You're back!  Yeah!  I don't feel like boring you with details, so
let's just say that standard disclaimers apply, and my address is
Jendra@aol.com.  Thanks to the three new people that just wrote me!
And of course, to all the old ones that still do.



Sailor Moon Universal B

Chapter 3  Explanations


"Yeah, that's right," Serena agreed, wondering if having her energy
drained had somehow messed with her mother's mind.  "Sailor Moon and the
Sailor Scouts were the ones that saved yo... us."

"Serena," her mother said as she slowly got up.  "I `saw'."

"You saw the Scouts?" Serena asked, still confused even as she went to
help her mother to her feet.

Ellen Tsukino shook her head.  She looked dazed and Serena was really
starting to get concerned.  "Maybe I didn't really see it.  Maybe it was
just a hallucination.  You would have told me if it was true, wouldn't
you?"

Serena was `definitely' concerned.  "You don't look so well, maybe we
should get you to the hospital so they can look you over," she said as
she held her mother until she steadied.

Mrs. Tsukino stared fixedly at the brooch on her daughter's chest.  She
suddenly realized she didn't know when her daughter had gotten it, but
she very rarely `didn't' wear it these days.  Without thinking she
reached out.  Before Serena could stop her, she opened the brooch and
stared at the glowing jewel inside.

Serena and Reenie gasped as she continued to stare, then Serena reached
up and closed it, looking around to see if anyone had seen.

"It wasn't a hallucination," Mrs. Tsukino whispered almost to herself.
Her voice got louder.  "You're Sailor Moon!  My daughter is Sailor Moon
and I never even knew!  How could you not tell me?  How could you keep
something this important a secret?  How could you?!  How could you have
lied to me like that?!" her voice continued getting louder.

"Mom!" Serena hissed frantically.  "Will you be quiet?  Do you want the
whole world to know?"

Mrs. Tsukino looked around and suddenly realized they were in the middle
of a busy shopping mall, that was getting even busier as rescue workers
and gawkers gathered around.  She reined in her questions and took a
deep breath.  "I want an explanation, young lady."

Serena looked into her eyes and nodded slowly.  "Not here," she agreed
quietly.

"Serena!" Reenie hissed quietly, "Are you really going to tell her?"

Mrs. Tsukino looked at the little girl. "I want to know how you can
transform too," she said, giving final proof, if any was really needed,
that she had seen them transform.  "Come on, we're going home, and once
we get there, you're going to explain everything," she said as she took
Serena by the arm, Reenie by the hand, and led them out the door.

"But Sammy's at home!  He might hear," Serena argued.  "Let's go
somewhere else, somewhere more private."

"Serena, at the moment, I don't really care if the whole world hears.  I
am going to get an explanation one way or another."

"And I promise I'll tell you.  But not at home, please?"  Serena knew
she wouldn't be able to keep Sammy from eavesdropping.  She knew he had
snuck downstairs last night and stood under the living room window when
she was talking to her parents.  There was no way he would have missed
the opportunity to listen to her get in trouble.  She had done it
herself a time or two when he was getting a dressing down for one of his
pranks.

"Home.  Now," was all that her mother said in response.  She walked
quickly, dragging the two girls behind her.

Serena and Reenie walked as best they could, being dragged along like
that.  Mrs. Tsukino stayed totally silent as they walked along, but her
mind was working furiously.  *This is not possible, this simply isn't
possible.  My daughter... Sailor Moon.  She had better have a good
explanation for this.  This is ridiculous; it simply isn't possible.
This must be a dream.  Serena `cannot' be Sailor Moon!*

"Excuse me," a paramedic came up to them, breaking into her thoughts,
"Did you just experience a sudden loss of energy?" he asked politely.
"If so, you three really need to come to the hospital to get checked
over."

"Maybe that would be a good idea, Mom," Serena agreed.  "You do look a
little shaky."

Mrs. Tsukino turned to the paramedic.  "That's all right. I'm just a
little tired, and my daughter and niece were able to escape without
getting drained. However, I don't think I need to go to the hospital.
You need the room for those that got hurt by the glass, and I would
really like to get my family home."

The paramedic nodded.  They really did need the room for those people
who had been hurt.  Policy said that people who had been drained of
energy like that were supposed to come in to be checked over, but
experience had shown that no ill effects occurred if the energy was
given back.  Besides, there was nothing they could do anyway.

"All right ma'am, but if you start feeling any ill effects, you come in
immediately, okay?"  With that, he walked over to talk to others who had
been victims of the attack.

The three left the mall and started walking home, Mrs. Tsukino not
letting go of the two girls.  Suddenly Serena stumbled.  She hissed in
pain as her wounded shoulder was jarred.  With her transformation back
to Serena, the bandage had disappeared.  Although the wound had healed
far more quickly than a normal person's would have in an equivalent
amount of time, it was easily opened and still extremely sensitive.
Tears came into her eyes from the pain and she tried to reach for the
injured shoulder.  Her mother felt her trying to pull away and turned to
see her crying.  Since she wasn't aware of what had happened during the
fight, she drew the wrong conclusion.

"Serena!" she practically shouted.  "Don't try it.  Your wailing is not
going to put off this talk, so you might as well not even try," she
said, taking Serena by the shoulders and shaking her hard.  "You are
going to tell me what is going on!"

Serena screamed and collapsed crying.  Her mother looked at her, not
understanding why she was carrying on that way, but suddenly becoming a
concerned mother instead of an angry one.  "Serena, what's the matter?"
she asked gently.

Mrs. Tsukino gently peeled her hands off of the shoulder she was
clutching.   She cried out at the sight of the bloodstained shirt.  She
raised her hands to her mouth in disbelief, only then noticing the blood
coating one of her hands.  "What happened?  Oh my god, you're bleeding!
What did I do?!  We've got to get you to the hospital!" Reenie, standing
next to Serena, noticed as well and was worried.

"I'll be alright," Serena said weakly.  "I just need to get it
rebandaged." Tears of pain were still pouring from her eyes, but she
grinned slightly to try to reassure both her mother and daughter.

Reenie was not reassured, she was scared.  She turned to Serena's
mother.  "If you hadn't grabbed her like that, this wouldn't have
happened!" she shouted.

Mrs. Tsukino's guilty eyes took in her daughter's pain ravaged features
and realized it was true.  She also realized that something had to be
done.  "We have to get you to the hospital.  You need to have that
looked at," she insisted.

"No!  They'll ask too many questions.  I'll be fine, I just need to get
it rebandaged, that's all."  Serena's voice was firm.  "We're near
Travis' house, we can fix it there."  She tried to force herself to her
feet and failed.

Reenie reached for Serena's wrist and opened the communicator.
"Travis," she called.

"Yes," he answered, "why are you using the communicator, Reenie?"

"Serena's hurt her shoulder again, she's losing a lot of blood, but says
she won't go to the hospital. Your house is close, are you there and can
you send your Uncle Jake to come get us?"

"I'm here, but Uncle Jake isn't.  Where are you?"

After Reenie gave him their location, he signed off. Reenie tried to
help Serena to her feet, but didn't have the strength. She turned to
Mrs. Tsukino again, "Well?  Are you going to help or just stand there
like a lump?"

"Reenie!" Serena's voice was sharp.  "Don't talk to her like that!"

"I'm sorry, Auntie Ellen," Reenie said contritely.  "I didn't mean
that."

Mrs. Tsukino nodded as she helped Serena to her feet.  The wound had
stopped bleeding, but she was still shaky.  "Apology accepted, Reenie,
it was my fault, I should have realized something was wrong."

"Don't you start," Serena said tiredly.  "It wasn't your fault, you
didn't know that my shoulder was hurt.  I almost forgot it myself, until
that bump jarred it."

"I should have realized something was wrong. I'm your mother, that's my
job."

Serena laughed slightly, glad that her mother seemed to be getting her
sense of humor back after the number of shocks she had been given.  Of
course, the shocks weren't over yet.  As the three walked towards
Travis' house, Mrs. Tsukino and Reenie supporting Serena, they heard
hoofbeats.

Travis came galloping up on the horse, named Sunrise, he had received
for his birthday.  He pulled Sunrise to a stop and swung down.  He was
extremely surprised to see Serena's mother with them.  Even though he
knew she had been with them at the mall, he thought she'd gone to the
hospital or wasn't coming back with them for some reason.  Otherwise,
how could Reenie have used the communicator to call him?

He ignored his questions as he saw Serena's bloody shoulder.  "I'm
taking her to my house, join us there," he said as he swung back up and
helped her to a seat in front of him.

He set Sunrise into a gentle canter, trying not to bounce her too much.
"What happened?" he asked quietly.

"Oh, you mean besides the fact that Mom saw me and Reenie transform and
I promised to tell her all about it?" Serena admitted.

Travis drew in his breath.  "Oh, this is good," he muttered
sarcastically.  "But what happened to your shoulder?  I thought Amy
bandaged it."

"No, `Sailor Mercury' bandaged it.  It didn't stay after I transformed
back.  Most wounds would have been almost healed by now.  This was just
a little worse than usual, and it didn't have time to heal.  Staying as
Sailor Moon would have increased the healing, but was kind of out of the
question."  Serena leaned back against her brother's chest and rode
silently the rest of the way.

They got to Travis' house and dismounted, Travis helping Serena down.
He took the saddle and bridle off of Sunrise, promising to come rub her
down in just a little while.

"You said you heal faster as Sailor Moon?" Travis asked as they went
inside, Serena having regained the strength the sudden pain had taken
from her.

"Yes, didn't you notice?  That twisted ankle you got should have taken a
lot longer to heal, as should my broken ribs.  We heal faster than
normal, and being in our Sailor forms makes it faster still," Serena
told him as he went for the first aid supplies.

"So transform," Travis said as he came back in.

"But Mom's coming," Serena said in shock.

"Well, you said she already knew.  I don't think she would want you
delaying your healing because of her."

"But... but..." Serena said, still trying to come to terms with that
thought.

"It might even help you explain," Travis continued.  "How much are you
going to tell her?"

"I guess all of it," Serena said.

"Good, then meeting her transformed won't make any difference except to
your healing.  Transform now!" Travis commanded.

"Hey, who are you to be commanding me?" Serena asked in a huff even as
she held her locket up into the air.  "MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"


When Mrs. Tsukino and Reenie walked in, they were surprised to see
Sailor Moon sitting on the couch.

"Why are you transformed?" Reenie asked.

"I heal faster this way, and I thought Mom might want a closer look,"
Sailor Moon answered.

"You mean `I' thought," Travis put in.

Sailor Moon stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to her
mother.  "Hi Mom," she said, getting up, "I'm sure you have a lot of
questions."

Mrs. Tsukino had stopped for a moment in complete surprise, and now
walked forward.  She walked around Sailor Moon staring at her like she
was a laboratory specimen.  Still surprised, she asked the first thing
that came into her head.  "Why is your skirt so short?"

Sailor Moon opened her mouth and closed it again as Travis and Reenie
burst out laughing.  That wasn't exactly the question she had expected
to be asked.  Serena started to smile as well as she shook her head.  "I
don't know, Mom, I've never asked.  I don't think we get much of a
choice in the matter."

"So all the Scouts have to wear those short skirts?" Mrs. Tsukino asked.
She shook her head at herself for only being able to think up these
inane questions.  Sailor Moon seemed to think the question was hilarious
though.  As Mrs. Tsukino heard Sailor Moon's laughter, that was so
familiar from when she was reading comics, her heart started to believe
what her mind had seen.  This `was' her daughter.

"What's so funny?" Travis asked as Sailor Moon continued to laugh.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just that when she said that I got a picture
of `all' the Scouts wearing these short skirts.  Sailor Sol and Sailor
Earth looked so funny!" Serena said in between laughs.

Reenie started laughing as well.  Travis, with a disgusted expression on
his face, threw a nearby pillow at them.

"That's something I don't ever want to see," he said with a shudder.  "I
don't see how you can think it's funny."

"I don't understand," Mrs. Tsukino said in confusion, "Who are Sailor
Sol and Sailor Earth and why would they look funny in skirts?"

Sailor Moon had fallen onto her back laughing, though still being
careful of her rapidly healing shoulder.  Travis just looked back at her
with a disgusted expression.  Reenie tried to get enough control of
herself to talk, since no one else was answering the question.  "Travis
is Sailor Sol, and Darien is Sailor Earth," she chuckled.  "Can't you
just imagine Daddy's face if that ever happened?"

Travis reluctantly chuckled, and Mrs. Tsukino suddenly got a vision of
the restrained Darien dressed in a copy of her daughter's costume and
tried hard to keep her own giggles under control.

Eventually the laughter died down, and Mrs. Tsukino found herself
looking at a sobering Sailor Moon.  This time, the shock had worn off
enough that she was able to ask more relevant questions.  "How? Why?"
she asked.

"Destiny, I guess," Sailor Moon answered.  "It's my fate."  She looked
away and said too quietly to be heard, "Or so I've been told."

"Well, that's not exactly true," Travis put in.  The others looked up in
surprise.  "It's not really your destiny to be Sailor Moon, there wasn't
supposed to ever be a Sailor Moon.  There should never have been a
need."

"But there was, and there is," Sailor Moon answered.  "Besides, weren't
you the one that was telling me how much fun the fighting is?"

"That was before I saw your shoulder," Travis said soberly.  "You
shouldn't be in danger like that, it shouldn't be necessary.  We're
supposed to protect you."

"What's all this `we' stuff?  Sailor Sol was never one of my guards,
actually there shouldn't have been one of those either."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!  One of your guards?  What do you mean?"
the confused Ellen Tsukino asked.

"Well, you see," Sailor Moon began.  "One thousand years ago..."

"There's a better way," Travis replied, before she could say anything
more.  "Come on, it'll go better with visual aids."

He led the way out of the living room towards the dining room.  He stood
there for a long moment staring at the long row of pictures they had
both received for their birthday.

"A thousand years ago, these places existed," he said almost sharply.

"We were born there," Sailor Moon said, staring almost misty eyed at the
picture of the Moon Kingdom.

"EXCUSE ME?!" Mrs. Tsukino asked in shock.

"Just listen, please?" Serena asked gently.  She began, "A thousand
years ago, the Silver Millennium stretched from Mercury to Pluto, and
beyond.  All of the Solar System was a part of it.  All except Earth and
the Sun.  The Moon Kingdom," she said, pointing to a picture of it, "was
the center, the heart of the Silver Millennium, and Queen Serenity ruled
wisely over all the planets.  To help keep the peace, she married the
King of the Sun and had two children.  Twins."  This time she pointed to
the pictures of Princess Serenity and Prince Tranquillity.

Travis took over, "They were raised to take over their respective
kingdoms, and rarely were able to see each other, but that didn't stop
them from becoming close."

"Princess Serenity was in love with the Prince of Earth, Endymion,"
Sailor Moon continued, "They had planned on getting married.
Unfortunately, before they could, the Moon Kingdom was attacked by Queen
Beryl and an army of brainwashed soldiers of Earth.  The Sailor Scouts
were the bodyguards of the Princess of the Moon, and they fought as hard
as they could, as did Prince Endymion and Prince Tranquillity, but one
by one they fell.  When Prince Endymion died, Princess Serenity threw
herself after him and died as well.  Her mother, Queen Serenity, could
not stand to see both of her children die.  She used the last of her
strength to collect the souls of the people who had died and send them
to be reborn on Earth," Sailor Moon's voice trailed off as she stared up
at the paintings that brought back such memories.

"None of those who were reborn had any memory of their previous life,"
Travis continued.  "Queen Serenity wanted them to be happy, and hoped
there would be no danger once they were reborn.  But just in case, she
sent guardians who could wake their Sailor powers, in case they were
needed.  Their job, to find the Moon Princess, and defend the Earth."

"But... but..." Mrs. Tsukino started, "But you said that the Scouts were
Serena's guards!"

"They are," Travis answered gently.

"Does that mean...?" she couldn't finish the question.

"Yes, Mom, I am the Princess of the Moon," Sailor Moon said gently.

Mrs. Tsukino shook her head.  "I don't believe this, this can't be true.
My daughter can't be some princess!  She's just Serena, just my clumsy,
whiny, loving Serena..." her voice trailed off as she looked down.

In a flash of light, Serena stood there.  She walked forward and
enveloped her mother in a hug, ignoring the slight twinge in her
shoulder.  "Mother," she said gently, "there's no difference between
your knowing about Sarah Aton, or Queen Serenity.  There's no difference
in me knowing it either.  This is the same thing.  I am still your
daughter and I always will be, remember?  Remember?" she asked more
intensely.

"But it `is' different!  How can you be really happy here, with us, if
you remember being a princess and living in a castle?"

"But I don't," Serena answered gently.  "I don't remember that.  Queen
Serenity knew we couldn't be really happy with our memories intact, so
we don't have them.  Oh, I have some memories, my first and last
meetings with Endymion especially. I have some memories of growing up
with Tranquillity and his first meeting with Endymion.  The only other
memory I have is the last battle, and we were actually shown that, we
don't have memories of it."

Mrs. Tsukino still looked unconvinced.

Serena sighed.  "You know, when we were shown the destruction of the
Moon Kingdom, I had no idea I had a brother.  When Queen Serenity cried
out as Princess Serenity died, she screamed, `No!  She's taken both of
them!'  I thought she meant that Queen Beryl had killed both Princess
Serenity and Prince Endymion.  After all, as her daughter's fiancee, he
was almost a son.  It never even occurred to me that she was mourning
the death of her real son who had died several minutes before.  Because
I had no clue that I even had a brother, in either life."

"Still..." she said in response.

"Mom!  Will you stop?  I love you.  You're my mother!  It didn't make
any difference when I found out about the Atons, why should it make any
difference about Queen Serenity?  I couldn't have a better family if
Queen Serenity herself had picked you out for me!  Well, actually," she
mused in an aside, "I could probably have done without the bratty little
brother."

Mrs. Tsukino let out a startled laugh at that.  She shook her head.  "I
don't understand any of this, but if this Queen Serenity did pick us out
to be your family, I'm very glad she did.  I love you too, Serena, it's
just going to take a little getting used to."

"If you think that way, how do you think I felt?  I just wanted to be a
normal teenager. I didn't want to have to save the world from evil.  I
whined, I cried, and I complained.  I didn't want to do it.  Let Sailor
V or someone else take care of it. I was only a fourteen year old girl!"

"Nice to see some things haven't changed," Travis and Reenie said in one
voice.  They grinned at each other as Mrs. Tsukino laughed and Serena
looked for something to throw.

"If you didn't want to, why did you?" her mother asked next.

"There was no one else.  Not at that time.  And Molly was in danger.  I
had to save her.  Of course, Tuxedo Mask came to save me.  He always
does.  He's so dreamy," she sighed.

"I thought you liked Darien, and he's Sailor Earth, right?  And who's
this Endymion?"

"They're all the same.  Darien was Endymion, and because he's Prince of
Earth, he's Sailor Earth as well.  Tuxedo Mask... actually I'm not sure
where that one came from, but he always knows when I'm in danger and is
there to help."  She sighed again, "He's so sweet when he comes to my
rescue like that."

"With speeches that are even worse than yours, if that's possible,"
Travis added.

"Just because you prefer to attack without giving any warning is no
reason why we should," Serena said, turning towards him.

"Because it's smarter!  When you give a speech you give them time to
attack or brace themselves.  You should just attack and get it over
with," Travis continued, in the tones of an old and well used argument.

"Excuse me, could you continue that later?" Mrs. Tsukino broke in before
the argument could really get started.  "Okay, that's why you became
Sailor Moon, but why did you stay?"

"My friends.  They needed me."  Serena shrugged as if it was an obvious
answer.

Mrs. Tsukino looked as if she'd been stuck by a revelation.  "Your
friends... they're the Sailor Scouts aren't they?" she stopped.  "Quiet
little Amy is a Sailor Scout?"

"Sailor Mercury is anything but quiet or little when it comes down to
it.  She's the one that tries calming us down when we're about to rush
into something, and she's always there when we need her in a fight,
especially if we need to find the weakness of some particular youma."

"Of course, the blue hair," Mrs. Tsukino said to herself.  "That would
mean that Raye is Sailor Mars, right?  And Lita is Sailor Jupiter, Mina
is Sailor Venus, but what about that female Sailor Sun I heard about? Is
that Molly?" she asked the others.

"Molly?!  I `don't' think so.  No, Sailor Sun was me," Serena said.
"After all I'm Princess of the Sun as well so I could become a Solar
Sailor.  I just needed Travis to duo with me, because he activates the
power."  She looked at her mother's blank expression.  "I don't
understand it either," she laughed, "but if there are two people of the
same blood, they can duo to become two of that kind of Sailor."

"Of the same blood?" Mrs. Tsukino asked.  "But she...?" she turned
towards Reenie.  "She duod with you, is she another sister from the Moon
Kingdom or something?" She turned back toward Serena.  "Who is she?"

"She's exactly who she said she was," Serena answered, grinning madly.
"You know, when she came in... She was telling the truth." Reenie was
beaming a huge smile at her.

"You mean...?"

"Hi, Grandma!" Reenie cried, going up to her and trying to give her a
hug.  She failed, for that shock on top of the others was too much for
the woman.  She fainted.

"Mom?!" Serena cried out, rushing to try to catch her as she fell.  She
managed it, but only by skidding and landing under her.  "Mom?" she
cried again, trying to wake her up.

Travis and Reenie rushed forward.  "I didn't mean to!" Reenie cried, a
tear sliding down her cheek.  "What did I do?!  Why is she unconscious?"

Serena was even less coherent.  "It must be an aftereffect of the youma
attack. We've got to get her to the hospital. Or maybe Moon Healing will
work. No, the hospital. Oh, why didn't I know something was wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong Serena, and Reenie it's not your fault," Travis
explained, trying to calm the two girls who were quickly heading for
hysterics.  "She's just had too many shocks in a short period of time
and her brain short-circuited."

Serena did the only thing she could think of to do.  Not that thinking
had much to do with it.  She, too, had had a number of shocks lately,
and, added together, they caused her to do something she had not done in
several weeks.  "WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I've short-circuited my mother's brain!
What if she can't get it working right again?!"

Travis and Reenie covered their ears as her wail hit full decibel range.
The sound of it was enough to pull her mother out of her faint.
"Serena! What's the matter now?!" the mother said even before she was
fully conscious.

The wail broke off.  "Mom, you're alright!!  I thought I had
short-circuited your brain, and you would be a vegetable or something."

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Mrs. Tsukino asked.

"He did!" Serena exclaimed, pointing at Travis.  "He said all the shocks
had short-circuited your brain, and that's why you fainted."

That reminded her and she turned to look at the little pink haired girl
who had called her Grandma.

"I'm sorry," she said contritely, a tear leaking down the side of her
face.  "I didn't mean to shock you like that."

Mrs. Tsukino reached out and pulled the little girl into a hug.  "It's
all right, Reenie, I know you didn't mean to."  She looked up at her
daughter.  "How?  Was she your daughter in the Moon Kingdom?"  Her voice
got stern, "Though you did say you weren't married.  I know that my
fifteen year old daughter does not really have a seven year old
daughter.  I don't think you could have gotten that past me and your
father."

"No, Reenie's from the future, a time traveler," Serena explained.  "She
came here about three months ago and that's when we found out about
her."

"So you lied," Mrs. Tsukino said in a sad and disappointed tone.

"I didn't lie!  I just didn't tell the whole truth!" Serena said
vehemently.  "Everything I said was true.  If you look at it the right
way.  I mean, she did stay with family last time, she stayed with us."

"Us?  What do you mean she stayed with us?  I don't remember her staying
with us!" Ellen Tsukino exclaimed.

"That's because she had Luna Ball, and it hypnotized you," Serena said
unconcernedly.

"Hypnotized us?  And you let her?"

"Well, not originally, but you wouldn't believe me when I said we didn't
have a cousin named Reenie.  You just showed me all these pictures of
the two of us together.  For a while, I thought I was losing my mind.  I
was pretty sure she was from the Negaverse until the Weird Sisters
started coming after her."  Serena smiled at the little girl who smiled
back.  She snuggled deeper into her grandmother's embrace and sighed.
She'd never had a grandmother before, and she was suddenly glad Mrs.
Tsukino had seen them transform.

"So this time you decided to tell us part of the truth instead of
hypnotizing us?" Mrs. Tsukino asked.

"No," Serena answered, being brutally truthful, "I would have much
preferred that she was able to hypnotize you again, unfortunately Luna
Ball isn't here to do the job."

"You would have preferred us to be hypnotized?" she asked in shock.
"Why?"

"Because it's safer.  We could have hypnotized you so that you wouldn't
remember seeing us transform.  The more people that know, the more
likely it is that it will get out.  Our identities have to be a secret.
If they knew who we were, they could go after our families.  I mean, if
Sammy knew, do you really think he could keep it a secret?  He'd tell
the world, you know that."

"Well, that is true, but you could have told your father and me, we can
keep secrets, you know."  Mrs. Tsukino sounded exasperated instead of
wounded that her daughter didn't tell her.

"Not from Sammy you can't!  He can listen to conversations in pretty
much any room in the house.  If he thought you were talking about
something interesting, he'd find a way to overhear.  I did the same
thing at his age."  She grinned slightly, "I still do occasionally," she
finished in a whisper too low for her mother to hear.

"Well, your father will be happy to know that those times you sneaked
out of the house in the middle of the night weren't to meet some boy,"
Mrs. Tsukino said, smiling.

"No," Serena yelped, "you can't tell him!  He'd go ballistic!  He'd
probably rant about it to the whole neighborhood.  Please, don't tell
him!  Please, please!  If somebody found out about it before he calmed
down, you could all be in danger, especially Sammy!  I can't take that
kind of chance, please Mom.  Please don't tell him."

"Serena, don't you think you're overreacting a bit?  Your father is not
that rabid on anything except your boyfriends," her mother remonstrated.

"Oh, yeah, like he's not going to go wild at the fact that I've been out
risking my life for the past year and more.  Or that I have a daughter
with that boy he doesn't much like.  You honestly think he won't?"

"Well, perhaps a little.  I'm barely stopping myself from going wild
myself.  I'm also trying to decide whether I should hug you and be proud
of you, or strangle you for putting yourself in danger like that and not
telling us!"  Her voice was almost a shout by the end of that, before
she got herself under control again.

Serena seemed to be thinking for a long moment.  "I'd prefer the hug,"
she said in a small voice.

"Oh, Serena," her mother said, as she got up and gathered her into a
hug.

"So, are you going to tell Dad?" Serena asked apprehensively.

"I don't know, dear, I just don't know.  Look, why don't you introduce
me to your friends, really introduce me I mean, and I'll decide later."

Serena thought about it.  "I suppose that would be okay."  She suddenly
grinned, "It's not as if we don't have enough things to shock them with
at the meeting today."

"I hope you don't have anymore shocks for me," Mrs. Tsukino said
humorously, "I think I've had all I can stand for one day."

Serena, Travis, and Reenie exchanged glances.  "No more shocks, okay, I
think we can handle that."

"I don't like that look, what aren't you telling me?" Mrs. Tsukino asked
suspiciously.

"You don't want anymore shocks, remember?" Serena asked mischievously.

"Hey, Grandma," Reenie broke in. "Are we going to buy me some new
clothes today?"

"The meeting's at two," Travis added, "You still have time to do some
shopping."

"Come on, Mom, let's go," Serena grabbed her hand and started leading
her out of the house.

"But I want to know what other shocks you have," Ellen Tsukino said,
trying to stop.

"Please, Grandma?  I really need some more clothes," Reenie said,
grabbing her other hand.

"But... but..." Mrs. Tsukino tried to complain.

"See you at two, Travis," Serena called back over her shoulder.

"Come on, Grandma, let's go!" Reenie said, still pulling.

"Reenie, I don't think it would be a good idea to call me Grandma in
public," Mrs. Tsukino said, reluctantly giving in.

"Oh, I know, you're Auntie Ellen, and she's my whiny cousin that I fight
with all the time."  She looked up at her grandmother.  "I'm not a
little kid, I can keep a secret."

"Yeah, like yelling out that I was your mother was keeping a secret,"
Serena put in, grinning.

"Okay, so maybe I forget once in a while," Reenie said, looking downcast
until Serena threatened to tickle her.

Mrs. Tsukino just went along for the ride, still trying to digest what
she had learned, her mind whirling furiously.  *Should I tell Ken?  I
can't keep this a secret from him! I don't keep secrets this important
from him! Our marriage is built on trust. But she seems so sure that it
would be dangerous. I can't put Sammy and Ken in danger if she's right.*


Ten minutes after two, the three generations of Tsukino's ran up the
stairs to the Cherry Hill Temple. Serena was in the lead.  "I can't
believe we're going to be late! Raye's going to be so annoyed."

"Especially since she's going to be so curious about why this meeting
was called and why I'm here," Reenie grinned as she ran a step or two
behind her mother.

Her grandmother came last. She had thought shopping with Serena was
exhausting, even for her and she loved shopping as much as her daughter.
But Reenie could put them both to shame, wanting everything to be
perfect and not satisfied with anything less.  She was completely
exhausted and both Serena and Reenie had refused to speak anymore about
what had happened that morning.

"Where have you been?!" Raye practically screamed as she saw Serena run
up the steps.  "You're the one that called this Scout meeting. The least
you could do is be on time!  You're the leader of the Sailor Scouts,
you're supposed to act like it..." her voice trailed off in horror as
she saw Serena's mother come puffing up the steps.  "Heh, heh," she
laughed uneasily.  "I was just fooling about that Sailor Scout stuff,
Mrs. Tsukino."

"Mom, may I introduce the Warrior of Fire and Soul, Sailor Mars," Serena
announced grandly.  Everyone except Reenie, Travis, and Mrs. Tsukino was
gaping at her in complete and utter disbelief.

"The Warrior with the Strength of Thunder and Lightning, Sailor
Jupiter," she continued pointing at a completely flabbergasted Lita.

"The Warrior of Wisdom from the Planet of Ice, Sailor Mercury," pointing
at a blushing Amy.

"Can the speeches, Sis," Travis said in an annoyed tone. "That's Venus
and Earth," he finished for her, pointing to Mina and Darien and
suddenly having everyone staring at `him' as if he'd lost his mind.

Serena disagreed with his phrasing of the introductions.  "That's the
Warrior of Love and Beauty, Sailor Venus, and the Protector of Earth 
and of the Moon Princess, Sailor Earth and Tuxedo Mask."  She looked
around at the shocked expressions everyone wore and burst into laughter.

"She saw us transform this morning," Reenie explained, "So we told her
pretty much everything.  I didn't know half of that stuff," she said in
an aside to herself.

"Reenie!" Raye exclaimed, glad to find something to take her mind off of
the shocks she'd just been handed, "What are you doing here?  Is the
future in danger again?"

"Big time," Reenie agreed, "In fact, the future's..."

"Papa!" a high voice suddenly called out.  From where she had been
hidden at her mother's side, Diana flew towards the white cat just
coming up the steps.

Mrs. Tsukino stared with her mouth wide open.  "Did that cat just...?"
she almost asked.

"Diana?" Artemis asked in disbelief, as the kitten curled around him
purring mightily.  "Hey kiddo, whacha doin' here?"

"Is this the shock you didn't want to give me?" Mrs. Tsukino asked as
she sank weakly to the temple steps.

"Um, yeah, Luna, Artemis, Diana, and Apollo are the guardians I told you
about. Luna's the one that woke my powers as Sailor Moon. Diana is
Artemis' and Luna's daughter from the future, just like Reenie is mine."

Mrs. Tsukino stared at the talking cats, which now included Luna.
*Talking cats? My daughter has a talking cat! Ken would never believe
this even if I told him.* It was only then that she realized she had
made up her mind. If Serena was right, telling Ken would only put her
family in danger and she was `not' going to put her family in danger if
she could help it. She suddenly realized that when it came to this...
situation of her daughter's, she trusted Serena to do what was right.
She had raised her daughter well. Her heart swelled with pride as she
allowed herself to fully realize all the ramifications. `Her' daughter
was Sailor Moon! `Her' daughter protected the world from danger. `Her'
daughter was growing up.

She looked up at her daughter.  "I won't tell your father, not yet
anyway. It's your secret, and I don't have the right. You're old enough
to know what's best, I suppose, especially for something like this that
I have no experience at. I do think you should tell him eventually, but
I won't force you to or tell him myself. Alright? Not that he'd believe
me anyways," she finished to herself as she continued to stare at the
cats and the falcon that Travis was talking to off to one side.

"Thanks, Mom, you're the best," Serena hugged her tight for a long
moment, a little surprised at her giving in, but very thankful for it,
before the other Scouts came up to her.

"WHAT IS GOING ON!?"


Meanwhile, in the Negaverse...

"Did you hear, Emperor?" Quartz said, walking up behind the man on the
balcony.  "Spaghetti's plan failed and he didn't get a single bit of
energy," her voice was gloating as she reported.

"I know," Rhyolite said as he turned around.  "Now, he's going to be
more dangerous, as he gets madder."  He suddenly realized what she had
said.  "Spaghetti? Is that your newest name for him?"

"Not just mine, most of the troops are calling him that now.  He doesn't
like it," Quartz grinned.  "I don't see how the troops learned of a
long, thin Earth noodle by that name, but they obviously thought it
fit."

"Oh, he's got to be furious," Rhyolite grinned.

"Do you think he'll try another assassination attempt?" she asked in a
worried tone.

"Probably, but we'll handle it, we always do," he grinned back at her.
"How's the intelligence probe going?"

"Quite well, soon we'll know enough about the people of Earth to take
them down, if we really have to," Quartz answered.  "I just hope this
plan with Spessarite makes it unnecessary."

"Speaking of Spessarite," the Emperor said as a commotion made itself
heard at the door.

"I'm going to go hide, you know how I hate talking to him," Quartz said
as she headed for the curtained archway to one side of the room.

"Ah, Spessarite, I was wondering when you'd come," the Emperor said as
the door crashed open and as an extremely tall, thin, but still human
looking man with red-brown hair walked through the door. He was followed
by several of his lackeys, including a young captain with blood red
hair.

"Emperor Rhyolite, I regretfully report that the first bid for energy
was unsuccessful," Spessarite said, with no trace of regret in his
voice.

"I would suggest not taking that tone, Spessarite. I could have you
killed for failing," Rhyolite responded in a hard tone, no trace of the
softness that had been present when talking to his daughter still there.

"But you won't," Spessarite replied, "You want the Sailor Scouts to do
your job for you.  What?" he asked at Rhyolite's blank face, "You think
I didn't know about your wish that they kill me?  If you didn't want me
to know, you shouldn't have talked about it where my spies could
overhear you talking with your... daughter."

Suddenly sounds came from the curtain where Quartz had gone.  Rhyolite
whipped around to stare as Quartz came barreling out, quickly followed
by a pair of youmas.  Quartz held a knife in one hand and threw her open
hand at one of the youmas.  Shards of crystal exploded towards the
youma, embedding in its head and chest.  It squealed in pain and backed
off as Quartz felt herself caught from behind, by several of the arms of
the other youma.  She tried bringing her knife up to slice at it, but
another arm caught that as well, and tore it from her grasp, moving it
up towards her throat.

During this time, Emperor Rhyolite had exploded into action.  Several
youmas had already died by his sword, and the smart ones were staying
out of his way, trying to hit him with energy beams.

"No!" Spessarite barked.  "I need them both alive!  Throw down your
weapons, Rhyolite, and surrender, or your daughter dies!"

Rhyolite turned to look over at his daughter, and as he watched, the
youma started to draw his knife across her neck, leaving a thin trail of
blood.  She didn't dare move, knowing that a move of her head would
drive the knife in deeper.  Instead, she stood still, and threw a
telepathic warning to the head of intelligence on Earth.

Rhyolite slowly lowered his sword, and stood still as another youma
moved behind him and held a knife to his throat.

"Loyalty and honor, such useful concepts, don't you think?  As well as
that really silly one called love," Spessarite gloated.  "Neither of you
will dare do a thing that I don't say, because the other one will get
hurt or die if you do."

"Do you really think the other Generals will let you take the throne,
Spessarite?" Rhyolite asked contemptuously.  "They'd fight you horn and
claw if you tried."

"But I'm not going to try," Spessarite smiled toothily.  "You're still
going to be Emperor, you'll just be Emperor knowing that if you do a
single thing I don't want you to, this little girl will be hurt, very,
very badly."  He smiled and walked over to Quartz.

She spit at him as he came close enough, and his smile turned into a
scowl of rage as he slapped her hard.  Rhyolite roared and leapt for his
sword, ignoring the wound on his neck as he jerked free of the youma
holding him.  Spessarite grabbed the knife and pushed it into Quartz's
breastbone.  "She'll die, if you try it," he growled.  Rhyolite put down
the sword and allowed himself to be held again as Spessarite nodded to
another youma, who rushed forward and slammed several punches into the
Emperor's stomach.

"Whatever one of you does, the other pays for," he said, smiling once
more at the girl in front of him who was staring in horror at her
father.  "Now, you `will' answer my questions or your father will get
more of the same.  You said that you had a plan to take down the Sailor
Scouts.  I will hear it."  When she refused to speak, he nodded to the
youma again.  "Continue."  The youma moved towards the Emperor, who was
still bent over in pain from the last time.

"No!  Wait!  I'll tell you!" Quartz cried.  "I'll tell you how to get
rid of the Scouts."

---------------------
To be continued, to be continued, always and forever to be continued.
Doesn't it seem that way sometimes?  This chapter is dedicated to those
who wrote and told me that when I said Darien was Sailor Earth, they
got a picture of him in a fuku.  I couldn't resist.