Reach Chapter 3
Title: Reach
Author: StarzAngelus
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: She always knew they were meant to be together... yet when Chibiusa finds out her parents' secret past little does she know just how familiar she's going to get with it.
Chapter Three
The first thing that caught her attention was the gentle breeze of a ceiling fan being wafted against her face, supporting the fact that she was indeed lying on her back on a not-so-comfortable bed. Her head lay resting on a single pillow, indicating that this was not her bed for she enjoyed the comfort of at least three pillows (and a few more for surrounding comfort) and she would never willingly be on her back (she had constant back-pain).
Then there was that unnatural feeling one gets when they are alone, the feeling that someone is watching you and they think you don’t know. Whoever this person was, they were obviously too close and about to be slapped for Chibiusa finally recognized the small puffs of air were not from a ceiling fan but the slow, shallow breaths of someone. She opened her eyes.
“AAAH!” she screamed as she focused on inquiring red eyes that looked scarily familiar. She was going to kill this someone. “Get off you stupid cat! Get away! Get away!”
She flailed her arms and tangled herself more into the white sheets as the irksome black cat gave out a loud screech and then jumped unceremoniously off the bed. The cat, however, refused to take the clue and stood gazing at her from the floor as if she were examining a newly-discovered species and Chibiusa did not like to be scrutinized, especially by her mother’s annoying cat! Wait, did the cat just screech?
“Shame on you, Luna. Stop pestering her. She’s had a long trip and she’s still very tired,” a soft voice said as it entered the small room. Chibiusa visibly relaxed.
“Oh, thank kami you’re here, mom,” she croaked, momentarily forgetting that she was not in her own room. She lay back down on the lumpy pillow closing her eyes. “I had this horrible nightmare where daddy was marrying this tabloid hooker and you had nothing bad to say about it. And then I went to my friend’s house and found out she was actually stalking you and dad-- she even played around with your pictures by dressing you like school-girls on crack-- and so she bashed me over the head with this light-saber-looking thingy--”
She heard an amused giggle and she couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
“Yeah, it was kind of funny, I guess, but it scared the heck out of me. Remind me to never eat powdered doughnuts before I go to bed again. ”
“I’ll be sure to. That is quite a story, dear, and apparently you aren’t fully rested, either.”
Chibiusa frowned. Was her mother coming down with a cold? What was wrong with her voice? “Mom, are you okay…?”
She felt a cool palm press against her forehead and brush her bright pink fringe back. “She’s okay, I talked to her this morning. And I want you to know that you can count on us for anything and that it is no problem that you’ll be staying with us for the next few months.”
“What are you--” Her eyes nearly bulged out of her skull as she opened them to see familiar kind, brown eyes staring down at her surrounded by a head of bright pink curly hair. “Grandma?” she gasped in disbelief.
The woman gave a mildly offended look before forming her face back into a sweet smile. “I’ll let that insult pass because I’m your aunt… more because I think my mother is a beautiful woman and being compared to her is a compliment. I just wish I had her blonde hair, you know? You and I are the only ones that got this mop of pink hair, like my grandmother.” She shook her head for emphasis, completely missing the flabbergasted look of her ‘niece.’ She quirked an eyebrow. “I have no idea how my sister came out with green hair because dad had brown hair…”
‘But Grandma Ikuko doesn’t have a sister…’
Chibiusa thought groggily. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. ‘Especially not one with green hair… oh, no, but that meant that this nightmare had to be--’
“True that my sister looks nothing like the family but I still love her, nonetheless, and especially her beautiful daughter that she has allowed to stay with us!” She placed a kiss on Chibiusa’s forehead. “Now, are you still sleepy or do you want some breakfast? It’s actually lunchtime already and since Usagi got up late-- again-- she rushed out of the house and didn’t get to eat her pancakes so there is plenty leftover.”
“U-usagi?” Chibiusa stuttered, rising from the bed slowly and stretching out her sore limbs. She looked towards the window, noting that it was mid-day.
Luna was still quietly standing inside the room and Chibiusa could have sworn that the cat’s eyes were narrowed at her in contemplation. That, however, was a silly notion, so she quickly threw out that thought because cats were animals and did not have complex thoughts or emotions.
Ikuko was a tall woman, so she easily towered over her ‘niece.’ She gave Chibiusa a sideways hug. “I know how much you would have wanted to see your cousin, but she literally got up and got ready in three minutes before dashing to school. She’ll be here this afternoon, after detention, of course, and will be super excited to see that you’re here. I tried to tell her on her way out that you arrived this morning but that girl hears nothing when she’s in a hurry. Anyway, you’ll have plenty of time to catch up since you’ll be starting school with her on Monday.”
Chibiusa felt like her stomach dropped down to the floor. “I start school on Monday?”
Ikuko wagged her finger at the shocked girl. “Don’t think you’re getting out of attending school, missy. Your mother told me what a fantastic student you are and it would be a pity to lose such a promising education. It’s the reason she left you here while she’s on her mission trip to Bangladesh. It’s dangerous there right now and it would be terrible if you caught the bird flu.”
Chibiusa was speechless. ‘That is messed up, Setsuna! You told my grandmother you were a Goodwill Ambassador? She tugged her pigtails forcefully. ‘I am going to kill you when I find out what the hell is going on here!’Ikuko remained oblivious to her future granddaughter’s inner turmoil. “I’m sure Setsuna will be fine. She is immune to the virus so she thought it her civic duty to help others who suffer from it. I’ll be downstairs warming up your pancakes. ” After giving Chibiusa one last tight hug and a kiss on the cheek, she walked out of the room and shut the door.
She was dead and she was in hell, she had to be. She looked at Luna who had still refused to move from her spot by the door. That had to be proof enough for Satan would definitely appear to her in the form of an insufferable black cat. It was the only reasonable explanation! No one ever wondered why the cat had a blatantly apparent golden crescent moon on her forehead! But she was digressing…
Pacing around the small room, Chibiusa began reviewing the evidence of her strange predicament. She was in Tokyo, that much she knew for sure, because she recognized her surroundings as her grandparent’s house in the Juuban district. She was in the guest room and not much had changed. The horrible burnt orange drapes still hung from the window in 2015... which brought up another problem-- what year was it?
She had instantly noticed the very young and wrinkle-less face of her future grandmother. She couldn’t have been no older than her own mother… Usagi. Chibiusa panicked as she thought of what that might mean-- being in a time when her mother was her age. Then there was the case with the mysterious pictures on Setsuna’s wall… was her mother really the legendary Sailor Moon?
“What is happening? And why am I here?” she whispered harshly, making sure no one outside the room could hear her. “My grandmother thinks I’m her niece and I have no idea what year it is!”
She jumped when Luna gave out a loud meow and she glared menacingly at the snooping cat. “What?” she shouted. “Why are you looking at me like that? Go away! It’s annoying and I feel like you know exactly what’s going on!” She slapped her hands against her cheeks in frustration. “Kami, now I’m turning into my mother by talking to a cat and thinking it can talk back! Just stop looking at me!”
Luna meowed. Chibiusa wanted to throw her out the window. It was a shame that cats had excellent landing skills.
“Ugh! I can’t stand this anymore! I have to get out.”
She walked out of the room, not noticing how the cat cautiously followed behind her, and quietly entered the room across the hall.
It didn’t come as a surprise that her mother’s room was a total mind-boggling mess because that was exactly how she had her room at their house. She groaned. Time travel was not possible and even if it was the consequences of such a thing would be disastrous and lead to a fatal catastrophe! Okay, maybe she was over-reacting but that was always the warning they gave in the movies. She slapped her palm against her forehead. Leave it up to her to try and make use of the logic she learned from Hollywood.
She tip-toed across the room to the white desk that was positioned against the pink-curtained window. In fact, almost the entire room was covered in various shades of pink, with the occasional white thrown in for balance (hopefully, she thought, to dispel the compulsion to have a seizure). Just as she suspected, there lay a calendar under the clutter of manga and magazines and she looked to see the date. If the messy display of red X’s were correct, it was Friday, October 22, 1993.
“Oh, Galileo, DaVinci, and Newton,” she bellowed, gripping the edge of the desk tightly. “This is not good.”
If her math was correct-- and it was-- this meant she was the exact age as her mother, which was inconvenient considering they were born on the same exact day.
She stumbled out of the room taking her head in hands, already feeling the first remnants of a powerful migraine. She should have accepted Rinko’s invitation to her house the night before and gotten drunk with the other cheerleaders instead of going to Setsuna’s house. Chibiusa’s stomach chose a perfect time to announce itself and grumbled its need for some much-needed food. She groaned when she realized her mistake of neglecting dinner the night before and instead invoking the role of a typical angry teenager. Fate was incredibly cruel.
Stepping dazedly down the Tsukino household staircase, she dragged herself down to the front entrance, through the parlor and to the kitchen where the hypnotizing scent of pancakes and bacon was calling to her. Instead of embracing the omniscient power of food and stuffing herself like an elephant, she received yet another shock when she came face-to-face with the root of all her current problems.
“You!”
“Now, I consider myself a firm man of science in this insipid, sex-crazed society, but I must admit that no subject has bewildered me beyond comprehension like that finely-formed, delectable ray of sunshine at the end of the table over there.”
He earned himself a well-deserved scoff from across the lunch table. He grinned, stuffing a forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth.
“What did she do this time? Fall face-first into your lap after entering the wrong classroom again? You were walking rather funny earlier.”
“Honestly, Mamoru, your jealousy is becoming more and more apparent, my friend,” he replied cheekily, earning a scowl in return. “But no, sadly it wasn’t that. I had the pleasure of being used as a floor mat when she was racing to class this morning. Tsukino Usagi, feel free to use my body in whatever way you please,” he cooed amorously in the direction of said girl.
Mamoru made a face of disgust. “Asanuma, I’m eating and when you make moaning noises like that, it’s nauseating.” He placed his fork back down on the disposable plate of green beans. “And you’re also fantasizing about the Odango and that is wrong on so many unapproachable levels.” He took out his Statistics textbook and placed it on the table.
“What?” Asanuma asked in incredulity, raking a hand through his tousled light-brown hair. He motioned his chin towards the end of the table where Usagi sat obliviously with her friends. “Look at those birds and tell me that you would NOT hit any of that.”
Mamoru raised an eyebrow, looking at Asanuma over the rim of his reading glasses. “They’re long-time friends, Asanuma, and they shall remain that way.”
Asanuma banged his head dramatically against the table, receiving odd looks from the surrounding students and a shake of the head from Mamoru. “Dammit, don’t remind me. I always thought you were a moron for hanging out at that kid’s place. I now know that it should be a place a worship.”
“Don’t let Motoki hear you talking like that about his precious arcade.”
“Hey now!” Asanuma cried, holding up his hands in mock defense. “If anything, I’m now declaring it worthy enough to be in the same league as the Vatican or the Louvre or the Playboy Mansion.” He pursed his lips. “Where is the apron boy of chili cheese-fries and hot girls anyway?”
“He’s doing an AP project with some of the sophomores and he said he would be in the library with Kino Makoto.”
“The tall one that looks like an Amazon goddess?” Asanuma shook his head in disbelief. “That isn’t right. That baboon doesn’t even try to score with any of them and they flock to him like a one-day clearance sale at Juuban Mall! Plus, he’s dating that uptight, bitchy college girl that called me a blundering hominid, what’s-her-name--”
“Reika,” Mamoru supplied wryly, suppressing a grin.
“Yeah, that one,” he said, stabbing his fork into his spiced chicken that looked more like dried meatloaf, a wonder of the school system’s four-star cafeteria. “Still don’t know what her problem was.”
“You were shamelessly ogling her chest.”
“Well, she shouldn’t have worn that top!” He shoved a piece of chicken in his mouth and grimaced, forcefully swallowing the poor excuse for food. “I don’t understand it. If girls don’t want us to stare at their goods, then why the hell do they wear such--”
A shriek interrupted the senior boys from their mentally-stimulating conversation and both turned their heads to the see the source-- a vibrant blonde girl sitting down at the end of the table, motioning her hands joyously towards her friends. Mamoru shook his head sadly wondering why the fates were so cruel in placing Aino Minako in his life.
“Why so glum, Mamoru?” Asanuma asked, watching the group of girls in earnest. They had all shed the required red school blazer, revealing they’re form-fitting white blouses underneath. “Didn’t get an invite to Rapunzel’s party tonight? Minako may just be a sophomore, but she knows how to throw a party.”
“No, I did. I’m not sure I’ll go, though. I have too many things to do.”
“Excuses, excuses,” he chided. “You can’t throw that crap at me. We have all the same classes, remember?”
“But I care for my academic future, which is a huge difference between you and I,” Mamoru shot back.
Asanuma rolled his eyes. “That’s not the point. Look, you are the smartest and best-looking guy here-- next to me, of course-- so there should be no excuse for your lack of social grace and a girlfriend.”
“I’m not interested in popularity or commitment.”
“You’re an idiot. And you know… Goldilocks will be there,” Asanuma added, waggling his eyebrows. He squinted towards Minako and Usagi who were talking animatedly. “I swear they could be twins.”
“Usagi’s presence has no effect on my decision to go or not go.” Mamoru rubbed his temples, his dark blue eyes staring at the fluorescent light overhead. “We all have our ambitions, Asanuma. Some want to be astronauts or secret agents, you want to get in every breathing female’s pants, and I want to be a doctor. And if that means giving up a few trivial things in order to achieve that, then so be it. I’ll have plenty of time for romance and world domination when I’m done,” he ended sarcastically.
Asanuma’s light gray eyes stared at his friend blankly. “I’m beginning to question your sexuality, my friend. It would explain a lot of questions I have stored away over the years about you.”
“Mine? What about yours? You just told me I was one of the most handsome guys at this school!”
“I’m honest, not blind. I can admit when I have a potential rival in the looks department, although in your case I am forced to let go of my anxiety because there is no way that you are better looking than I am.”
Mamoru decided to ignore that last comment and returned to his reading and the rest of his dreadful meal in hopeful peace. Asanuma wouldn’t understand anyway and Mamoru was not about to explain to him the amazing events that had taken place in the past year. He quietly cursed Motoki for not being there to help him out-- he was the only one who knew…
Asanuma grinned, believing his friend’s silence as an admission of defeat. “You’re just jealous.”
“Get away from me, you psycho!” Chibiusa screamed reaching for the butter knife on the kitchen table and aiming it towards the figure by the refrigerator. “I don’t know what you did or how you did it but I want you to change it back!”
Meioh Setsuna was standing imposingly in her grandmother’s beloved kitchen holding a long staff with a garnet orb the same color as her magenta eyes at the tip. She was dressed in a ridiculously short black sailor, school-girl outfit and knee-high boots that emphasized the long length of her dark legs. Chibiusa would have laughed at her ensemble if she wasn’t scared out of her wits at what this person could do, especially with a staff in her hand. Involuntarily, she rubbed the bump at the nape of her neck.
Not intimidated by the disgraceful substitution for a true weapon, Setsuna stepped slowly towards the terrified girl. “I came to see how you have adjusted. You are an intelligent girl and surely you have figured out where you are.”
“Where I am?” Chibiusa snarled incredulously. The butter knife shook in her hand. “I’m in the freaking Twilight Zone is where I am! You’ve brainwashed my grandma into thinking I’m her niece and God knows what else you’ve done! Maybe the rumors are true, maybe you are a witch!”
Setsuna narrowed her eyes dangerously. “I would be more careful in my choice of words if I were you, Chibiusa.”
Chibiusa’s face paled and she backed away, stunned at the striking behavior of her friend that she had never witnessed before. Her body trembled, sweat gathering on her forehead. “I-I’m sorry, but I don’t know what is happening and I would appreciate if you could explain the situation to me. Is it really 1993? Is that really my grandmother? And why are wearing that?” She gestured at Setsuna’s outfit with the butter knife. It was positively indecent and Chibiusa would rather not picture her wearing it again.
“First, I must ask you to put the knife down,” Setsuna replied smoothly.
“Put that stick down first and I’ll do it,” Chibiusa countered.
Setsuna gritted her teeth before nodding her head in agreement and setting her staff carefully on the linoleum floor. Taking her cue, Chibiusa placed the knife back on the table but stood cautiously nearby in the case that it was needed again. She raised her pink eyebrows questioningly at Setsuna.
“Secondly, I ask that you sit down. I don’t know how long this will take.”
“I’d rather stand.” ‘Just in case I need to run,’ Chibiusa added as an afterthought.
“As you wish.” Setsuna straightened her back. “I know I cannot ask you to believe what I am about to tell you considering the circumstances, but all I ask is that you listen with open ears… and an open mind.”
“Okay.” Listening didn’t hurt, right? Chibiusa fiddled with the hem of her shirt.
Setsuna began to pace back and forth, making her black boots squeak much to the annoyance of Chibiusa. “Before I go into full detail of my plans for you, I am going to take the liberty to properly introduce myself.”
‘Plans? Proper introductions!’ Chibiusa thought angrily. She vowed never to trust anyone again.
Setsuna continued, “My name is Sailor Pluto, Guardian of time and space and charged by her highness, Queen Serenity of the Silver Millennium, to stand watch at the Door of Space-Time for all eternity. I am taking a great risk just by being here and ignoring two of three rules I am never allowed to break-- not leaving my post at the gate, not traveling through time, and most importantly, NOT stopping time.”
Chibiusa hadn’t noticed at first-- nor even bothered to remember due to her frantic state-- that the house and most specifically the kitchen was completely devoid of noise and… movement. Out of the corner of her eye, she became aware of a third figure in the room standing motionless by the stove-- Ikuko. On closer observation, however, Chibiusa saw that not only was her grandmother not moving, but she had also been in the middle of something-- pouring milk into a glass. She could not mask her amazement as she noticed the white liquid floating creepily in mid-air. The shock of such a realization that perhaps the green-haired woman was not lying hit her like a million blows to her stomach.
‘Think logically and not stupidly. You are dreaming. This event defies many laws of physics and reason so, therefore, force yourself to wake up before you submit to this insanity…’“I know what you are thinking.”
“You have no idea what I’m thinking.” Chibiusa took a deep, quivering breath. ‘Play along. To survive you must adapt…’
“You think this is all a dream.” Setsuna had stopped pacing and was now standing directly in front of Chibiusa.
‘I can be smart about this.’ She fixed her mind with determination. “But you said you have only broken two rules, and if my sight does not deceive me, you have stopped time, as well. Don’t think you can get things past me.”
“I would never be foolish enough to believe such a thing, but I am not lying to you. I have not stopped time. I have merely manipulated it, slowing it down to an almost complete stop, enough to not be visible to the naked eye.”
“Okay,” the teenager uttered, fixing her dark eyes on stack of pancakes placed temptingly on the table. She mentally chastised herself for thinking that she could outwit the secretive Senshi. “I suppose I’ll give you that one.” There was no need to beat around the bush any longer. “Why am I here?”
Setsuna smiled, almost as eerily as she had done the night before. “I cannot directly interfere with time and--”
“Why not?”
“I guard time, not control it. I am its guardian and any change that I would cause voluntarily would be perceived as an error to the timeline and it would automatically fix itself. It would be as if the event had not occurred at all. This presents a great problem to our future and that is where your help comes in.”
Chibiusa eyed her wearily. “But why me? Why can’t someone else help? You say you are Sailor Pluto and the stories of the Sailor Senshi only include the inner planets and Jupiter. Isn’t there some other extra Senshi like Saturn or Neptune that could have done this instead?”
“Clever girl,” Setsuna observed, impressed. “However, I do not recall saying that you would be the only one involved.”
“So there are others?”
“For the sake of this mission and discretion, I’m afraid I cannot answer that.”
“Fine,” Chibiusa relented, hating how people had to be so cryptic. “But you haven’t told me why I’m needed.”
“Because of your will. I cannot force an individual to travel through time, they have to do it willingly.”
“I never said I wanted to go back in time!”
“Yes you did. Do you not remember saying that you would do ‘anything to keep this from happening?’”
She did remember and the stupid sayings of ‘Be careful what you say’ plagued her mind. She wanted to scream or pull her hair out or take the white staff off the floor and whack Setsuna’s head with it repeatedly for being a misleading miscreant. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “So you tricked me with that talk about my parents so you could follow through with your devious plans?”
“Yes,” came the dry reply.
Chibiusa let her jaw drop unpleasantly. At least she could always count on Setsuna to be so blunt. “And just what are your plans? They better be damn good because I do not appreciate being used!”
Seemingly unaffected by Chibiusa’s outburst, Setsuna stood calmly in front of the irate teenager, smiling pleasantly. “I was beginning to wonder when you would ask the most important question since we should not delay any longer. Time does not appreciate being meddled with and the quicker a change is done, the better.” She placed her hand on Chibiusa’s shoulder, forcing her to sit on the kitchen table. “For this you should be seated.”
“But I don’t want--” Chibiusa began to protest.
“Shh,” Setsuna ordered, placing her gloved finger on her lips. “You will listen and keep your mouth shut because I will only explain this once. You are as stubborn as your parents and it is because of their selflessness and foolishness that we are in this dilemma to begin with. Unfortunately, since you are the only person besides myself who knows them best, you are the best candidate to go through with this task. I’m not going to risk leaving the fate of our future in their hands anymore and you are going to fix what should have happened long before your birth.”
Chibiusa gulped helplessly, knowing her only option would be to comply with the mysterious Senshi of Time.
As Setsuna-- or more accurately-- Sailor Pluto began the tale of a forbidden love that had begun over a thousand years ago to the powerless Chibiusa, neither noticed the curious red eyes that had been watching them the entire time.
Author: StarzAngelus
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: She always knew they were meant to be together... yet when Chibiusa finds out her parents' secret past little does she know just how familiar she's going to get with it.
Chapter Three
The first thing that caught her attention was the gentle breeze of a ceiling fan being wafted against her face, supporting the fact that she was indeed lying on her back on a not-so-comfortable bed. Her head lay resting on a single pillow, indicating that this was not her bed for she enjoyed the comfort of at least three pillows (and a few more for surrounding comfort) and she would never willingly be on her back (she had constant back-pain).
Then there was that unnatural feeling one gets when they are alone, the feeling that someone is watching you and they think you don’t know. Whoever this person was, they were obviously too close and about to be slapped for Chibiusa finally recognized the small puffs of air were not from a ceiling fan but the slow, shallow breaths of someone. She opened her eyes.
“AAAH!” she screamed as she focused on inquiring red eyes that looked scarily familiar. She was going to kill this someone. “Get off you stupid cat! Get away! Get away!”
She flailed her arms and tangled herself more into the white sheets as the irksome black cat gave out a loud screech and then jumped unceremoniously off the bed. The cat, however, refused to take the clue and stood gazing at her from the floor as if she were examining a newly-discovered species and Chibiusa did not like to be scrutinized, especially by her mother’s annoying cat! Wait, did the cat just screech?
“Shame on you, Luna. Stop pestering her. She’s had a long trip and she’s still very tired,” a soft voice said as it entered the small room. Chibiusa visibly relaxed.
“Oh, thank kami you’re here, mom,” she croaked, momentarily forgetting that she was not in her own room. She lay back down on the lumpy pillow closing her eyes. “I had this horrible nightmare where daddy was marrying this tabloid hooker and you had nothing bad to say about it. And then I went to my friend’s house and found out she was actually stalking you and dad-- she even played around with your pictures by dressing you like school-girls on crack-- and so she bashed me over the head with this light-saber-looking thingy--”
She heard an amused giggle and she couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
“Yeah, it was kind of funny, I guess, but it scared the heck out of me. Remind me to never eat powdered doughnuts before I go to bed again. ”
“I’ll be sure to. That is quite a story, dear, and apparently you aren’t fully rested, either.”
Chibiusa frowned. Was her mother coming down with a cold? What was wrong with her voice? “Mom, are you okay…?”
She felt a cool palm press against her forehead and brush her bright pink fringe back. “She’s okay, I talked to her this morning. And I want you to know that you can count on us for anything and that it is no problem that you’ll be staying with us for the next few months.”
“What are you--” Her eyes nearly bulged out of her skull as she opened them to see familiar kind, brown eyes staring down at her surrounded by a head of bright pink curly hair. “Grandma?” she gasped in disbelief.
The woman gave a mildly offended look before forming her face back into a sweet smile. “I’ll let that insult pass because I’m your aunt… more because I think my mother is a beautiful woman and being compared to her is a compliment. I just wish I had her blonde hair, you know? You and I are the only ones that got this mop of pink hair, like my grandmother.” She shook her head for emphasis, completely missing the flabbergasted look of her ‘niece.’ She quirked an eyebrow. “I have no idea how my sister came out with green hair because dad had brown hair…”
‘But Grandma Ikuko doesn’t have a sister…’
Chibiusa thought groggily. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. ‘Especially not one with green hair… oh, no, but that meant that this nightmare had to be--’
“True that my sister looks nothing like the family but I still love her, nonetheless, and especially her beautiful daughter that she has allowed to stay with us!” She placed a kiss on Chibiusa’s forehead. “Now, are you still sleepy or do you want some breakfast? It’s actually lunchtime already and since Usagi got up late-- again-- she rushed out of the house and didn’t get to eat her pancakes so there is plenty leftover.”
“U-usagi?” Chibiusa stuttered, rising from the bed slowly and stretching out her sore limbs. She looked towards the window, noting that it was mid-day.
Luna was still quietly standing inside the room and Chibiusa could have sworn that the cat’s eyes were narrowed at her in contemplation. That, however, was a silly notion, so she quickly threw out that thought because cats were animals and did not have complex thoughts or emotions.
Ikuko was a tall woman, so she easily towered over her ‘niece.’ She gave Chibiusa a sideways hug. “I know how much you would have wanted to see your cousin, but she literally got up and got ready in three minutes before dashing to school. She’ll be here this afternoon, after detention, of course, and will be super excited to see that you’re here. I tried to tell her on her way out that you arrived this morning but that girl hears nothing when she’s in a hurry. Anyway, you’ll have plenty of time to catch up since you’ll be starting school with her on Monday.”
Chibiusa felt like her stomach dropped down to the floor. “I start school on Monday?”
Ikuko wagged her finger at the shocked girl. “Don’t think you’re getting out of attending school, missy. Your mother told me what a fantastic student you are and it would be a pity to lose such a promising education. It’s the reason she left you here while she’s on her mission trip to Bangladesh. It’s dangerous there right now and it would be terrible if you caught the bird flu.”
Chibiusa was speechless. ‘That is messed up, Setsuna! You told my grandmother you were a Goodwill Ambassador? She tugged her pigtails forcefully. ‘I am going to kill you when I find out what the hell is going on here!’Ikuko remained oblivious to her future granddaughter’s inner turmoil. “I’m sure Setsuna will be fine. She is immune to the virus so she thought it her civic duty to help others who suffer from it. I’ll be downstairs warming up your pancakes. ” After giving Chibiusa one last tight hug and a kiss on the cheek, she walked out of the room and shut the door.
She was dead and she was in hell, she had to be. She looked at Luna who had still refused to move from her spot by the door. That had to be proof enough for Satan would definitely appear to her in the form of an insufferable black cat. It was the only reasonable explanation! No one ever wondered why the cat had a blatantly apparent golden crescent moon on her forehead! But she was digressing…
Pacing around the small room, Chibiusa began reviewing the evidence of her strange predicament. She was in Tokyo, that much she knew for sure, because she recognized her surroundings as her grandparent’s house in the Juuban district. She was in the guest room and not much had changed. The horrible burnt orange drapes still hung from the window in 2015... which brought up another problem-- what year was it?
She had instantly noticed the very young and wrinkle-less face of her future grandmother. She couldn’t have been no older than her own mother… Usagi. Chibiusa panicked as she thought of what that might mean-- being in a time when her mother was her age. Then there was the case with the mysterious pictures on Setsuna’s wall… was her mother really the legendary Sailor Moon?
“What is happening? And why am I here?” she whispered harshly, making sure no one outside the room could hear her. “My grandmother thinks I’m her niece and I have no idea what year it is!”
She jumped when Luna gave out a loud meow and she glared menacingly at the snooping cat. “What?” she shouted. “Why are you looking at me like that? Go away! It’s annoying and I feel like you know exactly what’s going on!” She slapped her hands against her cheeks in frustration. “Kami, now I’m turning into my mother by talking to a cat and thinking it can talk back! Just stop looking at me!”
Luna meowed. Chibiusa wanted to throw her out the window. It was a shame that cats had excellent landing skills.
“Ugh! I can’t stand this anymore! I have to get out.”
She walked out of the room, not noticing how the cat cautiously followed behind her, and quietly entered the room across the hall.
It didn’t come as a surprise that her mother’s room was a total mind-boggling mess because that was exactly how she had her room at their house. She groaned. Time travel was not possible and even if it was the consequences of such a thing would be disastrous and lead to a fatal catastrophe! Okay, maybe she was over-reacting but that was always the warning they gave in the movies. She slapped her palm against her forehead. Leave it up to her to try and make use of the logic she learned from Hollywood.
She tip-toed across the room to the white desk that was positioned against the pink-curtained window. In fact, almost the entire room was covered in various shades of pink, with the occasional white thrown in for balance (hopefully, she thought, to dispel the compulsion to have a seizure). Just as she suspected, there lay a calendar under the clutter of manga and magazines and she looked to see the date. If the messy display of red X’s were correct, it was Friday, October 22, 1993.
“Oh, Galileo, DaVinci, and Newton,” she bellowed, gripping the edge of the desk tightly. “This is not good.”
If her math was correct-- and it was-- this meant she was the exact age as her mother, which was inconvenient considering they were born on the same exact day.
She stumbled out of the room taking her head in hands, already feeling the first remnants of a powerful migraine. She should have accepted Rinko’s invitation to her house the night before and gotten drunk with the other cheerleaders instead of going to Setsuna’s house. Chibiusa’s stomach chose a perfect time to announce itself and grumbled its need for some much-needed food. She groaned when she realized her mistake of neglecting dinner the night before and instead invoking the role of a typical angry teenager. Fate was incredibly cruel.
Stepping dazedly down the Tsukino household staircase, she dragged herself down to the front entrance, through the parlor and to the kitchen where the hypnotizing scent of pancakes and bacon was calling to her. Instead of embracing the omniscient power of food and stuffing herself like an elephant, she received yet another shock when she came face-to-face with the root of all her current problems.
“You!”
“Now, I consider myself a firm man of science in this insipid, sex-crazed society, but I must admit that no subject has bewildered me beyond comprehension like that finely-formed, delectable ray of sunshine at the end of the table over there.”
He earned himself a well-deserved scoff from across the lunch table. He grinned, stuffing a forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth.
“What did she do this time? Fall face-first into your lap after entering the wrong classroom again? You were walking rather funny earlier.”
“Honestly, Mamoru, your jealousy is becoming more and more apparent, my friend,” he replied cheekily, earning a scowl in return. “But no, sadly it wasn’t that. I had the pleasure of being used as a floor mat when she was racing to class this morning. Tsukino Usagi, feel free to use my body in whatever way you please,” he cooed amorously in the direction of said girl.
Mamoru made a face of disgust. “Asanuma, I’m eating and when you make moaning noises like that, it’s nauseating.” He placed his fork back down on the disposable plate of green beans. “And you’re also fantasizing about the Odango and that is wrong on so many unapproachable levels.” He took out his Statistics textbook and placed it on the table.
“What?” Asanuma asked in incredulity, raking a hand through his tousled light-brown hair. He motioned his chin towards the end of the table where Usagi sat obliviously with her friends. “Look at those birds and tell me that you would NOT hit any of that.”
Mamoru raised an eyebrow, looking at Asanuma over the rim of his reading glasses. “They’re long-time friends, Asanuma, and they shall remain that way.”
Asanuma banged his head dramatically against the table, receiving odd looks from the surrounding students and a shake of the head from Mamoru. “Dammit, don’t remind me. I always thought you were a moron for hanging out at that kid’s place. I now know that it should be a place a worship.”
“Don’t let Motoki hear you talking like that about his precious arcade.”
“Hey now!” Asanuma cried, holding up his hands in mock defense. “If anything, I’m now declaring it worthy enough to be in the same league as the Vatican or the Louvre or the Playboy Mansion.” He pursed his lips. “Where is the apron boy of chili cheese-fries and hot girls anyway?”
“He’s doing an AP project with some of the sophomores and he said he would be in the library with Kino Makoto.”
“The tall one that looks like an Amazon goddess?” Asanuma shook his head in disbelief. “That isn’t right. That baboon doesn’t even try to score with any of them and they flock to him like a one-day clearance sale at Juuban Mall! Plus, he’s dating that uptight, bitchy college girl that called me a blundering hominid, what’s-her-name--”
“Reika,” Mamoru supplied wryly, suppressing a grin.
“Yeah, that one,” he said, stabbing his fork into his spiced chicken that looked more like dried meatloaf, a wonder of the school system’s four-star cafeteria. “Still don’t know what her problem was.”
“You were shamelessly ogling her chest.”
“Well, she shouldn’t have worn that top!” He shoved a piece of chicken in his mouth and grimaced, forcefully swallowing the poor excuse for food. “I don’t understand it. If girls don’t want us to stare at their goods, then why the hell do they wear such--”
A shriek interrupted the senior boys from their mentally-stimulating conversation and both turned their heads to the see the source-- a vibrant blonde girl sitting down at the end of the table, motioning her hands joyously towards her friends. Mamoru shook his head sadly wondering why the fates were so cruel in placing Aino Minako in his life.
“Why so glum, Mamoru?” Asanuma asked, watching the group of girls in earnest. They had all shed the required red school blazer, revealing they’re form-fitting white blouses underneath. “Didn’t get an invite to Rapunzel’s party tonight? Minako may just be a sophomore, but she knows how to throw a party.”
“No, I did. I’m not sure I’ll go, though. I have too many things to do.”
“Excuses, excuses,” he chided. “You can’t throw that crap at me. We have all the same classes, remember?”
“But I care for my academic future, which is a huge difference between you and I,” Mamoru shot back.
Asanuma rolled his eyes. “That’s not the point. Look, you are the smartest and best-looking guy here-- next to me, of course-- so there should be no excuse for your lack of social grace and a girlfriend.”
“I’m not interested in popularity or commitment.”
“You’re an idiot. And you know… Goldilocks will be there,” Asanuma added, waggling his eyebrows. He squinted towards Minako and Usagi who were talking animatedly. “I swear they could be twins.”
“Usagi’s presence has no effect on my decision to go or not go.” Mamoru rubbed his temples, his dark blue eyes staring at the fluorescent light overhead. “We all have our ambitions, Asanuma. Some want to be astronauts or secret agents, you want to get in every breathing female’s pants, and I want to be a doctor. And if that means giving up a few trivial things in order to achieve that, then so be it. I’ll have plenty of time for romance and world domination when I’m done,” he ended sarcastically.
Asanuma’s light gray eyes stared at his friend blankly. “I’m beginning to question your sexuality, my friend. It would explain a lot of questions I have stored away over the years about you.”
“Mine? What about yours? You just told me I was one of the most handsome guys at this school!”
“I’m honest, not blind. I can admit when I have a potential rival in the looks department, although in your case I am forced to let go of my anxiety because there is no way that you are better looking than I am.”
Mamoru decided to ignore that last comment and returned to his reading and the rest of his dreadful meal in hopeful peace. Asanuma wouldn’t understand anyway and Mamoru was not about to explain to him the amazing events that had taken place in the past year. He quietly cursed Motoki for not being there to help him out-- he was the only one who knew…
Asanuma grinned, believing his friend’s silence as an admission of defeat. “You’re just jealous.”
“Get away from me, you psycho!” Chibiusa screamed reaching for the butter knife on the kitchen table and aiming it towards the figure by the refrigerator. “I don’t know what you did or how you did it but I want you to change it back!”
Meioh Setsuna was standing imposingly in her grandmother’s beloved kitchen holding a long staff with a garnet orb the same color as her magenta eyes at the tip. She was dressed in a ridiculously short black sailor, school-girl outfit and knee-high boots that emphasized the long length of her dark legs. Chibiusa would have laughed at her ensemble if she wasn’t scared out of her wits at what this person could do, especially with a staff in her hand. Involuntarily, she rubbed the bump at the nape of her neck.
Not intimidated by the disgraceful substitution for a true weapon, Setsuna stepped slowly towards the terrified girl. “I came to see how you have adjusted. You are an intelligent girl and surely you have figured out where you are.”
“Where I am?” Chibiusa snarled incredulously. The butter knife shook in her hand. “I’m in the freaking Twilight Zone is where I am! You’ve brainwashed my grandma into thinking I’m her niece and God knows what else you’ve done! Maybe the rumors are true, maybe you are a witch!”
Setsuna narrowed her eyes dangerously. “I would be more careful in my choice of words if I were you, Chibiusa.”
Chibiusa’s face paled and she backed away, stunned at the striking behavior of her friend that she had never witnessed before. Her body trembled, sweat gathering on her forehead. “I-I’m sorry, but I don’t know what is happening and I would appreciate if you could explain the situation to me. Is it really 1993? Is that really my grandmother? And why are wearing that?” She gestured at Setsuna’s outfit with the butter knife. It was positively indecent and Chibiusa would rather not picture her wearing it again.
“First, I must ask you to put the knife down,” Setsuna replied smoothly.
“Put that stick down first and I’ll do it,” Chibiusa countered.
Setsuna gritted her teeth before nodding her head in agreement and setting her staff carefully on the linoleum floor. Taking her cue, Chibiusa placed the knife back on the table but stood cautiously nearby in the case that it was needed again. She raised her pink eyebrows questioningly at Setsuna.
“Secondly, I ask that you sit down. I don’t know how long this will take.”
“I’d rather stand.” ‘Just in case I need to run,’ Chibiusa added as an afterthought.
“As you wish.” Setsuna straightened her back. “I know I cannot ask you to believe what I am about to tell you considering the circumstances, but all I ask is that you listen with open ears… and an open mind.”
“Okay.” Listening didn’t hurt, right? Chibiusa fiddled with the hem of her shirt.
Setsuna began to pace back and forth, making her black boots squeak much to the annoyance of Chibiusa. “Before I go into full detail of my plans for you, I am going to take the liberty to properly introduce myself.”
‘Plans? Proper introductions!’ Chibiusa thought angrily. She vowed never to trust anyone again.
Setsuna continued, “My name is Sailor Pluto, Guardian of time and space and charged by her highness, Queen Serenity of the Silver Millennium, to stand watch at the Door of Space-Time for all eternity. I am taking a great risk just by being here and ignoring two of three rules I am never allowed to break-- not leaving my post at the gate, not traveling through time, and most importantly, NOT stopping time.”
Chibiusa hadn’t noticed at first-- nor even bothered to remember due to her frantic state-- that the house and most specifically the kitchen was completely devoid of noise and… movement. Out of the corner of her eye, she became aware of a third figure in the room standing motionless by the stove-- Ikuko. On closer observation, however, Chibiusa saw that not only was her grandmother not moving, but she had also been in the middle of something-- pouring milk into a glass. She could not mask her amazement as she noticed the white liquid floating creepily in mid-air. The shock of such a realization that perhaps the green-haired woman was not lying hit her like a million blows to her stomach.
‘Think logically and not stupidly. You are dreaming. This event defies many laws of physics and reason so, therefore, force yourself to wake up before you submit to this insanity…’“I know what you are thinking.”
“You have no idea what I’m thinking.” Chibiusa took a deep, quivering breath. ‘Play along. To survive you must adapt…’
“You think this is all a dream.” Setsuna had stopped pacing and was now standing directly in front of Chibiusa.
‘I can be smart about this.’ She fixed her mind with determination. “But you said you have only broken two rules, and if my sight does not deceive me, you have stopped time, as well. Don’t think you can get things past me.”
“I would never be foolish enough to believe such a thing, but I am not lying to you. I have not stopped time. I have merely manipulated it, slowing it down to an almost complete stop, enough to not be visible to the naked eye.”
“Okay,” the teenager uttered, fixing her dark eyes on stack of pancakes placed temptingly on the table. She mentally chastised herself for thinking that she could outwit the secretive Senshi. “I suppose I’ll give you that one.” There was no need to beat around the bush any longer. “Why am I here?”
Setsuna smiled, almost as eerily as she had done the night before. “I cannot directly interfere with time and--”
“Why not?”
“I guard time, not control it. I am its guardian and any change that I would cause voluntarily would be perceived as an error to the timeline and it would automatically fix itself. It would be as if the event had not occurred at all. This presents a great problem to our future and that is where your help comes in.”
Chibiusa eyed her wearily. “But why me? Why can’t someone else help? You say you are Sailor Pluto and the stories of the Sailor Senshi only include the inner planets and Jupiter. Isn’t there some other extra Senshi like Saturn or Neptune that could have done this instead?”
“Clever girl,” Setsuna observed, impressed. “However, I do not recall saying that you would be the only one involved.”
“So there are others?”
“For the sake of this mission and discretion, I’m afraid I cannot answer that.”
“Fine,” Chibiusa relented, hating how people had to be so cryptic. “But you haven’t told me why I’m needed.”
“Because of your will. I cannot force an individual to travel through time, they have to do it willingly.”
“I never said I wanted to go back in time!”
“Yes you did. Do you not remember saying that you would do ‘anything to keep this from happening?’”
She did remember and the stupid sayings of ‘Be careful what you say’ plagued her mind. She wanted to scream or pull her hair out or take the white staff off the floor and whack Setsuna’s head with it repeatedly for being a misleading miscreant. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “So you tricked me with that talk about my parents so you could follow through with your devious plans?”
“Yes,” came the dry reply.
Chibiusa let her jaw drop unpleasantly. At least she could always count on Setsuna to be so blunt. “And just what are your plans? They better be damn good because I do not appreciate being used!”
Seemingly unaffected by Chibiusa’s outburst, Setsuna stood calmly in front of the irate teenager, smiling pleasantly. “I was beginning to wonder when you would ask the most important question since we should not delay any longer. Time does not appreciate being meddled with and the quicker a change is done, the better.” She placed her hand on Chibiusa’s shoulder, forcing her to sit on the kitchen table. “For this you should be seated.”
“But I don’t want--” Chibiusa began to protest.
“Shh,” Setsuna ordered, placing her gloved finger on her lips. “You will listen and keep your mouth shut because I will only explain this once. You are as stubborn as your parents and it is because of their selflessness and foolishness that we are in this dilemma to begin with. Unfortunately, since you are the only person besides myself who knows them best, you are the best candidate to go through with this task. I’m not going to risk leaving the fate of our future in their hands anymore and you are going to fix what should have happened long before your birth.”
Chibiusa gulped helplessly, knowing her only option would be to comply with the mysterious Senshi of Time.
As Setsuna-- or more accurately-- Sailor Pluto began the tale of a forbidden love that had begun over a thousand years ago to the powerless Chibiusa, neither noticed the curious red eyes that had been watching them the entire time.