"Usagi," Erica yelled. The tall, pink haired teen turned to her and smiled, waving happily as Erica ran up to her. They hugged, and Erica asked, "So how's my big sister treating you?" Usagi grinned impishly, her hair falling in two pink streams down her back as she said, "You have no idea." The long summer dress she wore was white, and when the light shone down on her, she really did look like a princess. Erica laughed, "I probably don't want to know." They walked through the palace garden to sit down on one of the benches. They and Hotaru were going out later, and had agreed to meet here. She and Usagi were about the same age, and had become friends as little girls, even though Usagi had spent months away in the past. Which reminded Erica, "Usagi, what was it like visiting the past?" "Fun, except for the memory blocks," Usagi shrugged. "Memory blocks?" Erica blinked. "Each time I went back in time Setsuna would put a series of memory blocks in place to prevent me from revealing something that could change history," Usagi shrugged. Erica looked at the pink haired girl thoughtfully, "Like what?" Usagi looked thoughtful, "The first time, I couldn't talk about the Outers at all, of course, because the earlier Senshi had not met them yet. Them, and all the immortals that were helping us out against Nemesis at the time." "I remember," Erica nodded thoughtfully, "I asked my Moms if I could go out and see the younger Senshi, but they said no. I guess that's why." "That's why my dad only showed them the new part of Crystal Tokyo, too," Usagi nodded her agreement. "He thought that seeing the whole city would have given them too much information about what was coming," she smiled. Erica shook her head with a sigh, "Time travel gives me a headache." "Join the club," another voice firmly agreed. They looked up to see the dark haired woman standing there by the bench. "Hotaru," Usagi yelled happily, jumping up and throwing her arms around her older lover. "Usagi," Hotaru sighed happily. "Hey, big sister," Erica waved, taking her time to get up and dust her black pants off. Her white shirt fit snugly, and she tugged on the bottom while watching the two of them together. "Hey," Hotaru smiled to Erica while keeping her arms around Usagi. The dark haired woman was normally such an enigma, her expression remote and thoughtful, but around Usagi or her family, a sweet smile could light up that serious face. It couldn't have been easy for Hotaru, watching Usagi growing up. The woman she loved, but who didn't love her yet. It would take Usagi several trips to the past to meet and fall in love with the younger Hotaru. Only then could Hotaru approach the grown up Usagi in her time, to be reunited with her love after being centuries apart. A few moments later Usagi asked, "Do you want to stop in at the court?" Hotaru kept an arm around Usagi's shoulders, "Might be interesting." She came around the corner, her long orange locks flowing over her shoulders. Her military uniform was crisp, hugging her tall, athletic form and bringing wistful little sighs from many of the ladies that she walked passed. Arisugawa Juri paused when she saw them, nodding to the three with a little smile, "Good afternoon." "Juri-sama," Erica smiled up at her happily. Juri gave them a casual wave as she strode off down the hallway, her golden ring catching the reflected sunlight. Once she was gone Usagi smiled, "Setsuna is one lucky woman." "So's Juri," Hotaru agreed with an little smile. "Oh, yeah," Erica sighed softly. 'It's too bad I just can't seem to get lucky,' she thought to herself ruefully. "Sucks to be single around so many couples, huh?" Usagi asked her quietly as they all started walking again. "Tell me about it," Erica groaned. She flipped her black hair back with one hand, "Not that I don't get a few offers, but..." Hotaru gave her a wry glance as she said, "I hate to say this, but sometimes you just have to wait until the right one comes along." She gently held Usagi a bit closer to her, who seemed quite willing to snuggle, too. 'Hope it's not as long of a wait as Hotaru had,' Erica was wise enough not to say aloud. They reached the large double doors, and the young man there gave them a nod. "Do you have business with the Court?" he asked them quietly. "We're just visiting," Usagi shook her head no. He quietly opened up one of the doors and waved them all inside. They kept quiet, knowing that one of the funniest things to do at court was to eavesdrop a bit. It wasn't that crowded as they moved through the people, eventually getting a view of the thrones and the proceedings there. Neo-Queen Serenity sat on one throne, her husband King Endymion on the other, both looking as noble and beautiful as ever. The purple-black haired King had a gentle smile on his face as he gazed at his Queen. His purple suit fit him well, his athletic body easily filling it out. He was handsome, but there was also a feeling of strength about him, too. Erica had a crush on the Queen, along with most of the other citizens of the massive city. Her white-gold hair, her grave yet amused expression, the kindness that shone from her blue eyes, it was terribly easy to fall for that combination. 'And since she's completely unattainable, she's completely safe,' she thought cheerfully. Standing beside the throne was Kaoru Miki, efficiently organizing the petitions and requests to the throne. The handsome, blue haired man looked completely business-like, but Erica remembered with pleasure the last big jam session he had with Minako and Rei. He had blown everyone away with his skills at the piano! A interesting conversation nearby got Erica's attention. Two tall, busty blonde catgirls were standing together with a dark haired young woman dressed in a police uniform. She moved a bit closer to listen in... "... but Leona!" the one catgirl protested. "No, Uni, we can't have a quickie while we're waiting," the woman named Leona went red. "But me and Anna have been waiting so long," Uni protested. "Yeah," Anna chimed in. Both catgirls stepped closer to Leona, bracketing her. Erica just had to smirk at the panicked look on the dark haired girl's face. "The Puma sisters," Hotaru murmured, coming up beside Erica quietly, "they're notorious." "Sounds fun," Erica grinned back. "You have been single too long," Usagi smirked.
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