Hotaru walked slowly down the street, idly watching the 
winter day pass by.  The world was gray this day, it seemed, 
with little color and activity.  It matched her mood since 
Galaxia's defeat.

     Pluto had said that Galaxia's reformation marked the end of 
the Sailor Wars and that it was the last major confrontation 
Sailor Moon would face before the coming of the Black Moon.  
Peace had come at last and all their struggles were over.

     She sighed.  Her life had become drab.  It was like the 
focus had moved away from her, once Mistress Nine was defeated.  
She, the second most powerful of the Senshi, with command of 
life and death, had contributed almost nothing to the battles 
against Galaxia.  Did she matter? Was there any point to her 
existence?

     Then a shadow fell over her.  She looked up.  Her eyes 
widened and for a moment turned as red as molten pools.  Then it 
faded.  A small smile crossed her face as she regarded the 
person in front of her.

     "It's time, isn't it?" she asked.

     "Yes," the figure with the scythe-like weapon said quietly.

*****

     Ten'ou Haruka looked over her shoulder, scanning the 
crowded street.  There were students, salary men, wives, 
mothers, kids and old folks.  Her eyes narrowed as one man in a 
black trench coat seemed to be watching her, but he turned away 
after a moment.

     Hurrying, her boots clopping against the sidewalk, she got 
to her bike.  Then she stared at it, cursing.  Someone had keyed 
it.  A long scratch ran along the gas tank, a twisting streak of 
paint-free metal.  She rubbed at it with her glove, in a vain 
hope it was just a mark, but the metal merely reflected the pale 
winter sunlight back at her.

     Growling under her breath, she mounted her bike and revved 
the engine, listening to the hum of its tuned perfection.  At 
least the creep hadn't messed with the engine.  If he had, she 
would have hunted him down and used her socket wrench in every 
way she could imagine on any orifice that came handy.

     She pulled out onto the street, and was just gunning it 
when another bike, a white one, came out of nowhere and nearly 
clipped her.

     That was the last straw.  She had been on edge all day, 
feeling unseen eyes on her.  She never saw anyone watching her, 
but the feeling had persisted, making the hackles on the back of 
her neck rise.  She knew better than to ignore such feelings.  
But all her evasions, doubling backs, and maneuvers had netted 
no stalker.  Then her bike, one of her most precious possessions 
had been defaced.  This final affront was too much.

     She roared off after the offender, determined to run his 
bike into the ground.  The biker was still in sight, and no one, 
no matter how good, could shake her once she had them in their 
sight.

     This proved true, but she found to her amazement that she 
could not gain on the punk.  Every trick she tried, every short 
cut, seemed to make no difference.  The biker matched her, stunt 
for stunt.  She threw legality to the winds and roared down the 
space between cars, weaving in and out of the downtown traffic, 
nearly slamming into a red Toyota that tried to cut off a white 
Subaru.

     The biker looked back and gave her the finger, then tore up 
an on-ramp to the highway.  So, Haruka thought, he wants to 
really try for speed.  Well, his loss.

     Haruka cut across a lane and gunned it, shifting smoothly 
through the gears.  Driving by instinct, she swerved in and 
around the traffic, keeping the white bike in sight.  The white 
biker seemed to have the same casual disregard for life and 
safety as she and again, no matter how much she pushed her 
engine, even redlining it, she gained nothing!

     Suddenly, the biker cut across four lanes of traffic, 
causing a blue Honda to lose control and almost smash into a 
semi.  Chaos suddenly reigned on the highway as cars slammed on 
their brakes, somehow miraculously avoiding an accident.  Haruka 
couldn't match it and had to pull over into the shoulder and use 
it to go back to the exit, ignoring the cursing drivers who 
shook their fists at her.  One, a young college student, even 
threw a soft drink that came nowhere near her.  She flipped him 
the bird, on the principle of the thing.

     She drove down the exit, having no real hope of finding her 
quarry, but was surprised almost instantly.  The white biker sat 
at gas station, watching her through his dark-visored helmet.

     With great deliberation, Haruka pulled into the station and 
parked in front of the white bike.  She took off her helmet, 
pulled off her gloves and walked over to the biker.

     "You think you're hot shit, don't you?" she asked.

     The biker pushed up the dark visor.  Haruka stared.

     "Tokyo Tower, three AM.  Be there."

     Then the white biker revved the engine and took off, 
leaving Haruka slack-jawed.  The biker casually reached over and 
gave her bike a push as he passed it.  Haruka paid no attention 
to the crash it made, nor the little tinkling sound of something 
breaking.

*****

     Meiou Setsuna sipped slowly at her tea as she considered 
the wintery landscape beyond her tea shop window.  As she 
watched the pale shadows cast like faded stains across the city 
by the watery sunlight, she noticed a tea leaf rise to the top 
of her drink.  A good omen, most thought.  She believed in no 
fortune.

     Then someone sat down across from her, uninvited.

     "You will not succeed," she said calmly, settling her cup 
down.  The tea leaf fell back into the murky depths of her cup.

     "Screw you," her guest replied cheerfully.

*****

     The empty concert hall resonated with the lonely notes of a 
single violin.  Mellow, yet full, they filled the vast empty 
space as Kaiou Michiru practiced, listening after each stanza to 
how the echoes died.  Then she moved a few feet and tried it 
again.

     Suddenly, her private concert was interrupted as another 
violin, this one speaking from the darkness, filled the air with 
its notes.  The song it played was dirge-like, haunting, but 
then it picked up, growing more complicated and intricate, note 
following note in one long rip, blending so fast she could 
barely discern them.  The song ended abruptly, on a challenging 
note.

     Picking up her violin, Michiru copied her antagonist's 
tune, note for note, playing as fast as could to duplicate the 
complicated song.  Then she continued beyond the end, 
improvising and spinning her music out like a net, hoping like a 
fisherman to snare her prey.

     Finally, sweating and breathing quickly, she ended with a 
flourish and waited for her opponent's answer.

     A soft click was her answer.  Click.  Click.  Click.  The 
sound of heels on the stage.  Turning, she faced a woman who had 
a violin in hand.

     Michiru's violin fell from nerveless hands, to land with a 
crunch of shattered wood.

*****

     Tokyo Tower in the dead of the night.  Across town, clocks 
suddenly hit 3:00 AM.  The soft click could almost be heard as 
hands moved and digits changed.  And then there were three 
figures, standing on the roof of the Tower's observation deck.

     The winds ruffled their short skirts and the long green 
hair of one of them.  The one with long hair held a staff in 
hand, a red orb mounted on the top.  The other two held a sword 
and a mirror.

     "It's time," Sailor Pluto said.

     "What if they don't show?" Sailor Neptune asked.

     "No fear of that, creeps," came a voice from behind them.

     Turning around, they faced their tormentors.  The biker, 
the violinist, and the tea shop customer all stood there.  They 
all were female, and also wore short-skirted uniforms and were 
wielding weapons.  They also looked familiar.

     "Well, shall we dance?" said the Sailor Uranus who had 
driven the white bike earlier.

*****

 TRIALS AND ERRORS

by Sean Gaffney and Jeffrey Hosmer

 (C) 1999 a lot of people, but mostly Naoko Takeuchi, Bandai, 
Mixxzine, and DiC.  

All fanfiction-related Plutos are either creations of the 
authors or were used with permission; see the glossary for 
details.


*****
 A little earlier, or over a thousand years later, take your 
pick.

     Yurika Tenoh-Kaioh was bored out of her mind.

     When she'd first heard that Sean and Hotaru were going to 
be throwing a party for their daughter Bridget's tenth birthday, 
she'd been very excited.  She loved parties.

     Unfortunately, this party was proving to be anything but 
fun.  The birthday girl was being doted over by Sailor Venus, 
and once Venus got a hold of you, there was no hope of getting 
away.  The others were all adults.  Yurika had asked why there 
hadn't been more kids at the party, and her parents had said 
that since Queen Serenity would be there, they weren't inviting 
anyone but the Senshi and their families.

     Yurika got up out of her chair and walked out of the room.  
No one really noticed her, they were all too busy talking.

     Therefore, Yurika decided that now was the perfect time to 
play detective.  She often did this when she was bored, though 
more often than not it got her in trouble with her parents.  But 
she'd always try again.  She KNEW she had to find the treasure, 
and that it was hidden somewhere in this house.

     She crept silently through the hallway, opening various 
doors.  One of them was especially tempting, as she knew it was 
Sean and Hotaru's bedroom.  Her parents would REALLY freak out 
if they knew she was even thinking of going in there.

     With a giggle, she quickly opened the door and sneaked into 
the room.  It was a typically dull adult room, though at least 
Sean had a stereo system here.  Looking around, she was about to 
leave again when she noticed another door, presumably to the 
closet.

     Her imagination kicked into overdrive.  This is where I 
finally find the treasure.  It's got to be here! Then I'll 
become Sailor Earth and save everyone!

     Unfortunately, opening the door just revealed a bunch of 
old clothes, and a few boxes that just had dull grownup books in 
them.  She did see another box that looked interesting...if she 
could only get to it.  It was up on the top shelf, and she was 
just too short.

     She looked around to find a chair to stand on...

*****

     The party was a big success on the adult level.  It was 
rare that the Senshi got to let their hair down like this.  Even 
Serenity was giggling as she listened to a joke of Setsuna's, 
and seemed to show a little bit of her old self.  Off in another 
corner, her daughter Usagi (once known as Chibi-Usa or Small 
Lady) was blushing furiously, as the Asteroid Senshi continued 
to have a contest to see who could embarrass her the most.  Even 
Rei had let her guard down a little, and was chatting with 
Hotaru about her execrable taste in men.

     That was why the wail from outside the room took them all 
by surprise.

     Haruka and Michiru bolted down the hall, with Rei right 
behind them.  When the rest of the party got to Sean and 
Hotaru's room, they were relieved to see that it looked like 
Yurika had only bruised her arm.  Haruka was still livid, 
however.

     "What have I told you about poking around other people's 
houses?" she hissed at her daughter.  However, Hotaru reached 
out and grabbed her shoulder, stopping her.

     "Haruka...later," she said.  Haruka looked at Hotaru for a 
moment, then sighed in acquiescence.  Hotaru reached out her 
hands, using a tiny fraction of her healing power to take care 
of Yurika's injury.

     The little girl had stopped crying, and was now looking 
around at the carnage she'd caused.  The box she wanted to get 
was now on the floor, with most of its contents spilled out 
before her.  Sean was crawling around on his hands and knees, 
trying to stuff the contents of the box back in.

     Curious, Yurika picked up one of the things that had 
fallen.  "Hey, it's Queen Serenity!"

     Sean winced, and tried to grab the tape away from her.  
"No, no, that's nothing.  Nothing to worry about, just a product 
of a time long since gone."

     A hand reached out and grabbed the video before Sean could 
get it; turning, he saw that it belonged to Serenity.  Well, I 
am now officially dead, he thought.

     She frowned as she read the label.  "Sailor Moon S, 
Episodes 90-93.  Sean, what is this?" The look in her eyes was 
mostly amusement; she knew what she was doing to him.

     Sean lowered his head, defeated.  "Hell, you know about the 
manga based on your lives.  And there are the fanfics people 
wrote about you.  Well, this is the anime.  It ran for five 
seasons, which at the time was pretty damn good."

     For once, the others did not look uncomfortable.  
Presumably they had finally gotten used to Sean springing these 
surprises on them.  In fact...Minako's eyes were gleaming.  Sean 
HATED it when that happened.

     She got down and started rooting through the box.  "Are 
there any in here with me?"

     Sean sighed.  "Yep.  The one where your heart crystal is 
taken is my favorite episode featuring you..."

     Minako frowned.  "My what?"

     Sean blinked, then REALLY began to sweat, as he realized 
what was about to happen.  "Well... um... there were a FEW 
differences between the anime and the manga..."

*****

     Sean had never seen Haruka and Michiru look angrier.  Even 
Yurika backed away from them a bit.

     "We killed them.  We killed Hotaru and Setsuna just so we 
could get to Galaxia.  And in the end, it didn't even WORK? It 
was all for NOTHING?" Sean could have swore that steam was 
coming out of Haruka's ears.

     "Well, yeah.  In the anime, that is kind of what defined 
you two.  You were always concerned about putting ends before 
means, and Usagi was the opposite.  And she always proved to be 
right.  Hell, it was her show."

     Looking around the room, he noted varying degrees of anger.  
The Outers, with the exception of his wife, all seemed livid.  
Endymion and Usagi were also looking outraged.  The others 
seemed a little more in control, though he did notice a crease 
in Serenity's forehead, which scared him more than any of the 
others.

     He tried to reason with them.  "Look, it doesn't MATTER.  
This is a fictional anime.  It didn't really happen, you know 
that."

     Setsuna just gazed at him.  "As this world is just a 
fictional manga, Sean?"

     Sean coughed.  "Point," he muttered.

     Michiru interrupted.  "There is a point to this, yes.  We 
never betrayed our friends.  Originally yes, we were egotistical 
to think that we could save the world alone.  The Silence taught 
us differently."  She pointed at the TV screen.  "But they 
didn't learn anything.  That's what I saw.  A Haruka and Michiru 
who were so proud of themselves that they had lost their 
humanity."

     Setsuna interrupted.  "Just like Pluto.  I'll admit that my 
old incarnation wasn't as emotional as I am, but..."

     Endymion spoke up.  "The fact that this world exists 
somewhere is enough.  We feel...responsible."  He took his 
wife's hand and squeezed it gently.  He had had to leave the 
room after seeing some of the things Mamoru had done on the 
screen.

     Feeling a need to bring this conversation to a close, Sean 
spoke up again.  "Look, unless Setsuna's going to take you on a 
field trip to beat on them, I don't see what can be done.  There 
is a reason I didn't show this to you, you know."

     After about ten seconds, Sean noticed that the pause in the 
conversation had gotten ominous.  He turned to Setsuna, and 
noticed a crafty look on her face.  Oh dear God, he thought.

     "Why not?" said Setsuna finally.  "I can find the dimension 
where that exists with little trouble.  And it's not as if we're 
going to be changing the past.  Just...teaching them a little 
lesson."

     Serenity got up and looked around.  "As long as you do not 
hurt them permanently."

     Haruka and Michiru looked down for a moment, ashamed.  That 
vanished when Serenity then grinned.  "I'll come along as well.  
It should be fun!"

     After about five minutes it was apparent that all the 
Senshi wanted to join in on this, even if only to watch their 
counterparts.  They quickly arranged a plan to arrive back only 
five seconds after they left, so as not to disturb Crystal 
Tokyo's rule.  The Asteroid Senshi would stay behind just in 
case; they weren't in the anime anyway.

     Sean felt as if he was suddenly the only voice of reason in 
the room.  "Um...do you have to do this right now?" he asked 
desperately as they went out the door.

     Haruka called over her head.  "Take care of Yurika while 
we're gone, Sean.  Make sure she doesn't get into trouble."

     That girl is a walking disaster area! How am I supposed to 
watch over her? he thought.  But he found himself merely nodding 
mutely.

     Hotaru gave him a kiss as she left, but Rei was the last 
one out the door.  She threw something at him as she left.  
"Guess what else was in that box, Gaffney."

     Sean looked down at the book in his hands.  LUNATIC PARTY 
3.

     Rei smiled cruelly at him.  "We'll chat later."

     As she left the house, she was extremely pleased to hear a 
loud thunk behind her as Sean's body hit the floor.

*****
 PRESENT

     "Let's," the first Sailor Uranus answered her counterpart.  
She smacked one fist into her palm and then proceeded to crack 
her knuckles.  "I've been waiting to wipe the floor with you 
impostors all evening."

     The new Sailor Neptune merely shook her head sadly.  "If 
anyone is a fake, it is you three.  Sad, pale caricatures, never 
changing or learning from your mistakes."

     "Yeah.  Were you born stupid or did you study to become as 
dumb as you are?" the new Pluto asked.

     "You do not understand our reasons--" began the first 
Sailor Pluto.

     "Boy, you'd think they'd catch on to your little schtick, 
sister," Pluto-2 said.  "Fess up! You DON'T KNOW SQUAT!"

     The first Pluto said nothing, drawing concerned glances 
from her comrades.

     "Oh, you have a little dream that SEEMS better than the 
alternatives and it SEEMS to promise happiness for everyone, but 
that's all.  It's not even the likeliest future.  But you can't 
have that.  No, not the High-and-Mighty Mistress of Time.  You 
can't have this AWESOME power without there being some purpose 
to it."  Pluto-2 twirled her Time Staff around.  "You think 'I 
can see the future and so I must make sure that the RIGHT future 
happens.' Well, there IS no 'right future.' There is no 'happily 
ever after.' And from what I can tell, none of your actions have 
done ANYTHING to bring about Crystal Tokyo."

     "The time stream--"

     "BUGGER the time stream!"

     The others could only watch in amazement as Pluto-2 
screamed at her counterpart.  Neither side could believe it, 
frozen in shock as the Mistresses of Time argued like 
schoolgirls or guests on the Jerry Springer show.

     "I do what I can to assure the time stream will remain 
intact--"

     "Have not."

     "I have too!"

     "Have NOT!"

     "Have--" Pluto-1 got a visible hold on herself.  "You are 
behaving childishly."

     "And you're not? Listen, sister, all power has its price 
and you're too chicken to pay it."

     "I paid the price.  I did that which is forbidden to me."

     "Right, stopping time.  The big forbidden act.  What price 
did you pay?"

     "I... I cannot speak of it."

     "Nothing happened, did it? Well, I stopped time too, and I 
DIED for it."

     The first Pluto turned pale.

     "Wondering how you dodged the bullet, aren't you? Well 
nothing happens to you if you stop time.  I died because I had 
to, to stop Black Lady.  You have no restrictions on yourself, 
no destiny to fulfill... but you're too scared to take the bull 
by the horns and DO something."

     Pluto-1 put her hands over her ears.  Her mouth opened and 
closed, like a landed fish and her eyes were wide and staring.  
Pluto-2 grabbed her double's hands and pulled them away.

     "Look at me!" she screamed.  "Your great big sacrifice 
accomplished NOTHING.  Oh, yeah, you got Uranus and Neptune to 
the scene, but they accomplished squat! It was Hotaru and Usagi 
who saved the day!"

     Then Pluto-2 was shoved out of the way.  "Get away from 
her!" The first Uranus yelled, pulling Pluto-1 back.  "You fakes 
have no right to judge us!"

     "We do what we have to do," Neptune-1 said.  "We do not 
like the sacrifices we must make, but--"

     "--to prevent the Silence, to prevent the end of all that 
is good, all that is decent and noble, all that is life, we will 
do whatever is required," Neptune-2 finished.  She stared 
earnestly at her duplicate.  "I understand, sister.  Oh, do we 
understand.  We faced the Silence as well.  It is terrifying to 
look into the face of death, to see the end of everything.  
Haruka and I would have done anything to stop that... but we 
didn't have to."

     Her voice grew soft.  "Usagi defeated the Silence without 
sacrificing any ideals, and moral principles... don't you see? 
There is no need for you to sell your souls so cheaply... you 
just have to trust your Princess."

     A long moment of silence stretched out.  The first trio of 
Outer Senshi stared at their duplicates.  Pluto-1 was still 
dazed, staring at the ground and trembling slightly.  She leaned 
hard on her staff, her eyes only reflecting the private hell 
that Pluto-2's words had opened up to her.

     The first Neptune met the gaze of the second, a yearning 
visible deep in her eyes.  The yearning of a soul to be clean 
once again, but despairing of ever achieving that absolution.  
The hope kindling in her gaze and the answering soft smile on 
Neptune-2's face dawned slowly, like the moment when the first 
hint of dawn touches the eastern sky.

     Then, the first Uranus spoke.  She had been looking between 
her two friends, and then at her duplicate.  As the second 
Neptune spoke, the same yearning appeared on her face.  But as 
the words sunk in, as the realization of what they meant reached 
her, disgust welled up.  She and Michiru had KILLED to achieve 
their ends.  It didn't matter that Setsuna and Hotaru had come 
back.  The stain of those deaths could not be erased.  If it 
meant nothing--

     "SHUT UP!" she screamed.  "You guys are fakes! Impostors! 
We'd NEVER say such things! We did what we HAD to do and you're 
just trying to confuse us! I'd do it ALL again if I had to."  
Energy began to gather around her Space Sword.  "I don't know 
who you are or why you're doing this, but you won't succeed.  
SPACE SWORD BLASTER!"

     The new Outers leaped away from the blast of energy that 
tore through the night.  Landing lightly on their feet, they 
faced their counterparts grimly.

     "OK," the second Uranus said.  "We tried talking... now we 
get to pound the lesson home.  Frankly, I'm glad you chose this.  
Talking just wouldn't have been as satisfying to me."  She 
slapped a fist down on the top of the Observation Deck.  "WORLD 
SHAKING!"

     The second Pluto sighed as she watched the Outers pair off, 
her counterpart approaching her with new determination evident 
on her face.  "Gee, I wonder if we really are all that different 
from them..."

*****

     "I should really--"

     "No.  It'll be all right.  Remember what I told you, 
they're not going to come to any real harm.  If it looks as if 
anything like that is happening, I'LL be the one going in there 
to stop it."

     "...all right."

     "Everything will work out.  You'll see."

*****
 About twelve hours earlier.

     Hotaru had quickly transformed, and now stood in her Senshi 
form.  Despite that, she still felt inadequate.  The Saturn that 
stood before her was a head taller than her, and had a 
confidence and strength in her that was absent in Hotaru.

     They stared at each other for almost five minutes until 
Hotaru finally broke the silence.

     "Are we going to have to fight?"

     Saturn smiled back at her.  "I don't know, are we? We don't 
have to, you know.  The others came here in order to fight, even 
if they don't admit that.  But I'm here to talk."  She waved her 
glaive away, but still kept her Senshi form.  "If you want to 
fight, we'll do it with the others.  Do you?"

     Hotaru thought about it for only a second or two.  "No.  I 
don't want to fight."  She too made her glaive disappear.

     Saturn grinned.  "Good.  I really didn't want to fight you.  
I like you a lot."  Hotaru flushed, but managed to smile back.

     "Is there somewhere we can talk?" Saturn asked.  "I don't 
think going back to Haruka and Michiru's place would be a very 
good idea at the moment, so-- "

     Hotaru interrupted her.  "I was going home anyway, let's 
talk there.  Poppa won't mind, he's used to Senshi popping in at 
odd times.  I'll just tell him that..."

     Hotaru ground to a halt as she noticed the expression on 
Saturn's face.  She had only seen that much pain in a person's 
face once or twice in her life, and she never wanted to see it 
again.  Tears were forming at the edge of Saturn's eyes, and she 
had to put a hand out to a nearby wall to steady herself.

     "That's right, I forgot," she whispered almost inaudibly.  
Then she seemed to get a hold of herself, and tried to smile 
once more.  "I think perhaps we might be better off going to a 
tea house or someplace like that."

     Hotaru wanted desperately to ask what was the matter, but 
she could see that Saturn was not yet prepared to talk.  Instead 
she merely nodded, and led the Elder Senshi down the street 
towards the coffee bar that Setsuna was usually found at.

     After a moment, however, another thought occurred to her.  
"We'd better de-transform.  Seeing Senshi running around town 
still tends to cause panic of one sort or another."

     To Hotaru's relief, the other Saturn giggled briefly, then 
quickly de-transformed.  Hotaru did likewise, and they set out 
once again.

*****

     They sat down, each nursing a small cup of tea.  This time, 
it was Saturn who broke the silence.  "You didn't seem very 
surprised to see me."

     Hotaru shrugged.  "I suspected something was going to 
happen today, but I wasn't quite sure what."  She looked up at 
her other self.  They still looked incredibly similar, despite 
the differences in age.  The elder Saturn still kept her hair 
cut in the same straight, shoulder-length cut she'd worn it in 
most of her life.  In fact, Hotaru had never seen ANY of the 
Senshi change their hairstyles.  Perhaps it was another thing 
that Setsuna had told them was fated.

     Hotaru still felt a little overwhelmed being faced with an 
older, more confident version of herself.  Still, she needed to 
know why they were here.  "Are the others here? Your Senshi?"

     Saturn's smiled slipped a bit.  "Yes.  They're much less 
confident about resolving any conflict through just talking, so 
they're just setting up a time to meet.  You don't have to worry 
about Usagi; this has nothing to do with her or her friends."

     Hotaru relaxed a bit, knowing that there wasn't going to be 
a threat to the Princess.  For some reason, she felt like she 
could trust this alternate version of herself.  "Why are you 
doing this?"

     Saturn sighed.  "We recently had occasion to see what your 
world was like, and some of us didn't like what we saw.  I 
wasn't among them.  I like you, Hotaru.  You show a kindness and 
trusting nature that Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto lack.  In fact, 
one of your big problems might be that you look up to them a 
little too much."

     Hotaru's eyes widened.  "What do you mean?"

     Saturn sighed.  "You and the other Senshi of the outer 
planets are far more powerful than the others, except for Moon, 
of course.  You can see it in the eyes of Haruka, Michiru, and 
Setsuna.  They're better, and they know it.  And you have more 
power than even they do.  It's an easy trap to fall into."

     "You're saying that they aren't better?" Hotaru mused.

     Her companion giggled.  "While they might be more powerful, 
I don't think they're better, no.  Let me ask you: if a new 
enemy appeared, one more powerful than any you'd previously 
seen, would you trust Usagi to be able to stop it?"

     Hotaru blinked, unsure where the question was leading.  
"Yes."

     Saturn smiled wryly.  "The others wouldn't."

     "What do you mean?" Hotaru asked, a touch of anger coming 
to her voice.  "They love Usagi just as much as I do."

     "I'm sure they do," replied Saturn.  "But they don't trust 
her.  They can only trust themselves.  And that's why we're 
having this fight.  Because Uranus and Neptune refuse to believe 
that there can be someone with such a capacity for love and 
forgiveness as Usagi.  Because Pluto reveals only half- truths, 
preferring to wrap herself in her cozy blanket of secrecy.  They 
don't believe in her, even after she has proven herself time and 
again."

     Hotaru was still unsure as to exactly why Saturn and her 
Senshi were here.  "And you're going to show them the error of 
their ways?"

     Laughing, Saturn nodded.  "Sorta.  When my Haruka, Michiru, 
and Setsuna saw the attitudes of their alternates, they were 
rather angry.  This is their way of blowing off steam.  But I'm 
hoping it'll do something else."

     Saturn moved closer to Hotaru, taking her hand.  "I'm not 
telling you that your friends are bad people, Hotaru.  They all 
have some wonderful qualities, as all people do.  But they're 
carrying around some excess baggage, and refuse to let it go.  
And it's making them more and hard and unyielding.  I think they 
can change their ways.  I think they NEED to.  For their own 
sakes, more than anything else."

     Hotaru thought about this.  "I want to be at this fight, in 
case something happens."

     Saturn nodded.  "Fine by me, I'll be there for the same 
reason.  Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna have promised not to do 
anything permanent to their other selves."

     The conversation had seemed to reach a close, yet neither 
of them really wanted to leave.  "Is there anything else you 
wanted to talk about?" Hotaru asked.

     Saturn remained quiet for a moment, and a flicker of the 
pain Hotaru had seen earlier flashed across her face.  Then it 
vanished, and she smiled once more.

     "Tell me about your father."

*****

     "What do you mean she's not here?!"

     "She's back in the thirtieth century.  Where she belongs, 
don't forget."

     "But I want to beat her up!"

     "Sorry."

     "AAARGH!!!"

*****

     Uranus-1 swung her Space Sword as hard as she could at her 
opponent.  The mystical weapons met with a mighty clang, but 
Uranus-2 merely smiled and performed a tricky little twist that 
nearly disarmed the first Sailor of the Wind.

     "Give it up," Uranus-2 said.  "I've got centuries on you."

     Uranus-1 growled an obscenity or two.  "What gives you the 
right to judge us?" she asked angrily.  "You're no better than 
us! You chickened out, that's all!" She backed off, swinging 
madly to keep the second sailor back.  "You were afraid to do 
the things we had to do! You didn't have the stomach for it!"

     "Didn't... have... the stomach for it?" Usanus-2 asked 
incredulously.  "You think YOU'VE had it tough?" Her Sword 
lashed out angrily, mirroring her emotions.  This young upstart 
had NO idea what sacrifice meant.  She hadn't spent centuries 
slaughtering innocent children, all so that Hotaru could come 
back one day.  She hadn't... hadn't... oh, all those young 
faces... those trusting purple eyes, so like Hotaru's... staring 
at her as she--

     Uranus-1 didn't have any idea what she had said that made 
an impact, but her opponent's attacks paused in mid-swing.  It 
wasn't much, but they weren't that out-matched.  Uranus-2 did 
have an edge in skill, but they both had the same heightened 
reflexes and speed that was theirs as Sailor Senshi.  In fact, 
Uranus-1 thought she had the slight edge in speed.  She moved to 
capitalize on her opponent's distraction.

     Uranus-2 didn't hesitate for long... just enough to be too 
late.

*****

     Pluto-1 stared at her counterpart.  "You are that 
determined to go through with this, then?"

     Pluto-2 smirked.  "Damn straight.  I'll even let you go 
first.  Go ahead."  She lowered her guard, letting her arms fall 
to her side.  "Take your best shot."

     For a moment the first Pluto considered just refusing to 
fight.  This was not the way she did things, after all.  She 
wasn't supposed to get involved.  She was there to guide the 
others, to direct them onto the correct path that fate had in 
store.  She couldn't let such petty things as emotions get in 
the way of her duty.

     That did not mean that she didn't have them, however.  And 
staring into the other Pluto's taunting face, daring her to 
attack, she could feel the anger welling up within her.  The 
hell with it, she thought.

     Raising her garnet rod, she pointed it at her counterpart.  
"dead scream," she whispered almost savagely.

     The energies swirled around the end of the staff and flew 
out in a ball towards Pluto-2.  She tried to brace herself 
against the attack, but that proved to be futile.  The energy 
picked her up and threw her across the roof, flinging her into a 
somersault.  She ended up against a wall, her legs splayed in 
the air in a most unseemly fashion.  Pluto-1 lowered her rod and 
smiled.

     Then she frowned, as the other Pluto got up slowly and 
dusted herself off, seeming to be none the worse for wear.  She 
grabbed her Time Staff from where it had fallen and walked back 
towards the center of the roof.

     "Not bad," she said, looking at Pluto-1 with a glint in her 
eye.  "Good choice of attack.  But you know, it works even 
better if you shout it."

     Pluto-1 looked up in surprise and alarm, but Pluto-2 was 
already halfway through the attack.  "DEAD SCREAM!" she shouted.

     It felt like a giant hand had suddenly reached out and 
slapped her.  She felt the energy lift her body up off the 
ground and propel it backwards, almost in a straight line.  She 
wondered how far she would go after she flew off of the roof.

     Then she stopped wondering, as her body impacted with 
another wall, the counterpart to the one where Pluto-2 had ended 
up.  She smacked into it with such force that the brickwork 
cracked, and she almost lost consciousness.

     When she could finally focus clearly again, she noted that 
she was now lying on the ground by the wall, with the other 
Pluto looking at her with no small measure of amusement in her 
eyes.  "Go ahead," she said, "you can say ouch.  I know you want 
to."

     Pluto-1's eyes narrowed, but before she could retort they 
were both brought up short by a scream.

*****

     Neptune-2 watched her opponent warily.  They were circling 
each other defensively, trying to get a feel for their opponent 
before attacking and at the same time hoping to 'psych them 
out'.  In so many subtle ways, their wills clashed.  A slight 
wrinkle of the forehead, a twitch of the eye... the signs of it 
varied, but the tension remained the same.

     "We don't have to do this," she said calmly to her 
counterpart.

     "I think we've gone beyond choice in this matter," Neptune-
1 replied.

     "Fighting doesn't really solve anything."

     "A strange attitude from a Senshi."

     Neptune-2 sighed and was about to rebut when her opponent 
took advantage of her distraction.

     "SUBMARINE REFLECTION!"

     Neptune-2 screamed as the blast of water slammed into her.  
She had never been on the receiving end of her own attack, and 
hadn't realized that it hurt THIS much.  Water filled her mouth, 
choking her.  Then she fell onto a support girder and wrenched 
her back.  It had been too long since she and the other Senshi 
had practiced.  The peaceful nature of Crystal Tokyo, demands on 
her time as a mother... Yurika, she thought dazedly.

     "Who?"

     Neptune-2 looked up at her attacker.  "What?" she asked, 
between coughs as she tried to get the water out of her lungs.

     "That name?" Disbelief, anger, and pain filled Neptune-1's 
voice.  "You can't be me.  Who is this Yurika? Your lover? 
Someone you left Haruka for?"

     Neptune-2 stared at her counterpart.  Had she ever been so 
insecure in her love for Haruka? Perhaps.  Oh, how afraid she 
had been when they first met, afraid of rejection, that Haruka 
would not fight along side her... that the link she felt between 
them would never be fulfilled.  The tension as Haruka flirted 
with other girls.  But their love had never wavered.  For 
this... this child to break off a fight... this murderer of 
friends to be so concerned about something so pointless that she 
would give her enemy a chance to recover...

     Neptune-2 began to laugh.  She laughed so hard her sides 
felt like they would burst.  The laugh quickly changed to coughs 
as her much abused lungs protested.

     Neptune-1 was taken aback.  "What's so funny?"

     "Yurika... Yurika is--" Neptune-2 tried to explain...

     Then Haruka, HER Haruka, screamed.

     Both Neptunes turned and stared in shock as Uranus-1's 
Space Sword plunged into Uranus-2's side.

     Their battle forgotten, they could all only watch as the 
Uranuses stood there, transfixed... then Uranus-1 pulled back.  
As the weapon left its victim's side, blood began to spurt from 
the wound.  It was dark in the poor lighting of the Tower, 
almost black.  Uranus-2 slumped to her knees.  One hand went to 
the wound and came away bloody.  Uranus-2 stared at it dumbly.  
Then, she turned to Neptune... the love of her life and said, as 
blood began to spill from her mouth, "Oh, crap--"

     "HARUKA!" Neptune-2 screamed, running over to her soulmate.

     Uranus-1 tried not to look at the blood staining her blade.  
As far as she knew, the Space Sword had never tasted human 
blood.  She didn't like how black it looked against the golden 
blade.  She reached out with one gloved hand and tried to wipe 
it off... but the stain would not come.  Some things, once 
tarnished, never come clean.

     "I--I thought she'd be better than that..."  Uranus-1 said, 
stuttering.  "I mean, how did she expect to fight us...?"

     "Because she had help," came a soft voice.  It was almost 
gentle, but there was pain and anger, terrible anger, in it.

     Everyone looked up.  Neo-Queen Serenity stood there, 
surrounded by her Senshi.  All of them were glaring angrily at 
Uranus-1, but Serenity was the worse.  There was anger, yes, but 
also pain... a look that cried out WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS 
TERRIBLE THING?

     Uranus wanted to look away from this beautiful, terrible 
sight, but she couldn't.  The Silver Crystal glowed brightly in 
Serenity's hand.

     "This ends NOW," Serenity said.  She stepped over to 
Uranus.  "Saturn! Come!" she commanded.  In an instant, both 
Saturns appeared in mid-motion, as if they had been running a 
second earlier.  Hotaru stopped and looked around in confusion.  
The elder Saturn, however, swiftly knelt by Haruka, her hands 
outstretched to heal.

     Serenity turned to look at the Outers.  "This will teach 
me," she said sadly, "to view the lives of others as a game.  I 
am sorry," she said to the Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus of this 
universe.  "We placed you in an untenable situation, all because 
of OUR egos.  We fell into the same trap that a friend of ours 
had, reducing you to characters in a story because that was how 
we learned of you.

     "But you are not."  Serenity took a deep breath.  "You are 
people, and we should have realized that from the start.  We had 
no right to pass judgment, or leave our world for yours, simply 
because we did not approve of your methods.  Now we must ask for 
YOUR forgiveness..."

     "Serenity-sama..."  Saturn said in a choked voice.

     Serenity closed her eyes.  Slowly, one tear fell down her 
cheek.  "I know, Hotaru-chan..."

     Neptune cradled Haruka's body in her arms, tears running 
down her cheeks.  Awful, choking sobs were being torn from her 
throat as she clutched her lover to her.  One hand gently 
stroked Haruka's short blonde hair.

*****

     Pluto-2 stood off to one side, disbelief etched on her 
face.  She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid.  She'd 
believed that if it came to a fight, it would stop before 
someone could get hurt.  She'd convinced herself that she'd be 
able to stop it if it came to that.  And now Haruka was paying 
the price.

     She had to do something now; she couldn't let this happen.  
She quickly raised her Garnet Orb and decided that it was only 
right that she pay the price for her own folly.

     But before she could do anything, a hand snaked out and 
grabbed her wrist, holding it in a grip that was one step away 
from breaking it.  She turned to see Pluto-1 staring at her, the 
anger in her eyes replaced by disgust.

     "Oh, no you don't," Pluto-1 said.  "You're not going to get 
away that easily.  This has become a far greater issue than just 
Haruka's death."

     Pluto-2 bristled at that comment.  "What are you 
suggesting?"

     "I'm suggesting that you have shown yourself too 
irresponsible to function.  You can't just kill yourself and 
expect to reincarnate to atone for your sins.  You'll have to 
pay a higher price than that."

     Pluto-2's eyes widened.  "You can't be serious!" she 
whispered.

     Instead of answering, Pluto-1 took the butt of her Time 
Staff and slammed it down onto the ground.  There was a blinding 
red flash.  When it cleared, the entire rooftop was deserted.

*****
 CLUB MED 
(or a reasonable facsimile thereof :)

     The sky was a perfect shade of blue, one that you would 
have to live a lifetime to see.  The sea was only slightly 
darker, and the foam was a startling contrast against it.  The 
beaches were covered with fine white sand that the wind and 
waves had contoured into pleasing lines.  It was not too hot, 
not too cold.  It was just right.

     It was always like that here.

     In the middle of this perfect beach, someone had set up a 
beach chair and was lying back, soaking up the sun and doing 
absolutely nothing.  She didn't move at all, she barely 
breathed.  She was very good at doing nothing, but then again 
she was very good at many things.

     She was very beautiful, with legs that went to THERE and 
pleasing curves.  Long green hair streamed down her shoulders in 
perfect waves and a pair of mirrorshades covered her eyes.  Nary 
a thought crossed her mind as she strove for a near-impossible 
state of mind: relaxation.

     She was Sailor Pluto, and as a rule, Sailor Pluto didn't 
get vacations.

     This place was an exception to a lot of rules.

     She was JUST beginning to enjoy the idea of doing nothing 
when, of course, it all went wrong.

     WHOOSH!

     Sliding her mirrorshades down her nose, she stared at the 
newcomers.  She knew who they were, of course.  She had to deal 
with them all the time.  She was not used to seeing more than 
one set of them at a time, however.  They all looked pretty 
confused, except for the two other Sailor Plutos.  Oh, well, it 
wasn't her problem.

     "Move, you're blocking the sun," she snapped.

     The Neo-Queen Serenity in the group boggled slightly.  
"Setsuna?"

     "Not YOUR Setsuna," the sunbather said.  "I'm off-duty, 
anyway, so you're not my problem.  Go bother some other Pluto, 
like the two you've got over there."

     Serenity bowed, looked confused, and moved toward the other 
two Plutos.  One of them was currently kicking sand over the 
other's boots, the sunbathing Pluto noticed.  Well, at least she 
wasn't as childish as SOME Plutos.  Then she went back to 
worshipping the sun, which thoughtfully moved to give her the 
best access to its rays.

*****

     "Now, you're going to face the Council," Pluto-1 snapped.

     "They have no right to interfere--" the sand-kicking Pluto 
said.

     "YOU are the one who had no right to--"

     "Ano--" began Queen Serenity.

     "You just knew I was going to beat you," Pluto-2 said, 
sticking out her tongue.

     "You were N--would you PLEASE stop it with the childish 
displays!"

     "Make me!"

     "Excuse me--" Serenity tried again.

     "You are being immature."

     "Yup, annoying, isn't it?" Pluto-2 said with a smile.

     Pluto-1 grasped her Time Staff.  "I'm going to--"

     A shrill piercing whistle interrupted both of them.  They 
both looked over a Neo-Queen Serenity, who had two fingers 
jammed in her mouth.  When she noticed she had their attention, 
she put her hand down and looked a little embarrassed.  She 
recovered quickly, however.  "Pluto, ONE of you, please explain 
what's going on? Where are we?"

     Pluto-1 was the first to speak.  She pointed to Pluto-2.  
"We are here, Your Majesty, because of HER carelessness.  Her 
reckless disregard got Uranus killed."  Pluto-1 looked over at 
the still sobbing form of Neptune.  She held Uranus's body, 
rocking it back and forth.  "Enough of that, we need her to 
testify."  With a wave of her hand, Pluto-1 willed Uranus's 
wound to close.

     Uranus coughed.

     Everyone, except for Pluto-2 and sunbather (who was 
studiously ignoring everything) gasped.  Neptune clutched the 
revived Uranus.

     Both Hotarus turned toward Pluto-1.  "How did you do that?" 
asked the younger one.

     "She was dead," said the older one.  "Nothing could heal 
her."

     "We are in subspace, Hotaru-chan," Pluto-1 said.  "This 
place is not bound by the rules of time and space.  When we came 
here, a small spark of Uranus's life force remained.  I merely 
willed her mortal shell to function.  When we leave, all that 
I've done will disappear... unless the Council rules in my 
favor."

     "They won't interfere," Pluto-2 said sullenly.  "This is 
all a waste of time."

     "I'll make them interfere.  You had no right infringing on 
my territory."

     "There, you see? It's because you're such a tight-ass that 
you can't get a date to save your life!"

     Serenity interrupted them before another argument could 
begin.  "WHERE are we, though? Why is there another Pluto here?"

     Both Plutos stopped in their tracks and actually looked a 
little embarrassed.  The others watched in amazement.

     "Well, it's sort of a vacation-spot for all the Sailor 
Plutos," Pluto-2 said.

     "It is the headquarters of the Council of Chronos," Pluto-1 
corrected.  "An informal organization of Sailor Plutos from 
across the multiverse that has banded together--"

     "--like a sorority, really," intrjected Pluto-2.

     "It is MORE than a sorority," Pluto-1 snapped.

     "It wishes.  I only come here to unwind."

     "You have NO concept of responsibility or--"

     "I'm rubber and you're glue.  Whatever you say bounces off 
me and sticks to you.  Nyah!"

     Pluto-1 turned purple with rage, but whatever reply she 
might have made was cut off abruptly by a loud boom.  Suddenly, 
another Sailor Pluto hovered over their heads.  She was only 
identifiable by her sailor fuku, however, as this Pluto had pale 
blue hair, even paler skin, and her time staff was shaped more 
like an ornate key.  Her eyes were a dark, solid blue that 
matched the sea almost exactly.

     As everyone stared at this newcomer, she spoke, each word 
clear and utterly inflectionless, as if a robot were speaking.  
"You are summoned to Council," she said, raising her Key-staff.  
With a flash of light, everyone was suddenly someplace else.

*****

     It was a cathedral.

     At least, that's what most of the visiting party thought as 
they arrived at the council chamber.  It may have had the 
trappings of a courtroom, but the sheer extravagance and 
attention to detail made it impossible to think of it as one.  
It was dimly lit, with shadows falling in just the right places 
to give a proper gothic feel.  No present-day designer could 
have possibly created something this perfect.

     All of the senshi were speechless.

     Well, almost all of the senshi.

     "This is sooo COOL!!!" Venus was running around, peeking 
around all of the cloisters and behind the large dock that stood 
in the center (with a rather annoyed Pluto-2 standing in it).  
"It's just like Perry Mason with a billion-dollar budget! Or 
maybe even Matlock or Night Court!" She strode to the front and 
posed.  "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I stand before you--"

     "If you don't mind, could we get started?"

     It took a lot to stop Sailor Venus once she got on a roll, 
but hearing her own voice did the trick.  Turning, she noticed 
the group behind the bench for the first time.  Six women, all 
wearing the sailor fuku that signified Pluto.  Five of them 
looked like Setsuna, but it was the sixth that made Venus 
shiver.

     It was herself.  A Minako stared back at her, with eyes so 
sad and wanting that Venus couldn't look at them for very long.  
She lowered her arms.  "Um... yes'm, sorry."  She managed to 
slink back to the others, and barely noticed Mars whacking her 
in the back of the head.

     The others had already been examining what appeared to be 
the judges here.  Despite the fact that five of the women had 
the basic looks of Setsuna Meiou, none of them were exactly the 
same.

     The one on the far left was wearing a metal sash, much like 
the ones Venus and Jupiter had seen on the Klingons in Star 
Trek.  This one, though, crackled with energy every few seconds.

     The one next to her was missing an eye, and seemed to be 
seething with a compressed rage.  Her fingers jumped across the 
wood, tapping out an intricate pattern of some kind.  A 
bandolier covered the front of her chest, filled with wooden 
stakes, and a sword hilt extended over her shoulder.

     The third Pluto was perhaps the most normal looking, if you 
ignored the fact that she didn't seem to blink or move.  She 
just sat there, staring at Pluto-2, who was busy sticking her 
tongue out at Pluto-1.

     The fourth Pluto was rather disturbing.  She had a certain 
madness in her eyes, and was busy throwing a knife into the air 
and catching it.  Occasionally she would let it thunk into the 
wood, and then retrieve it.  None of the other Plutos looked at 
her.

     The Pluto next to Minako was perhaps the oddest, if only 
because she was smiling.  She also had her hair cut short, to 
the point where it resembled Uranus'.  She gave a little wave to 
the other senshi.

     The last Pluto, the Minako look-alike spoke again, this 
time to Pluto-1.  "Why have you called this meeting?"

     Pluto-1 had been staring at the Pluto holding the knife 
with a certain amount of fear and loathing, and had to snap 
herself out of it.  "I wish to call a meeting of the Council to 
judge this Pluto, on the grounds that she has been willfully 
negligent in her duties and has crossed dimensions in order to 
interfere with mine.  Furthermore, her folly has led to the 
near-death of the Uranus of her world, who will die as soon as 
they are returned."  Neptune-2, who had finally seemed to have 
recovered from the experience of watching Haruka die, twitched 
in Uranus-2's arms and held her tight.

     The third Pluto spoke, though she still did not seem to 
move.  "What would you have us do if this is found to be true?"

     Pluto-1 took a deep breath, and steeled herself.  "I ask 
that this Pluto be stripped of her powers, and all of her work 
undone.  A new Pluto will rise to fill the need."

     Almost all of the senshi gasped, even the ones who knew 
Pluto-1.  Saturn-2 took this time to step forward.

     "It was because of the actions of our Pluto that I did not 
destroy our world in 3001.  If you remove her, that is exactly 
what will happen."  And I'll lose my husband and my daughter, 
she added silently to herself.

     Pluto-1 didn't look back.  "If that is what is to be, then 
that is what is to be."

     Pluto-2 finally spoke up.  "That's EXACTLY why your world 
has turned out the way it has! You don't have the will to change 
things, to bring about a better future, to not just sit back and 
let things happen! How can you -- ?"

     The Pluto with pale blue hair was immediately in front of 
her, staring at her with cold eyes.  "Be silent while we judge 
you."

     Pluto-2 gulped, and backed away.  "Yes, Ifurita-san."

     The second Pluto behind the bench spoke up.  "Which 
universe is the accused's?"

     Pluto-2 spoke again.  "6472."

     "Oh, THAT one."  Several of the Plutos straightened up.  
"About time we got to judge this.  Fine, you will be allowed 
twenty-four hours to assemble your evidence, and then we'll hear 
the case."  A gleam seemed to have entered the eye of the second 
Pluto on the bench.  "You want to prosecute her yourself, I 
presume."

     "Of course," Pluto-1 said.

     The first Pluto spoke up.  "And presumably, you will want 
to defend yourself."  She looked towards the dock.

     Pluto-2 looked back, not speaking for a time, just staring 
at the six who sat behind the dock.  "No... no, I don't think 
that would be a very good idea.  I ask that a defender be chosen 
for me."  The last words were spat out; obviously, this decision 
did not sit well with her.

     The first Pluto on the bench nodded.  "Does anyone here 
wish to volunteer to be her defense counsel, or will it be 
chosen randomly?"

     The fifth Pluto spoke up for the first time.  "I'll defend 
her," she said, brushing her hand through her short hair.  
Pluto-2 looked ready to object, but said nothing.

     The Minako-Pluto spoke up.  "All, right, it's decided.  We 
will begin the hearing in exactly twenty-four hours from now."  
She turned to Pluto-2.  "You are free to move about, but please 
don't try and return to your own universe or anyone else's."  
She then turned to the rest of the senshi.  "Are all these 
witnesses really necessary? We can just send them back, can't 
we?"

     "No!" Neptune-2 cried out, and hugged Uranus-2 protectively 
to her.

     "I'll not only need them, but I'll need to bring more 
outsiders here."  Pluto-1 said.  "I'm sorry, but this is a very 
complex case, and I want to be able to demonstrate--"

     Minako-Pluto waved her hand.  "Fine, fine.  Gather everyone 
you need.  Before you do that, though, why not get everyone here 
settled? Give them a small tour, find a place for them to stay 
for a day or two.  You two can work that out between 
yourselves," she added, noting Pluto-1 and Pluto-2 glaring at 
each other.

     Pluto-1 turned to argue, but suddenly they were alone in 
the chamber, the other Plutos having vanished.  Pluto-2 sighed, 
and came down off of the dock, looking at the large assortment 
of Senshi before her.

     "Since we have a bit of free time, why not do as she asks? 
You can take... lessee... your Outers plus Serenity, Jupiter and 
Saturn, and I'll take the rest of my people.  Show them the 
pool, the sauna, the tennis courts, y'know, the tourist run."

     Pluto-1 glared.  "We don't have tourists."

     Shrugging, Pluto-2 continued.  "I wasn't the one that 
brought them here.  In any case, we can let them stay at the 
Ritz.  It's right next to here, and will be convenient for 
this... hearing."  Again, the last word was almost spat out.

     The other senshi still looked confused.  Pluto-2 gathered 
her charge into a small group.  "We'll start out going east.  
Try not to run into me if you can.  Your Majesty, you'll be all 
right with her, I promise."  While she said those words, she 
looked to Jupiter, who gave a small nod.  Jupiter would make 
SURE that Serenity was all right in case of any 'accidents'.

     Pluto-1 clutched her head for a moment, then sighed.  
"Fine.  Let's go."  She headed out towards the door in the 
corner, her group of Senshi following along behind.

     Pluto-2 turned to those remaining.  "Well, why not get you 
introduced to The Pluto Holiday Camp? Follow me."

     "Pluto."  It was Mars that had spoken up.  "How serious is 
this hearing?"

     Pluto-2 turned back, and a shadow fell across her face.  
"It's nightmarishly serious.  I can't believe she's doing this.  
Moreover, the people who are judging me... might not be 
sympathetic.  I'm trying not to think about it until I have to."

     Mars wasn't buying that.  "Would they really erase 
everything that you'd done and start over? That would mean... "

     Pluto-2 finished for her.  "That would mean that Sean would 
not be brought to Crystal Tokyo, and that Saturn would not be 
confident enough to win the fight against the darkness within 
her.  It would mean, in all probability, a nightmare worse than 
the Silence descending upon our world."

     Mercury gasped.  "They would never do that to us!"

     "They would," Pluto-2 corrected.  "They would, because it 
would be 'the way things are meant to be'.  The timeline must 
remain as it is, nothing can be changed."  She shuddered.  "It's 
the worst part of being a Pluto, and I've never believed in it 
myself.  And now that might come back to haunt me.  I apologize 
to all of you if it does."

     She moved silently out the door.  After a moment, the 
others followed.

*****

     "Basically, this place is either as fun and silly or as 
serious and controlling as you want to make it.  Each Pluto 
treats it differently, of course."  Pluto was leading her group 
down a long boulevard dotted with video arcades, mini-putts and 
bingo parlors, stopping every few feet or so to drag Venus out 
of them.  The others seemed to finally be getting used to a 
place like this.  Gad, I hope they don't want me bringing them 
here all the time now.  That WOULD cause a scene..., she 
thought.

     Mars spoke up.  "Why don't we talk about that? What is up 
with this place?"

     Pluto collected her thoughts for a few moments before she 
spoke.  "There are, in the multiverse, an almost infinite number 
of universes.  Three- quarters of them don't have the senshi at 
all, so The Council doesn't concern itself with them.  Sean came 
from one of those."

     "I thought you said that the Council--" Moon began.

     "Chibi-Usa... sorry, Usagi," she added after a death glare 
from the aforementioned senshi, "that is the point.  I haven't 
been doing things the way the Council would, that's why there's 
a trial."

     Mercury frowned.  "But surely you aren't alone.  Didn't you 
say other Plutos regarded this place as a... a vacation spot?"

     Pluto smiled.  "Yep.  And you're right.  But I got caught, 
and the other Pluto is trying to make an example of me.  
Actually, this could be one of the most important cases the 
Council has ever ruled on.  If they get their way, and I'm 
stripped of my powers, it will give them a LOT more clout to go 
after other Plutos."  She paused.  "Another reason why we need 
to win."

     She turned a corner, heading down what appeared to be 
Restaurant Row.  This time it was Moon who had to be dragged out 
of every establishment.

     "In any event, being Sailor Pluto doesn't really give one 
much time off.  There's watching the time gate, making sure 
things go smoothly, guarding against tentacled horrors from 
beyond, that sort of thing.  After a while--and remember, we're 
talking millennia--it gets rather trying.  More Plutos go insane 
than any other senshi."

     The others did not like to think of the concept of a Sailor 
Pluto going insane.  Venus changed the subject.

     "Are they mostly Setsunas? I mean, y'know, tall, dark, 
green hair..."

     "About 75% of us have Setsuna as our basic template, yes," 
Pluto said.  "It's actually very linear in a mathematical sense.  
75% of the multiverse doesn't have the senshi, 75% of Plutos are 
Setsunas, 75% of the Setsunas have the long, straight, green 
hair, that sort of thing.  There are exceptions."

     As if to illustrate her point, a short-haired Pluto walked 
out of the Arby's they were passing.  "Hi, you kids enjoying the 
tour?"

     With a start, they realized it was the Pluto they'd seen on 
the Council, the one who had taken up the job of defending their 
Pluto.  "Um... it's lovely..."  Mars began.

     "Great! Have fun! And I'll see you later," she added, 
pointing to their Pluto with a wry grin.  She walked off down 
the street.

     Pluto stared after her, a grumpy expression on her face.

     Venus blinked.  "What's wrong?"

     Pluto sighed.  "She USED to be one of the worst of us.  
Angstful, self- loathing, the works.  After talking to her for a 
few minutes, I always felt better."

     "Well, what happened?"

     Pluto glared in the direction her counterpart had gone.  
"She got laid, damn her."

     Moon giggled and blushed.  "Surely that can't be it?"

     Pluto shrugged.  "It's not as if any of the Plutos have a 
fabulous success rate with men.  But you're right, that's not 
it.  She's one of the worst at telling others that the timeline 
must not be tampered with.  She tends to use herself as an 
example.  Very hands-off approach, didn't change the future at 
all, no matter how painful it was for her.  And now she's happy, 
her world hasn't destroyed itself, Crystal Tokyo will exist, AND 
she has a hunky boyfriend.  I have no idea why she's defending 
me, and I don't trust her."

     Mercury decided to steer Pluto's mind back to a more 
cheerful attitude.  She'd also noticed that Uranus and Neptune 
hadn't spoken since they left, and was getting worried about 
them.  "So, in order to fight off the mental trauma associated 
with being Pluto, a number of you created this place."

     Pluto nodded, and set off again.  "Right.  It was 
deliberately made to be almost perfect.  Gorgeous weather, Club 
Med-type atmosphere... a place to RELAX.  It was built in 
subspace, so it doesn't exist on any of our personal timelines.  
Some Plutos are here almost every weekend, or the equivalent 
thereof.  Others come once a year or so.  Some never come.  They 
don't like the idea of relaxing.  Did you see the Pluto playing 
with the knife up there?"

     Mars coughed.  "Yeah... she looked a bit distracted, to be 
honest."

     "She's fucking nuts," Pluto said.  "She simply cannot 
figure out a way to be relaxed and happy.  It goes totally 
against the grain of her Pluto-ness.  And her world won't let 
her die.  Believe me, she's tried.  There's a Haruka- Pluto 
around here from the same universe (long story), equally insane.  
An Usagi-Pluto as well, ditto.  We call them 'The Three 
Loonies'."

     She noticed the disapproving stares the others gave her.  
"Oh, come on.  If I were to start psychoanalysing every Pluto 
coming through here with a mental problem, I'd never leave."

     Neptune spoke up for the first time.  "Why do you?"

     Pluto started.  "What?"

     "Why do you leave? This place looks like a paradise.  You 
have no duties, no worries.  You've said yourself that there are 
some Plutos who have trouble holding it together.  Do they stay 
here all the time?"

     Pluto continued to walk along the boulevard (which seemed 
to go on forever), but didn't speak for a few minutes.  When she 
did, she was very quiet.  "No, no one stays here permanently.  
It's the one rule that EVERYONE enforces.  Even me, even the 
major rule-breaking Plutos.  You cannot abandon your own world."

     She breathed in, and it sounded like she was fighting back 
tears.  "One Pluto came here almost dead.  The Silence had 
occurred in her universe.  Everyone was dead.  EVERYONE.  She'd 
avoided death at the last minute by teleporting to here, and 
asked for sanctuary.

     "We treated her wounds, healed her as best we could.  We 
talked with her, asked her about her world and what had 
happened.  We nursed her back to physical and mental health.  
And then we sent her back.  To die.  And by that time, she 
agreed with us.

     "I may arrange things so that my own world will end up with 
its best possible future.  I don't deny that.  But that's all 
part of my duty.  The duty of all Plutos.  And that's something 
I'll never abandon.  This place is a paradise, but it will never 
become a refuge."

     She stopped suddenly, realizing she had lost half her 
audience.  Trailing back, she saw Moon, Mars, and Venus staring 
into a window, their mouths open.  Inside, two Plutos sat 
drinking a strawberry soda with two straws.  Occasionally one of 
them would sigh.  The first reached out to brush a stray lock of 
hair off the other's forehead, and ended up touching her cheek 
instead.

     Pluto then stormed up and batted them away.  "That is NOT 
part of this tour!" she shouted.  Voyeurs, she thought to 
herself.

     Inside, the first Pluto looked out the window for a moment.  
"Did you hear someone out there?"

     "No, I didn't hear anything.  I'm sorry, I was too busy 
drinking in your eyes... "

     The first Pluto blushed.  "Setsuna, you always say the 
sweetest things..."

*****

     Pluto led her Outers and the Sailors from Crystal Tokyo 
down a wide boulevard flanked by palm trees and tried not to let 
her annoyance show.  Unlike her irresponsible counterpart, she 
had always taken the Council and its business seriously.  They 
were Sailor Pluto, and had duties and responsibilities that far 
exceeded all the other senshi.

     Being a tour guide was NOT one of those duties.

     She glanced back again to make sure everyone was still 
following her.  Uranus and Neptune still looked a little shaken 
and were holding each other's hand like their lives depended on 
it.  Serenity and Jupiter were gawking at the Plutos they passed 
on the street.  The Saturns... she frowned.  The two Sailor 
Saturns seemed to be getting along well, perhaps too well... 
Still, she couldn't hold it against her Hotaru, who was probably 
too nice a young girl for all the plotting that they would have 
to do in the upcoming days.

     "This is part of our Recreation area," she said, more to 
keep the group listening and following her than to actually tell 
them about this world.  "We have swimming pools, tennis courts, 
golf courses, you name it.  There's even an amusement park at 
the end of the stret."

     "Wow," her Saturn said.  "Could we--?"

     "Hotaru, you'll get sick, and we're not here for you to go 
on a roller coaster," Pluto said matter-of-factly.

     The younger Saturn started to protest, but one look from 
Pluto silenced her.  The older Saturn watched this with a scowl 
on her face, but Pluto ignored her.

     A group of Plutos passed them, all dressed for the pool.  
Most of them were Setsunas, but they varied greatly in their 
tastes in swimsuit, from sedate one-pieces to daring thong 
bikins.  A few Plutos were different, including one who looked 
like Osaka Naru, and another who had short blond hair and looked 
like a tomboy.

     "Naru-chan?" Serenity whispered.  She hadn't thought of her 
old friend in a long time, and to see her suddenly brought back 
memories both happy and sad.

     Naru looked over at her and smiled slightly, partly with 
the warmth of an old friend and partly the all-knowing enigmatic 
smile of Sailor Pluto.  She moved over to the Queen of Crystal 
Tokyo.  "Don't worry, Usagi... your Naru knew how much you 
valued her friendship.  Your destinies were different, that's 
all."

     "How do you know--?"

     "Well, duh, maybe we're Sailor Pluto?" the blonde tomboy 
said, with a wise-ass grin.  "Well, Younger Plutos, at least.  
My name is Hime-chan.  First time here?"

     "Um, yes," Serenity said.  "Younger Plutos?"

     "Younger Pluto, Pluto Junior, Apprentice Plutos... call us 
what you will.  In some universes, we exist to one day take the 
job held by Sailor Pluto, who usually is a Setsuna.  Kinda like 
how your daughter has replaced you as Sailor Moon," Hime-chan 
said.

     Pluto stepped in at this point.  "If you would excuse us," 
she began frostily, "we are on Council business."

     "Chill out, we were just talking," Hime-chan said.  "I 
thought this was a place to relax--"

     "Hime-chan!" a voice called out.  Another Pluto stepped up, 
holding hands with a white-haired man.  Both Saturns blanched.

     "Oh, here she comes now.  The High and Mighty Mistress of 
Time--" She was interrupted as the new Pluto bopped her on the 
head with her Time Staff.

     "I told you to behave yourself," the new Pluto said, 
grabbing Hime- chan's arm and dragging her away.  "I don't want 
you embarrassing me again--"

     "If you had let me bring Daichi along like I wanted, I 
wouldn't be bored out of my mind! But no, you get to bring YOUR 
fiancee," she said, pointing at the white-haired man, "but--OW!"

     Pluto moved the group along as a crowd began to gather to 
watch the two Plutos get into a hair-pulling contest (in which 
Hime-chan had an advantage, her hair being so short.) "When did 
this become a tourist trap?" Pluto muttered to herself.

     "That... that was--" the older Saturn sputtered.

     "--Poppa!" the younger Saturn completed.

     "It was neither of your fathers," Pluto reminded them.  "In 
that universe, Tomoe Souichi married Sailor Pluto.  It has nothing 
to do with either of our time lines."

     Neptune and Uranus had been snapped out of their funk by 
the little altercation.  "So, why do you spend so much time over 
at Hotaru's house, Setsuna?" Neptune asked teasingly.

     Pluto's look could have frozen helium.  "It is for Hotaru's 
benefit, nothing else."

     "Um...Pluto?" Jupiter interrupted, to forestall another 
fight.

     "Yes, Jupiter?"

     "Everyone here seems to have a Pluto variant but me."  
Jupiter pointed around.  There were Ami-Plutos, Rei-Plutos, 
Minako-Plutos... almost every Sailor.  "Is there a reason we 
haven't seen a version of me as Pluto yet?"

     "..."

     "Pluto?"

     "Makoto, do you REALLY want to know the answer to that?"

     "Um...yeah.  Yes, I do."

     "..."

     "PLUTO!"

     "There have never been any Makotos who survived as Sailor 
Pluto.  We don't know why.  Something deep within you, that 
defines what you are... refuses to let you be one of us."

     "...oh."

     "Personally... I would consider it a blessing.  We envy 
you."

     A young-looking Sailor Pluto with long silky black hair ran 
by, obviously in a hurry.  As they watched, her body shimmered 
and transformed into a familiar black cat who bounded away.

     "Luna, too?" Jupiter asked, watching in amazement.  "Why 
not me?"

     "It is a mystery.  You could try talking to some of the 
Plutos who have a more philosophical bent about it.  Mostly the 
Rei and Michiru-Plutos.  Now, come on, we don't have all day to-
-" Pluto looked around.  "Where are Hotaru and Sailor Saturn?"

     Everyone looked around, but the Saturns were gone.

     "Oh, fuck," Pluto breathed, sounding very much like the 
Pluto from Crystal Tokyo.

*****

     Elsewhere in the subspace pocket that served the Council, a 
pair of deep blue eyes opened.

     Ifurita had never intended to become Sailor Pluto, but it 
had been, she knew now, inevitable on her world.  Her master's 
plans had brought her into conflict with the Sailor Senshi and 
she and Sailor Pluto had fought.  She had absorbed and 
duplicated all of their attacks, one by one.  Sailor Pluto had 
been the last.

     She could remember it clearly, the unconscious bodies of 
the Sailor Senshi surrounding her, the city of Tokyo in flames, 
and Pluto, bloody and battered, shielding her princess from the 
Bugrom invasion forces.  The Senshi of Time had put up a good 
fight, making it necessary for Ifurita to intervene again.  Her 
master had been husbanding her carefully, the better to guard 
his own worthless hide, but each time it seemed the defenders of 
Tokyo had gone down, new ones had popped up.  First those four 
young ones, then the blonde and green-haired duo, then the 
black-haired girl with the polearm.  Each had made her Master 
call her away from mopping up the Self Defense Forces and back 
to battle these foes.

     She looked emotionlessly at the Time Staff in her hand, 
merged with her own Power Key Staff.  The Garnet Orb had gone 
colorless on the death of its previous owner and had stayed that 
way ever since.

     For she had to kill Sailor Pluto.  The others were 
inexperienced, lacked the killer edge, or simply made mistakes.  
Sailor Pluto had been none of those things, fighting desperately 
to give her Princess time to revive the others.  Ifurita had not 
wanted to kill the Senshi of Time, since she had no orders to do 
so, but self-preservation carried its own directives.  Sailor 
Pluto had fallen, atomized by Sailor Saturn's attack which 
Ifurita had learned only minutes before.

     Then Princess Serenity had entered into the battle, with 
her friends supporting her.

     The Silver Crystal's power... Ifurita could still remember 
the horrible agony it had caused her as her systems tried to 
duplicate the irreproducible.  When it had passed, the Bugrom 
and her master were gone, banished back whence they had come.  
Pluto was gone, however, beyond even Serenity's power to recall, 
so a replacement was needed.  Serenity had felt pity for 
Ifurita, pity for the friendless life of an automaton, and had 
given her the job after freeing her from her servitude.

     Now she served as Sailor Pluto and was, arguably, the most 
powerful of them all.  As such, she had been asked to serve as 
the Enforcer of the Council, to keep the peace among the many 
strong-willed individuals who often were called to take on the 
mantle of the Senshi of Time.

     Now, something was wrong in this world.  She had been using 
her powers to keep an eye on the participants in this trial that 
was forthcoming and, as she had expected, there would be trouble 
from them.

     Silently, she flew off into the sky.

*****

     "Should we REALLY be doing this?" the younger Hotaru asked.

     "Yes," the older one said.  "Pluto had no right to slap you 
down like that.  I don't care if she is the Mistress of Time on 
your world, you just wanted to have some fun, like a normal 
girl.  And we're going to do that."

     "It's just... I don't want to cause trouble.  Pluto means 
well--"

     "Hmph!" was all the older Hotaru would say.  "Look, we're 
just going to ride a few rides, then we'll find her again.  It's 
not like we're doing anything involved with the trial right now, 
anyway."  She looked down at her younger self fondly.  She was 
so reminded of how she had been when she was young, shy and 
timid, unwilling to make a fuss, yet yearning to have some fun.  
Well, she would have her fun.

     They entered the amusement park section of the Plutos' 
world.  There were some Plutos about, but not too many, and 
those that were there seemed to be having too much fun to 
comment on the Saturns.  To be on the safe side, they 
transformed back to their civilian clothes, so that maybe, at 
first glance, they would be mistaken for Hotaru-Plutos.

     "So, what do you want to do first?"

     The younger Hotaru looked up at a towering roller coaster 
with a mixture of fear and desire.

     "Should have known.  Bridget likes scaring herself silly, 
too."

     "Bridget?"

     "My daughter."

     Hotaru blinked.

     The elder Hotaru giggled.  "What, did you think we would 
never date and marry? Granted, my relationship with Sean was not 
the most normal one in the world, but don't worry, I'm sure 
there is a guy out there for you."

     The younger Hotaru blushed.  Together they walked to the 
roller coaster.  Once getting up to the cars, the elder Hotaru 
went over to the control booth and began looking at all the 
buttons.

     "Now, how do I start this?" she muttered to herself.

     "Just hit the red button and then get in the car quickly," 
came a very familiar voice.

     Both Hotarus turned and looked apprehensively at the 
newcomer.  She had shoulder-length black hair, deep violet eyes, 
and was wearing the uniform of Sailor Pluto.  In her right hand 
she held a Time Staff with a multi-colored orb on top of it, an 
orb of fluorite, the elder Hotaru realized, recognizing her 
favorite stone.  Which only stood to reason.

     "Now, how did YOU two get here?" asked Tomoe Hotaru, Sailor 
Pluto.

*****

     Setsuna walked down the hall towards her room (she had her 
own apartment, but wanted to stay near the others).  She'd been 
up for about 20 hours now, and was very tired.  She had not had 
the best of days.

     Luckily, she'd finally managed to get free of her fellow 
senshi, though that was mostly Hotaru's doing.  Apparently the 
two Saturns had decided to sneak away from the other Pluto's 
tour and disappear.  The other group was busy scouring the 
entire area looking for them, and Moon, Mercury, and Mars had 
gone to help.  Venus, Uranus, and Neptune had stayed behind, 
going to their rooms rather quietly.

     Normally Setsuna would have been more concerned.  Minako 
hadn't been herself since they arrived, and Michiru was still 
terrified that her partner would die.  She should go and comfort 
them, talk to them, be a friend.

     Unfortunately she was just too wrapped up in her own 
problems to care.  She had made a stupid, childish error, and 
now her entire world was falling apart.  If she lost the trial, 
then she lost everything.  The world she'd striven to protect 
would be destroyed by a Saturn who thought she had nothing to 
live for.  The Silence, forever.

     If she won...they'd go back.  And Haruka would die.  Yes, 
Sailor Uranus would be reincarnated, but she'd be different.  
Just as Setsuna was different from her past self, and Hotaru was 
different from the girl she'd been in the 20th century.  Michiru 
would be devastated.  She didn't have any idea how Yurika would 
react.

     Both scenarios were unpleasant.  But Setsuna couldn't stop 
thinking about how all this was her fault.  The fact that this 
entire situation could have been prevented if she'd been a 
little more mature and thought things through.  But no, she'd 
let her childish self run rampant.  Quite frankly, if she was 
only one being punished, she'd go gladly.  But since it involved 
her friends...

     It hadn't used to be like this.  She used to be much 
cooler, outgoing and friendly, yet also calm.  Before she... 
died.  Her past incarnation would never have let this happen.  
She still felt the woman's shadow on her whenever she made a 
decision.  Her previous self, both like and unlike.  And yet it 
seems that when I was reincarnated, only the impetuous, mistake-
prone part of her came to me, Setsuna thought sourly.

     She went into the room and threw herself down onto the 
couch.  She really wished she could stop this cycle of self-pity 
she was getting into, but knowing you're being pathetic and 
doing something about it were two very different things.  And 
right now she didn't really feel like doing anything about it.

     She wracked her brain, trying to remember anything that 
might be able to help her.  It was hard, as her memories from 
before her birth were extremely vague and unreliable.  Certain 
things she remembered with as much clarity as if she'd lived 
them herself, whereas other moments, whole decades of life, were 
still totally lost to her.

     Small Lady was the one who'd really driven the point home, 
the first time they'd met.  Small Lady had just come back from 
the twentieth century, and met the new Pluto for the first time.  
And... she knew.  It was like a veil being drawn across her 
face.  Oh, there was still the outward happiness and hugging, 
and Small Lady still called her Pu, even now that she wasn't 
small any more.  But they were friends now.  Not best friends.

     It still hurt.

     Why does this sound familiar, Setsuna thought.  She 
strained to recall where she'd heard those words before...

*****

     "It's not the same.  They won't treat me like a fellow 
senshi, but at the same time they refuse to be just friends with 
me like they were before.  It's like they don't know what I am 
anymore."

     Setsuna sat and sipped her Coke, looking at the woman 
standing across the counter.  Beans was one of the newest 
Plutos.  It had been intended that she be reincarnated with the 
others, but her world's Setsuna didn't die after the cataclysm, 
leaving no powers to reincarnate into her.  When that Setsuna 
finally allowed herself to pass on, the power awoke in a 21-
year-old Beans all at once.

     Unfortunately, she wasn't a very willing Pluto.  This was 
leading to problems on her home world, problems that had been 
getting worse and worse.  To prevent things from being 
irreparably damaged, Beans had elected to come here and speak to 
a few Plutos, trying to get their advice.

     Beans grabbed another slice of pizza.  "I know it's my 
fault, but it seems every time I try to fix things they just get 
worse.  Hotaru thinks I killed her mama myself, Haruka won't 
even speak to me, and Michiru's getting more and more 
distant..."

     Setsuna sighed.  "What about the others? I can't imagine 
Usagi turning you away..."

     Beans shrugged.  "I always feel awkward around the Inners.  
I dunno, maybe it's a Pluto thing..."

     Having heard the metaphorical last straw, Setsuna slammed 
her glass down.  "Would you stop saying that? Why are you 
treating the position of Pluto as something that requires all of 
these sacrifices?! Just because most Plutos are losers doesn't 
mean you have to be one!"

     Beans' eyebrow twitched.  "I am *not* trying to be a 
loser..."

     "Of course you are," Setsuna countered.  "You're treating 
this as a burden that's been forced upon you, and thinking 
you're some square peg that needs to be slammed into a round 
hole! There are no pegs! There are no holes! The whole point of 
the multiverse is that each world is different.  There is no 
absolute Pluto that everyone needs to conform to."

     Beans snorted.  "Then why did I get handed this rulebook 
when I arrived here?"

     Setsuna shrugged.  "Rip it up.  I threw mine away.  Trying 
to get Plutos to behave like little automated drones is 
something that the Council is fond of.  It gives them more 
power.  The only rules Plutos should follow are ones they think 
they should."

     Beans blinked at her, clearly confused.  Setsuna tried 
another tack.  "Now that you're Pluto, what do you feel you have 
to do?"

     "Um... well, I'm a senshi.  Fight with the others to 
protect our world..."

     "Not a rule," Setsuna countered.  "It's not necessarily 
part of the job.  Some Plutos never leave the Time Gate.  Some 
only show up to be obscure and cryptic before vanishing again."

     "Now wait a minute," Beans yelled.  "I don't want to shut 
myself away! I want to help them!"

     Setsuna grinned.  "Good.  But please, remember that it's 
*you* that wants to do it, not Pluto.  Your world doesn't seem 
to have anthropomorphic personifications of your planets like 
some do.  Your powers aren't a force in and of themselves.  It's 
what you do with them that matters."

     Beans slumped back into her booth.  "I can't use my powers 
in the first place.  'Don't come with us, you'll only be hurt.' 
'You're not ready to fight with us yet'.  You know what they're 
really saying? That they can't count on me.  That they don't 
trust me."

     "What have you done to earn their trust?"

     "Nothing! They won't let me into any situation where I 
can!"

     "So you think you can only get them to trust you by 
defeating a monster in some big battle? Do you think that being 
Pluto is all about firing Dead Screams?"

     Beans squirmed.  "Well, no... but I tried to be Pluto-like 
once, and they ended up laughing."

     "Probably because you're not very Pluto-like.  At least not 
the way you see Plutos.  And I think until you get the image of 
the cool, collected all- knowing Mistress of Time out of your 
head, you're never going to gain their trust.  Because you 
aren't allowing your true self to come out.  They aren't 
speaking to you because *you're* the one acting weird.  You're 
trying to be distant, and mysterious, and it's not you."

     "Great, now you're saying it *is* all my fault, that makes 
me feel so much better..."  Beans grumbled.

     Setsuna was starting to get annoyed.  "Would you stop 
whining! Get over it! You have to deal with this, not moan about 
it to me! Don't go crazy, do something to gain the others' 
trust! And I don't mean defeating monsters! I mean let them into 
your life again, talk about what's bothering you.  Be their 
friend.  Get close to them again! For God's sake, stop acting 
like such a PLUTO!"

     Beans stared at her for a moment, then giggled.  "That's 
cute, I'll have to remember that."

     Setsuna calmed down again.  "I can help you train yourself.  
Not merely the Dead Scream and other such offensive weapons, but 
teach you how to work with time.  To move within it, and to 
understand it's wants and needs."

     "You make it sound like I'm time's 'other woman'," Beans 
noted wryly.

     "Now you're getting it.  'Time's Mistress', some call us.  
Not in the sense of Master and servant, but in the sense that we 
are closer to time than others who merely live in it.  We know 
its secrets.  We are intimate with it, in a certain way."

     "Gaaaah... berf," Beans mumbled.  "I don't see how you can 
expect me to swallow all this and yet still manage to be myself.  
That sounds nothing like me."

     "And who says you have to remain the way you were?"

     "Huh?"

     "Just because I said it should be you making these 
decisions and not Pluto doesn't mean it needs to be the woman 
you are *now*.  We all grow up, change, adapt.  We do it all our 
lives, and it has nothing to do with being a senshi.  Are you 
the same person that you were five years ago?"

     "Thank the Lord, no."

     "How did you deal with finding out that Haruka was a girl? 
Or that she and Michiru were senshi?"

     Beans was slumping deeper into the booth.  "Um... I pretty 
much rolled with it, I guess."

     "Are you worried you'll lose yourself?"

     By now only Beans' head was visible above the table.  
"Um... maybe a little."

     Setsuna waved a hand at her.  "You're stronger than that.  
Trust me.  Sailor Plutos may succeed and fail.  Our sanity 
rating is not always 100%.  But the powers NEVER go to someone 
too weak to handle them.  The weakness has to come from 
elsewhere.  Don't let this beat you down, Beans.  Work with it.  
Go back and chat with the others.  Tell them your problems.  
They've all gone through it before, remember.  They weren't born 
as senshi."

     Beans sighed, and straightened up.  "Thanks," she said.

     Setsuna smiled.  "Berf," she replied.

*****

     OK, maybe we weren't *that* different, Setsuna mused.  
Still, it felt good to have recovered another memory from her 
previous incarnation.

     Caught up in her old memories, Setsuna didn't notice the 
other Pluto sitting in a chair across from her.

     "About time you got here," she said with a smirk.

     Setsuna growled.  She didn't need this.  She was already 
far too busy feeling sorry for yourself.  "Go away, Setsuna."

     "Ferine, please.  And we're not going to play that game."  
The short- haired Pluto got up and walked over to Setsuna, 
staring her down.  "I know you'd rather go sit in the bath and 
feel sorry for yourself right now, but we really don't have time 
for that.  This trial starts in less than twenty hours, and 
before that happens, you and I are going to put together a 
workable defense in order to save your world and your friends.  
Do I make myself clear?"

     The look on her counterpart's face was quite serious, and 
served to momentarily snap Setsuna out of her depressed funk.  
There was one thing she had to know first, though.  "Why?"

     "Why what?" Ferine asked, even though her eyes showed that 
she knew what Setsuna meant.

     "Why are you defending me? It's not as if the two of us 
have a common bond.  Our worlds are very different, and as long 
as I've known you, you've nagged at me.  I change things to make 
my world better.  You don't.  Therefore your defending me 
seems... inexplicable."  Setsuna sat on the couch and stared, 
trying to force Ferine to give in and leave by sheer will.

     Instead, much to her annoyance, Ferine laughed.  It started 
as a giggle, then progressed all the way to slapping her fists 
against the couch and bent double.

     After about a minute of this, she calmed herself, then 
turned towards Setsuna, her face serious once more.

     "Do you know, if I told the Sailor Mars of my world that I 
'did nothing,' she would laugh in my face, if not try to rip it 
off.  Doing nothing is just as firm a decision as doing 
something.  You choose not to act.  And you live and die by the 
action that you don't take.  Why is that different from what you 
did?"

     Setsuna paused for a moment.  Was Ferine trying to trick 
her? Was this all a setup by the Council? She then shook her 
head, telling herself not to be paranoid.  "It's different 
because I saw a future where my world was destroyed.  It was the 
most likely future.  And I altered events to stop it.  I went 
beyond the bounds of my duties, and--"

     "What bounds?!" Ferine said, incredulously.  "The only 
bounds a Pluto needs to conform to are the ones she sets 
herself."

     Setsuna blinked.  "But the Council... " She trailed off, 
beginning to see the other's point.

     "We are talking about your world.  You are one of its 
protectors.  You know it better than anyone else.  Therefore, 
it's your decision as to how to protect it."

     She got up and began pacing around the room, Setsuna 
watchinq her like a tennis spectator.

     "This is going to be our defense.  The Pluto who accused 
you made what I consider a serious error in judgment.  She 
expanded the bounds of the case.  If this was simply about you 
taking your senshi to another world to beat them up, and getting 
one killed in the process, then there would be very little that 
we could do.  But it's not.  She's trying to challenge 
everything you've done in your world, from bringing in that 
gaijin to sacrificing yourself to save Small Lady.  She's trying 
to call into question the rules that Plutos have to abide by.  
And that's where we'll hit her.  If she wins, this could be a 
very bad precedent.  Plutos calling others to trial for crimes, 
Pluto fighting Pluto.  It was bad enough you two were stupid 
enough to do it.  We don't want anyone else getting the idea."

     Setsuna gaped, beginning to see a light at the end of the 
tunnel.  For the first time since arriving, she smiled slightly.  
Then a thought occured to her.  "Um... if this is your opinion, 
why are YOU on the Council?"

     Ferine smiled enigmatically.  "Ah," she said.  "That... is 
a secret."

*****

     "Michiru, we have to talk."

     Haruka opened the door to the room she and Michiru had been 
assigned, and immediately moved towards the bathroom door to 
blockade it.  Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough; Michiru 
had already ducked under her arm and into the room, closing the 
door behind her.  Haruka smacked her fist against the door.

     "Michiru, we need to talk!"

     The only response she received was a retching noise.

     Haruka turned and kicked the wastebasket across the room, 
then went to flop down on the couch, face towards the ceiling.  
Dammit, she didn't need to make it this hard! Haruka was already 
having enough trouble coming to terms with the fact that she 
was... that she was dead.  She needed Michiru to understand, to 
comfort her.  She wanted love.  She wouldn't get it when she was 
gone, and she needed it now.

     Michiru, however, had gone from tears to a sort of pale 
denial.  Whenever Haruka tried to bring the subject up, her 
partner would grow queasy and hide in the bathroom..

     Haruka knew they had a close relationship.  Hotaru had 
suggested at one point that they were 'too close'.  Haruka could 
see her point now.  If she couldn't talk to Michiru about this, 
then... then what would happen after she died? How would Michiru 
go on, take care of Yurika, resume a happy life? They had once 
pledged to each other that if one of them died, the other would 
take their own life.  That pledge scared her to death now.

     Suddenly Michiru's face appeared in her vision, happy and 
smiling.  For a moment Haruka almost jumped up with joy, but 
then she took a closer look.  The smile seemed more sardonic 
than anything else, and something about the demeanor...

     Haruka sat up slowly, scowling.  "Who are you?"

     The not-Michiru laughed, using Michiru's musical tones.  
Haruka flinched when she heard that.  Michiru's laugh was a 
great pleasure to her; it hurt to see another person use it.

     "You're very quick," she said, a smile remaining on her 
face.  "I thought I might be able to get away with a kiss before 
you found me out.  My name is Kaiou Michiru, and I am Sailor 
Pluto."

     A voice sounded from the other side of the room.  "And I am 
Kaioh Michiru, Sailor Neptune, and you will get the hell away 
from Haruka.  Now."

     Michiru-Pluto (as Haruka had begun to think of the other 
woman) didn't turn to look at her counterpart, but she got up 
and moved across the room just the same, coming down in an 
armchair directly across from Haruka.  Every single movement she 
made was with grace and beauty.  It was hard for Haruka to draw 
her eyes away...

     Until Michiru planted herself down on Haruka's lap.  Hard.  
That brought Haruka back to reality, and she chuckled nervously 
at her lover.

     Michiru-Pluto smiled.  "You two looked to be having 
trouble, so I thought I'd stop by and see if I could help.  
Sometimes talking to an uninterested third party is the best 
thing for these sorts of arguments."

     Haruka found her voice, and tried to put some force behind 
it.  "We're fine, thanks."

     "Really?" the other Michiru asked.  "So you've fully come 
to terms with the fact that you're going to die? And your 
partner has too?"

     Michiru put a hand to her mouth, and made as if to go 
towards the bathroom again, but Haruka grabbed her arm.  "No," 
she said quietly.

     Michiru turned, fighting back nausea, and looked into 
Haruka's eyes.  And then her walls broke, and she clutched at 
her lover, her breath coming in great, heaving sobs.  Haruka 
comforted her as best she could, holding on to her tightly and 
whispering soothing words.

     After a few minutes, Michiru's sobs had quieted to soft 
hiccups, though her iron grip on Haruka remained.  Across the 
room, the Michiru-Pluto was cocking her head at Haruka, her 
smile gone.

     "You have accepted it, haven't you? I can tell by the way 
you are with her.  You know you're going to die."

     For a long time Haruka didn't say anything.  She listened 
to Michiru cry on her shoulder, watched the other Michiru stare 
at her, not moving her gaze.  When she finally spoke, she chose 
her words carefully.

     "I've accepted it as much as I can.  I don't think it's 
fair.  For over a thousand years Michiru and I couldn't be 
happy, because we knew that the time would come where we'd have 
to be killers again.  Where we'd have to slaughter another baby 
for the sake of the world.  We were dead then, walking corpses 
moving from day to day.

     "Then Hotaru survived, and Pluto managed to avoid having 
her destroy everything.  And we could live again.  Michiru got 
pregnant, and it was the happiest day of my life.  Then I 
watched her have Yurika, and I was even happier.  These past ten 
years have been..."

     Haruka broke off for a moment, and turned away.  She felt 
the tears coursing down her cheeks, but wouldn't give in to 
them.  "It's not fair."

     She looked back, and the Michiru-Pluto had straightened up, 
leaning forward in your chair.  "Not fair for you, or not fair 
for her?"

     Haruka blinked.  She wanted to say the obvious answer, that 
it wasn't fair for either of them, but something was preventing 
her.  She remembered reading in a book somewhere that death 
contracts the mind wonderfully.  Perhaps that was the case, as 
suddenly she saw the answer clearer than she ever had.

     "Not fair for her.  It doesn't matter what I feel, as long 
as Michiru's happy.  And Yurika now, too.  I need them to be 
happy."

     Now Michiru had quieted down, and was raising her head to 
look at Haruka in amazement.  Haruka looked at her lover, and 
the tears came again.  "God, Michiru, I'm so scared that you'll 
die."

     And this time the avalanche was her own, as all the pain 
and anger and dank, cold fear she'd been holding in from the 
moment she'd been stabbed came out of her in a wash.  She didn't 
sob like Michiru, but the tears simply refused to stop coming 
down her cheeks, and she pulled her head to Michiru's breast, 
seeking to hear the beat of her heart, knowing her life was 
still going on.

     They'd almost forgotten the other Michiru was there until 
she spoke.

     "That is both the most romantic and the most horrifying 
thing about your relationship.  That the two of you would endure 
unending suffering, have done for years, in fact, just so that 
the other can be happy.  Never thinking of yourself, always of 
the other."

     Neither Haruka or Michiru looked up.  They continued to 
hold each other.

     "And now it's killing you, because you've come to a 
situation that is too final for you to do anything about.  You 
talk about being a walking corpse, Haruka, but I can tell you 
that the difference between that and real death is huge.  Even 
in your world, where you can be sure that the Senshi of Uranus 
will reincarnate.  Your Saturn and Pluto have already done so, 
right? Is either of them the same as they were in their previous 
life?"

     Silence.  Clutching each other.  Reassurance.

     "Of course not.  Their environment has changed them.  So 
even if Uranus is reborn, it won't be Haruka Tenoh.  True death.  
So you're both scared.  Michiru is terrified that she won't be 
able to go on without Haruka there beside her.  Haruka is afraid 
of the exact same thing.  And the two of you have spent so long 
being strong for the other's sake that you can't be strong for 
yourself."

     They released each other now, looking up.  Looking into 
each other's faces and seeing the truth there.

     "And there's something else, something that you would never 
admit to each other.  You're both afraid that you could be 
strong enough.  That Michiru could go on without Haruka.  That 
despite everything, she could pick up the pieces and move on 
with her life.  But Michiru, you would never say that to Haruka.  
And Haruka wouldn't dare be selfish enough to say it to 
Michiru."

     Truth.  Try to deny, try to look away, the truth will 
always come back to you.  They heard Michiru-Pluto get up and 
move towards them.

     "I won't be presumptuous enough to try and give advice.  
You two will have to work it out by yourselves.  I just thought 
I would put things in perspective."

     They could hear her footsteps heading for the door.  Haruka 
wrenched herself away from Michiru's gaze.  "I... um... thank 
you."

     Michiru-Pluto turned back, and the twinkle was back in her 
eyes.  "Oh, God, the others would never forgive me if I didn't 
do this."  And with that, she walked briskly over towards the 
couple, winked, and then bent over to give a surprised Haruka a 
long, deep kiss.

     For a moment, nobody moved.  Both Haruka and Michiru were 
too shocked to do anything.  Then Michiru-Pluto straightened 
once more and gave a little chuckle at the surprise she saw on 
her counterpart's face.  Then, slowly, she leaned forward and 
kissed Michiru on the lips.  It was far more gentle than the 
kiss she gave Haruka, almost sisterly, but there was a roguish 
gleam in her eye.  "Just so you two won't have anything to be 
jealous about... hmmm, I'm a good kisser," she said with a wink 
to Michiru.  Then she left while they could only stare silently 
at her.

     Haruka and Michiru stared at where she'd been for a few 
moments, then looked back at each other.  After a few moments, 
Haruka was amazed to see Michiru giggle.

     Michiru covered her mouth with her hand, and pointed.  
"You... you have some lipstick on your..."

     There was another pause, and then both of them were 
cracking up, the laughter breaking the tension just as much as 
the tears had.  Michiru fell back onto the couch, holding her 
stomach, still pointing at Haruka's face.  Haruka was turning 
red from laughter.

     Eventually, this outburst calmed down, and they were once 
again sitting on the couch holding each other.  Only this time 
there was a peace.  A knowledge and acceptance that hadn't been 
there before.

     Michiru stood up, and offered her hand to Haruka.  Haruka 
took it.  And together, the pair of them moved to the bed, where 
they would spend the next few hours reaffirming their love for 
the last time.

*****

     Outside, Michiru-Pluto leaned up against the wall, giggling 
to herself.  She really shouldn't have done that to the two of 
them, but she couldn't resist.

     She then sighed as she thought of what they were going 
through.  She was going to watch the trial with interest.  If 
their Pluto lost, well, then she'd have too many problems of her 
own to worry about those two.  But if she won...

     She walked down the hall, trying not to laugh out loud.  
She'd need to talk to some of the others about this...

*****

     When the others had gone off to search for the wayward 
Saturns, Minako had begged off, saying that she had some things 
to think about.  The others immediately nodded, not questioning 
her.  They'd known her for a thousand years now, and knew that 
when Minako thought, she thought HARD.

     Back in the twentieth century, she had once suffered a 
small breakdown in class.  The senshi had been battling a 
particularly tough enemy, and several of the victims were still 
in hospital, including two of her friends.  Sitting in class and 
seeing the two empty desks in front of her had set Minako off, 
and she began to shiver uncontrollably.

     After going to the nurse's office, the school asked that 
she see a therapist.  Reluctantly, she had agreed, knowing if 
she refused they'd tell her parents, and perhaps even look into 
her private life.

     After a few sessions, the therapist had diagnosed her with 
a slight case of manic depression.  It was one of those things 
that Minako might have joked about with her friends once, in a 
wry effort to explain her mood swings.  Waving her arms around 
and singing the song by Jimi Hendrix.  But here, in the 
therapist's office, there was only the cold words of reality.  
Manic depression.  She was disturbed, however mild it might be.

     She'd talked with the therapist some more, and agreed that 
she did not need any sort of drugs.  For the most part, being 
aware of the facts and some continued therapy would be his 
recommendation.

     She didn't tell the others for years.  Well, not entirely 
true.  She told Ami, just in case there was a situation in which 
something needed to be done.  But to tell Usagi... she didn't 
dare.  She was deathly afraid that Usagi might prevent Minako 
from fulfilling her duties as Sailor Venus.  For her own good.  
Ami told her that Usagi would never do that, and Minako knew she 
was right, but she still wouldn't do it.

     She continued her therapy right up till the end of the 
world and the creation of Crystal Tokyo.  They all knew it was 
coming, and had prepared as best they could.  She told her 
therapist that she wouldn't be coming any more, and could see 
that he was worried.  So she decided to tell him everything.  
Her entire life, everything she'd been keeping from him.  
Meeting Artemis, the Kingdom on the Moon and her past 
reincarnation, posing as Sailor V in England to draw attention 
from the others.  Dying, not once, but twice for her Princess.  
The future they knew was coming.  The world they knew was 
ending.

     After she'd finished, he stared at her for a few moments, 
not moving.  Finally he spoke up.  "Venus, if I recall 
correctly, is the personification of love."

     Minako nodded.  "That's right.  I even call myself the 
Senshi of Love."

     He smiled at her warmly, which for some reason made her 
feel very good.  "No wonder you're susceptible to mood swings.  
You're almost a model for the emotion, Minako.  Your highs are 
those of a person who is so much in love that the world doesn't 
matter.  And your lows are those of someone who is so much in 
love that betrayal and hurt are visceral.  I can't imagine a 
more perfect Senshi of Love."

     She'd gaped at him for a moment, taking in his revelation.  
Then she smiled, a smile so big it almost hurt her mouth.  She 
leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.  "Thank you.  For 
everything."

     He nodded.  "Good luck to you all, Minako.  May you one day 
find the happiness you have given to others."

     In a few more days the enemy had come, and the world had 
been nearly destroyed.  Serenity, with the help of the others, 
had managed to save Tokyo and the surrounding area, creating the 
vision they had carried with them for years.  Crystal Tokyo.  
Even then, the deaths were numerous.

     She'd gone to look for him as soon as she was able to get 
away, but the entire block had been destroyed.

     Since then Ami had filled in as a substitute for her 
therapist.  Someone to talk to, someone to have listen.  Someone 
to whom she could say the things she'd never be able to tell 
anyone else.  Ami was good like that, Minako knew any secrets 
were safe.

     But this was something more than just a slight depression.  
Minako had suffered a shock in the courtroom when they arrived.  
A Pluto that looked just like her.  Eyes that told of knowing 
far too many things, and not being able to do much about them.  
A Minako with a face filled with sadness.  It was exactly the 
person she feared she would become back when she'd first been 
diagnosed.

     She needed to find her again.  So she scoured the streets 
of this Pluto world, looking for her telltale blonde hair.  She 
had made a couple of mistakes already - there were a few other 
Minakos who were Plutos, though not many.  None of them were the 
one she was looking for, though.

     Finally, just as she was about to give up and head back for 
the hotel, she thought of one other place she could try.

*****

     The arcade was a surprise.  Strangely, the place seemed to 
contain only twentieth-century arcade games, the kind Minako 
spent her youth trying to beat.  There were a few Plutos around, 
but for the most part the place was empty.

     Minako considered.  If she were depressed, and happened to 
wander in here, which game would she go for?

     There was only one answer.

     Looking around, she spotted the Pole Position game almost 
immediately, and noted with both satisfaction and trepidation 
that there was a blonde head to be seen over the seat.

     She walked over slowly, and stood beside the machine for a 
few minutes.  The other Minako (who she knew from a glance was 
the one she had been looking for) was racking up a truly 
phenomenal score, driving with a grace and speed that Minako 
herself had never been able to accomplish, even after years of 
practice.

     The spectacle was ruined, however, by the expression on the 
Minako- Pluto's face.  It was completely blank.  She wasn't 
enjoying doing this, wasn't reacting to the other cars or the 
sheer exuberance of the experience.  She was just turning a 
wheel, and watching what happened.  It was heartbreaking.

     Suddenly she spun the wheel in a tight curve, driving her 
car into the wall.  It exploded into a fireball, something which 
the other Minako found fascinating.  She continued to watch the 
screen as the fire raged, finally dying out into a scrapheap of 
twisted metal.  GAME OVER flashed onto the screen.

     Minako-Pluto sighed and looked up at her alternate for the 
first time.  As before, there was a sadness in her eyes that 
Minako just didn't ever want to imagine could be there.

     "Do you know, I hadn't done that in years," Minako-Pluto 
began.  "Not since I first took up the post of Pluto.  Seeing 
you, though, brought back a few memories, and I thought...I 
thought playing this might bring back some others.  But it 
didn't.  I can still play it, all right...I can even rack up 
higher scores than my old self could have dreamed of.  But the 
passion for it is gone.  The passion for anything is gone.  
Leeched right out of me."

     For a moment Minako just stared, not being able to believe 
that these words were coming from her...well, almost her lips.  
Then she grabbed Minako- Pluto's hand, dragging her out of the 
game center.

     She spoke over her shoulder as they walked.  "I just cannot 
BELIEVE you! I mean, I thought that I got depressed at times, 
but you just take the candy from the baby! What could possibly 
be so bad that you end up like this? I mean, other Minakos are 
here, and they seem fine!"

     They had ended up in a small hot dog place, and before 
Minako-Pluto could do anything Minako had ordered up two jumbo 
dogs with everything and two large Jolt Colas.  While waiting 
for their order Minako-Pluto stood stoically, not looking at 
anything in particular.  Finally, after getting their order and 
sitting in a corner table, Minako fixed her other self with a 
stare that she tended to use in order to terrify people into 
telling her what was wrong with them.  The "Do you know how 
close to the edge I really am?" stare.

     It didn't seem to faze Minako-Pluto, but she began to speak 
nevertheless.

     "I spent the first thousand years of my life as Sailor 
Venus.  I fought criminals in England, went back to Japan to 
protect my Princess, and died for her.  Met the other Senshi, 
including Pluto.  Helped to set up Crystal Tokyo, and fought the 
Black Moon War there in the Thirtieth Century, as a living 
battery for the city."

     Minako blinked.  "Wow, all I did was lie on a crypt in a 
coma."  She shook her head, mentally slapping herself.  "Sorry, 
go on."

     Minako-Pluto smiled, as if thinking of old memories.  "A 
few years after that crisis, Sailor Pluto approached me.  She 
said that the time was coming when she would be gone, and that a 
new Pluto would have to be trained.  And that it would have to 
be me.

     "It took a while to explain WHY it had to be me.  Pluto 
kept talking about paradoxes and circles of time until my head 
spun.  But I finally accepted it.  After all it was my duty as a 
senshi.  And if this would help to protect my world and my 
Princess, then no sacrifice was too great."  Minako- Pluto's 
face twisted as she spoke those words, as if they left a sour 
taste in her mouth.

     "So I trained in Pluto's powers and duties.  I was actually 
a quick study, once I managed to accept it.  After about ten 
years, I looked and acted the part of Sailor Pluto.  I WAS 
Pluto, for better or worse.  And so I went off to fulfill my 
duty.  I went back in time to help raise Chibi-Usa, so that they 
would know who I was when she returned to the twentieth century.  
I helped to bring the senshi of that period forward, to help 
destroy Wiseman.  Then came the hard part.  I traveled through 
time again to tell Sailor Venus that she would have to train to 
be Pluto."

     Minako massaged her temples.  "Waitwaitwait...so the one 
who told you that you needed to become Pluto to fulfill destiny 
was yourself?!"

     Minako-Puto nodded.  "So you see, I really have no one else 
I can blame."

     Minako had nothing she could say to that, so Minako-Pluto 
continued her story.

     "Even after that, I wasn't finished.  I went back to the 
twentieth century, and helped to fight Galaxia.  Went back even 
further, to destroy Pharaoh 90.  And that was it.  Pluto was 
'killed' in a helicopter explosion, and I had fulfilled my duty.  
I could return to Crystal Tokyo and everything would be all 
right."

     Again, Minako sensed the unspoken 'but' in this monologue.  
"You couldn't become Venus again?"

     This time Minako actually showed some emotion.  A bitter 
laugh escaped her lips.  "Of course not! After all, there were 
still new threats that needed to be fought against.  Sailor 
Pluto was the senshi of Time, and far more powerful.  All Venus 
could offer was love."

     Minako-Pluto sat back in her chair, looking up at Minako 
with the hint of a tear in her eye.

     "And in the end, love just isn't good enough, is it?"

     Minako continued to stare at her counterpart, but it was 
clear she'd finished her story.  And now it seemed that she was 
expecting something from Minako.  Sympathy? Pity? Forgiveness? 
Absolution? Or something else?

     And then it hit Minako.  She wanted to know how to be happy 
again.  The old Minako may have had mood swings, but there was 
always that core of joy, the essence of rapture that was Minako 
Aino, Sailor Venus.  And this Minako, in trying to do her best 
to fulfill her future, had forgotten that.

     Minako racked her brain.  What could she say? At first she 
thought of talking about love, like her old therapist had once 
done.  But that probably wouldn't work.  This Minako was not 
going to be allowed to return to Sailor Venus.  She was Minako 
Aino, Sailor Pluto.  So she needed an argument to appeal to a 
Pluto.

     When she finally spoke, it was slowly and with care, very 
much unlike her usual chatter.

     "You say that you learned everything about being Sailor 
Pluto.  All of the attacks, and the duties, and how to act.  How 
to protect the timestream and your friends.  Guarding against 
chaos."

     Minako-Pluto nodded.

     "But you forgot something.  Something that all Plutos are 
born with, and you still haven't learned yet.  And that's what's 
eating you up inside, and making you unable to come to terms 
with what you are and be happy again."

     The other girl gripped Minako's hand tightly.  She was 
pleading now.  "What?"

     Minako smiled, a small smile that nonetheless lit up the 
entire restaurant.  It had nothing to do with Sailor Venus this 
smile.  This was a smile that all Minakos were born with 
throughout the multiverse, and it could conquer worlds.

     "Hope."

     Minako-Pluto blinked.  Minako tried to phrase it better.

     "I mean, hope is something all Plutos have to have, right? 
The hope for something better.  For a good future.  For 
happiness.  That's why you do what you do.  You guard the 
timestream and help the others in order to bring about Crystal 
Tokyo.  I think you need to accept that you're now Sailor Pluto.  
It may not be what you wanted to be, or even what should have 
been.  But you're Pluto, and Plutos can be happy.  Look around 
you.  You just need to be happy as a true Pluto, rather than as 
a Venus playing at Pluto.  You can do it! After all, even more 
than Venus, or Pluto, you're Aino Minako."

     For a moment nothing was said.  Then slowly the other 
Minako began to smile.  It was a hesitant one, as if the facial 
muscles hadn't been used in a while, but the instinct was still 
there.  More importantly, it was one of the most beautiful 
things Minako had ever seen.

     "C'mon.  Let's go out and shop or something.  We still have 
a lot to talk about," Minako said.  And once again she gripped 
the other woman's hand in hers and zipped off down the street, 
only now her counterpart kept up with her, the smile still 
etched on her face.

     After all, they had the whole night ahead of them.

*****

     Sailor Mars wearily forced herself to open the door to her 
hotel room.  She hated it.  It looked exactly like a hotel room 
from an up-scale Hilton from the 20th Century.  Spacious, tidy, 
comfortable.  And that was why she hated it.  It had all the 
soul of a padded room.  She didn't think she could meditate 
there to save her life.

     At least it had a bath, she thought to herself.  She needed 
a good hot soak.  She started the hot water running and then 
returned to main room.  Without barely a thought she transformed 
back to Hino Rei and stripped off her clothes, leaving them on 
her bed.  Then she went and soaked her sore muscles for over a 
half hour.

     Now, she had just been out searching this strange world for 
Saturn with no luck, on top of which it had been a long and 
tiring day for all the Senshi, so perhaps she could be forgiven 
for not realizing anyone was in her room when she finally left 
the bathroom, clad only in a towel around her body and another 
around her hair.  Still, tired or not, her transformation pen 
was in her hand before the other could blink... but that was 
enough time for her to realize who she was looking at.

     Long, raven-black hair.  A black and white sailor fuku.  A 
Time Staff topped by a ruby.  She was looking at an image of 
herself cast by a mirror darkly, except for a small band of 
white cloth covering her counterpart's eyes.

     "Let me guess, you're Hino Rei, Sailor Pluto, right?" Rei 
asked.  "How did you get into my room?"

     "All places are the same, only perception differs," The 
Rei-Pluto whispered.  She sounded disappointed.  "What you would 
call senses are merely limitations on the infinite."

     Rei blinked.  "What?"

     "If you ask 'how' you seek knowledge.  If you ask 'why' you 
seek wisdom.  Asking questions brings only answers.  Seeking 
answers brings enlightenment."

     Rei felt her temper begin to boil.  She got the definite 
impression that this Pluto was making fun of her.  "Look, just 
say what you want to say then beat it!"

     "Why are you angry?" Rei-Pluto whispered patiently.

     "Why? Because someone has barged into my room without 
asking to spout fortune cookie gibberish at me after I've had a 
long day and want nothing more than a good night's sleep!"

     Rei-Pluto shook her head.  "WHY are you angry?"

     Rei began reciting Hail Marys in her head, one thing from 
her Catholic upbringing that she still found useful for 
containing her temper.  "Why are YOU here?" she asked between 
clenched teeth.

     "To see."

     "Kinda hard to do that with a blindfold on."

     Rei-Pluto reached up and removed her blindfold to reveal... 
nothing.  Instead of eyes, all she had were hollow sockets, long 
ago scarred and gutted.

     "I now see the infinite," Rei-Pluto continued in that same 
whisper, "far better than I ever saw the world."

     "What... what happened to your eyes?"

     "An accident.  An event.  A destiny.  A small thing in the 
vastness of the infinite.  What happened to yours, that you do 
not see?"

     "I see just fine!"

     "You may see, but you lack vision."

     Rei wanted to scream at her 'guest's' obtuseness.  "I don't 
understand you!"

     "You will."

     Rei looked up at the scarred face of her counterpart.  She 
suspected that there was something wrong with her voice as well 
as her eyes, for she never raised it above that awful whisper.  
No song could come from that throat, she was certain.  "I don't 
want to understand you," she said in her own pained whisper.

     Rei-Pluto held out her hand, palm upward, and a ball of 
flame appeared.  "Watch and understand."

     She looked into the flame... and Rei Saw.  Worse, she 
Understood.  It was like how you felt when, after struggling 
with it all night, a school problem suddenly makes sense, but 
infinitely greater.  And worse.  For she saw the answers (and 
questions) to Life, the Universe, and Everything.  Beyond the 
Hows and Whats, beyond even the Whys... there was just the 
Universe and Hino Rei and she saw how she fit into EVERYTHING.

     Shrieking, her mind shattered into a million pieces.

     After an eternity of shattered nothingness, her eyes opened 
again to see Rei-Pluto standing over her.  "You are not ready," 
the Senshi of Time whispered sadly, removing a healing hand from 
Rei's tortured brow.

     Rei opened her mouth... and screamed.  Still screaming, she 
scuttled as far away from... herself as she could get, then tore 
open her door, ripping it off one hinge with mad strength, and 
fled down the hallway.

*****

     Sean Gaffney-Tomoe was having a fweird day, as some of his 
one-time net acquaintances would say.  First, the Senshi find 
his hidden collection of tapes, then they go off half-cocked to 
beat themselves up... and the next thing he knows, a Sailor 
Pluto with pale blue hair and a VERY menacing attitude, showed 
up with a SUBPOENA of all things, summoning him to some place 
called the Council of Chronos.  Even worse, he had to bring 
Bridget and Yurika along.  (The pale-haired Pluto had looked 
very puzzled when he tried to explain babysitters.)

     At least the terrible twosome were finally asleep in his 
hotel room... now if this place had a vending machine that 
dispensed...

     A half-naked Hino Rei?

     Rei, clad only in two towels suddenly turned a corner and 
slammed into him.  (The towels, of course, weren't really big 
enough to do their job.  It's a rule.  NO hotel towel is ever as 
big as it needs to be.) As might be expected, Sean and Rei went 
down in a heap.

     Now, Sean had never gotten along well with Rei.  It was a 
function of their personalities.  He was what she called 
obnoxious and she was what he called a bitch.  Simple, right? 
So, while as hormone-ridden as the next specimen of XY 
chromosomes, he had never really though of Hino Rei as a woman.  
A senshi, yes.  A person who was fun to tease, yes.  An 
occasional threat to his continued existence, yes.  But as a 
woman, not really.  He wanted to live too much.

     But, when a wet Hino Rei clad only in towels slams into 
you, you're bound to notice a few things you never noticed 
before.  For a split moment before life-threatening panic set 
in, Sean's hormones reached up and throttled his brain.  Then he 
started fearing for his life, which put things back to normal.

     At least until Rei spoke.

     "Oh, good, Sean.  That means I must be dreaming.  Because 
you wouldn't be here, right? Why am I asking you, you're just a 
figment of my imagination here.  Not that this is a place, mind 
you.  It's no place.  Get it? No Place.  It doesn't exist.  It's 
an illusion! Everything's an illusion! Except maybe ice cream.  
That's too good to be an illusion.  Why don't they make fugu ice 
cream? The two great tastes that go great together, right? 
Unless you die.  But LIFE is an illusion, so we can't die, 
unless we stop dreaming.  I've had dreams after eating too much 
ice cream, like the one where Serenity is naked in a pool of 
shark-infested rice pudding--"

     "W-what?" Sean stammered.

     Rei looked at him with wild eyes that showed too much 
white.  "Of course you don't understand... we're not SUPPOSED to 
understand.  But I understood.  I don't now, she took it back, 
but I did understand... now I don't, so I'm sane.  If you 
understand, you're insane, but if you don't understand, you're 
sane, understand?"

     "Um, no--"

     "Good! Then you're sane.  I can see why Hotaru married you.  
Sanity is a good feature.  I think it's cute in a guy... but of 
course, you're just a figment of my imagination, so of course 
you're sane, because I'm sane, even if I'm talking to a figment.  
But that's not a sign of insanity... unless this was the real 
world, but it's not, so I'm sane here, but I wouldn't be there, 
because I understood, you see."

     "Maybe I should go find Serenity--"

     "Yes! Right! Good idea! Serenity is a good idea.  We all 
need Serenity! She doesn't understand anything, she just knows, 
so she's the sanest of us all.  We'd all fly apart without her! 
Setsuna... now, Setsuna understands! That's DANGEROUS.  You're 
safe, though, because you don't understand anything.  It's cute.  
But we're all figments, so nothing matters, nothing matters, 
nothing matters."  Rei suddenly kissed him "See? If this was 
real, I wouldn't--"

     Sean pulled her up and slapped her.  It may not have been 
the smartest thing to do, but it was the only thing he could 
think of... it may have been inspired more by having seen 
'Airplane!' than sound medical advice, but Rei was obviously 
hysterical and anything was better than another kiss (ESPECIALLY 
if she ever regained her wits.) She was still babbling after the 
first slap, so he did it again, on the other cheek.  Then he 
stopped, suddenly aghast as Rei bent over and clutched her 
cheek.

     Then Rei slapped him.  "GAFFNEY YOU JERK! WHAT DO YOU THINK 
YOU'RE DOING?" she screeched.

     THAT was the Hino Rei he knew.

     "It was the only way I could think of stopping you from 
kissing me!" he protested, the old fear-for-his-life instincts 
kicking in belatedly... but not before they could remove his 
foot from his mouth.

     Rei's eyes narrowed, then she looked down at what she was 
wearing... or barely wearing.  "PERVERT!" she screamed.

     The slap that followed woke half the inhabitants of the 
hotel.

*****

     Sailor Moon ran down another of the monotonous streets that 
filled this strange not-world.  They seemed to be laid out in a 
simple criss-cross pattern, but when she looked at some of the 
taller buildings, like the hotel, it seemed that she was 
following a curve.  She couldn't see how that was possible, and 
it annoyed her.  She pulled irritatedly at one of her pink 
odangoes.  She had to find Hotaru-chan before something bad 
happened to her! Let everyone else give up, but she wouldn't 
stop until she dropped.

     It wasn't just duty or responsibility that made her search.  
Hotaru was her best friend.  Nothing would change that.  Oh, the 
others kept talking about how Hotaru and Pu had changed from 
being reincarnated.  Sailor Moon snorted.  Of course they were 
different.  They had gone through a lot.  But they were also the 
same.  People never stayed the same.  To expect them to would be 
silly.  She had changed since she went back to the Twentieth 
Century.

     She remembered when she had talked to her mother and Aunt 
Rei about this, before Hotaru had married... she still didn't 
understand the sad looks they had exchanged.

     It was growing dark out, Sailor Moon noted.  The sun, which 
had stayed in pretty much the same spot all 'day' was now moving 
swiftly toward the horizon.  The shadows were lengthening 
ominously and she began to wonder if she should get back to the 
hotel.

     "Out late, aren't you, Usagi-chan?" came a throaty voice 
from a nearby alleyway.

     Sailor Moon turned an tried to make out the figure in the 
shadows.  She was holding a Time Staff and had long hair, but 
the swiftly encroaching darkness made it difficult to make out 
any details.

     "Who's there?"

     A soft chuckle answered her.  "If I said Sailor Pluto, 
would that help?" The voice had a strange, husky quality that 
reminded her for some reason of when Haruka and Michiru flirted 
with each other.

     "Not particularly."

     "You should get indoors, koneko-chan," the Sailor Pluto 
said, still staying in the shadows.  "Strange things come out in 
the Dark here."

     "I'm a Sailor Senshi.  I can take care of myself."

     Another soft chuckle.  The figure moved a little further 
out into the street, letting Sailor Moon see that she had long 
green hair.  Another Setsuna? "Surely you've noticed that being 
a Sailor Senshi means different things on different worlds?"

     "Kinda hard not to, isn't it?"

     "Yes, and you know that this world responds to will, ne?"

     "Something like that..."

     "Night falls here when the majority of its visitors are 
asleep... and then the nightmares come out to play.  You don't 
want to be here."

     "What about you?"

     The Pluto stepped out into the fading light.  Like Setsuna, 
she had long green hair, but there the similarity ended.  Her 
body was lusher, more voluptuous, her costume skimpier, with a 
low neckline the delved to her bow and a diamond cut out of the 
fabric covering her stomach Stiletto-heeled boots covered her 
feet.  From her head and back sprouted two pairs of bat wings, 
small and large.  She smiled.

     "Perhaps I am one of the nightmares..."

     Sailor Moon screamed.

     The bat-winged Pluto took a step back as the piercing 
shrieks filled the night air, but anything she might have done 
was cut short when a crossbow bolt slammed into the asphalt at 
her feet.

     "Hold it right there, Aenslad!" came a voice from the 
rooftop above them.  Sailor Moon looked up and saw one of the 
Plutos from the Council, the one with the eyepatch and wooden 
stakes.

     The bat-winged Pluto sighed at the interruption.  "Not you 
again... why are you always here when I try to take a vacation?"

     "Foul--"

     "--Abomination.  Yeah, right, whatever."  The bat-winged 
Pluto raised her hands and settled into a fighting stance.  
"Well, if you're going to fight, let's do it! But try to make it 
a challenge this time."

     Sailor Moon decided to run.

*****

     "Make yourself at home," Hotaru-Pluto told her 'sisters.'

     The younger Saturn looked around the apartment curiously.  
After riding everything in the amusement park twice, it had 
started to get dark, so Hotaru-Pluto had offered to let them 
come over to her place.  She had muttered something about it not 
being safe to be out at night.

     The apartment was simple, but far from empty.  Lamps of 
every description filled the room, some on, some off.  Other 
than the lamps, however, there was little in the room.  Just a 
bed, a dresser, and a desk.

     "Oh, sorry," Hotaru-Pluto said, noticing their looks.  She 
waved her hand and half the lamps disappeared.  "If I'm not 
careful, they tend to multiply out of control."

     "How do they do that?" the younger Hotaru asked.

     "Subspace answers to will and desires... I get nostalgic 
sometimes and my mind wanders.  The lamps are the result."

     Hotaru-Pluto sat down at the desk and gestured them over to 
the bed.  "Now, why don't you tell me a little more about how 
you got here? Your Pluto is on trial?"

     "Yes, though