Long time no read, Minna! Okay, I finally got this done! Enjoy it very much! Hm...I'm on a quest. A quest to get Ti'ana 10,000 hits before the end of the year! Everyone, help me on this quest and go to Ti'ana's webpage! http://come.to/tiana Don't forget to sign her guest book! Like me...*snicker* I'm surprised I'm not dead yet with all the stuff I've put in there... Key word is *YET*. EMAIL: stefaniecraig@hotmail.com Webpage: http://home.att.net/~stef_chan/index2.html ICQ: Name: Stef-chan - Number: 63467432 DISCLAIMER: Really, isn't this a little unnecessary? Who owns Sailor Moon? If you can't name her, you aren't a real Sailor Moon fan! RATING: PG. It doesn't make a difference, does it? Didn't think so! Quote of the Week: "What the world needs are fewer rules and more good examples." -Unknown. FINAL AWAKENINGS CHAPTER 17 __________Something to Believe In__________ Sailor Moon watched with interest as the Outers nodded in agreement to each other. With flashes of light, three very familiar people stood in place of the new Soldiers. Sailor Moon gasped as she recognized the three. "Amara, Michelle, Hotaru?!" she exclaimed. Sailor Pluto, who was still transformed, looked over at the three. "That was a little out of character. Especially for you two," she told Amara and Michelle. Amara shrugged. "We've been watching for years, I was anxious to get the secrets over with." Tuxedo Mask turned to his sister and spoke. "Now, if you had only done that, there would have been a lot less trouble!" Earth gave a start and turned to her brother. "Oh, shut up! Last I heard, you did the same thing." Hotaru giggled a little and for the first time, noticed the man Serena had called Sapphire standing off to the side. "Why did you follow us?!" she demanded while looking at Sapphire. Amara saw Sapphire and narrowed her eyes. With movements almost too quick to stop, she ran forward and grabbed Sapphires arms, and pulled them behind his back. Sapphire gasped and struggled, barely managing to say that he was not an enemy. "No! Amara, he's a friend!" Sailor Moon yelled as she ran up to Sapphire and Amara. Amara looked doubtful but released him anyway. 'Another who knows of their identities?' she thought with a frown. 'There are too many. It could prove dangerous to them.' Sapphire smiled slightly. "I remember, when the war originally started, the Outer Sailors were our main problem before we could even get to Earth. You are strong warriors," he commented. "Thank you," Michelle said with a polite, if inquisitive, smile. "What do you mean?" Amara asked as she continued to eye Sapphire suspiciously. 'What war is he talking about? And why would he have fought us if the Princess trusts him so?' "Sapphire, why was that droid after you?" Venus asked as she remembered that Sapphire had been the obvious target of the droid, and found a way to have Sapphire not answer the new Soldiers inquiries. Sapphire didn't answer at first, "I was working at the store when she came in-" "Dressed like that?!" Earth asked. Sapphire laughed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, Rose, dressed like that!" Earth flushed and narrowed her eyes and the man. "I had a bad feeling and I really do hate it when I'm right." The Outers, having little clue as to what they were talking about, only listened, and saved their questions for later. "It was Diamond, wasn't it?" Sailor Moon asked with sad eyes. Sapphire sighed, "I think so. He probably didn't take things too well when he heard I went turn coat." "Do you want us to take you home?" Sailor Mercury asked. "Thanks, but no thanks, Amy. Prisma is probably worried and I have to hurry," he answered as he turned and walked in the other direction. "Hey!" Amara yelled as he walked away. Sapphire turned and Amara narrowed her eyes at him. "You can't tell anyone!" Sapphire saluted and continued walking. When he was out of site, Michelle faced the others. "Perhaps, we should go somewhere and discuss why we are here," she suggested. "But, we have to get back to school..." Sailor Moon whispered as she turned her head and pointed to where the school would be. "Classes were probably canceled, and if they weren't, I'll excuse you, Odango," Amara said with a wink. "I am not an odango!" Sailor Moon argued before looking at her boyfriend. "It's all your fault, ya know!" she hissed at him and stalked off while detransforming. Tuxedo Mask and Amara shrugged at each other and all of the girls, and one guy, followed Serena to where she was going. ******************************************************************* Raye served tea as all of the Sailor Scouts waited for Serena and Darien to return with Rini from school. Not a word had been spoken after Serena and Darien had left. The tension in the room was thick. The Outers knew they could trust the Inners and vice versa, but the two groups were still weary of each other. The door to the Temple's Fire room slide open, and Serena and Darien walked in with Rini following them. Rini's eyes opened wide and she let out an excited squeal when she saw a woman with long green hair sitting on the floor near two other strange women and a man. "Puu!" she exclaimed as she rushed to the woman and hugged her tightly. "Puu?" Michelle said with a little laugh as she looked at Setsuna. Amara, too, held back a deep laugh. But her eyes sparkled at the nickname. "Hello, Small Lady," Setsuna greeted. "Have you been well?" "Yep! It's been great lately! But I haven't been able to practice too much. And Mom and Dad said I missed the battle," Rini explained. "That you did, Small Lady. But it wasn't much of a battle because the Droid was caught by surprise," Pluto explained with a smile. "Rini, say your introductions to our new friends," Serena chided gently to the child. Rini blinked and looked back to see the two girls and one man sitting cross-legged on the Temple floor, watching the others carefully. Rini nodded. "Yes, Mother," she whispered as she obeyed and curtsied. "Greetings, I am pleased to welcome you here today. I am Neo-Princess Small Lady Serenity." The three gasped. "You, are...?" Michelle started. "The new..." Hotaru continued. "Princess?!" Amara finished with a cry. She whipped her head to Darien, "What is this?" Serena and Darien flushed bright red and glared at Setsuna. "Didn't you tell them anything?" Darien asked through clenched teeth. Setsuna laughed a little and bit her lip. "Well...I told them you had a daughter. I didn't say from what *century*," she explained. "To make a long story short," Lita butted in, "Rini's from the thirtieth century, next Princess and she won't be born for a long time. Time travel." "Why wasn't it explained that easily to us?" Mina whispered to Raye. "Probably because the blondes wouldn't get it," she whispered back. "Oh!" Mina said with a smile. Raye smirked slightly. "But what about all of you?" Darien asked as he sat on the floor with Serena and Rini. "Yes," Amy continued, "Queen Serenity only gave a few details about you in the past, is there anything else you could tell us?" she asked. "Well..." Michelle started, "I guess it started a few years ago. Right after all of you became Soldiers. There isn't much to our story, only that we weren't aloud to fight with you." "Why not?" Darien asked. "The Outer Sailor Scouts have a different mission than the Inners," Hotaru spoke up. Everyone else focused on her as she continued. "It was our job to protect the Moon Kingdom from a distance; from threats outside of the Solar System. Such is the case with King Onyxious. The entire Dark Kingdom comes from the Negaverse, a dimension completely parallel to our Universe. It has always been our job, to make sure that no one of the Dark Kingdom came to our Solar System." Angry tears filled her eyes as a vision of the past danced in her mind. "But..." she gripped her hands together tightly, "we failed. One thousand years ago, we failed to protect the Solar System from Metalia and Onyxious. Queen Serenity was lost forever because of that." Tears filled Serena's eyes at the memory of her lost mother, but she brushed them back and continued to listen. Hotaru continued, "I am the Sailor Soldier of Death, the sacrificial Soldier of the Outer Solar System, and leader of the Outer Sailor Warriors, Sailor Saturn." "The Soldier of Death?" Darien questioned. Hotaru nodded grimly. "Within my Glave, I hold the power to destroy an entire planet. But by doing that, I will sacrifice my own life and the lives of anyone on the planet." "Why have such a power?" Serena asked as she took Rini into her lap. "What if it got out of control?" Looking down, Hotaru answered her princess solemnly. "I hold this power in case the evil in the world becomes so out of control, there is only one way of dealing with it..." She let the sentence hang in the air and the other understood. It was the last extremity. "And my power will never go out of control. I had some great training when I was younger." "We were told that we must fight with you now, on Earth, and not far away where there are no threats right now," Michelle spoke up. "Three years ago, I was resting after a concert in my back room when Amara came to visit me. We were only in there for about two seconds when there was a flash of light, and then a woman standing there. Before Amara or I could react, she waved the staff in her hands and we were suddenly transported to a dim and gray place." Amara continued, "She told us that her name was Sailor Pluto, and that we had a destiny. There was another girl there who didn't look very frightened, but more anxious than a normal person should be." "Pluto had already awakened me," Hotaru put in. "I was waiting to see if Uranus and Neptune were still the same as they were on the Moon Kingdom." Amara gave a nervous laugh. "Well, had Pluto been more direct, I wouldn't have charged at her..." Serena and Rini broke into giggles at that. 'Someone charging Puu...' Rini thought, 'I feel sorry for the idiot who does that!' "After Pluto managed to knock a little sense into me, she gave Michelle and I back our memories," Amara continued. "It was like being blind, but never knowing it," Michelle explained. Serena nodded her understanding. It was true enough for her too. "We began to train and watched all of you as you grew and developed into more powerful Soldiers. After all of you battled Queen Metalia, we came back from the Time Gate and went back to our normal activities and it was like we never left." "But now we of the Outer Solar System are needed in this battle," Setsuna spoke up. "Princess Serenity, Prince Endymion, we are at your service." Serena and Darien exchanged looks and smiled at each other. "Thank you, everyone. Now there's more of us, I think we have a much better chance than before," Serena said. "I hope so. Who's left now?" Lita asked Amy. "Not counting Onyxious; Queen Beryl, Zoisite, Malachite, Rubeus, and now we have to defeat Prince Diamond too." She sighed. "And we know how hard he's going to be." Darien wrapped a protective arm around Serena's waist. "He isn't getting *close* to Serena this time," he growled to himself. Amara arched her eyebrows, "What happened last time?" she asked. Raye narrowed her eyes, remembering what had happened. "Let's just say...he was a little *too* friendly towards Serena, if you catch my drift." "And that man, Sapphire, is his brother?" Hotaru asked. "Why are they on different sides of this war?" "Sapphire, Prisma, Avery, Birdy and Catsy all switched sides in the war, and are doing there best to help us as normal humans," Luna, who had come with the other cats, explained. "So they are traitors?" Amara whispered as she looked down in deep thought. "But we can trust them!" Serena insisted as she held her hand to her chest. "I healed them with the Silver Crystal! They're our friends." "We believe you, Princess," Michelle said with a smile. BEEP BEEP BEEP Serena groaned as her communicator went off. "I never should have agreed to give mom and dad a communicator! They use it for the most inappropriate things!" Luna rolled her eyes, "Well, you're an hour late for dinner! I'd say that's justification for them calling!" The Outers exchanged looks as Serena flipped open the watch-like device. "Mom, hi!" Serena greeted her cheeriest voice. "Serena Usagi Tsukino!" Ilene yelled causing the girls to cringe. "Where are you?! Your father and I have been worried sick, and then we heard there was an attack at school-" "Mom." "-and Luna hasn't been home for awhile." "Mom..." "Were those new Soldiers I saw?" "MOM!" Serena yelled while blushing as the others snickered. "Yes, Dear?" Ilene asked. "There was an attack at school, I had a meeting after school anyway, Luna's here with us and the Outer Sailor Soldiers have shown up, and they're here with us." Ilene blinked and then smiled. "Oh, why don't you invite them to dinner?" Serena looked up at her Guardians. Amara opened her mouth to say no, but Michelle covered it with her hand. It was Hotaru who spoke for the group. "Sure, why not?" ******************************************************************* Diamond pounded his fist on the arm of his throne. "Those Sailor Soldiers have ruined my plan again!" he growled. Rubeus, being the only one of the Dark Moon Family left, didn't move. He knew that Prince Diamond held little, if any, power now that Onyxious was in charge. He didn't have the power to kill anyone now. Even Rubeus. "Perhaps I should go down and chat with our friend, Sapphire?" Rubeus suggested. Diamond's head snapped up. "I don't think so, Rubeus. I will go and talk to my brother. He can't betray our family and not expect to answer for it." Diamond stood and faced the window in his room. The view was of thirtieth century earth. Or what was left of it. Earth was covered, for the most part, in dark clouds from the black energy that had been put into the planet. Narrowing his eyes, Diamond disappeared with out a trace from the room Rubeus smiled. ******************************************************************* Serena gripped the seat of Amara's convertible as she, Amara, Michelle, Darien, Rini and Rose sped to Serena's house. 'Lord, if I get out of this alive, I'll never yell at Luna again!' As Amara rounded a corner, Rini let out a small cry. Serena suddenly wished she had gone with Setsuna and gotten home later, rather than take this ride. Amara squealed her tires as she came to a stop outside of the Tsukino residence. Shakily, everyone climbed out of the car and ran for the door. As the six came through the door, they were met with a worried and angry Ilene Tsukino. "Hi, Mom!" Serena greeted cheerfully. Before Ilene could open her mouth, Serena jumped in and introduced the two of the four Outers who were there. "Mom, you remember what I told you Queen Serenity said about the Outers?" Ilene nodded her head. "Well, meet Amara and Michelle, also know as Sailor's Uranus and Neptune." Amara and Michelle bowed politely to Ilene who smiled at them. "Hello, it's nice to meet you." "HA!" a voice from the stairs called. "Serena's in trouble!" Serena narrowed her eyes, "Shut up, brat! Just because I was late doesn't mean I'm in trouble. I had a meeting!" Sammy came down the stairs and glared at his sister. "You use the Sailor Scouts for an excuse all the time!" Rini put her hands on her hips and glared at Sammy. "It's a good excuse! I don't see you out there, putting your neck on the line for the world!" "Rini!" Serena and Darien scolded simultaneously. "Sorry, Sammy," Rini murmured. There was a knock at the door, which Darien opened, and Hotaru and Setsuna came in. "Hello, Mrs. Tsukino," Setsuna greeted. "It's nice to see you again." "Good evening," Hotaru said with a smile. "I'm Hotaru." Ilene was still trying to figure out where she had met the green haired woman before when Hotaru spoke. She snapped out of her trance when she heard the girl speak. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you," she furrowed her brow at Setsuna, "but who are you?" Setsuna smiled. "I am Sailor Pluto. I'm sure you remember?" "Mom," Sammy yelled from the kitchen, "is dinner ready yet?" Ilene sighed and motioned towards the kitchen. "It actually is, if all of you would join us?" Ilene said. Amara smiled a little at Ilene as they walked into to the other room, where Kent and Sammy were already sitting. ******************************************************************* Lita sighed as she leaned back into her chair. After the Outers had left with their Prince and Princess, all of the girls had gone to the Crown to meet their boyfriends and to talk more about their mission. Ken put his arm around Lita's shoulder and kissed her cheek. "What's up Lita?" he asked her, getting the attention of everyone else. "Yeah, you've been sorta glum since we left the others," Raye put in. "Others?" Andrew asked. "You mean Serena and Darien?" He set down several drinks in front of his friends before sitting next to Mina. Mina shook her head. "No. You saw the report today about the attack, didn't you?" At the nod of three heads she continued. "Well, turns out that there are four other Soldiers!" Chad's jaw dropped. (AN: Remember? They found out in chapter 13) "But, I thought that only you four were Soldiers!" Raye clamped her hand over his mouth and scowled at him. Getting the message, he dropped his voice. "Why are there more of you?" he whispered. Amy looked thoughtful. "We don't know. Probably because there are nine planets, why shouldn't there be at least one for every planet? We've know about them for a while, but it's still strange." "Everything works out fine in the end," Greg said slightly grimly. "And they've been following all of you for weeks. I think the first time was at the dance." "No surprise," Raye said dully. "Why do I sense that there is something about them that we don't know yet?" ******************************************************************* He watched them from the darkness. The ones he was watching were fools. Their hearts over their heads and their mission. The fools! To think that they could escape their destiny. ******************************************************************* Sapphire looked out the window at the moon and sighed. Prima took her head off of his shoulder and kissed his cheek. "Sapphire... don't worry. Diamond respects you. He...probably just wanted to talk to you," she said gently, hopefully. "Prisma, I know that. You think the least he could do is come here and see me, not send some lame Droid, who was destroyed within five minutes of it's life anyway," Sapphire raged. "I'm here now, Sapphire," a familiar voice spoke up from the shadows. Prisma screamed and sat straight up as Prince Diamond walked from the shadows into the light that the room offered. Sapphire stood and faced his brother with a sad gaze. Three pairs of hard footsteps were heard as the other three sisters ran into the room at the sound of Prisma's scream. "Prisma!" Birdy yelled. "We heard screaming and-by Serenity!" she cried as she stopped in the middle of the doorway, spotting Prince Diamond. Avery ran into her and Catsy ran into Avery, causing a domino effect. "So," Diamond spoke, "all of the traitors are here for their punishments." Sapphire pushed Prisma behind him and looked his brother in the eye. "Diamond! Leave the girls out of this!" He waved his hand to Catsy, who was furthest back, signaling her to go and get help. Catsy slowly sneaked out of the room and grabbed the nearest phone. With shaky fingers and tears in her eyes, she dialed a familiar number. ******************************************************************* None of them had eaten that good in years. And man, were they full! Hotaru giggled and rubbed her stomach. "That was very good, Mrs. Tsukino! I haven't eaten that good since...well, I can't even remember since Amara can't cook!" Amara looked at Hotaru out of the corner of her eye. Michelle shrugged and rolled her own eyes. RING RING Rini jumped up and ran for the phone before anyone else could. "Hello?" Serena smiled at Hotaru, "My mom makes the best food!" she declared proudly. "Wait Catsy, slow down!" Serena stopped talking and listened to Rini's conversation. "PRINCE DIAMOND?!" Serena felt her blood freeze at the mention of his name. Darien growled in the back of his throat and looked toward Rini, who had been replaced by Serena on the phone. "Catsy, what is going on?" she asked. The woman's voice was barely a whisper as she answered. "Oh god, Serena! Diamond is here and he's talking to Sapphire. I don't know what's going on but we need the Sa-" was all she got out before the phone went dead. "CATSY!" Serena cried hysterically before hanging up the phone. Rose was already on the communicator, calling the other four Warriors, who responded immediately. Setting the phone down, Serena whispered, "Everyone, transform!" Amara smiled. 'Real action.' "EARTH COSMIC POWER!" "URANUS PLANET POWER!" "NEPTUNE PLANET POWER!" "PLUTO PLANET POWER!" "SATURN PLANET POWER!" "MOON PRISM POWER!" "MOON CELESTIAL POWER!" When the transformation was complete, Sailor Moon looked to the youngest member of the team, "Rini! You can't!" But the small soldiers' face was determined. Her uniform was an exact copy of her mothers, and so was the determined expression on her face. "Mama, I have to! I need to train. This is what I want to do," she said. Sailor Moon looked away, avoiding her daughters gaze. "I hope you know, what you are getting into." ******************************************************************* "Serena?" Catsy whispered. "Serena!" 'It dead...' she thought. 'Probably because of all the dark energy that is in Prince Diamond.' Slowly, she climbed out of the closet and back to the room where Sapphire and Diamond were arguing. "You betrayed me Sapphire!" Diamond said, for perhaps the twentieth time that day. Sapphire angrily shook his head. "Please, listen to me, brother! This is the path I choose. The Sailor Scouts are good, honest, people. They don't kill each other for a higher rank! I'm happy here, with people who care for me and don't try and rule me." Sapphire looked down sadly, but then up again angrily. "What's so wrong with that?" Prisma gently touched Sapphire's arm, her eyes sad and frightened as she looked to Diamond. "Why can't you just leave us alone?" "I have to punish those who betrayed our family. And if that includes my own brother," Diamond raised his arm up, "then so be it." "NEO-MOON TIARA MAGIC!" Diamond gave a cry and pulled his arm back as it was cut by a spinning disk of light. "Who's there?" Several figures were visible in the dim light, and all of them looked ready to attack. "I am Sailor Moon!" A smaller soldier stepped forward, her outfit identical to her mothers. "And I am Sailor Neo-Moon!" "Neo-Moon?!" the sisters and Sapphire echoed. 'Small Lady!' Sapphire thought. Saturn stepped into the light, "We, the Sailor Soldier of the Outer-" "-And Inner," Mars added. "-Solar System, won't let you get away from here!" Saturn finished. Diamond pulled his hand back in, and smiled. "So, not only have the Outer Warriors shown up for the first time, but the child of Serenity and Endymion is a soldier too?" He laughed at them. "I wouldn't mock her if I were you," Tuxedo Mask said icily. "You're on thin ice already, Diamond." Neo-Moon narrowed her eyes. "Don't make fun of me!" she said as she unknowingly stepped closer to him. Diamond noticed this and didn't waste a second. With the precision and accuracy of a professional assassin, he launched a white blast of energy toward Neo-Moon. "Small Lady!" Pluto cried out. But before she could move, Sailor Moon was in front of Neo-Moon and bracing for the impact. "SERENA!" Tuxedo Mask yelled as he ran to his girlfriend and daughter. "No!" Diamond yelled and stopped his own power only inches away from Sailor Moon who had her eyes shut tight. Hearing his shout, she opened her eyes and saw the light frozen right in front of her. "You aren't supposed to die." Tuxedo Mask growled and charged at Diamond with the Terra sword, only to be stopped by Sapphire. "Endymion! Don't! He may be evil, but he's still my brother, and I don't want him hurt." "Sapphire," Sailor Moon whispered. "Sometimes, things don't always work out as we plan," Uranus whispered. "WORLD SHAKING!" "DEEP SUBMERGE!" The two of the Outer Solar System didn't hesitate. Prince Diamond was a threat to their Princess; to their Solar System; and to their planet. Sailor Moon saw the power as it headed toward Prince Diamond. "NO!" she yelled as she ran to Diamond. With quick movements, she pushed Diamond out of the way and to the ground, nearly getting hit herself. "PRINCESS!" the Sailor Scouts yelled. Diamond gasped an looked at Sailor Moon in shock as she stood and faced the Warriors. "Uranus! Neptune! What was that for?!" Both of their faces were white as they looked at their Princess. Uranus was the first to gather her wits. "Princess! He's evil and-" "No he isn't!" Sailor Moon argued. Diamond stood up and watched all of this with growing interest. "Catsy...Birdy...Avery... Prisma...Sapphire... All of them were like him once!" Tears formed in her eyes and she struggled to hold them back. "Just because a person does something wrong, does that mean that that person is wrong? They can be healed!" The entire group stood in shock at her words, but none more shocked then Diamond. "Sailor Moon...why?" he asked her. Sailor Moon turned to Diamond and smiled ever so slightly at him. "Because. I believe. I've seen the real you, Diamond, and this isn't him!" ******************************************************************* 'Damn brat,' Rubeus said to himself. Sighing, he unfolded his arms. If the Prince wasn't going to kill Sailor Moon, then he would. Because, he wasn't a coward. To be continued... AN to the last sentence: Yeah, right! Alright, Minna, are you happy? It's finally out! Sorry it took so long! Today was my last day of school, *does Dance of Joy from Dragon Ball Z* *the audience sweatdrops* so with luck I'll be able to get a chapter a week out again! But don't hurt me if I can't! *cowers* I'll try, Minna-chan! Really, I will! Lol! Stef-chan stefaniecraig@hotmail.com http://home.att.net/~stef_chan/index2.html ICQ: 63467432