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Chapter 26 – The Sailor Quartet
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Usagi yawned as she worked on the last question of her math homework. 'Seriously who needs this stuff in life after school?' She asked herself. She was sitting at her desk twirling her pencil between her fingers. She'd been staring at the same math problem for at least five minutes. She really didn't know how answering…

From the top of a 200 meter high building, the angle of depression to the bottom of a second building is 20 degrees. From the same point, the angle of elevation to the top of the second building is 10 degrees. Calculate the height of the second building.

…was ever going to help her in life. There was literally no practical use in answering that question. Of course, she couldn't just say, I'm going to be queen of this solar system; math problems like these are beneath me. She wished that she could say that sometimes…

She dropped her pencil as she suddenly felt someone reaching out to her. She remembered feeling something like this before, when Rei was taken from her, and it filled her heart with dread. A moment later she heard a voice projected in her mind.

"Usagi…Usagi…I really hope you can hear me. My communicator is out of my reach and I could use some back up. I'm close to the jinja, find me. Please…"

"Rei!" Her girlfriend's name slipped past her lips as she stood up and quickly reached for her communicator. 'Rei…Rei…' She tried to call out to her girlfriend as well, but felt nothing in return, making her panic a little. She fumbled with the device for a second, nearly dropping it, before she got a firmer grip on it. She quickly activated the device and pressed a few buttons that would make sure her messaged reached everyone. As soon as it connected with all of her friends she spoke…

"Everyone, I don't know what's going on exactly, but Rei needs help! I don't know exactly where she is, just that she's near her home. Everyone meet me there as soon as possible!"

She quickly put her communicator away and grabbed the compact on her chest and called out her transformation phrase.

"Moon Crisis, Make Up!"

She didn't waste another moment as she leapt through her window an instant later, her only thought was that she needed to find Rei.

Mars tested her left arm by trying to see how much movement she could realistically handle, but only succeeded in nearly crying out in pain. She looked to her left side and cursed mentally, that arm was going to pretty useless; she could barely move it let alone lift it. Fighting one handed against this woman was a dangerous prospect.

The pink haired girl seemed to notice her actions because a moment later she said, "She won't land another blow on you, your Highness."

Mars looked at the girl for a moment before asking, "You've fought her before?"

Sailor Ceres nodded, "Once." She said quietly before looking to the girl with red hair and the girl with green, "Juno, Vesta, you two know what to do." They each nodded and she turned to the blue haired girl, "Palla, do your best to limit her movements. She is strong so it will be difficult, but I have faith you."

Sailor Pallas smiled from ear to ear before charging forward. "Don't…" Sailor Ceres began to say, but stopped quickly and addressed the other two members of their group, "Don't let her get hurt. Small Lady will be upset if she is." She said and they quickly ran off after other senshi. "There goes that plan…" Sailor Ceres mumbled under her breath.

Mars looked at the pink haired girl for a moment before focusing on the other three Sailor Senshi. She was more than a little curious what these girls were capable of and if she was being honest, a short break would do her good. She put her hand over the wound on her shoulder. She did her best to hold back any sound of discomfort, but she didn't do a very good job at that as she still groaned audibly. She could see the girl beside her turn towards her out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't say anything so Mars chose to ignore her and continue to watch the other three.

Sailor Juno and Sailor Vesta finally caught the other girl that had run ahead, "She didn't mean for you to rush in, Palla!" Sailor Vesta yelled.

"We're meant to distract her, so that you can turn things completely in our favor." Sailor Juno explained.

"Oh…" The blue haired girl mumbled dejectedly.

"Whatever, the three of us are here now so just be careful. She is strong; she's not like those underlings." Vesta said as they came to a stop a short distance from their red haired enemy.

"I guess you really intend to stand in my way." Bixbite stated and twirled her weapon in her hand before resting it on her shoulder.

"We won't allow you do as you please." Juno said with a glare.

"So be it." She said and quickly swung her weapon down at the green haired girl who just spoke.

Sailor Juno dove to the left side, as pieces of concrete sprayed up from the ground. While Sailor Pallas rolled in the opposite direction, Sailor Vesta however, charged forward, throwing a punch at the woman's face before she could pull her weapon out of the ground. She was forced to make her lance disappear so she could block the attempted strike.

Bixbite caught the other girl's fist and grinned at her, "You won't win in hand to hand combat with me kid."

Vesta smirked and grabbed her arm that had stopped her punch, "Believe me, we don't intend to." She said as her eyes flicked to the left, making Bixbite do the same.

Sailor Juno had her hand pointed at the sky and all of a sudden a loud crack of thunder could be heard, she smiled before pointing her hand at her enemy.

"Thunder Bolt!"

Bixbite cursed and sent a punch into the red haired senshi's stomach, making her release her hold. Just as she was prepared to leap away from the incoming lightning strike, she slipped and fell. As soon as she was deposited on the ground, she could feel that it was now cold and wet. She looked to her right and glared at the blue haired senshi. She planned on wiping that stupid gleeful grin off that brat's face, even as the lightning hit with a loud boom. Smoke filled the immediate area in its aftermath. A moment later, Bixbite shot out of the, with her weapon in hand once again, "You damn brats shouldn't have interfered in a fight that has nothing to do with you!" Bixbite yelled and swung her lance at the girl with blue hair. She cried out even before any blow was landed as Sailor Juno appeared between them, catching the weapon with both of her hands above her head.

"This is no time to doubt yourself, Palla." Juno said as she gritted her teeth and mumbled, "Anytime now!"

As soon as she said that, Sailor Vesta leapt over her and kicked Bixbite in the side of her head as she went past her, causing her to stagger slightly but enough to separate her from the other two girls. She quickly followed up with a jab to her midsection, but Bixbite dismissed her weapon and caught her fist, "Picking on Palla is my job!" Vesta said and waved her free hand in a circular motion, forming a red ball in that hand before thrusting it forward.

"Fire Bomb!"

The red haired senshi called her attack and leapt back as the ball exploded into a large cone of fire that engulfed the other woman. She looked at her fellow Quartet members, "I'm not sure any of our individual attacks will take care of her." She watched the fire dissipate as both Juno and Pallas stood next to her.

Bixbite staggered forward and coughed at little. Her arms and stomach were noticeably redder; as she seemed to as least suffer some burns from the attack, but no real significant damage. She glared at the three senshi in front of her, "Now, you've really pissed me off!"

"We have managed to get her angry though, it seems." Sailor Juno stated and looked the other two girls, "Any ideas?"

"Can I freeze her? Palla." The blue haired girl inquired.

"Maybe, but let's wait to use that until all four of us are here. Then she can't deflect our arrow like last time." Sailor Vesta stated and gave a quick glance over her shoulder, "I don't imagine her Highness will stay out of this much longer, it's not in her nature."

Juno chuckled at her statement, "No it isn't, but she did take some injuries already, and she'd need more than a couple minutes to recover."

Mars tore her eyes away from the girls fighting and looked at the pink haired girl still standing beside her, "Why are you still standing here and not fighting?"

"For your protection." Sailor Ceres said simply in reply.

Mars' gaze hardened as she turned away from the other girl again, "I don't need protection."

Sailor Ceres bowed her head slightly as she said, "Of course your Highness, but I will protect you nonetheless."

Mars didn't say anything immediately, instead rolling her shoulder a little to gauge how useful it would be. She grimaced at how much discomfort she still felt. There was still probably too much pain for her to reliably use it in combat. She looked at her hand on her uninjured right arm; she was still holding the ofuda. She looked at the girls fighting again, 'They're strong, but not quite strong enough…' She could feel that Usagi was getting closer and it put her mind at ease a little. She hated the thought of Usagi needing to potentially pull her back from the edge again, but knowing that she was near, the risk of using the ofuda as a way to balance herself felt smaller. She took a deep breath and brought the paper to her lips and whispered, "You will not control me. I am stronger than your influence. You are merely a tool for me to use. The light I fight for is stronger than any darkness you possess. You will not control me." She closed her eyes and took another deep breath and sought out that energy, not out of fear or anger as she did before, but with a calm heart.

Sailor Ceres stared at Mars, she was not the most adept at sensing other's auras, but even she could feel the change in the woman next to her. There was a strange pressure reverberating off of her. She couldn't recall her Highness displaying this before, not that she had very many opportunities to fight with her, so didn't really know what to make of this.

Mars opened her eyes and turned to the pink haired Sailor Senshi, "You should order them to come back. I can't guarantee complete control."

She wasn't sure what she meant exactly by that, but she didn't question her, "Vesta! Juno! Palla!" She called to the other members of the Quartet before they could reengage Bixbite. The three girls turned to her questioningly, "Come back here!" They each gave her confused to curious looks before doing as they were ordered.

Mars walked towards her enemy as the other Sailor Senshi walked by her going in the opposite direction. She didn't pay any mind to them, simply focusing on the redhead, "You truly wished to see what I've been holding back?" Mars asked as soon as she was sure that she was within earshot.

"So you finally decided to stop being a coward?!" Bixbite called back, not hiding the irritation in her voice.

She closed her eyes for a moment and reminded herself to not give in to her anger. A moment later she opened her eyes and charged the other woman. Bixbite couldn't hide her surprise at the fire senshi's speed. She could only hastily raise her lance up to block the fist heading in her direction, except rather than a punch, Mars grabbed the red weapon. "You think if I had full control over this, that I wouldn't have crushed you already?" She asked and clenched her hand more tightly around the woman's weapon.

Bixbite's eyes widened as she heard a cracking noise. She looked at her lance and silently cursed as she watched hairline fractures form around where Mars was gripping it. She quickly dispelled her weapon and threw a punch at Mars' face, but she quickly side stepped it.

"You're slower than the other one." Mars said casually and quickly grabbed her still extended arm. She heard the woman hiss in pain making her glance down, as she hadn't even done anything yet. She could saw the angry red flesh, "I see. Those girls did do some damage didn't they?"

"Shut up!" Bixbite sneered and tried to pull her arm way.

Mars smirked and did tighten her hold at that point, making the redhead cry out, "You should understand that if you play with fire you are likely to get burned at some point." As soon as she finished that statement, she saw her other hand coming at her, so she released her hold on her arm and quickly blocked the blow, immediately following up with a solid kick to her chest. Bixbite was sent back several feet, while Mars pointed her hand at her.

"Fire Soul!"

The fire ball flew out of her hand and while its path was true, she still found herself cursing as she saw the woman had that weapon of hers in her hand again. She watched her spin it quickly and deflect the attack off to the side, 'I gave her too much time to recover.' She thought and kicked off the ground, propelling herself towards the woman again. She saw her coming and thrusted at her, but Mars dodged the attempt and held her right hand out to the side, forming a cone of fire, which she quickly closed her fist around, forming it into a flaming sword. Without wasting a moment, she swung it down at the woman.

Bixbite reacted quickly to shield herself with her free arm, while she protected her life, her arm was less lucky as Mars' sword cut cleanly through the limb, cauterizing it as it did so. She fell to the ground holding what was left of her arm against her chest. She glared at Mars and screamed, "You bitch!"

"I guess that makes us even." She said and pointed to her currently useless left arm. She pulled back her sword and was prepared to end things as she thrust it forward, but just before she was due to make contact, the woman disappeared. Mars scoffed in disgust, "Coward." She muttered as she closed her eyes. She didn't wish to use this energy for longer than was absolutely necessary. She let the sword drop from her hand and summoned the ofuda from earlier to her hand again. She took a deep breath as she held the talisman to her chest, 'You will not control me. I am stronger than your influence. You are merely a tool for me to use. The light I fight for is stronger than any darkness you possess. You will not control me.' She again took a deep breath as she finished, but she still took a couple more seconds to make sure that she didn't sense any trace of that energy lingering. Once she was sure turned around and walked back towards the four girls.

"That was…" Sailor Vesta started to say in wonder.

"Wow…" Sailor Juno said simply, but with as much wonderment as Vesta.

"Why have you never done that before?" Sailor Ceres asked

"Hopefully because I no longer have that power." She said simply, but after a couple seconds of silence she decided to add, "It's a long story." She closed her eyes once more, Usagi and her friends would be arriving very soon, but it felt like there were a couple of them missing. She looked down the street and slowly began walking a short distance away from the four Sailor Senshi, when she finally saw what she was looking for on the ground. She picked up her communicator and quickly dialed in the code for the one girl she figured was missing. After a couple seconds the screen came to life and the youngest member of their group appeared on the screen, "Hotaru? Are you still home?"

The younger girl looked off to the side; she got the impression that Mars already knew the answer to that question, "Yes. Haruka-san and Michiru-san pretty much ordered me to stay here with Chibi-Usa."

"Not any longer. I need you to bring her to this location now." She said and looked at the four girls that helped her. She was grateful, but still wanted their identities to be confirmed by her daughter before she completely believed them.

"Of course, I can do that." She said with a nod.

"Thank you. Please get here as soon as you can." Mars said, before disconnecting the connection.

"I get the feeling that you still don't quite trust us, your Highness." The pink haired senshi stated with a hint of mirth in her voice.

"I'm not sure I know what to believe. I do know that the last time I saw your four faces, you were enemies. I'm glad for your help, but you'll have to forgive me for being cautious. I owe it to you to give you a chance though." Mars said calmly. Before any of the other girls had the opportunity to respond a new voice called for the fire senshi.

"Rei!"

Mars turned to see Sailor Moon running towards her. She dropped her hand from her shoulder, only wincing slightly as she removed the pressure she'd been applying there. She smiled at her girlfriend that was also flanked by the rest of the inner guard and Uranus and Neptune. She practically caught the blonde as she ran over. Moon hugged her perhaps a little too exuberantly; causing Mars to grimace and make a sound of discomfort at the tight hold, making her pulled away quickly and examine her more closely. Mars reached up and covered her cheeks, making her stop scrutinizing her for a moment, "I'm okay, nothing broken this time, I promise."

"But your shoulder…"

Mars smiled slightly as she said, "It's not as bad as it could have been."

Moon gave her a disbelieving look as she took her injured left arm in her hands, examining the long cut along the inside of her forearm as well. "Hotaru will take care of you, when she gets here." She said, looking up to meet her girlfriend's eyes, when she noticed dark marks around neck as well. She let go of her arm then before reaching up slowly and lightly touching the dark bruises, "Who did this to you?"

"Her name is Bixbite, your Majesty."

Sailor Moon quickly looked over Mars' shoulder to finally noticing the four unfamiliar senshi standing a short distance behind her girlfriend. She'd been so focused on Rei that she hadn't even paid attention to the four girls, currently kneeling behind her. She didn't move or say anything immediately, but those four certainly looked familiar.

"They helped me fight her back. I'm alive because of them." Mars said quietly, loud enough for only the blonde to hear.

Moon's eyes quickly met Mars' again, she was never one to exaggerate something like that; she was more likely to do the opposite when pressed. Her eyes conveyed how serious her situation was. She wanted to hold her, but she didn't want to agitate any of her injuries, she wished that would have been with her or got here quicker at least but she couldn't change that either.

Mars could see the change her girlfriend, so she took her hand that was still gently touching her neck and placed it over her heart. "I'm still here though and I'm not going anywhere." She said and smiled slightly as she gave her hand a light squeeze as well.

"Want to introduce your friends?" Uranus said as she walked up to the pair.

Mars looked over her shoulder as everyone moved in closer as well, "I'm not quite sure I would say friends. Not yet at least."

"They do sort of look familiar though." Jupiter mumbled, almost to herself.

Venus looked around, taking in the clear signs of battle around the area before asking, "What happened to the one you were fighting?"

"She left." Mars said simply, even as she felt her girlfriend pull her hand closer and hugged the entire limb close to her chest.

"We need to get those injuries treated soon though." Mercury said as she looked over her friend. She didn't need her computer to diagnose their severity, particularly the wound to her shoulder.

"Hotaru-chan is on her way. I'm sure that she'll be here shortly."

"We told her and Chibi-Usa to stay at the house." Neptune stated, hoping that she was not simply expecting her.

Mars nodded, "I know. I told her to come and to bring her along as well. She can verify their identities. " She said looking at the four kneeling senshi again.

Saturn placed Chibi-Usa down gently and smiled at her as she pulled away. She'd gotten to enjoy carrying the future Princess around and it had become a routine occurrence, for the practicality of it of course. She was sure there was no danger present; Mars would not have asked her to bring the other girl otherwise. She just didn't know why she wanted her here, but the only way to determine that was to meet up with her and everyone else.

"Everyone should be down the next street." Saturn said and motioned ahead of them before beginning to walk there, expecting her to follow her.

The time traveler nodded and reached over, taking the Sailor Senshi's hand and hurrying towards the street she was referring to. As soon as they had a clear view, both girls could clearly everyone gathered. Chibi-Usa froze though and unconsciously tightened her hold on her friend's hand. She was a Sailor Senshi, so she knew that the other girl probably barely even noticed how tightly she was holding her. Chibi-Usa felt as though her heart wished to leap out of her chest. She could barely believe her eyes, her guardians were here! She had no idea how, but that wasn't important right now, in her eyes at least. She didn't wish to simply abandon Hotaru, but she was overjoyed to finally see the four girls in front of her again, so she released her friend's hand and ran towards her guardians and shouted, "Quartet!"

The four Senshi turned at the same time to see their Princess running to them, each girl wore similar looks of elation at finally seeing their charge safe and sound. All four of them stood up and rushed to meet their Princess halfway.

Saturn very nearly called for the other girl to be careful, at least until she called out to them. Chibi-Usa clearly knew them and was likely close to them, if her exuberance was any indicator. She felt like an outsider as she watched her friend hug each girl one by one, the 'Quartet' as she called them, when she heard her name being called. She recalled her mentioning them before, but she never asked her to talk about them further. Now she wished that she had…

"Hotaru-chan!"

The youngest Senshi looked up to see Sailor Moon waving her to come over. She quickly sprinted over and could immediately see why the Moon Princess needed her, Mars' left side; particularly her arm was covered in mostly dried blood, but enough that it certainly justified the concern in Moon's voice.

"Can you please heal her, Hotaru-chan?" Moon asked as soon as she got closer.

The dark haired senshi nodded, "Of course." She said and quickly took the other girl's injured limb. "Would you rather sit down?" She asked as she held her hand over the cut first.

"No, I'm fine." Mars said quietly, though her eyes were on Chibi-Usa and the other four Senshi, much like hers had been just a short time ago. It was clear that she was interested in their interaction, Chibi-Usa's reaction when she first arrived did a lot to ease things in her eyes.

"So, who are they? They look an awful lot like the Amazoness Quartet." Venus asked, as like everyone else, she was curious about these new arrivals. Now that they were far enough away to not hear her ask her question, she felt a little less awkward asking it.

"I'm not entirely sure, but they are strong. They helped to force that woman to retreat." Mars responded.

"They are the Sailor Quartet." Saturn answered as she lowered Mars' arm and shifted her hands to her shoulder. She frowned at the damage, a little higher and she would have a broken collar bone as well. She looked at Mars and was going to say something, when she realized how quiet everyone was and that was when she realized everyone was looking at her curiously. She lowered her head and focus on healing as she spoke again, "Chibi-Usa mentioned them a couple times." She elaborated a little more.

"They did say that were Chibi-Usa's guardians." Mars said and watched her daughter conversed with them.

"So they are from the future as well?" Jupiter asked.

Mars winced briefly though she immediately felt Moon tighten her grip on her hand, making her smile slightly. She didn't need to look, to know her girlfriend was focused on her and any hints of discomfort, far less concerned about the four new Sailor Senshi. Mars had told how they helped her and that was good enough for the time being. She will feel better when her girlfriend no longer had such a gaping wound in her body.

"It seems so." She said and kept her eyes train on the four senshi with her future daughter. 'She does look happy.' She thought to herself.

"Who is she?"

"The Sailor Senshi you came with."

"I've never seen her before."

The questions came quickly from her guardians after she'd hugged each of them. Chibi-Usa looked to where the Quartet were looking before answering, "That's Hotaru, she's Sailor Saturn. And she's a friend that I care very dearly about."

Her statement made the four girls share curious amongst each other. They'd always known their Princess to be a kind girl, but this felt different, even to them. There were clearly a lot of things they needed to talk about, but there would be time to talk about everything soon enough, at least that was the prevailing thought among all but one of the girls.

Sailor Pallas reached out and took her charge's hands, making Chibi-Usa look at her. The blue haired girl's eyes literally sparkled as she asked, "Do you like her, Princess?"

The future Princess rapidly turned a bright shade of red as she floundered over her words, "I…that is…I…" She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Sailor Ceres smiling softly at her.

"I'm sure a lot has happened, my lady. As I'm sure that you have questions for us as well." The leader of the Quartet said, almost questioned.

The other girl's words immediately sobered the pink haired girl quickly. With her mind less flustered she quickly asked, "What about my parents? Are they still safe?"

"They are well. Everyone is safe back home. Their attacks have been sporadic since your disappearance; we haven't made any true progress in thinning their numbers however." Sailor Vesta explained.

Chibi-Usa looked down for a few seconds, before looking up resolutely, "Then we must go back at once! My presence here has only meant danger to my mothers in this time."

"I'm afraid it's not that easy, my lady." Sailor Juno said, looking down at the ground after.

"What do you mean?" The future Princess asked quickly.

"Yes, I'm curious about that as well." Mars said, announcing herself as she and the rest of the Sailor Senshi gathered around.

The Quartet stood at attention, before all four of them dropped to a knee and bowed their heads. As they did that, Chibi-Usa ran to Mars and hugged her tightly. She didn't mean to ignore her Mama when she arrived, but seeing her guardians after so long blinded her to everything else even knowing that it was her that called for help. "Are you okay, Mama?"

Mars smiled, "I am. Hotaru-chan is quite good at healing any wounds I seem to get."

The pink haired didn't release her future parent, but she did turn her head to address her friend standing nearby, "Thank you, Taru-chan."

Venus stepped up and spoke, bringing the attention back to the Sailor Quartet, "Rei says that you are Chibi-Usa's guardians?"

The red headed girl looked and frowned at Venus, "Chibi-Usa?"

The pink haired girl in question turned around now and said, "She means me, VesVes. My mother's name is Usagi in this time, not Serenity, so that's what everyone in this time has taken to calling me." Sailor Vesta nodded at the explanation.

"Then to answer your question, yes; we are charged with the protection of the crown Princess of the Moon Kingdom, Usagi Small Lady Serenity." Sailor Juno answered rather formally.

Chibi-Usa however found herself focusing on the leader of her guard; she was far quieter than normal. She was usually the one to speak on behalf of the rest of the Quartet, "CereCere…?" She asked softly as she took step towards the other girl, finally letting go of Mars. "What is it?"

"We failed you. We failed in our duty to protect you." Sailor Ceres said as she stared at the ground between her and her charge, as she balled up her fists tightly.

"You did no such thing!" Chibi-Usa exclaimed and knelt in front of the other girl, "I am only here because of all four of you protected me. I thought that in protecting me, the four of you had…had…" She was forced to stop and wiped her eyes with her hands.

Moon and Mars looked at each and it seemed that both were struggling with the same desire. Mars lowered her head in defeat because she knew as well as her girlfriend that their daughter needed to sort this out with the Sailor Quartet. One thing was for sure, set in her mind, these girls were indeed everything they said they were.

"Don't cry Princess. If you cry, then I'll start cr-crying and…and VesVes w-will call me a-a baby…" The blue haired senshi got out even as tears started to escape her eyes.

The future Princess motioned for Sailor Pallas to come closer, which she quickly did and as soon as she was close enough, Chibi-Usa pulled her into a hug, "I was just worried that I'd never any of you again, but I am so happy to know that my worries were for nothing." She said and hugged her a little tighter. PallaPalla was always quick to upset and many thought her to be childish, but that was because she was so strongly receptive to other's emotions, so she made sure to add, "VesVes won't call you a baby." Even though she said it for Palla, she made sure to look at the red haired senshi as she said it. When the senshi made sure to avoid eye contact with her she added, "Don't be mean VesVes."

Sailor Vesta looked up and opened her mouth to say something, but closed it before uttering a single word, instead she bowed her head, "Yes, my Lady."

"I'm sorry to interject, I truly am, but you girls were the Amazoness Quartet? Were you not?" Mercury asked, hoping for a better understanding of these Sailor Senshi.

Sailor Ceres laughed despite her previous thoughts, she would not win an argument with her Princess anyway, but she still resolved to be a better guardian. She looked at the senshi of wisdom and nodded, "That was a very very long time ago for us. But yes we were."

"We were corrupted and awoken prematurely by Queen Nehellenia, so those memories are rather fuzzy for us. I'm sorry if that is in the recent past for all of you though." Sailor Juno said, bowing her head afterwards.

"How do we know that we can trust the four of you then?" Uranus asked, almost suspiciously.

"We can trust them." Mars said quickly any of the Quartet could respond.

Uranus turned to the senshi of flame curiously, "I thought you were unsure of them just a few minutes ago?"

Mars nodded in acknowledgement of her earlier misgivings before saying, "I was, but that's no longer the case. Trust me."

"Now might be the time for those proper introductions then." Sailor Juno said and looked at the other girls with her. Chibi-Usa smiled and let go of the blue haired girl before getting up and walking over to her parents again.

The pink haired girl was the first to stand. Her hair was done up in a tight bun on the top of her head. Her hair was obviously quite long because it was also done up in the fashion of two loops, on either side of her head, and from them her hair still continued down in the form of two pigtails. Her fuku's skirt and collar matched her hair perfectly. She placed her hand over the star in the center of her bow, similar to how she'd done when she first arrived, "I am Sailor Ceres and leader of the Princess' guard." She said and bowed her head deeply.

The next girl to stand was the red head. Her hair was done in a large ponytail that was divided up into several sections by five rings, before being tightly bound by a black ribbon, only leaving the very end unbound. Like Sailor Ceres, her skirt and collar both match her flaming red hair, "I am Sailor Vesta." She followed her statement by bowing in the same manner as the girl before her.

The girl was green hair was the next to stand. Her hair was similar to Sailor Ceres in that she had two long pigtails that reached the bottom of her shirt, while the rest of her hair seemed to defy gravity. Much of it was bound into tight braids that swept upward, leaving only a tuft of green at the end on top of head. Again like the other girls, both her skirt and collar matched her hair, "I am Sailor Juno." She stated before once again bowing the same way.

The fourth and final girl to stand had perhaps the least intricate hairstyle. Her blue hair was done up in a bun atop her head, she had five tight thin braids extending down from her updo, two on the left, two on the right, and one in the back. The most particular part was at the end of each braid the hair was wrapped into tight ball-like shapes. Following the same pattern as the other three, her collar and skirt matched her blue hair. "I'm Sailor Pallas, but you can just call me Palla!" She said happily and just stood there afterwards.

The other three girls looked at her expectedly, but she simply continued to stand there with a smile. Sailor Ceres broke the silence after a couple more seconds, "Palla?" The blue haired girl looked at the other girl curiously, until Sailor Ceres made a motion with her hand.

"Oh! Sorry!" The blue haired girl exclaimed before then proceeding to bow as the other girls did before her.

"How did you four come to the past?" Mars asked.

Sailor Ceres lifted her head as she spoke, "There was a girl and she was the one who sent us here."

"A girl? Who?" Venus questioned quickly.

"She did not say her name, but she was a Sailor Senshi, though we'd never seen her before." Sailor Juno answered.

As soon as she finished, Sailor Vesta added, "She had dark green hair and carried a weird looking staff."

"Pluto!" The group said practically at the same time. They exchanged looks among each other.

"Where is she now?" Sailor Moon asked. She'd been uncharacteristically quiet, until hearing the absent Senshi of Time's name. She was more than a little concerned about someone attacking Rei and that had done well to occupy her thoughts, but the mention of the Outer Senshi pulled her out of her head. She always believed that she would see Setsuna again because she simply couldn't accept that she was truly gone. She just didn't know when that would be, but the prospect that she was back did lift her spirits.

"I do not know your Majesty, I'm sorry. After she told us to go through a set of doors, saying that they would take us where we needed to go, she disappeared." Sailor Ceres explained.

"If she's back, why didn't she come see us too?" Moon asked, frowning at little at her own question.

Mars touched her girlfriend's arm, the same one that had been clinging to her uninjured right arm, since Saturn worked to heal her other one, "I'm sure she has her reasons. This is Setsuna we're talking about after all." Moon nodded a few seconds later, that made sense. "We'll see her soon enough, I'm sure." Mars added with smile.

The knowledge that Setsuna was alive and surely going to return to them soon, did send a couple of the other girls into their own thoughts as well. Hotaru felt something in the pit of her stomach, something akin to nervousness. The prospect of finally knowing her fate was something she desperately wanted to know, but the thought of hearing that she had no future, literally, was a depressing idea to say the least, but at least she would know. She glanced at the future Princess, standing on Mars left side. It wouldn't change her resolve to protect her; it would simply mean that there was a high likelihood she would give up everything to do so.

Meanwhile, Minako couldn't help thinking about the possibility that might be able to gain some insight into her future. She wasn't foolish enough to think that Setsuna would give her a name, but she did hope that she could at least learn if her chances at love were as hopeless as they've always been. There would be more important and pressing matters that of course, matters that made her own thoughts seem trivial. 'I'm sure that Rei and Usagi would have plenty of questions that they would want to ask and Hotaru…that poor girl was nonexistent in the future.' She thought to herself. She couldn't help feeling a little selfish, but that was allowed some times, right?

"That's what you meant earlier when you said that returning home was complicated, isn't it?" Sailor Neptune asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes. We were not given any means to return." Sailor Juno said, finishing her comment from earlier.

"If you four are stuck in the past as well, you'll need a place to stay." Uranus stated.

Chibi-Usa stepped in front the Outer Senshi, she'd been staying with, "I hope it isn't too presumptuous of me, but I was hoping they could stay at your house, with us." There were still a number of things she wished to talk with her guardians about, plus she knew they were not likely to want to stay anywhere but with her, even if they were not offered an invitation.

Uranus looked at her lover while she simply shrugged, they were housing the future Princess so her guardians were probably a package deal. "I guess that'll work. We have the room."

"We should probably all get some rest for the night." Mars said, drawing attention to her. "We can meet up after school tomorrow at your place, if that's okay?" She asked looking over to the two older members of their group.

"That'll be fine." Neptune answered quickly.

"Maybe we can get some insight into this enemy then too." She added while focusing on the Quartet.

"We'll tell you what we know." Sailor Ceres said before bowing her head afterwards.

Mars nodded and then undid her transformation. The rest of the group followed suit, except the Quartet. They were unlikely to undo them until they were no longer out in the open. They were nearly going to disperse when the leader of the Inner guard spoke, "Are you sure that it's entirely safe for you to walk home alone?" Minako asked.

"The jinja is only five…" Rei began to say, but stopped when she felt Usagi tighten her hold on her arm.

"I'm going to walk with her the rest of the way home." Usagi said, leaving the room for objection from her girlfriend, if there was any chance of it. A moment later she saw her daughter standing in front of her, before she could say anything, she moved forward and hugged her making her release Rei for the first time since she got there so that she could return the embrace.

"You'll keep her safe, Mother?" Chibi-Usa whispered after a couple seconds.

"Always." She whispered back.

After a couple more seconds the pink haired girl stepped back and proceeded to hug her other mother, "Stay safe, Mama."

"I will." Rei said softly, only for the other girl to hear.

The time traveler held her a short time while longer before pulling away from her as well. She took a deep breath as she watched her Mother quickly reattach her arm around her Mama. She heard her say something about seeing them tomorrow before everyone began to go their separate ways, but she kept her eyes on her parents younger selves. Knowing that it was her Mama that was sought out tonight made her previous worries resurface, if their true objective was to destroy her future, she knew they would be more likely to accomplish that here.

"My Lady?"

Chibi-Usa turned around and saw the Quartet watching her, they hadn't moved, but she could see they were eager to go somewhere that was less open. She couldn't blame them, they always needed to be aware of any potential dangers and she was sure that her disappearance made them hyperaware of those things. She nodded and looked over to the three other Sailor Senshi present, the two older women were already a short distance in front of her guardians talking with each other, while Hotaru still stood near her. She walked over to her and could see that she looked to be lost in her own thoughts; at least until she realized that she was standing next to her.

"Are you alright? Have I just interrupted an important thought?" The pink hair Princess asked, looking at the other girl curiously.

Hotaru smiled and shook her head slightly, "Of course not. I was simply thinking about the prospect of seeing our missing friend again. Speaking of, you must be happy to see the Quartet again." Chibi-Usa smiled so bright at her words that she couldn't help smiling a little wider herself, it was infectious.

"I am. I've missed them dearly, perhaps even more than I realized previously." She said and looked over to the four Sailor Senshi briefly before again focusing on Hotaru. She reached out and took the other girl's hand, "Let's get going though, I promise to have them properly greet you. They are most excited to meet you!"

"I…I will be happy to do that as well." Hotaru got out quickly as the future Princess pulled her forward, past the Sailor Quartet, who each bowed their heads as they went by. She did not really enjoy being the center of attention, though she knew this was pretty much out of her control, as was often the case with anything that involved the pink haired girl dragging her along.

Haruka and Michiru must have noticed them walking towards them, as they were now walking a short distance in front of them. She looked over her shoulder and saw that the Quartet were indeed following behind them a respectful distance away, though she could still clearly see each girl's amused face. She shook her head briefly and looked forward again; she would need to tell them to keep any of their thoughts about Hotaru and her to themselves.

Now that they entered the shrine, Usagi felt that it was incredibly lonely and dark without anyone else there. She found that she didn't want to leave her girlfriend there alone, especially after what just happened, "What if someone attacks you again? I should stay here." The blonde declared.

Rei smiled and stepped closer to Usagi and wrapped her arms around the slightly shorter girl. She buried her face in the crook the blonde's neck, "You'll get in trouble with your parents and if that happens, I'm sure they will definitely not allow you to stay over the weekend. I'll be okay for one night, I promise."

Usagi pull her tighter against her body as she said, "I should have told one of the Quartet to stay here with you. You said they were strong, right? Or Haruka or Michiru, they'd still be willing, I'm sure."

Rei kissed the base of her girlfriend's neck and slowly left trail of kiss upward until she reached her ear, "I know you're worried. I am a little too… We are dealing with some strong enemies here." She admitted quietly. There was no lying and no sugarcoating necessary, she needed to be truthful about what they were facing. She was only successful tonight because of the Sailor Quartet's assistance and the other day because accursed energy. Before the Quartet arrived, especially right before, she felt powerless…

"I can't let anything happen to you…I can't…" Usagi whispered softly, but even as she finished, Rei could feel her body begin to shake with each quickened breath.

Rei closed her eyes and kissed the top of her girlfriend's head, "If it'll put your mind at ease, call Haruka or Michiru." She said and felt Usagi loosen her hold, so she did the same. She could see the tears that had yet to fall clinging to her girlfriend's eyelashes. She reach up with both her hands and cleared away any wetness, smiling slightly afterwards. "I'd rather give you peace of mind than let my pride get in the way of that."

Usagi nodded quickly and rubbed her eyes for a second as well, though she knew it wouldn't do much to hide her slightly puffy eyes. She pressed a few buttons on her communicator and after a couple beeps; Haruka's face appeared on the screen, "What is it, Usagi?"

The blonde cleared her throat as she began, "I-I hate to ask this, but would you or Michiru be able to stay at the Jinja tonight? Rei is by herself because Ojii-chan and Yuuichirou are both out of town and I would just feel more comfortable knowing that she isn't alone."

Haruka nodded before flashing a quick smile, "Say no more. One of us will be by shortly."

"Thank you so much!" She exclaimed before she turned off her communicator. She sighed and looked over to Rei and smiled, already feeling a bit better about the rest of the night. After she put her communicator away, she said, "I'm going to stay until she comes by."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." The darker haired girl said with a smile before taking her girlfriend's hands in her own, "Want to sit on the bench in the courtyard while we wait?" Usagi nodded her head quickly and Rei lead them back outside. It was such a beautiful night that it was pity it was tainted by the night's earlier events. As they reached the doors that lead outside, Rei found herself saying, "It is really weird having this entire place to myself."

Usagi nodded, "I'm sure it is." She said softly as they stepped outside and walked across the courtyard. As soon as they sat on the bench, Usagi wrapped an arm around Rei's midsection and rested her head on her shoulder, while draped her arm across her girlfriend's shoulders and held her close.

They sat in silence for a short time, until Rei began to talk. "I shouldn't have been so hesitant to use that energy. You gave me back that ofuda to help me and I didn't even use it…" Rei said and looked into the star filled sky.

"Rei…" Usagi started to say, but Rei continued before she could say what she wanted to.

"She was toying with me the entire time and I knew it. I knew what she was doing, but I still couldn't…I couldn't use that energy, I was scared. It wasn't until she had me pinned to the ground and I felt hopelessly powerless that I almost used it, but that was when the Quartet showed up. I would have never been in that position if I hadn't waited so long." Rei said and sighed afterwards.

Usagi held her girlfriend a little tighter as she said, "I don't want you to beat yourself up for that. It was only an honest reaction. I'm just glad that nothing worse happened to you." She said and paused for a second before adding, "It felt like before…and when I couldn't say anything back…I felt like I wouldn't make it to you in time."

Rei shifted her position slightly so that she could place a kiss atop the blonde's head, "I did not mean to bring those memories back to the surface." Upsetting Usagi in anyway was the last thing she wished to do, speaking telepathically should not cause sadness. That was something that she would need to rectify, "I can do it though, you have in the past and I know you can do it again. You'll just need practice." She could feel her nod her head as she added, "I'll teach you how."

"I would like that." Usagi whispered softly and tucked herself even more into Rei's warmth. She sighed quietly and after a few more seconds passed she loosened her hold a little. She touched her left arm, making Rei pull back a little and look at her curiously. Usagi slowly trailed her fingers up her arm, just barely touching her as she made her way up to her shoulder, pausing there for a moment before continuing to her neck. Her fingers lightly caressed the soft skin beneath them.

Rei covered her hand with her own, "I'm good now." She said softly.

"I know." Usagi whispered back and looked away from her hand to meet Rei's eyes, "It's just…knowing that she…"

"I know." She said repeating what her girlfriend said a moment ago. She took hold of her hand and brought it to her lips, kissing it lightly, "I will not let myself get in that position again. If I can't protect myself, how can I protect you and Chibi-Usa. I'll get stronger…"

"I don't want you thinking that it's only you that needs to get stronger. We all do, I think. I just don't know how." Usagi said with a sigh.

Rei leaned forward and kissed her briefly, resting her forehead against her girlfriend's, "We'll figure this out."

"You girls alright?"

Both girls jumped a little at the voice, but still quickly looked over and spotted Haruka standing a few feet in front of them. Usagi looked her girlfriend for a moment before focusing back on the Outer senshi, "We're better." She said while smiling slightly at the older woman.

The tall blonde pointed towards the shrine and said, "I'll just head inside then. You two can take your time finishing up."

Usagi nodded her thanks before giving her attention back to her girlfriend, "I love you."

"I love you too, Usa." Rei said and leaned forward once more and kissing her softly.

Usagi stood up a moment later while Rei joined her quickly afterwards. They slowly walked toward the stairs that would lead Usagi out of the shrine. It was weird to see the blonde off from her home, but that was the reality she was in. She took the other girl's hand and gave it a quick squeeze, "Be careful heading home too."

Usagi smiled and gave her a quick nod, "I will, I promise." She said and tightened her hold on her hand briefly, before letting go and sprinting down the steps. Rei watched until she could no longer see her and even a little longer to be honest. She turned around and walked back towards her home.

End ch26

That's it for this chapter. I've always intended for the Sailor Quartet to be in here and here they are LOL. Obviously I'm taking some liberties with the Sailor Quartet and their powers, but they should all be within reason, as each girl is a counterpart to the Inner guard; Sailor Ceres and Sailor Venus, Sailor Vesta and Sailor Mars, Sailor Pallas and Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Juno and Sailor Jupiter. Though I didn't show Sailor Ceres using any powers here…in due time :) Hopefully their different personalities came across pretty well here as well.

If you have comments, good or bad, feel free to leave a review, they are always appreciated. Thank you for reading and I hope it was enjoyable.

Lastly, thanks doggysmoo for beta-ing this :)