"Rei-chan! Rei-chan! It's no use, minna. She's out for good." I turned around and sat on the edge of her bed. Rei continued to sleep peacefully, despite the shaking and yelling and thumping which we had all inflicted upon her.

"Any recommendations?" inquired Mamoru, glancing from Ami to Michiru to Haruka.

"Perhaps, if one of us fell back asleep?" hazarded Ami. "Maybe they would be able to wake them up from within the dream. After all, the dream is now their reality."

Chibi-Usa waved her hand. "I'll do it," she said jovially.

"Wait just a minute," said Usagi severely. "I don't think you were in my dream at all."

"You wouldn't have been," I agreed. "This happened several thousand years before you were born! By the way, what were you dreaming about?"

"I was in Crystal Tokyo, with my Mommy and Daddy. We were walking by the ocean, and they were telling me about sending me into the past to learn to fight from you guys." She smiled happily, hugging her Luna-P.

"Well, Chibi-Usa can't. I think she's too young for such a dangerous responsibility, and her dream doesn't fit, anyways. And we Outers can't do it, because we were off guarding the borders of the Solar System, not the actual Moon Palace itself. Otherwise, I'd volunteer," frowned Michiru.

"I will," said Usagi. "She's one of my personal guard. I have to save her."

"No," I said. "How about if the rest of you go off and try to track down the Minions and Lord Sagittarius and Lady Taurus. I'll take care of this."

"I'll stay by and monitor you, in case anything happens," promised Ami.

"No, Ami-chan. You can't do that," I argued gently. "You have to be with them, to freeze the Minions into solid form. You know they can't be defeated until that happens. After that, they're pretty easy to conquer, so you won't need me. We'll join you after I get them back to reality."

"All right," agreed Ami reluctantly.

"But is there any way they can stay in contact?" Mamoru inquired in concern. "I don't want to let her go back to sleep, have her forget her mission and lose her sense of reality, and then not be able to awaken her."

"If that happens, all you must do is destroy the Minion who shot us with the Horseshoe Nebula Reminiscing," I grinned bravely. "But until then, don't go to sleep yourselves."

***

I stretched out on the floor next to Rei's bed, with my head on some pillows which I'd snagged. She wouldn't mind, of course-- she was fast asleep and would probably stay that way until I could find some way to awaken her. I had been concerned that I would be unable to fall asleep quickly, but my eyes felt extremely sleepy as soon as I shut them. Perhaps that was another side effect of the Horseshoe Nebula Reminiscing, I thought with a yawn...

***

I felt the sun warm on my face, and I opened my eyes. Neflyte and I were standing in front of an open window in the Library of the Moon Palace.

"Where did Rei and Minako go?" I asked.

"I haven't seen them all day, Princess," he said. "Why do you ask?"

"I have to tell them something very important." I remembered how quickly my mind had become fuzzy the first time around; I found a piece of paper and wrote in large, bold letters: "This is a dream. Sagittarius and Taurus are making us sleep. I must remember to wake up. And I must wake up Rei and Minako. Usagi and Ami have already awakened. Haruka and Michiru and Hotaru will be angry if I don't succeed." I signed my name with a flourish: Makoto. "There," I said, waving the paper for the ink to dry. "That should take care of it."

Neflyte had a quizzical look on his face. "Exactly what do you mean by writing 'this is a dream'?"

"This isn't reality," I explained earnestly. "I must remember that. We have enemies who are trying to make us senshi fall asleep, never to reawaken, so they may take over the world."

Neflyte shook his head with a smile. "You're allowed your games, I suppose, Princess."

"You sound awfully condescending, Neflyte-san," I said coldly, tucking it away.

"Not at all, Princess," he replied. "After all, how many men can truly comprehend the workings of the minds of their beloved?"

"You have a point, I suppose," I grinned.

"If you say this is a dream, I suppose you have your own reason for believing it to be so. If that is the case, I believe it is such a delightful dream, I really don't wish to awaken any time soon." He kissed my hand, and we found a seat. I pillowed my head against his shoulded and sighed happily.

"I know exactly what you mean." I remembered so clearly. How could I have been such a fool to have destroyed Neflyte? I wondered. Granted, I hadn't regained my memory at that point in time, but perhaps the ginzuishou also had the power to heal, in addition to the power to destroy evil and bring back to life and return energy and all that. It was quite a powerful little rock...

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