"Wow...I can't believe this penthouse." Lita said as they exited the private elevator into the foyer of Erika's & Michelle's place.

"I knew they were well off, but I didn't know they were this rich." Rei said in wonder, as she fingered an ancient figurine on a delicate ivory table.

"Oh good you're here." Erika said, impeccably and dashingly attired in an exquisite, masculine brown suit that set off her golden hair. "Susannah was pretty mysterious--like that was a shocker-, so I'd like to know what's going on."

"You'll see." Susannah's voice glided a second before she did. "I decided to set this up in the conservatory..."

They followed her into the room, which had a wonderful view of the city lights, and surprisingly, the night sky and all the stars.. and of course the moon.

A large black grand piano occupied a good deal of the room, but the room was large enough for everyone to sit without feeling crowded. The Mysterious drawing was displayed on a golden easel. (Which ordinarily held whatever Michelle had painted last).

"Serena" Holly said, happily as she ran and hugged her. "It's great to see you again..."

"And you too! I should come over more often, shouldn't I?"

"I miss Reenie." Holly said simply.

"I do too..." She admitted. "Look, Rei brought you some new manga's (comic books)..."

"Cool! Michelle-Mama, can I skip this sailor stuff, and go read?"

"Of course dear, and it's not really sailor stuff...we're not sure what it is really. "

"Hol, did you finish cleaning your room though?" Erika asked, snatching away the magazines..

"Yes Erika-daddy. I did. Really. Please?" She pleaded.

Smiling Erika returned the magazines to the girl, just as the doorbell rang. Opening it, she ushered in Darien.

"Hey." She said. He returned the greeting. "They're in there."

"What's this about? " He said...looking around. He'd made money modeling, but even at the height of that he'd never seen a place as sweet as this. Damn, he thought, she's rich. They're rich he corrected...an unconventional family but one nonetheless.

"Haven't a clue. Susannah's not said a word, except that we needed to be around here, tonight."

Inside the living room the girls stared as Susannah and Ami carefully balanced the crystal on top of the mirror, and then Susannah raised her time wand over it all.."Everyone, just to be sure, hold hands so we're connected physically- as well as psychically--I"m going to lower the lights."

She did so, and everyone linked hands around the mirror and crystal...

"This is sheer improvisation--so hope it works."Ami cautioned.

"Excuse me, but what works? What are you up to?" Darien said sounding rather annoyed at the lack of explanations.

"Yes, do you mind filling us in on what's going on?" Erika said, tapping her foot.

"It's...about this" Ami said, pointing to the picture.

"Who are those guys?" they said simultaneously.

"Darien, your memory lapses are amazing." Rei said. "Well, I'll fill you both in. They are, we think, the first set of Nega-Creeps that we fought,"

Lita continued " and who kidnapped, attacked you,Darien, killed us (or sort of) in service of that majorly wicked Beryl. Sailor Moon destroyed Beryl, then rescued and revived us all... I thought you got your memories back, Darien."

"Apparently not all of them" he said sheepishly. "They look sort of familiar...gosh you guys look cozy."

" Is this some villain fantasy of yours? " Erika asked, surprised.

"NO..." the girls said.

"Lita, look, I know Andrew's not interested, but I do have other friends I could set you all up with..." Darien suggested.

Rei fumed silently, while Lita wondered not for the first time, how Serena put up with him, and Mina finally answered him. "It's not about that...somehow, Greg, a friend of Ami's with precognitive abilities sensed that we are connected through destiny to these men --that we can't love because we love them--that they complete us"

Serena finished the sentence "Like you complete me."

Darien was stunned..."Those costumes they have on--they remind me of my "Prince Endymion" attire...who drew this?"

"My...friend. He was greatly troubled by this drawing for some reason. I don't know how long he's had it though."

Darien nodded. "So all this is to try and find out what is going on?"

The girls nodded in unison. "We needed you to be here, because we need your memories of the silver millennium as well to figure out what this means."

"Why not just ask Susannah?" He said, snuggling closer to Serena on the buttery soft leather couch. He wished they were alone in here. He suppressed the thought under a glare from Susannah..

"Because you're not the only one who suffers from past life memory lapses." She folded her dress around her, as she looked at the table.

"Are we about ready?" She asked. Michelle and Serena nodded, as Serena ducked out of Darien's arms, and moved closer to stand next to the other two.

Serena, Michelle and Susanna all chanted at the same time, deeply concentrating.

"In the name of the Moon"

"On behalf of time:

"Invited by a new Age:

"Time * Truth * Love: Truth we seek for wisdom love will guide our way Time in which we travel Put our past life on display!"

A deep white light emitted from the crystal, joined by a sweep of time wind's indescribable essence, converging on the mirror, which began to spin and in their minds, everyone re-experienced their lives in the silver millennium.

Transfixed for but a few minutes, they watched until a sudden scream broke the transmission. Darien grabbed Serena as she slowly, exhausted collapsed to the ground. Erika gracefully sat down Michelle, and held some water for her to drink.

Unassisted, Sailor Pluto disassembled the display. She sat down as she turned to look at the other scouts. She transformed back.

They were numb. "Apparently, I must not have been there for much of the relevant time frame---I saw nothing that revealed to me your life and these people in the Silver Millennium" Susannah said.

Michelle and Erika nodded "It was the same for us..." Erika frowned "I'm going to take Michelle to lie down..." she picked the slighter girl up, and carried her down the hall. Darien placed Sailor moon on the couch, so she too could rest.

Susannah grimly closed the door behind her roommates. "Well...I'd like to know what you all saw."

"Betrayal." said Rei

"Destruction." said Lita

"Horror." said Ami

"Hatred." said Mina

"My mother's death....." whimpered Serena..."oh, Darien!"

The cats nodded..."The battle was terrible to relive like that ...maybe this wasn't a good idea."

"I'm sorry then." Susannah said. "I suppose you haven't answered the questions"

"No, we've only found more." Ami was puzzled as she stared at the picture. "I don't understand..."

"He said he loved me..." Mina whispered, her voice frail, as if she were choking on the words , sinking to the floor "How could he?"

"I wish he were alive so I could kill him this time!" Lita thundered, slamming one fist into the other, as she blinked to stop any tears.

Rei snarled as she moved to stare at the picture "I wish I didn't remember that I ever cared for that traitor!" Her voice was sounded colder than the winter frost on the mountains.

"Serena...my only love, " Darien whispered holding her... In response, Serena opened her eyes...The others averted their eyes as the couple embraced tenderly, their emotions overcoming their sympathy for what their friends experienced.

Artemis growled..."Now I know why I locked those memories away. .the end of the moon kingdom was a very dark time..."

"And yet...those first few memories..."Luna said "It was a wonderful age...The moon kingdom."

"Your visions of the past may be no clearer than my visions of the future...you may have misinterpreted things you saw" Susannah said gently, shocked at the vehemence in the girls voices, and the raw pain their eyes revealed. She had hoped this experiment would settle their minds, not unravel them. She wondered if she had been wise to allow this experiment. Was it worth knowing with greater clarity the events of their past lives, if that only brought pain to the present?.

"Perhaps they did not betray you." She continued, as she looked at the drawing's depiction of four very happy loving couples. How could bonds of such love be splintered?

Then again, if the Moon Kingdom could be destroyed...the thought trailed off in her head.

"If only we could tell if we did misjudge something..." Ami remarked "but that last battle--they were the ones that struck us down."

Artemis was lost in thought "I was the one who misjudged--I helped designed the Moon Kingdom Shields... but they were able to penetrate them..."

In a voice far gentler than normal, Luna soothingly argued back. "Artemis, you and Mercury both created those, and the shields were not breached--they were able to deactivate them temporarily."

Darien pushed a lock of hair away from Serena's eyes. "Probably the same as I did--Serena gave me something to allow me to enter the shields if I needed to do so."

A reddish glow appeared on the cheeks of Rei, Mina and Ami. Mina hung her head in shame. "I let my heart override my duty...had I not given him the crescent moon key, they would not have been able to attack."

Ami put her arm around Mina. "It wasn't your fault any more than Artemis' fault."

"I made the same mistake, Mina. I gave Jaedite a magic scroll that gave him entry."Rei said...but she couldn't stop herself from adding " But then, he was my fiancee."

Ami shot a sharp look at Rei. "Admit it! We all allowed our emotions to compromise our duties! We were used!"

Lita colored, and stepped forward at that. "Now wait a minute!" Her fist raised up. "Don't lump me in that group.. I didn't give Neflite anything but my heart...certainly not the key to the kingdom... what did you do Ami?"

She shook her head. "I discussed the specifics of the shield spell with Zoicyte...that may have been enough."

"Perhaps if we discuss what happened." Susannah said, gesturing for everyone to sit. "I'll make some tea."

Serena and Darien's eyes met....She moved away slightly from his embrace..."Don't blame yourselves... none of it would have happened if we hadn't fallen in love--" Her memories trickled back to the night she'd disobeyed her mother and snuck down to earth.

<>

"Serena! What are you doing here?" Endymion was shocked to find himself staring at her in the gardens. This time she had dressed as herself, though on her previous visits she'd disguised herself as Venus.

"I couldn't help it...I know there's a war down here, but what if I didn't get to see you again?" She said.... "Mother is too cautious...The Moon Kingdom Shields go up tonight-- and no one will be able to travel there from earth until my mother removes the Shield.....I don't know how long that will be...and.. .I was worried about you."

He laughed. "Love, the war isn't even in my country yet!"

She shook her head..."But I fear its coming here....Rei's been distracted for days by dark visions...oh... Endymion...I love you." She blushed, she hadn't meant to say the words, but they slipped out.

He felt a wave of energy sweep through him--more alive than he had ever been. "I love you too--forever. I will find away--I will marry no one but you, if you will take me!" He knelt, taking her hand in his.

"WOULD I!" She exclaimed.

He slipped off the Ring Beryl had given him. Throwing it down on the ground, he took her hand. "I wish I had something to give you, except this rose."

"I love roses..as long as they come with your love, I won't need more." She smiled. "But watch--" Slowly, she concentrated, and formed small rings of moon light--which floated onto their hands.. And after a second merged with their skin..."Our destinies are one now."

"They always were." He said as he kissed her.

"I must go..but, if you are attacked--or need to see me, this moonlight ring will let you in through the shields." They embraced, but were startled by the sounds of the bushes rustling.

Meanwhile, a shocked and horrified Luna concealed herself in the bushes...she'd followed her charge to earth, suspecting something was going on. She'd had no idea that the Princess had fallen in love with the Prince--Luna knew the Queen would be very displeased with her for not guarding the Princess better.

She considered how to break this inappropriate scene when another noise caught her ear...

A woman with long red hair which flamed out across her back gazed at the scene with pure venom in her eyes.... She took the Ring that had scattered into the trees, and smashed it with a bolt of energy, generating a flood of smoke..."What point is there to resist now? " She muttered. "All there is left is power...Mettallia was right-- love does not exist...I'll destroy him if he won't be mine---and the Moon Kingdom as well!" She vanished in a cloud of more black smoke.

Luna emerged from the bushes, a horrified expression on her face. "Serena what have you done?" She yelled (as far as a cat can), not caring if the departing figure of Prince Endymion heard.

"Luna--I don't care even if you were spying on me! I'm so happy" She smiled, her voice dancing "Come let's go back to the Moon Kingdom and plan a celebration!"

Luna shook her head..."Serena, I wasn't the only one to see...Beryl was here..."

"So? Don't ruin this night for me Luna.. She'd have found out eventually. He chose me over her!" Her voice was triumphant. "I feel sorry for her, but she'll find someone else....I'm sure she'll understand when she sees the way he loves me!"

Luna shook her head at her charge's innocence. "Princess Serena, I do not want to destroy your happiness...but You've invited war on your Kingdom by your actions tonight...You've ended the peace of a 1000 years with this love. I only hope he feels as strongly for you...We must return now..." She had a feeling it would be a long time before they returned to earth.

"After all her hair looks lighter in the picture."

"Come on, dat's him for sure...he wouldn't be in duh park with another girl, instead of his fiance (he pronounced it fiancee)"

" For once, you're probably right...It would have been easier in the trees, but it won't be impossible this way. The boss wants that girl for ransom... Brilliant move, right before her wedding. Okay, here's the plan. We'll row out there, pull a gun so only she can see it, and threaten to shoot unless she keeps quiet. "

"Won't someone see?" his friend asked, displaying more intelligence than usual. "Why don't we wait till they come back?"

"No--look, its deserted out there.. ..They can't run ..they'll be trapped...Its near sunset, so it'll be dark very soon. The police start filtering through the park at dusk...." He laughed, an unpleasant sound given his subject matter. "No, this works out in our favor... hey, we'll even shoot the guy for fun..." He pulled out his silencer. "And charge extra of course." They took off running for the boathouse. The sound of a motor was heard instantly.

Jed observed these two with shock. For a minute he couldn't think what to do--he only sat in stunned silence. Should he row out and meet Rei? No, he'd never get there in time...and these two men were armed. Could he yell? He wouldn't be heard across the pond --it was like a small lake. He had to warn Rei somehow..but how? Like a litany, his mind kept saying, "warn her warn her"

His adrenaline began to shoot through him...He felt different...a phrase leapt to his mind..."Earth Mineral Power!" He whispered it, throwing one hand to the sky, in a fist, and then bringing it down across his body. He found himself encased in a red golden glow, sweeping over him. His loose temple robes faded away and rich cloth of a fabric unlike any other surrounded him, leaving him in a uniform, double breasted, of a light jade/grey green. Quickly, Jaedite, a general of a long forgotten kingdom, leapt to action.

END OF CHAPTER

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