(Historian's Note: This story followed along the original Sailor Moon plot line up until this point. It branches off into a parallel story line I like to call Sailor Moon V, or "The Dark Adventures of the Sailor Scouts." This episode takes place after the discovery of Ami Mizuno as Sailor Mercury, but before any of the other Sailor Scouts are found.) Beryl thought about who Moirah would most likely be reporting to and what exactly she would be reporting. She finally arrived at a probable answer and relaxed. Had the information been a really important secret, Moirah could be trusted not to breathe a word to Nephlyte. But something as simple as an assignment for a Dragoon agent was no big deal. The dark queen made another mental note to have a nice, quiet discussion with her bodyguard about politics and loyalty. Queen Beryl smiled to herself and wondered just how the conversation would go. Still smiling, she idly let her hand wander through the cool waters of the fountain. ------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a typical, lazy Sunday afternoon. The sun was warm, the breeze was light and cool, the birds were out singing, and Ami Mizuno was holed up in her room studying. "We have seen that multiplying (or dividing) the sides of an equation by a non-zero number give us a new, correct equation. Moreover, adding a multiple of one equation in a system gives us another correct equation. Finally, if we interchange two equations in a system of equations, we obtain an equivalent system." There was no warning, no chance for Ami to see it coming. With a loud whoosh, she was blasted out of her chair and onto the floor by the opening shot of an impending pillow fight. And she could only think of one person who would dare do such a thing while she was studying. "Good morning, Serena," she said, her normally crystalline voice muffled by the fluffy mass of pillow on her face. She batted the pillow off and glared at her adversary and best friend. "Hi, Ami," came Serena's cheerfully innocent voice. "I knew you could use a break from studying, but why are you taking it on the floor?" Her grin grew impossibly wide as she looked at Ami. Ami looked up, smirked, and tossed a pillow halfway across the room. "Oh, I think you'll find out soon enough." She looked at Serena again, made a quick mental calculation, and kicked the pillow another few inches to the left. Serena shook her head in confusion, sending her bizarre ponytails swaying. "Huh? And what makes you think I'm going to wind up on the floor?" And just like her friend, she never saw it coming. The black cat that had been carefully sneaking up behind her let out a blood-curdling howl. Serena squealed in fear as she turned around to look for the disturbance, tripped over her own feet, and promptly landed face-first on the pillow. "Serves you right for sneaking up on poor Ami like that," the cat chided. She paused to stretch before sitting down and grooming her fur. "You really ought to be learning from her studying habits, Serena, instead of trying to disrupt them." "Thanks, Luna," said Ami as she fussed with her rumpled blue-tinted hair. She heard Serena mutter something acidic and laughed. "Well, you did ask for it this time, Serena." She stood up and straightened her dress. Serena got up very slowly. "Just trying to get you to lighten up, that's all. It's a wonderful day outside, and you're in here with your nose buried in a book again. You should get out more often." "I was studying while I was waiting for you two to get up so we could go out and do something," came the tart reply. "It's not my fault I like to get up sometime before lunch." Luna yawned. "Don't look at me, I was up at nine. I was just enjoying the view out in the garden." She arched her tail toward Serena. "She was the one who was snoring until eleven." "Hey! It's not my fault I snore while I sleep! I can't help that!" Her blue eyes became slightly wider as she got upset. Ami's own blue eyes twinkled as she smiled. "It must be that big mouth of yours," she teased. She barely had enough time to dodge the red-lace pillow that was thrown in her direction. She dropped back into a modified defense posture, ready for the next attack. "Oh yeah?!" The blonde grabbed a pair of fluffy green pillows, tossed one to Ami, then charged forward to attack. Ami parried, then swung her pillow in a broad arc. Serena dodged and the battle commenced. Luna carefully made her way around the melee and over to Ami's soft bed. She leapt up, being cautious not to scratch anything in the process. Sighing heavily, she settled down to watch the duel, hoping they wouldn't accidentally use her as target practice. "Why do I have the feeling that this is going to be one of those days?" she asked the teddy bear next to her. Fortunately for her sanity, the stuffed animal didn't respond. There was a high-pitched squeal from the midst of the fight and Luna was buried beneath a mass of fluff. "This is probably why," she said to nobody in particular. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tolaris looked up from his work as a silver-haired Dragoon entered his private chambers. Occasionally he wondered what it would be like if he wasn't immune to her telepathic-based sex appeal, but never seriously considered it. There were a time and place for everything and being a Dragoon meant one never had much time for play. "You sent for me, Commander?" she said. "Yes, Shar-Tei. I have an assignment to do, one that requires me to spend my time elsewhere. During my absence you will be in command of the Dragoons." "Of course, Tolaris. I am puzzled why you would volunteer to do mundane research about the humans on Earth when you could send someone else." Tolaris gave his second-in-command an amused look. "Let me guess. The aquamorph told Nephlyte like she was paid to do, Zoisite's spies overheard the report and told her, she told her bedmate Malachite about the plan, and your surveillance of Malachite's activities let you in on the information." Shar-Tei's featureless red eyes seemed to twinkle. "Word travels fast in the intelligence division," she said demurely. "No intelligence leaks here," Tolaris muttered to himself. He looked up at Shar-Tei. "Let's just say that I could use a change of pace every now and then. Let's see you spend nine decades as the Dragoon commander and see if you don't start clawing the walls for some time off." The Dragoon officer shook her head slowly. "We were wondering when you would finally get around to taking a vacation." "It's not a vacation, it's a field assignment," he muttered. "An easy field assignment," she shot back. Tolaris finally smiled. "So what if it is? Too late anyway. You've got command of the Dragoons now, not me. See you later, Lieutenant Commander." He waved and walked out, leaving a startled Shar-Tei behind. He walked down the shadowy corridors of the Dragoon castle, heading in the direction of the underground tunnel that lead to Queen Beryl's castle. As he entered the tunnel entrance, he became aware of a dark figure leaning against a wall. As he approached, the figure stood up and spoke to him. "I would speak with you, Commander Tolaris," he said in a strong voice. Tolaris bowed slightly as he recognized the voice. "General Nephlyte. What can I do for you?" "A simple matter, really. During your visit to Earth, I would like you to search around for a suitable site for a cathedral. I am giving thought to seeing how my astroglobe would work beneath another set of stars and Earth looks like an ideal testing ground." A strange look passed over the Dragoon's face. "I see. And you couldn't consult your.... astroglobe to tell you where such a site might be?" Nephlyte smiled. "The stars know everything, but they don't always tell what they know." "So that's why you bribe the aquamorph for information," Tolaris said in a flat tone. Nephlyte laughed, something which he rarely did these days. "Ah, yes, I forgot how much you hate politics. Let me explain this one, my dear Commander. Moirah and I trade information. She tells me everything except the really classified stuff and I tell her everything I know about recent rumors and such regarding assassination plots against Queen Beryl. It is my understanding that with my help, she has put an end to at least forty-six such attempts." "So she is seen as a truly effective bodyguard while you gain the upper hand in your schemes against the other generals." The dark-haired general chuckled. "And people wonder why she put you in charge of gathering intelligence." "And I take it your new site for your astroglobe is another scheme to use against Jedyt and the others?" Tolaris said with a weary expression. Nephlyte's face grew somber. "No, Commander, I assure you that this one is for other reasons. If I can continue my work on Earth, I can get out of Beryl's immediate wrath-radius but still keep in touch if needed. Surely you can appreciate that." Tolaris nodded in agreement, his gray eyes twinkling with amusement. "All too easily. In fact, that's one of the minor reasons why I'm going on this assignment. Very well, General, I will see if I can find a suitable location for your cathedral." "Thank you, Tolaris." Nephlyte reached into a pocket and pulled out an iridescent crystal pendant on a fine gold chain. "If you wish, you can borrow this for the duration of your field assignment. It will open a portal between Earth and the Negaverse so you may travel between the two with ease." The Dragoon's eyes widened slightly. He knew that only a handful of the Silkworm crystals existed, and to be given the use of one was not to be taken lightly. He wordlessly accepted the jewel, then watched as Nephlyte turned around and disappeared into the tunnel. Tolaris walked along the corridor until he came to a relatively isolated section. Don't want to disturb anyone when this thing goes off, he thought. Ok, assuming that the humans haven't changed much in a thousand years, the information I need to know would most likely be in a public library. And since it's public, it'd be someplace where everyone can easily get to it. He focused his thoughts on what he knew of the current map of downtown Tokyo. Randomly picking a point, he channeled his thoughts into the crystal. Immediately, a whirling vortex opened up in the wall of the corridor. On the other side he could see a dark alley in some part of town. "Next stop, the local library," he said to himself as he stepped through the wormhole and into the world called Earth. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Serena and Ami were walking along one of the main streets in town. Serena was dressed in her favorite pink sweater and blue jeans while Ami was wearing one of her better aquamarine dresses. Luna was happily being carried by Ami as the two wandered the streets. "Ok, so now that we're all up and dressed, where should we go?" Ami asked her friends. "The park should look nice this time of year," Luna said. "But it's way too chilly," Serena complained. "We should go someplace exciting where it's nice and warm." "Let me guess. The arcade?" Ami sighed. Serena's blue eyes lit up. "Of course! All those games generate lots of heat to keep us warm, we're out of the wind which is starting to ruin my hair, aaaand...." "And you get to see Andrew," Luna muttered darkly. "Of course, that's the coolest part." Serena said in a singsong tone. Ami sighed again and wondered where exactly she went wrong in having a semi-ditz as her best friend. She started thinking about it and didn't see the dark figure step out of the alley in front of her. The figure didn't see her either and they collided. Luna managed to leap free and, having the natural grace and agility of a cat, landed on her feet. Ami, however, was not so lucky and landed hard on her behind with a squeal. There was a grunt as the other person also landed on his rear. "Ami! You all right?" Serena knelt down beside her friend, her eyes wide with concern. "I'm fine. Sorry about that," she said to her new acquaintance as he picked himself up off of the concrete. "No harm done," he said as he helped her up. "Wasn't quite watching where I was going either. You okay?" he asked with some concern. He quickly looked her over for cuts or bruises. Great way to meet someone, he thought ruefully. "Sure." She looked around briefly. "Luna, you okay?" She heard a soft meow behind her. "Good. Didn't mean to dump you like that." She looked at Serena, who merely smiled. "Excuse me, but would you mind telling me where the local library is? I'm new to the city, and I think I've gotten lost," the gentleman asked in a gentle voice. Ami looked up at him. He looked to be in his late twenties, with black hair reaching his strange uniform collar. His gray-green eyes seemed to study everything as he looked around. For a brief instant, Ami caught the feeling of evil close by, but it faded so quickly she wasn't sure she didn't imagine it. "Not really. It's only six blocks from here. I'm headed there myself and I'd be happy to take you there." She blinked in surprise as that last sentence came out. She had said it on impulse, something which she usually didn't do. "Hey, I thought we were headed to the arcade," Serena protested. "No, you were, remember? I still have some research to do for my biology assignment that's due next month. Don't worry, I'll catch up with you and Luna later in the afternoon." Serena was about to say more when she felt Luna's claws tugging on her socks. She had learned quickly that this meant Luna had something important to say but couldn't do so with others around. "Uh, sure, Ami. How about four o'clock at the pizza place?" The tugging on her socks grew more insistent. "Sounds good to me. See you later, Serena." She turned to her strange companion. "It's down this way," she said as he led him down the street in the direction of the library. Serena sighed and picked up her furry friend. "All right, Luna, what is it? You were starting to put holes in my socks." "I could have sworn I felt some bad vibes when Ami first ran into him. He might be from the Negaverse." "You sure, Luna? I didn't feel anything, and he seems nice enough. Not all that cute, but it looks like Ami thinks so." She smiled. "Serena, get serious! Ami could be in trouble. Besides, something about her behavior puzzles me. She told me about her biology project, but she said she would be going to the library next week and Ami isn't one to change her plans on an impulse." "Relax, Luna. Ami's smart enough to know what she's doing. Besides, you know how she needs to get out more. Finding a boyfriend would definitely help her social life, and I think she's on her way to getting one. Come on, the arcade is down this way." Luna just sighed as Serena happily made her way down the street in the direction of the arcade. Why do I even bother? Luna wondered. I just hope Ami knows what she's doing. ------------------------------------------------------------------- What am I doing? Ami thought for the thousandth time. I wasn't supposed to go to the library until next week, and here I am on my way there now with a complete stranger. She took a deep breath. One way to fix that, she thought. "I don't believe we've properly met. Ami Mizuno," she said. Her companion chuckled. "Commander Tolaris Sterling," he said. "And no, running into each other on a street corner isn't quite the proper method of meeting someone." Well that went smoothly, he thought. He knew that humans had two names, and since he only had one he borrowed the name of his great- grandfather as his last name. "Commander? You're in the military? But I've never seen that kind of uniform before," she said, gesturing to his dark blue uniform. "Elite military intelligence," he explained. "There's not a lot of us, so it's common for people not to recognize our uniforms." As he talked, he kept glancing over at Ami. Blue-tinted hair was a rarity in the Negaverse and he found it quite attractive. Goes well with her blue eyes, he thought. Ami looked up to find Tolaris staring at her. "What?" she asked with some concern. Tolaris smiled. "I haven't seen very many people with hair like yours." He paused briefly. "It is natural, right?" Ami laughed. "Yes, it's quite natural." "Natural beauty is a rarity these days." Ami blushed and almost stopped walking. She looked up at Tolaris to find him busy looking at the street signs. "This way, right?" he said as he pointed to the left. "Uh, right," she said. Tolaris smiled at her again. What is it about her? he thought. She was rather pretty but still very young. So why am I starting to flirt with her? He thought about it for a few more seconds before shoving the whole mess onto a back burner in his mind with a note to examine it further. "So what brings you to this part of Tokyo? I thought all of the military bases were farther up north," Ami asked with curiosity. Tolaris thought quickly. "Research. I understand that your library has a few books that I can't find on the base library." "If you don't mind my asking, what kind of research?" Inquisitive little tart, he thought. "Well.... let's just say it involves astrophysics...." "I see," Ami said knowingly. "Classified research, then." Tolaris gently took Ami by the elbow. "Now that you know, I'll have to kill you," he said in a stern tone. He had to laugh as her blue eyes became impossibly wide. "I'm only teasing. It's not often I get a chance to say that to people." "Hmpf," she said. "It's not all that funny, Commander Sterling." "Sorry," he said as he released her elbow. "And I'd be happy if you would call me Tolaris. I get enough of the 'Commander' stuff back home." "Sure," Ami smiled. She paused as something occurred to her. "Uh, why would a small library like ours have something important that a big library like yours wouldn't have?" Tolaris stopped cold in his tracks and looked at Ami. "We don't know," he said slowly. "That's one of the minor reasons why I'm down here." Either I'm getting rusty or she's unbelievably intelligent, he thought. Probably both. "Here we are," she announced, pointing to a brick building behind him. "Tokyo's Wataru Branch Library." Tolaris smiled. "Thank you for your help, Ami. I hope I can return the favor one day." Ami smiled back. "No problem. If you need any help, I'll be studying in the Biology section against the far wall." "Again, my thanks," the Dragoon said as they entered the building and went in opposite directions. Ami headed to the back of the library while Tolaris went in the general direction of the encyclopedias. He selected several different volumes, first concentrating on general, social, and cultural histories. As an afterthought, he picked up a volume that involved the space program and another regarding weather patterns. Might come in handy, he thought as he sat at a table and started reading. Occasionally he would pull an amber crystal out of a pocket and hold it over a page. The crystal would hum briefly as it photocopied the text into its memory. Then before anyone could notice what he was doing, he would hide the gem back in his pocket. Don't need anyone asking questions about strange gems, he thought. Tolaris lost track of time as he read through page after page of history and other information. He had just finished with the book on weather and was about to start in on a section about contemporary economics when someone set a large book down in front of him. Startled, he looked up. "I thought this might help," Ami said as she gestured to the book's title. Tolaris glanced down, and his eyebrows went up as he read the title. "Neo-classical Astrophysics. You know, this just might be one of the things I'm looking for." He quickly leafed through it and stopped when he came to a complex diagram that looked familiar. He read the passage and it was all he could do to keep calm. The diagram and accompanying equations showed how a person could predict irregular orbital patterns. There was a high degree of inaccuracy involved if there were more than one celestial object in the orbit, but it was still quite useful. General Nephlyte had spent decades trying to figure out the orbits of the Negaverse's moons and once said he would pay dearly for any information that would help him solve the puzzle. "Ami, you're wonderful. This is exactly what I've been looking for." Not quite, he thought as he pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, but this is something extremely useful. Tolaris knew that the weather was influenced by the tidal forces of celestial moons and if he could predict what forces were going to cause which storms where, he could increase his powers tenfold. Like all of the Negaverse denizens, Tolaris had a few semi-unique special powers. Although the majority of the skills wielded by the denizens were weak, there were a few like Tolaris who were exceptionally powerful. And Tolaris' strongest power was his ability to control the weather. A major factor of his powers was the weather currently in the area at the time. He could cause it to snow during a blistering heat wave, but it would be a weak snow. If there was a cold front and lots of moisture-laden clouds in the area, he could cause a full-scale blizzard to occur within a matter of seconds. Knowledge is power, and if he knew ahead of time what the prevailing weather would be like, he could use that to his utmost advantage. One problem, he thought as he scribbled down the equations. Nephlyte has to get this to work first. Otherwise, this is going to be a moot point. He looked up and smiled at Ami. "You've been an incredible help to me, Ami. If you don't mind, I'd like to thank you by buying you dinner tomorrow night. I'm afraid I'll be quite busy with other business before then, so I'm sorry I can't do it sooner." Ami blushed. "Oh, you don't have to do that. It'd be entirely too much trouble and all...." "Which is nothing compared to the trouble you've saved me," Tolaris said truthfully. "If it wasn't for your help, I wouldn't have found either this library or that book until much later. Besides, my conscience wouldn't allow me to let you get away without some sort of payback." Which isn't all that far off the truth, he thought. Ami's blush deepened as several things occurred to her. She was about to say no since she would probably have homework to do, but again an impulse took over and she decided she could do it beforehand. Besides, she thought, I've never been on a date before and now seems like a good time to fix that. "Well," she said slowly, "Since you put it that way, I don't see how I can refuse." "Wonderful. Since I don't know where you live and I won't know where I will be at any particular time, what say we meet at the park around five? It would give us plenty of time to enjoy dinner and a walk in the park, yet still have enough time to get you home at a decent hour." "I'd like that, Tolaris. Thank you." The Dragoon chuckled. "No, thank you. For everything." He stood up and kissed her hand, causing her blush a delightful shade of red. "Now I don't mean to be rude here, but you might want to get back to your friend. It's well past four." Ami's eyes went wide as she realized he was right. "Oh! Uh, thank you. See you at the park at five tomorrow!" She waved a hasty goodbye and ran for the door. Tolaris chuckled again as he watched Ami's form dash across the streets. Then his mood grew somber as he thought of other things. It's just as well that she left, he thought. He casually made his way to the back section of the library. Making sure no one could see him, he pulled an onyx crystal out of a pocket and hid it behind a row of books. This device will serve as my first trap, he thought. The gem was a time- delayed energy collector. It would activate in one hour, draining all of the energy out of anyone who happened to be near it. A simple touch or a focused energy blast would deactivate it so the Sailor Scouts should be able to turn it off quite easily. Only thing is, he thought, if it gets turned off, it'll do a thorough scan of whatever touched it. And if it works right, I just might get a fingerprint or even a DNA scan of one of those Sailor Scouts. Or at least a very detailed scan of their special powers. He walked back to the opposite side of the library, just out of the gem's field-effect radius. And when they get here, all they'll find is a glowing gem and a room full of drained humans, he thought with a silent chuckle. Plus one Dragoon who's pretending to be drained. Smiling to himself, Commander Tolaris sat back down to read the passage on contemporary economics, occasionally taking notes with his strange crystal. Queen Beryl's going to love this, he thought. Who would have thought that the humans could develop something like this? Amazing.... ------------------------------------------------------------------- "This isn't like Ami at all," said Luna as she paced in circles. Her tail lashed back and forth as she grew more concerned by the minute. "Usually, it's Ami who's waiting for you to show up, Serena, not the other way around." Serena made a face. "Thanks, Luna. But still, you know how Ami gets when she's studying. She's probably still sitting there with her nose in a book." Luna paused to consider this. "Well, you could be right." She perked her ears up at a sound. "That sounds like her now." Serena was almost bowled over by a blue-haired tornado. "Sorry I'm late," Ami said, panting heavily. "I kinda lost track of time. Hope I haven't kept you waiting too long." "Only about ten minutes," said Luna, "Even though we were supposed to meet half an hour ago," she said, giving Serena a meaningful look. "What happened, your study of biology take an interesting turn?" joked Serena. She blinked as Ami blushed for no apparent reason. "You could say that. Tolaris invited me to dinner tomorrow." "Who?" chorused Serena and Luna. "Tolaris," she repeated. "You know, the guy I bumped into several hours ago? Well, I helped him with a bit of his research and he wanted to thank me by taking me out to dinner tomorrow night." Serena smiled. "Boy, that was fast, Ami. You run over a guy on a street corner and it's not four hours before you two start dating." "We're not dating, Serena." "Not yet," the blonde teased. "Ami, how much do you know about this Tolaris?" asked Luna. "I would have thought he would be way too old for you." Ami blinked. "Umm, I never got around to asking how old he was. He said he was a commander in the military intelligence division and that he needed a few books that our library had. I think it's classified, but he mentioned it involved a bit of astrophysics." "That sounds like the space program," Luna said. Serena elbowed her friend in the ribs. "Wow, Ami, not only do you have a thing for older men, you also like a man in uniform. How come you never told me this before?" "Serena!" Ami said, blushing furiously. "I think you are making this out to be something that it isn't, Serena," Luna chided the blonde. "Perhaps, but I smell romance in the air." She paused and took a small whiff of the air. "That, and a pepperoni pizza with our name on it. Come on," she said as she grabbed Ami's wrist. "Let's go get dinner." "Okay, calm down. You want me to bring you anything, Luna?" Luna was about to say something when she caught motion out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look and her eyes lit up. "Actually, no thanks," she said as she followed the movement. "I'll just stay out here and.... uh.... keep an eye on things...." Serena knew that look. "Field mouse?" she said, faintly disgusted. "Cricket," the cat corrected. "Excuse me." Luna leapt high into the air and landed running, pursuing the cricket into the bushes. "Ugh. How can she eat those.... bugs?" Serena said with a sour expression on her face. "Protein," commented Ami. Serena gave her a strange look. "Variety?" Ami suggested. "Thanks for sharing that, Ami." "Well, she is a cat after all. Come on, I'm getting hungry." Serena just stared at her friend's innocent expression. "You've got to be kidding me." "Well, I haven't eaten since we left the house and that was quite awhile ago. Besides, you're the one who's always hungry." Serena sighed as they entered the restaurant. "I think I'll just stick with a salad and bread sticks this time...." ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Salad and bread sticks, huh?" teased Ami as they left the restaurant. "Well.... Umm.... That pizza smell kinda made me change my mind...." "Some change of mind. You ate six slices of pizza after you virtually ate half of the salad bar." "Sorry, Ami, but I was hungry," protested Serena. A loud purring sound ripped through the air like a saw. Ami and Serena exchanged looks before trying to find the source of the sound. Several seconds later they found Luna stretched out on her back and being gently scratched by a man in dark clothes. "Darian, get away from my cat!" screamed Serena in anger as she ran to get Luna. She picked her up and checked her for cuts or other signs of injury. "This is your cat, meatball head?" he said with some disgust. "Yes it is, so you can keep your grubby hands off of her!" "With pleasure." His icy tone softened slightly as he noticed Ami standing next to Serena. "Tell me, Ami, with all of your genius, why do you hang around with this ditz?" "Because she's my friend," Ami said defensively. Darian looked like he was going to say something, then changed his mind. "To each their own. Take care, Ami," he said as he turned around and walked away. Luna waited until he was gone before speaking up. "I don't understand the problem, Serena. I rather enjoy having my belly rubbed after a good meal and he was doing a fine job until you stormed over here and started yelling. What is it with you and Darian?" Serena made a foul face. "He's a creep, that's what." Ami was about to make a comment when an icy wind blew through her bones. She blinked and looked at Serena. Her friend looked like someone had shoved an ice cube down her sweater. "Yiii!" she squealed, shivering lightly. "What was that?" "I felt it too. What do you think it could have been, Luna?" The cat's ears were flat against her head. "I sense evil. It feels like the Negaverse is around somewhere. Ami, use your computer and see if you can pinpoint anything strange." "Right." Ami reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked to be a typical make-up compact. She flipped it open to reveal a miniature keyboard and computer screen. She did some quick typing and a blinking light appeared on the screen. "Got it. There's some sort of energy disturbance a few blocks from here. Checking the map now...." She pushed a button and a detailed map of the city was overlaid on the screen. Ami felt the color drain from her face as she recognized the area. "It's in the library!" she said, her voice laced with concern. Tolaris is still in there, she thought. "Then I think you two should deal with this threat right now. There's no one around, so you can transform right here," said Luna. Serena looked dismayed. "Does this mean we have to fight another monster? I'm still healing from the last one." "No time to argue, Serena!" snapped Ami. "Let's get going!" She pulled a silver cylinder out of her pocket and held it over her head. "Mercury Power!" she yelled, and was immediately wrapped in a field of light and energy. Within seconds, her clothing had dissolved and reformed into the blouse and skirt of her Sailor suit. Her shoes melted into a mass of light that crept up her legs and solidified into her boots. Beams of energy wrapped around her arms and formed gloves. Stray tendrils of light merged into bows on her blouse and skirt. A cloud of motes coalesced to form a pair of sapphire earrings and a beautiful jeweled tiara, and the transformation was complete. Serena sighed. "All right, all right, keep your skirt on, Mercury." She let her hand pass over the brooch on her sweater collar before raising it up to the sky. "Moon Prism Power!" she yelled. She then underwent the same process of transformation Mercury went through, but the only differences were her earrings were gold and a pair of ruby barrettes was added to her bizarre hairstyle. "Hey, wait up!" Sailor Moon yelled as she took off running after Mercury. "I hate running on a full stomach," Luna complained as she darted after the two Sailor Scouts. "I hate.... running.... period...." Sailor Moon puffed. "I don't.... see why.... she's in such.... a hurry...." Mercury was almost to the library when the others caught up to her, still complaining about the run. She bit back an impulse to tell them to put a cork in it and focused on the library doors. A sudden thought occurred to her and she hoped the doors weren't locked. Too late now, she thought and braced. She slammed into the doors at full-tilt and nearly dislocated something as the doors refused to open. Behind her, Sailor Moon tried to stop and only partially succeeded before running into Mercury. There was a loud and vicious curse as they fell onto the grass in a jumble of arms and legs. "Sailor Moon, such language!" Mercury blushed as she tried to stand. "Me? I thought that was you! I don't even know what that word means." Mercury looked confused as she rubbed a sore spot. "When who...?" Their eyes locked as it sank in. "Luna!" they chorused before scrambling to their feet. Luna groaned in pain as she slowly rolled over. She opened one eye and glared at Sailor Mercury. "Mercury, I do believe you've put on some weight," she said weakly. "We are going to have to talk about this.... after I heal." "Sorry." She looked up at the slightly dented door. "Well, it's locked, so that means we'll just have to force it open." "Oh, yeah?" muttered Sailor Moon. "And just how are we supposed to force open a heavy door like that without the aid of the army?" Mercury didn't even bother replying. She stood in front of the door and concentrated all of her energy into a single mote. "Mercury Bubbles...." she intoned. The mote grew into a bubble, then a large sphere of energy. She flung her arms out wide and released the energy. "BLAST!!" The force of the sphere's impact neatly ripped the door off of its hinges and sent it skittering across the library's carpeted floor. Mercury waited for the dust to settle before entering the building. "I see...." said Sailor Moon as she followed her friend inside. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tolaris was slumped in his chair, looking like every other human in the library. At the far end of the building, the onyx gem gave off a harsh purple light as it drained the last remaining wisps of energy out of the humans caught within its field-effect radius. Every now and then the gem would pulse as its negative energy field was altered slightly. Forgot about that, Tolaris thought as the gem's radius brushed against his arm. Stupid thing doesn't always maintain a constant radius. He sighed darkly as a bit of his own energy was drained away by the fluctuating field. If those Sailor Scouts don't get here soon, I won't have to pretend to be drained. His train of thought was interrupted by a large explosion, followed by the sound of something heavy sliding across the floor. That's one way to make an entrance, he thought with a silent chuckle. "Hey, what's that?" a voice said. Tolaris didn't dare open his eyes to see who spoke. Don't need to be giving myself away just quite yet, he thought. A sudden idea occurred to him and he thought vile curses. This would have been great if I could have gotten a voice-analysis. Too bad hindsight only works in reverse. Better luck next time, Commander. "It looks like it might be what's causing the energy disturbance," said a second, deeper voice. "I'll say. You see any monsters around?" asked the first voice. "No, but let me do a scan first," said a third voice. Tolaris's blood ran cold. Oh, great, he thought darkly. Sounds like I've got three of those Scouts to deal with. Queen Beryl is not going to like this one bit. "This is odd," said the third voice. "What's up, Mercury?" said the first voice. "Well, I'm picking up a strange bio-reading, but I can't make sense of it because of the energy field." "Worry about that in a bit. What about that strange light?" asked the second voice. Tolaris heard the sound of typing, then a series of beeps. Sounds like the one named Sailor Mercury has a scanner of sorts, he thought. Good that I know, bad that she's got one. "This is even stranger," said Mercury. "The light is caused by a simple, unfocused energy collector. If my scan reads right, any contact with it will be enough to deactivate it." "Easy enough," said the first voice. "I'll just give it a nice kick." "Sailor Moon, wait! If you enter the collector's energy field, you'll be drained of your energy like everyone else." "Oh," said Sailor Moon. "So how do we turn it off from here?" "You could use your Moon Tiara," suggested the second voice. Oh, by all means, thought Tolaris, please do. "No, I've got a faster solution," said Mercury. There was silence, and then Mercury grunted softly. A second later Tolaris felt an energy wave wash across the room as the crystal was shattered. "Well, that's one way to do it...." said the second voice. "Hey, everyone's starting to wake up!" came the jubilant voice of Sailor Moon. "Looks like we won't have to fight a monster after all." "That's great," said Mercury. "Now if it's all the same with you, I want to get out of here before they start asking questions about the door." "Problem, Mercury?" teased Sailor Moon. "Not yet, and there won't be if we move it now." "Perhaps Mercury is right," said the second voice. "Now would be a very good time to leave." Tolaris waited until the sound of their footsteps faded, then counted to fifty before pretending to wake up. This is not going very well, he thought to himself as he casually made his way over to the shattered gem. He started to laugh uncontrollably when he saw what had destroyed it. "A book," he chuckled. "They threw a dictionary at it. This is simply incredible. No fingerprints, no energy scans, not even a voice print. And all I have to report is the possibility of three Sailor Scouts and that the one named Mercury has a scanner." He continued to laugh quietly as he made his way out of the library. I think I'll look for Nephlyte's cathedral site while it's still light out, he thought. Don't want to turn today into a total failure. Still shaking his head in wonder, the Dragoon randomly picked a direction and started walking. ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ami, I'm surprised at you," Luna said as she paced back and forth. The three of them were in Serena's room. Serena was playing the home arcade version of the Sailor V game while Ami and Luna were sitting on Serena's bed. "You usually don't go rushing off like that without any sort of plan in mind," the black cat continued. "You didn't even consider the possibility of the library doors being locked before trying to rush in. I take it you didn't damage anything in the attempt?" Ami blushed and studied the carpet, unable to look at the expression on Luna's face. "Just bruised my shoulders, that's all." "I consider that lucky, seeing how you managed to dent the door like that. What about you, Serena?" Serena was busy concentrating on the game and never heard Luna. "Oh, come on, you stupid game, I dodged that missile!" Ami and Luna exchanged looks. Luna just sighed, shook her head, and made a gesture toward Serena. A wicked smile crossed Ami's face as she picked up a pillow and launched it with amazing accuracy. There was a loud crack as Serena's forehead met the hard plastic casing of the game. "Hey!" she yelled as she stood up, rubbing a sore spot. "What did you do that for?" "So we could get your attention away from that game and back to business," Luna responded crisply. "We need to put our heads together about the incident at the library. Something about that wasn't quite right." Serena blinked. "What do you mean?" "She means it was entirely too easy for a Negaverse trap," Ami translated. The blonde laughed and airily waved a hand. "We're just way too good for simple traps anymore. There's nothing to worry about." Luna frowned. "I find that highly unlikely. However, just for the sake of argument let's say that is the case and proceed on to the other topic of concern." Serena blinked again. "Like what?" "Like Ami's unusual behavior earlier today," Luna said with a meaningful look at the still-blushing Ami. "I still find it highly distressing to see you simply rush into a confrontation without thinking about it. It's something I would expect from Serena, but not from you, Ami." "Thanks," muttered Serena. "Well.... I was just.... concerned for the people still in the library." "You mean for your boyfriend?" teased Serena. Luna's expression went demonic. "Serena, sit down and put a sock in it! This is serious business and we don't need scatterbrained comments." The blonde sat hard on the bed, her wide blue eyes starting to grow wet as she became upset. "He's not my boyfriend," said Ami, still studying the carpet, "But, yes, I was rather concerned for him." Luna seemed to calm down. "How's that?" she asked. "I can't explain it, Luna. I just felt that I had to do something and it had to be done immediately." "That might explain your impatience, but what about the rest? You never tried to get a second scan on that strange bio-reading you reported." "I guess I forgot about that...." "And what about the door?" said Serena. "I didn't think blasting your way through obstacles was your style, Ami." Ami closed her eyes and tried not to get upset. "I don't know, okay?" Luna blinked and backed off. "Ami, is everything all right at home? Any problems that might be affecting you?" she asked gently. Ami shook her head. "Nothing that I'm aware of." "Perhaps you've been studying just a little too hard, Ami. I think you could use a nice, long break from all of that book work you do," Serena said. Ami looked up, a strange look in her blue eyes. "Maybe you're right." Luna stretched. "Well, that could be one possibility." Serena stood up and smiled. "And I think that your dinner date with that guy you met should be enough to do the job. You should kick back and take it easy that night. Forget about school and everything. Just talk with him, take a relaxing walk in the park, stir up a little romance and you'll be fine." The black cat looked like she was going to say something, then changed her mind. "Perhaps you just might be right after all, Serena." She turned to look at Ami. "I don't think one night without studying could hurt." "Okay, I get the picture." Ami stood up and stretched. "Unless you two have any other concerns, I'm going to go home and take a nice, hot shower." Luna yawned. "Well, I can't think of anything else except to wish you well on your dinner, uh, appointment tomorrow." Serena nodded in agreement. "Same here. Take care, Ami." Ami smiled and waved. "You too," she said, then turned around and left. Luna's posture seemed to droop ever so slightly as she sighed to herself. "Just between you and me, Serena, I think there is more to it than a mere case of too much studying." "Give it a rest, Luna. Ami can take care of herself and we all have our bad days. Just give her boyfriend a chance to relax her and she'll be fine." She sat back down and picked up her Sailor V game. "Now where was I...?" Luna just sighed and shook her head. What did I do to deserve this? she thought in silence. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ami walked in silence, her mind turned inward to consider several possible problems. Could it be that I do spend too much time studying? she thought. I know that Serena thinks so, but that's just Serena. She may not be the most brilliant of people but she does have her moments. Could this be one of them? She continued to think as she walked home, her subconscious automatically guiding her footsteps along the route from Serena's house to her own. But her autopilot mode failed to notice the dark figure slowly walking up the street and she bumped into him. "Oh, I'm sorry about that...." she started to say, but then recognized the figure. "Commander Sterling!" The Dragoon smiled. "Hello, Ami. Tell me, do you always make it a habit of just walking into people?" Ami blushed shyly. "No, I was just thinking and I guess I wasn't keeping an eye out where I was going. You okay?" "Of course. If I can get knocked over by you without getting scratched or bruised, then having you step on my heel is nothing." Ami giggled. "Sorry. What brings you here? This is mostly a residential section and I don't think anything of military interest would be around." "Actually, I'm doing a bit of amateur survey work for a friend. He wants to build a cathedral around here and I was just looking for a good site." Ami thought for a second. "You might want to try up in those hills," she suggested, pointing at a region two miles up the street. "I think there once was an old church up there, but I can't remember for sure." Tolaris's eyebrows arched. "An old church, eh? You know, that just might be what my friend was looking for. If he could renovate it, fix it up a little bit, it'd save him a whole boatload of trouble and money." He started to laugh to himself. "Why is it every time I run into you, you wind up helping me out?" Ami blushed and looked down at the street. "I don't know. Just lucky, I guess. If you want, I can stop...." "What I want is for tomorrow to get here so I can take you out to dinner and properly thank you for all of your help today," he said softly. "Even if there isn't a church up there, at least you've given me a starting point." Ami felt her blush deepen by at least two shades and couldn't think of anything to say. Why can't I find the words to speak? she thought. It's like I've forgotten how to talk. Tolaris watched with interest as Ami's cheeks continued to change hues. I sure hope they're supposed to do that, he thought. Maybe it would be wise to study human biology as well. I have to admit that the color contrasts her blue eyes and hair quite well. "You know, if you keep turning colors like that I think you'll wind up hurting something," he said, and was amazed to see the color deepen even more. "I can't quite help it...." she said as her face continued to burn a vivid shade of crimson. Tolaris chuckled softly. "Hope it doesn't spread. As I said before, blue hair is a rarity and it simply won't do to lose such natural beauty to something like that. I think we have enough redheads as it is." Ami swore she could feel the skin being burned off of her face. "Tolaris, I have to go," she managed to say. "I need to study for school tomorrow." The Dragoon smiled at her. "Far be it from me to come between a woman and her schoolwork. I'll see you tomorrow in the park at five, Ami. Until then, take care and try not to study too much. All work and no play makes Ami a very dull girl indeed." He reached out and took her hand. "And I prefer to have a dinner companion who isn't anywhere near dull. See you later," he said. He kissed her hand before leaving, heading in the direction of the hill Ami had pointed out earlier. It took Ami several seconds to stop her mind from spinning around in a tiny circle. He's flirting with me, she thought over and over before getting a solid grip on reality. She cautiously touched her face and was surprised when she didn't burn her fingers. Why is my face burning up? Why can't I think of anything to say around him? What is it about him? Why was he flirting? Her mind still slightly off-balance, Ami resumed her walk down the street and toward her house. After she got home and had showered, she sat down to try to do her studies but found that she simply couldn't focus on her work. She continued to try for half an hour but finally gave up and laid down on her bed, her mind still working furiously on the problem at hand. She spent several hours trying to come up with an answer, any answer, to the multitude of questions plaguing her thoughts. But despite her efforts, the answers continued to elude her. Why can't I get him out of my mind? was her last conscious thought before her mind slid into the world of sleep and dreams. ------------------------------------------------------------------- The wormhole flared into existence and Tolaris stepped through. As soon as he was across, the portal collapsed in on itself, leaving no trace of it ever existing. It would be easy to get used to this mode of travel, he thought to himself. "Greetings, Commander," said a voice behind him and took Tolaris a great deal of effort not to jump. He turned around to see the familiar figure of General Nephlyte leaning against a wall. "How goes your assignment?" "I've had better, but I've had worse." Tolaris looked around the corridor and frowned. "Why am I here instead of where I wanted to go, and how did you know I would wind up here at this time?" Nephlyte chuckled. "This is one of the military staging areas. We didn't want anyone to be able to just pop in wherever they pleased, so we had a few wards put in to redirect the wormholes to certain areas. I made an educated guess that you would want to return to your quarters to get some sleep before returning to Earth, and this is the place the ward would have sent you if you were indeed headed there." Tolaris sighed mentally. "Thank you for the warning," he said dryly. "I take it you wanted to talk to me before I went to sleep?" Nephlyte smiled. "I just wanted to see how things were going." "Right." Tolaris pulled out a small emerald crystal. "Here," he said as he tossed it to the general. "Coordinates of an old church in an isolated area of the city. I've also made detailed scans of the structure and interior in case you want to renovate instead of rebuilding." He pulled out a piece of paper and gave it to the stunned Nephlyte. "And this is just something I happened to run across in an astrophysics text. Enjoy." Tolaris didn't bother waiting for the general to say something before he left. That should keep him out of my hair for a day or two, he thought as he walked down the corridor. He hadn't gone very far when he felt a cool breeze waft down the corridor, bringing with it the smell of ky'thra blossoms. I don't need this, Tolaris thought as he turned to face his visitor. "So what can I do for you, General Zoisite?" he said in a neutral tone. The general's delicate laughter floated down the corridor. "Why, Tolaris, what makes you think I would want anything other than to be social for a bit? Surely you can appreciate that." Her ice-blue eyes seemed to sparkle as she gave him a little smile. The Dragoon frowned, a sense of unease creeping down his spine. "Perhaps, but there is a time and place for everything and this isn't either. I'm only here to pick up a few things, then I have to report back to my field assignment on Earth." A feigned look of surprise crossed her face. "But I thought you weren't supposed to return to Earth until you've gotten some sleep first. Or do you want to go see your human girlfriend again?" She smiled coldly as Tolaris's face turned as gray as his blood. "What do you mean?" he said. His mind worked furiously to come up with ways she could have known that and came up with several different answers. I think I'm starting to hate this assignment, he thought. I was supposed to get away from all of these politics, not thrown into a web of them. "What I mean is that we know you've met up with some girl named Ami, that she has helped you with your work, that you find her attractive and have made comments on her hair at least twice, and that you've asked her out for a date tomorrow evening at five. It makes me wonder what your real purpose on Earth is, Commander." "It sounds like you're a bit jealous. Malachite must not be pleasing you in bed if you have to pry into other people's private lives for amusement." He ignored the flash of anger in her eyes and continued. "My mission is to study the humans, and interacting with them socially is one way of doing so. I can assure you that what I do for recreation will not affect my work." "And who's work might that be, hmm? I understand you've been doing a bit of work for Nephlyte on the side as well. Perhaps Queen Beryl would like to know what else you've been doing during your visit to Earth." Tolaris smiled. So the truth comes out, he thought. "Nephlyte had asked me to look for a place on Earth where he could build a cathedral so he could get away from Queen Beryl's occasional temper. If you wish, I could spend some time looking for a suitable love-nest for you and Malachite. I'm quite sure it wouldn't be any trouble." Zoisite gave him a look that was pure venom. "I don't think that will be necessary, Commander, but thank you for offering. Just see that your little tryst doesn't affect your work or Queen Beryl will be most displeased." She was enveloped in a whirlwind of flower petals and disappeared. The Dragoon focused his mind and a stiff wind was sent down the corridor, trying to disperse the smell of ky'thra blossoms. Never could quite get used to that smell, he thought darkly. "You look like you enjoyed that," said a voice behind him. Tolaris sighed and closed his eyes, wondering what he had done to deserve today. "You should know by now that sneaking up behind someone is an excellent way of getting hurt or killed," he said as he turned around to glare at his Dragoon friend. "Funny," his friend laughed, his tan eyes gleaming, "I haven't been hurt or killed yet." "Trust me, Maze, that can be arranged quite easily. Now tell me what you want before I put you on report for eavesdropping." The Dragoon lieutenant blinked. "Calm down, boss. Unlike that flowery ice cube, all I want is to know how you've been. Shar-Tei told me you were on vacation and I wanted to see if it was true." He grinned, then added, "And if it is, then I've just won fifty bucks in a betting pool." "I swear I'll kill her...." Tolaris muttered. "No, I'm not on vacation, just on a somewhat unstressful field assignment." Maze smirked. "Yeah, I can see how having a girlfriend can be relaxing." Tolaris lashed out, grabbing his friend's uniform tunic and pinning him against the wall. "I don't know where everyone is getting this so-called data, but I want one thing made clear: I don't, repeat, don't have a girlfriend, nor do I plan on obtaining one in the near future," he hissed. "You are acting on unfounded rumor and that is unbecoming of a Dragoon. We are supposed to be the elite intelligence, not a grapevine of gossip. Understand?" Maze nodded, his eyes wide. "Good," said Tolaris as he released his grip. "I want you to take this to Processing," he said, giving Maze the amber crystal with the photocopies. "Inside is a bunch of basic background information on Earth culture and society, plus a bit of research on contemporary astrophysics and weather patterns. I want a hard copy of the weather stuff for my own use and you can make copies of everything for whatever purpose you need. Just make sure Queen Beryl gets a copy." "Sure, boss. Anything classified in here?" The Dragoon commander thought for a second. "No, everything can be dumped into the general research system. You might want to ask Queen Beryl first if there is anything she doesn't want made public before doing the data dump." Maze nodded in understanding. "Too right. Anything else?" "Nothing else as far as business goes. I need to get a few personal items from my quarters before returning to Earth, but that's it." "Good," said the purple-haired Dragoon lieutenant as he pocketed the amber crystal. "Just out of idle curiosity, how much free time to you have?" "Technically until morning, but I still want to poke around the city for a while. I want to see what it looks like at night and how the citizens behave during that time." Maze coughed lightly. "I see. With all due respect, Commander, perhaps you might want to consider taking a bit of a break and unwinding tonight. You seem a little tense. You can always study the city tomorrow night after your dinner with your human friend." Tolaris eyed his friend suspiciously. "Uh huh. And what exactly did you have in mind?" Maze grinned. "Well, I happen to know a lovely young Security ensign who wouldn't mind spending some time with you. It seems she also can control the weather, though to a lesser degree than you, and wants to learn a few tips and tricks about the wind. Said something about flight capabilities." That got Tolaris's attention. "You mean she can fly? How?" Maze blinked. "You mean you can't?" he asked, slightly stunned. Tolaris shook his head. "Nope, too heavy. Best I could ever do was hover three inches off the ground for about six seconds. But I know it's possible to be able to fly if you're light enough. In theory," he added. "I see. So you want me to arrange a meeting between you two?" Tolaris didn't miss the lecherous gleam in Maze's tan eyes. "Yes, but it will have to wait until I'm finished with this assignment first. However, what you can do is give her level six-Aerce access to the Dragoon archives, which will let her be able to read my notes regarding weather control." Maze arched an eyebrow. "Six-Aerce, huh? Want me to restrict that to a certain section of files or just give her the clean sweep?" "Restrict it to between DT-WCN/24 and DT-WCN/45. If she can't find what she needs, leave me a note and I'll search the rest of them myself. I think she'll be find quite enough to help her, though. Oh, and Maze?" The lieutenant looked up. "Yes, boss?" "Quit with the matchmaking. If I ever need a date or whatever, I'm quite capable of finding one on my own." Maze was only slightly disappointed. "Of course. Then might I suggest a visit from Hospitality?" He caught Tolaris's dark glare and smiled. "I know what you think about Hospitality, so don't start. They're not all prostitutes, you know, and they perform a wide variety of services." "Like what?" muttered Tolaris. "Well, I'm no expert but you look like you're in desperate need of a nice massage. It'll get your mind off of whatever's eating you and it just might improve your disposition to boot." "Thanks, Lieutenant," the Dragoon commander said dryly. Maze smiled. "Anytime. You know, if you're not really sure about their reputation, you could always ask Shar-Tei about it. She worked for Hospitality before joining the Dragoons." Tolaris blinked. "Doing what?" "I understand she was a very capable musician, and that she used to play meditative music for various patrons when they needed it." Tolaris briefly considered the issue. He usually preferred to avoid the rather disreputable branch of the Negaverse military, but the thought of a nice massage did have its merits. And if Shar-Tei had found the Hospitality branch to be worthy of her skills, then it couldn't be as bad as he imagined. He looked up to find Maze grinning at him. "Now what?" he asked with a slight trace of irritation. "I can hear the gears turning in your brain. Trust me, Commander, you'll enjoy the experience. I even know who to have them send over. All you need is an hour of her attention and you'll be dead asleep. And when you wake up the next morning, you'll swear you were a new person." Tolaris sighed and gave up. "Oh, very well. But have her stop by later. I still have some work I need to take care of, and that has to be done before I return to Earth." "Right. Think two hours will be enough?" "If it isn't, then I've screwed up somewhere along the way. No, two hours should be plenty." He caught the strange look in his friend's eye. "What?" "Oh, nothing really. It's just that we've had a betting pool running for around half a century on when you would finally let someone from Hospitality come within ten feet of you." Tolaris sighed, feeling much older than he really should. "How much will you win from this?" he said in a weary tone. "More than you really want to know. Two hours, Commander. Talk to you later," he said and walked away. "Tell me again why I like my job," Tolaris said to the empty corridor. "I keep forgetting." ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tolaris sat back and watched with interest as the weaver ate his research crystals. "Hope you enjoy them," he told it. "It took me three hours to get the data in those crystals. You sure you'll be able to replicate the stuff I requested?" The giant crystalline spider made a series of high-pitched sounds that resembled a set of wind-chimes. It then scuttled off to a corner of the room and laid down to thoroughly digest its meal. Tolaris nodded. "Right. You can wait until you've got everything. Just don't forget I need that stuff by morning, okay?" The weaver chimed once, then curled up into a smooth and featureless ball. I hope it's right, he thought to himself. It's going to be difficult to take Ami out to dinner if I don't have any Earth money. But the weaver's skill at duplicating objects from mere data has never failed me before, and I don't think it will now. There was a soft chime at his door. Perfect timing, he thought as he got up and opened the door. "Commander Tolaris?" inquired the sweet voice of the emerald-haired beauty standing on his doorstep. "My name is Solstice. I believe you sent for me?" Tolaris's eyebrows arched impressively. "If you're the masseuse from the Hospitality division, then yes. Please, come in." She stepped into his quarters holding a medium-sized duffel bag. As she made her way into the living room Tolaris cast a quick glance at the weaver still curled up in the corner. He frowned slightly as the sphere took on a slightly green tint for a second, then returned to transparency. He watched as Solstice unpacked a few bottles of various colored fluids. She caught his look and smiled. "People tend to react differently to assorted oils and creams so I have to bring a wide selection. Do you have any kind of skin allergies I should know about?" "Aside to the usual poisons and toxins, nothing I'm aware of." She shot him a strange look and continued to unpack. The Dragoon casually made his way across the room to stand next to the dormant weaver. Making sure Solstice couldn't see the movement, he tapped out a pattern on the weaver's carapace. He then moved to sit in a nearby chair. Solstice was almost finished unpacking when the weaver suddenly turned a deep shade of purple. Tolaris sighed and stood up. "I don't think you'll be a very effective spy tonight, Solstice." The emerald-haired masseuse dropped a bottle of oil in surprise and shock. "What?" she said, her dark green eyes going wide. "How.... how did you know?" Tolaris smiled. "Well, you didn't bring any scanners or recorders in with you when you came in, so that only left two options: You're either a telepath with excellent memory skills or you're just an ordinary Hospitality worker. My home security system has just confirmed that you are indeed a telepath, and Hospitality policy is to exclude telepaths from their division. Hence, all it leaves us with is a spy posed as a Hospitality worker." Solstice looked like she was about to cry. "Please, Commander, believe me when I say I didn't want to do this. I was approached by my superiors and told that I had to do this job because I was the only one qualified." Tolaris smiled gently. "Of course. I would guess that there aren't too many beautiful young telepaths out there with photographic memories as well as massage skills. Correct?" She nodded her head. "They said you were good but that you shouldn't be able to tell if a person was telepathic or not. Nothing was said about a home security system." "Actually, I wouldn't know a telepath if she walked up and tried to fry my brain. Come over here and try to read my thoughts." Solstice walked over and sat next to him. She lightly brushed his forehead with her fingers as she tried to probe his mind. Seconds later, her eyes widened in surprise. "You're psi-mute!" she exclaimed. Tolaris nodded his head. "Exactly. The part of my brain that telepaths make contact with never quite developed so I'm immune to all mental forms of psionics." She nodded. "So my skills are useless and now my cover has been blown. I guess it won't be long now before I'm disposed of, right?" Tolaris merely chuckled. "Maybe not. Here's how it'll happen: I never found out you were a telepath. You tried to do what you were supposed to but couldn't since I'm psi-mute. No one knows I know about you and your mission fails due to circumstances totally beyond your control and through no fault of your own. They shrug and let you go, and life goes on." Solstice smiled at the Dragoon. "When they said you were the master of military intelligence, they weren't kidding." Tolaris shrugged. "No big deal. Anyway, you might as get comfortable for a while. It would be suspicious if you left here before you were supposed to have finished with me." The telepath laughed softly. "Well, if you put it that way, might as well go ahead with the massage. Just because I can't do the one job doesn't mean I can't do the other...." Tolaris laughed and allowed himself to be led over to his bed. He removed his uniform tunic and laid down like he was asked as Solstice reached out and grabbed a bottle of oil. She opened it and was about to start working when she noticed Tolaris making a face. "What is it?" "Please, anything but ky'thra blossoms. I've started to develop a dislike for the stuff quite recently." Solstice shrugged and picked through her collection of oils and creams. "You mind smelling like kath petals for a while?" "As long as it doesn't remind me of anyone I hate." Solstice smiled. "Right...." she said, then went to work. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Serena was sitting by the lakeside gazing wistfully up at the stars. I wish he would come here with me, she thought. It would be so romantic.... She blinked in surprise as a red rose was placed in her lap. Startled, she looked up only to find the gently smiling face of Tuxedo Mask. "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it," he said softly. She smiled as she was helped up. "Tuxedo Mask, you heard my thoughts?" He laughed quietly. "It's not hard to hear what your heart is saying, my beloved Serena." She blushed. "Then you know how I feel for you...." He took her hand in his and drew her close. "Which is exactly how I feel for you, my love." "So you do love me...." she said in a dreamy tone. "I always have, Serena, and I always will," he said as he bent his head down to kiss her.... And the world exploded into reality as the alarm clock on Serena's night stand went off. She reached out to throw it across the room but only succeeded in tossing a surprised and sleepy Luna off of the bed. "Serena!" the cat said as she got up off of the floor. "Come on, get up! It's time for school, and if you don't move now you'll be late again!" "Just another few more minutes...." Serena muttered as she rolled over. "But that's what you said twenty minutes ago when your alarm went off the first time," Luna protested. "It's seven-fifty!" That got Serena's attention. "What time is it?" "You've got ten minutes to get to class or it's detention time again!" Serena bolted out of bed. "Ten minutes?! WAAAAHHHH, I'll be late!" she cried and dashed into the bathroom. Luna chuckled to herself. It may only be seven-thirty, she thought, but as long as Serena thinks she'll be late she won't waste any time. I just hope she doesn't catch on until she gets to school. She heard the doorbell ring and her whiskers started to droop. Oh, no, she thought, don't let that be Ami here to walk to school with Serena. "Hi, Mrs. Tsukino. Is Serena up yet?" came the familiar voice. Just then, Serena dashed out of the bathroom wearing her school uniform. She quickly grabbed her school books and ran out the door, almost running Luna over in her haste. "Comeonwe'relatewegottago!" she said as she grabbed Ami's arm and took off running. Her arm was almost yanked out of its socket as Ami refused to budge. "Serena, what are you talking about? We've got almost a full half-hour to get to class. What's your hurry?" Serena blinked, her pulse still racing. "We're not late?" she asked. It sank in a few seconds later and she turned around to fix Luna with a deadly glare. "I'm not late?" she said in a dangerously soft tone. Luna smiled weakly and started to backpedal. Ami just laughed and patted her friend on the back. "Well, at least you won't be if you get going." "I'll deal with you later," Serena promised her cat. Ami laughed. "Come on, Serena, let's go." The two walked toward the school in relative silence, Serena being too upset to talk and Ami not in the mood for idle chatter. They hadn't gotten far when they felt another icy wind blow through them. They exchanged looks before Ami pulled out her computer to search for the source of the disturbance. "Up there," she pointed to the nearby hills. "I'm picking up a strange life reading, probably a Negaverse monster." Serena groaned. "Not another one. I'm really starting to hate this." Ami looked about to make sure no one was around. "We'll have to discuss this later. Ready?" Serena nodded her head glumly. "Yeah, let's get this one over with." She held up her hand. "Moon Prism Power!" she yelled. Ami held up her silvery wand. "Mercury Power!" she said loudly, and the two of them were transformed into the Sailor Scouts. Together they ran up the street toward the site of the disturbance. "I don't.... see how you.... can type.... like that.... when you're.... running...." Sailor Moon puffed as the road's angle grew steeper. "It's easier than.... you would think...." Mercury said, steadying her computer with one hand and poking at it with the other. The computer beeped loudly and Sailor Mercury made a sharp right turn onto a dirt road. The move caught Sailor Moon by surprise and she overshot the road before she stopped and backtracked. "I don't get it," Sailor Moon said, still out of breath. "Why are we in the middle of nowhere if the Negaverse is looking for energy? You would think that they'd be some place populated." Without any sort of warning a dense fog bank sprang up and enveloped the two Sailor Scouts. Mercury immediately crouched down and started typing away furiously at her computer. She made a motion and Sailor Moon quickly crouched down as well. "One of your bubbles get away from you?" Sailor Moon whispered. Mercury shook her head. "Not my doing," she whispered back. "My computer reads this as natural, but you saw how sudden it appeared." She touched one of her earrings and a band of blue light formed over her eyes. A second later it solidified into her Virtual Visor. She poked at her computer some more and various readouts appeared on her visor. "I've got one bio-reading but I can't pinpoint it due to this fog. My best guess is that it's anywhere between twenty and fifty feet over there," she said as she pointed toward a barely visible grove of trees. "You might want to check again...." Sailor Moon said, her voice starting to waver with a strange emotion. Mercury glanced over at Sailor Moon to see what was wrong. An eerie cold washed over her as she watched the blood drain out of Sailor Moon's face, her wide eyes staring at something above Mercury's head. Mercury turned to look, then immediately wished she hadn't. The only thing Mercury could think of was that they were probably in a lot of trouble right now. The beast was the size of a large dog, hovering in place on a pair of gauzy wings. Its cold blue eyes seemed to bore straight through them as it hissed quietly. Its claws flexed as it lashed its reptilian tail back and forth, creating odd currents in the fog. Mist dragon, thought Mercury. Her computer automatically relayed its analysis to her visor, overlaying what she saw with words and symbols. Okay, she thought in a panic, now that we've found what we're looking for, now what? ------------------------------------------------------------------- So now what? thought Tolaris as he sat in a tree, watching the two Sailor Scouts deal with the phantasm. It looks like a real mist dragon, it sounds real, it even smells real, so now what are you going to do about it? The Dragoon suppressed the urge to yawn. I really didn't want to get up this early, he thought, but this was probably the best time to catch these two off-guard. His train of thought vanished as he watched one of them touch her ear, causing a strange light to form over her eyes. I don't like this, the Dragoon thought with a frown. What is she up to? He held out his own crystal scanner and didn't like what it reported. A tactical computer, eh? So that one must be Sailor Mercury. Wonderful. So now she has a tactical computer as well as an analytical one. I seriously hope she doesn't find the holographic crystal before I can get a full scan on them. He took a closer look at her and blinked in surprise. Another blue-haired one, eh? So perhaps they're not quite as rare as I thought. He watched with dismay as Mercury turned her head to her left to look at something. She said something to the other Sailor Scout, then darted off. The mist dragon hologram turned to follow Mercury and the other one stood up and shouted out a warning. The Dragoon's eyes lit up as he watched her remove her tiara and drop into a combat stance. Maybe this won't be a wasted trip after all, he thought as he held out his crystal scanner. The tiara started to glow with a strange light as it melted and reformed into a flat disc. The Dragoon smiled as information raced across the crystal's display and was recorded into its memory. Now throw it, my dear, and let me get the data. Better yet, throw it at the phantasm and watch as it passes right through and hits your friend instead. His smile faded as Mercury came to a halt and brought her foot down hard on something. The sound of shattering crystal echoed through the area as the holographic mist dragon vanished. Tolaris sighed and dissipated his fog bank. This is just lovely, he thought as the second Sailor Scout reversed her tiara's transformation. Well, at least I've gotten scans of that tiara and of Sailor Mercury's boot. I guess it's better than nothing. The crystal beeped a warning and Tolaris didn't need to glance at it to know that someone was trying to scan him. Sorry, girls, not happening. He concentrated on the Silkworm crystal and a wormhole flared into existence in front of him. He leapt through it and onto the street beyond, almost falling as he landed wrong. The wormhole flared once more before it collapsed behind him. He sighed softly and looked around. "At least I didn't manage to get lost this morning," he said as he saw the library across the street. He stepped out of the alley and frowned, sniffing the air cautiously. Smells like a storm, he thought as he scanned the sky for the tell-tale gray clouds. The clouds were farther away than he had expected, but they were certainly storm clouds. Much as I like storms, he thought, I don't want a sudden rain to spoil an evening walk in the park. He concentrated briefly and a subtle low pressure system formed above the city. The system would keep the storm front away from the city until well past nightfall, giving Tolaris enough time to enjoy his evening with Ami. His train of thought switched tracks, thinking about Ami instead. Now why do I have a bit of difficulty getting her out of my mind? he wondered as he crossed the street and entered the library. He briefly noted with amusement that a pair of maintenance workers were still working on putting the heavy door back on its newly replaced hinges. He collected several books and sat down in a remote corner of the study lounge. He tried to focus on the material but his mind kept wandering back to Ami. He put the biology text down on the table and sighed. That's it, I give up. Just what is it about her? She is quite beautiful, but she is way too young. Or am I just too old? The Dragoon sat up as a new line of thought occurred to him. Could that be it? Could it be I've spent too much of my life dedicated to my duty, and that I now find myself wanting some company? Wanting someone's attentions? He sat back and laughed quietly. Come on, Commander, you're over seven hundred and she's probably not even sixteen. Physically. He sat up again as a third set of thoughts came to him. It is proven that physical and mental ages can vary by several years. Of course, I'm physically seven hundred and twenty-four, and mentally I'm pushing two thousand, but Ami seems to be mentally older than she looks. Could it be that I find myself attracted to her because she's older than she seems? Am I even attracted to her? he thought briefly, but the answer was almost obvious. Probably. I guess the real reason I invited her out to dinner was so that I could spend more time with her. And there's the matter of the storm I delayed. I did it so our walk wouldn't be interrupted. Tolaris sat back as several trains of thought ran through his head. He never could answer all of the questions, but he realized that it boiled down to a set of very simple facts: He liked Ami, he didn't know why, and he really didn't care why. Sounds like I'm going to have a few ideas to bounce off of Maze when I get back, if I can get him to keep his mouth shut about it. With his mind calmed down, Tolaris reached out and picked up the biology book once again. He had almost finished with the section regarding blushing and related responses when a single thought popped up from his subconscious. The nature of the thought was so startling that he almost dropped the book. Why didn't I think of it before? he thought. What happened to that third Sailor Scout I heard yesterday? Why didn't she come with the others? The Dragoon sighed darkly and sat back to contemplate his new line of questioning, all thoughts of Ami and biology forgotten. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ms. Haruna glanced up from her desk just in time to catch Serena trying to quietly sneak into class. She sighed darkly as she stood up and grabbed the prepared detention form off of her desk. Why am I not surprised? she thought to herself. "Well, Ms. Tsukino, so nice of you to join us. Do you realize that this is the fifth time this month that you've been late to class?" Serena silently nodded as she held her hand out to receive the detention form. She was late to class at least once a week, so the routine was quite familiar to her. She signed the form, kept the bottom copy, and took her seat in the middle of the room. Ms. Haruna glared at her before turning back to her class. "Okay, now as I was saying...." She trailed off as she saw Ami meekly walk into the room, wearing the same expression Serena did. "Ms. Mizuno...?" she said slowly. Ami nodded glumly. "Sorry I'm late, Ms. Haruna. I, uh, was rather busy this morning and wasn't watching the time." A minor shockwave rippled through the class. Ami's punctuality was almost legendary, and for her to be tardy to class without a serious medical reason or legitimate excuse was simply unheard of. The teacher blinked in concern. "Are you feeling okay, Ms. Mizuno? Are you sick or anything?" "No, I'm fine. I was just sidetracked, that's all." "I see. Well, take your seat and please don't let it happen again." She turned back to the class. "Now, as I was saying, everyone please get out your homework assignment from Friday." She made her way up and down the rows of desk, marking in her grade book who had their homework completed and who didn't. She came to a dead stop and almost dropped the book when she came to Serena. Serena looked up in confusion. "What? I did my homework. See?" she said as she held out the completed assignment. Ms. Haruna's hand shook as she examined the paper. "You actually sat down and did the homework?" she said, her eyes going wide in shock. This time a major shockwave ran through the room. Serena's habit of waiting until the last minute to do her homework was nearly as legendary as Ami's punctuality. The teacher walked over to her desk and set her grade book down. "I'll be back in a few minutes, class," she said and left the room. Almost immediately the classroom started to buzz with rumors as to why she left. Serena's friend Molly stood up and walked over. "Boy, Serena, I think you really blew her mind this time. You really did your homework?" "Actually, yes. I did it late Sunday night, but I did it." "What a real mind-bender. I'll bet having Ami late for class didn't help Ms. Haruna either." The two of then looked over to Ami and were surprised to see that she wasn't spending the free time reading. Instead, she was staring at her desk with a glum look on her face. Serena stood up and was about to walk over to Ami when Melvin popped up with a grin on his face. "Hey, guess what? Ms. Haruna is outside smoking a cigarette!" "What? You're kidding," the blonde said, amazed. "No joke. I can't tell from up here, but it looks like it's unfiltered. I think you really did it this time, Serena." Molly got up and moved over to the window. "He's not lying, Serena. Ms. Haruna is standing underneath the tree, puffing away like a dragon. Who would have thought it?" She shook her head in wonder, looked out the window, then dashed back to her seat. "Quick, everyone, here she comes!" There was a brief scramble as everyone dove for their seats. Ms. Haruna walked in a few seconds later, picked up her grade book, and continued to check the homework papers as if nothing had happened. She finished, then returned to the front of the room. "Okay, everyone, take out your math book and turn to chapter twelve, page two-thirteen. We will start today with second and third-degree polynomial equations. If you will note, multiplying or dividing the sides of an equation by a non-zero number gives us a new, correct equation...." ------------------------------------------------------------------- Serena was sitting beneath the tree contentedly munching on the remains of her lunch when an inky black shape silently dropped out of the branches and into her lap. Before Serena could scream in surprise and fear, the cat reached up and laid a paw across her lips. "Serena, it's me," Luna whispered as she spat out a feather. "Calm down. I didn't quite intend to land in your lap like that." "Luna, you almost gave me a heart attack!" the blonde said. "Umm, why are you here at school? Is something the matter?" Luna nodded her head. "Shortly after you and Ami left for school, I felt the Negaverse nearby. I think they're up to something again." "We already dealt with it this morning," said Ami as she quietly sat next to Serena. "I don't know what they were doing, but I didn't like it one bit." The black cat waited patiently as Ami recounted the events that took place up in the hills earlier that day. Luna was mildly surprised when Serena stayed quiet throughout the recollection. "Serena, you're awfully quiet about this. Is something wrong?" "No, it's just that I was late to school because of that stupid trap and now I've got another detention after class. This is really starting to annoy me, especially since someone made me get up early just so I wouldn't be late." Luna sighed. This wasn't the first time Serena had complained about her destiny and she was quite sure it wouldn't be the last. "I'm sorry, Serena, but it's your destiny to be Sailor Moon, and being late to school is just one of the small prices to pay to stop the Negaverse from conquering Earth." "But I didn't ask to be Sailor Moon!" she wailed. Ami smiled and gently laid her hand on Serena's shoulder. "You should try to look at it this way: At least you get to kick the Negaverse's butt. All I can do is analyze whatever they throw at us and blow bubbles. I can't destroy the monsters like you can. I simply don't have the power." Serena looked up and smiled. "Well, you do have a point. I guess being Sailor Moon isn't that bad after all. But still, I hate being late because of the Negaverse." "Once we find the Moon Princess and defeat Queen Beryl once and for all, then you can go back to being an ordinary school girl," said Luna. "So maybe if you concentrated on your mission a little more, we could find her and get this over with as soon as possible." Serena nodded her head. "Yeah, I know." Ami giggled. "Besides, if you weren't Sailor Moon then you would never have met Tuxedo Mask. How's that for incentive?" The blonde's eyes went starry as she thought of Tuxedo Mask and Luna just sighed again. "There she goes again, off into her fantasy dream world." The cat blinked as a thought occurred to her. "Why didn't Tuxedo Mask show up to give you girls a hand this morning? He usually does when Sailor Moon is in danger." "Probably because we had everything under control," Serena said, still thinking of Tuxedo Mask. "It was a piece of cake to deal with that illusion." Ami made a face. "Knock it off, Serena. I'm the one who stepped on the crystal generating the illusion and you almost threw your tiara at me for my efforts. What I'm more concerned about is that strange bio-reading I got. It vanished before I could get a definite reading on it, but I think it could have matched the one I got in the library." Serena blinked and focused on reality. "Ami, are you sure your computer isn't on the fritz? The fog was part of the illusion yet your computer read it as natural." Her blue-haired friend shook her head. "No, the fog was real. If you remember, it didn't disappear until after the crystal had been destroyed and the dragon illusion vanished. I can't explain what it was, but the fog was definitely real." "I don't like this," Luna said slowly. "First it's a simple trap that's disarmed with a mere touch, now a simple holographic illusion. And plus we have a strange bio-reading at both sites. This simply doesn't feel like the Negaverse's usual tricks and traps." "I told you before, we're just getting too good for those guys," Serena said with a smile. Luna sighed heavily, feeling the weight of her years bearing down on her. Why me? Why her? she thought. "Serena, I seriously doubt that's the case." Ami abruptly stood up. "I hate to interrupt you two, but we'll have to talk about this later. Come on, Serena, class is almost about to start and we don't want to be late again." Serena made a face as she got up. "You got that right," she muttered to no one in particular. She then turned to Luna. "I guess I'll see you after detention, Luna." Luna nodded. "Looks that way. Take care, you two," she said, then leapt back into the tree. "What is she doing in the tree?" Ami inquired as they went back into the school building. "Just because our lunch is over doesn't mean hers is." "I see...." ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Commander?" said the polite voice. Tolaris looked up from his work. The voice belonged to a dark-skinned ensign from the Security division. Tolaris frowned in concern, wondering why she was sent to find him. "How can I help you, Ensign...?" he said cautiously. She smiled. "Ensign Tempest, sir. It seems that your presence has been, shall we say, requested back at the, uh, base." The Dragoon's frown deepened as several thoughts occurred to him. This is not good, he thought. I'm not due to report to Queen Beryl for another eleven Earth hours, so something must be wrong. "Very well, Ensign, lead on," he said, gesturing for her to take the lead. She casually made her way out of the building with Tolaris in tow, the Dragoon still frowning. "Perhaps you might not want to look like you ate a live rakketh, sir. It might make some people suspicious," the willowy ensign suggested. Tolaris chuckled. "Sorry, Ensign. I'm just concerned that something must be wrong if I'm needed. I wasn't due to check in until well past nightfall." A sudden wind sprang up, causing Tempest's mane of snow-white hair to whip about wildly. She nodded her head fractionally and turned down a narrow alley. Tolaris followed, but halted when she stopped suddenly and turned around to face him. "I understand Queen Beryl is in a foul mood about something," she said as she handed him a piece of paper. He was about to say something when she laid a finger across her lips. Tolaris understood and silently read the note. "Shar-Tei has reason to believe that you're being monitored somehow. She can't quite figure out how, but her intelligence shows that Zoisite has been feeding Beryl info about your activities on Earth, including about your social plans with the human girl. Suggestion that you watch yourself and assume that anything you say or hear is being monitored. - Maze" "Any idea what it could be this time?" Tolaris asked his escort as he read the message again. Oh, this is just perfect. I hate politics. Ten bucks says Zoisite's ticked about my dinner date and told Beryl about it to light a fire under my butt. "No clue, sir. Might as well find out for yourself." She reached into a pocket and pulled out a very familiar crystal. Tolaris's eyebrows shot up. "Ensign, isn't that the Silkworm crystal that the Dragoon division is supposed to have in its possession? And if so, why is it that someone from Security is using it?" Tempest smiled. "Yes it is, and I happened to have been talking to your Lieutenant Maze when word came down that you were needed. I volunteered for the job and was given temporary use of the crystal." The Dragoon smiled as a puzzle piece fell into place. "I see.... You're the Security ensign who can control the weather, right?" Tempest blushed slightly. "Well, yes. I had wanted to meet you for some time now and this seemed like a good opportunity to do so. Oh, and thank you for the computer files on weather control. They've proven to be quite useful." "My pleasure. Ensign. We weather elementalists have to stick together, seeing how there's so few of us. There's what, four of us?" "Five, actually, but the one is only forty years old and still learning to control her powers." "Great. When you get back, would you ask Security to get me a copy of any records we have on her? I wouldn't mind teaching her if she needs any help." "No problem, Commander," she said as she activated the Silkworm crystal. A wormhole flared into existence in the alley. The ensign made a gesture and Tolaris stepped through, into the main audience chamber of Queen Beryl. The Dragoon bowed to Beryl as Tempest stepped through the wormhole. The vortex collapsed and she handed the Silkworm crystal to Lieutenant Maze. Maze smiled and whispered a quick thank-you. "Thank you, Ensign Tempest," said Queen Beryl from her throne. "You are dismissed." The Security officer bowed to Beryl and left the room. Maze gave Tolaris a meaningful look and Tolaris nodded briefly. He then stepped forward to speak with Beryl. "I understand you wanted to see me, my Queen," he said. The dark queen smiled. "It has been brought to my attention that you are starting to show signs of inattention to your mission objectives. I wanted to talk to you to see what exactly is going on with you and your mission." Tolaris frowned. "I am not aware of any such inattention. Perhaps if you could tell me what you mean, I might be able to explain." "I understand that you have spent a rather substantial portion of your time socializing with a young human girl and that you are starting to display signs of romantic involvement." A cold wind blew through Tolaris. Sometimes I hate being right about some things, he thought. "My Queen, part of my studies involves socialization with the humans to learn more about their culture. This particular girl has helped me, on several occasions, with my studies about Earth. Part of my cover as a native is to behave like one, and one such act is the repayment of a favor with a social event." Beryl looked mildly amused. "And you are repaying the favor by becoming romantically involved with her?" The Dragoon had to laugh. "No, my Queen, I am merely repaying the favor by taking her out to dinner. As you will see in my report, this is considered an acceptable form of repayment. I take it you haven't seen my notes yet?" Queen Beryl shook her head and Tolaris turned around to glare at Maze. The Dragoon lieutenant had the grace to look embarrassed and quickly left to obtain the notes from Processing. He turned back around to find Beryl giving him a strange look. "I understand, however, that taking a person out to a meal is often seen as a romantic gesture, sometimes suggesting a desire for romantic involvement," said the dark queen. Tolaris mentally winced. "That much is true, my Queen, but I have no such sentiments with regard to the human girl." "I would hope so, Commander." Beryl sat back and laughed softly. "I have a slight difficulty imagining that someone who has shunned such romance for seven centuries would suddenly turn to a mere child for a relationship." She sat up and a strange look crossed her face. "However," she continued, "I have seen stranger things in my time. Maybe you don't have any such intentions, but I warn you that I will not tolerate any interference in your mission. Make sure this.... relationship doesn't affect your mission, Commander, or I assure you the penalties will be quite harsh." "Understood," Tolaris said simply. Beryl sat back once again. "Now then, if you don't mind I'd like to hear a brief verbal report on your current progress with the mission." Tolaris sighed softly. "I'm afraid that I've managed to underestimate the Sailor Scout's resources. During my first encounter with them, I learned that the one called Sailor Mercury possesses an analytical computer with a rather surprising range of capabilities. Not only was she able to detect the simple nature of the energy crystal, she also managed to get a partial reading on my life-signs. Fortunately she failed to get a second reading once the crystal was destroyed. "Also during that encounter, I heard three voices instead of the expected two and I believe that there is a third Sailor Scout working with them. Due to the nature of my camouflage, if you will, I was unable to view them as they dealt with the energy crystal. Due to error on my part, I didn't think of trying to get a voice reading on them." Beryl gave him a reproving look. "Commander Tolaris, I'm surprised that you would overlook something like that. However, at least you have the courage to admit that the fault was yours. I don't believe I've ever gotten such a confession out of Jedyt. Still, such underestimations are rather disturbing." "I am currently in the process of rectifying those oversights now. During the second encounter with them, I was able to obtain visual readings on two of the Sailor Scouts as well as some readings on Sailor Moon's tiara-weapon and on Sailor Mercury's boot." Beryl looked surprised. "Sailor Mercury's boot?" she echoed. Tolaris allowed himself to smile. "That was unintentional. I had used a holographic projector crystal to simulate a mist dragon. Sailor Mercury used a tactical computer to locate the crystal and then stomped on it. The crystal was programmed to do a thorough scan on whatever deactivated it, which happened to be her left boot." "Were I not distressed by your lack of useful information, Commander, I would be highly amused at that. What is your plan for your next encounter with those Sailor Scouts?" Tolaris frowned slightly. "I don't have a plan in mind yet, my Queen. I am still rather occupied with my research regarding human society and culture. It is quite involving and I don't believe I could be ready to lay another trap for the Sailor Scouts for some time." Beryl's red eyes narrowed. "Then perhaps you should not be spending too much of your time with that human girl," she suggested darkly. "I believe that would be unwise. Much of the information I have gathered in my research notes has been with her help, without which I would probably still be researching even now. Plus, dealing with her has given me several new insights into the human society and culture. Granted I won't be spending much time with her, but she is an invaluable resource to me." The dark queen was silent for several seconds. "Even though I am highly displeased with your lack of progress," she said at length, "I will allow you to continue with your mission. Be warned, however, that should you let your social research interfere with your mission, the consequences will be very severe and exacting. Dismissed." Tolaris bowed to Beryl, then silently left the chamber. I'm starting to hate this assignment more and more with each passing hour, he thought. This was supposed to be an easy assignment, not one of the worst ones of my entire Dragoon career. I think I need a quick nap before my dinner date with Ami. He stopped in the corridor as an idea occurred to him. Perhaps I need something better than a nap. He smiled, then walked in the general direction of the main Hospitality division building. Maybe I can find out if Solstice is still somewhere around here. I could use another nice massage.... Still smiling to himself, he walked down the corridor and into the one building in the Negaverse military he had avoided with a passion for over five hundred years. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tolaris wearily sat behind his desk, feeling every bit as old as he was. That's it, he thought, when this assignment is over, I think I'm going to need a vacation. He read through the report once more then sighed. "What's Hospitality got to say about this?" he asked Maze. The purple-haired Dragoon paced back and forth. "Not much. Solstice was never a part of Hospitality, so they don't have any information on her and they don't care who she was. As far as they're concerned, my request for a masseuse for you got lost in a paper shuffle and no one ever visited you." "Right," snorted Tolaris. He tossed the report back on his desk. "So now all we've got is one dead spy and a lot of unanswered questions. Do we even know what division she worked for?" Maze shook his head. "Not even that. None of the record traces I've done has come up with anything, and I mean nothing. No name, no registration code, not even a fingerprint match. It's as if she never existed until they found her stuffed in a mailbox." Tolaris made a face. "Thank you for reminding me, Lieutenant." He looked up as a nameless cadet entered his office, dropped off a stack of reports, and left in a slight haste. "Now what?" the Dragoon commander muttered as he went through the stack. "I thought Shar-Tei was supposed to deal with this stuff while I was on assignment." "Loving your job yet?" Maze asked with a smirk. Tolaris was busy reading a short note from General Nephlyte and didn't pay attention. He's got the cathedral built on the site already? he thought. That was fast. I'll have to stop by and check it out later. He looked up as Maze poked him. "Sorry, what was that?" "Just asking if you're loving your job yet." "Very much so. If you want it, it's yours." Maze laughed. "Sorry, but I'm not quite dumb enough to accept any kind of job dealing with administration. Ah, no offense, Commander." Tolaris just sighed. "Lieutenant, who did you want to have Hospitality send over last night?" "A beautiful woman by the name of Xenon. She has the most vivid shade of red hair you've ever seen in your life, and she's got lots of it, too. I mean it's almost down to her waist." "Uh huh. And how good are her massage skills?" Maze smiled. "Just between you and me, she's not the best but she's got a razor-sharp mind to go with a killer body. Talking to her is almost as much fun as letting her work on your back." "I see." Tolaris stood up and stretched. He glanced at the chronometer on his desk and his mood lightened. "Almost time for me to get back to my research on Earth. I understand being late for a dinner date is considered to be very rude and I certainly don't want to be that. I trust I can leave this case in your hands?" he asked Maze, indicating the report of Solstice's death. Maze shrugged. "Guess so, seeing how I don't think it'll go very far." He looked at Tolaris and grinned. "Anyway, good luck with your, ah, research." He started to walk away, then stopped abruptly. "Oh, and I'll see if Shar-Tei has managed to come up with anything else regarding her research." Tolaris nodded meaningfully. "My thanks to both of you." "Just be careful, boss," said Maze as he left the room. Tolaris sat back down to read the new reports when Maze slowly backed into the room, his face a sickly shade of white. "Uh, boss...?" "What?" the Dragoon commander asked with concern. "There's a rather sizable crystal spider just sitting out here...." Tolaris smiled. "Relax, Lieutenant. Dyvach won't hurt you unless you've managed to get it mad. Now step aside and let him in here." Maze gulped and retreated to a far corner of the office. Seconds later, the weaver entered the room, chiming softly to itself. It moved over to the desk and deposited a dark crystal box. It chimed loudly to Tolaris for several seconds, then scuttled back out of the room. "Thanks," Tolaris called out to the weaver's back. Maze nervously moved over to Tolaris's desk and looked at the strange box. The box was only seven inches long by two inches wide, having a depth of three inches. "Since when has the Quartermaster been using spiders as delivery boys?" The Dragoon commander chuckled. "He hasn't. I had asked the weaver to replicate several items for me and I guess I forgot to pick them up before I went to Earth." He reached over and opened the box. Inside were several small rectangles of green paper, a colorless crystal rose, and a small sapphire pendant. He picked up the paper and examined it carefully. "Earth money," he said, showing Maze. "Used for assorted transactions. I'm glad Dyvach brought this stuff to me before I left for Earth again. It's rather difficult to take someone out to dinner if you can't pay for the meal." "Makes sense." Maze picked up the pendant. "And I take it this is going to be a gift for the young lady?" he said with a gleam in his eye. Tolaris deftly took the pendant out of his hands. "I was considering it. I'm curious to see how the human culture deals with gift-giving." "Of course, I understand completely," Maze said with a wicked grin. "Then what's this for?" he asked, indicating the crystal rose. Tolaris's mood seemed to darken almost instantly. "That, Lieutenant, is just a little insurance." "Against...?" Maze prompted. "None of your concern, Lieutenant." He tapped his ear a few times, then made a circling motion with his finger. Maze nodded as he caught on. "Right...." he said slowly. "Just your standard cover-your-butt-type insurance?" "Of course. That's a basic military tactic, Maze. Now if you'll excuse me, I do believe I have an appointment on Earth." The Dragoon lieutenant laughed. "Have fun, boss," he said as he left. Tolaris sighed as he put the rose and pendant in his pockets. He cast a quick glance around to room to make sure he wasn't missing anything important, then concentrated on the Silkworm crystal he was carrying. He stepped through the whirling vortex and into the alley next to the library. Okay, now if I'm here, then the park should be over.... there. He walked out of the narrow alley and down the street, noting with mild interest that the storm front was starting to push the low pressure system out of the way. He concentrated briefly and was surprised to find that something had been toying with the pressure system. I'll bet it was Ensign Tempest, he thought. The damage was easily fixed and the storm front halted its slow advance. The weather problem solved, he continued to walk down the street toward the park. When he got there, he found Ami sitting on a bench reading a book. He was about to say something when a thought occurred to him. Moving as silently as possible, he sat down a bit away from her, watching for her reaction. When she didn't notice, he sat back to study her. She is quite beautiful, he thought as a light breeze blew around the park. The wind stirred her blue-tinted hair and he watched as she reached up to move a stray lock of hair out of her line of vision. Her hair really brings out the color of her eyes, he thought. The breeze picked up in intensity, blowing Ami's hair past her face. She shut her book and closed her eyes, sitting back with a soft smile on her lips. So she enjoys the cool touch of the wind, thought Tolaris. He studied the soft smoothness of the skin on her face and neck. But I don't think she spends much time out in the sun since her skin isn't very dark. She suddenly opened her eyes and looked him. She blushed at his gaze and sat up quickly. "Oh, Tolaris! I didn't see you there," she said with a shy smile. "How long have you been sitting here?" The Dragoon chuckled. "Only about three minutes, actually. You looked like you were busy, so I didn't want to disturb you." "I wasn't really busy, just waiting for you to arrive." Tolaris stood up and held out his hand. "Shall we go, then?" Ami blushed a darker shade of red as she took his hand and was helped up. "So where are we going?" she asked. The Dragoon shrugged. "I don't know, you tell me. Remember, I just got here, so I have no idea what kind of places to eat are around here or what's good and what's not." Ami thought carefully. "Well, if you don't mind, there's a new Chinese restaurant that just opened up not too long ago and I want to check it out. I hear the food is rather good and that it's not too expensive." "Chinese it is," he said as he and Ami started walking down the street. "Though I have to admit, Ami, that I've never had Chinese before." Ami looked up at him. "You haven't, hmm? Well, I think you're going to like it. It can get rather spicy but it's almost always delicious." "Sounds like fun." Ami looked down at the concrete and her blush returned. "Tolaris, would you mind if I asked you a personal question?" Tolaris blinked. "Sure, but I can't guarantee any answers." "How old are you?" He chuckled. "Twenty-four," he said with a smile. Good thing I saw that one coming down the pipe, he thought. Instant age-reduction. Just lose the hundreds place on your age and no one will notice the difference. "And what about you?" "Fourteen." She looked up and gave him a strange look. "How is it that you're a commander at your age? I thought it took several years to obtain any decent rank." The Dragoon broke out into a cold sweat. Okay, think fast. What did that book say it was...? "I was part of the Reserve Officer's Training Corps in the college I went to. It gives the cadets military training and rank as they go to school. Granted that's not much experience, but that's why we're used as reserves." "Ah, so you're not active military, then?" "No, I'm active. I just don't have any real command ability." He laughed softly, then added, "I command a desk and paperwork, that's about it." Which if you think about it really isn't too far off the truth. Ami smiled. "Have you been at it long?" "Two and a half years." I like this, Tolaris thought. Just take the real number, hack off the highest digit-place, and poof! Instant answer. "So what about you? Of course you're too young to have a career now, but what do you plan on doing in the future?" "I hope I can become a doctor one day." "That sounds interesting. Which field?" "Pediatrics. I've spent a bit of time volunteering in a day-care center and I've found that I like working with children." She paused and giggled. "I can't say for sure if I like them enough to want to have one of my own, but I would like to work with them." Tolaris smiled. "Doctor Mizuno. It sounds nice, don't you think?" Ami blushed lightly. "Not precisely." She caught his curious look and explained. "Well, a doctorate takes ten years to get and I seriously hope I'm married before then." The Dragoon smiled. "I see. Have your eyes on any likely candidates?" He watched with interest as Ami blushed deeper than he had ever seen. Okay, what did the book say about blushing? He thought for a second and came up with several possible explanations, a few of which he wasn't quite sure he liked. "No, I've been way too busy with my studies to think about finding someone like that. But I'm sure I'll meet someone, eventually." "Hopefully," Tolaris teased. Trust me, he thought, eventually could mean a great deal of time. I've been waiting for seventy-two decades for a special someone. Of course, I've never really went looking and I probably wouldn't know that special someone if she came up and kissed me. "And is there someone waiting for you back home?" Ami said, her blush starting to fade slightly. "If there is, I don't know about it. No, I've spent my time involved with my work as well." He stopped and gently placed his hand on Ami's arm. "Just between you and me, it was rather miserable. I've had friends who were dating in college and to me it seemed that their lives were infinitely happier. Granted their grades weren't as high as mine, but they passed just the same." Ami gave him a curious look and the Dragoon continued. "Ami, perhaps you don't realize this, but it's not your grades that matter, it's that you pass. High grades are excellent, but the military didn't care what my grades were. They just wanted above a certain grade point average. My friends passed just as well as I did, but they were happier with their lives. "I'm not saying just do the bare minimum to pass, Ami. I'm only saying that you shouldn't sacrifice your happiness in life for a few extra tenths of a point that won't mean much in the outside world. You should study hard, but also set some time aside to enjoy life, to get out and do stuff." Ami nodded. "I think I understand what you're saying." Tolaris looked at her, a thought stirring in his mind. Perhaps I have spent too much of my time working and that it is time to go looking for that special someone. Could this be why I find myself attracted to her? He looked up and smiled. "Is this the restaurant you were talking about?" he said as he pointed to a building across the street. Ami turned her head and nodded. "Yes, that's the place. It doesn't look to be too crowded. That's good." She turned around to find Tolaris offering his arm. "Shall we go?" Ami blushed as she took his arm, and together they crossed the street and into the restaurant. Far off in the distance, the idle storm rumbled softly to itself as an unseen force reached up and gently pushed the low pressure system away, allowing the storm to once again resume its slow march toward the city. The figure standing high up in the treetops chuckled to herself. "I hope you enjoy your dinner, Commander," she said softly as she pocketed the tiny weather-control crystal. "It may turn out to be your last." She concentrated briefly, then disappeared in a whirlwind of flower petals. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tolaris and Ami left the restaurant an hour later, Ami looking amused as Tolaris had a slight difficulty walking in a straight line. "Well, I warned you that General Tso's Chicken was hot and spicy," laughed Ami. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" "Just as soon as the indigestion passes. Trust me, I've had worse cases, so I'll be fine. Still, I think the pain is well worth the experience." Ami smiled. "Thank you for dinner, Tolaris." Tolaris chuckled. "And thank you for your help yesterday." He was about to say more when he looked up at the sky and frowned. "What is it?" Ami asked with slight concern. "That storm has moved in," he said slowly. "I thought there was supposed to be a low pressure system over the city keeping it away. The storm shouldn't have gotten here until nightfall." Which means someone has been messing with my weather, he thought darkly. Ami shrugged. "That's the weather for you." Tolaris made a face. "I had hoped to spend some time taking a walk in the park with you before it started to storm." Ami blushed lightly. "Well, we could still do so, and if it does start to rain we could always go hide in the gazebo." "That sounds like a good idea, Ami." They walked in silence toward the park, Ami trying to figure out why she liked the idea of a walk in the park with Tolaris and the Dragoon brooding about the impending storm. I don't get it, Tolaris thought as he concentrated his powers on the storm front. That low was here, but it feels like someone dissipated it. He looked up as he felt Ami shiver slightly. "Cold?" he inquired. "Not exactly. I just felt a brief chill, that's all." Please, just let it be that and not another Negaverse trap, she thought. But the feeling had vanished as quickly as it had come so she didn't worry too much about it. The wind picked up slightly, bringing with it a hint of rain and a very soft rumble of thunder. Tolaris and Ami exchanged glances and she smiled. "So much for a walk in the park," she laughed. "Perhaps we could still sit in the gazebo and talk until it passes," he suggested. "I'd like that," Ami said softly. The wind stirred, bringing with it the lightest of drizzles. They picked up their pace and made it to the gazebo just as the rain started to fall. Ami ran her fingers through her blue-tinted hair to get the water out and made a slight face. "Problem?" asked Tolaris. Ami shook her head. "Not really. It's just that my hair gets somewhat uncooperative when it's wet." Tolaris laughed softly. "I wouldn't worry about it, Ami. It looks just fine on you, even when it's damp." She blushed and sat on the bench, looking out across the artificial lake and at the storm beyond. He sat beside her, also keeping an eye on the approaching weather front. The rain grew heavier and the wind picked up as another rumble thunder could be heard. "Do you like storms, Ami?" he said softly. "Some of them." "Which kinds?" "Rainstorms, mostly. I like thunderstorms as well, but only when they're gentle and mild. Heavy thunder and lightning tend to distract me when I try to do my work. Snowstorms are okay, too, just as long as they're light and airy. I don't like missing school because of ice or deep snow." "Any particular reason you like rain?" Ami smiled. "I guess I find the sound of a gentle rain to be relaxing. I find that I can usually sleep a lot better if there's a rainstorm outside when I go to bed." She paused and looked over to him. "You seem to like storms yourself." He laughed softly. "Yes, but I prefer ones with power. I can't seem to explain it, really. It's like I can tap the energy of the storm, feel it as if it were part of me." A soft rumble of thunder echoed and Tolaris smiled. "There are times I find a gentle storm to be relaxing as well, but I prefer to relax in the presence of good company." Ami started to blush again and looked away at the oncoming storm. Tolaris laughed softly as he laid his hand on top of hers. "My job in the intelligence field is busy and stressful and this is the first time I've managed to get an easy assignment since I joined. I'm grateful for the help you've given me, but I'm also grateful for the company." "Is that why you took me out to dinner?" she asked quietly. "My original intention was to thank you for your help, but I found that I wanted to spend more time in your company. I don't know why, but when I'm with you, I feel more relaxed, more...." he trailed off, unable to find the words. "Happier?" she suggested softly, studying the pleats of her skirt. Tolaris suddenly realized that he was happier in Ami's company and the realization brought several emotions that were new to him. "Yes," he said, his mind puzzled by the new feelings he was experiencing. "And how do you feel about this?" "I.... It feels strange when I'm with you," she said, her face a delicate shade of pink. "It.... makes me feel warm and calm...." "Do you like it?" he said softly. "Yes...." Ami said quietly. A strange calm descended on Tolaris's mind and the whirlwind of thoughts that had been plaguing him about his emotions came to a halt. A distant part of his mind noticed the wind wasn't blowing as hard as it was before and the rain was lighter. I hope I'm not losing control of my powers, he thought. A sudden thought occurred to him. Losing control.... could human emotions be making me lose control? he thought. He stood up and walked to the far side of the gazebo, leaning on the railing and looking out across the lake. Is this why Jedyt and I have been having problems? Is it because of human emotions? "Tolaris, how long will you be in Tokyo?" Ami asked from behind him. Good question, he thought. "I don't know. It all depends on how fast I can get the information I need. Plus, I received word this morning that I may have to report back to the base if something new develops. I don't think it should take more than three days." If it does, he thought, then Queen Beryl is going to want to have words with me and they won't be nice ones. "I was just wondering, that's all...." Ami said, an odd note in her voice. He turned around. "Why do you ask?" Ami turned pink. "I was just.... curious...." she said hesitatingly. Tolaris slowly walked over to her. "There's more to it, isn't there?" Her gaze slid down to the wooden flooring. "Well.... yes...." "Something you're not sure you can admit to yourself?" "Yes...." she said, her voice barely above a whisper. Tolaris reached out and stroked her cheek. "Tell me what you're feeling." Ami closed her eyes at his touch. "I.... I don't know what it is that I'm feeling.... It's warm and peaceful.... soothing.... It makes me sort of tingle all over...." "Have you ever felt this way before?" "No...." "And do you like this feeling, Ami?" "Yes...." she said softly. Perhaps it's not just me after all, Tolaris thought. Perhaps even humans are affected by the intensity of their own emotions. How strange it should be that way, and yet it feels somehow right. Am I feeling what she is feeling? He continued to stroke her cheek, wondering why he was doing so and how it felt both odd and natural. "Tell me, Ami, how does my touch feel to you?" he found himself asking. Her voice was soft as she replied. "It feels warm.... gentle...." "Does it feel like what you're feeling inside?" "In some ways," she said. "Can you tell me how?" "It's relaxing.... soothing.... makes me feel warm inside...." A sudden question came to Tolaris's mind. "Does this feel right to you, Ami?" he asked gently. "I don't understand." "Does this feel.... natural that you should be feeling this way?" "Yes...." Tolaris's conscious seemed to suddenly detach itself from the rest of his body, and he found himself acting on a combination of instincts, desires, and emotions. His hand stopped stroking Ami's cheek and slid below her chin, slowly tilting her head up. He bent his own head down, and their lips met. In that single instant, everything became unbelievably clear to Tolaris. A word surged up from his memory, a word whose definition was only partially understood before and was completely understood now: Love. Tolaris realized that he was in love with Ami, and that she was in love with him. Time seemed to lose meaning as they kissed, eventually breaking apart for air. Ami leaned against Tolaris, wrapped her arms around his waist, and rested her head against his chest. Tolaris instinctively embraced Ami's slender form and rested his head on her shoulders. They held each other silently, each wishing that the feeling would last forever. No words needed to be shared between them to express their newly recognized emotions to the other. Outside the gazebo the rain continued to fall gently as the wind stirred the landscape, bearing silent witness to the emotions between the Sailor Scout and the Dragoon. ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Waaahhh, I hate rain!" Serena complained as she ran down the street. "I told you we should have stayed at the arcade!" "Perhaps," said Luna as she kept pace, "But we need to find Ami. I sensed that the Negaverse was nearby and we need her computer to find it." The blonde made a face. "But she's on her dinner date with that guy. Why can't we wait for her to give us a call when she's finished?" "Because this sort of stuff takes precedence over personal lives, Serena. You know that. Ami might be upset at the intrusion but she understands." Serena sighed. "Yeah, I know. Still, where are we going to find her? If she had any brains, which she does, she'd be inside someplace where it's nice and dry." She nearly tripped over Luna as the cat came to a halt. "That looks like her over there in the park," said Luna. Serena peered through the rain. "Well, there aren't too many girls with short blue hair in this city, so I guess it's her." She took a closer look and a smile crossed her face. "Mmm, I think she's got her boyfriend in there, and they look rather occupied...." "Just get going, Serena. Remember, you were headed home and the rain got too heavy for you, so you decided to stop in the gazebo until it lets up." "Right." She picked Luna up and ran for the gazebo, making sure she made enough noise for Ami to hear her coming first. "Hi, Ami!" she said as she walked into the gazebo. If Ami was annoyed by the interruption, she didn't show it. "Hi, Serena. What are you doing running out in the rain?" "Trying to get out of it." She sat on the bench and started to fuss with her soaked hairstyle. Luna leapt down and proceeded to shake a sizable amount of water all over the place. "Serena, I'd like you to meet Commander Tolaris Sterling. Tolaris, this is my friend Serena," said Ami. The Dragoon nodded a polite greeting. "A bit wet out there, isn't it?" Serena nodded. "Yeah. Umm, you two mind if I stay put until this rain lets up?" Ami and Tolaris exchanged a quick glance before Ami nodded her head. "No problem, Serena." She walked over to scratch Luna behind her ears. "And how are you doing, Luna?" she asked, and received a soft meow in response. Tolaris turned around to look out across the lake. He smiled to himself as he focused his mind on the storm. Immediately, the rain lightened. After a few seconds, the rain had ceased entirely. It's times like these where I can truly appreciate my powers, he thought to himself. Behind him, Ami and Serena shivered lightly as an icy chill blew through them. Serena felt Luna tugging on her socks and she turned to Ami. "Would you mind if I borrowed your compact? I think I've got a tangle in my hair and I want to get it out." Ami nodded slowly and handed her the computer. She then walked over to stand next to Tolaris, hoping to distract him from Serena's activities. "I'm sorry about this," she said with a gesture behind her. Tolaris laughed softly. "No matter, Ami. The storm appears to be done with the rain for now, so...." "Ami, step away from him," commanded a voice behind Tolaris, and his eyes widened with recognition. That's the same voice I heard at the library! he thought. He turned around to find Serena sitting with the cat in her lap, holding a strange device. Much to his astonishment, the cat spoke up. "Ami, get away from him. He's from the Negaverse." "What?!" Ami cried out as she rushed over to her friends. "Give me that thing!" She poked at it for a few seconds, then her eyes went wide in shock. Several things fell into place in Tolaris's mind. The scanner.... the voice.... Two girls.... the blue-haired Sailor Scout.... Please, don't let it be like this. "Don't tell me you two are the Sailor Scouts I've been looking for," he said with a heavy sigh. Serena stood up, unceremoniously dumping the cat onto the floor. "That's right, Nega-creep, and you're about to get moon dusted!" Ami reached out and grabbed her arm. "Serena, you can't." Luna stood up and shook her head. "Ami, what's gotten into you?" "Really," said Serena. "This is the guy who made us late to class when I got up on time. And trust me, you're going to pay for that one," she said to Tolaris. "Serena, I love him," Ami said quietly. The blonde turned to stare at her friend in surprise. "But Ami, he's from the Negaverse! He's the one who set those traps for us!" Tears were forming in Ami's eyes. "I don't care, you can't blast him." They both turned at the sound of dark laughter coming from the other side of the gazebo. "Noble sentiments, but it won't save you. I have lived for over seven hundred years and have been in the Negaverse military for slightly over six centuries. My orders are to neutralize the Sailor Scouts and I have never let personal feelings come between me and my sworn duty. The cat is of no concern to me and will not be harmed. Surrender, and I promise you both a painless demise." "Get real, creep," Serena shot back. "We're going to make you wish you never heard of the Sailor Scouts." She her hand up over her head. "Moon Prism Power!" she yelled and started to transform. "Ami, you've got to transform!" Luna said sharply and Ami reluctantly nodded her head. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her silvery wand. "Mercury Power!" she yelled. Tolaris watched their transformations with interest. So she really is a Sailor Scout, he thought. This is most unexpected. I hope I can manage to subdue them both without hurting them. He waited until their transformations were completed before addressing them again. "Perhaps you girls don't quite realize what you're up against, so permit me to fully introduce myself. I am Tolaris, commanding officer of the Dragoons and the master of the elemental forces of nature." He concentrated and a gale sprang up that forced the Sailor Scouts to their knees. A great lightning bolt split the sky as a deafening thunderclap echoed throughout the park. And then as quickly as they had come, the summoned weather was gone. "Believe me, I do not wish to harm you. Surrender now, and I give you my word you will not suffer needlessly." Sailor Moon laughed. "Perhaps YOU don't know who you're up against. I am Sailor Moon, champion of justice! I will right wrongs and triumph over heart- Stealing Negaverse trash.... and that means you." The Dragoon sighed as he drew two crystals out of a pocket. "So be it, Sailor Scouts," he said, brought his hand up to throw the crystals. He suddenly jerked his hand back as a rose slashed across his hand and embedded itself in the wooden flooring. The Sailor Scouts watched in surprised silence as tiny drops of gray blood splattered the ground next to the rose. "Now what?" Tolaris muttered as he looked up. Standing high up in a tree was a caped figure wearing a black tuxedo with a white demi-mask. The figure leapt down and landed between Tolaris and the Sailor Scouts. "Tuxedo Mask!" Sailor Moon said, her eyes going starry. "I figured you two could use a little hand against this guy," Tuxedo Mask said in his deep voice. "Mind if I cut in, Sailor Moon?" Sailor Moon giggled at the pun. "I think you already have." "Indeed he has," said Tolaris, holding his bleeding hand. "And who might you be?" Tuxedo Mask bowed slightly to the Dragoon. "Just a friend of theirs who feels the same way about love." "I see. Since you desire to take Sailor Moon's place in this battle, it is only fitting that you will suffer her ultimate fate as well." Tuxedo Mask smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way." Tolaris nodded once. "So be it," he said, then lashed out with a blast of hurricane-force winds. The impact blew Tuxedo Mask off his feet and slammed him into a tree. The caped figure grunted in pain and threw a rose at Tolaris. The Dragoon laughed and summoned a wall of wind. His laughter faded as the projectile passed through the vertical hurricane winds as if they simply weren't there. Tolaris managed to move enough so the rose only slashed his shoulder instead of embedding in his chest. "I don't know how you did that, but I'm quite impressed. However, you are going to have to come up with more than that to defeat me," he said. He threw one of the crystals at Tuxedo Mask and watched as it was easily batted aside by his adversary's cane. A tiny tendril of energy stuck to the tip of Tuxedo Mask's cane as the crystal continued to fly through the air. The crystal suddenly changed course, rapidly orbiting Tuxedo Mask and spinning its thread of energy around him. In seconds he was completely wrapped in a shimmering field, unable to move. "All too easy," Tolaris said as the field drained Tuxedo Mask of energy. He slumped to the ground as the energy field solidified into a crystal shell, rendering him completely immobile. "Tuxedo Mask!" Sailor Moon cried out. She turned to face Tolaris. "What have you done to him?" she demanded. "I merely drained him of his energy and imprisoned him. To be honest, my dear Sailor Moon, that particular crystal was intended for you and your tiara. This is your last chance, Sailor Scouts. Surrender now or suffer his fate." Sailor Moon removed her tiara and transformed it into a shimmering disc. "Here's your answer, wind bag. Moon Tiara.... MAGIC!" she said as she cast the spinning disc toward Tolaris. The Dragoon frowned as he erected his wind wall again. The tiara struck the leading edge of the wall and suddenly veered off in a totally unexpected direction, slamming into the ground just in front of Tolaris. "My tiara...!" Tolaris's frown deepened. "That was odd. The wind should have blown it straight upwards, not down at that angle." He bent down to pick up the tiara and screamed as the tiara's energy arced through his hand. He hastily stepped back, a slightly amused look on his face. "That was a stupid move on my part," he said as he kicked the tiara back toward Sailor Moon. "Try it again. I want to see why it turned like it did." Sailor Moon blinked in confusion as she picked up her tiara. She looked it over for dents or other damage, but was relieved when she could find none. Might as well try it again, she thought. "Moon Tiara.... MAGIC!" she cried as she threw the disc once again. The tiara hit the wind wall again and suddenly shot to the side with great force. It impacted with a wooden beam in the gazebo and embedded itself. "Well, so much for that," said Tolaris as he threw the second crystal at Sailor Moon. The crystal flew high above her and came to a stop several inches above her head. A ghostly cone of blue energy shot downward, engulfing Sailor Moon. She screamed and collapsed as the energy was drained out of her. The energy field faded and Sailor Mercury gasped in horror at the sight. All of the color had been drained out of Sailor Moon's body, leaving only gray. Her blonde hair was now a dull gray, and her blue eyes were now a medium shade of black. The brilliant colors of her sailor suit were now mere shades of white and black. "What.... have you.... done to me?" she said weakly as she struggled to sit up. "I feel.... so weak...." "The crystal drained part of your spirit as well as part of your energy. You will be very weak, Sailor Moon, but you will live. For now." Luna ran over to Sailor Moon and checked her vital signs. "Her pulse is very faint, but she is alive. Sailor Mercury, you've got to do something!" Mercury blinked. "What? Oh, right." She focused her energies into a sphere in front of her. "Mercury Bubbles.... BLAST!" The bubble shot out and expanded, filling the entire area with a rich and dense fog. The fog suddenly parted and Tolaris laughed softly. "Tell me, is that the best you can do against the master of weather?" The full realization of the situation finally became too much for her to handle and she fell to her knees, crying softly. The Dragoon walked over to her and knelt down. "Surrender, Ami. Don't make me destroy you," he said softly. Mercury shook her head slowly. "Tolaris, you have to destroy me. I don't think I could.... I mean...." She flung her arms out and hugged him tightly. "I love you," she cried into his chest, her body trembling with emotion. Tolaris's mind came to a complete halt as she spoke, forgetting everything about the current situation except for the single fact that he loved her. He returned her embrace, wondering how it was possible for him to have forgotten that. I can't, he thought, I simply can't bring myself to harm her. "Ami, I.... I can't destroy you.... I.... I love you as well...." Mercury's tears continued to fall as she hugged Tolaris even tighter, the two of them forgetting all that lay around them. Luna carefully made her way over to Tuxedo Mask to check his vital signs as well, noting with relief that his pulse was strong and steady. "Ami, can you forgive me for what I've done?" "Yes, but the others might not be able to." The Dragoon laughed quietly. "I guess it would help matters if I let them go, wouldn't it?" he said as he focused his energies. There was a sharp cracking sound as the crystal above Sailor Moon's head shattered into glittering shards of light. The light slowly settled over her inert body, restoring her energy and returning her color. She yawned as she carefully sat up and stretched, feeling the life return to her body. A second sound followed the first as the crystal shell around Tuxedo Mask shattered as well, restoring his energy. He grimaced in pain as he sat up, rubbing a sore spot on his back. Tolaris got up and drew Mercury to her feet. "I have to go now, my love." "Go where?" she asked in confusion. "I have to go back to face Queen Beryl about this." Mercury blinked. "What? Why? She'll destroy you if she finds out about this!" The Dragoon laughed softly. "It's too late, she should already know by now. I have the suspicion that I've been bugged ever since I took this little assignment and I think I know how. But that's not important anymore. I have to go back, Ami, or they'll send someone after me and I don't want to spend the rest of my time being hunted like an animal." "But I'll never see you again!" she said as she started crying once more. "Maybe, maybe not." He reached into his pockets and pulled out a sapphire pendant and a crystal rose. He nestled the pendant between the petals of the rose and concentrated all his energies. The rose turned a deep golden color briefly and the Dragoon gasped. The glow faded and Tolaris removed the gem from the rose, handing the pendant to Mercury. "Here, a gift. Something to remember me by," he said. He then turned to Tuxedo Mask. "You are the guardian of these two, correct?" Tuxedo Mask nodded his head. "In a sense, yes. My job is to give them a helping hand when they're in need." "Then take this," Tolaris said as he tossed him the crystal rose. "Make sure that she can get it when she needs it. It just might save a life." "I understand," Tuxedo Mask said. He turned to face the Sailor Scouts. "I believe I am no longer needed here. Take care, Sailor Scouts. We shall meet again," he said, and with a flick of his cape he was gone. "And I must be going as well," Tolaris said softly. "No! Can't you stay, even for a little while?" Mercury pleaded. The Dragoon coughed lightly and shook his head. "No, my time is now quite limited, I assure you. Take care, dearest Ami, and good luck with your school work." He pulled the Silkworm crystal out of his pocket and concentrated. A wormhole flared into existence behind him as he kissed Mercury one last time. "Goodbye, my love," he said as he stepped into the whirling vortex. The wormhole flared once more and then he was gone. "No, wait! Tolaris!" Mercury said as she reached out only to touch the empty air. She slowly fell to her knees, crying softly once more. Sailor Moon gently squeezed her shoulder as Luna quietly curled up in her lap. Outside, the storm rumbled softly to itself as a gentle rain began to fall in the park, a final parting gift from Tolaris. The rain lasted well into the night, the falling drops kept company by the falling tears of true love. ------------------------------------------------------------------- The audience chamber was filled with Queen Beryl's minions when Tolaris stepped into the room, flanked by four Security guards. The guards retreated to the edges of the chamber, leaving Tolaris to walk alone up to the throne. He bowed to the dark queen and waited for her to speak. "Commander Tolaris, I have monitored your recent activities with regard to your confrontation with the Sailor Scouts. Not only did you fail to destroy them, you allowed your personal feelings to interfere with your mission which led to your subsequent behavior. You stand charged with treason, Commander. What do you have to say about this?" The Dragoon's voice was strong and clear as he spoke. "I plead guilty, my Queen." A ripple of astonishment ran throughout the assembled crowd, for no one could remember ever hearing someone plead guilty to a charge from Beryl. Beryl's eyes narrowed. "So be it. According to the law there is no need for further explanations once you plead guilty, and I could simply destroy you where you stand. But I am curious as to why a Dragoon who has served over six hundred years in the service with distinction, and whom I considered to be one of my most trusted and loyal soldiers, why he would suddenly become a traitor." Tolaris coughed lightly before responding. "I doubt that anyone in this room could ever understand my reasons. I became friends with a human girl on Earth, and our friendship developed into something I never expected. I found that very little mattered to me when I was with her, not even my mission." He made a face and coughed again. "The emotion deepened even further that I thought was possible, to the point where nothing mattered to me except her. Not even turning out to be a Sailor Scout changed my emotions for her, and that is why I acted as I did. I did it for her, and for her love." Queen Beryl laughed, a deep and bitter sound. "So it seems that even the mighty Dragoon commander is as weak as a human. I wonder how you could have lived for as long as you have with such a tragic weakness." She stood up to her full height and glared down at Tolaris. "For your failure and your treason you will suffer the ultimate penalty: To be locked away in Eternal Crystal, your body frozen but your mind still alive to endlessly regret you having ever crossed me. Your only companion will be the pain and suffering of your soul as you look back on what you have done today. Should you have any final business to attend to, you have one minute to do so." Tolaris bowed and turned around. "Lieutenant Commander Shar-Tei, I would speak with you briefly." The silver-haired Dragoon stepped forward and Tolaris spoke quickly. "I want you to release the archive lock on my notes regarding weather control. Make sure that Ensign Tempest from Security gets a copy and that she gets a copy to the little girl we had a talk about earlier. Also, in my quarters you will find a pet of sorts. I ask that you find someone to take care of it." "I'll see to it, Commander," she said quietly, her featureless red eyes showing no signs of emotion. "Thank you. General Nephlyte, this belongs to you," Tolaris said as he threw the Silkworm crystal across the room. "If you'll examine the crystal, I believe you will find one of Zoisite's monitoring devices. I don't have the time to prove it, but it's the only explanation that would make sense about her activities." Tolaris didn't stop to see the faces of either Nephlyte or Zoisite before he turned to face Queen Beryl. "I am ready, my Queen," he said simply. Beryl smiled coldly. "You always did manage to make sure your loose ends were taken care of. Now it's my turn to cut a loose end." She concentrated and Tolaris was wrapped in a shimmering field of light. He didn't have time to scream from pain before the light solidified into a transparent crystal shell. "Let this be a lesson to traitors," Beryl said, her voice echoing across the vast chamber. "I do not tolerate failures, and I do not tolerate having weak soldiers. Those who fall prey to his folly shall suffer the same fate." A vortex opened above the crystal prison, drawing it into a distant and harsh dimension. The crystal tumbled through the desert air briefly before it landed in the hard sands of the wasteland. Surrounding it were thousands of other crystals like it, each one a frozen servant of Beryl's. The vortex closed, and the crystal was lost to the desert winds forever. ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ami, are you sure you'll be okay?" said the voice on the phone. "I mean, you've been rather depressed for over a week now. Luna and I are staring to really get worried about you." Ami sighed as she laid back into the mass of pillows on her bed. "I know, Serena. It's just.... well, I really care about him. I don't know if he's coming back or not, or even if he's still alive." There was a quiet sound, then a second voice was heard on the line. "Ami, I know this is extremely hard on you but you can't let your feelings get in the way of the rest of your life." Ami closed her eyes and tried not to sigh again. "I know, Luna. But it's hard to just forget the way I felt when I was with him. Now that he's gone, I can't imagine feeling that way with anyone else...." She took a deep breath to calm herself as she felt the tears form in her eyes again. "Ami, listen to me. I know how you feel. I was in love once, a long time ago. We made each other quite happy and made plans to spend our future with each other. When he passed away from a severe illness, I thought I would never get over it. Even to this day I still mourn his loss, but I don't let it get in the way of my life. Granted the pain isn't as sharp now as it was way back then, but I can still deal with it and you must learn to do the same." Ami wiped away a tear and sat up. "I understand, Luna. I'm sure I'll get over it, given time." "Never forget that his love will always be with you, even if he no longer is. Trust me on that, Ami. Sleep well, and I shall see you later." "Good night, Luna," Ami said softly. "And thanks." "Quite welcome." There was another quiet sound as Serena came back on the phone. "I think I'm going to have to call it a night as well. Ami. Try not to stay up too late studying again, okay?" Ami managed to laugh. "Okay, Serena, but it's only nine-thirty." A quiet laugh. "Hey, just because you can bury your nose in a book for hours on end doesn't mean anyone else can. Just don't you ever forget that I'm your friend and I'm here if you need me." Ami smiled. "I haven't forgotten that yet, Serena, and thank you for all that you've done for me." "You're more than welcome, Ami. Good night, and I'll see you in class tomorrow morning." "Sleep well, Serena," she said, then set the receiver back on its cradle. She laid back into the pillows once more and started to silently cry. Tolaris, I love you, she thought as the tears slid down her cheeks. Her hand absently went up to her throat to caress the sapphire pendant she wore. She blinked in surprise as the gem felt warm to her touch. She tilted her head down to look at it and almost screamed. It's glowing! she thought. What is it doing? Why do I feel so strange all of a sudden? The pendant emitted a glittering cloud of tiny blue motes. Ami watched in fascination as they swirled around the room on unseen wind currents before they merged into a humanoid form. As quickly as they had come, the tiny motes faded into nothingness, leaving the now-solid figure behind. "Tolaris...?" Ami whispered, not believing what she was seeing. "It is really you?" The Dragoon flexed his muscles experimentally. "Unless I'm dead and this is Hell, yes." He barely had enough time to brace himself before Ami leapt off the bed and into his arms, tears of happiness streaming from her eyes. "I thought you were gone and I had lost you forever...." she cried into his chest. Tolaris wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Not quite," he whispered. "It takes slightly more than Queen Beryl's wrath to keep me away from you. At least, for the time being." Ami blinked away her tears. "What do you mean?" "Let me explain. Physically, I'm still locked away in that crystal in the Negaverse. However, since part of my physical life-force exists here, my soul can travel here and manifest in a physical form." Ami blinked again. "Part of your life-force...? But how?" Tolaris smiled. "Simple, my love. Your pendant contains a tiny portion of my essence, if you will. As long as the pendant is worn on a living being, it can act as a projector for my spirit. But there are two limits: First, due to the nature of the magic used in the process, my spirit can only travel here when the Earth's moon is on the far side of the planet, away from the light of the sun. And second, the moon must be above the horizon or the Earth's mass will block the necessary energy waves." Ami seemed slightly crestfallen. "But those conditions only occur for a few hours each month." The Dragoon smiled gently. "Would you prefer I not visit you at all?" She hugged him tightly. "I see your point, Tolaris. Still, you have no idea how happy I feel now that I know you're still alive and with me." "You'd be surprised, dearest Ami. Trust me, I probably feel the same way, and more. After all, you don't have to spend the rest of your time locked up in a tiny crystal prison in the middle of nowhere, unable to do anything but think." Ami's eyes went wide. "What happened?" The Dragoon explained to her the events that took place after his return to the Negaverse and his confrontation with Queen Beryl. "However, I saw this coming and was able to plan ahead. She said I was good at taking care of my loose ends but even she didn't know how well. I may be out of her way, but I'm not totally gone yet." Ami smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. "Tolaris, I love you," she said quietly. "I love you as well, Ami," he said softly in response. "Will you ever be able to stay here with me forever?" Tolaris closed his eyes. "For now, no, but I don't know what will happen in the future." He paused for a moment, then looked into her blue eyes. "My love, I'm afraid I have to go now." Ami's eyes widened in surprise. "But you just got here! I thought you could stay until the moon sets." "I can, but it's setting now. It took me this long to figure out how to travel from the Negaverse to here. But now I know, my love, and next time I'll be ready as soon as the moon rises." Ami held onto him as tight as she could, not wanting him to go. "I'll be here, Tolaris," she said softly. He bent down and kissed her as his form started to dissolve into a cloud of blue motes. "Never forget I love you, Ami," he said, then was gone. She watched in silence as the cloud whirled around the room madly for a second, then merged into her pendant. The gem continued to glow for several minutes afterward, its soft light being reflected off the single tear running down her cheek. After that, Ami felt the darkness in her heart lift and she no longer felt so sad about life. She managed to finish her homework before the weariness of the previous week's emotional strain caught up with her and she fell into a gentle and peaceful sleep. Outside, with no discernable cause or reason, a soft rain began to fall.
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