The events during the fall of the Moon Kingdom were hard to recall at first, except for a few moments that stuck in the Senshis' minds. The Shitennou's last stand. The Prince and Princess on the balcony, together in death. Their Queen's final orders, and their escape to the safety of their ship. And then they had stepped into their individual sealed chambers and gone to sleep. 

By the time everyone had awoken again, the ship was slowly orbiting a very different looking Earth. Behind them, the moon shone a pale, desolate white in space. Luna had been the one to help find their princess again, using their connection to sense her presence on a small chain of islands. Landing the ship in an abandoned clearing was simple, but processing all the changes the planet, and the native people, had gone through over the last thousand years was much more difficult. 

The language had shifted since the time of the Golden Kingdom, along with the territorial borders, cultures, and laws. Artemis had hacked into a satellite and started downloading huge streams of information, compiling all the data into a crude encyclopedia and atlas of Earth itself, focusing on this region in particular. The senshi quickly jumped into learning the Japanese language and it's society, anxious to move on to their real mission. Meanwhile the cats left the ship at intervals and explored Tokyo, bringing back news and looking for Serenity's exact location. A month later, they found a 13 year old girl named Usagi Tsukino.

As soon as everyone was deemed good enough to blend in, a rough plan was formed. The senshi would disguise themselves as children around their charge's age and create false lives with lunar technology, and then spread out over the district to better watch her. At the same time, they would pay attention for any signs of Dark Kingdom movement. Artemis would stay with Venus, and Luna would personally follow Serenity, as a cat would be far less suspicious than a person. Serenity was not to be personally interfered with or told of her past existence until it was necessary to call on the Silver Crystal or the Dark Kingdom was attacking her. 

A day later, the Tsukino family adopted a stray black cat with a crescent bald spot on her head. Usagi insisted on calling her Luna. The old priest at Hikawa shrine gained a new grandaughter to serve as a miko, a little serious, but diligent in her duties. Dr. Saeko Mizuno became the mother of a brilliant child, a blue haired girl  with straight A's at school and a love of water. The manager of a cheap, but livable building leased an apartment to a slightly taller than average orphaned girl, a trust fund set up by her deceased parents paying the rent. And a young suburban couple ended up with an energetic blonde child with a red ribbon in her hair, who wasn't the best at homework, but was a star on the volleyball court. 
____________________________________________________________________________

A year had passed in relative peace since then, nothing out of the ordinary happening in the Juuban District of Tokyo. Though the mother of Naru Osaka was holding a rather large sale in her jewelry store, and Artemis had started picking up some dark energy readings on his computer systems for a couple of week now... The senshi were already on alert, and planned on visiting the shop later that evening to investigate. But for the moment, they had school and normal lives to contend with. 

It was lunch at Juuban Municipal Junior High School, and many of the students had left their classrooms to enjoy their break outside. Knowing that it may get dangerous soon, Jupiter and Mercury follow Usagi and her friend Naru outside to keep an eye on her better, though they don't get too close. Mars and Venus would switch off with them after school to guard her until their princess was safely home, and then it was time to check out the jewelry shop themselves.

She had been Minako Aino for a year, but she still felt out of time.

Venus stepped outside as the bell signaling break time rang, getting swept up in the tide of students eager to leave the stuffy classrooms. Her friends happily pulled her to the quad, some chatting animatedly about silly things like extracurricular activities, upcoming school events, and gossiping about boys.

Venus glanced at her communicator, which stayed silent with no messages. She had no idea why she kept doing it; it had been peaceful for the entire year since they’d found the princess. But the peace made her antsy. She wanted to move, wanted to fight… wanted to be Venus again. As long as the Dark Kingdom threat was still around, she couldn’t rest.

Her body might have slumbered for thousands of years, but her soul never rested. She remembered everything, and the moment she’d woken up it was as if no time had passed at all. The grief, the sense of failure, the heartbreak… all of them were wounds that were still fresh as though they happened the day before. And it hadn’t gotten much better over the year.

At least now the enemy might have started waking up again, too. And Venus felt better about having a specific mission. All this fake life and the fake happiness she had to put on was torture. A self-inflicted one, perhaps, since she didn’t have to be the cheerful, energetic, fun-loving girl. Minako Aino could have been quiet, serious, and cold. She didn’t have to be bright or optimistic or the daughter of a perfectly happy couple in a normal family. She knew Jupiter had decided to opt out of the charade as much as she could by choosing to be an orphan.

But Venus could not. She couldn’t let her life be that easy. Not after all the failure.

Besides, the Aino couple really wanted a daughter. She figured giving them the illusion of one was her way of making someone’s life better. Even if when the fake life became too cloying, she’d pick a fight with her fake mother for no reason and make her sad.

It was all so messed up, really.

“Minako-chan, hello? Are you listening to me?” one of her friends, Kazumi, shook her arm, startling her out of her reverie. Venus had to restrain herself from instinctively reacting in a violent manner. Her training and everything she’d endured made her dislike uninvited physical contact.

Still, with the ease of a naturally gifted actress, a smile slid onto her lips. “I’m sorry, Kazumi-chan! What is it?”

“Takagi-kun is totally staring at you,” Kazumi said excitedly. “Is that who’s got you so spaced out?”

Her friend nudged her playfully, and Minako stole a glance at the boy in question. She smiled conspiratorially, and answered coyly, “Maybe.”

The group of girls beside her went into an excited frenzy, and Venus sighed. It’d be a long time until she actually gave love and romance the time of day again… if ever.

After a long year on Earth, Jupiter had come to the conclusion that she would never fully get used to Earth. Sure, it was a nice planet in general, with its wide variety of colorful flora and variable weather, but everything else was weird. 

Not for the first time, she was glad she had decided to be an "orphan", because even though she could speak Japanese just fine, she was still getting the grasp on all the different social norms. Her would be parents would have had to get memory wiped every day just to cover up her mess ups. Jupiter doubted she could have kept up that kind of charade anyway, lying to their faces every day. It was bad enough she had to do it to her landlord and the school. The others could do what they wanted, but she would rather live by herself and not have to worry about acting all the time.

The apartment had its problems too. The repair man for the complex probably hated her for the amount of work she gave him. Her bedroom door had been nearly pulled off its hinges three times now, simply because it was so light and she wasn't paying attention at the moment. And then there were the twisted off sink handles and the holes in the wall... Why didn't they reinforce anything around here? Beyond the maintenance issues, Jupiter kept it relatively organized and clean. Usually, all of her belongings (there weren't that much) were put away neatly, and the floors and windows were constantly cleaned at least once a week. The only relatively messy area was the wall by the back balcony, where she kept a host of potted plants.

When the bell rang for break, Jupiter slowly stood up from her seat near the back of the class, covering a yawn. Why did she have to take math again? She got through her tutoring forever ago. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the princess and a few other girls leave the class with their lunches, and decided that she was going to eat outside as well. There might be actual trouble soon if Artemis was correct, so it was good to keep a close eye on her. Jupiter entered the hall, and her fellow students paled and kept out of her path at the sight of her as she walked. It seemed that everything about her was considered rare or strange here. On her first day of class, she had to convince the teachers that no, her hair was not dyed that color, and yes, it was naturally curled. And that wasn't even getting into her height. 

She wondered what they would think of her undisguised appearance, considering that she had actually been watering down her size and hair color. Their imaginary reaction made her grin to herself. They'd probably panic.

School was at least tolerable with Mercury attending too. Sure, they didn't speak much during classes, but if she ever got too lonely at lunch or wasn't in the mood to be near the others, they could always sit on the rooftop together. Jupiter sat down by a brick wall near some bushes, still within sight of Usagi, and opened up her large, but simple bento lunch.

In the last year, things have been changing for Usagi. A cat suddenly appeared one day on their doorsteps, somehow charming her mother into loving it so much she convinced Usagi’s father to let them keep it. It had a peculiar golden crescent moon on its forehead and its fur was black that in certain lights had an almost purple gleam.  Her eyes were also very different from any cat the young girl had ever seen; they were a striking garnet red. There were moments when the cat stared at her or when Usagi poured out her hearts and dreams to the kitty, which she had named Luna, that the cat was a lot smarter than Usagi gave it credit for. It was almost as if it could understand Japanese. She had to laugh at herself for that thought. A cat understanding Japanese? She must have had too many sweets before bed or read too much manga to come up with a crazy idea like that.
 
“Hey Naru-chan, who’s that girl over there?” Usagi asked as she and her best friend Naru searched for a perfect place to eat their lunch.
 
“That’s the new transfer student. Her name is Kino Makoto. I heard she got kicked out of her old school for beating someone up!” Naru whispered. The blonde regarded the girl in question. Several of her classmates walked by, giving Makoto a wide berth. She was tall, and large for a girl, Usagi thought. She could understand how people would want to avoid her, or how she would be intimidating. But didn’t they see how lonely she looked? Was she the only one that could see her?
 
“Does she not have any friends?” Usagi asked as she continued to watch Makoto.
 
“No, everyone avoids her, she’s really scary Usagi, you should just leave her alone,” Naru said, gripping Usagi’s arm. She just knew her blonde friend would try something stupid. “Common, lets go eat our lunch over that tree over there.” It was a useless attempt, she could see. Usagi had that look in her eyes, one that meant that once she had decided on a course of action, almost nothing could stop her.
 
“You go on,” Usagi said distractedly, “I’m going to see if the transfer student wants to eat lunch with us.” With that, she carefully walked up to the brunette. She didn’t know what drew her to her, she just knew it was something that she needed to do, deep in her gut. Furthermore, it felt like the right thing to do.
 

“That’s a pretty awesome Bento, did your mom make it?” she asked cheerfully as she stopped beside the transfer student. “Hi, I’m Tsukino Usagi but you can call me Usagi! What’s your name?”

Jupiter was looking down at her food when Usagi approached her, attention focused on eating. At least the food on Earth hadn't changed too much to the point where it wasn't edible anymore. She almost choked on part of her rice ball when a cheery voice cut in from right next to her. After a hard swallow, she realized it was Serenity that had surprised her. How had she let her sneak up on her like that?

"U-uh..." Jupiter was momentarily at a loss for words. Should she respond at all? They weren't supposed to talk with the princess, right? But it would be rude to just ignore her. It also didn't help that she looked almost exactly like she did on the moon, with those huge blue eyes that could convince her guardians to do anything if she looked at them a certain way. Just don't make any eye contact...

"No, I made it," Jupiter said, deliberately looking at the ground. She had only learned to cook at all because it was easier than going to the store to constantly buy meals, but she wouldn't call herself amazing at it.

It was strange hearing the name Usagi and connecting it to the princess. Did she truly remember nothing of the past? Well, at least she got to be happy in this life. "I'm Makoto Kino." She couldn't believe she was reintroducing herself to her charge. What if this jogged her memory somehow? She really should try to get her to go away, but Jupiter couldn't be purposely mean to her. This wasn't some annoying kid she was dealing with, this was Serenity.

Mercury hated it here.

Every time she took a step on this planet full of idiocy in pure ignorance, her hatred only grew. She felt...degraded. This planet was by far the worst punishment she had ever received.

But she deserved it. She definitely deserved it.

No one talked to her. They knew that she did not want to talk to anyone. Mercury simply couldn't deal with the lack of intelligence this planet had. Her home planet was full of technology. Everything was at the touch of a finger, and every single individual had an intellect that came close to surpassing her own. The science had been so beautiful, so advanced. There was not a single disease or virus that hadn't been cured, there was not a natural disaster that couldn't be prevented. All of the statistics were drawn out, all of the lives were balanced and free of grief. Pollution was unknown to Mercury's people. It had been a planet of marvelous potential, and now Mercury was stuck on a planet of marvelous stupidity.

High school was the worst part. But at least she had Jupiter. Mercury didn't know what she would do without her best friend by her side. 

She had gotten thinner since waking up on Earth. Mercury didn't know why, but she just didn't feel the drive to do things for herself anymore. She just...lost the ability to care. All she cared about was Serenity, and making up for the mistakes she had made on the Moon so long ago. She couldn't wait for the Dark Kingdom to show up. Her inner sailor senshi was dying to come out.

Her physics class ended, and Mercury left the room without breathing a word to anyone. It was time for her break, which meant she could go see Jupiter again. Now called Ami Mizuno, Mercury found herself looking forward to those moments where she could sit and talk with someone who understood her. The blue-haired "teenager" went outside, instantly spotting Jupiter and...

Serenity?

Mercury's eyes widened in shock. Was Serenity...talking to Jupiter? No one ever dared to approach the taller girl, finding her intimidating. Although slightly surprised, Mercury knew this would happen. It was just like Serenity to approach someone who looked lonely. The sight brought tears to Mercury's eyes, but she quickly wiped them away and approached the couple. Looking at Jupiter, Mercury could tell she was struggling. And seeing Serenity this close, after so long...

It was painful.

Clearing her throat, Mercury forced herself to keep her chin up high. She couldn't let herself get close to the princess. Not physically, not emotionally...not now. She wanted to give Serenity a chance at happiness - and she couldn't have that if her senshi became major parts in her life. 

"Excuse me," Mercury said, pushing her glasses to their rightful place on her nose. "Can we help you with something?" 

The tone in her voice was flat. Not necessarily cold, but almost as if she was holding something back. A sob, maybe? A cry of joy at seeing her princess's smiling face?

“Really? You made that! It looks so good!” Usagi couldn’t help but marvel at the different foods that the girl, what did she say her name was? Oh yah, Makoto, put into her bento. She was so lost at looking at the different parts of the bento that she almost didn’t notice another girl come over and ask her if there was anything they could help her with.
 
Usagi blinked at the tone the girl used. It wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t exactly friendly and inviting either. She knew this girl, she was in her classes. What was her name again? She frantically searched her memory, suddenly feeling bad that she couldn’t remember the blue hair girls’ name. Mizuno Ami, her memory finally supplied. She was quiet, preferring to keep to herself and always got the top grades in the year. She was super smart. About the answer, Usagi paused. Ami had said we. That implied that she knew Makoto, was friends or at the very least close to her, yet Usagi couldn’t remember ever seeing the two together. Then again, it wasn’t like she really paid Ami much mind before today. She looks lonely, she realized. Just like Makoto. But why? Ami is super smart and I bet she’s really nice too, once you get passed her politeness. I bet both of them just need a friend and I’m just the person to do it!
 

“I was just looking at Makoto’s bento. It’s ok if I call you that, right?” She turned to Makoto, flashing the girl a brilliant smile. “Why don’t you and Makoto join me and Naru-chan for lunch? We were gonna go eat under the big tree over there. Common, it’ll be so much fun!”

"Uh, thanks..." Jupiter was not used to getting compliments like that. Not at school, anyway. And definitely not from an amnesiac Serenity. It was getting more and more difficult to act like she didn't know her. After seeing her dead on that balcony, she just wanted to pull the princess into a hug, but she couldn't. The less contact the senshi made with her, the safer she would be in this time. It was getting harder to resist to the more they talked though...

She saw Mercury approaching out of the corner of her eye and she relaxed. Mercury could get them out of this mess. Or maybe not. Serenity wasn't deterred by her in the slightest and started talking to both of them. Jupiter nodded at Serenity's question. She could call her whatever she wanted, she didn't mind. Wait, she wanted to have lunch with them now? This wasn't good... but it sounded a little better than sitting alone. She glanced at the other senshi, silently asking what to do.

A thousand alarms were blaring in Mercury's head, telling her that this was getting way too out-of-hand. Serenity was using Jupiter's "first name", which was something only friends did, and now she was asking them to eat lunch with her. She could hear Luna's voice echoing through her brain, telling her to stay as far away but as close to Serenity as possible. They couldn't be making friends with her, could they? That would put her in danger. 

They would not put her in danger again.

Meeting Jupiter's wary eye, Mercury made her decision. Taking a deep breath, she let the words flow mechanically from her lips:

"Sorry, Tsukino-san, but Kino-san and I eat alone. Thank you for the invitation, but we would really prefer to be left alone."

She put emphasis on the last two words of her sentence, hoping her princess's thick skull would get the signal.

Usagi blinked in surprise. They wanted to eat alone? Who wanted to be by themselves all the time? That made no sense and was quite silly if Usagi could say so herself. She’s probably just being super polite, thinking that if she accepts she’s imposing on Naru-chan and myself! I’ll just have to show her that it’s no burden! With that thought in mind, Usagi put a plan into action.
 

“Don’t be silly, no one wants to eat alone, common, I promise it’ll be fun. We’ll even try not to be too loud if you want to get some reading done Ami-chan!”

Jupiter hesitated, not expecting her to be this stubborn about this lunch thing. Why was it so important that Serenity eat with them? It was becoming clear to her that the issue would not be dropped without the conversation going sour, and they were already in trouble with Venus and Luna for talking to her anyway. The situation couldn't get worse, so why not enjoy it for the moment? 

Jupiter glanced at Mercury before looking back at Serenity, smiling slightly. She hadn't genuinely smiled in a long while, now that she thought about it. She was too busy being stressed out about their mission or annoyed at something to find much time to be happy. No wonder the people around here thought she was scary...

"Maybe just this once..." she said, placing the lid back on her bento, and standing up. Even under her disguise, she was still easily a head taller than both Usagi and Mercury. "Where did you want to sit?"

Serenity's persistence and stubbornness was starting to strike Mercury's nerves. They were jeopardizing her even further every second they spent with her. It was so frustrating not being able to just tell the princess the real reason why they couldn't eat together. Mercury should have known Serenity wouldn't give up. It was in her nature, but still agitating all the same. 

Jupiter's eyes met her own, and Mercury knew immediately what she was thinking. Closing her eyes, Mercury suppressed the urge to groan. Of course Jupiter wouldn't be able to hold her resolve. Mercury was struggling enough as it was. They were connected to the princess so deeply that it was impossible to refuse her. After all, they had served her since they were children. With a sigh, Mercury reached up and ran her fingers through her hair. She spotted Naru sitting several yards away, waiting on Usagi to return. 

Luna would kill them for this. But they might as well enjoy it while they had the chance. This would not become an everyday thing, Mercury told herself. Just this once. That was it. Sticking close to Jupiter, Mercury silently prayed that this wouldn't have any negative effects. She would never forgive herself if it did.

Usagi blinked in surprise. She honestly had expected Mizuno-san to argue with her more about the issue. She seemed so set against it. Deciding the brush off the shock, a giant smile graced her lips as she jumped up for joy.
 
“Common, you guys are going to have so much fun!” she squealed, grabbing Makoto’s hand and all but dragging the taller girl over to where Naru was waiting for her. Take that Naru-chan! I knew I could get them to come eat lunch with us! Makoto really isn’t all that scary, I don’t know why people think she is, she’s just lonely and so is Ami-chan. The both look like they could use a friend so a friend I shall be! Sitting on the blanket that Naru had already laid out, Usagi quickly opened her bento, excited to see what Mama had made for her today. While it wasn’t as visually amazing as Makoto’s bento, she loved her mother’s cooking and always enjoyed everything she ate.
 
“Usagi-chan, my mother is having a sale at her store, do you want to come check it out after school with me?” the brunette asked, watching with mild horror as Usagi inhaled her bento. “I’ve never seen Mama offer this much off the jewellery I bet there’s even stuff there we can afford!”
 

“Oh my god yes!” Usagi exclaimed, her mouth full of food so it came out muffled, yet somehow Naru was able to understand what she was saying. “I can’t wait! Your mom always has the best stuff!!”

Jupiter stumbled after Usagi for a few feet before catching up with her quick pace. Her enthusiasm spread almost instantly, and Jupiter smiled wider than before. She sat down on the other side of Usagi, opening her lunch box up again. She stopped and watched with amusement as her "new" friend  destroyed her lunch in a few short minutes. It seemed that a lot of things hadn't changed since the Silver Millennium. It was still amazing how much food such a small girl could take in at once. 

Her attention turned to Naru at the mention of a jewelry store sale. Right, Artemis had told them about the store earlier, and that he found it suspicious. They couldn't just let the princess go there unsupervised. Someone would have to go with her to make sure nothing happened inside.

"Are you talking about the Osa-P shop, Osaka-san?" Jupiter asked. Naru looked surprised to see her interested in jewelry, but then nodded. 

"That's the one. If you want, you're both welcome to look around too," she said, before they continued to eat their lunches.
____________________________________________________

A few hours later, school was over, and the students with no club activities flooded out of the gates to walk back home, or to go to after school cram session, or even visit the local arcade. Jupiter waited next to the school entrance for Mercury to show up so they could tell the others about the change in plans. Luna was already following Usagi around, but if the Dark Kingdom attacked, the guardian cat would not be able to defend her for long.

The school bell finally rang, and Venus walked outside, a sense of relief washing over her. A tiny one, but still. Keeping up the façade of Minako Aino—a girl she had created who was pretty much the opposite of herself—was exhausting at times. She didn’t have volleyball practice today, so she pulled out her communicator, knowing she was due to switch guard duty with Jupiter and Mercury soon. Yes, she had actually joined a club, which… helped with her anxiety. Doing a sport helped her expend all that pent-up energy, so it acted like a way to channel all the action she wished she could be doing instead.

Of course, she needed to tone it down a lot, still. A ball was not the same as an enemy’s face.

She activated the communicator and called for Jupiter, wondering if they still planned to visit the jewelry shop that evening.

Hearing the faint beep of her communicator, Jupiter turned her back to the students and pulled the device out of her pocket. The orange light was on, meaning it was Venus calling. Great, just what they needed...

Jupiter cringed at the thought of telling her what had happened at lunch today. She wanted to have a little more time before they had to tell Venus about their mess up, but that plan had gone down the drain. Well, there was no way to soften the blow now. And she needed to know about Usagi's plans to go to the store now... 

Jupiter reluctantly hit the answer button. "Hello?" she said, trying to look normal as Venus appeared on the screen. "Is anything going on, Venus?"

Venus made sure she had walked sufficiently far away from the other students, having slipped away before her friends could figure out where she’d gone. She couldn’t do it that often without raising questions, but some days when she just couldn’t be bothered to make up an excuse, she’d simply disappear.

When Jupiter’s face appeared on the screen, Venus frowned. She looked a bit… off. After spending centuries with someone, Venus had learned to figure out her comrades’ tells. But she decided not to immediately jump into an interrogation.

“No, everything’s normal on my end. I was just checking in to see where the princess is so Mars and I can swap with you and Mercury. And is the plan for tonight still on?”

"Uh, about the plan..." Jupiter looked away for a moment, checking to see if Usagi had left the building yet. No sign of her at the moment. "Mercury and I had a little...confrontation with the Princess around lunch today." She kept talking, trying to delay the dressing down she was about to get for breaking the established rules they had all agreed on. 

"I know we aren't supposed to talk to her, but she walked up to me and invited me to eat with her and I couldn't just ignore her. She was being really insistent... Not even Mercury could get her to quit." Jupiter grinned slightly, remembering how they were convinced into eating lunch with her. 

"But we did learn that she wanted to go to the jewelry shop right after school, so the plan may have to be reworked if we want to make sure it's safe for her." Maybe there was a way to delay the princess from getting to the store...

And there it was. The problem. Venus raised her eyebrow at the mention of a ‘confrontation’ with the princess. The word could signify a fight, and she immediately felt nervous, but it seemed this wasn’t what Jupiter meant. Instead, she was surprised to hear that Serenity—or Usagi, as she was in this life—had invited Jupiter to eat with her. And Mercury, too?

Several emotions warred inside her as she processed this revelation. Disappointment at her fellow senshi—Mercury especially should have known better. Should have tried harder. Jupiter’s heart was always her weakness, but Mercury… she was smart. She should have found a way to get out of it. Venus knew she could have if she wanted to badly enough, which meant she didn’t. It seemed as much as Venus wished Mercury would be ruled by her head, she still let her heart win.

Fear. This was not part of the plan, and it could lead to something dangerous. They were supposed to protect the princess from afar, not befriend her. Who knew what the repercussions to them being friends would be? They were supposed to distract the enemy from her, not pull her into the danger with them.

Envy. Venus had spent all year watching from the shadows, never coming close no matter how much she yearned to. She could still remember how it felt to embrace the princess’ small body, to tell her that everything would be alright. Her laughter still sounded the same, wrenching Venus’ heart every time she heard it like a ghost from the past. She wanted to touch those hands. Wanted to see the princess smile for her, because of her. Serenity was everything. And this had been the hardest thing she had ever done since losing her.

And now Jupiter and Mercury got to talk to her while she didn’t?

“Do you think she… remembers? Is that why she’s drawn to you both?” she asked, after forcing her mind to clear the distracting thoughts. Right now it didn’t matter what she felt. It never mattered what she felt; the only important thing was the mission. And the princess.

Her heart went cold at the idea that Usagi would go straight into the potential enemy trap.

“At any rate, we can’t let her into the shop before we’ve cleared it. Since you’ve now talked, join her. One of you needs to ask her to stop by elsewhere on the way. Someplace she likes and can’t resist, like the arcade. Say there’s a new game or something that you just have to try. Make something up. I trust Mercury could manage that much after her previous failure.”

Venus knew she was being a bit harsh, but it seemed her emotion was still getting the better of her. “And then the rest of us can check the jewelry shop quickly before she gets there.”

It didn't show on her face, but Jupiter could guess that Venus was definitely bothered by the news. She knew how hard Venus took Princess Serenity's death, and how focused she was on protecting her this time. It hurt them all to not be able to freely approach Serenity, but it hurt Venus the most.

"Maybe she does, but I'm not sure," Jupiter said. "She didn't mention anything about recognizing us from somewhere, so it could have just been a coincidence." She listened to Venus's new plan and nodded, noting her subtle jab at Mercury's skill. Venus may be good at controlling her emotions, but it didn't take much effort to pick out the hidden anger in her tone. Whenever they all met up again, they were definitely going to get an earful from her... 

"Right, we'll distract her. I'll pass on the message to Mercury and Luna, and then meet up at the shop," she said. Maybe if Mercury went with Usagi to the arcade, Jupiter could try to take some of the blame off of her fellow senshi....

Venus was relieved to hear that Serenity—Usagi, she had to keep reminding herself—didn’t seem to have recollections of the senshi. “Still, if we remain close to her… we might awaken her… and that’s dangerous.” She sighed, wishing she could undo this whole thing. That was another reason why they were supposed to keep their distance.

“Alright then. Go tell them, and I’ll head to the shop right now. I’ll tell Mars to meet me there. And…” she paused, wondering what else she could say to fix this. The truth was the damage was already done. Giving up, Venus finally settled for, “Be careful,” and ended the connection at that.

She contacted Mars next, and moved briskly in the direction of the jewelry shop. Now that the plan had been moved up, she was anxious to get this threat neutralized before Usagi got dragged into the potential danger.

Mercury remained quiet as she ate the lunch Jupiter had packed, not bothering to look up at Serenity or any of the others. Her eyes only flickered to Jupiter at the mention of a jewelry store, which both senshi seemed to pick up on. They had to keep Serenity away from there at all costs. 

Thankfully, break period ended and Mercury was finally able to get away from her princess. Being in her presence was just too painful...and it made her feel guilty. Not only for allowing her to die in the past, but for putting her in danger in the present. 

The rest of the day went by monotonously, and Mercury couldn't have been happier to head outside to where she knew Jupiter was waiting. A small smile was forming on Mercury's lips at the sight of the tall woman's chocolate ponytail, but the smile soon faded when she saw the look on her comrade's face. 

And the communicator in her hand.

Cautiously, Mercury approached, listening intently to the words coming from the small device. 

"I trust Mercury can manage that much after her previous failure."


Feeling angry and betrayed, it took every ounce of Mercury's will not to storm up and snatch the device away from Jupiter and shout at Venus. Did she have any idea what it was like to see Serenity every single day and be so close to her that they could practically hug if they wanted to? Did she have to face the princess the way Mercury had to today? Venus had no idea what she was talking about - at least she hadn't had to speak to Serenity directly. She had friends, a club, a hobby, something to distract her. What did Mercury have? Nothing. 

But Venus was right. She had failed. She should have tried harder to refuse Serenity's persistence. But she didn't. Why? Because there was always a part of her that wanted to be Serenity's friend in this life. She wanted her princess, wanted her best friend back. It hurt to see her so happy without the senshi in her life, even though Mercury knew that was the best way to keep her safe.

Seeing that the conversation had finally ended, Mercury approached and feigned her usual small smile. "Hey. Ready to go check out the store?"

As the call cut off, Jupiter sighed and tucked the communicator back in her pocket. It really was important that Usagi stayed herself and didn't become the princess she was in the past. If she had the Silver Crystal within her (as they suspected she might), regaining her memories could trigger its release, and then the Dark Kingdom would be able to find her and the powerful gem in an instant. The senshi had been careful for a whole year, but they needed to be even more careful now. One wrong step could set all of Queen Metallia's forces on them before they were prepared to face her.

Jupiter turned back around when she noticed that Mercury had found her, cheering up a little.

"There you are," she said, smiling back. "Not quite. Venus just called to check on us, and we're changing the plan now. We need to distract the princess and delay her from going to the jewelry store so we can see if it's dangerous. Do you think you can figure out a way to keep her in one place for a while? Venus had suggested the arcade..." Jupiter hadn't gone in herself, but there were supposed to be games of some sort in there, and food too.

It was all Mercury could do not to cringe. The thought of staying with Serenity at the arcade of all places was too agonizing to bear. No doubt her princess would talk to her, and try to involve her in whatever it was she was doing, and smile, and Mercury didn't know if she could handle that. But she knew it would be stupid to say so. This was her punishment, and she needed to accept it.

The thought of the reprimanding she would be getting from Venus later on in the day made Mercury feel even worse. After spending time with Serenity at the arcade, the ridiculous blonde would assume they were actually friends, and that wasn't good. And it was all Mercury's fault.

"Oh. Yeah, that's fine. I'll wait for her here, and you can go on ahead. Be careful, okay?"

"That's the second time in five minutes I've been told to be careful. Is there something going on that the rest of you aren't telling me?" Jupiter asked, teasing her. She placed a gentle hand on Mercury's shoulder. "But really, I'll be fine. Let's just make sure Serenity's safe for today, alright? I'll see you later..." Jupiter picked up her bag and ran off towards the gate, a few students hurrying to move out of her way when she didn't dodge around them. Sitting on the school wall was a familiar black cat, and Jupiter stopped to see her.

Luna meowed and jumped down to balance on Jupiter's shoulder.

"We're going to look at the jewelry store right now, Luna. Can you stay with Mercury while she keeps the princess busy?" she asked under her breath, rubbing the cat's head to cover up their whispering. Luna nodded. 

"I'm assuming something went wrong?" she said. "I saw you two speaking to her at lunch today..." 

"It's nothing big, we just need to make sure there's no Dark Kingdom activity before she goes anywhere near it."

"Alright, I'll accompany them. Just fill me in on what you find later." Luna jumped back onto the wall, and then dropped down to the other side. Seeing Mercury, she slipped between people's legs to cut across the courtyard to her, rubbing against the senshi to grab her attention. After seeing Luna disappear into the crowd, Jupiter continued down the street towards the Osa-P shop in hopes of meeting Venus there in a timely manner.

Mars and Venus stood outside the jewelry store, and suddenly Venus did wish Mercury was here. Or at least her computer. That would be helpful in detecting if they had any dark energy readings in this area. She wondered if Jupiter would be the one sticking with Usagi in the arcade, or if it was going to be Mercury. Jupiter was generally better at handling conversation, but maybe Mercury could distract the princess long enough with her skill at video games.

Venus looked at the huge sale signs and the overcrowded shop, trying to see anything unusual. Everything seemed to be quite normal, if a bit more chaotic than she would expect a jewelry shop to be. But then again, they seemed to be holding big sales. She supposed that in itself was suspicious… the price cuts were rather large, which begged the question why? Were they closing up shop? There was no ‘clearance’ sign anywhere or anything stating that these were to be the shop’s last days.

Artemis appeared from the corner and approached them. Venus picked him up so that they could talk without needing to be loud and alerting others to the cat’s unusual ability. “This is the shop, right?” Venus confirmed. Artemis nodded, narrowing his eyes as he, too, scanned the area.

“Mars… do you feel anything?” Venus turned to the other senshi. If Mercury wasn’t here to provide the scientific readings, then Mars was the best alternative with her psychic reading.

Mars eyed the items in the store for a moment. “I’m definitely feeling something. Dark energy. The enemy has definitely touched this shop.”

Venus felt her heart beating slightly faster. On one hand, she was glad to finally have some action. The sooner they eradicated the enemy, the sooner the princess could be safe. But on the other, the situation just grew way more dangerous for Usagi to be even around here.

“We need to find a way to lure them out. They must be after something, but… why a jewelry shop?” she frowned. “Could they hope to find the Silver Crystal here?”

That was a dumb plan, right? Something as important as that wouldn’t just be lying around in someone’s jewelry shop. She decided to wait for one of the other senshi got here before formulating a plan.

Usagi had enjoyed the lunch she had spent with Makoto-chan and Ami-chan, despite the fact that the later had been much quieter than Usagi had anticipated. That's was fine though, sometimes it took a while for people to warm up and Usagi did just put this on them at the last moment! Despite that, she had enjoyed herself immensely. She couldn’t help but wonder if she could get them to join her for lunch again. Maybe next time she could get Ami-chan to participate in the conversation?
 
As the day wore on, Usagi found herself glancing at the clock often, humming with barely suppressed energy. She couldn’t wait to go to Naru-chan’s family’s shop. She had said they items that even students like them could afford! While she had been looking in her bag for more food, Usagi had found some money from the last time she had gone shopping. She had stuffed the change in her bag, completely forgetting about it. At least now she could buy something pretty! It would be the last of her allowance for the month, but it would be worth it, right?
 
With the bell finally ringing, signalling the end of the day, Usagi grabbed her stuff and raced towards her locker. She couldn’t see Makoto-chan or Ami-chan anywhere in the school, so she decided to head to the entrance, thinking it would be the best place to wait for them. Nodding to herself, she took off, completely forgetting to grab her homework and bring it home with her.
 
“Ami-chan! There you are!” She called out as she spotted her new friends. Grinning, she began to job towards them, wanting to get a move on. Her attention focused on the people infront of her, she never saw the small hole in the concrete. Foot catching, she could feel herself falling.
 

Usagi hit the ground hard on her knees and hands, thankful that she hadn’t face planted on the ground infront of her new friends. This was embarrassing enough! What would they think of her if she had landed on her face?!? As the pain began to make itself known, Usagi could feel tears stinging her eyes and her lips began to tremble. No, no, she wouldn’t cry, not this time. She was tired of everyone calling her a cry baby and she didn’t want her new friends to think she was one either. 

The hand Jupiter placed on her shoulder was warm and comforting. It was what she needed. Well, it was nice having at least one person who didn't see her as a failure. But then the hand was gone, and Mercury was suddenly alone. 

A shiver ran down her spine, even though it was a beautiful day and not even cold out. She was going to have to face her princess again, and try to distract her and act natural. She couldn't even bring herself to talk today during lunch, so how could she be expected to occupy the energetic girl?

She felt something soft at her feet, and upon looking down, Mercury spotted Luna. "Hello Luna," she said quietly, looking back up at the school doors. "I'm just waiting on Sere - er - Usagi."

Sighing, Mercury braced herself as she saw Serenity leaving the school. It took her completely by surprise when the blonde teenager tripped and fell, smacking her hands against the ground. Gasping, Mercury rushed to her aid. 

"Tsukino-san! Are you alright? Please don't cry, you're okay, see? I'm sure no one saw," Mercury said, placing her hands on Serenity's shoulders. "Here, how about you and I go to the arcade for a bit? I'll get you a milkshake and you can show me around. Does that sound good?"

Mercury was so panicked that words were just flying out of her mouth. Her princess was hurt, her princess was crying. But thankfully, there didn't seem to be any serious injuries, other than the wound to her princess's pride.

Trying to remember exactly where the shop was, Jupiter ran around a street corner and stopped short, narrowly avoiding a collision with a crowd of women.

"What the-?" She strained to look over their heads, and saw the crowd slowly filing into a jewelry store. This must be it then... Spotting Mars and Venus standing closer to the actual entrance, she narrowed her eyes and started forcing her way through the crowd. She got a few rude comments and glares, but she steadily ignored them. With some difficulty, Jupiter stumbled out on the other side of the sea of people, right next to Mars. "Mercury is with the Princess.." she said, straightening her school uniform. "So..are we just going to walk in and look around?" Jupiter asked, turning to Venus. 

The thought of finally getting to fight the Dark Kingdom excited her, after a year without any real battles. They could barely train without risking attracting unwanted attention, and she was starting to get cabin fever going from school to her small apartment with nothing in between. 

---

Luna's ears fell back and she followed Mercury to check on Usagi. She was even more klutzy in this incarnation, she thought. Luna had seen more than a fair share of Usagi's falls over the last year, but none of them had been very serious. Mercury's reaction was a little more concerning. It seemed that years of caring for the princess had made her response to Usagi being in danger almost automatic. That kind of reflex could create suspicion... 

Keeping up her pet act, Luna purred and rubbed against Usagi, encouraging her to get up with a wide eyed stare.