. Everyone knows that, why would she be so reckless?"

Seiya keeps his answers as short as he can. "To end our relationship."

Yaten shakes his head. "You really pissed them off."

"Why don't we remember any of this?" Taiki is trying to understand how he could have no recollection of such a major event.

"We wouldn't," Seiya responds quickly. "Even though I was told we fought besides her to defeat Chaos with Queen Kakyuu and the Three Stars." He looks down at his hands for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to explain the next part. "We don't have the same abilities as Sailor Cosmos, Sailor Pluto, or Sailor Charon, we cannot travel through time."

"So only those three remember because of their unique abilities." Taiki leans back in his chair finally starting to piece everything together. "So when Usagi-chan came to visit you in Brazil… was that after she returned?"

Seiya nods his head. "It's why I've been distracted so much the past couple of days. She told me part of what happened that night and the rest last night." He passes his hand through his hair. "And the nightmares returning just started. She had one last night… she was so…. terrified." He looks at Taiki and Yaten for assistance. "I'm not sure how I can help her." He admits.

"I'm sure Mina can think of something," Yaten tries to reassure Seiya; finally understanding what has been going on with him.

"Yeah…" Seiya nods his head in agreement. "She's pending all day with…" Seiya stops midsentence to stare at Yaten wide eyed. "You called her Mina?"

Yaten pales and tries to stammer an excuse. "All of this has messed up your hearing…" he fumbles tries to think of something else.

Taiki looks at Seiya and asks him point blank. "You mean you didn't know?"

Seiya shoots Taiki a look of confusion. "Know what?"

Yaten is grumbling under his breath. Taiki knew and said nothing. He thought he was doing such a great job of hiding it. The other day when Taiki confronted Seiya about his relationship with Usagi, was Taiki also giving him a subtle warning too?

"That they are together?" Taiki spells it out for Seiya.

"They what now?" Seiya responds looking at Yaten for confirmation of Taiki's claim.

Taiki shakes his head and continues, "It wasn't hard to figure out since Los Angeles, the only question is how much longer than that?" He looks at Yaten.

"I didn't catch on!" Seiya shouts turning back to Taiki.

Taiki responds indifferently. "You were too focused on Usagi-chan."

Seiya knew Taiki was correct and turns his attention to Yaten. "When were you planning on saying something to us?" He turns the tables. "What about no secrets?"

"It's not senshi business." Yaten immediately counters. He knew he would have to have this conversation with them eventually.

"It is when you're involved with a senshi," Seiya points out; annoyed at the double standard Yaten is giving himself.

Yaten smirks. "Like you were going to talk about that late night visit you had from Usagi-chan… if I hadn't... heard things."

Seiya turns bright red. "Well…. That was different…." He scratches the back of his head.

Taiki can see this conversation is not progressing. "I'm assuming the other girls don't know yet."

"No," Yaten confirms, glad of the slight change in topic. "We thought no one would know and plan on keeping it that way for the rest of the tour."

"Oh, I'm sure they will find out soon." Seiya grins at him.

Mamoru reviews his e-mails. He finally wrote to Motoki last night about seeing Usagi when she was in Boston. It was a bit awkward but they are stilling going to be friends. He can't ever tell Motoki the truth about why they actually broke up, other than they were having problems for a little while and both wanted different things. He had told Motoki before he left for Boston that it was Usagi that wanted to break up. There was no way to avoid that question. He told his best friend about Ayumi. No response yet.

An e-mail from Ami catches his eye. She had a lot of questions regarding how it was to live abroad and complete all studies in English. He is about to write a response when he stops. Why doesn't she see for herself what it is like to study here for a day or two? Does Harvard have some rules against it?

He leaves his room and walks over to Ayumi's. He knocks on the door and is greeted by the person in question within a few minutes.

"I thought you had some things you wanted to do today?" Ayumi asks. They just came back from training not even thirty minutes ago. She lets him into the room. Mai is not there.

"I received an e-mail from Ami-chan. She wants to know what it is like to study here. Are there any rules against someone visiting for a day or two?"

Ayumi looks at him, trying to place where she heard the name Ami before. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Sailor Mercury."

Ayumi's eyes enlarge. "She wants to come here? I'd love to meet her!" Ayumi is excited at the thought of meeting more of the senshi. "No, Harvard doesn't have any rules against it and she would blend in perfectly if she is here for the first day of class."

Mamoru frowns. "But she doesn't know who you are, I doubt Usako had a chance to talk to her or the others." He places a hand under his chin. "A lot happened in Boston and Usako probably wants to talk to her when she gets back."

"You can't base everything off of what Usagi-chan wants anymore." Ayumi counters back. "At some point, you have to do what is best for you and others. Have her visit and we'll figure out what to do later." Ayumi suggests.

Mamoru agrees.

Rei, Usagi, and Minako finished lunch and are sitting at the table. Usagi leans back in her chair, her stomach finally full. She is physically there with them but her eyes look like she is a million miles away.

"Usagi-chan, are you okay?" Minako asks after observing the distant look. This is going to be harder than she anticipated.

Usagi sighs. "I don't know what I'm going to do about Setsuna-san. I can't stop thinking about it, no matter how hard I try." She clenches her fists tightly. "She tried so hard to end things between Seiya and me… I just…" She shakes her head.

Rei takes a sip from her cola before placing it on the table. "She thought she was doing her duty." She pauses. "Back then… we all thought the future that we had seen was it. That was the only future."

Usagi nods her head. "… the fact that she actually went forward with it and acted… so indifferent when I confronted her when I learned I didn't have my abilities as Cosmos. She just wanted me to forget everything that had changed. She thought I could just forget Seiya." She closes her eyes tightly. "It was a shock to see that Crystal Tokyo vanished and it was really hard at first. But over time, it became easier." Usagi reflects on how her feelings changed. "I don't think the Earth will freeze over anymore and everyone is safe… it is what we have always wanted our future to be."

Minako interjects, "but is it the future you want Usagi-chan?" Too many times how the future plays revolves around Usagi's decision.

"I wasn't sure at first when we fought the Black Moon," Usagi admitted. "Later I realized it is what I want. And then to have Sailor Pluto take everything away…" Usagi clenches her eyes tightly. "I was so angry… I'm still angry. I don't know how to handle what she's done when I go back to Japan."

Rei and Minako exchanged glances with each other as they start to comprehend more of the torment Usagi has endured on her own.

Usagi's voice grows softer to barely above a whisper. "If she never interfered, I never would have fought Chaos again. It was so much worse the second time around." I took Ayumi-san starseed, the Moon Senshi… and even Mamo-chan's…" Her hands are clenched tightly into fists.

Minako can only stare at Usagi wide eyed.

"How did you seal Chaos?" Rei tries to bring Usagi back to present and remind her Chaos is gone.

"When Endymion's starseed appeared… it was enough for Princess Serenity to snap out of it and she was finally willing to work with me as Sailor Cosmos to stop Chaos." Usagi recalls the events.

Minako's eyes harden at this information. "You mean… the Princess Serenity part of you would not work with you?"

Usagi shakes her head no. "She had believed if she helped Chaos it would somehow stop the timeline to returning to what it was…. And she could still be with Endymion."

"Usagi…." Rei moves closer to her, studying her.

"But it was impossible for her to stop it from shifting back. What she was doing, was dangerous. If I wasn't able to return everyone's starseeds in time before everything changed back…. None of you would be here right now." A few tears falls from her eyes. "I barely had time to summon the starseeds back. I sealed Chaos seconds before that the other timeline ceased to exist."

Without another word, Rei leans forward to embrace Usagi in a hug. No wonder she didn't want to talk about what happened. How Usagi described it, it sounded worse than the previous battle when she awakened as Sailor Cosmos.

Minako joins in. She can't believe she missed all of this when she continued with the tour. She should have been there for Usagi. But it sounds like there was nothing she could have done.

Usagi pulls back. "I'm sorry. I know you still have a lot of questions but this isn't easy for me to talk about it. I'm still trying to accept everything that happened."

"Whenever you are ready. Mako-chan and Ami-chan should know about this too," Rei tries to reassure her. "But they can be told about it when we're all in Japan."

"Thank you," Usagi responds softly, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes. Before she can say anything else, they are interrupted by a few screaming girls running by.

The three girls turn in alarm, preparing to attack whatever enemy had surfaced.

"I heard there is an event a few blocks over!"

"We have to hurry if we are going to make it in time!"

"'I'm dying to meet the Three Lights!"

Usagi, Rei, and Minako teardrop. It was several girls screaming about seeing the Three Lights, not an attack.

A few more run by, "I'm going to kiss Yaten-san this time!"

Minako's right eye twitches.

"Minako-chan… are you okay?" Usagi asks when she sees the blonde's reaction.

Minako scowls the girl running by. "Oh just fine…" her tone high pitched and creepy.

Rei and exchanges a look with Usagi, "maybe we can go and check it out too? Aren't they almost done for the day?"

"Yeah!" Usagi eagerly agrees.

Minako laughs quietly while she watches the girl.

Usagi shifts on her feet wondering how much longer this event is going to take. This is the last event for the day and she will finally have a chance to spend some time with Seiya. She sighs. She has never felt this anxious before for an event to end.

She watches an azure haired girl talking to him, trying to get his attention. From here Usagi can see the woman is probably close to their age. Her hair is pulled back in a tight bun; her make up is applied perfectly to accent all her features. She is wearing a short skirt and her shirt has a plunging neckline. This girl clearly wants all of Seiya's attention.

Usagi narrows her eyes; she can feel some of her anger boiling. Who does this girl think she is? The way she is shamelessly flirting with him. The smiling, the laughing, hanging on every word Seiya says while he signs things for her. She brought some CDS, magazines, and photos. She's trying to stay for as long as possible.

Seiya has dealt with fans like this girl before but there is no way he can avoid that peep show the girl is giving him when she bends lower to talk to him. Seiya says something and the girl laughs loudly.

What is taking so long? Usagi shouts in her mind. She knows she shouldn't be jealous of this random girl; this is part of what it is like to be dating a popular idol. Was it always this bad? Usagi tries to recall how many fan events she went to with Seiya since they started dating. It wasn't many because his schedule was really hectic before the tour. And she needed all the extra time she could get to study in order to pass high school. She teardrops.

It's not that she doesn't trust Seiya… it's just this other girl thinking she has a shot with Seiya. Usagi stares at the girl with daggers in her eyes. Seiya is hers after all. Sometimes Usagi just wants to go up to him, throw her arms around him, and kiss him despite being in public as way to tell the other girls to back off.

If only a youma would appear or something, it would clear the room and this girl would finally have to move on.

She pouts slightly. Recalling a conversation she had with Seiya while they were still in school regarding whether to make the relationship public or keep it private. It remained private to keep her out of the spotlight and it has worked for the most part. The fans speculate Seiya has a girlfriend but he has never confirmed it despite the pictures of them kissing. Once their relationship becomes public, she will be followed and hounded because she is dating a celebrity.

Usagi can't take her eyes off the girl. But then fans like her might back off as soon as it is confirmed he has a girlfriend. She sighs again. Maybe it is time they finally made their relationship public; it might make some of these fans finally accept he is taken.

Usagi looks at the girl one more time before turning away, trying to keep her jealousy in check. She is telling herself she is not going to make a scene and she is going to if she keeps looking at that girl.

Minako can't take her eyes off of the girl next to the azure haired girl. The brunette is probably close to Minako's own height, wearing a black short skirt with a silver tank top and one heck of a push up bra. She is the one that commented she was going to kiss Yaten earlier. The brunette actually touched Yaten's hand when he passed her back a signed photo!

There is a girl with hot pink hair also wearing a short dark purple skirt with a pink corset, leaning over to talk to Taiki.

Minako is trying to control herself to not run over and rip that fan away from Yaten. "You'd think they were enjoying this!" Minako crosses her hands against her chest.

Rei studies Minako for a moment. She had seen Minako jealous before, but this was an entirely new level. Something is going on. "Minako-chan… are you jealous?" Rei had expected a reaction like this from Usagi since she is dating Seiya, but Minako?

"Noooo..." Minako responds in a vexed tone, trying to look away from the girl near Yaten.

"I mean we do see them all time now," Rei point outs, trying to figure out what is going with Minako. "You even have a duet with Yaten-kun…." She glances at Usagi, "You're more annoyed than Usagi."

"Hey!" Usagi shouts at Rei, glaring at her raven haired friend. Usagi is about to yell at Rei more when she sees the same blue haired girl reached across the table trying to kiss Seiya. The brunette tries to kiss Yaten, and the hot pink haired girl tries to kiss Taiki.

The Three Lights members immediately back up trying to putting more distance between themselves and these girls.

Within seconds, security guards grab the three girls and begin to escort them out of the area, thus ending the fan event as they were the last group remaining.

Seiya, Yaten, and Taiki are clearly flustered by those fans for a moment moments. They talk amongst themselves and security. The security guard makes a comments and they all laugh.

The girls are too far away to hear.

Usagi frowns at Seiya. How can he act like that wasn't a big deal? Some random crazy chic nearly kissed him!

Minako is really irritated as she watches Yaten like a hawk.

A tall security guard walks over to three of them. "The event is over now, you have to leave." He gestures for them to leave and then stops. "Wait, aren't you Aino-san?" He asks recognizing her from an event he worked at yesterday.

Minako nods her head, only briefly breaking her icy glare from Yaten to acknowledge the security guard. "I'm going go and check on them after seeing those crazy fans," she responds in an eerily sweet voice.

Usagi and Rei slowly follow behind Minako. Usagi has a few words for Seiya too. The singers have their backs facing them, unaware of what was about to happen.

Once Minako is past the security guard, she marches over to Yaten with a fist raised. "What was that all about?"

The sudden outburst startles Yaten and he whips around. He can see the fire in Minako's eyes and takes a few steps back from the Senshi of Love. "It was just a zealous fan…" he tries to explain.

Usagi was about to say something to Seiya until she saw how Minako is reacting. She blinks a few times. "Minako-chan… you're acting like a jealous… girlfriend."

"I'd expect a reaction like that out of Usagi…" Rei adds.

"Hey! Do you know how hard it was for me to ignore that girl the entire time!" Usagi immediately roars back.

Rei ignores Usagi's shout when she sees Minako's facial reaction to what Usagi had said to her moments ago. "Minako-chan, you're blushing!"

"Ahh…." Minako rubs the back of her head. She doesn't know how she is going to get out of this.

Yaten sighs. Taiki and Seiya know, so there's no point to keeping it a secret anymore. "You really are bad at keep secrets."

Seiya smirks. "She's not the only one… Taiki figured it out weeks ago." He knew any second Usagi was about to lose it there is a secret she didn't know about.

"Secret? What secret!" Usagi rushes over to Seiya waiting for him to continue. When he doesn't, she looks over at Yaten and Minako.

Yaten shoots an annoyed look at Seiya. "You didn't figure it out until Taiki told you!" He shrugs. It's out in the open now. "They might as well know; they are going to find out sooner or later Mina."

"Mi… Mina?" Rei looks at wide eyed at Yaten before turning to Minako.

"Ehhh?" Usagi turns around; all of her attention is now on Minako.

Minako taps her two index fingers together. There really is no way out of it now thanks to Yaten calling her Mina. She drops the suffix for his name too. "Umm… Yaten and I…. are… kinda… umm…. dating?" She finally finishes and laughs nervously.

Usagi and Rei fall to the floor in shock at the revelation. They were with Minako all day and she didn't tell them anything.

Rei is able to collect herself quicker than Usagi since she had some suspicions last night. "When did this happen? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Whaaaaa?" Usagi finds her voice. She can't believe Minako would keep something like this a secret.

Minako speaks quietly and very fast. "It just kind of happened and we wanted to hide it from the press while we're on tour. I'm just starting my career. My dad would kill me since he was against me coming in the first place…." Minako continues to ramble.

Rei's vein throbs on her forehead. "So it wasn't just a "sip up" last night when you called him Yaten."

"Heh heh," Minako laughs while waiving her hand and blushing. "I kind of figured you guys would know sooner or later."

Usagi has a different approach. "Oh! Now we can go on double dates!"

"No," Yaten immediately shoots down the idea.

"I see Yaten enough as it is," Seiya agrees with the white haired band member next to him.

"Yeah, and you're exhausting to deal with all day working," Yaten fires back.

"If you think that's bad, imagine being with Usagi who always wants to go the wrong direct and gets lost!" Rei quips, sometimes Usagi is just as exhausting.

Usagi gives Rei a death stare. "That only happened five times!"

Rei shrugs. "How you ever managed to get to Brazil on your own is behind me."

Usagi's cheeks redden. "I… didn't get lost…"

Taiki clears his throat. "We need to be leaving; we have a television appearance to attend."

Minako looks at him confused. "I don't remember that being on your schedule."

"It was just added this morning. It's a quick interview… I think." Yaten explains with a look of annoyance.

Five hours later, the members of the Three Lights get out of the car and head toward the hotel.

"That was anything but short. Way too many questions about our personal lives," Yaten complains to his companions.

"At least they provided dinner since it was last minute," Taiki comments. "Otherwise I don't think we would have made it."

"I'm glad it cleared out our schedule for tomorrow morning so we have a small break before the concert. We can finally sleep in for a bit," Seiya smiles at the thought of not having to be up at sunrise for a change of pace.

"I can't wait for the break we will have at the end of this. Why did we agree to this?" Yaten adds as they walk into the hotel lobby.

"A break from public appearances but we still have to make a new album so we will be writing songs instead," Taiki reminds Yaten.

Yaten sighs loudly at the reminder. "I can't believe they want each of us to write our own song and perform it. I don't know what mine is going to be about." He puts his hands behind his head. "And I'm sure they will still ask us to do additional stuff in between."

Seiya waits until they are in the elevator. "They will never find us on Kinmoku."

Taiki's eyes stiffen, turning to face Seiya, "are you sure it is wise for you to go Kinmoku?"

Seiya shakes his head. "Earth and Kinmoku have different rules governing senshi." He is adamant that it will not cause an issue, he hopes. The elevator door opens and the three of them get out and head to their respective rooms. "I'm not having this conversation again Taiki."

Rei looks over at Minako; she has been patient long enough. "You know you never told us how you and Yaten started dating." She stares at the blonde waiting for her to share the tale. "It was really sneaky how you suddenly had practice to go to."

"Ummm… how about if I just tell you and Usagi-chan the next time we're together? You know she would be mad if I told you and didn't tell her." Minako tries to avoid the subject a little longer.

Rei considers calling Usagi to have her come over to hear the story. After thinking it over she decides to wait, Usagi is probably with Seiya.

"I'll tell you after the concert if you stop looking at me with that crazy look of yours!" Minako points at Rei, trying to turn the tables.

Rei crosses her arms against her chest. "I won't ask you tonight, but if you don't tell us tomorrow, I'm not going to let you sleep until you spill everything."

Minako teardrops. "Somehow I don't doubt that." Minako looks at the clock. "I have to be going to sleep anyway. I have a few promotional events while the guys can sleep in." Minako gets up from the chair at the desk. "I hope Usagi has a better night without nightmares."

Usagi stands out on the balcony of the hotel room looking up at a half moon. She can see a few faint stars between the clouds. Looking directly down is a busy street, followed by a deserted beach. In the distance she can see the ocean. She closes her eyes enjoying the cool breeze on her skin.

She doesn't hear Seiya step out onto the balcony as she is lost in her own thoughts.

He wraps his arms around her waist, holding her close.

Usagi gasps and turns around, breaking free of his embrace. She instantly takes a few steps back, her heart racing. She is startled by his action and gazes at him for a moment. She places a hand over her heart and lets out a deep sigh of relief when she realizes it is Seiya.

Seiya is alarmed by her response. "Odango, what's wrong?" He scans her with his eyes to see if something happened.

"I… I'm sorry I was lost in my thoughts." She lowers her head slightly. "Shortly after I arrived in the other timeline, I was standing outside looking at the Moon, just like how I was now and Mamo-chan wrapped his arms around me. It startled me then too." She stares at her feet. "For a moment, I was worried I was back in that other timeline." She picks up her head. "But I can see that I was wrong and you're here," Usagi tries her best to give him a reassuring smile.

Seiya eyes are downcast when he hears this. Is she always going to be reminded of things that happened with Mamoru?

Usagi walks forward and takes his hands in hers. "I'm glad it was you here with me and I'm in this timeline." She waits for Seiya to look at her in the eyes before she continues. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Seiya immediately wraps his arms around Usagi, this time she doesn't move away.

She relaxes in his arms. "Don't ever let me go," Usagi whispers burying her face in his shirt.

Seiya's eyes widen in response and he holds her even tighter. "I won't," he vows. "I'm all yours until tomorrow afternoon."

A cold breeze drifts by, causing Usagi to shiver.

"Come on, lets head back inside," Seiya suggests, leading them back inside the room. He closes the door with a slight a frown. "There is something I did need to talk to you about."

Usagi looks at him confused, his tone is serious. She waits for him to continue.

"It's something we talked a little about in Japan and it came up during the interview tonight. The interviewer was relentless on this topic." Seiya begins to explain.

Concern is written across Usagi's features.

Seiya continues, "She kept asking about the girl they seen in pictures next to me. The girl I'm kissing."

Usagi's lip twitches. She is reminded of that azure haired fan from this afternoon that tried to kiss Seiya. Maybe it was a sign. "I mean… all of our friends know… Maybe it is time for us to make our relationship public."

Seiya is surprised by how quickly Usagi advocated for this. She was always hesitant in the past to discuss the topic so he left it alone as much as he could. Their relationship was more complicated back then too. "Are you sure? You know once the press knows who you are they will start following you too."

"I know…" Usagi responds without hesitation. "But I don't want any more crazy fans thinking you are available. That girl was driving nuts earlier. I was waiting for a youma to show up so she would have to leave!" Usagi admits.

Seiya blinks at her a few times. "So you were jealous?"

"Of course I was! Anyone would be," Usagi pouts and places her hands on her hips. "I was trying to not make a scene…. And we haven't exactly told everyone we are dating… so…." Her voice trails off. An idea hits her. "Would it be easier to make the announcement while we are here, before we go home?"

Seiya taps his fingers slightly against his chin, thinking over Usagi's plan. "That's a great idea. A little revenge too, for always following us."

Usagi laughs when she thinks of that reporter that interrupted their date at Tokyo Tower.

"Maybe it will be a little less crazy before we get home," Seiya adds. "But there is still one other thing," he hesitates, still not used to calling her this. "Is it okay if I refer to you as Usagi?"

Usagi eagerly nods he head yes. "I thought about what you said the other day, and I defiantly don't want everyone else calling me Odango."

He wants to ask her one more time in case she changes her mind. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Yes," Usagi responds without hesitation. She doesn't have any more doubts who she will be with. "You know… we should have said something sooner, maybe they would have followed us less?"

Seiya and Usagi look at each and then burst out into laughter; each knew that would never happen.

"Can we go to the beach after we have breakfast?" Usagi asks.

"Whatever you want, but you know it's going to be crowded," Seiya looks at her curiously.

Usagi pouts. "Oh that's right. Then they all just want to take pictures…" Usagi is annoyed for a moment until an idea hits her. "We can just announce it then and they'll have the scoop before the concert and leave you alone?"

Seiya teardrops at the terminology Usagi used. "You've been spending a lot of time with Minako-chan."

"Yeah, well…. We had a lot of fun today." Usagi brightens up. "I still need to hear about her and Yaten-kun dating!"

"She didn't tell you?"

"No! She found some excuse about needing to prepare for some event tomorrow and ran off before Rei-chan and I could find out anything." Usagi puts her hands on her hips, showing her frustration. "Hey, when did you find out?" She walks over to Seiya. "Were you keeping that a secret from me too?"

"I just found out today," Seiya stammered when he sees the look of irritation in Usagi's eyes, "apparently Taiki knew they were dating since Los Angeles but didn't saying thing."

Usagi's jaw drops. "That long? Unbelievable!"

Usagi shivers a little even though they are back inside. "I'm going to take a hot bath," she announces. "That should warm me up." Without waiting for a response, Usagi heads into the bathroom and closes the door. Seconds later the water is turned on.

Seiya shakes his head. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his Change Star, placing it on the dresser nearby. He stares at the object for a moment; he couldn't picture not being a senshi, even now. He runs his fingers through his bangs. Taiki's words are echoing in his mind about it not being a good decision for him to go to Kinmoku. He pushes it to the side. He never violated any of the laws when he was on Kinmoku. His eyes narrow. Though that one night, things were headed in that direction.

He picks up the remote control and turns on the television; something to distract him from remembering his past mistakes. He takes off his tie and unfastens the top button. His red suit jacket is taken off and left on a chair. He loosens the buttons on his shirt cuffs. He goes over to the closet to grab his pajamas. If Usagi is in the bathroom, he can easily change out here.

As if on cue, the bathroom door opens and Usagi stands in a bathrobe, with a half-smile. "No peaking!" She gleefully tells him.

Seiya stares at her, his eyes blinking.

Usagi laughs at his confused expression. She stops laughing when she realizing Seiya is actually blushing. "Eh..?" That was not the response she expected from him for something he teased her about yesterday.

Seiya doesn't verbally say anything but points at her robe.

Usagi looks at him confused for a moment. Her eyes slowly move down and realize she didn't tie the oversized robe tight enough and part of it was open revealing a section of her bust. "Gahh!" Usagi shouts as she struggles to fix the robe. Her cheeks are rosy by the time she looks at Seiya again.

"I guess I don't have to worry about peaking when you're the one giving me the peep show." Seiya teases her and he moves closer to her.

Usagi opens her mouth to retort but she can't come up with anything. She shuts her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest. "You are impossible!"

"I know," Seiya responds as he kisses her on her forehead. "You're adorable when you're flustered like that."

"You were blushing too just a moment ago," Usagi tries to redirect the attention off of her. She opens her eyes slightly to look up at him.

"Of course. There's a beautiful woman in front of me," Seiya brushes a few lose strands of hair from her face.

"You really think… I'm beautiful….?" Usagi slowly repeats, not used to this flattery.

"Very much so," Seiya whispers in her ear. He kisses her on the cheek, "your bath water is going to get cold."

Usagi numbly nods her head. "Yeah…" Usagi goes back inside the bathroom and quickly closes the door. Her heart is racing. She inhales deeply. She is going to take a bath to relax and trying to forget about the nightmares of the past few days.

Less than two hours later, Usagi is sound asleep but her sleep is anything but peaceful.

Everything is black around her. She walks forward slowly in the darkness, heading toward a faint light. As she emerges from the passageway she finds herself outside in her Sailor Cosmos fuku.

A woman in a floor length white dress is waiting for her.

Sailor Cosmos' eyes come into focus as they adjust to the light. Her environment becomes clearer. She is in the gardens of the Silver Millennium and the person waiting for her is Neo Queen Serenity, but this version has blonde hair, the version she had seen of herself in the timeline with Crystal Tokyo. Her fingers instantly grip her staff tighter. She is reluctant to approach this version of the Queen.

Neo Queen Serenity glowers at Sailor Cosmos with a look of disdain. "You wasted no time to return to him, didn't you?"

Sailor Cosmos is taken aback by her tone. She said "him" as if it was curse word. As the moment of shock passes she stands her ground. "You knew I was going to go back to Seiya."

Neo Queen Serenity shakes her head side to side. "If only Sailor Pluto would have sent you further into the future were Crystal Tokyo was already built. Small Lady… will never be born and it's all your fault! I've lost my daughter because of you!"

Sailor Cosmos lowers her eyes to the ground. She can't face Neo Queen Serenity and see the pain masked by anger. She knew the moment she reached for her staff to stop the crushing waves there would never be a Crystal Tokyo again. She inhales sharply before responding. "She was gone before I made the decision to be with Seiya. Sailor Cosmos and Chibi Usa are not part of the same timeline."

Neo Queen Serenity storms over to Sailor Cosmos, closing the gap between them. "She only disappeared because you chose Seiya; are you really that naïve to think anything else? Small Lady ceases to exist because you are not with Endymion!"

"But if I'm not with Seiya, the daughter I saw…. The son I saw…. They will not exist either!" Sailor Cosmos counters back. No matter what she decides, someone will not exist. There is no way to have both.

The Queen scowls at her in contempt. "They were never meant to exist!" Her lips form into a smile. "Besides what you saw was before Sailor Pluto adjusted the timeline, how do you know that will still happen?"

Before Sailor Cosmos can respond, a bright flash of light causes her to shield her eyes.

When the light dims, she cautiously opens them.

She is standing in a field surrounded by orange flowers. She turns in a circle trying to understand her surroundings and how she ended up here. Ahead of her she can see a large gate structure. It reminds her of the Door of Space and Time she had used to go to the future. But it is not the same. There is no door. It's just an open space and someone is standing in the doorway. The woman has pale blue hair swaying side to side in the wind and she is wearing a white dress of some sort but she is too far to see her clearly.

Hesitantly she takes a few steps forward. Something is drawing her to this person. Sailor Cosmos gasps when she recognizes this woman is also wearing an almost identical fuku as her own. She runs forward. How can there be another Sailor Cosmos? So many questions rush to her mind, it is over whelming.

The woman is gone in a flash of white light.

Usagi's eyes snap open, staring unfocused at the ceiling above her. She can't move as she tries to process what she just witnessed. Once her breathing slows she sits up in a daze. What did she just see? What kind of dream was that? It started with a confrontation with Neo-Queen Serenity and ended with some random woman in a place she didn't recognize.

Tears slide down her cheeks. When will this end? She cries softly while Seiya sleeps next to her, oblivious of what just happened.

On shaky legs, she takes herself to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. After drying her face with a towel, she stares at her reflection in the mirror and tells herself at least it wasn't like the nightmare she had last night destroying Seiya's starseed. But how can there be another Sailor Cosmos? She is Sailor Cosmos, the Guardian.

She turns around and leans again the countertop. The previous Sailor Cosmos, Karin had flowing dark curly pink hair. She was the first Sailor Cosmos, wasn't she? Or was she the just the first one people remember and wrote about in history books? Whatever that was she won't be able to figure anything out right now. It was a just a dream nothing more, she tells herself even though she knows she is lying to herself. Her gut tells her exactly what it was, a premonition. But this one seemed harmless.

Exhaustion starts to catch up with from her lack of sleep. She shuts off the bathroom light and walks back out into the bedroom. It is still dark outside.

She crawls into bed and tries to fall asleep. After a few minutes she moves over to where Seiya is sleeping on his back. She moves his right arm a bit so she can snuggle up next to him. He seems to have a calming effect on her nerves.

Seiya mumbles something as his arm is repositioned but it isn't enough to wake him up.

Usagi rests her head on his chest listening to heartbeat. Reassuring herself that despite whatever kind of crazy nightmares she has, Seiya will always be here for her. She tries to force herself to fall back asleep. She wants to be awake tomorrow to enjoy the rest of the day with him. She closes her eyes; hoping sleep will follow soon.

Ami reads Mamoru's e-mail excited at the suggestion to come to Harvard for a day to see what classes are like. She immediately goes to the Japan Airlines (JAL) website to check on costs for a plane ticket. She stops. She would be there for a day? It would take her a day to travel each way. It almost seems like a waste to go for a day. Not to mention her mother would be skeptical.

She can't miss that much of school either. She could afford to skip one day but not that many. She sighs, her lips forming a frown. But this would be the best way for her to see what it is like to study in an English language school.

She clicks the reply button and stares at the empty box. She starts to thank him for the offer but she would miss too much school with travel time. She looks over at her clock to calculate how much of a time change there is between the two locations and stares at her mini computer. Her hand reaches up to touch the blue crystal necklace near her collar bone. She could use her powers to teleport as she's done several times already to explore the library on Mercury. She presses her lips together. Would this be misusing her powers? She would not be harming anyone.

She folds her fingers together and lowers her forehead to rest against them. "Usagi-chan is teleporting back to Japan to see her parents while on tour." Ami says quietly to herself. She would actually be doing something similar she justifies. It is to help her make a decision to further her career to be a doctor.

She lowers her hands and brings up a map of the United States. It would be a good way to test her abilities to able to teleport to new places. She can't always rely on Sailor Cosmos.

She moves her mouse to reopen the tab with the started e-mail and continues her response to Mamoru. How can she word her plan in the e-mail? She taps her fingers a few times as a smile forms on her lips. She explains to him she will be there for a day and will be traveling via the Mercury Express.

She pauses. Was it too late to see Usagi-chan, Rei-chan, and Minako-chan in Boston? She pulls up the schedule for the Three Lights tour and realizes she missed them by about a week. She frowns. She would have loved to see them but she knows they will have a lot of catch up on when they come back.

Ami spends a few more minutes completing the response to ask when and where they should meet. When she is satisfied with the response she clicks send.

Usagi grumbles as the alarm chimes. "It's too early…" she mumbles into Seiya's chest.

Seiya laughs and reaches over with his free arm to shut off the offensive sound. "You had to get up earlier than this for school; it's already after 9am. But then again you were late to school a lot."

Usagi teardrops, "yeah well… school wasn't fun anyway." She smiles. "Besides, I'm not in school anymore so I can finally sleep all I want!" She wraps her right arm tighter around Seiya's waist not wanting to get up. "We can stay here like this for a little while." Ten seconds later Usagi's stomach complains about her choice.

Seiya teardrops. "I don't think that is going to work."

Usagi and Seiya try to go to the beach but it is blocked off today due to high winds and large waves as a safety precaution. Usagi pouts grumbling how it's not fair on the few days they can spend together.

"Come on," Seiya suggests to Usagi as they walk over to a nearby park that is fairly empty. "I think we're being followed as it is." He wants to go a little further into the park to see if the person is still tailing them.

They walk along a path until they reach a bench that overlooks the ocean and sit down. "I think this is the closest to the beach that we are going to get," Seiya comments as he places his arm around Usagi's shoulders. He listens carefully and sure enough he can hear faint footsteps. Who is the person that was following them? He turns his head slightly to the side, just enough to stare at them.

"Oh!" The young woman exclaims surprised. She thought she was being more cautious enough to not be noticed. "Umm…. can I take a picture?" She stammers as she walks to the other side of the bench to look at Seiya directly. "Please," she pleads. "I… I just started working at a newspaper a few weeks again and this is my first job…. and…. and…. I really want to make a good impression…." She mumbles hoping her wish would be granted.

Seiya smiles slightly as a plan forms. "Can you give us a moment?"

"Sure…" The kelly green haired girl responds, surprised she wasn't flat out turned down.

Usagi is surprised by the girl's actions. "Someone asked for a picture and didn't just take it?"

Seiya nods his head in agreement. "What do you think?"

Usagi looks at him baffled for a few seconds. "Oh… you mean… about what we talked about last night?"

"Yeah. It sounds like it would help her out too," Seiya looks at the girl standing a short distance away staring intently at her black shoes. "But you know once it is out there, there is no going back."

"I know," Usagi responds, her voice a little shaky. "I don't think it will be that bad."

"Okay," Seiya said. He turns to the other girl, "okay, you can take a picture."

The girl looks up from her shoes, "R-r-really? Oh my gosh that is great!" She starts digging through the bag on her shoulder. "Thank you so much! I know how important it is to have free time…." She fumbles with the claps and finally frees her camera. She is about to snap a picture and then stops. "Do… you want it to be both of you… or….?" She hasn't sure how to phase the questions since Seiya had never publicly commented on whether he has a girlfriend despite the pictures that hinted otherwise.

"Its fine," Seiya reassures her.

The girl takes a several pictures of them sitting on a bench, both of them looking at the camera smiling. She can't believe how lucky she is. No one has been to take a clear picture of them together. She puts the camera away pulling out a pad of paper and a pen. "Is there anything you would like me to include with this picture…?" She is really nervous. The paper is going to be ecstatic.

Seiya doesn't hesitate. "Sure. This is my girlfriend Tsukino Usagi." He hopes things won't be too crazy for Usagi now that her name was mentioned.

The girl nearly drops with her pen at the announcement. "You're giving me an exclusive!" She can't believe her luck. This simple interaction is going to help her career along with the paper and she'll be able to receive more assignments. "Tsukino-san… can you write you name for me? I want to use the correct characters." She asks meekly.

Usagi nods her head and stands up to walk over to the photographer.

She nearly drops the paper again, she was not expecting Usagi to get up and walk over to her.

Usagi writes her name down and passed it back to the girl. Her last name is in kanji and her first name is in hiragana.

"I… have so many questions…" She utters, at this rate she might be able to write up a story up as well.

"We've been together for the last year or so and kept it private since we were still in high school." Seiya answers as he stands up, moving over to Usagi. "I'm sorry but I have to keep it short since I have to prepare for tonight's concert."

The kelly green girl haired nods her head and finishes scribbling a note. She bows low. "Thank you so much for this. It means a lot to me that you shared this information with me when I'm so new to this field." She rushes off to develop the pictures.

Usagi lets out a deep breath. "That's wasn't so bad."

Seiya laughs. "That was the easy part. The press loves stories like this."

"You actually sound like you don't mind the press," Usagi raises an eyebrow at him.

"She was polite and asked; she didn't just start taking pictures. It's a nice change," Seiya explains as he checks his watch to see how much time he really had left.

"You handled it like you've been thinking about this for a while," Usagi looks at him curiously. "Like you've been waiting to make this kind of announcement."

"Ah… well…" Seiya scratches his cheek with his index finger. "I could only avoid the question for so long and give so many vague answers. I was running out of ideas." He turns more serious. "I hope you don't mind the part I said about high school."

"It's fine and that is part of the reason, trying to be normal teenagers!" Usagi throws her hand behind her head and laughs and how silly the statement is. They are nothing near normal. "You know, when I met you at the park when I was trying to sneak to the restricted area to meet Itsuki Alice-chan, you told me that we met before and I didn't believe you. I never got to ask, where did we meet and why don't I remember it?"

Seiya is surprised by the question. "We never spoke, but I walked right past you and for a moment I had thought you turned and looked at me. I know you weren't alone."

Usagi looks at him wide eyed. "I don't remember this! Who I was with? Where was it?"

"It was the same morning. I had just got off a plane from a fan event in Osaka. I have been racking my brain since of whom you were with and I can't remember because I was so focused on you…" Seiya hesitantly admits, trying not to sound like a crazy stalker.

Usagi gasps as remembers the day. "It was Mamo-chan… that was the day he left for America and I was seeing him off at the airport." She looks down at her finger; remembering when he gave her the heart shaped ring she no longer wears. "I do remember a large crowd of people gathering for something, but I didn't pay attention since I knew it would be a long time until I would see Mamo-chan."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up something so difficult," Seiya apologies not wanting to remind of her of her past relationship with Mamoru.

"It's okay," Usagi tries to brush off the sadness, remembering how crushed she was before receiving the ring. "You know… since I don't remember really what happened at the airport… how about if we stick with meeting at the park?" She smiles at him. It would just be easier too.

Seiya nods his head. "Sure. It's a pretty funny story too." He grabs her hand and squeezes it. "I'm sure they are going to ask." Seiya exhales a deep breath. "Come to think of it… I should probably be going to the concert venue to let the manger know."

Usagi looks at him confused. "I thought he already knew?"

"That a public statement was made," Seiya clarifies.

"Ohh…"

Mamoru grabs a stack of papers off his desk, organizing what remains from the previous semester. He reached for them in a way that gave him a large paper cut that somehow managed to slice not one but two fingers on a research article. He shakes his hand a little bit, waiting for the sting to subside.

Ayumi looks at him confused until she sees the cut. "Ouch. That one looks a little deep."

"It will be fine," Mamoru brushes it off at first until he sees the cut again and notices the blood. He reaches over for a Kleenex to wrap it around the cut to stop the bleeding.

Ayumi is puzzles by his actions. "Why don't you just heal it?"

Mamoru slowly turns his head and looks at her with a very odd look. "I don't have that kind of ability."

Now it is Ayumi's turn to look at him like he's crazy. "Yes you do." Her eyes narrow wondering how much if any of his abilities had ever surfaced. "A cut like that should be easy for you." She pauses. "Even I could heal that and my abilities are limited."

"Really?" Mamoru asks, dumbfounded by the idea of having a healing ability. He had only seen Sailor Saturn and Sailor Cosmos with healing abilities.

"Give it a try," Ayumi encourages him.

"How? I don't even know where to start?" Mamoru looks down at his fingers wrapped in the Kleenex.

Ayumi stands up and walks over to him. "You have to focus your energy. Visualize healing it and the cut will disappear, like this." Ayumi realizes it would be easier to demonstrate. She removed the Kleenex and gingerly places her index finger on one of the cut fingers. Her finger glows with gold energy.

Mamoru gasps as he can feel the warm energy. Seconds later the cut is gone.

"I can only do small things," Ayumi downplays her ability. "Very basic injuries like that. On something large I can repair some of the damage but not enough to completely heal it in one shot." She looks at him closely. "But you have to be careful. Healing abilities always use up a lot of energy and it takes a while to learn how to use them. It can't be done overnight."

Mamoru nods looking at the remaining cut on his finger. "I'm going to give a try." He places his index finger on the cut and closes his eyes. Nothing happens. He focuses on his breathing first, trying to center himself. After a few more breathes he turns his attention to the cut. Suddenly his index finger feels warm; a second later, the area of his finger with the cut feels warm. He slowly opens his eyes and witnesses the paper cut gradually disappearing on its own. His eyes widened as he realized he just healed a paper cut. Seconds later he suddenly feels a lot more tired than he had five minutes ago.

"Congratulations on learning how to start using your healing abilities. The tiredness will gradually become less as you use the abilities more and they become stronger. But the beginning is really rough," Ayumi explains trying to hide her own yawn.

They sit in silence for a few minutes before Ayumi changes the subject. "Have you heard from… Ami-san? Ami-chan? I'm not sure how to address her since I never met her."

"I'm sure she'll be fine with Ami-chan. All of the girls are really friendly. Let me check," Mamoru flips open the lid on his laptop. Once it boots up he checks his e-mail and finds a response from Ami. "Actually, yes. I haven't read it yet."

Ayumi stands up and looks at the e-mail over his shoulder. "Mercury Express?" She blinks a few times. "What the heck kind of travel is..." She stops. Sailor Mercury. "Oh. She's going to teleport here?" Ayumi stands back up, pondering over the other question she read in the e-mail. "Where would be the best place to meet since she has never been here?" She paces back and forth for a moment and then stops. "Who said it has to be here?"

Mamoru turns to look at her. "I can't go to Japan. If someone saw me, it would raise too many questions right now."

"The Silver Millennium. Everyone knows where it is." Ayumi suggests. She sees the look of skepticism on his face. "Yes it is a lot further away but it would be a good way for you to practice using your powers too. How many times have you traveled to the Silver Millennium on your own?"

"Once," he responds, preferring not to elaborate. It was right after they learned they would be fighting Black Moon and he found a very distraught Princess Serenity. "Let me e-mail Ami-chan back and see what she thinks."

As soon as the concert ends, Rei grabs Usagi's hand and practically drags her back stage to Minako's dressing room. She is not going to let the blonde forget she was going to share the story of how she starting dating Yaten. "We are finally going to get some answers!" Rei proclaims outside of Minako's door before she starts banging loudly on the door.

Usagi takes a step back. It reminded her of yesterday morning when the girls came to get her from the hotel room.

Rei knocks again, becoming inpatient. "I know you're in there Minako-chan!"

Minako sheepishly opens the door to let them in. She barely has time to close the door before she was hounded by questions.

"So how did it happen? How long ago? Why did you keep it a secret from us?" Usagi starts asking questions.

Minako blinks. Now Usagi sounds like herself. "Umm... it actually started in Tokyo."

Usagi's jaw drops.

"You mean before the tour even started? You kept it a secret that long?" Rei questions her in disbelief.

Minako nods her head as she recalls the day. "I was really frustrated that day because I was struggling with a note for the duet I sing with Yaten. He offered to spend some extra time with me after a rehearsal to get it right before we even began the promotional events." Minako blushes for a moment before she continues. "We were working late in the studio. He gave me a few tips to try to loosen my vocal cords to make it easier to reach a higher pitch." She recalls the scene vividly n her mind.

Yaten shakes his head. "Your voice is still too tight. I know you have a lot going on with passing school and making your debut but you have to ignore all that. When it's time to perform on stage whatever personal problems you have can't be on your mind or your performance is going to suck." He explains very bluntly at the end.

"Take the Three Lights. We were galaxies away from our home searching for our Princess and the same enemy that destroyed our home showed up on Earth. Then we can't figure out which senshi, if any we could trust." He continues.

Minako nods her head.

"But despite all that, we went on stage and still had a good show each time. It is part of what it takes be a pro. All those problems will still be there after the performance but for that moment, all you have to focus on is the music," Yaten finishes, trying to make Minako understand what it takes.

"… I never thought about it like that. How you were able to still perform like nothing was wrong is amazing." She grins. "But it does explain why you were so cranky."

"Me cranky?" Yaten raises his voice. "I was annoyed at Seiya most of the time because of how he was following Usagi-chan around and compromising our mission." He lowers his voice. "But that was in the past." Ironically the girl they tried to keep Seiya away from is now the one that they are supposed to protect, orders given by Queen Kakyuu. Things really did take a strange turn. "Try those exercises again." Yaten suggests, trying to change the focus back to singing.

"But after all that… you expect me to just sing like nothing happened?" Minako looks at him baffled.

Yaten gives her a look to remind her of what they had just talked about blocking everything out.

"Right, right," Minako responds with a teardrop. She closes her eyes tightly, taking a few deep breaths. She keeps her eyes closed and tries the high note again. She missed but it was a little closer.

Yaten frowns. "Let me show you." Yaten attempts the note and his voice cracks. The note is too high for his male voice. He clears his throat and tries again, it still cracks.

Minako stares at him wide eyed.

"I know I can hit that note," Yaten grumbles. He stands up and looks around to make sure they are alone. Once he confirms they are alone. He changes his form to female. The change makes the clothes look baggier on her petite figure.

Minako stares at Yaten in a now female form.

"Okay, the part will be a lot easier," Yaten ignores the strange look from Minako. She clears her throat for a moment, adjusting to the change in her vocal cords. She sings the passage again and this time she nails it. Her voice doesn't crack and can easily reach the pitch.

Minako can only stare at Yaten for a few seconds before she can find her voice. "That… was amazing."

Yaten can't help but smile a little. "I knew I could reach that pitch… in the right form. No way a song is going to best me." She catches Minako still staring at her. "What?"

"I can't believe you just did that to help me," Minako smiles warmly at her.

"Well…. I needed to hit that pitch…" Yaten explains looking downward. It felt strange to be in a female form in front of Minako when she wasn't Sailor Star Healer. She really has gotten used to being in a male form. "Don't plan on this happening often," Yaten turns her head to the side to look away from Minako before she closes her eyes. And just they like she shifted back to a male form.

Yaten sighs. "Can't have anyone in the studio see me like that." He stares at Minako. "Now you try it and drop your jaw more when you sing that note, it will open you vocal cords more."

"Um… yeah…" Minako shifts in her seat. Yaten really is all business. She pouts a little. She had hoped after everything that happened they might be able to be a little closer. "Okay." Minako tries to pushes all of her thoughts out of her head. She relaxes her vocal cords the best she can and tries the passage again. She follows Yaten's instruction and still misses the note but she is closer this time.

"Better." Yaten comments but not quite right. "Keep trying."

Minako tries four more times before she finally hits the note correctly. "Oh my god, thank you!" She can't contain her excitement and reaches over hugging Yaten without thinking.

Yaten is paralyzed for a moment not quite sure how to react to the blonde in front of him. All he can hear is his heart pounding in his chest. After he can somewhat think, he lightly puts a hand on her back. This entire situation is very awkward. He doesn't know what he should do.

Minako starts to snap out of it as she realizes she is hugging Yaten. She can feel her cheeks start to burn in embarrassment. She is kind of surprised Yaten hasn't started to yell at her yet. She starts to pull away when she feels his arm on her back, making it harder for her to break apart. She looks up at him trying to understand what is going on. Her blue eyes met his light green ones. They don't speak, just staring at each other.

She couldn't describe what came over her but she leaned her head in closer to him and kissed him on the lips.

Yaten froze. His mind went blank for a moment. Was this actually happening? It takes him a few seconds to react.

Minako can sense she made a mistake and she now just made the entire tour a disaster. How could she face him after this, let alone sing a duet with him? She pulls back, mentally kicking herself for making such a mistake. She is stopped by the arm Yaten still has around her back. She barely has time to look back up before Yaten leans over and kisses her back.

"That actually happened?" Rei looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "Or was that from a Korean Drama you were watching?"

"That is how it happened!" Minako exclaims becoming defensive. "Why would I make something like that up?"

"That's great Minako-chan!" Usagi congratulates her on the new relationship. Usagi turns to Rei. "Unlike some people around here, I believe you."

Rei's right eye twitches.

"Maybe Rei-chan is just mad because she doesn't have a boyfriend on this trip since Yuichiro-san is in Japan." Usagi suggests to Rei.

Rei's anger boils over. "How many times do I have to tell you we're not a couple?"

"Then why are you so mad whenever I ask you?" Usagi looks over at Rei with a knowing grin. "I seem to remember a time you wanted to kiss him."

Rei turns red. "That was a long time ago and I thought I was going to die!"

Minako shakes her head. It is just like old times. "Well it looks like I answered all your questions."

Rei turns to face Minako. "No you didn't. I still have a few more!"

Minako pouts her lips slightly to look like she is annoyed but really she is glad to stop them from arguing.

"Why did you keep it a secret for so long?" Rei looks at Minako. "I mean you're not embarrassed are you?"

"It's nothing like that!" Minako immediately shoots down the thought. "There were a few reasons. I didn't want to my dad to find out because there is no way he would have let me continue with the tour, despite the contract. And more importantly, I needed to debut as Aino Minako an idol, not Aino Minako, Yaten's girlfriend."

"You want to be able to make it on your own… not rely on others," Usagi comments thinking about similar feelings she has experienced.

"Only one thing that just doesn't add up," Rei walks over to Minako and eyes her closely, "is how you managed to keep it a secret for so long."

"I can keep secrets when I need to," Minako winks. "Very few people know I was once Sailor V."

Rei gasps as things are starting to make sense. "I guess now I know the real reason Yaten-kun came to the room the other night and seemed so flustered that I was the one that opened the door." She looks over at Minako. "He was really coming over to see you, not some excuse about your schedule."

Minako throws a hand behind her head and laughs loudly. "Yeah…I never got a chance to tell him you were staying, everything happened so fast."

"I still think we should go on a double date!" Usagi proclaims; picturing all four of them dressed up at a fancy restaurant enjoying a meal.

Minako looks down. "I like the idea…. But that would draw attention." She reminds the very eager blonde next to her.

"Right…" Usagi responds in disappointment.

"I guess Taiki-kun is the last one left." Rei points out.

"But you have Yuichiro-san," Usagi reminds Rei. She loves to tease Rei about Yuichiro and see her raven hair friend turn bright red in the face.

Rei clears her throat. "I don't know what you're taking about."

"Speaking of drawing attention…. I heard you and Seiya-kun made your relationship public knowledge!" Minako turns the focus of the conversation on the Queen.

"Usagi?" Rei turns to look at Usagi surprised by the change.

"Umm… yeah it's been something we've talking about for a while… and after those girls the other day… I couldn't stand it anymore." Usagi admits. "And everything is going so well, so why not?" Usagi smiles.

Usagi watches in horror as Chaos continues to possess her body and uses her abilities to take everyone's starseeds. Sailor Star Fighter collapses in front of her, her body fading now that her starseed was removed.

Even after Prince Endymion lost his starseed, Princess Serenity refused to work with Usagi to stop Chaos.

Neo Queen Serenity appears before Usagi. "It is all your fault everyone is dead because you were so selfish for throwing everything away just to be with Seiya. I made sure he lost his starseed too!"

Usagi has eyes stream down her eyes. "Who are you?" She can't believe this person in front of her is a part of her soul.

"I am the part of you that you want to keep locked away, the part that you wish to ignore, just to be with him! How do you even know it will last?" Neo Queen Serenity replies.

Usagi inhales sharply, finally understanding. This is the part of herself that is angry that she is not with Mamoru and the timeline changed. No. She worked past this. "I know Seiya and I will last! I've seen our future together." She tries to reassure herself.

Neo Queen Serenity glares at Usagi. "You also saw a future with Endymion, or did you forget the future everyone was preparing for and made sacrifices for? You. Threw. It. All. Away."

Suddenly Usagi is dressed as Sailor Cosmos, the star on her forehead burning. Anger is clouding her judgement. "I am not going to listen to this anymore! The sooner you accept that, the easier it will be for you! Your time with Endymion has passed! I will not change my mind!"

Neo Queen Serenity narrows her eyes at the Guardian with a knowing smile. "You might not change your mind but Seiya will. Once he knows you betrayed him in the worse possible way." The Queen laughs evilly.

Usagi bolts upright in bed. Clutching the sheet to her chest, her breathing is uneasy as her heart is racing; she sits in the darkness of the room. She closes her eyes trying to desperately calm the sickening feeling in her stomach. What was that about? Why was Serenity saying those things? She lowers her head into her arms and she pulls her knees to her chest. Serenity is trying to confuse her, she's fraught. Ever since she was in that other timeline, the part of her that is Serenity has been uneasy due to having a small glimpse of a life with Endymion. She silently cries for several minutes.

After she feels like she can't cry anymore, she gets up. Seiya is asleep. She is envious of him for a moment that he can sleep so peacefully and apparently through anything. There is no way she is going to be able to go to sleep. She goes into the bathroom to change into the clothes she pulled out the night before. She can't stay here right now. She needs to leave. She needs be alone. Utterly alone. Only one place comes to mind.

She quickly changes; doubling checking to make her crystal pendant is around her neck. Silently she leaves the room not to disturb Seiya.

She heads to an empty staircase. It is early in the day and abandoned as she expected. "Cosmos Crystal Power, Make Up!" Large feather wings surround Usagi along with white ribbons forming her fuku. After her fuku is formed the mark of Cosmos appears on her forehead. She gestures with her hands and eight pearl rings appear. The rings flash summoning her staff.

Sailor Cosmos slowly opens her eyes. Just being in this form she can have some sense of calmness. Her powers weren't taken from her. With a flash of light she leaves Peru, the continent of South American and then the Earth. She inhales deeply once is out of Earth's atmosphere. Something about the silence of space and the coldness on her skin gives her a moment to finally breathe. She looks at the Earth, appearing like a giant blue and green marble.

She turns around to look at the Moon, her former home. With the issues she's had as of late with Serenity, it would not be wise to go to the Silver Millennium. Another time. She twirls around finding the other planets that orbit the Sun closely to Earth. Mercury, Venus, and Mars. Jupiter and Saturn are further back in the distance. She smiles at the thought of one of her previous ideas to visit each planet with the respective senshi. Maybe she can somehow help them have more memories of their former lives. She wants Mamoru to remember his past but it would likely cause him more pain of recalling their relationship and… how different it was compared to the one after they reincarnated. She dismisses the thought further.

Everything is so peaceful here. Nothing has changed. That thought echoes in her head. The asteroid field where she destroyed an asteroid before seeing the Starlights and the Starlights in training comes to mind. If that asteroid is there then that means everything is fine. At that moment she realizes she needs the reassurance. Without any further hesitation, her feathered wings appear on her back and she is shooting off to the outer edge of the galaxy.

Within minutes she is passing Pluto and she slows her pace to not overshoot her destination. She finds the asteroid field. Everything looks the same. She lands on one nearby. She teardrops. If it was missing, how would she know? There are hundreds here! She shakes her head.

Images of her losing control of her anger come to mind. She slammed her hands on the ground and the power emitted from the small rings on her fingers was enough to destroy an entire asteroid into small pieces. A lump forms in her throat. Was that her power, or was it Chaos? That happened shortly before Chaos took control again. "Never again," vows Sailor Cosmos. She will never be Chaos' puppet again. That chapter of her life is over. When she realizes there is nothing else she can do here and determining which asteroid she destroyed was impossible, she turns to leave. But she is not alone. She finds three senshi staring at her in shock.

Sailor Callisto, Sailor Phobos, and Sailor Ganymede lower their stance when they realize it is their Queen and not a threat.

"We picked up a powerful energy source passing by and then it just stopped. So we came out here to investigate," Sailor Callisto explains to Sailor Cosmos.

Sailor Phobos studies the senshi dressed in white with large feathered wings. "Something is wrong. Why are you here?" She doesn't understand why Sailor Cosmos is near this location of the galaxy, let alone on an asteroid.

"I had to make sure everything is the same," Sailor Cosmos immediately responds without thinking.

Sailor Ganymede studies Sailor Cosmos closely. "The same? What do you mean? What would be different, why would things be different?" She thinks back to something Sailor Charon said on Nemesis that Sailor Pluto had the ability to restore the timeline to what it should be. Her eyes enlarge. Is that why those two senshi have been spending so much time together?

Sailor Cosmos tightens her lips. "Ask Sailor Charon and Sailor Pluto what they have done." She ignores Pluto's request to not tell the others. Why? Why should it be kept a secret? Why shouldn't she tell them? It is because of Sailor Pluto her nightmares have returned and they are more intense than ever before. The thought angers her. "I should be going." Her tone softens slightly. "It was good to see you again. I hope next time I see you will be under circumstances."

The three Moon Senshi barely have a chance to say goodbye to their Queen before she shoots off from the asteroid in the direction of Earth.

Seiya was confused when he woke up to not find Usagi anywhere in the room. He wants to search for her but needs to get ready before leaving the room first. He hopes she will be back any minute. He doesn't understand why she's not here. Everything seemed fine last night. He sighs. Did she have another nightmare? He grabs his yellow tie walking over to a mirror. His fingers are on autopilot forming the knot. He looks up when he witnesses a flash of light in the mirror behind him. He turns around to see Sailor Cosmos.

"Odango!" He exclaims rushing over to her. He was not expecting to find her in that form. "Are you okay? Did something happen?" He bombards her with questions.

"I'm fine," Sailor Cosmos assures him. "I needed to leave for a little while, to clear my head."

Seiya knows it could only mean one thing. "You had a nightmare."

Sailor Cosmos nods her head.

Before she can say anything else, Seiya pulls her close to him and hugs her tightly. "I'm sorry you're struggling so much." He is going to have words with Sailor Pluto the next time he sees her. This has gone on for too long.

"I'll be okay," she tries to assure him. "I ran into some of the Moon Senshi. They seem to be okay."

Seiya nods his head. "I'm worried about you Odango."

"I'm fine now," Sailor Cosmos pulls away from him slightly. She reaches up to adjust his tie. "You look like you have to run out to some events."

"Yeah…" Seiya grumbles. "I'm sorry," he apologizes. "There are a lot today and I won't be able to see you until after the concert."

Sailor Cosmos nods. "I understand. The pitfall of being a popular idol, huh?" She teases him.

"You know it," he winks at her. "But I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of questions today after yesterday's announcement." He pauses. "I feel like I'm forgetting something." He shrugs and then leans over to kiss Sailor Cosmos before heading out. "I'll see you later tonight."

Sailor Cosmos nods her head.

Seiya turns to leave.

Her eyes focus on an object on the dresser. She walks over to it, staring at it for a moment. She had seen it before but usually not up this close. "Do you always leave your Change Star in the hotel room?" She asks pointing to his transformation item.

Seiya immediately checks his pockets and discovers they are empty. "That is what I was forgetting."

Sailor Cosmos picks up the Change Star to pass it Seiya. She barely picked up the item from the dresser when the pearl ring on her left pinky finger flashed brightly on its own. She gasps loudly as her mind is bombarded with hundreds of images.

A few of them were for a previous Sailor Star Fighter that she had never seen with mauve hair. Those images fade as quickly as she saw them shifting to when Seiya was first given the Change Star to become Sailor Star Fighter by the King and Queen of Kinmoku, Princess Kakyuu's parents and informed of some of the laws she must follow as a senshi of Kinmoku. She could sense the feeling of pride Fighter had felt when she first held the object. A few images of Fighter, Healer, and Maker being trained by Sasha appear next. Stones from the palace come crashing down as the world is devastated by Sailor Galaxia. The despair they felt and the difficult choice they made to abandon their home world to follow Princess Kakyuu to Earth, leaving the other Starlights behind to protect everyone and hope for the best.

Seiya walking past her at Narita Airport. The horror Sailor Star Fighter felt when Sailor Moon agreed to have Sailor Lead Crow take her starseed to save everyone at the school knowing it would mean her death. The anguish felt when Sailor Galaxia's took Sailor Moon's starseed. How heartbroken he felt returning to Kinmoku knowing he would probably never see her again. Taiki and Yaten repeatedly telling him to forget Usagi and move on since nothing would ever come of it. Seiya upset one night telling Shiori what really happened while he was on Earth. Everyone celebrating at a party drinking and Seiya looks miserable. The images shift to Seiya stumbling back to his room with assistance from Shiori after drinking too much. Shiori kissing Seiya and him kissing her back. Things were rather heated; clothing was starting to be removed.

Her heart is hammering in her chest by the time she sees the final images, the shock of them causing her to drop the Change Star. Her entire body shakes. What Sailor Cosmos had seen only took a matter of seconds in realty.

"Odango, are you okay?" He rushes over to her not understanding what she experienced and why the pearl ring flashed.

Sailor Cosmos turns to look at him. Tears are now falling down her face. "Why?" She shouts at him angrily.

Seiya stops in his tracks a few feet from her. "Huh?"

Sailor Cosmos tries again. "Why didn't you tell me about you and Shiori-chan?"

Seiya's eyes widen as he starts to comprehend why her ring flashed. "It's not like Odango," He tries to explain. "It's didn't mean anything…" He never wanted her or anyone to find out about that night.

Sailor Cosmos' eyes narrow not giving him a change to finish whatever explanation he had. "Is this what you meant when you said you did some stupid things?" Her voice rises. She feels betrayed. All this talk of not keeping secrets from each other and he did this? "Really stupid things that would have led to you being banished from Kinmoku and lose your ability to be a senshi?"

So much to unpack in this chapter!

The reference Usagi/Sailor Cosmos made regarding doing some really stupid things is straight out of Act 4: Letting Go of the Past in Rebirth. I have been sitting on the whole Shiori/Seiya thing since…. Act 19: Kinmoku. I just never knew how I wanted to address it and what it would be and then this idea hit me while I was writing Rebirth.

I finally figured out how Yaten and Minako got together. That took a while. It was a plotline I was starting to build and then completely forgot about it until I was re-reading Chaos Theory in 2022 to post of A03 and quickly updated some of the later chapters for a quick scene or two. Oops!

For those of you keeping track of the snippets that were listed at the end of Rebirth, this one was used in this chapter. "You mean you didn't know they were together?" Taiki claimed this snippet. Which one is next?

Shout out to Viz that has posted the entire series of the 90s anime on Youtube in Japanese. I can't tell you how many times I referenced an episode to check something.

Things were going just too perfectly for Seiya and Usagi weren't they? Just what the heck happened between Seiya and Shiori and why is it a big deal on Kinmoku? Find out in Act 62: Forbidden Past on January 6, 2024.

Yes, next month. I'm going to be mapping out more of the story for the rest of the month to take me to the scene that inspired this entire arc.