Venus shook her head, not knowing the answer to her princess’ answer. She had fallen before the end in Silver Millennium, and did not know of their enemies’ fate. She had hoped Queen Serenity had vanquished them once and for all, but evidently that was not the case.

“I think…” she began, trying to puzzle out the problem. Serenity was looking at her with such desire to find an answer that she felt compelled to provide one for her. “I think that’s the reason we’re here. Because they’re still alive. That’s why we still have our powers, too. Because we’re meant to punish them. Along with the rest of the earth. Finish what we could not before.”

She turned as Mercury said something about fire. Venus narrowed her eyes. The pillar of flame seemed to be coming from a bit far from here… but it didn’t look natural. It was worth checking out to say the least, if only to make sure it wasn’t the Dark Kingdom wreaking havoc either.

The princess seemed convinced it was Mars, and Venus put a hand on her shoulder. “We will go, and if it’s her, we will find her.” Then her gaze turned toward the brown-haired girl standing in their midst. “Jupiter, is that you?”

She was still untransformed, but Venus’ soul recognized hers faintly.

After starting her attack on the blonde disgrace, everything happened so fast, leaving her completely confused in the scenery.

So Serenity...had become a Senshi? Sailor Moon?

Just how was that possible? How was she, all of a sudden, able to transform? How could she be a Senshi when she had been unable to transform throughout their time in Silver Millennium? What had changed? What had happened?

Just what happened...

Recalling the memories of Silver Millennium, Makoto's confusion increased more and more as she thought about it, the furious girl having so many questions to ask and so many things to say.

Why was she alive? She died in Silver Millennium, didn't she? Earth attacked them, didn't they? And Nephrite...
Suddenly her throat went dry like a desert, all of her saliva gone and her muscles not able to do anything, but making her eyes widen. He had killed her.

Her eyes welled up with tears and the corners of her mouth moved downwards, the tall brunette trying to suppress her sadness, trying to swallow the pain.
She was always hurt when she thought about her life as orphan, her pathetic life on Earth where everyone judged her just because she was tall - but this, the fact that she once had a better life, that she had everything, and that all of that had been taken from her, hurt more than all the previous setbacks together.

She saw Serenity collapsing, she heard her sobbing - she saw how she was overwhelmed with emotions and Makoto understood her. She understood her pain, her confusion, she understood how much it hurt to see them, after all they had done, alive, she understood how much it hurt that everything they did was in vain. Yes, she wanted to sob with her. She wanted to give in. Let it out. Just once.

But she couldn't.
She was Sailor Jupiter, the Senshi of Protection and Courage. She endured so many things in her pathetic life, she faced more humiliation than every teenager her age should have faced - she just had to be strong. She couldn't protect her princess if she would stand in a corner and cry, after all.

The tears in her eyes slowly started to disappear and so did her sadness. It would be no use to cry about it anyway - everything they could do was fighting back and give them what they deserved.

She nodded at Venus's theory of getting a second chance to defeat him, and she nodded as she suggested to follow the flames to check if it was Mars. Once they were reunited, there would be nothing to stop them. They would get their revenge and they would revenge their kingdom.

Jupiter, is that you?

But then, suddenly, her thoughts of rage got interrupted as she heard the soft voice of Venus approaching her by her actual name - a name she hadn't heard for years.

"Good to see you again," she only answered with a faint smile, pulling the transformation pen, that had appeared once she saw Venus, out of her pocket and showing the Jupiter symbol to the group.

As Jupiter revealed herself, confirming that she was the nearby brunette, Sailor Moon threw herself on the taller woman. She wrapped her arms around the girl's shoulders--at least as much of them as she could reach--her eyes brimming. It was yet one more moment of crying in the whirlwind of what had happened this day.

"Jupiter!" she sniffled, looking up at the brunette with tearful eyes.

The blonde pulled away slightly, reaching out a hand to grasp that of Sailor Venus.

"Venus! Mercury!"

She glanced over her shoulder at Sailor Mercury, the princess smiling through her tears. Mars. They just needed to find Mars, and they knew she was near. Sailor Moon felt in her heart that Mars could not be far.

All of those years of loneliness, somehow she both remembered them and forgot them in this moment of reunion. Sailor Mercury, the brains of the group, always kind, caring, and so gentle. Sailor Venus, the leader of her guardians, capable, cheerful, and dutiful. Sailor Jupiter, the strength of the team, powerful in the protection she provided--and always courageous. Sailor Mars, their blazing warrior, headstrong, confident, and sharp-tongued. These wonderful young women were her dearest and closest friends; they were her family. Certainly they were more family than the awful people she lived with. Having them back in her life, even under such terrible circumstances, was more than she had dreamed of.

"I didn't do anything," he sniped back when Zoisite chastised him for getting into trouble again. "It wasn't like I went out looking for this." He allowed himself to be pushed onto the couch as Zoisite began tending to the wound on his arm. 

Looking up at Kunzite, he nodded at the question asked. "They're not the same as we knew them. Either something's really wrong with them, or they're incredibly mad at us and are seeking revenge. Venus cornered me in a shop and attacked." She hadn't even wanted to listen to anything that he had said. 

His gaze slide over to his Prince, watching his expression as he took in the news. If the senshi had been reincarnated and had their memories there was a good chance that Princess Serenity was active. 

"What do we do?"




Mamoru stood in shock as his mind whirled. Serenity was alive? While Jadeite hadn't seen her and there was no confirmation, if her guardians had awoken, she had to have awoken as well, right? Despite what Jadeite had told them, he couldn't help but feel the pang of longing for her. He fought the instinct to seek her out and take her into his arms once more, his body aching to feel her against him.

If what Jadeite said was true, was she even still his Serenity, or was she someone else entirely?

Venus’ eyes turned glassy as her princess grasped her hand and Jupiter’s. Four of them were gathered, with only one missing. And judging from that pillar of flames, she might even be close by. Soon they would all be reunited and able to unleash their vengeance on the Earth and all of its denizens.

“Come, let us find Mars,” she urged the others, and began running with her newfound speed toward the direction of the flames. She did not particularly care about all the passersby still gawking at the scene that had unfolded when she first attacked Jadeite. All these puny Earth creatures were beneath her. Beneath them. Soon their lives would be forfeit, as well.

Mercury smiled as Jupiter was found and had joined them and nodded at the idea of going to find Mars. She was planning to say something when Venus told them it was time to go and begun to run off to where they saw the fire. She checked on her princess and the others and ran after Venus following her. As she ran and before hand as well, she could hear people saying bad things about them and other things as well but she kept on with Venus knowing full well that when they all were together again that they would make things right.. to fix things.

Sailor Moon nodded, always ready to follow Venus. She too cared nothing for the gawking and stares of these awful Earth people. There was a part of her that wanted to do something drastic as she left, somehow let them know that she was back to make them pay for all the wrongs they had caused. But now was not the time. That could be done later.

Her heart yearned to see Mars once more. Even if her beloved Prince had been killed and taken from her, there was immense comfort in knowing her friends were by her side once more. She loved them as deeply as she had loved him--a different kind of love, but just as binding. Sailor Moon felt a strength filling her just from being surrounded by her guardians. It was something she had never felt in this life, the emptiness and misery of her daily existence slowly fading into the background.

"Mars," she prayed. "Wait for us. We're looking for you."

Surprised by the rather sudden hug attack, Makoto's eyes widened as she saw her small princess being attached to her shoulders. "It's good to see you too, princess."
In less than a second, her astonishment faded and her happiness grew, the tall girl smiling at the small blonde, her arms wrapping around the princess's shoulders and her head laying down on hers.

She couldn't deny it - it felt more than good to finally give someone a cuddle after all that time. That feeling of warmth, that feeling of security, that sense of belonging - ever since her parents died, she never felt something like this again. She never felt other people's warmth around her, she didn't know she could her other people's heartbeats just by simple physical contact.

'How would my life be if I had friends?' she always asked herself at night. And now she finally knew. Now that she was reunited with her friends, her comrades, her family.

...but the family wasn't complete and everyone knew; Mars - the passionate, confident girl from the epitome of war planet - was missing. And they needed to find her. Immediately.

Nodding at Venus's instruction, Makoto held her Transformation pen into the air and transformed into Sailor Jupiter, doing as she was told and running after the others in hopes to find the missing girl.

The senshi arrived at Hikawa Shrine, where a lone priestess welcomed them. It only took one look for them to know that she was indeed Mars, the missing soldier. Rei was already so angry at her situation, she barely needed the memories of her past life to desire vengeance on everyone and everything on Earth. They spent a couple minutes having a tearful reunion before they started their planning.

They still had no idea where the Shitennou were hiding, but every time they used their powers, it would be possible for the senshi to detect and track them. From that point on, it was a matter of time before they were all killed.

However, there was one nagging feeling at the back of Venus’ mind. If the shitennou were here… then chances were Endymion was, as well. If it were up to her, she would like to wipe him out with everyone else on Earth, because he was the source of all this strife. It was because Serenity fell in love with him that all the destruction happened in the first place. She wanted to make sure that wouldn’t happen a second time.

“Now that we have all gathered,” she spoke once Mars was transformed, as well, and all five of them stood together in front of the shrine, “Does anyone have any reservations about what we’re about to do? We must be absolutely focused and sure this time. There can be no hesitation. I will not allow us to fail our princess and our kingdom the way we did once. Those Earth men tricked us with their love and then destroyed us. We mustn’t fall for the same trap again.” She looked each senshi in turn, lingering on Sailor Moon. Back then, it hadn’t just been Serenity who was in love. But it was hers that was the strongest.

There was something about the way that Venus looked at her that made her feel uneasy. Endymion... He hadn't tricked her, ...right? He had tried to warn her. He had tried to protect her. His closest friends, his sworn guardians, they were the ones who turned their back on him and allowed him to be killed. His death, that fatal and terrible moment, still flooded her body with emotion and brought tears to her eyes. Those men who aligned themselves with Beryl and Metalia, they stole him from her. Her one true love, that other piece of her own soul... ripped out.

Endymion was gone. She would never look into those beautiful blue eyes, the same colour as this planet she had once loved. She would never hear that voice whisper her name, breathing it in the tones that played the strings of her heart. She would never feel the warmth of his strong arms surrounding her, the burning touch of his lips against her skin. She would never breathe in that rose-scented embrace or the powdery velvet of his cape. All of that was over.

For that, she wanted to wipe the Earth clean of all those who betrayed their Prince and destroyed so many lives.

And yet... she could not yet understand that Venus expected her to seal her heart from his love. Serenity, who had always loved and loved so deeply, could not even imagine such a request. So wrapped up in her grief for countless losses, she did not think that Endymion might be here, on Earth. The memory of his death was so tragic and traumatizing for her that the thought of his chances for rebirth seemed impossible. She understood now the severity of the warnings prohibiting the people of the Earth and the Moon from interacting. But if she saw him, saw her lost love, would she turn away from him or run into his arms? That question she could neither ask nor answer.

As Venus spoke to them about there past and the fake love that they received, all Mercury could think of it how she would hurt Zoisite. When Venus passed by her she told her, "No reservations from me, they deserve whats coming to them. We will not fail this time, I can promise you that Venus" Mercury then looked at Sailor Moon, her princess from before and remembered about that huge jerk that started all of this, Endymion...Mercury would make sure Moon got her hands on him. Her hand made a fist as she kept thinking of Zoisite and the others. "We are all here now..and they will all pay for what they did to us."

Kunzite grimaced at the news before standing from his spot next to Zoisite and pacing across the room. This action was like second nature to him - he paced when he cooked, he paced when he cleaned, he paced when he thought, he paced when he was mad - pacing made thinking easier. 

It made sense that the senshi would try to attack them after everything that they had done. But surely they would realize that the shittenou weren't the same way they were during the Silver Millennium, right? The chances were slim, but maybe if he could just get Venus to listen to him just for a moment, that would be enough. 

But given the injury on Jadeite, he highly doubted Venus was willing to listen to anything he had to say.

The thought of seeing her again made Kunzite's heart ache, but he pushed that feeling away and said, "Do you think...they know where the princess is? Perhaps if we find her, we can convince her that we aren't here to cause harm. She'd listen to Mamoru at least. We can't allow them to attack us like this."

An image of a dead Endymion flashed in Kunzite's mind and he tried not to cringe. He'd be damned if he let the senshi touch his prince.

"Well if they did, I doubt they'd just had that information over to us..." Nephrite said. Not after the betrayal on the moon. The princess would be well guarded, and probably hidden away somewhere. Maybe Mamoru could persuade her to talk to her guardians, but it'd be like finding a needle in a haystack unless she made herself obvious.

And he still hadn't seen Jupiter yet. He had mixed feelings about that. One one hand, he did miss her greatly, but could he even face her in whatever state the senshi were in now? Maybe it was good that they hadn't met yet, as he didn't want to freeze up in the middle of a fight and get one of his sworn brothers hurt in the process.

Usagi wandered through the streets of the shopping district, seeing them with new eyes. The schoolgirl felt that her entire outlook had changed. She was no longer alone—her friends, her true and most beloved companions, were now a part of her life again. Already that was taking some time to get used to. She was so accustomed to trying and trying to interact with others, but always falling short of forming a meaningful and lasting relationship. Now, that had materialized almost as if by magic. And yet...

Somehow, she now felt even more alone than before. She couldn't admit it to the others; she already remembered the cautions from Venus, clearly meant for her. Her memories as Princess Serenity were surfacing, clear and yet unclear at the same time. It was as though every day some other detail of her past was revealed to her, while some other piece was hinted to or seen through shadow. There were so many things she had learned about her previous life, when she was the heir to the Silver Millennium, that grand kingdom on the Moon. Of course, she remembered... him.

Usagi thought of Prince Endymion almost constantly. Every remembrance made her feel strange, like she was becoming Princess Serenity more than herself. There was a duality now that she had never felt before. Her current self: the worthless daughter, the failing student, the bumbling klutz, the one who would never amount to anything. Her past self: the kind princess, the cheerful comrade, the innocent maiden, the one destined to rule a vast realm. Which one of them was real? How could she be both? This felt even more complicated when she remembered the Prince, her one true love, with their love destined to bring ruin.

Venus wanted her to forget him, to close her heart to the memories of their love. Yet that formed the deepest core of Usagi's own hatred and bitterness. Prince Endymion's unjust and untimely death was the memory that tormented her nightmares and solidified her determination to bring retribution to his betrayers: the people of the Earth and his four guards.

The blonde mused on this, her mind completely lost in the thoughts of what had once happened and what they must now do. The leather bookbag bumped against her knees as she walked. Usagi was just one more teenage girl in a sailor uniform among the sea of school uniforms, not paying attention to where she was going.

Minako felt uneasy about the way they had left their conversation. Everyone but Serenity—or Usagi, rather, she still wasn’t used to that other name—had seemed certain about their resolve for vengeance, except the princess. They had attempted to track down the hiding place of the shitennou and their prince, but neither Mars’ foresight nor Mercury’s computer managed to find them. Clearly they were being careful with not using their powers now that they had been found once.

Still, they were here, and it was only a matter of time until the senshi found them.

After another one of their fruitless attempts, Usagi had excused herself later, to go for a walk on her own, and though Minako offered to accompany her, she had been turned down. She hated the thought of leaving the princess alone, but she was reminded of how Serenity was also one of them now—a senshi. She could take care of herself, and if she needed her senshi, they would know.

Minako stood outside Rei’s shrine, looking towards the city, her heart filled with unrest.

"We can't allow Endymion near any of them."

The possibility of Endymion's death at the end of angry senshi did torment him as it did the others, but there was another thought that was nagging at him, clearer than Endymion's demise. Something he didn't really want to bring up out loud, to admit out loud, but it was what it was. While Kunzite paced, he leaned back against the couch, legs crossed, his twitching fingers the only real show of his agitation. His lack of smile and haunted eyes could also speak louder than he would.

"If they are able of logical thinking still, Endymion will not be their first thought."

He started slowly, green eyes studying his brothers in arms.

"We will. Endymion fought with them, tried to warn them. They know we betrayed him and if there's any real justice left in them, they will know him innocent."

There was one senshi in particular, however, who Zoisite wasn't sure what he just said could ever apply to and his eyes stopped a moment on Kunzite. Mercury was sensitive, surely her princess' feelings would affect her enough not to touch Endymion, but Venus?

He turned to Endymion, teeth gritted.

"But you shouldn't put yourself in danger for something we did."

He couldn’t help but wonder if he and his men going to look for the Princess would be the best course of action. If the Senshi hadn’t found her yet…if he and his men were able to get to her first, convince her of what had really happened on the Moon…was it worth a try? He ached to be apart from her like this. The idea of seeing her, of finding her filled him with such happiness, it almost felt as if he was walking on air.
 

“If the remember me helping them, then perhaps I can attempt to talk to them,” Mamoru offered. “No, I’m responsible for what happened on Earth as well, if I had figured out what Beryl had wanted earlier…perhaps none of this would have happened. It’s only right that I try and fix it.” He quickly told his men of this thoughts about attempting to find the Princess before her Senshi found her, wanting to know their opinion.