Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Perfect (Sailor) Soldier ❯ Chapter 02 ( Chapter 2 )

By: stefani teee a.k.a. Koneko

© Tale Spinners inc.

~*~*~*~

Koneko-chan says!

Stefani: I'M BA-ACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nanashi: …

Stefani: *glares at him* Thanks for the enthusiasm.

Nanashi: I'm a replica of Trowa, what more did you expect?

Stefani: *grumble grumble*

~*~*~*~

Hotaru resembled a small whirlwind as she rushed into her room, flinging herself onto the bed ready to pound her pillow into something that would in the near future resemble a rectangular pancake. Someone was already sitting on the bed however. The response was instantaneous. Screams rang loud, high-pitched, and long from both parties.

Hotaru instantly propelled herself away from the bed with her arms, landing steadily on the balls of her feet in a ready position to face the intruder. It took a second for her to realize that the intruder had bubble-gum pink hair, which, for a moment, puzzled her.

Already, it had seemed beyond a doubt in this new time that she'd entered that no one, absolutely no one had hair in any of the brighter hues of the color wheel. It took another second to realize she recognized this girl, though this could be forgiven since the last time she'd seen this girl, the girl had been about six years old.

"Reeny?!"

"Ow…" grumbled the younger girl, rubbing the side of her face where Hotaru had launched herself into when going for her bed. "That really hurt… You know, I could have just settled for a 'hello', even a hug might've worked…"

Hotaru looked stern, "Reeny, what are you doing here?" she demanded, her hands firmly planted on her hips. "You're supposed to still be in Dreaming!"

"I was sick of the Dreaming!" wailed the other girl, younger by only a few years, "Only you and Pluto get all the fun… I wanted to see everything too!"

"It's too dangerous for you to be up and about," insisted Hotaru, "You're still vulnerable to paradox."

Chibi-Usa scrunched up her eyebrows, "Says you!" she replied, sticking out her tongue. "You two aren't the only special ones!"

"What?"

The girl's crimson eyes darkened, as if with an approaching storm, and she lowered them, looking serious for the first time. "Black Lady was too," she replied simply, which was a world of explanation to her friend. There really wasn't anything one could reply to that. Hotaru shook her head, "That doesn't change anything… the past is dangerous for those from the future, you know that…! Pluto told me you were still in Dreaming."

"She said you were supposed to be in Dreaming. Don't see you floating on your backside in a bubble."

"Would someone like to explain what the hell 'in Dreaming' is?" asked a quasi-polite voice from the door. The two girls stopped their bickering long enough to turn to the door, where the tall figure of Trowa Barton stood, gun drawn in his hand.

There was a moment of silence before Chibi-Usa broke it. "Who's he?"

Hotaru sighed, "He's a soldier. You're in the middle of a military base."

"Why's he guarding your door then?"

"He's not. At least… he wasn't supposed to be…" Hotaru's face registered confusion.

He raised a sardonic eyebrow. "I wasn't. But you raise hell screaming like a couple of banshees and you don't expect people to come running trying to find out what the hell is going on?"

Both girls looked sheepish. "Oh… right…" muttered Chibi-Usa, her face turning the same color as her hair (not a pretty sight).

"Reeny sneaked into my room-"

"Chibi-Usa! Not Reeny!" interrupted the small pink-haired goddess.

"Reeny sneaped into my room," repeated Hotaru glibly, a small twist of her lip indicating great humor, "and I didn't know it until I fell on top of her. You'll forgive my reaction as the most pertinent one."

All eyes on the petite girl with the big words.

"I… see…" he looked down at the younger girl, who smiled unrepentantly back up at him. "How did you get past security?"

Chibi-Usa grimaced, "Oh right… that…" she looked slightly abashed, "Well… you see… I used the Time Key Pluto gave me… and… I ended up in the…" her face turned as pink as her hair. "Well, I ended up in the guys' change room. And as fun as it was being there, there is a level of embarrassment that is involved when you pop in amidst a swirl of pink fluffy clouds."

Hotaru blinked, turning to Trowa, "You have change rooms in this place?"

Trowa shrugged, allowing himself to be drawn off-topic, having no idea what a Time Key was. "The government had started remodeling this place as a school, but it didn't work out, so only a couple of rooms have been changed. We have a change room, the girls do not," he allowed a small smile with those adorably full lips, "and they've never gotten over that."

"It's a women's thing, I suppose," replied Hotaru, smiling slightly as she sat down on her bed, and Trowa moved into the room from the doorway, his gun disappearing from sight somewhere in his uniform. "After all, equality is still a big thing even in this time." She frowned, "Isn't it?" she asked, having confused herself with time frames.

"Yes." He suddenly looked determined to do something, but not sure how to do it. Chibi-Usa could empathize. Hotaru simply raised an eyebrow. "Yes…?"

"Well, about what I said earlier… I…" he trailed off, before shaking his head and muttering, "I'm sorry."

Hotaru waved it off, "Don't worry about it… after all, you have no idea what I was doing, and I wasn't in the best of temper myself. Explanations, especially explanations about my past don't agree with me. Pluto knows and still she saddles me with the job."

She noticed people walking outside the door staring at the tall boy still standing near the doorway, and the odd color of Chibi-Usa's hair through the open door. She beckoned him towards the one chair in the room and shut the door behind them firmly. "Now, why did you really come here? I mean, besides apologizing."

He looked down at his lap where Quatre's head had been only a little while earlier. "Quatre… what… what happened to him?" for a moment he looked so lost both girls just wanted to run up and hug him. They curbed that instinct however in favor of answering him. Or at least Hotaru did. Chibi-Usa just stared at the both of them completely mystified.

"You knew Quatre was an empath before this, didn't you?"

"You could tell by looking at him. He looked at the world differently from the rest of us."

She looked up at him sharply when he said this. He was not prone to sharing his feelings, this much she could tell, and for him to actually say something like that was definitely unlike. She had barely known him for a day, but his complex character was easy to read in the way that he was not like Quatre. And yet here he was.

"The rest of you… you mean like a soldier? Cold… and calculating?"

Trowa nodded, while Chibi-Usa looked on at the two of them with a question mark floating over her head. "I see. And did you also know that he has no control whatsoever over his God-given psychic abilities? That really, he didn't know anything other than the fact that he could tap into the minds of other people?"

He blinked, "No… no I didn't… he never really talks about it…"

"Then I suppose I've got to tell you. Pluto wanted to give Quatre hope, something she doesn't often do to ordinary mortals because of the secret she bears. But she tried to show him what would happen if he, no, if any of you weren't there to fight. And what happened was instead of seeing only her vision of what might come to pass, he felt it, through the minds and souls of the people still dying in that wasteland. It is enough to drive an ordinary mortal mad, and he wasn't that far off before I pulled him out and erased it from his memory."

"You can do that? Erase someone's memories?"

"Not exactly, no. But I can push it back, deep into his psyche where even he can't reach it until the appropriate times occurs. Unless that times does come to pass, it will remain dormant and he will never relive it again." she smiled wryly, "Losing your memory completely is never a good experience. I should know."

Trowa nodded grimly, "Makes a mess of your life, that's for sure," he agreed, making Hotaru raise an eyebrow. "Impressive. You've got more to you than your looks, that's for certain."

"Not all life is made up good experiences. I'll agree with you that be an amnesiac does make people look at you oddly."

"So does being evil, and we both managed that," retorted Chibi-Usa, crossing her arms and leaning back against the wall which Hotaru's bed was pressed up against.

"Evil?" asked Trowa, ready to be drawn off the path of the conversation prior to this. He was not entirely comfortable with talk of psychic abilities, no matter if his boyfriend had them or not.

Chibi-Usa shrugged her shoulders, "The both of us," she told him gesturing with her index finger between herself and Hotaru. "I should think Hotaru had told you already. She was Mistress Nine and I was Black Lady. We wreaked havoc in the mortal realm before we were brought back."

"How were you… evil?" he asked, quite certain it had everything to do with some mysterious magic, and none to do with choosing sides in a mortal war. He was quite right.

"Oh me? I was a little girl, and the Wiseman tricked me, told me awful things about my parents, my friends, my world in general, and filled me with his dark magic. I became Black Lady until my mother reversed that magic, and brought me back. Saved the world too, my mom. With a little bit of help from me, but since I was the reason it all went to hell in the first place, that doesn't give me a whole lot of good credit, doesn't it?"

Hotaru shook her head, "I don't see how you can say that and be so cheerful about it," she said solemnly, her eyes serious.

Chibi-Usa rolled her eyes, "I don't need to be so solemn about it, the world ended up just fine, I'm fine, Mom's fine, and everything turned out peachy-keen. I've put it behind me." she waved it off indifferently. But Trowa had the distinct feeling she was a lot like Duo in that respect… she bottled up all the hardships she had experienced inside of her, and kept herself smiling and cheerful everlasting. She had to crack someday. It didn't do a body well to bottle things up.

She shrugged, then she eyed Trowa with a gleam of interest. "So what's your story?" she asked, looking him over and liking the impressive package. "Got any bad-boy tales to tell a couple of single gals?"

Hotaru blinked, and then stared at the flamingo-haired princess. "Chibi! I thought you said you wanted to act more like a princess, last I saw you!"

Chibi-Usa waved it away with one languid hand, "I'm not really supposed to be born as a princess for another thousand years or so… courtly manners can wait." She glared at Hotaru accusingly, "And what about you? You're destined to be the Queen of Saturn while I'm still a princess! And here you are 'roughing it' with a bunch of soldiers-no offense," she added to Trowa.

"None taken." He replied dumbly, as he stared at the two of them. These strange-haired little girls? Queens and princesses? "You're royalty?"

Hotaru groaned, "You had to tell him," she muttered in Chibi-Usa's direction. "Not for a long while yet. As it is, the planets are still uninhabited, the moon's a wasteland, and no one believes in magic anymore. Only when Sailor Moon is crowned Queen can we have that peace, and truly be declared royalty. And be given goddess-dom, but that is besides the point."

"Goddess?"

"Why, didn't you know the royalty of the planets are also known as gods and goddesses? We of the Sailor Senshi are destined to be lesser goddesses, well, demigoddesses to Queen Neo-Serenity."

"I… don't understand anything of what you're saying," he told them bluntly, "And I don't think I'm supposed to, because this all has to do with magic and gods and goddesses. And I honestly don't believe much in anything anymore."

"Honestly speaking, neither do we," replied Hotaru. "We speak of what is to come in the future as a dream that seems impossible to attain. But if we do our job, it will come to pass and there is nothing that anyone can do that will stop us from achieving our goal. But the lives we live through continuously through each day… and the fighting sucks the hope out of us so very quickly. Slower for those of the Inner Circle, but as for the Outers, our powers are already aligned with those of the darker forces and their pull exerts more force on us, drawing out our emotions little by little. We are the first in a long line of Outer senshi to be able to stay this human in all of history. And by what you know of Pluto, and me. "You can see we're not all peaches and cream to begin with."

"No… no you're certainly not that-" he graced them both with a small smile before a clanging sound overhead stopped him in mid-sentence. He stood up, "That's the lunch bell," he grimaced at sounding like a schoolchild. "Another addition when this place was wired to become a school."

"I can see that," Hotaru answered, jumping to her feet. "And I still have to change into my uniform."

"Uniform? We have to wear a uniform?"

"I have to, yes." answered Hotaru, rummaging through a still-packed valise, and pulling out one of the green uniforms before grabbing one for herself. "Are you staying?" she asked, quirking up an eyebrow at Trowa whose face immediately reddened and he went for the door, "I'll, uh, wait outside… if you want me to wait…"

"Please. I still have no idea how to get to the cafeteria."

"Mess hall," he corrected as he disappeared out the door.

"So what's his name?" asked Chibi-Usa suddenly, "I forgot to ask him."

"Trowa Barton. I think." she added, tipping a finger on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "I was never good at names. You know that."

"He's cute."

"He's gay." She replied, pulling off her shirt unceremoniously and pulling on the rough fabric of the uniform, doing up the buttons at a rate that quite impressed Reeny. After pulling on the pants, she took up handfuls of her long raven hair and pulled it back into a tight ponytail.

Chibi-Usa grimaced, sighing, "Aren't all the cute ones?" she asked. "Either they know they're cute and flaunt it, making them therefore worthless and unappealing, otherwise, they're sweet, wonderfully considerate, snazzy dressers and homosexual. Makes a girl wonder what's the worth of being a girl."

"Being able to sit down on the toilet seat," replied Hotaru wryly. She noticed Chibi-Usa's disbelieving face before saying quickly, "That was a joke. That was my joking voice."

"Sounded a lot like your ordinary voice."

"Yeah, I've been told that," murmured Hotaru thoughtfully as she zipped up her boot and stamped it on the ground as a habit before she stood up. "Let's go."

"Right you are, officer!" Chibi-Usa grinned cheekily back at her.

Rolling her eyes, Hotaru led the way as they trooped out. Trowa, as he'd promised, was waiting for them. And the fact that he actually smiled at the two of them as they came out made Chibi-Usa side-whisper, "Damn, don't I wish he were on the menu."

Of course he heard. The hallway wasn't all that big, or that full. He felt his cheeks grow warm when he said, "You know, I'm…" he trailed off as another officer passed on the way to lunch.

"Yup, doesn't mean I can't admire the pretty packaging doesn't it?"

Hotaru turned red at the bluntness of her friend, and muttered under her breath. "Change in a thousand years my khaki-covered ass."

Trowa laughed out loud at that, startling several officers passing by who had slowed to watch the two new girls, and gawk at the color of Chibi-Usa's hair. "You're certainly not what you seem…"

"Never said I had to be," retorted Hotaru as the three of them walked off to lunch. They were quickly joined by Quatre, who, after a few moments of blinking at Chibi-Usa's oddly colored eyes and hair, recovered and smiled and seeing Trowa looking the most relaxed he'd seen in days.

Chibi-Usa sauntered through the hallway, her mass of rose tresses catching the eye of more than one officer as they walked past. She also got a few wolf whistles, with which she acknowledged with a wink of her crimson eyes and her long eyelashes. Beside her, Hotaru felt like she always did in the old days. Happy, of course, that her best friend was with her, but certainly felt in the background as the girl charmed her way through the crowds. Certainly, she couldn't hold a candle to the rest of the senshi. Slender, delicate in a way that proved her useless in everyday life, and only the oddest shade of violet to her eyes to catch one's attention.

Quatre seemed to sense this, skillfully drawing her out of her self-deprecating thoughts and into a conversation that she was happy to participate in as they entered the Mess Hall.

Honestly, she had never really had any experience whatsoever with that of a military lifestyle at all, but she always thought it as grueling, hard work and rough, hardened criminals pressed into it. It certainly didn't seem that way as she walked into the midst of the crowds of men and women laughing together as they trooped along the long cafeteria tables talking along the way. It was almost like high school.

She grimaced as she felt that same familiar high school panic of not having a place to sit and converse. Who would accept her at their table? Would someone accept her at their table? She immediately pushed all that away, laughing mentally at herself as she did so. Besides, she thought wryly, with Chibi-Usa catching as much attention as she is, any table would most likely welcome us.

As it was, she found herself walking along behind Trowa and Quatre as they made their way slowly to their habitual eating place-in the corner near the exit. It was as soon as they sat down that other people began drifting over with their food on their plastic trays. The first two came together, arguing all the way. It was impressive really, though not to Hotaru's eyes, because it was Heero and Relena, Heero who almost never did much talking was engaging in a heated argument with the Pacifist princess over some issue or other. Amazing how much influence the girl wielded over him.

The next to arrive was the silent Chinese one she'd noticed in the Conference room. He sat down with barely a glance or word of greeting and promptly began eating. Not exactly the warm and welcoming one, but one couldn't expect them all to be.

It was only when Duo arrived that Chibi-Usa eyed them all with startlingly wide red eyes, "Wow, where does the army get you guys, Beautiful Men 'r Us?"

"We come as a complete set," Trowa told her, "Action figure gundams and all."

"Huh?" she asked, taken aback by the boy's lack of expression as he cracked what she took to be a joke.

He merely pointed in answer at one of the TVs set up above their heads, and Hotaru caught the tail end of a horrific dubbed commercial advertising the gundam wing boys complete with gundam kits. She raised her eyebrows, "Damn, you're famous."

"Not as much as you would be if Miss Relena weren't here to cover it all up." She looked up above her to see a rather pretty girl standing behind her. She sat down with a huff on the other side of Trowa as she set down her tray. "I don't see how you can stand this Tro, I'm not cut out for military work."

"You're not. You're only here temporarily. You don't even have to do anything."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," she retorted, jabbing her fork at the undistinguishable lump on her plate. She turned back to Hotaru once Trowa stopped talking to her. "Cathrine Bloom," she introduced herself, "That's my baby brother," she jerked a thumb behind her at Trowa.

Chibi-Usa gaped, "Wow… you two are related?" she leaned forward, attempting to see any distinguishing features that the two of them shared, but failed miserably. "You really can't tell. I'm Chibi-Usa."

"Hotaru."

"Cool, really exotic sounding."

Hotaru raised an eyebrow. Cathrine shrugged, "Alright, maybe exotic isn't the work for it, but they're different. I like them. So… what's with all the rumors flying that you're a superhero and the pink-haired girl is your punk girlfriend?"

"What?!" the two of them chorused with their eyes wide, staring at each other, then back at Cathrine, who was trying not to laugh. "All right, so that last bit is only coming from the jealous females," she admitted, "But what's up with the two of you? Never seen you before in my life and suddenly you just pop into existence like magic."

"That's probably because it was," Chibi-Usa replied cheerfully, before a fist smashed into the table. All heads turned towards Duo, even Heero and Relena who were still in the midst of arguing. And not many things can tear their minds away from each other whether they be arguing or wondering to themselves if they were truly in love or not.

"Not with this magic crap again!" exclaimed Duo, throwing his fork down on his empty plate in disgust. "What is it with you people that make you think we'd believe you like that?" he asked, snapping his fingers for emphasis.

Chibi-Usa narrowed her eyes. "Damn, what more do you need, a freaking light show?" she asked, "Golden sparkles and spangles floating around us when we walk? Hotaru to destroy the world for you? Me to turn you into nothing more than a whole lot of moondust?"

Hotaru put a warning hand on Chibi-Usa's shoulder. "Your voice carries, Chibi-Usa, and others are listening. Besides that, you don't know this boy, why should what he say bother you?"

Chibi-Usa calmed down, but only just the slightest bit. "I don't know…" she muttered, glaring at Duo. "He's just being an ass. Kind of like what Helios is being at the moment."

"Helios? Your golden boy? How the hell can he be acting an ass to you?! I thought you two were soul mates!"

"Doesn't mean he can't decide he doesn't want a relationship with me until I'm really 'of age'. Several thousand years in the future!" she stamped her foot, "I don't want to wait that long!" for the first time, she acted the part of the spoiled princess.

Hotaru shook her head, "Anyway, I think we should deal with him first before you turn on your man," she told Chibi-Usa, nodding her head at Duo.

"What?" asked Quatre, staring between the determined look on Hotaru's face, and the uncertain expression on Duo's.

"Trowa?" Chibi-Usa asked quietly, as neither Hotaru, nor Duo broke off the impromptu staring contest. "Is there a gym handy around here? Or some other large, reinforced place where Hotaru-chan can, uh," she shot a glance at her best friend, then looked back at Trowa, "deal with him?"

Quatre looked like he might want to protest, but Trowa answered before he could say anything. "Right down the hall."

"Up, you get Braid Boy," Hotaru told Duo, standing up and dusting off her pants of any stray crumbs from her bread roll, "You're going to get a lesson, you'll never forget."

"Why?" asked Heero bluntly, "I thought you came here to learn from us."

Hotaru returned him with a look and her tone was as blunt as his, "And you think I can learn from him if he's looking down on me every single step of the way? No, you know what? You're not superior to me because I can kill you all just as easily as you might kill me. And I suppose I might as well drill that into this one's head."

Duo stood up, his eyes flaring with anger. "I can take you."

"I'm sure you can. Gym." She put the bite of command into that one word. As one, the entire table stood up, and she eyed them all in confusion. "You're coming?" she asked, with an almost uncertain look on her face.

"What, and just let you have all the fun?" asked Cathrine, grinning at her. "Besides, everyone's listening to you, can't you hear? There's going to be a bloody stampede if we don't do something. Aren't I right?" she asked, raising her voice. She was awarded by sheepish laughter from all across the room.

"Well then, you're invited if you can play Security Guard," replied Hotaru as she pointed to the door. "March."

And march they did, out the door and down the hall to where the door was neatly labeled 'Gym'. Chibi-Usa whistled appreciatively as soon as she walked in, "Wow… literally tailor-made for a Sailor War."

"Should I even ask?"

"Nope," she replied grinning.

"And don't even joke about another Sailor War," called Hotaru warningly from her place facing Duo. "You know I got killed in the last one."

"Yeah, yeah…" muttered Chibi-Usa, as she slumped down on one of the bleachers, with her arms crossed.

"So, what are you going to do?" Duo taunted, "Throw fireballs at me?"

Chibi-Usa grimaced, "Fireballs?" she muttered, "Does he think she's Mars or something?"

"I was actually thinking something more along the lines of fighting Chibi-Usa for your benefit, and then seeing if you can beat me once I've warmed up."

"What?!" squeaked Chibi-Usa, sitting up in shock. "Me?!"

"What did you come here for, the food?"

"But-I'm no match against you-"

"Hence the idea of warming up. On your feet, Reeny."

"It's CHIBI-USA!"

Duo glared at the two of them before stalking off the floor and onto the bleachers. "I can't believe this," he muttered. "I'm stuck having to watch a bloody cat fight and then I have to go and make sure I don't kill the winner!"

"I don't think you need to worry about winning," muttered Relena as she noticed the steely glint in Hotaru's violet eyes. Duo glared at her. She ignored him.

"Why the heck did it have to be me?" muttered Chibi-Usa as she took out her locket, "It couldn't have been Pluto who's actually more than just plain Neo-Moon."

"Just transform."

"Fuck you," replied Chibi-Usa conversationally, shocking her best friend long enough to call out the henshin phrase.

"Brat," muttered Hotaru as she yelled out her own transformation phrase.

"MOON ETERNAL POWER… MAKE UP!"

"SATURN ETERNAL POWER… MAKE UP!"

For the second time that day, Hotaru was washed with the glowing strength that being a Sailor Scout blessed her with, made her feel strong, indestructible, powerful. There was no other feeling quite like it. But when she faced her friend, she was taken aback. The last she'd seen her was just after the Mistress Nine fiasco before she'd had to return to her right time in the future. She'd never known Chibi-Usa had become more than just Chibi-Moon. She was Sailor Neo-Moon. This was going to be fun.

Duo stared, dumbstruck at the two girls out there on the floor and at the sudden pulling, as if drawn towards that battle. Why, though? He didn't want to fight all that desperately… He sat down firmly on his hands, his eyes stuck on the petite girl who held onto one of the largest, most powerful handheld weapons he'd ever seen.

"SATURN GLAIVE APPLY!" Saturn smashed down the point of her Glaive to the ground, the magic flying at Chibi-Moon. The girl threw herself to the side, pulling her legs up in an experienced dive roll, pushing herself back onto her feet. Her wand materialized in her hand, and it was much less impressive than Saturn's Silence Glaive. It was Sailor Moon's old Moon Wand. Complete with Silver Crystal. Looking as pink, pretty and plastic as ever.

She wrenched off her tiara yelling, "MOON TIARA STAR!" as she flung the golden ornament at Saturn's head, which immediately began spinning and sparking with flashes of moondust.

Duo, sitting on the bleachers, tensed, and found himself readying to leap down onto the floor of the gym from the bleachers. He immediately forced himself to relax. Whatever they were doing, he couldn't get involved without someone accidentally killing him.

Saturn, immediately brought up the Silence Glaive from its position still pointed down on the ground, and blocked the sparkling projectile with the blade, making it ricochet to the opposite end of the gym towards Neo-Moon. Jumping up, the girl grabbed it out of the air, putting it back on her head, before charging at Saturn. As she did so, the rod elongating magically, the golden crescent moon flattening, enlarging, becoming sharper until it vaguely, in shape, looked Saturn's Glaive.

There was the inevitable crashing of steel, and the sparks flew as Saturn and Chibi-Usa proved just how trained in the one-on-one battle they were, outfitted as they were in short skirts and high-heeled boots. Using her Silence Glaive for leverage, Saturn hefted herself up until she was almost horizontal to the ground, flinging her body around, and delivering a kick to Neo-Moon's middle, using her momentum to carry both of them forwards and down. Neo-Moon landing on her backside, and Saturn, having landed on both feet on Neo-Moon's stomach, leaped off daintily. "I win," she told the girl on the ground sweetly.

"Damn it, that hurt!" Chibi-Usa sat up warily, holding her stomach. "Ow…" she moaned, giving up on trying to get up and instead fell over on her side. "That's it, I'm never fighting you again."

"That's the difference between being a Moon Princess and being one of the Royal Guard." replied Hotaru easily, holding out a gloved hand. Neo-Moon glared up at her and refused to get up. "I'm dying."

"You are not dying," replied Hotaru irritably as she knelt down beside her friend as she took off one of her long white gloves and pressing a hand to Chibi-Usa's stomach. A warm golden glow formed around her hand and then flowed onto the other girl for a moment, before it all vanished and Saturn stood up. "Now. Up."

Sailor Saturn then proceeded to turn towards Duo, "Well?" she called, "I'm waiting for you!"

Duo stood up, rising to meet the challenge. "What do you want me to do?" he asked, his hands on his hips. "Put on a short skirt and a pair of high heels?"

"As amusing as that may seem to your twisted sense of humor, I'm afraid Hotaru has other things to worry about at the moment. Chibi-Usa too."

They all looked up to see Pluto perched quite comfortably on the rim of a basketball net. Hotaru glared at her, "Did you let Chibi-Usa out from the Dreaming?"

Pluto shrugged, "I realized she too was immune to paradox once the analyzations came through and I noted the fact that we need as many of the Sailor Senshi as possible. I found out who we're up against." She glared at Duo, "And then I come back to find that not only does this boy whom Professor G assured me would be likely to help her literally taking her on in a one-on-one battle. Idiot boy, did you know you could have been killed?"

Duo turned away from her, his arms crossed defensively over his chest. "And now Hotaru has learned nothing from any of you. Nothing! When one of the most important battles we've ever had to face is about to commence, nothing has been done to help her." she glared at Duo in particular and snapped her fingers. Instantly, Duo found himself suddenly not in the facility's gym, but floating in his own room. His levitation ceased a second later and he fell with a rather undignified thud on his bed. He looked up to see Pluto sitting on a chair next to him. "I couldn't tell you in front of her," she told him, her anger seeming to have melted away leaving a deep sorrow etched in her pretty face. "If you don't help her, Saturn is going to die… do you understand that? She is going to kill herself in order to obliviate a demon more powerful than I have yet to encounter without the strength of Sailor Moon on my side."

Duo turned his head away, "Why should it matter?" he asked, glaring at a point beside him on the bed unable to look her in the face. "She's just going to come back, isn't she?" but he said this hesitantly, as if he still didn't believe it.

Pluto glared at him, "Do you really think it is that simple?" she demanded, standing up. "Do you really think we could be granted immortality simply by the death of one Lunar Queen? We give something up each time we die in order to come back. Death does not let us go without a price. She is in the most danger of losing everything. She's told you she's died more times than any of the rest of us, and she was right. She's already lost her strength, her health, and much of her power. What she loses this time around just might turn out to be whatever sanity she has left." She shook her head, allowing her hair to fall down to hide her face, "Death is not pleasant," she told him, her garnet eyes watching his every move, "And not often is he merciful. She will come back, yes… but the future will be very unstable if she loses her sanity. Most importantly, the sanity of your friend will also be in danger."

"My friend?"

"The blond one. Quatre. Choose well Duo Maxwell, you might not like what your destiny calls you for…" she smiled wryly, "But it sure as hell beats the alternative." She snapped her fingers again and they were back in the gym again, all the others sitting on the bleachers, Chibi-Usa and Hotaru having de-transformed.

"You're back," Hotaru said as greeting, standing up from her spot on the bleachers.

"Yeah, fill us in!" chimed in Chibi-Usa, grinning down at the two of them. "What's so important the rest of us can't hear?"

"Nothing you would want to hear," replied Pluto sternly, before addressing the entire group. "From this moment on I want all of you to be trained up ready to fight one of what may be the toughest battles in your lives. I have here," (she snapped her fingers, and several sheaves of paper appeared in her hand), "the schematics of Hotaru's mobile suit. Yes, it is a gundam," she told Duo, with a stern look on her face, "and although you all are well-known in this world as the best pilots in the business, I have made special modifications on the old blueprints of the gundams to better suit Hotaru's… unusual capacities.

"Unusual… that's one way of putting it," snorted Chibi-Usa quietly.

"Be quiet, Chibi. You're not even getting one."

"What?!" yelped the princess, sitting up straight and glaring at the Time Guardian. "But Pu-u!!"

"There will plenty of fighting for you to do without having to resort to using a gundam," replied the older woman wryly. "You don't even know what one is!"

"But Hotaru has one," whined Chibi-Usa grumpily as she leaned back down against the bleacher behind her, sulking.

Hotaru took the schematics from the Pluto and flipped through them. "They look like robots," she muttered. "What do you mean pilot them?"

Duo groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead. "You want her to pilot a gundam and she doesn't even know what a mobile suit is yet?"

Hotaru looked up from her perusal of the papers, "Would you please sit down and shut up?" she asked politely. "Some people don't take well to your antagonism."

"Some people don't take well to his affections, either." Added another voice from the doorway where Cathrine was supposed to be guarding. The reason why she'd been let in was soon quite obvious. It was Hilde. Hotaru glanced at her, then looked at Duo critically. "I take it he's not Prince Charming?"

Hilde walked closer, making Duo turn away, his arms crossed over his chest defensively, and hiding his eyes behind his long bangs.

"Oh, he is," replied the other girl, "Just takes the job too seriously is all."

Chibi-Usa raised an eyebrow, "And that's a bad thing… how?"

Hilde shrugged as she sat down, "I don't find it in good taste to compare Boyfriend A to Boyfriend B."

"A little too late for that, don't you think?" replied Hotaru, nodding her head towards Duo, without looking up from her papers.

"We're getting off topic. Lady Une heard about your… unusual abilities. There were some nasty monsters hanging around Preventers HQ so she wanted to as if you could help."

Hotaru raised an eyebrow, "What is this, rent-a-Scout?" she asked, looking at Pluto. "This wasn't in the job description, was it?"

Pluto shook her head, addressing Hilde. "So you're the go-between," she said thoughtfully, "I would have thought Une would be here herself. No matter, go back and tell her, in person, that there will be no need for Hotaru to move. The shadows are drawing close, and where they appear the monsters follow. They'll come here."

Hilde frowned, "Actually, she was supposed to come here… but with all the attacks, we've taken to old-fashioned convoys which means it takes a lot of political pull to get one. She couldn't come, so she used the private connection. Someone tried to intercept it, so I was told to bring the message." Her frown deepened, "What shadows are you talking about?"

"Nothing of your concern." replied Pluto, "Please, repeat the message to Lady Une as quickly as possible. Hotaru is not a weapon, she is not restrained by such things as my orders. She can do what she wish, though she prefers to listen to my council. Please tell Lady Une that. She has her own job to do here, and after she is finished with that, she may decide to stay, or go back into the Dreaming. Please."

"Right. I'll do that." Hilde frowned and stalked out the door.

Cathrine raised an eyebrow as the girl passed her. "Was it just me, or did Hilde seem extremely upset about a small thing?"

Pluto shook her head, "I have my suspicions," she answered the girl vaguely, "But that doesn't mean I'll reveal them to you. Hotaru," she said, addressing the raven-haired girl who looked up immediately. "Finish reading those, familiarize yourself with the things I added and the rest of you, get to work training both her and yourselves. Trust me when I say you'll need it."

"Where are you off to?" asked Chibi-Usa, crossing her arms, "You're going to fight too, aren't you?"

"I'm going to see if any of the other senshi are able to escape the Dreaming," she told her seriously, "I have my doubts of the strength of this new enemy… enough so that I will attempt to bargain with the Keeper of Destinies for any to escape paradox." She disappeared with a snap of her fingers, and a melodramatic swish of her Time Key.

Hotaru finally finished looking over her papers, "Anyone have any idea where this thing might be?" she asked to all of them in general.

Chibi-Usa shrugged, "Knowing Pluto, probably in your pocket."

The rest stared at her.

"What do you mean… in her pocket?" asked Relena, the first to speak.

Hotaru shrugged, checking all of the many pockets in the uniform. She came across a key chain with a tiny mobile suit hanging from it. "You think this is it?" she asked Chibi-Usa, tossing it over to the other girl.

Catching it without much difficulty, Chibi-Usa looked down at it in curiosity. "Wow… cool… it's your color too."

"Mobile suits are something you actually have to fit in," Heero told them, looking down at the key chain in disdain. "Not a toy."

Relena leaned closer, "May I see?" she asked politely, holding out her hand. Shrugging, Chibi-Usa handed it over and the blonde took a closer look at it. "It looks… feminine," she said, squinting at the infinitesimal details. "Although it's a little too small to be sure."

"Leave it to Pluto," muttered Hotaru standing, "she'll always manage to make it feminine. I think that's it."

Heero stood up, "Haven't I told you-" he was stopped by Relena's firm grip on his arm. She shook her head at him, "Let her see," she suggested, before pointing at the exit. "Take it outside," she told Hotaru, "If you can make it life-size and usable which is obviously what Chibi-Usa thinks, then it would be a better idea for it to appear outside than in. We don't seem to have a lot of time, if what Pluto said was true."

Hotaru nodded as Relena tossed it back to her and headed for the door. "Outside, huh?" she repeated thoughtfully. "Just how big are these things?"

"I'd go with about the height of the building. And maybe then some." replied Relena airily as they all got up and walked as one. Having resolved herself to build up ideals that were actually possible to attain, she had built up a powerful force in order to prevent another war from happening. Squelching minor skirmishers had been the extent of all that force had controlled up until the point the monsters, hybrid beings, had appeared. Then, Preventers, and all other organizations associated with it had been the only force capable of actually killing the monsters. But barely, while sustaining multiple casualties in the process. As weak as the monsters seemed to be when faced with magic, they were an awesome force to behold when unleashed into the populace without the senshi to back up the people.

"Cool…" proclaimed Chibi-Usa, "Now I really want one."

"Knowing you, you'd break it the moment you tried to get in." Hotaru paused, "You do get in… right?" she asked, shaking the pages at them. "Pluto has always been kind of vague."

"Yeah," replied Duo, for the first time actually sounding marginally civil.

Hotaru shrugged, "So all I have to do is turn it on." She set it down on the ground and stood back. Nothing happened.

"All right, direct approach notwithstanding, what's the next option?"

"Magic?" replied Chibi-Usa shrugging.

Hotaru frowned and touched a finger to the small object allowing a rush of gold surround the tiny object. Again, nothing happened, but she felt a tendril of power from her native planet curl up her fingertip from the tiny object.

Chibi-Usa rolled her eyes, "You're not trying to heal it," she said exasperatedly, "I didn't mean your magic, I meant Saturn's magic."

There was silence from the others, as they watched. There was of course, some doubt that a toy could somehow manage to become a mobile suit because the girl willed it to, but considering what had already happened today, they were open for more surprises.

Hotaru frowned deeper, biting her lip thoughtfully as she stared down at the little toy in the dirt. "Well, let's try it…" she muttered, pulling out her transformation wand. Whispering several arcane phrases under her breath, she touched the golden end of the wand to the tiny figurine… and was immediately blasted back off her feet. She was literally thrown backwards several feet directly into the arms of a startled Trowa who caught her instinctively and set her back down on her feet. Barely glancing behind her to see who she'd landed on, she looked back once, before having to shield her eyes from the sudden flare of blinding white light.

"What the hell is that?!" yelled Trowa, above the deafening noise also coming from somewhere within the light.

"Magic!" she yelled back as loudly as she could, "Pure magic!" It had all been true, what Pluto had said. She truly had fused their planetary power with steel to create the ultimate weapon against the demons. In the face of this… what… what thing could not be destroyed by it? It didn't seem possible. But Pluto had even gone to the Keeper to beg him for more senshi. How powerful, truly, was this enemy of theirs?

Relena too, had been flung back as if she were a rag doll by the blast, thankfully being caught by the ever watchful Heero before she was thrown into a brick wall. Keeping her close to him, he felt her arms slip around his waist, holding onto him tightly. She was afraid. It certainly seemed impossible since even death held no fear over her, but then, this was not an ordinary death with manmade weapons. There had been no fear when they had seen the display of power from Hotaru and Chibi-Usa because that magic had had a permeating goodness to it, a purity. This was wild magic, wild and untainted by that of the senshi. This was the magic pulled straight out of the planets themselves and poured into the metal itself. There had probably been much decision over whether or not to create such a weapon… there had had to be some consequence in making something like this.

As suddenly as the flare of light had erupted into the sky, it disappeared, leaving such a silence; it was as deafening as the noise that had preceded it. Cautiously, Hotaru took her hand away from her eyes, only to stare at the gigantic foot of one of the largest robots she'd ever seen. Following her line of sight upwards, she stared at the head, towering high over the building, and the head strangely pointed, like that of a mechanical fox, with a mass of what was supposed to be in the likeness of long raven hair. Hotaru stepped forward, hesitantly, as if almost intimidated. Placing a hand on it, she turned back to look at the boys. "What happens now?" she asked, dwarfed in comparison to the hulking shape of her newest weapon.

"The cockpit is located in the chest," Heero told her. "But for us, we usually keep them lying down before we board them, I don't know if there's a way to get in while its upright."

Hotaru shrugged, "Well, I wouldn't want to push it onto it's back," she replied wryly, "We'd break something."

"That's for sure… who'd a thought it would be so damn huge?" This from the undaunted Chibi-Usa as she stared up at it. If that's how all your mobile suits look like, that demon's got a lot more coming up against him than Saturn's Silence Glaive."

Duo's eyes flashed towards her, staring at her oddly for a moment, before he seemed to remember himself and looking away again.

Hotaru looked back up at the machine. "Well… don't knock it 'til you've tried it," she muttered grabbing a handhold on its foot and pulling herself up.

"And here I thought you people would actually be smart." A voice from behind him made all heads turn, including Hotaru.

There stood Hilde again, a strange smile on her face. "You know, if you'd read the papers carefully enough, I'm sure it says it's your will that controls that big hunk of metal… which means that if you want it to, it will open up the cockpit itself and allow you to get on."

"How did-?"

Hilde waved it off, "I've just been in contact with Lady Une," she explained, "Who had also just been in a meeting with the other doctors. She let me on what's going on, since none of you thought it worth the bother."

Cathrine, who had remained silent all this time, stared at the girl. "What more did you really need to know?" she asked, "You were there at the meeting, you heard everything Hotaru had to tell…"

Hilde shook her head, "Oh but there was so much else you-"

"Listen," Hotaru broke in, "After this battle is over that we are involved in, if all of us come back alive, I promise that there will be time to sort things out, and to explain everything to you. Thank you for telling me something more about my-" she floundered for the word for a moment before remembering it, "-gundam, which I will put to good use, but in order to do so, I need time to learn how to work with it. And time something we all do not have a lot of. Are you going to help, or be a hindrance?"

Hilde looked taken aback, before her pretty full lips pulled themselves into a frown and nodded. "I guess."

"Good." Hotaru turned back to her gundam. Open, she thought, touching her finger to the metal. Sparks crackled where she touched it, and with a sound of what could be described no other way than of machinery moving, the front of the gundam opened itself up, and a cord dropped down.

"Get on it," Wufei told her, "It'll take you up." He turned from where he had been standing. "We have to get our own if we're going to be fighting something big enough that needs that thing."

Chibi-Usa agreed with him. "You'd better," she told the rest of them, "It'd be easier to show Hotaru-chan what to do it you can demonstrate." She seemed to have taken charge while Hotaru had disappeared up into the open cockpit. "Who's the best pilot around here?"

All eyes immediately turned to Heero, who looked slightly uncomfortable at the sudden attention, but nodded. "I guess I am."

"Then get your ass up there with her and show her what the hell she has to do."

With a nudge, Relena pushed him from behind. "Go ahead, she's right you know."

Heero nodded wearily, running a hand through his messy hair. "Right." He said simply, walking towards the machine. "LET ME UP!" he bellowed with a volume that surprised even Relena.

The line dropped down with such speed, it looked like it would smack him on the head. "Is he okay?" yelled Hotaru as she peeked down over the edge, "I didn't hit him, did I?"

"Almost!" Chibi-Usa called back, laughing. "Well we can't be lucky all the time!"

Heero shot her a dirty look.

She blew him back a kiss, just to piss him off. Relena blinked for a moment, before getting the flirtatious humor of the pink-haired girl. "Are you always like this?"

"Nope," the girl replied unrepentantly, "Most of the time, I'm worse."

Relena watched her with dancing eyes, "You know, I'm almost sure you're speaking the truth."

"She is," called down Hotaru, "Don't ever present her with sugar or caffeinated drinks of any kind."

"I'll be sure to remember that," replied Relena wryly as she watched the pink-haired wonder begin pacing in a circle, kicking up small clouds of dust with her heels as she did so. "And what are you going to do, young lady?" she asked sternly, shaking an admonishing finger at the younger girl.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," she replied, frowning. "I have nothing I can do."

"Really? Well then, you can come and talk to me."

Chibi-Usa brightened, "No problem!" she and Relena proceeded to find a spot in the shade. "So, you were a princess?"

"Will be a princess," she replied, twirling one of her ponytails around her finger, "Truthfully speaking I haven't really been born yet."

"I don't… understand…"

"I'm from the future," Chibi-Usa replied simply, shrugging, "It's kinda hard to explain."

"So if you're from the future, you know how this war will end?"

Chibi-Usa grimaced, "Of course not. I wouldn't be here if Saturn and Pluto could do it all by themselves. Something big's going down and if they need me," she added ruefully, "that means they're getting in some deep excrement."

"Are princesses different in the future? You don't… act… like a princess."

Chibi-Usa winced, "I don't, don't I?" she sighed, "Well, I don't want to be. Right now's a tough time back home. Heck, I've sorta run away from home almost, or at least, I don't live in the castle anymore. I wanted to live my life like my mom was able to in the twentieth century, but they don't want to let me. Then…" Chibi-Usa shrugged, "Being a moon princess sucks."

"Being Queen is even worse, if you'd like to know."

Chibi-Usa raised an eyebrow, "Queen? You're a queen?"

"Was," corrected Relena, "I've been demoted to princess now. Of a small country, no longer the world."

"Ick." Chibi-Usa made a face, "Not just fancy dresses and pretty jewelry, is it?"

"No… no it's not." Relena shook her head. "But what about Hotaru? What is she? She said she's a security guard or… something…"

The younger girl laughed out loud. "Hotaru? A security guard? Now that's a good one-OW!" she glared up at the open cockpit, where a calm-faced Hotaru leaned over and apologized for 'accidentally' losing control of a bolt of magic. Chibi-Usa shook her fist at the older girl, let out a string of impressive curses, and then turned back to Relena. "Hotaru's a Queen," she told Relena, "Not a princess, because her parents died early on, near the end of the Silver Millennium." She grinned wryly, "The girl's been around a lot longer than I have. Enough so to have been able to be named Sailor Moon's guardians and will soon be my guardians." She shrugged, "Happens when you can live practically forever. But she'll never be a security guard. She won't be living on Earth in my time, you see, she'll be ruling on Saturn, but the Inner senshi will. They're enough protection for the Royal Family unless something big's coming, and if they show up, you really know the excrement's hit the revolving blades."

"I see…" Relena smiled, almost impulsively, "And then you don't know whether or not you're actually glad."

"Exactly. 'Cause that's when the cavalry arrives, which also includes a very hot and sexy boyfriend…" she frowned at that, "Who also happens to think that having a relationship of any kind should wait till I'm actually 'of age'."

"Men." The one word said it all.

"Yeah."

"You know this would certainly have been the opportune time to offer to drive us both to a bar and drown ourselves in alcohol, but you're underage, and I've got a reputation."

"Them's the breaks," replied Chibi-Usa airily, grinning at her. "You've got a hell of a feisty character hidden beneath all that niceness. Never would have pegged you for someone like me."

Relena flushed just the slightest bit, "It's not supposed to happen to girls in this country. And as a princess…" she shrugged, "It's not like you can really just suddenly announce that this bout of old-fashioned nonsense is going to end and it does just because you say so."

"Saddening but true. I couldn't go out without an escort and proper dress until I decided I'd had enough and split. A girl's got to be able to live her own life, princess or no."

"I agree with you. But what can we do about it?"

"Nothing I've thought of yet. Give me a few hundred years and I'll probably think of something."

"I don't have several hundred years."

Chibi-Usa looked at her oddly, "Sure you do, you're-mmph!" for someone had clapped a hand from behind her over her mouth, and she whirled around at once to face a frowning Pluto.

"I brought you to this time to fight, not to go about telling secrets that could potentially be apocalyptic."

"Oh." Chibi-Usa winced, "Oops."

Relena stood up, "Well I suppose if she's going to reveal something dangerous to me, I should go and get started working on all that god-awful paperwork."

"Sounds dull. Why don't you blow it off and come looking for some honeys with me?"

Pluto stared down at the girl with startled garnet eyes before turning away, muttering, "I will not say anything to her parents, I will not say anything to her parents…" She walked off in the direction of Hotaru's gundam.

"Do you mean… guys?"

"What else do you think I'd mean? A trip to a nearby beehive?" Chibi-Usa replied, rolling her eyes and getting to her feet. "I want to do something. And since I don't have any large robots to practice with, I've got a whole lot of nothing on my hands. Besides," she added plaintively, "I'm hot."

"Happens when it's a hot summer day." Replied Relena getting to her feet. "But about looking around for guys…"

"You got a boyfriend?"

Relena hesitated, "Well… no…" she cast a furtive glance towards the hulking purple machine.

Chibi-Usa looked up at the two of them barely visible in the glaring sunlight with an appraising look. Then she did a double take and stared at him again oddly. Then she shrugged and said brightly, "Ah, the hottie who doesn't know how to brush his hair. I get it… good taste you have, by the way."

Relena couldn't really tell if she should say "thank you" to that.

The other girl leaped to her feet in a fluid movement that betrayed her innate training drilled into her by her tutors in her earlier years. She held out her hand to the blonde, "Come on, if you're not dating, no one can really blame you for flirting, right? Besides… it doesn't really look like he's appreciating you for your full value. Why not let someone else stand in, at least for a little while?"

"I don't know…" Truthfully speaking, Relena was tempted. Chibi-Usa was just an embodiment of all that Relena had secretly always wanted to be, spunky, fun, and flirty.

"Why not? It's not like there's anything we can do around here… and hanging out with a bunch of cute guys in uniform is infinitely more fun than cuddling up to a stack of paper. Come on…" wheedled Chibi-Usa, pulling at Relena's sleeve in an attempt to get her to stand up. "You know you wanna… I can see it in your eyes…"

Relena sighed, finally standing up. "All right, all right…" she agreed, turning red. "I'm coming."

Chibi-Usa leapt up in delight, "WOO-HOO!" she crowed triumphantly as she immediately grasped the other girl's arm and pulled her up. "First I'm getting you to Hotaru's room where we're going to get you changed, and then we're off to scope out some guys!"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" asked Relena defensively, looking down at the lilac skirt and white blouse she was wearing.

Reeny raised an eyebrow, "You want the truth?" she asked, "It makes you look like you're forty. You've got to try something else… something flirty and fun. And if all else fails, it'll get that guy to notice you," she added, jerking a thumb in Heero's direction. "It's worth a try isn't it?"

"I… suppose…" Relena agreed reluctantly and allowed herself to be dragged back into the military complex.

It didn't take long for Chibi-Usa to rummage through her bags that she'd dragged along for the ride from her future, but it certainly took considerably longer to get Relena into them. After realizing she and Hotaru shared much of the same body measurements, Chibi-Usa had shrugged and begun to rummage through Hotaru's belongings as well. She came up with the pushup bra. Relena came up with a list of excuses that would've filled a high school essay. They didn't work.

Of course, it couldn't be said that Relena had ever been so very well endowed, but her figure had certainly filled out in the past few years. And the effect they had once Chibi-Usa had wrestled the glitzy black spaghetti-strap tank top onto her was guaranteed to turn a man's head. Paired with a slinky silver miniskirt (her attempts to pull down the hem were unsuccessful because doing so resulted in baring her midriff) and a pair of black leather boots that ended just beneath her knees, she looked ready more for a night clubbing, not roaming the halls of a military complex. Chibi-Usa didn't seem to care, adding large silver hoop earrings to the ensemble, and pulling her hair into a tight ponytail, unlike the more loose one she favored when in professional getup.

Pushing her in front of the mirror, Chibi-Usa grinned proudly. "A work of art," she pronounced, "All you'd ever really need would have been some eyeliner and mascar-"

"No." Relena's tone brooked no argument as the former Queen of the World reasserted herself. "No."

Chibi-Usa pouted, but shrugged, "Fine. Off we go!" looking the part of innocent siren in a floaty golden sundress and small strappy sandals, she walked out of the door.

Relena paused, feeling rather naked in the foreign clothing before she took a deep breath and 'took the plunge' as it was.

It took all her training not to look apprehensively around her as she walked out the door. Taking a deep breath, she tried to imitate Chibi-Usa's flirty saunter before dropping it in favor of her own, more swaying stride, that brought eyes down to her hips (one of her better features Duo had assured her with his "you've got a great ass Lena, flaunt it" 's). In this way she earned her own fair share of wolf-whistles as the two of them strolled down the hallway towards the gym, where most of the crowds had gathered, trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on, on the other side of the large double doors.

Cathrine, who was on guard duty, looked shocked, and surprised at first, but her initial reaction gave way to a sly smile and a "You go, girl!" as she motioned them through the doors, while attempting to block the view from the other clustering around her, with her small frame.

Relena nearly collapsed in a fit of near-hysterical giggles before she caught sight of Chibi-Usa's wide grin, "Now that is the Relena I knew was hidden beneath it all. Come on, let's see how Prince Charming takes your shaking your ass in his direction."

Relena looked mortified, "I did not-!" she started before Heero stalked in with a wrench in one hand, his gun in the other, and an irritated look on his face. That look instantly melted into one of sheer puzzlement the moment he caught sight of Relena, and a sweeping of his eyes took her in from head to toe in a moment. If Relena had felt naked out there in the hallway, Heero's intent gaze now made her feel X-rayed. His expression changed a third time, this time to something she couldn't really place…

"Relena?" there was confusion in that question, but his eyes couldn't hide the fact that he couldn't tear them away from her.

She shrugged, almost defensively. "There wasn't really anything I could do… so…"

"So I decided that if she's willing to drown herself in paperwork, then I might as well bury her in clothes." Chibi-Usa interrupted, with a winning smile of her own, though not winning enough to distract Heero from staring at the blonde. "What do you think?"

"Yeah, Heero, what do you think?" Cathrine added, slipping in through the door, and brandishing a shiny silver key that she'd finally found to lock the doors.

The boy, put on the spot, looked wildly from one girl to the other, before back at Relena. "Uh…" he said unintelligently, possibly a first for the blunt L1 native. "She… you… you look… nice."

"Nice." Repeated Cathrine, raising an eyebrow as if she didn't believe. "That's all you can say."

Chibi-Usa snorted, shaking her head, "Men," she muttered under her breath, "Never know their way with words."

Relena, after the initial disappointment, smiled, instantly understanding, "Not if you put him on the spot," she retorted, chiding the other two, "What did you expect? Shakespearean poetry?" For that understanding, Heero looked grateful.

"What the heck is this?" demanded a voice from the door, as Wufei walked in, having just brought his mobile suit. He took in Relena's new outfit in a single flick of his eyes and he looked frustrated. "What is it with women?" he asked of the world in general, "Why is it than whenever there's a war coming, the first thing they do is change their clothes?"

"Because the girls you usually associate with are usually ordered to change into uniform," replied a woman with long golden hair done up in a set up pigtails that coiled around themselves to fall lightly on her shoulders. She walked up to Chibi-Usa and held out her hand, "Sally Po," she introduced herself. "And you are…?"

"Chibi-Usa." The girl shook Sally Po's hand with a slight hesitance that betrayed how often she had had her hand kissed rather than shook. "Nice to meet you," she added with a grin as Sally released her hand. She pointed at Relena, comfortable with the older woman's presence at once. "So… what do you think of her?"

Sally gave Relena an appraising look. "I think Heero had better propose to her fast before anyone else at this place catches a glimpse of her," her blue eyes flashing with good humor. "And don't listen to what Wufei thinks… it's not like there's really anything else we can do otherwise other than watch them 'get ready'."

"Speaking of, how's Hotaru doing?"

Heero shook his head shortly, allowing his hair to fall back into its customary place in his eyes, "Good," he said shortly.

"Good." repeated Chibi-Usa, before shaking her head and turning back to the others who had gathered, "Should I take that as a 'spectacular!' or a 'she's gonna die in the first three seconds out there!'?"

Heero actually allowed himself a small smile, "She's doing good." he repeated himself, before expanding. "No technique. Sloppy finishes. But good control with the suit. Acts like it's already a part of her."

"That's because it is," Pluto appeared from the doorway through which Heero had entered. "Did you find the problem you said had to be there?"

Heero frowned again, "No." he said curtly, as if he hated to be wrong. He did.

Relena shook her head, her long ponytail tied tightly back against her skull had pulled some of the flesh of her face back, accenting her cheekbones and her large blue eyes. It had a stunning effect. Chibi-Usa smiled proudly as the girl stepped forward, not touching Heero, but close enough to it when she said. "Perhaps then it would be a good time to continue on with your…" she flicked her eyes up at his face with a sly smile of her own, "…training?"

Heero blinked before saying, "Er… yes…" he walked away briskly, too quickly to make it seem as if he was quite at home with Relena's new appearance. Wufei, who'd been watching the other boy with raised eyebrows sighed and shook his head. "Why do I put up with these people?" he asked whoever in particular was listening before starting to walk away when Sally shrugged and loped over on her long legs, "For the company," she replied grinning cheekily. "I'm coming."

Cathrine smiled, shaking her head slightly, "Those two will never change."

Chibi-Usa looked at her with raised eyebrows, "They're always like that?"

Cathrine opened her mouth and would have answered, if Pluto hadn't let out a piercing shriek at just that moment, and pointed down towards the ground with one gloved finger. "He's here!" she wailed, for a moment all composure lost, "There's not enough time!" She looked stricken, and only Chibi-Usa understood what was going through the woman's mind. She could give them time, certainly she could stop time all around them, giving them the chance to prepare, but that would mean that her life would be extinguished. And with the limited number of senshi available in this world, that was one sacrifice they could not make.

She took charge immediately, "You two, get the doors," she snapped pointing at Cathrine and Relena, "Tell all of them to get ready to defend themselves against the monsters. You," she added, pointing directly at Pluto, "Enough of the mystical and mysterious bullshit, who the hell is coming?!"

Pluto slowly took a deep breath, nodding. "I've kept secrets," she admitted, "Because I had hoped there was another way to end this… it is the Nameless, he who lives in the shadows and orders them to his will. He has taken…" she pointed wordlessly to the floor again.

The sun from the open doors glowed warm and golden on the polished wood grain of the gym floor and pooled at Pluto's feet. But that was all… she had no shadow.

Chibi-Usa stared, drawing closer, staring at the spot on the floor where Pu's shadow should have been. "What… what happened?"

"He has stolen it." she replied in a deadened voice, "He has taken the part of me that is the darkest and most secret of my being into his arms and left me with but only a part of my power. And if time allows, he will change and corrupt all that is left of me now."

She shook her head, long hair flowing around her, "We've got to get him. Fast. Now. Hotaru should know enough to get her through the front lines of the monsters in her gundam. That's all I can ask of her now. She has to get through and see if she is strong enough to face the Nameless."

Chibi-Usa was not reassured. "You're not telling me something," she said seriously, "What have you left out?"

"I think… I think Hotaru may die." Pluto replied, "I sent her here to try and get her to find Death… and now there is no time to search. If she does not have Him, she will destroy herself. The essence of Death will take her life, but if we could find the embodiment of Death, he might have spared her… saved her… I don't know." Pluto looked around wildly, before she kicked the wall with a booted foot. "Damn that Keeper!" she raged, "If only we had Sailor Moon…"

"You have her," Chibi-Usa broke in seriously, "And if it's moondust you want… well…" she flourished her wand in a fluid gesture that was reminiscent of a pen being twirled in her fingers. "Hotaru-chan's not the only one who can kill monsters."

Pluto stared at her for a moment before nodding curtly. "Right. Try not to get yourself killed out there," she pleaded, "Your parents would kill me."

"I'll try not to," replied Chibi-Usa wryly, "Let's go."

The two of them raced out the door, and with their eyes blinded by the sudden glare of fading sunlight, they never noticed that Chibi-Usa's shadow wavered for a single moment, then flew away from her, back through the door into the gym.

~*~*~*~

Well, this chapter certainly was a lot longer, and even if I do wonder if anyone's reading it after receiving only one review (and an admonishing one it was too… *sniff*) but I like this fic and want to finish it. The next part should be the end and if any of you like mecha battles and/or just battles in general that have stuck around, that's what makes up the majority of the next chapter. Hope you like. Review me. Please. I'm begging. See me beg.