Mamoru and Usagi walked, hand-in-hand, down the paved sidewalks of the concrete jungle that was Tokyo, the latter chattering away happily. It was a calm, clear autumn afternoon, and the pale shadows of cotton-candy clouds floated serenely across the pale, water-colored sky. The just-turned leaves fluttered in the light breeze, a few releasing their tenuous grip on their respective branches and drifting lazily across the two’s path. It was, arguably, a perfect day. Mamoru paused in his thinking. They seemed to be having a lot of those. Perfect days, that is. And frankly, it was beginning to get on his nerves. Couldn’t they have a thunderstorm every now and again? Preferably one that wasn’t caused by denizens of an alternate universe or some dark moon faction from the future. He’d even settle for a light drizzle. Unseasonably cold weather, perhaps? Was it really too much to ask?

          Mamoru sighed. No sense in pursuing that line of thought. He seemed to be blessed with perfect days for the rest of his life. Oh, well, he reasoned. Might as well enjoy them.

          It was about that time that Mamoru’s danger sense kicked into overdrive. Unfortunately for him, his reflexes were not quite fast enough. A solid, massive object crashed into him from the side, bearing him to the ground. Whatever had tackled him seemed bent on making his head intimately acquainted with the sidewalk. He had the vague impression of Usagi screaming before the world fuzzed and faded away.

*******

          Halfway across the city, a pair of eyes snapped open, glinting golden in the fading sunlight. “Endymion,” she whispered, and stood.

*******

          The world focused, and his day went downhill from there. It was another one of those crises. The ones with large and unusually dressed people who just so happen to be minions of other, more powerful people who are trying to control/destroy the world. He foresaw much pain. The leader, to his surprise, was actually male, and seemed infinitely pleased with the fact that his prey were being securely held by other entities of similar persuasion. Usagi had descended to terrified mode, and both were useless to prevent the confiscation of any small mystical parts of them that were soon to be stolen.

          This soon turned out not to be the case. They only wanted information, which in ways, was nearly as bad, since the information they required was exactly the kind they were committed not to giving, especially since this revelation would result in their wanting much more than information in the long run.

          "It would be in your best interest to cooperate. We desire only to find the Princesses and we know that you are aware of this information."

          Usagi's panic descended and transformed into defiance. "We don't know what you're talking about. Really. I can hardly even remember seven squared-"

          "Forty nine."

          "-and you think I know something about princesses?"

          "If you are counting on my being stupid or gullible, I assure you I am neither. You know. The Princesses, the Silver Court, the Senshi, the Beautiful Defenders. You know. Where are they?" His voice had accumulated a very dangerous quality, and was met with silence. "It shall be this way then? Very well. I am forced to extreme measures. I promise you this will hurt a great deal." Endymion closed his eyes and grit his teeth as he saw the gigantic fist curl and aim toward his face. He waited a moment, and realized that the expected impact had failed to come. He opened his eyes slowly and saw, to his profound amazement, a woman's hand. He followed the arm it was attached to and saw a very serious girl with dark hair, strangely shaped ears and eyes the most unusual shade of gold. She pushed the fist from his face. The attention of their assailants was immediately shifted from them and they converged upon the girl.

          As he felt the release of his arms, he sought Usagi and tried very hard not to watch the girl. He heard a number of impacts and shouting, which not long after came to an abrupt stop.

          He turned.

          The girl was standing. Around her lay the unfortunate horde, in varying states of death.

          Amazed and likely appearing very foolish, he watched her clean her sword and sheath it. Usagi was still sitting on the ground where she fell, looking as if she were about to cry. He sighed. I thought we had gotten past that....Presently, he noticed the girl staring expectantly.

          "Hello," he began, uncertain. "So, thanks, and um, who are you again?" He was surprised to see a somewhat regretful smile pass over her face.

          "I didn't think you would remember me. Let's see. No way to be subtle about it. My name is Hope. I'm...Endymion...I'm your sister." Silence fell like a hammer from a very tall building.

          "Are not," he managed.

          "Am too," she retorted indignantly.

          "Are not."

          "Am too." "Are not."

          "Am too."

          "I think I would know."

          "So would I."

          "Are not!"

          "I'm older than you!"

          This stopped him. He looked at her, did some calculations, and said, "You can't be more than eighteen."

          She looked at her watch. "I am one thousand, six hundred, fifty-six years, two months, eight days, and five hours old. Plus a number of minutes and seconds I'm unsure of."

          "That's impossible." "Is not."

          "Is too."

          "Is not."

          "Is too."

          "Is not!"

          "Um, can we at least have this argument somewhere a little more convenient?" This was from Usagi, whom both parties had recently discounted as part of the scenery.

          Hope looked at her for a moment. "That's the most sense I've ever heard from you."

*******

          Breakfast. Rei had been hoping desperately that Gwyn would not have recognized her during the previous night's activity. Most did not make the connection due to minor changes, but she could never suppress that tiny grain of terrified paranoia. She walked into the kitchen, yawning, where the American and grandpa sat eating cereal, saying nothing because Grandpa only knew a few words in English and Gwyn only knew a few words of Japanese and most of both were dirty. The first Rei knew from experience; the second she had found out about during a conversation of rather limited vocabulary.

          "So, Rei," Gwyn began as she sat to join the pair. "Who exactly are you anyway?" Rei froze.

          "What?"

          "All of that business last night. A very unusual sequence of events."

          "I have no idea what you're talking about?" she tried.

          "Right. By the way, cute skirt. Bad color scheme, but cute."

          "Okay." She thought of what to say. Nothing came. "Right."

          "For what it's worth, I won't tell."

          "Thank you." More silence. Even more silence. The door opened. Rei rushed to meet the visitors. "Mamoru! Usagi! I don't think we've met." This last comment was directed not toward the former, but to the third party, a strange-looking young girl who was just saying "Am too." She appraised Rei in a slow methodical manner.

          "Princess Mars," she stated quietly, before anyone spoke.

          As the priestess blinked in confused astonishment, the golden-eyed girl looked past her to the American. Her eyes grew wide.

          "Penguin!" she shouted in English.

          "Penguin?" Bunny and Rei mouthed at each other. They turned to watch as the strange newcomer ran toward Gwyn and threw her arms around the overwhelmed American.

          "Gwyn! I knew it was you! Ha! I knew it! I knew it!"

          "Who is this?" Rei inquired of Bunny and Mamoru.

          "This is Hope," Mamoru replied.

          "I'm his sister," the girl expounded, detaching herself from a very confused American. Gwyn said something quietly in English, and Hope sighed.

          "You are not my sister," Mamoru objected vehemently.

          "Am, too."

          "Are not."

          "Am, too."

          "Are not."

          "Am, too!"

          "Are not!"

          The girl held up a hand. "We'll discuss this later," she informed him. She turned back to Gwyn and began speaking in English. The three watched carefully, as if some movement would reveal the secrets that this strange woman was withholding.

*******

          "Gwyn," Hope said quietly.

          "What do you remember?"

          "I don't understand," she replied. "Remember what? Who are you and how do you know my name?"

          "My name is Hope. As for how I know you--you have to remember yourself before that question can be answered." She forestalled Gwyn's protests. "I will help you remember, Gwyn. And then," she said, smiling, "we shall talk. We shall talk a very long time, you and I." Hope's smile faded slightly as she raised both hands toward Gwyn's face. "Oh, by the way, my hands are a little cold." She took a deep breath and pushed both palms against Gwyn's forehead.

          Everything immediate vanished. Her world, her life, became like a blink, a day in all the ages of the world. Time returned to her, minutes, hours and years that she had left far behind--a life and a body that should no longer exist. Memories exploded in her head: vague remembrances and excruciatingly detailed experiences. Things she had known, places she had seen. Hope, Ash...Corbin.

          The rush faded and the world of the Cherry Hill Shrine returned.

          "I told you, I hate that name," she admonished faintly.

          Hope smiled. "Sorry...Penguin."

          "Well, anyway, that does explain a lot, doesn't it?" Gwyn threw out in flawless Japanese. Memories flooded her brain as she examined the other girl, a smile blossoming on her face. She wrapped Hope in an enthusiastic embrace, laughing. The other returned her excitement. They separated and began talking quickly to one another.

          "It's been so long!" "I didn't remember a thing!"

          “But you do now?"

          "Not everything. A lot of it. You, the guys...Where are they, by the way?"

          "Oh, you know," Hope said. "Off doing errands and things. Boy things. Though I haven't seen Corbin in a while. He's missed you, Gwyn."

          "He was like my brother. I hope he shows up soon."

          Hope examined her curiously for a moment. "Worked better than I thought it would," she said slowly, "but there are still gaps, aren't there?"

          "Yes."

          "Um, I don't mean to interrupt," Mamoru said from the side, "but could one of you ladies kindly explain what's going on here?"

          Gwyn and Hope looked at one another.

          "I think we should go sit down," Gwyn suggested.

          "Then we'll explain everything."

*******

          By all rights, the building should have been considered beautiful. It was tall, crystalline, and ephemeral in appearance, what light there was prismed through the spires, throwing tiny rainbows around like insubstantial confetti.

          But the young man knew better. Those spires were neither crystalline nor ephemeral. In fact, they were mother-loving hard to knock down. But he was going to anyway.

          Ash ran.

          He couldn’t help thinking that if only there were a soundtrack of Chariots of Fire playing in the background, it would be perfect. Mental calculations were made. Leg muscles were tensed. Arms were outstretched, and the eldritch ebony figure hurtled through the air.

          Ash hit the ground.

          He glanced at his watch and grinned. The realization hit him that if somebody just happened to glance out their window, they might think it rather amusing to see some random, black-clad man dashing across their line of sight and hurling himself behind a wall of sandbags. Well, he was laughing, anyway. The laughter shifted from jovial to maniacal as he finally noticed what time it was. He also wondered what the guards must think of a random human hand popping up behind the hitherto unnoticed wall of sandbags and counting down from five.

          “Did you hear that?”

          “Hear what?”

          “I thought I heard something.”

          They turned to gaze upon the pile of sandbags in the far corner of the fenced area. Abruptly, a hand—a human hand no less!—shot into view from behind the aforementioned sandbags, fingers outstretched. Before they could accost and firmly admonish this intruder, one of the fingers retracted. The guards blinked. Another finger drew in followed by the one next to it, and so on. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on who’s side you happened to be on—it did not occur to the guards until only one finger remained that perhaps this was some sort of rudimentary countdown. The last finger disappeared.

          The hand panicked for a moment before returning behind the sandbags from whence it came.

          The guards had exactly enough time to look at each other in confusion before both of them became so many free-floating carbon atoms.

          Chunks of rock and crystal blasted past the young man’s lee at terrific speeds. Artificially created winds whipped through his hair and clothes, leaving dust behind for him to remember it by. And then it was quiet.

          The young man stood carefully, still more dust settling onto his person, and turned to survey the results of his work. The buildings and towers were gone, as were the low barracks and walls surrounding them. Indeed, the only evidence they had ever been there were rather unimpressive hunks of building material. And those were few and far between.

          The young man grinned again. “Oh, hell yeah.”

          Feeling very pleased with himself, the young man took up his pack and walked away. She was going to be happy, he decided. And that was more than enough reason to put up with dust in his ponytail.

*******

          "About a thousand, six hundred and fifty-six years ago, I was born. Don't interrupt! I was born a mere seventeen years before the fall of the Silver Millenium. You, Bunny, were the princess, several years older than I, and the Senshi were your court. I realize you know all that, but don't say anything until I've finished my story. What you don't know about your court is that there were two other members--the senshi of the earth and the sun."

          "Gwyn!" Rei exclaimed in whispered astonishment. "But Luna said--"

          "Quiet, girl, I'm not done speaking yet. I know what Luna told you, and in a way, she's right. My older sister--"

          "Another one?"

          "Endymion!" she admonished harshly. He submitted reluctantly to her unspoken demand. "My older sister, Faith, was the official princess of the Earth, although both her and I served you in her Court, and yes, Gwyn was the senshi of the sun, the princess of Sol. Gwyn and I often worked together, mainly due to the fact that she and I were younger than the rest of the Court. Shortly before Metallia broke loose, Earth, like all of the planets, began to decline under her growing influence. Gwyn and I were on that planet when Metallia's strength began to subvert its inhabitants. One day we were sent to take care of a messy hostage situation. We did all we could, but someone was killed. She was a politican's daughter, and even though we saved the other hostages, the politician saw to it that we were taken to court, and convinced others that we were a menace as senshi. Your Mother, Serenity, exiled us from the moon under pressure from the dignitaries and cast our nations from her Court. Gwyn and I returned to our homes, but as Metallia's influence grew, no one did anything to stop it. So we had rings fashioned that serve the same purpose as your wands, and we ended our helplessness, even though we did it on the pain of death. It was, unfortunately, too late to stop Metallia, and she wreaked her havoc to the end that you know. Gwyn and I escaped destruction, and we have been living on Earth since that time, surviving, helping where we could, and, above all else, waiting."

          "Waiting?"

          "For you. To be reborn."

          "But what about Gwyn? That doesn't explain anything about Gwyn."

          "I died," Gwyn said softly, her eyes downcast. "I was killed, and Hope made it so that I would be reborn, like you were." She sighed. "That's enough about our past for now."

          "Yes, I agree," Hope said.

          "Wait a second," Mamoru said suddenly. "One more question."

          Hope sighed. "One."

          "You said we had another sister. I assume she died as well, or she would still be alive, like you are...so why wasn't she reborn with the rest of us?"

          "She was already dead," Hope replied shortly. "Enough of that. You have a new enemy to face."

          "That's right," Minako, who had been summoned over along with the other previously absent soldiers, said. "I'd forgotten all about the youma. Is the Dark Kingdom involved?"

          "Yes. But this time it won't be as simple as your last victory."

          "Simple?" Makoto yelled, rising from her seat. "We died to bring that woman down."

          "And there are far worse fates that could befall you, let me assure you," Hope said, in a quiet and eerily commanding voice. "I've been alive for far longer than you have, and I've seen much stronger enemies than you've fought. I've lost to some of them. Some are still lying dormant, waiting to prey on this earth as we speak. But your enemy is stronger than anything against which you have been tested. She's Beryl's sister, Onyx, and I assure you, she is a force to be reckoned with."

*******

          There was nothing.

          And then came the thin line of gray light. With it came awareness, knowledge, remembrance. And emotion. Events, key ones, replayed from the beginning. There was a girl, he remembered abstractly. A girl with eyes that shone like sunshine, like moonbeams, that sparkled like starlight, like fire through crystal. And hair that fell like rain down her back. He got a strange, achy feeling when he thought of her, so he tried not to. But, somehow, it always came back to her and the tears he never saw her shed.

          And there was time. So much time. To think. About what he’d done. And what he hadn’t. Lacks, inadequacies, failures, foul and noble deeds, comforting gestures, kisses both passionate and gentle, the easy rhythm of love-making, the hot wash of blood. He remembered peace and he remembered war. He remembered love and he remembered indifference. And with the remembering came the consequences. The pain was subtle in its onset, like the ache of being on your feet too long. By the time you notice, it’s too late to stop. It only sharpened and deepened, rending and baring and opening until he thought he must surely be inside-out.

          Then the thought floated through his mind, the first of his very own: What have I done? With this thought came the realization that the light had grown, no longer just a line, and had brightened, not quite so gray. The hate, the malice, faded. It was getting better. Until a replacement was found: guilt.

          And then his world shattered. The light flooded in, blinding, burning him. Rough hands gripped him, pulled him upright. He felt cold, and the brightness that crept through the cracks in his eyes hurt. Smooth fingers stroked his cheek and lifted his chin. “Wake up,” a female voice like lacquered wood ordered him. “Open your eyes.”

          And he did, compelled to see the woman who spoke to him. His irises contracted painfully, and her face focused. Hers bore a striking resemblance to another face that he’d hoped was gone from him. Black hair waved artfully around her terrible, beautiful face, and her eyes glinted with dreadful secrets that perhaps she might tell him. She smiled, baring straight, white teeth. He shuddered. “Welcome back, Jadeite,” she smoothed. “I have such plans for you.”

*******

          Hope gazed at the cherry trees. When she spoke, her voice was soft and quiet, like snowfall. “I’ve missed you, Gwyn.”

          Gwyn smiled humorlessly. “It’s been a long time.”

          “Fifteen years.”

          “Nearly sixteen.”

          “Not so long, in the grand scheme.”

          “Long enough.”

          “Times change.”

          “Indeed.”

          They fell silent for a moment. Gwyn studied the railing, not willing to look at her friend when she spoke her next words. “They don’t have much of a chance, do they.” There was no question in her sentence.

          Hope sighed, something she did when considering her next words. “Not right now, no. Fortunately, I don’t think things have progressed to a critical point yet. We may yet have time to fix mistakes. To train them.”

          Gwyn nodded. “I’m not sure how much I can help you. I still can’t remember so much of it. I just can’t remember it...”

          Hope smiled at Gwyn and pushed some hair out of her face. “It will come in time. All things come in time. You know this as well as I.”

          Gwyn smiled back, then looked out past the pond at nothing in particular. “This isn’t going to be easy. For anybody. Is it?”

          Hope shook her head, obsidian hair shivering against her bronze skin. “No, it won’t be. For us, for them, for anybody. It may very well kill us, in the end. But I’ll be damned if she doesn’t go with us. I’ve lived too long and worked too hard to lose this one.”

          “We won’t lose it.”

          Hope wiped a hand over her face. “They’re just children, Gwyn. They’re so very young. They lack wisdom and discipline, experience. They’re soft and over-confidant. They’ve never lost to anyone, so they think they can’t. They’re not so much different than they were. I’d rather deal with raw recruits or broken soldiers. You can fix those. But the only way to make these girls see reason is to beat them, and I’m not sure I have to stomach to do that.” She paused. “He still loves her. I saw it. To hurt her would be to hurt him, and I’m just not sure I can. Not to the extent that I would need to.”

          Gwyn pursed her lips. “Old wounds, my friend.”

          Hope closed her eyes, remembering the sticky feeling of old and drying blood in her clothes, on her skin. “Old wounds indeed.”

___________________________________________________________________

And thus, the end of Chapter Three...keep watching...same bat time, same bat channel!