Episode Three: Preparations

Shizuki tried to keep her eyes off the floor as her father paced in front of her. He had never been this angry at her before. He stopped and looked at her. "We have four hours left on that deadline and you still haven't told me why. This is not something that can be fixed easily. Queen Uni refuses to talk to me unless it is about her husband. Her newly married husband by the customs of her kingdom. Don't you understand who Atunis is? You should be now!"

"He's a man," Shizuki said. She wanted to burst into tears. No one was trying to understand. She'd done what was right and they were all mad at her. Why should Atunis stay with Uni if he wasn't in love with her? Shizuki thought that helping people who needed it was what she was supposed to do. Atunis deserved that. "He wanted to leave. I helped him."

"Right away? Right before their ceremony was finished?" Trent looked as though he was about to tear his hair out of his head in frustration. He calmly clasped his hands behind his back before going on. "There are some things you need to learn still. Harming monarchs of other kingdoms, especially powerful ones, isn't the way to go about business. This isn't about rescuing someone. This is about the fact that we are on the brink of war because of what you did. Luckily we can repair the damage-"

"I am not returning." Atunis entered the room and stood beside Shizuki. He placed a hand on her shoulder but didn't look to her. "I would prefer to stay here, but I will not return to Uni. You humans keep talking about free will. I like the idea and I wish to exercise it. I would not have it with Uni. I would be required to perform my duties and then die so that I may perform them again. There is no change from that cycle. If I stay away from her, I can make my own choices."

"This is what Mother would want. Please Father, he deserves the same freedom we have." Shizuki walked up to Trent and touched his arm, looking up pleadingly to him. "This is what is right. This is what we should be doing. Please let him stay."

"So be it." Trent pulled away from Shizuki. He was still angry, but Shizuki was sure he wouldn't be for long. She was his daughter after all. "I hope you realize exactly what this means," he said in a low voice to his daughter before he walked out of the room.

Shizuki smiled at Atunis who smiled back. It meant that they could be together now.

****

Aya smiled as she moved her pawn. "Checkmate," she announced triumphantly as Aaron looked down at the chessboard. "That was quick."

"You're telling me," Aaron said as he grinned. No matter how many times he tried, he was always beaten by Aya. One day he'd win. At the very least, he was spending time with his friends. Aaron looked over at Minako sitting next to Chiharu on his floor. "Want to play?" Clearly there was something on her mind.

"No," Minako said, shaking her head. She looked over at Aya briefly. "How much longer is there on the deadline?" She'd been asking that question constantly. Why was she so concerned about it? She wasn't going to fight.

Aya looked at her watch. "An hour. I can guess what her decision's going to be." Aaron cringed. He thought that Princess Shizuki would turn over that man as soon as war was being threatened. He guessed not. So much for believing the best. Maybe there was something to pessimism after all...

"What's the deadline?" Chiharu asked Minako, tugging on her sweater sleeve. "Why does everyone keep talking about it Minako-san?"

"It's a deadline for the Princess to return something she stole to another kingdom," Minako explained, smiling down at Chiharu, not going into much detail. Aaron was thankful for that, he didn't want Chiharu running around the house screaming her head off about how they were all doomed. "If she doesn't, then... Well, then the other kingdom isn't going to be happy."

"Will it be a war? Like the one in the Star Moon manga?" Chiharu bounced up. "Can I be Star Neptune? She's the prettiest! You can be Star Moon and Aaron can be Tuxedo Star! It'll be lots and lots of fun!"

"Are you trying to suggest something there?" Minako's face broke out into a grin and Aaron wanted to bury his face in the carpet. Chiharu always bugged him about Minako. One day she was going to bring home some boy and it'd be his turn to tease her about having a boyfriend. Except she'd probably have a pretend wedding to spite him. "Really, I'm not sure there's time to play."

"There is," Aaron protested despite his deepest desires not to be play Star Moon again. "I'm sure we can find time to play Star Moon." He did like the idea of playing Tuxedo Star to Minako's Star Moon, even if he would have to play with Chiharu. Aya was snickering as she watched him, exchanging conspiratorial looks with Minako who started snickering too. "What exactly is wrong with playing Star Moon?" Aaron was sure he looked like a tomato right then.

The door opened and Yoake stepped in. She'd been busy for the past few days, it was amazing that she was home what with that whole war thing going on. "Aaron, can I talk to you for a second?" She smiled over at Chiharu. "Go wash up Chiharu-chan. Daddy's taking you out to dinner."

"Yay!" Chiharu screamed as she rushed out. "I get a date with Daddy!" That was the last Aaron heard before the bathroom door slammed shut in Chiharu's excitement.

Aaron sighed as he got up and closed the door behind Minako and Aya. "Is that really the best thing to tell her?" He shook his head as he and Yoake walked over to her bedroom. "Really, Dad lets her have too much sugar. I guess it'll be up to me to make sure she stays away from the deserts."

"You're not going to," Yoake said, crossing her arms as she considered him. She smiled and her eyes looked a little shiny. "Your father's taking her out because you're leaving."

"Leaving?" Aaron raised an eyebrow and realized his mother was absolutely serious. This was rather unexpected. Aaron was well behaved with no embarassing scandals besides that fling with Erika. Even that hadn't been that bad. "What do you mean leaving? I'm not being sent back to America, am I?"

"Chiharu's too young for this." Yoake took Aaron's hand and placed something hard in it. He looked down and saw a black diamond shaped buckle. "You aren't. I don't want her to go through what I did when I was your age. I didn't want you going through with it either, but... the time calls for it I guess."

"What is it?" Aaron studied it. It looked absolutely normal, but that didn't explain what it was. "What do you mean Chiharu's too young for it? She's the one who should be inheriting the jewellery."

"It's more than just jewellery." Yoake reached out and stroked Aaron hair tenderly. "It is a family heirloom. It goes all the way back to the Silver Millennium. I never told you, but your grandmother was Sailorpluto."

"Then you're..." Yoake nodded as Aaron trailed off. It seemed he would be playing at being Tuxedo Star after all.

****

"There's no way she would have given him back," Aya said, carefully arranging the chess pieces back into the container. Minako watched, still sitting in the same spot. "Did you see her? She's an idiot."

"I don't think she's an idiot," Minako said. She looked down at her gold brooch before turning back to Aya. It'd be getting some use very soon, there was no use in trying to pretend Shizuki would do the best thing for everyone. "I just think she's a little on the naive side. That ceremony wasn't too bad."

"I know," Aya laughed as she folded up the board and put it back into the box. "That Atunis is a hot guy. Did you see that butt?" Minako nodded and grinned. "It's a shame we missed the little show."

"You only wanted to see Utako's reaction to it," Minako pointed out. She knew Aya's sister well enough to know neither of them got along. "If you really wanted to see two people getting it on, you could have rented something."

"You're right." Aya sighed as she put the box into her backpack. A few changes of clothing were in it, mostly to make sure there was room for the chessboard. Both of them had packed lightly. It was a war, not a fashion show. Minako's bag was near the door which she grabbed. "We'd better stop by the ice rink on the way. Mom wants me to make sure Utako leaves on time."

"I'm sure the war won't be able to start if she's a few minutes late." Aya snorted at that comment. It was always easy to get a laugh out of her, just not when they talked about actual warfare. "Shall we go then?"

"What, no goodbye kiss to Tuxedo Star?" Aya grinned as she stood up. "I think you wanted to play that game too."

"I get to play that game now." Minako's eyebrows shot up as Aaron entered the room. He smiled as he held up a black diamond, just like their own brooches. Obviously he was coming with them now. There went pining over him. "Just without the tuxedo."

"So you know everything?" Aya asked, her grin melting away. Her face became dead serious as she studied Aaron. He nodded. "Good. How much do you need to pack?"

"Give me a few minutes." Aaron grabbed a bag and started throwing clothes into it, not looking at them. Minako looked over at Yoake who nodded. So she was Neo Pluto. That explained their mothers talking then.

Chiharu came rushing back into the room smiling away. She frowned as she saw Minako and Aya with their bags. "Are you leaving?" she asked sadly. "We were going to play Star Moon."

"We'll play it the next time we're together," Minako said, smiling as she ruffled Chiharu's hair. She was going to miss her, even if she was trying to play matchmaker all the time. She was such a cute kid. "I promise, you'll get to be Star Neptune. You'll be prettier than her one day."

Chiharu grinned. "Thank you!" She bounced out of the room as Alexander Hades came by and was swept up into his arms. They walked away, Chiharu ignoring them in her excitement. "Daddy, can we skip dinner and go for desert? I want ice cream! Lots of ice cream and-" The door shut on them.

"She doesn't need the sugar," Aaron muttered. Even if he was annoyed by her, Minako could still see him putting a photo of him with his sister into his bag.

****

Utako glided over the ice effortlessly. She closed her eyes as she gracefully lifted her leg up and continued to glide. Ryuu had told her to practice all she wanted until the deadline. It wasn't fair, Aya wasn't going to talk to her about what was going to happen. She knew what was going to happen, she should have been explaining it to her sister.

She brought her leg back down and sped up. When she had the right momentum, she leapt up and performed a perfect triple axel. Utako landed and continued to skate along.

"Utako, are you done yet?" Utako stumbled and fell on to the ice as Aya shouted. "We don't have much more time."

"It's not the deadline yet!" Utako yelled as she got back up, rubbing her butt as she did. Falling on to ice hurt, she hated when she did that. She never did that. Minako and Aaron were with Aya, they had seen her fall. Utako hoped they'd seen her jump, she was good at those. She skated over to them and sat down as she undid her skates. "Do we really have to leave?" she asked. "Can't we fight here?"

"And injure civilians?" Aya coldly raised an eyebrow at Utako. "No, we're going to the Moon. Where's Hitomi?"

"Here." Aya nodded as Hitomi walked over to them. She'd been watching Utako silently from the stands. She could tell everyone that Utako hadn't fallen until Aya had shown up. But Hitomi didn't look impressed by what she could do. "Has the deadline passed yet?"

"It will in a few minutes." Aya took out her brooch. "I hope she knows exactly what she's getting us into."

Utako grabbed her bag and took out her brooch. "You only want to boss us around," she said loudly. Aya stared coldly at her, but Utako didn't care. She didn't know what was going to happen because she didn't know what she was getting into. From what Kasumi had said, it wasn't good.

That scared Utako a lot.

****

"Have they given us the answer yet?" Veive asked as Tinia entered the lounge. The others were watching her tensely, all knowing that Tinia had just talked to Queen Uni. Veive wasn't as tense though. She was sitting back casually, her yellow boots resting on the table. "Are we at war yet?"

"King Trent has said that Atunis wishes to remain with the Neo Silver Millennium," Tinia said. Men. Give them a little freedom and they did stupid acts. Trent had seemed fairly reasonable for a man, but it looked as though he wasn't. Or rather he was letting his daughter have control. It seemed she was rather irrational for a woman, which made her no better than a man. "We will leave for the Sol system in three hours."

"Finally!" Veive stood up and stalked out of the room. Most of the others followed her, talking quietly amongst themselves. Tinia stared after her. Veive had been so irritable over Atunis ever since he'd left. It was strange that she would be so eager for war. Veive was the second most honoured of the Andromeda senshi, she had no need to gain glory.

"Don't let her worry you." Tinia smiled as she felt Nethuns' hands on her shoulder. She turned her head to look into those bright turquoise eyes set in her dark face. Nethuns smiled back. "This war will be over quickly, there's no need to worry about Veive. She's only jealous of your abilities."

"I swear, we'll sack them together." Tinia twirled Nethuns around to hold her in her arms. She reached up to run her hands through Nethuns' blue-white hair. "You deserve a palace fit for a Queen, my love."

Nethuns giggled fiercely. "Oh no I don't. It's you. You are the best of us, you deserve the most." Nethuns' smile became sly. "Do we have enough time?"

"Of course." They quickly ran off giggling like schoolboys to their quarters. A little relaxation before war couldn't hurt.

****

Kalon Mercury paced across the throne room, arms crossed behind her back. They were at war, but there was nothing happening. Not one report of an attack yet. She'd thought that the Andromeda senshi would be at their doorsteps as soon as the deadline had passed, but nothing yet.

"Will you stop with the pacing already?" Kalon Venus complained from her perch on the throne dais beside Pluto Kamen. "I'm sure they'll send an invitation when they get here."

"To the senshi of the Neo Silver Millennium," Pluto Kamen started in a high formal voice. "We kindly ask for your attendance to the war between the Neo Silver Millennium and the Kingdom of the Andromeda Galaxy. Please let us know if you will accept this honour."

"Maybe we forgot to send the R.S.V.P.?" Venus grinned at him. "That'd be one way to stop a war."

"Stop it!" Mercury snapped. "This is no time to be joking! We're going to have to leave any second now. They are coming any time."

"Relax, we have time." Pluto Kamen smiled at her, which only irritated Mercury more. "We're not going to be late for their war."

"We should be going to them, it shouldn't be the other way around." Mercury sighed as she crossed her arms. "We could be in control over this. It would be to our advantage considering we have so many disadvantages right now."

"How are we at the disadvantage?" Pluto Kamen raised an eyebrow at her. "And wouldn't we be able to negotiate for peace better if we didn't attack them first?"

"If we attacked first, we could quickly subdue them. If we attacked first, we could take them by surprise. They are very well trained and outnumber us. If we subdue them, we could force them into peace negotiations on our terms. We are not going to surrender to them."

"We aren't going to get the chance to," Kalon Mars said from her spot near the dais. She didn't look up at everyone else. "This is going to be our doom."

"Hey, I'm supposed to be the pessimistic one here," Venus said in a mockingly defensive way. "I am not giving that role up!"

"Why do you have to divide us up into roles?" Kalon Jupiter asked. She'd hardly said anything. If Mercury had cared, she would've been worried about her sister. But she could only hope Jupiter wouldn't be too much of a burden in battle. "Why can't we just be ourselves?"

"I am being myself," Venus muttered.

Mercury opened her mouth, but that idiot that called herself the Princess entered the room followed by Atunis. She was in her fuku, obviously ready to help them fight. How grand of her. "Have they arrived yet?" Mercury asked, not bothering to mask her contempt for Kalon Moon.

Moon looked puzzled by Mercury's tone of voice. "They have. At the Mare Serenitatis."

"Good, let's go!" Everyone filed out of the room, but Atunis grabbed Mercury by the arm before she could leave. "Exactly what do you think you're doing?" Mercury glared at him. Who cared if he was utterly handsome, she had a war to fight over him!

"Show some respect for your princess," he said in a low voice. "She is your leader."

"She got us into this war. So did you." Mercury pulled her arm away sharply and pointed a finger in Atunis' face. "Don't forget that this war is being fought for your sake. We are putting our lives and our kingdom at risk for you. Don't ever forget that!"

"I won't." Atunis turned and walked away. Mercury glared after him and realized one thing.

She really hated that man.

****

"Why did Aaron have to go away?" the young girl was asking as her mother tucked her into bed. "Why can't he stay here?"

"Because there's something he needs to do." Yoake stroked her daughter's hair, but she couldn't see Megami watching them. She could hear every word from the tree. Surprisingly she'd left the windows opened. No one thought the battle would move to Crystal Tokyo. Megami wanted to shout at them all to leave the city, but she had her duties to attend to.

The mirror had told her it was almost time to select Kalon Sailorneptune. It hadn't given her any guidance. But Megami smiled as she watched the young girl yawn. Perfect. Chiharu Hades had the blood of a senshi in her. Better still, she was young. She could easily be moulded to become the perfect senshi.

This was no time for the mistakes of the past to be repeated. Megami had to be sure of that. Too much was at stake.