The mists of time blew past in their gentle haunting way, just as they had in a timeless fashion. Sailor Pluto stood guard at the Space Time Door ever vigilant to perform her the duty assigned her. Her mind wandered to her dear friend, the princess of Crystal Tokyo, Small Lady. It had been a while since the young girl had last come through the door and brightened the corridor of Space Time. 

Just then she sensed a disturbance from the distant reaches of Space Time. What could that be? she wondered to herself internally. Surely no being possesses such power to manipulate Space Time without traveling this channel?

A dull worry settled in; she could not leave her post to warn Neo-Queen Serenity. Besides, she had little evidence to go on. New paths continued to shape themselves as decisions were made to shape futures ahead. 

This disturbance however had seemed different, as though someone were trying to reach backward across time.

She opened the heavy and beautiful door with care, hoping to avoid a creak of the hinges or a wide swing of the door that might give her away. Small Lady kept her eyes and mind focused on her task. Her hands clutched Luna-P close to her chest, feeling the heavy thump of her nervous heart. She hated that she was going to betray her friend, breaking the rules she had been coached so carefully to follow, but she had no choice. Plu didn't understand what the war outside was like. She didn't know what it felt like to wander the empty castle halls.

Sailor Pluto couldn't understand the horror of the crystal coffin that encased the queen. Or of the row of silent guardians, sleeping on slabs of stone. Small Lady had seen it. She knew.

Even worse, she knew it was all her fault. That alone was enough to prompt her to come here, searching for a way to save everyone. Because of her actions, Neo Queen Serenity was dead. King Endymion was dead. The sailor soldiers were dead. Only she and Diana had survived, but it was only Small Lady who had brought this upon them. She had to do something. She had to fix it. And she knew that there was a way to do so, in the past. She remembered the legends her father had told her.

Letting the door slip closed behind her, Small Lady surveyed the area beyond the Time-Space Door. She had to find Sailor Pluto.

Sailor Pluto's sense of dread grew slowly from the pit of her stomach. Her brows arched in worry as she could not pinpoint the source or some kind of tangible evidence. All she knew was what her instincts told her, that something horrible was about to happen or already happening somewhere in Time. It was like waiting for a storm to begin, anxiously awaiting raindrops that still somehow weren't falling from the sky.

She was distracted and did not notice the soft movement of the Space Time Door. The mists of time began to swirl with greater speed and pulled her out of her thoughts. The click of the Door closing caused her to turn slightly, seeing through the mists with difficulty.

"Small Lady?" she questioned.

When Sailor Pluto spoke, that provided the opportunity she needed. There was no time to think about it--she had to act. Cringing at what she was about to do, Small Lady hurled Luna-P towards the ground where she had heard the guardian's voice.

The pink smoke deployed as soon as the cat-shaped ball bounced against the waving mists that made up the sacred realm of Time-Space. It flooded the area, disguising the child princess, although she knew that Sailor Pluto would recognize the vapors as coming from her toy. The much taller green-haired woman was still visible for just a moment, even though she herself was already engulfed in the rose fog. Small Lady lunged towards where she knew the belt of precious keys would be wrapped around the guardian's waist. She could hear them jingle and clink against each other as her small fingers closed around one and wrenched it free.

She tried to keep at bay the thoughts of the many taboos she was breaking. Hopefully her friend would forgive her, someday. There wasn't time to explain right now, but she had no choice. This was the only way she could fix the terrible problems she had caused. She had to use the knowledge that had been shared with her in confidence, breaking her promises to never do so.

I'm sorry, Pluto.

With the key clutched in her hand, and her destination in mind, she ran deeper into the swirling darkness of Space-Time.

Out of nowhere, Pluto heard a soft thump and was engulfed in pink mist. She began sputtering and coughing, straining to see who or what had caused such a storm. As she covered her mouth with one arm and tried to rub her eyes to regain vision with the other, she thought she felt something pulling at her belt that holds the Time Keys.

If it truly were Small Lady, why would she be doing this?

In an instant the pink cloud was gone. Pluto half-knelt, half-fell to the ground to take deep breaths and regain her composure. She heard the light footsteps of Small Lady running off into the depths of Space-Time but didn't have the breath to call after her.

Once she finally felt recovered, Sailor Pluto hoisted herself up using the Garnet Rod and called upon the mists of Space-Time to show her where Small Lady had gone. She felt some relief when she realized it was 20th Century Tokyo; Sailor Moon was active then. But then her heart sank, dread growing in her stomach when she realized Sailor Moon was not active at the moment Small Lady had jumped to. She was still Tsukino Usagi living a normal life after her memories were reset following the fight against the Dark Kingdom. Sailor Pluto gripped the Garnet Rod even more tightly. She prayed with all her might that Small Lady would find safety.

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Wiseman appeared in the throne room of Prince Demando. "My prince,"  he called out in his formal but carefree manner, "The Rabbit has made her move."

"Good,"  he replied. "Rubeus, are you prepared for the next phase?"

"Yes, Prince Demando. The Ayakashi Sisters are ready to begin pursuit and elimination of The Rabbit," replied Crimson Rubeus with a bow of his head.

Prince Demando nodded, dismissing him. Rubeus turned to the sisters - "Go" he commanded. With slight cackles, the sisters headed to the Space-Time channel on Nemesis and left for 20th Century Earth.

She fell out of the sky and into the park, alone and afraid.

Wiping the tears from her eyes and gingerly rubbing her bruised knee, the pink-haired girl pulled herself to her feet and looked around. So this was the 20th century. It looked different from Crystal Tokyo--the trees were a different shade of green and the buildings in the distance all resembled boxes, not shards. After a minute, she vaguely recognized the slight darkness in the air as the "pollution" that Sailor Mercury had mentioned in history lessons. She had never seen it before.

When she stared up at the distant skyline of the city, the lack of the towering outline of the Crystal Palace made homesickness and loneliness well up inside of her.

A hand reached up to clutch the stolen Time Key, now safely threaded on her necklace. It jingled softly against the other precious item as she touched it, but she kept that tucked under her sailor suit's collar, close to her chest. The cool touch of the faceted surface against her skin served as a reminder of her guilt. She had to find the unbeatable Sailor Moon and that woman's 20th century Silver Crystal of Illusion. The future needed a Silver Crystal that would actually work.

But where could she go?

Luna-P beeped comfortingly, rolling over to rest beside her ankles. Small Lady smiled at it, sniffled, and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands. She knew was just a useless crybaby, but she had to find a way to make this better. She needed help from Sailor Moon.

Without knowing where she should be heading, she picked up Luna-P, holding the toy close to her body, and ran off into 20th century Tokyo.

A bright light flashed on top of a deserted hill in the park in Tokyo. In an instant four strangely dressed young women were standing on top of it. They looked at each other and then out toward the city taking in the view.

Calaveras, the one in gold, stepped out their square first, eyes closed. "I have a vague sense of her location from my channelling..." she murmured. Suddenly she snapped Dark Beaut into the air. It linger for a moment for her sisters to catch the direction. "That way," she stated curtly.

In an instant the Ayakashi sisters took off. Their plan had been formulated during their journey across SpaceTime back to the 20th Century. Petz and Berthier began leaping to higher and higher buildings as they entered the city. Once atop the newly constructed Tenoh and Kaioh skyscrapers in the Infinity Delta, they began a sort of dance. Dark clouds began to form in the sky with sprinkles of rain specking the ground.

Calaveras and Koan made their way through the streets toward their prey. The combined storm of Petz and Berthier hadn't yet grown enough for thunder and lighting, but Calaveras could mimic the sound with Dark Beaut. As they neared the location of the Rabbit, the two sisters split up.

Koan prepared herself while Calaveras snuck closer and closer to the pink-haired girl. Once she was sure she was within earshot, she cracked her whip so loud that it sounded as though a thundercloud had opened over the block above Small Lady.

Thunder. Her eyes widened, stricken with panic and fear. The pink-haired child screamed at the noise, crouching down and covering her head with her arms. She cowered there, quivering. The rain and cloudiness didn't really bother her that much, but even now when she was trying her hardest to be brave, she couldn't shake herself of the fear from that awful crash of the skies. It made her feel like the world was going to collapse around her.

But... something felt strange. Sniffling back tears, she peered out from under her arms. The park seemed empty... but she still sensed something wrong...

Small Lady whirled around and found herself surrounded by two of her pursuers--Koan and Calaveras.

She felt her heartbeat pulse in her ears, frozen for a moment in shock. And then she whirled around, blind with fear, and ran. She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't think that she could outrun them, but in this moment of fight or flight the young child had chosen to flee.

Koan jumped ahead of the Rabbit, cackling out loud as she created a barrier of fire to stop the flight of the young girl. Calaveras started sneaking up from behind intending to trip the Rabbit with Dark Beaut.
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Sailor Pluto continued to watch events unfold in the 20th Century. She cried out when the Ayakashi Sisters arrived and began to pursue her young friend. Her heart broke when Small Lady cowered from Petz' thunderclaps. Then Koan and Berthier began closing in and Sailor Pluto felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She sunk to her knees weeping openly.

She whispered aloud to the void of Space-Time as despair sank in.
"Why??? Small Lady will die and their hands and there is nothing I can do..." She gritted her teeth at the taboos of her position that bound her to remain forever vigilant at her post.

The mists displaying events in the 20th century continued to play out their tragic scene while Sailor Pluto felt as though she were receiving injuries herself. As she watched Calaveras close in, an epiphany collapse upon her.

If they jumped back to the 20th Century without coming this way, then what does it matter? The enemy doesn't need to use this channel to travel across time. And if I only step away for a moment...
Without giving herself more time to think, Pluto reached for another Time Key on her belt. She shut her eyes tightly and concentrated on saving Small Lady.



In an instant, she felt something small land on her face. It happened again and again with increasing frequency. She opened her eyes and realized it was the rain. For a second she was transfixed by the wind and the rain, the smell of the grass and wet pavement. These sensations were simultaneously old and new to her. She was familiar with her surroundings, but she had forgotten the sensory experience tied with them.

And then the thunder rumbled again and her mind snapped back to Small Lady. She took off in an instant, running faster than she had ever moved. The heat of Koan's magical fire was making steam and fog, which made it easier to find them. She saw a flash of gold ahead and thought she heard Small Lady cry out in pain.

Anger welled up inside of Sailor Pluto at that moment. She whispered to the air with malice, raising the garnet rod above her, "Dead Scream" and aimed for the outline of Calaveras. The mist parted slightly as Calaveras was thrown into the side of a building. Sailor Pluto then took to the rooftops to circle the area and find the other woman who had generated the magical fire.

Sailor Pluto took a moment to look down to where Small Lady was. Calaveras had kept a hold on her whip while being hit by Dead Scream so Small Lady had not been restrained. Mercifully there was a door propped open from a large building nearby right in Small Lady's line of sight. Pluto hoped her friend would have the sense to run in there and hide for a moment until these terrible sisters would try another tactic.

Determined once more, Sailor Pluto continued around until she spotted the dark-haired young woman. She made her way over soundlessly from behind, quickly using the garnet rod to make it difficult for Koan to breath. Koan began to cough and angrily question what was going on. Sailor Pluto whispered in her ear, "Do not harm the girl unless you wish to suffer dearly." 
Sailor Pluto had restrained Koan in such a way that Koan could not look at her face. She had already meddled too much and began to feel guilt at leaving her post. Before Koan could reply or try to break free, Sailor Pluto dashed away around the corner.

Just before using a Time Key to return to the Door, Sailor Pluto noticed a poster on the building which had an open door near Small Lady: Kaioh Michiru the famous violinist was playing a concert there right now. Her heart nearly stopped as she recognized the young Ms. Kaioh. Could it be? I never thought they would reappear... She suddenly felt even better about Small Lady's potential refuge.

Another crash of thunder pulled her attention back to the present and she grabbed a Time Key and willed herself back to the Space-Time door. She checked all around, but there were no signs of any disturbances. She felt a warm feeling inside as she realized she had protected her friend and no one had taken advantage of her brief absence from her post. Deep in her heart, she was happy she had gotten a small reprieve after the endless era of solitude.

She called upon the mists of Space-Time to continue to monitor Small Lady in the 20th century.

Small Lady ducked into the open door and nearly fell down the concrete staircase. She caught herself and continued up the stairs, mind still spinning from everything that had happened outside. Distantly she heard the door slam shut behind her, but knew that would not be enough to keep her safe. Her cheek and knees were streaked with dirt and blood, and the hem of her shirt was torn, but she barely noticed the pain. Adrenaline coursed through her, ruling her current state. Small arms clutched Luna P closely to her heaving chest.

Finally, she spotted a door on a landing. She tried it, leaning on it, only to find it locked. Panicked, knowing that the Sisters could find her any minute, the pink-haired girl climbed the stairs even faster, red eyes searching for a way out.

Just above her, a door creaked open and two young women stepped through, chattering brightly.

"Do you know what he said after that? He said I should be the one to..."

They were temporarily interrupted when a cloud of pink smoke billowed towards them, the casual conversation now coughing, complaints, and attempts to wave away the haze. Small Lady bumped into one of the women's legs, nearly knocking the high-heeled staff member over, but she made it through the open door onto the floor of the building thanks to the distraction generated by Luna P. She was in a long corridor, nicely designed and sparsely furnished, with several closed doors marked with small signs.

The little girl froze at the sound of footsteps up ahead. When the uniform of a security guard could just be seen of the person about to turn the corner and walk down this hall, Small Lady flung herself at the nearest door and entered.

This was her third concert this month, yet Michiru had no complaints. There was nothing she enjoyed more than sharing her love of music with others, and hearing from her audience that her music moved them always reassured her on those days where she was simply exhausted.

As she sat in her dressing room fixing her hair (she refused to have a stylist mess with it), Michiru ran over the upcoming performance in her head. She had prepared three original pieces, and a cover of one of her favorite composer's most legendary piece. The notes were practically ingrained into her brain, and she knew she didn't need to go over them again.

It all came naturally to her, like waves in the ocean.

Michiru had just decided to leave her hair down and natural when the door to her dressing room was thrown open. She spun in her chair, eyes widening at the sight of a small, pink-haired child standing in her dressing room. Pink was quite the odd color for hair, but then again, Michiru wasn't one to judge.

"Excuse me, this is a private dressing room," she said calmly. "Are you looking for something? Perhaps I can help lead you in the right direction." Michiru took a moment to examine the girl fully, taking in her dirt-stained face and legs and torn clothing. She clutched a strange-looking ball in her arms, and her eyes were wide with panic and adrenaline. Realization dawned on Michiru, and she spoke again: "You're hiding from someone, aren't you?" She laughed softly, rising from her chair and approaching the child before bending down so that were both at eye level. "I'll make you a deal - I'll clean you up, get you a change of clothes, and let you stay for the concert only if you tell me who you're hiding from and why. Sound like a plan?"

She nearly backed up and continued to flee, but the voice of the woman stopped her in her tracks. It was familiar. Small Lady couldn't think of who it was, but she knew she had heard that voice before. How could that be possible, if she was in the past? Yet... she couldn't turn away now. She felt drawn here.

The proposed deal was not one she could agree to. The child shook her head, pink pigtails flying, her arms still clutching the toy.

"I... I can't," she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. No one would believe her. The tears slowly moved to drip down her cheeks even as she tried to hold them back. Those people would find her, and they'd just hurt her and this woman. A normal person wouldn't be able to protect her from that kind of dark power. And she'd never find the Silver Crystal she needed and she'd never save her mother, and it would still all be her fault.