"Sorry I'm late!" Makoto said, walking into Rei's bedroom. The senshi were all gathered at the shrine after school to study, but it tended to just turn into a hang out day in about an hour. 

"I had to make sure the Gardening Club watered the plants right. But check out what I found!" Makoto sat down at the low table and set a gossip magazine in front of her. "I saw it at a news stand, and it's supposed to have an article about us. The Sailor Senshi, I mean. Some kind of popularity poll, I think..." 

On the cover, in big letters, it was advertising the magazine's "Japan's Top Senshi" poll results. 

"I didn't look at what it said yet," she admitted. "But it does make me curious about what people think of us."

Ami looked up when Mako walked in, smiling when she saw her friend joining them. She might just be reading on her own sometimes, but she preferred it when all her friends were there around her while she did so—it gave her comfort. She looked at the magazine Mako had procured with curiosity, especially when Mako said it had an article about them. Did Rei make it into a magazine again? Or was there another exam result with Ami’s own name on it? Had Minako aced an audition and started her career without telling them?

Then her eyes caught the title on the cover and she blinked in surprise. Top Senshi?

Ami was admittedly curious, but she would not be one of the more excited people about this; for her, it was a passing curiosity more than anything, so she waited to see how the others would react.

Usagi craned her neck from her upside-down position near Rei's bed, briefly removing her nose from where it had been buried in a manga volume. Her legs were looped awkwardly across the bed; her back flat against the floor; her body surrounded by her long pigtails all over the tatami mats. Exactly the sort of thing that the shrine maiden, their host for these get-togethers, always complained about. That was never enough to stop Usagi.

"Ooooh, a poll!" she squealed, attempting to roll over and getting caught instead in her own hair and clothing. "I love those!"

It's true, she did; she always responded to magazine polls and queries, even though sometimes she forgot to mail the forms in until long after the deadlines had passed. This sounded pretty interesting—she found herself newly wondering what people must think of the sailor soldiers now that it had been a little while since they had been called to fight against evil.

"What does it say?!"

[will add RP-Header later]

Worried about her homework and lost in thoughts, desperately searching for a solution, just mere seconds ago, Rei raised her head and looked at the door with surprise when all of a sudden Makoto rushed in and sat down in front of the table, a gossip magazine leading the way. Rei gave her best staying as indifferent as possible, however, no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t help but give a questioning look to the others, considering that papers like these were usually nothing that really aroused Makoto’s interest.

Just what did that magazine have to offer… that she would actually halt at a news stand to take a look at it? Yes, what did that magazine have to offer that she would even spend money for it at the end? If it could have been some recipes that caught her interest?

“It's supposed to have an article about us. The Sailor Senshi, I mean.”

Rei’s eyes widened, a slight smile appearing on her face and her worries about the homework gradually fading into the background as she kept on listening. An article about them? Well, if these weren’t some great news, then what was?!

“Some kind of popularity poll, I think.”

…and with every word Makoto uttered, things were getting more and more interesting.
“Let me take a look!” She eventually just said impatiently and reached out her hands for the magazine to open the right page. Without a doubt, she had to be somewhere on top of the poll.

When Rei flipped to the correct page, they could all see a brightly colored two page spread dedicated to the sailor senshi. And in bewteen the images of senshi taken by reporters over the years, the poll information was listed.

"Whaaaaaaaaat, I'm only number 4? How did Chibi Usa get number 2?" Usagi exclaimed, immediately drawn to those key points of information.

"Awww, Ami-chan is number 1! Just like for the exams!" At least that bit of information was something she could feel excited over. It was hard for her to feel much jealousy towards someone so sweet. Chibi Usa, on the other hand...

"Who voted these votes?! How could so many people think Chibi Usa is so much better than me?" There was a hint of panic in the blonde's whining voice.

She may have grown up, but that sense of rivalry against her future daughter (at least when said future daughter kept coming back to the 20th century) had faded but not disappeared. She was Sailor Moon—the Sailor Moon. The one with the Silver Crystal! The one who was going to rule Crystal Tokyo someday! How could the public not think she was cooler than the little kid!?

When Makoto had first told them about the poll, Minako had been so confident that she would be on it. She was the Goddess of Love and Beauty how could she possibly NOT be on that poll? She waited with eager anticipation as Rei flipped to the correct page, shifting herself to lean closer to her friend so she could clearly read the results. 

First place, Mercury, okay, a bit of a surprise there, but Ami-chan was pretty great. Chibiusa was next. Well, she was adorable, so Minako had to give the people of Japan that. Next came Rei-chan, who with her quiet and serious ways was a beauty onto herself. No surprise there, while her friend wanted no man, Minako had seen the looks her friend received from the opposite sex. Usagi was in fourth, which didn't surprise her. She figured her friend would make the list, being the Princess, not that anyone else knew that, but she was the one that ultimately defeated the bad guy du jour. Fully expecting to see her name last, Mianko was dumbfounded when she saw Makoto's name and not her own.

How was it possible that she wasn't on the list? Was there some sort of mistake?  Did the people really not like her? In complete shock, she sat back, mouth hanging open in surprise. How was she not on that list? She was Minako, she was amazing, and as Sailor Venus she was even more amazing.

"Oooh, let me see!" Makoto stood up in her knees to look over Rei and Usagi's heads. After hearing Usagi's complaints and seeing Minako's utter shock, she wanted too read this for herself. 

"Aw, dead last?" Makoto grumbled and sat back down. She didn't think she was that unpopular with the public. Wait.... if Chibiusa was on the Top 5 list, then that meant that one of them hadn't made the cut at all. She looked at the list again, and finally noticed the lack of Venus. That explained Minako's behavior. 

"Uh... I'm sure it's just a typo or something, Minako," she said, trying to comfort her.

"Yah, it has to be a typo," Minako said, forcing a grin on her face. Who would chose Chibiusa over her anyway? The kid was still in training, not a full senshi yet...right? Had she really lost to her best friends child from the future? What did that say about her? Was she even worth being a senshi?

Usagi's dramatic face was almost a perfect representation of a crying kaomoji: o(╥﹏╥)o

The pigtailed blonde wiggled closer to Minako, her ears having caught the conversation between the pair. If anyone was ready to provide sympathy, it was Usagi. After all, did she and Minako not generally share so much anyway? If they could be together to support each other when they failed exams, Usagi figured should be able to do the same if they failed being recognized for how cute and wonderful they really were.

"Minako-channnnnn!" Usagi exclaimed, her tear-filled eyes not fooled (or perhaps simply not registering) the other girl's forced smile. "Mako-chan!"

"All of us! Betrayed! By my own future daughter...!"

This fate was just too cruel! She leaned towards both of them for hugs, intent on seeking whatever comfort could be shared in their collective low rankings.

The others quickly fought over each other to see the magazine’s poll, and Ami smiled fondly at her friend’s antics. She remained seated where she was, thinking she probably wouldn’t be anywhere near the top of the list if this was about their senshi alter ego. Her friends were by far more interesting than her. Minako, who had been Sailor V, had a head start popularity-wise, so Ami expected her to be around the top, if not at the very peak. Usagi was Sailor Moon, the one who had always saved everyone. She had a good chance of being in the lead, as well. Mako was the strong Sailor Jupiter—she would no doubt have a lot of admirers. And Rei? Rei was the fabulous Sailor Mars, strong in both spirit and magic, the soldier of war herself. What was Ami compared to the rest of them? She just provided the tactical support. The backup.

But her musings were broken by Usagi’s exclamation about her being number 1. Wait, what?

Ami did a double take and finally, her attention turned toward the other girls clustered around the magazine. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” Her curiosity finally pulled her to the page itself, after fighting her way through the others.

Her eyes widened when she saw that Usagi was telling the truth. Sailor Mercury’s name was indeed on the first position, for some inexplicable reason. Even more surprising, Chibi Moon was on the second position. Mako was last? What travesty, who would ever put sweet Mako last? And Minako wasn’t even there.

Ami felt indignant on behalf of her friends.

“There must be a mistake,” Ami grabbed the magazine and stared at it, as if she could analyze the algorithm used behind the poll just by looking at it. Why would anyone like her best? This made no sense. Her friends were so much better!

“Everyone, this clearly isn’t accurate. I wouldn’t put too much stock on a magazine poll. We don’t even know if they did their calculations right. I could run my own poll anonymously if you like, with 100% guaranteed accurate result!”

This had nothing to do with the fact that she wanted to confirm that everyone liking her best was wrong. Not at all.

Makoto hugged both Usagi and Minako at the same time as they lamented over their low poll numbers.

"Who would have thought the public would be so cruel?" she asked, squeezing them in an over dramatic fashion. "We should demand a recount!" Ami's comment did give her a faint glimmer of hope though.

"You...you can really do that, Ami-chan?" Who needed that dumb magazine anyway? It was clearly off kilter or biased. But considering how great Ami was at keeping her cool, she probably still deserved that top spot.

Minako put on her best pleading expression as she wiggled free from Makoto's hug, and turned towards the blue haired girl. "Really, Ami-chan, can you?" 

If anyone could get them accurate results it would be Ami-chan then they would know that Minako was the #1 senshi! As she should be. She had been Sailor V for an entire year on her own fighting bad guys.

“Well, yeah. With my computer, I can put up a poll online that anyone can participate in. I’ll make sure every unique computer can only vote once, too, to minimize someone deliberately messing up the results. It’ll probably take a while to gather the results, though.” She began concocting a plan for this new, much more accurate poll.

“In the meantime, perhaps we should find a way to show everyone in Japan how great you all are, and that none of you deserve to be forgotten.”

She wiped some of the tears from her eyes, her face taking on a more determined expression.

"And Chibi Usa should be disqualified!" Usagi announced.

After all, the child wasn't here! She wasn't even from this century! She was a time-traveler and a sailor soldier-in-training and if it was going to be a "Top 5" she shouldn't be part of it! People must be thinking about her just because she's a kid—that must be it. They didn't really want to vote for her, they just felt sorry for her! So there was no reason to include her this time.

It couldn't at all be that Usagi hadn't worked through all of the jealousy she felt towards her future daughter. Or that she felt insecure and insignificant when others ranked the little girl above her, even though she loved Chibi Usa dearly and had been willing to sacrifice her own life to save the pink-haired girl even in this twisted past where Usagi wasn't quite her mother just yet. No, none of that. This was all about keeping the new poll fair, of course!

"But how are we supposed to show everyone what we can do if there aren't any monster attacks?" Makoto asked. They couldn't just walk around Tokyo for no reason...right? Or could they?

"Maybe we could give out autographs! Or show up at a big event somewhere."

Ami refrained from commenting about disqualifying Chibiusa—it seemed a bit mean, but perhaps if Chibiusa weren’t here…?

“Yeah! Maybe we can make a publicity event. Like… get to know the sailor senshi, or something. A lot of people want to know us, and maybe we can visit a children’s hospital or something to brighten up their day. I hear actors who play superheroes do that in the States and it makes them so happy. I think it would be even more wonderful if they get to meet real superheroes, no?”

Showcasing how awesome her friends were and helping children.

This was the perfect solution.

"That's a great idea, Ami-chan!" Usagi proclaimed, clapping her hands together. Of course it would be Ami who came up with such a perfect idea! They may be older now, but the blue-haired young woman was still light years ahead of the others when it came to knowledge and problem-solving. This was definitely a problem that needed solving, so of course the "girl genius" would have great ideas!

"What about Juuban Medical University Hospital?" she continued. "They built that new children's wing last year!"

It was the only one that came to mind, but it wouldn't require too much travel. Obviously there were several children's hospitals in Tokyo, but this one was in their same ward.

Soon as Usagi finished what she had to say about this a pink light appeared behind them . The one who came from inside the light was a pink-haired bunny-like with red eyes .It was Chibiusa !

"Hello everyone! I came again in the 20th century to see you all !"she said and stared at them smiling.

Usagi stumbled over in surprise.

"Ch-Chibi Usa-chan?" she exclaimed, picking herself back up awkwardly.

Her earlier comments came back to haunt her as soon as she spotted that familiar pink-pigtailed figure. It had been a long time, and she had worked out some of the rivalry and jealousy that she felt towards this time-traveling interloper... Enough that finding herself once-again face-to-face with the younger girl, she knew that her suggestion to remove Chibi Usa from the revised poll wasn't quite fair. But... ugh, but still...!

This was going to be one of those "learning experiences," Usagi groaned to herself—she could already tell.

"Wow, Chibi Usa-chan, we didn't know you were coming back!" she said... as if the younger Usagi had ever announced her arrivals from the 30th century.

"Well ,you see...I haven't told you because I was bored.So ,mommy doesn't know I'm here but please don't send me back !All I wanted was to see you again and Ikuko-mama!''And she stared(again)at USagi with the you-know-what-you-know-you-cannot-refuse-cute-puppy-eyes expression.

She wanted to resist, to tell Chibi Usa to head back home so the future-Usagi wouldn't be worrying about her daughter... but perhaps with this voyage back in time the Usagi who was now Neo Queen Serenity would already know that Chibi Usa was here in the 20th century, because now this current 20th century Usagi (herself) knew that Chibi Usa was visiting... She could feel her head spinning trying to make sense of it all. Usagi took a deep breath, shaking her head to clear those thoughts. Time travel: there was definitely a reason (...or a lot of reasons) that Pluto forbid it.

Usagi feigned grumpiness, not that anyone in the room would have been convinced, crossing her arms over her chest and tossing her pigtails.

"Fine, I guess you can stay," she ceded.

But then only seconds later she could feel the lump in her throat, just thinking about how long it had been since she last saw her future daughter. Even though she always had Shingo at home, there was definitely something missing. It was so easy to become accustomed to that other high-pitched voice. To expect to see another smiling face seated across from her at the breakfast table.

Soon she was reaching towards Chibi Usa, ready to embrace the other girl in a warm hug.

"Chibi Usa-chan, I've missed you!" she sniffled, dramatically and oh-so-Usagi-y.

"Thank you Usagi !"

Chibiusa was happy that Usagi accepted her being in the 20th century so she hugged her .Seconds later ,she saw the magazine on which the girls were fighting and jumping over conclusions .

"Anyways ,what were you talking about ?"

Of course the other girl had spotted the magazine. The pink-haired time traveler had keen eyes. Besides, the magazine itself wasn't very conspicuous. It was one of those tabloid affairs, filled with "scandal" and "gossip" and "news" designed to catch the attention of those peering through a selection of publications, and the graphic design of the booklet was intended to be eye-catching as well.

Usagi laughed nervously at Chibi Usa's question. Yes, this was certainly guilt that she was feeling for having just moments ago tried to disqualify her future daughter from their competition. She only hoped none of the others would bring it up...!

"Uh... we were just talking about...going to visit some kids at a hospital!" Makoto said, trying to save Usagi from potential embarrassment. If Chibiusa saw how high she had scored in that magazine... Not to mention how they were fighting over popularity. That wasn't very heroic...

"To do something for the community, you know? Did you want to come with us?" she asked Chibiusa. Come to think of it, the children would probably be even more excited to see someone near their age as a Sailor Senshi.