NOTE: This story is the sequel to 'Links of Love', (also written by this author) which should hopefully also be available at the site you're reading this. It's not strictly necessary to read that before you read this, but certain things will be more clear if you have.

Chapter 1

"It's not easy being sneaky with a cat on your head."

So Princess Small Lady Usagi, also known as Chibi-usa, thought to herself, as she attempted to stroll nonchalantly along a corridor of the Crystal Palace with Diana the mooncat perched atop her head. The two were both well used to this mode of feline transportation, so the little Princess' movements were undisturbed as she grew closer to her goal.

Despite her wishes, though, undisturbed was not the same as unnoticed. The uniformed staff were less populous in this section of the palace, but there still seemed to be another around every corner. Each one bowed their head slightly at the sight of the Princess, in the abbreviated acknowledgement commonly used for the royal persons in the inner recesses of the crystalline building, before continuing on with whatever duty they were about.

The brightly colored banners, which were hung high in the corridor to break the monotony of the opaque milky-white crystalline walls, moved gently in the artificial breeze as the pair moved along the hallway. Chibi-usa tried to proceed as inconspicuously as possible, but the mooncat seemed to draw the eye of everyone she encountered. It never occurred to her that her own royal presence was what commanded the palace staff's attention, rather than her perched companion.

Fortunately, fewer people were about as Chibi-usa got closer to her destination, a rarely used path whose purpose seemed to have been forgotten in the centuries since the palace's first construction. The path seemed to simply dead-end in a wall, and not even a particularly interesting wall at that; just another smooth crystalline surface akin to the rest of the structure.

Approaching the wall, Chibi-usa quickly looked behind her, in case yet another staff person was following to see if they could assist their Princess. The hall being empty, she ignored the dead-end, and stepped to the left side wall, which appeared to be exactly the same as all the other walls.

But at a slight flicker of concentration from the girl, a narrow seam opened in the wall before her. It grew to her height, then expanded into an oval opening, which she stepped into, habitually ducking a bit so Diana would fit inside as well. With a sweep of her arm, the opening closed behind her.

"Where are we?" asked Diana, as Chibi-usa brought a small, barely glowing crystal from a pocket hidden within the folds of her royal gown. The light revealed them to be in a small chamber barely big enough for the two of them.

"We're in the wall next to Lady Makoto's room," whispered the little Princess.

"In the wall? I didn't know there were any secret compartments in the palace!"

"There aren't; I grew it right then."

"You... huh?" The mooncat leaned down to look her Princess in the eye, albeit upside down.

"Shh! I'll explain later; right now let's see if Lady Makoto is alone or not. I have to turn the light off now," she said, placing the dimly glowing shard back into her pocket.

"You could just knock at her door, you know," Diana stated, settling back into her usual position, not bothered by the now utter darkness.

"I don't want to talk to her if she's not in the mood for it. Now let me concentrate..."

Slowly from the pitch black surroundings, there appeared in the crystalline wall before them four very small circles of dim light.

Chibi-usa leaned forward, supporting herself with her hands against the wall as she aligned her eyes with the lower set of peepholes she had just created. Diana found that just lowering her head a bit was all the adjustment needed to permit her to also peer into the room beyond.

Lady Makoto's suite within the Crystal Palace was a well-lit setting. Light from one wall filled the room, the early morning glow greeted gratefully by the numerous plants and small trees that Makoto kept inside to tend to.

But it was not any of the plants that Makoto was attending to at the moment, but rather the figure of Lady Ami, stretched out upon the bed near the center of the room. A figure which wore only the silken ropes binding her wrists to the iron work set into the heavy oaken headboard of the bed.

Makoto's form was draped in a short, loose-fitting robe, which fell open as she sat upon the bed next to her captive. Her hair was unbound and fell down unruly about her face as Makoto gazed down upon the form of the other woman, who smiled up in return.

Ami theatrically twisted in her bonds. "Oh dear, I am totally at your mercy now, oh, who will rescue me?" Makoto leered, and whispered, "No one, my pretty, no one at all..." Makoto bent down and kissed her lover gently on the stomach. Ami laughed softly at the touch, and squirmed under her tormenter's attentions as the kisses were slowly placed higher and higher upon her body.

Makoto kissed her way up Ami's torso, slowly teasing her way between the familiar mounds of the blue-haired woman's pert breasts, brown hair brushing teasingly against taunt nipples, and on across her neck to finally reach the mouth that was awaiting her arrival. The two kissed, tongues lightly teasing, as Makoto slid her arms between the bed and Ami, embracing her firmly as Ami began to moan in slight gasps.

Makoto's hand pulled from behind her lover, prepared to explore other aspects of the captive's beauty, when a small crystal on the stand next to the bed began to flash.

"Medical Emergency! Lady Ami, we need you at the clinic! Medical Emergency!" came from the crystal, flashing and buzzing its call for assistance.

"Sorry, love," Ami said, as she twisted her hands and shredded the ropes as if they were but suggestions rather than real. Makoto just smiled, no other expression of forgiveness and understanding needed between the two. Ami jumped from the bed, grabbing the crystal and speaking into it, letting her medical team know she would be there presently. Makoto patiently held Ami's doctor robe open for her as she ducked into it, declining to dress further in her haste.

"A gardener hurt himself," Ami said, as she brushed closed the garment and dropped the communication crystal into a pocket. "I heard," said Makoto. "Go. Your office, so you won't be seen?" she said, offering the shorter woman her hand. Ami nodded, and took her lover's hand with her own. The two concentrated, looking each at the other, then Ami disappeared from the room, transported by their combined power to her office in the small medical clinic on the other side of the palace.

Makoto sighed, finally drawing closed her own robe. "We never get time to play anymore," she muttered to the empty room. With a shrug, she walked over to a small workbench at the side of her room, where a watering can stood waiting. Quickly filling the can, she began her usual morning routine of carefully watering the myriad plants that filled her chamber.

Chibi-usa and Diana pulled back from the peep holes, which grew opaque once again. The little mooncat looked down at her Princess, and said quietly, "We probably shouldn't have seen that."

"That isn't what I was trying to see!" protested Chibi-usa, acutely aware that her cheeks were burning fiercely. "Lady Makoto waters her plants in the morning and I wanted to see if she was alone, that's all."

"Well, she sure wasn't alone. But we're too young to see things like that," Diana stated primly, in unconscious imitation of her own mother.

"I'm over 900 years old!" whispered the Princess angrily. "You're not much younger!"

"Still. You shouldn't peep anymore. How'd you do this, anyway?"

"I said, I'll tell you later. Lady Makoto is alone now, at least, and I should talk to her now."

With that, the girl waved her hand in the direction they had entered from, and again a gap in the crystalline wall appeared before them. In a movement performed so often it was second-nature, Chibi-usa lowered her head to let just Diana peer around the edge. Diana patted with her paw, and Chibi-usa moved smoothly from the wall. The temporary compartment filled with crystalline wall behind her, just as yet another staff person walked by the intersection of hallway ahead of them.

With twin sighs of relief, Chibi-usa and Diana walked up to the intersection, unnoticed by the passer-by, and proceeded around the corner into the more well-used corridor that led towards Lady Makoto's door.

The Princess knocked quickly on the unpretentious and plain door. After but a moment, it opened, and Makoto appeared. The questioning look on her face cleared, and she smiled as she gestured for the two to enter.

"Small Lady, and Diana," said Makoto, "please come on in. I'm just watering my plants at the moment; would you mind waiting while I finish?"

"Of course not, Lady Makoto," replied the girl, coming further into Makoto's suite. The door gently closed behind them, as Chibi-usa took a seat on a small chair that sat in front of a mirrored vanity. While Makoto quickly finished her watering, Chibi-usa pretended to examine the intricate carved ivy vines that decorated the wooden vanity and chair, as watching Makoto's robe rise every time she reached up to water the potted plants above her head, reminded the girl of the scene she so recently had seen.

"There," said Makoto, satisfied, as she sat the watering can back on the workbench, and came over to where Chibi-usa was waiting. Pulling up another chair from a writing desk across the room, Makoto sat down, facing the cat-adorned Princess.

"Sorry that I'm not really cleaned up for visitors," Makoto said, running a hand through her unbound and as yet unbrushed hair. "I suppose it's my turn now?" she asked, "For the question you've asked most of the others?"

Chibi-usa nodded, a bit abashed. "The others told you?" the girl asked. Makoto nodded, waiting.

"Well, then," the little Princess continued, "I know you'll probably give the same answer all the others did, but I have to ask anyway to be sure." She looked down at the floor for a moment, Diana automatically adjusting to the movement, then looked back up to earnestly gaze into the older woman's eyes.

"Sailor Jupiter, where is Sailor Saturn? Where is Hotaru? What happened to her?"

Though knowing precisely what the girl was about to ask her, at the yearning in the ever-young face, the aching need, Makoto had to turn away. She swallowed, knowing she was stalling, paused. Then set her jaw, and turned back to reply, looking directly at the girl and speaking with open honesty.

"Small Lady, I cannot tell you that. I am sorry."

The girl seemed to shrink smaller in the chair, eyes watering. "But you have to know. One of you has to know. I've asked mother and father, and Lady Rei, and Lady Minako, and Puu, and even Lady Haruka and Lady Michiru. Even Luna and Artemis. No one will tell me anything."

Makoto sighed. "I'm sorry. I can't answer your question, Princess."

Chibi-usa looked down at the floor, nodding sadly. "Because mama ordered you not to."

"Yes." Makoto hesitated, then said, "Neo-Queen Serenity rarely orders anyone to do anything, you know that. Least of all us. She doesn't need to. But this... This was a direct order. Extremely direct."

"I shouldn't have asked mother first," the young Princess muttered bitterly.

Makoto cocked her head. "No, Small Lady, I think you misunderstand. The Queen's order was not given lately. It was given several hundred years ago. And it was not that we cannot discuss it with you. We cannot discuss it with anyone at all."

Chibi-usa's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "It's... it's that big a secret?"

Makoto paused, then replied, "That's too close a question for me to answer, I think. I am sorry."

"I know. I can't really expect you to disobey mother when she's being Queen. But I had to try." With that, Chibi-usa stood, to depart.

Makoto stood as well. "So, will you ask Ami as well?"

Chibi-usa nodded, turning towards the door. "I have my regular medical exam scheduled with her tomorrow. I thought I'd ask her then. I know she won't tell me, but I have to try. She's the last one to ask out of everyone."

"And after that?" wondered Makoto.

Chibi-usa turned back to face Makoto directly. "I'm sorry. I can't answer your question, Lady Makoto."

Makoto smiled ruefully, and bowed formally to the girl. "Fair enough, Small Lady. I wish you success."

"Truly?"

"Truly, I do."

Chibi-usa smiled, tentatively, as if not quite believing her, but desperately wanting to. Makoto politely showed them to the door, nodding farewell to Diana as well, and closing the door behind them.

"I wish someone would have a damn bit of success," muttered Makoto to herself. Shrugging, she padded off towards her shower, to get ready for another busy day of palace duties to perform.

Back in her own quarters, Chibi-usa curled up in the comfortable window seat that was the sole window for her spacious rooms. Diana, long familiar with the signs, promptly hopped down into the girl's lap, and licked her chin. As if that were the signal for release, Chibi-usa began to softly cry, hugging her mooncat friend for comfort and solace. For a long while, the only sound in the room was the sobs of a lonely princess and the desperate purring of her feline friend.

Eventually, though, the sobs wore down to sniffles. Chibi-usa sat back, releasing Diana, and rubbing her wet eyes. "Well," the girl whispered, "that won't get me anywhere."

Diana sat back in the valley of the girl's crossed legs, and peered up. "What will you do, Small Lady?"

Chibi-usa looked down at her friend. "I'm not going to tell you." At Diana's surprised gasp of protest, she continued, "That way you won't get in trouble, too."

"Oh. Um, how much trouble, exactly, do you think?"

"Well... I wouldn't be surprised if they send me to the Moon outpost for a while."

Diana's eyes became very wide. "A... a while?"

The girl shrugged. "Couple of decades, I guess."

"You're right. I don't want to know."

A weak smile appeared on the not so young girl's face. "Why do you think I'm asking everyone even though I know they'll say no? At least I'll be able to say I tried everything else first."

"I see. Well," said the little mooncat, "what was that thing you did with the wall?"

"Oh, that." Chibi-usa shifted around to let her legs hang off the edge of the window seat, while Diana hopped over to sit on the cushions beside her. "I used the Silver Crystal."

"You used... what?"

"The Silver Crystal."

Diana stared up at her human friend. "You stole your mother's, no, Neo-Queen Serenity's royal Silver Crystal, to peep on people?"

"I didn't steal it, it's still in mother's broach. But I found out I can use it a bit without having to actually have it. And I don't peep."

"How'd you figure that out? And what we did today was definitely peeping."

Chibi-usa blushed again, remembering the scene they'd seen. "I've never seen anyone doing... being private before. I didn't think about that stuff." She sighed. "Anyway, I kind of found it accidentally. I was standing in front of my closet trying to find that white gowny thing Momma likes me to wear on formal occasions, and I thought I needed a bigger closet. I thought about asking Momma to use the Silver Crystal to make the closet bigger... as a joke, you know? But... I kind of felt the crystal from far away, like it had heard me... and the walls of the closet got bigger."

"Bigger?"

"Yeah, the crystal of the walls just moved out of the way. While it moved I felt a little tingle, like the kind I felt when I was back in the twentieth century and used the Silver Crystal with Sailor Moon. That's how I knew what it was."

"So it listens to what you wish?"

"No, it... well, sort of. I mean, it's hard to explain. What it feels like. But I don't think I could have done it before that last trip back through time. I mean, it feels different since then. The crystal, that is."

The mooncat simply looked up, stating, "I'm confused."

Chibi-usa sighed again. "Me too, really. Look, since we got back here from being back in time about a year ago, our time, well you-and-me time that is... ugh, you know what I mean! Since then the crystal has felt different. I could feel it before, especially when Momma would let me handle it once in a while, but... it's like it was listening to me, but I didn't know how to listen back. Or talk to it. But after using it with Sailor Moon, back then, when I got back here, it's like it knew I knew how to... talk to it?"

"So... before we went back, it was attuned to you, but you weren't attuned to it, yet."

The girl nodded. "That's a better way of putting it, yes."

"But you can use it without having it?"

"Well, yes. But I only dare use it when mother is doing a royal function, or she might feel it. You know she doesn't like doing those, so she's always distracted. This morning when it was time for her to do the weekly audience thing, I could get away with it."

"Ah, that's why we got up so early."

Another nod. "But I can only do crystal-type things with it at a distance. I tried to just move a cushion once," she paused, indicating with a wave of her hand the various cushions and small pillows scattered throughout the room, "and it felt way too loud, so I stopped so Momma wouldn't notice. But the walls just whisper when I move them. I guess because they're crystal like the Silver Crystal is."

Diana looked away, pondering. "So. You're going to see Lady Ami tomorrow, right?"

"Yes. Another annual exam. I don't know why they bother. I never seem to grow."

"And you'll ask Lady Ami about Hotaru?"

"Might as well, though she'll say 'no' too. Especially since Lady Makoto is sure to warn her."

"Think she'll tell her tonight?" Diana said in a strange tone.

Chibi-usa looked at her cat. "I guess... why?"

"Tonight... while they're in bed?" the mooncat said, far too innocently.

The two looked at each other for a heartbeat, then burst into giggles, which soon grew to laughter. Diana smiled inside as she watched her Princess again rub tears from her eyes, but for a much better reason this time.

Chibi-usa scooped up her feline friend. "Bad kitty," she mock scolded, bringing another round of giggles from them both.

From within the girl's arms, Diana said, "I can't go with you tomorrow to the exam, can I?"

She sat back, holding the cat out and gazing into her eyes. "No, Lady Ami is strict about 'patient confidentiality' or whatever."

"Well, even if she won't answer your question directly, maybe you can still find something out. Lady Makoto didn't answer, but still told you when the order of silence was given. Maybe Lady Ami will tell you a bit more."

Chibi-usa's eyebrows rose in surprise. "That's a good idea. It would be something. Getting closer to an answer." She drew in the cat closer, almost nose to nose. "How'd you think of that?"

"Well, I am supposed to be your 'royal advisor', after all. I do have an idea now and again," said the mooncat, punctuating her statement with a quick lick to the girl's nose.

The Princess giggled again, hugging her friend to her. "Thank you, Diana. For being my friend. And advisor, of course." A gentle head-nuzzle was all the reply needed.

That night did indeed find Makoto and Ami in bed together, this time in Ami's room within the palace. Makoto was stretched out comfortably on Ami's bed, her head on a pillow propped up against the curved headboard which ran around a quarter of the circular bed. Ami was sitting up, leaning back while she reviewed paperwork from the clinic. Both women were nude beneath the covers, having long since grown accustomed to sleeping thus. Makoto's eyes were closed, as she breathed deeply and comfortably, listening to the gentle burbling of the long waterfall that endlessly cascaded on the far side of Ami's chambers.

"Relaxed?" Ami asked her lover, while still focusing on the tablet displaying the data she was reviewing. A barely audible murmur of assent was all she heard in reply.

A few minutes later, though, she felt a familiar presence slowly squirming into her lap beneath the thin covers. Drawing her attention away from the tablet, she pulled the fabric away from her lap, to reveal Makoto's grinning face peering up at her.

"I found a better pillow," Makoto said, smiling as she wiggled her head atop Ami's thighs. "Better view, too," she added, gazing up at her lover.

Ami laughed, and put aside her work materials, dumping the durable tablet and stylus in a bin placed by the bed for that purpose. She reached down and slowly caressed the side of Makoto's face.

"Wanna fool around?" Ami asked in her bedroom voice.

"Yes," was the immediate reply. "But," Makoto added, "you've had a long day, and probably a long one tomorrow. So, I'll wait."

"You sure?" Ami asked, continuing to caress the features of Makoto's face. "We haven't played in a while... maybe I want to chain down an impish young virgin to my bed here, and ravish her in ways she's never dreamed possible."

"I can play the virgin, but I can dream a whole heck of a lot," Makoto grinned up at Ami. "But... no. See, Small Lady asked me about Hotaru today."

"Ah." Ami's caresses slowed for a bit, but did not stop. "So, she left me for last, I see."

"Yes. Probably will ask you tomorrow in the exam."

"I thought she might, since it was scheduled anyway."

"Well, there's two things you should know," Makoto said, seriously, as Ami's eyebrows rose. "First, I may have slipped a bit."

Ami's eyes went wide. "You didn't...?"

"No, no, not that. Just that she thought that Serenity issued the gag order on us after she'd asked Serenity about it, and just about telling her. I told her that the order was given a few hundred years back, and covered us telling anyone, not just her. Did I screw up?" Makoto looked up, a bit worried.

"Hmm. No, I don't think so. Serenity never said we couldn't say when she said not to say anything."

Makoto frowned, thinking that sentence through to make sure she understood it; something she did occasionally in response to one of Ami's more convoluted statements. "Good then. I wanted you to know what I'd told her, for when you talk to her as well. But," Makoto paused, again looking up seriously. "Second thing is, Small Lady has something planned."

"What?"

"I don't know. I asked her, and she said she couldn't tell me, in exactly the same manner I'd just told her that I couldn't answer her question." Makoto smiled again. "Frankly, it was precisely what I deserved. From her point of view, anyway."

Ami laughed again, imaging the scene. "Well, maybe I can get something out of her."

Makoto shook her head. "No, I don't think so. She knew I was going to refuse to answer her before she asked. She knew I had to refuse. But she's asking anyway. She's methodically covering her bases, for whatever she really has up her sleeve."

The two senshi looked into each other's eyes, then said in unison, "She's acting like her mother!"

Delighted laughter filled the room, the two women shaking with helpless glee. Finally, Ami managed to get out, "Well, she's acting like her mother acted at that age, rather than the way she acts now."

"That's not all that different. And what age? She is, after all..."

Again the two said together, "... over 900 years old!" in perfect imitation of Chibi-usa's often heard refrain.

These laughs took much longer, before the two managed to subside to the occasional snort or chuckle.

"We're being mean," Ami said, with mock fierceness.

"Yeah, we are," Makoto replied, more seriously. "It's not her fault, after all. She wants to grow so much."

"Yes, she does. I try to tell her with each exam that she is growing, just not very fast. She can't seem to hear me, though." Ami sighed. "Well, maybe I can distract her somehow. Give her something else to think about."

"I don't think so," Makoto solemnly stated, gazing up.

Ami just murmured, content to gaze down into Makoto's eyes, and gently glide her fingertips along her friend and lover's face and neck.

"Makoto?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

"I know."

The two smiled.

"Well, let's get some sleep," Ami said, waving her hand at the light source above her bed, which slowly began to dim. Makoto squirmed back up towards the headboard as Ami squirmed to lie down, the end result of which found Ami curled up, back against Makoto's front, spooned within her lover's arms, their usual sleeping positions when with each other.

As the light finally, slowly extinguished itself, Makoto placed her lips almost against Ami's ear. "Ami?" she whispered.

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

"I know."

Each could feel the other smile, and they held each other in the dark, gently falling into sleep.

Chibi-usa buttoned up her blouse as Ami examined various readings and results at a terminal beside the exam table on which the just-finished medical exam was done. The little Princess had long since learned that loose-fitting clothing was the best choice to wear for any of Ami's extremely thorough examinations. Hence the loose green blouse and short brown skirt were her choice for the morning.

Ami turned from the terminal, swiveling on the same type of chair that doctors have had in their offices for centuries, to face her patient. "Clean bill of health, as usual," she announced.

Chibi-usa sighed heavily. "Still no reason why I don't grow?" she asked, as she did at all of these exams.

Ami scooted closer to the exam table, taking the girl's hands as they rested in her lap to clasp them with her own. "Small Lady, as I keep telling you, you are growing. Just very slowly."

The Princess' skeptical look was all too familiar to Ami, as she saw it almost every year at this time.

"Look at this... computer, holodisplay please, chart growth rate, current patient, from record begin to present." Beside the two, a dim beam was broadcast from the terminal, which displayed in front of them a chart, upon which was quickly drawn a line, which slowly increased from left to right. Ami scooted over a bit to gesture at the seemingly solid image. "See, if you look at the slope, it's exactly normal for any other human girl - just stretched out over a few hundred years."

"Just?" replied the girl, putting a world of complaint in a word.

It was Ami's turn to sigh. "I know. I still can't tell you why it's taking so long. Every test I've run, scan I've done, tells me you're a perfectly healthy, normal human girl. I haven't a clue as to why you're not growing at a normal rate. But I can tell you this... computer, magnify current chart, subsection from here," Ami poked a finger at place in the chart about three-quarters from the beginning, "to present." The chart obligingly expanded the specified section, to show the same line in greater detail.

"Small Lady, look here, and here," Ami said, pointing out two points on the line displayed, one almost at the end. At both points, the slope of the line increased. "Here's two places where your rate of growth has increased, this last one is from today's test. Both times, you started growing a bit faster than you had been."

"So I'm growing faster?" the girl asked, excitement and disbelief together in her voice.

"Yes. Since last exam, you've grown in height six millimeters more than the previous trend would have indicated, your breasts are a few millimeters bigger, your..."

"Millimeters?" Chibi-usa uttered in dismay.

"Yes, the charts..." Ami turned from the display to see the chagrined look on her royal patient's face. "Oh dear."

Ami scooted back, to clasp the girl's hands again. "That seems like so little, I know. But it is an increase in not just your growth, but how fast you're growing. And those times of accelerated rate of growth seem to have something in common." She directed her patient's attention to the graph once again. "See the dates when the line changed slope?"

Chibi-usa could only nod. Ami continued, "Those are the dates when you returned from visiting back in the twentieth century. Now," she said, spreading her hands, "I have no idea why that would affect anything. I noticed it after your first trip, but I wasn't prepared to conclude there was a link. With this second data point, it seems there is indeed a link. I think, Small Lady, you might need to have a talk with Lady Setsuna."

The Princess nodded again, replying, "Okay, Lady Ami, but... I assume that since you mentioned my... travels, that this is a secure room and I can talk about... court stuff?"

It was Ami's turn to nod. "Yes, a royal medical exam is as secure as the max security areas in the palace, like our individual quarters. You can speak of senshi business here."

"Well, then... just to get it over with, I guess..." The girl sighed, then continued, her gaze dropping to the floor, "Lady Ami, what happened to Hotaru? Where is Sailor Saturn? Won't you tell me? Please?" With the last word, the Princess looked up at the blue-haired doctor, her last hope of an answer.

Ami had thought out her reply in detail, and thus she replied with uncustomary formality, "I'm sorry, Princess Small Lady. By royal command of Neo-Queen Serenity, I may not speak of it, to you or to anyone not present at the time of the order."

Chibi-usa brought her fist down beside her leg, smashing against the top of the exam table. "WHY?" she cried, her frustration eclipsing her control.

Ami's face became a featureless mask, retreating further into strict formality. "Small Lady, that I think I can answer, at least partly. The command was given in part because of an absolute need to protect... something that this knowledge could harm deeply."

"What?" whispered the girl, shocked both by her own outburst and that Ami had replied even this much to her unthinking question. "The timeline, you mean?"

Ami closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again, her face again showing warmth. She scooted close to her royal patient, yet again clasping the girl's hand with her own. "Oh, no, Small Lady, it is not the timeline that we're all trying to protect. Not this time."

Ami gazed straight into Chibi-usa's eyes. "We're trying to protect you."

Minako exclaimed, "You told her that?"

"I had to tell her something, poor girl," Ami replied. The two, along with Rei, were meeting for lunch, something the inner senshi members tried to do each week. The group met in a very private meeting room deep within the palace, where it was safe to speak freely. One wall was devoted to a holo display, which could be set to almost any scene on the planet Earth, and selected scenes from most of the other planets at well. Today they seemed to be on a patio overlooking the Alps, with dawn dancing among the snow-covered peaks.

"That's pretty close to the edge of what we can say, Ami," Rei calmly observed.

"But not over," Ami stressed. Rei nodded in acknowledgment.

"Well, the whole thing made perfect sense at the time," said Minako, using her spoon to toy with the last bit of the pudding she'd had for dessert. "But if Small Lady really doesn't have to go back in time anymore, should we really be keeping it from her, still?"

"We probably could tell her, since timeline issues seem to be past. In as much as time issues ever really are past, of course..."

"Stay on topic, Ami," interrupted Minako. "I've heard that conversation too many times. Like Makoto says..."

The three chimed together, "I hate time travel!" They laughed at the refrain they'd heard from their teammate so often.

"Where is Makoto today, anyway?" Minako wondered.

"She's helping Serenity decide on the court's dresses for the Intercession ceremony," Rei replied. "They're leaning towards some neo-Greek toga like thing, I think. But since we're staying on topic..."

Minako stuck her tongue out at Rei, and laughed. "All right, all right. But, seriously, should we tell her, now? After so long?"

Rei shrugged. "I'm not sure. I guess if it were up to me, I'd tell her, even if just so she doesn't keep snooping around and maybe get hurt. But, you know, it's not up to us. It's up to Serenity. She might change her mind as queen, or even as a senshi, but... would any mother let her daughter go through that if she didn't have to?"

"Maybe it's time that she has to," Minako stated soberly. "We're not getting anywhere. Frankly, we've failed. Utterly." Minako stared grimly at the table, as the other two senshi startled at her blunt assessment. "I'll never give up, you know that, but... maybe we have to admit that without Small Lady, nothing we do will ever work."

"It might never work even with her, you know," Ami said quietly.

"And," chimed in Rei, "could you be the one to tell Serenity, 'Oh, it's just been a year since you had to let your daughter go back in time and almost die, in order to save the world, and now we want you to let her risk her life again?' I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do that to her. Could you?"

Rei looked at her fellow senshi. First the blue-haired warrior shook her head, sighing; then the blonde warrior also shook her head in the negative.

"I'll bet the others feel about the same. So," concluded Rei, "this one is out of our hands, and I'm just as glad to keep it that way."

"Unless Setsuna pulls another 'We have to protect the timeline' thing out of her hat," Minako pointed out.

"Don't remind me," Rei said, eyes rolling. "Why she won't just let us know what's coming is beyond me."

"That's probably pretty much how Small Lady is thinking about us these days, you know," Ami said, smiling.

Rei opened her mouth to retort, then closed it, grimacing. "Touché," she acknowledged wryly.

The three sat in companionable silence for a bit, gazing at the mountainous beauty seemingly before them. Finally, Rei pushed back from the table, stating, "I have the usual last minute details to see to before the Intercession ceremony. The security staff doesn't really need me, but they're used to me prowling around, scowling. Say, Minako, are you ready to rotate jobs again? I've been over security for almost a century now, and it's getting a bit boring."

Minako shook her head, smiling, and replied, "No, dear, I could never pull off that look of barely contained rage like you do. It's so motivating to the staff. Besides, would you really want the ambassador stuff again? It's still just as hard as ever to be visiting schools and towns on a supposed 'please remember that us royals back in Tokyo still exist' tour, and never finding what you're really looking for."

Rei sighed, remembering. "Ah, good point. Hmm, maybe I could be a doctor for a while. How about it, Ami?"

Ami smiled, but the smile was of a predator sensing prey. "Perhaps, dear Rei. Would you care to intern under me for, oh, a century or two?"

"Um. On second thought, maybe not," replied Rei, waving her hands in emphasis. "I just remembered I'm not that masochistic."

"Too bad," Ami replied in a silky tone. "Makoto and I would love to ravish you again, all tied up in our chambers, helpless to resist."

The other two senshi looked at Ami's not quite leering face for an instant. Then all three of them laughed uproariously. Their laughter took long minutes to wind down, and Minako was clutching her sides, breathless, before they all even partly regained their composure.

"Oh. Oh, that was funny," Minako managed to get out. Ami wrinkled her nose impishly in return.

"Actually," mused Rei, as she wiped the tears from her eyes, "it has been a long time since all four of us were together. Want to get together next week? Normal or playing?"

"Sure," said Ami, "and Makoto won't have a problem, I'm sure."

"I'm in," replied Minako, who was almost breathing normally again. "We can see what everyone is in the mood for at the time."

"Okay, but no using Love-Me Chain this time!" stated Rei most emphatically.

"But, Rei," Minako said, putting on her best innocent look, "when could there ever be a better time to use it? It is called 'Love-Me Chain', after all."

Rei looked at her blonde friend sternly, while Minako maintained her innocent, questioning air. Ami giggled at their antics, and finally Minako couldn't hold her laugh in anymore, joining Ami in a bout of giggling.

"Okay, Rei, if we play, we'll keep it to stuff we can break in an emergency," promised Minako. "I did apologize after that last time; I just didn't think."

"Well, it'd be my luck that you'd have me chained to the building and five systems would attack us right then and you'd all run off and forget me," grumbled Rei. "Playing is one thing, but..."

"I know, I know," Minako said as she stood to leave. "Won't happen again. But I have to get back myself soon, so I'll go on ahead now." She walked towards the apparent door from the balcony, which took her past Rei's seat. As her first steps brought her next to Rei, she paused, leaning down towards her friend. "But, Rei," Minako said softly into Rei's ear, "you know we'd never forget you, love." Ami, looking at the two of them, nodded in agreement, even that soft statement reaching her ears.

Rei found that even after all these years, she could still blush a bit. "I know," she said softly in return, reaching up to squeeze the hand of her friend and fellow senshi.

Minako squeezed back, then took her leave, waving at Ami as she left the room.

Rei began to stand, ready to make her own departure, when Ami said, "One more thing." Rei resumed sitting, looking at her friend inquisitively.

"Makoto is pretty sure that Small Lady has something planned," Ami stated. She relayed to Rei the jist of the conversation that the two had had in Makoto's quarters, as later told to her by Makoto.

"Hmm," Rei said thoughtfully, "but no idea exactly what she might be up to."

Ami nodded, adding, "I just thought you should know."

"I'm not sure if Small Lady is the most likely person to change Serenity's mind, or the least likely. I'm also not sure if I wish her success, or not. Like I said earlier, I'm staying out of it," Rei stated, getting up from her chair at last.

"I don't see anything else we can do, anyway," said Ami, also standing.

The two friends walked out of the room, again in companionable silence, each on their way to resume their daily duties. The room, registering their departure, flickered as the illusion of the Alps was halted, and returned to being an ordinary meeting room again, waiting in the darkness.

"That should be fine, thank you," Chibi-usa said to the nervous hairdresser who had just completed styling the Princess' hair for the Intercession ceremony. The Princess looked again at her image in the mirror that she sat before, and nodded in approval. Her pink hair was done up in the usual royal odango style, with tails of hair trailing down from them. She was dressed in today's assigned ladies' court dress, a neo-Grecian tunic style that was light and easy to move in. Her own tunic was white, her and her mother's commonly used color for official ceremonies; all the ladies of the court had their standard colors, which the public were well used to seeing. The public, of course, did not know those colors derived from each ladies' senshi uniform, as their being senshi was only recalled by historians reading dusty manuscripts in the royal library.

Chibi-usa sighed in relief as the fussy hairdresser finally was satisfied with her work, and departed the Princess' quarters. Diana, currently perched off to the side on the window seat, sighed as well, and stretched luxuriously in a friendly sunbeam coming in through the window.

"She was a nervous one," Diana commented, stating the obvious.

Chibi-usa nodded absentmindedly, adding "Well, she'll probably get a job here at the palace for a few decades if they think she did a good job."

"She did do a good job. You look nice today." Diana jumped down from the window seat, padded over to the table that her royal charge sat in front of, and leaped atop it. Chibi-usa didn't respond, but just continued to look at her image in the mirror, a bit mournfully.

Diana looked at the girl, cocking her head to the side in puzzlement. "You really do look nice. But you seem... sad...?"

Chibi-usa shifted her gaze from her reflection to her friend. "I'm just... not really looking forward to today's ceremony."

A voice from the open doorway asked, "Any particular reason why not?" Chibi-usa and Diana turned, to see Luna pad her way into the Princess' room. Luna nodded to Chibi-usa, who nodded in return.

As Luna leaped up to join her daughter atop the vanity, Chibi-usa answered, "No... just another ceremony where I basically just sit there and don't do anything."

"Ah," said Luna, padding over to Diana's side of the tabletop, and absentmindedly starting to groom her daughter. "Well," she got out between licks, "it's important that you be there, with all the rest of the court, and your parents, of course."

Chibi-usa's mouth twitched slightly at the sight of Diana's face as she strove to be stoic under her mother's utterly unwanted grooming. "Yes, of course, Luna, but I don't actually do anything, while everyone else is usually running around."

"They're mostly running around for show, you know. All but two of the cases have been decided already, and in those your mother is just waiting to make sure the person gets a chance to tell their side." Luna's grooming was only briefly interrupted by this statement. Diana silently pleaded with her eyes for her human friend to rescue her.

With a look of 'you owe me' towards her advisor, Chibi-usa asked, "If everything is decided, what's the point of having the ceremony, then?"

Luna turned away from Diana to address the Princess, to Diana's obvious relief. "To make it obvious that the Neo-Queen is personally intervening in these cases, as the citizens are requesting. You see," at which words, both the Princess and her advisor knew Luna had entered full lecture mode, as they knew she would, "the whole idea of the Intercession is that no matter how well-run the various government agencies are, there are some situations that just can't be resolved according to the rules or laws, and still be a just outcome. So every citizen has the right to request that the Neo-Queen Intercede for them, and if need be overrule any other agency or legal court's judgment. And her decision is of course final."

"Well then why is everyone running around on the throne platform then if everything's decided?" Chibi-usa wondered, playing along.

"Because your mother generally has one of the ladies of the court make sure her decision is implemented immediately, or is seen to be asking their advice; and they are going about talking to officials to make sure the citizen is telling the whole story in their plea, and that the officials are running around because your mother is making them hop to it. It's not just that things are being put right, or as right as they can be, but that everyone sees it being put right."

"So it's all fake?" Chibi-usa asked, surprised and a bit outraged.

"No, it's all real; the work was just mostly done before the ceremony, with your mother overriding or correcting where needed. It's considered less than desirable for an issue to get up to an Intercession level, so most requests are worked out with citizens whenever possible. But some things are just too complicated, or the citizen is too stubborn, and so eventually it gets up to the Queen. And every citizen has the right to be heard, so no Intercession is officially settled until she decides, which is officially at the ceremony even though every side of things has been thoroughly hashed out for years before it gets this far." Luna paused, glancing back at her daughter, who had slowly moved back on the vanity to escape notice.

"Uh, so people can only apply in advance to have their plea heard, then?" Chibi-usa hurriedly spoke, to divert Luna again.

"Pretty much. In the early years people just walked up and presented their case, but no one has done that for hundreds and hundreds of years. They found out it's a good way to get smacked down. The government staff is there in the first place so that we don't have to do everything; people should use it instead of bothering the royal court all the time."

"Hmm," Chibi-usa looked away, as if finally bored with the topic. "At least all the activity up there means it's okay to take a bathroom break once in a while."

Luna laughed. "Yes, your mother made that rule long, long ago. She said if she had to sit up on a silly throne all day, she sure wasn't going to do it with a full bladder!"

The three laughed, imagining the Queen saying exactly that. Luna jumped down from the vanity, and moved towards the door, saying, "It's almost time. I'll see you both there?"

"Actually, why don't you spend today with your family, Diana?" Chibi-usa said casually. "It's a bit boring being up there all day, and if you're not with me maybe you can slip away early with them, like I've seen them do sometimes before."

Luna coughed, having been caught out, while Diana began to protest, "But I don't mind sitting with you..."

"No, Diana, it's okay, I don't mind. No need for both of us to be seen up there, and I'm sure you'd like to be with your family today," Chibi-usa stated, gazing at Diana with peculiar intensity as the last words were spoken.

"Ah... okay, Small Lady. As you wish, of course," Diana got out, sounding a bit hurt, but gazing back at the Princess with wide eyes.

Chibi-usa smiled then, saying softly, "I'll see you later, then," as Diana hopped from the vanity top to follow her mother out of the room and down the hall.

"She seems a bit out of sorts," said Luna as the two padded along, dodging between the feet of the increasing number of staff going to and fro.

"Yes, she's been a bit down lately," Diana replied. "I'm sure she'll get over it soon."

Luna simply nodded, turning her attention to the ceremony ahead. Diana followed her mother, hiding the thought that kept running through her mind: "Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit."

Back in her quarters, Chibi-usa looked at her reflection in the mirror glumly. Sighing, she got up from her chair, and went to her closet, reaching way in the back to drag out a small satchel. Taking it with her, she walked to the doorway, paused, and turned back to look at her chambers. She moved her gaze slowly around, as if drinking in the sight and committing it to memory. Then she turned to the hallway and left, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Chibi-usa walked away from her rooms toward the ceremony. She did not look back.