Minako and Kotebe walked along the small path designed to go from one side of the campus to the other. The path was lined by saplings that were barely starting to take root. As they walked, they saw an unfamiliar figure against the clear blue sky. “oh, look Mina-chan! He’s kinda cute, huh?” “I don’t know, I can’t really see that well. But hey, at least he dresses nice” The mysterious man wore black baggy jeans and a fitted black shirt with a silver necklace that shone in the sun. He also wore a black cap with a white star emblem low over his eyes. When he closed in on the gap between them, Kotebe flipped her hair and batted her eyelashes, but he took no notice of her. Instead, he kept his stare on Minako who thought as she blushed, “Heehee! He’s soooo good looking...” The whole time the man and Minako walked by each other his attention was fully directed at Minako. When they were in talking distance, he stopped and stared her directly in the face. “What’s wrong with this guy??” Minako thought. “Minako...” called a low voice. “You know him??” Kotebe whispered. “No, I don’t think so.” Minako whispered back. Both girls looked up at him. “Yea, I’m Minako” She answered boldly. “Hmm...thought so. It’s been quite a while hasn’t it?” he asked, still staring into her clear eyes. “Well...I guess...ummm...I guess it’s been a very long time...since...I have no clue who you are. How do you know me?” She asked in her nicest possible voice. “Maybe it was by fate” “fate?” “Yes, fate that we meet a final time, Sailor Venus.” “What?!” Kotebe took a step back by these words. “What the...Sailor Venus? Sailor Venus is my best friend? I don’t believe it...I saw her on the news before...and I had no idea...” She stumbled, speechless and in shock. “What do you want?” Minako looked at him curiously. “Why are you here?” “You will know soon enough” he said disappearing into the daylight. “Minako? What was that all about?” asked Kotebe in a dazed tone. “Nothing...don’t worry about it. Let’s just go to class now.” “No. Wait. YOU’RE Sailor Venus? Why didn’t you tell me before?” “Sorry...I just couldn’t. Can we talk about this some other time?” “Ok..” Two girls walked towards class, both shocked and dazed.

Makoto breathed hard as she ran her final lap around the track. Her hear was pounding in her ears and her legs were starting to feel rubbery. “I have to keep going...If I don’t train hard I’ll never make it to finals!” she repeated to herself for motivation. At the last stretch, she sprinted to her coach with a sudden burst of energy. She was rewarded with, “Good job, Makoto! You’ve improved by 2.3 seconds since last time!” “Yes!” She exclaimed under her breath before she collapsed to the ground, her legs finally giving way. “Ok! Practice is over for today!” the coach yelled at all the members of the track team. Everyone ran into the locker room. “Makoto! Wait up!” “Oh, hi!” “I saw you do your timed run today. Wut’d you get? “I did 2.3 seconds better than last time, so that makes it 2.61 minutes.” “Oh, good job! I wish I could run as fast as you...but I guess that’s why I do the high jump, right?” Makoto glanced at her teammate and laughed. Once in the locker room, Makoto sat on the bench and took a deep breath. She looked at the almost empty locker room. Blue lockers and wood benches were all around her and she could hear the distant sound of a shower on the other side of the room. She looked to her left and saw a huge mirror showing herself in her white tanktop and green striped shorts. She seemed to fit right into the scene. This was where she belonged, this was her freedom. Half of her spirit dwelt in athletics while the other half for her duty to the universe. She quickly changed into jeans and a T-shirt and walked out with her gym bag slung over her shoulder. When she opened the double doors, she heard a slow monotonous clapping. She turned to see who was there and her face met a shadowed figure hidden in the corner of the room. “Nice run.” commented a man dressed in black with a hat covering his face down to his nose. He seemed to either be looking down or at Makoto at all times. “Oh...well...thanks.” Makoto said politely. “Are you Makoto Kino?” He asked. “Yes...” she replied skeptically. Who was this man? And how did he know her name when they had never met before? “Good. The girl does not lie.” When he had spoken these words, he vanished in a flash of white ribbons. “What? Huh? I don’t get it.” Makoto said as she continued home. As she reached the curb, sudden thoughts popped into her head and she broke out in a run down the sidewalk.

“Guardian, I think we need to call a meeting. They should all be informed about the man I encountered.” “Good point. Summon the senshi.” Guardian sat on his haunches and waited for Usagi to call the senshi to her house. When he did not hear any footsteps or movement, she turned to look at Usagi who was laughing almost silently on the floor. “What is so humorous?” He asked. “Nothing, nothing. Summon the senshi?! Hahahaha...” she stifled another laugh. “Sure.” Usagi still had not been able to get over the abnormal vocabulary of the Guardian. He sounded too smart to be normal. But then again, how can you call a talking cat normal? She opened her drawer and drew out a small stick with a crystal sphere at the end. This was a device to gather all of the senshi at once, so that she did not have to individually call each senshi. It sent a signal to every communicator to meet at Usagi’s house or as directed otherwise. She twirled the thing once and pointed it at her own communicator. Eight signs appeared on her screen. Each time someone consented to the call, their sign lit up. After a short amount of time, all seven signs were lit and flashing. As she looked at the dim sign of Neptune, she suddenly was reminded of their missing friend. “Let’s go wait for them.” Guardian told Usagi who followed him down the stairs. About two seconds later, the door burst open. “USAGI!” Makoto yelled, catching her breath. “There’s something we all need to know!” “Makoto, I already called a meeting. I had something to tell everyone too. Come in.” Usagi led Makoto to the large couch. “Hey Usagi, What’s up?” Minako and Ami walked in with Setsuna and Hotaru close behind. “Hi guys.” Usagi greeted then. Haruka made a grand entrance, her yellow convertible vrooming down the street. Rei and arrived last, and was panting from the long walk she had to take to get to Usagi’s house. “Thanks for coming, everyone. I just thought I should tell you about someone I...met yesterday morning.” She started the meeting by getting right to the point. “I was pulled over by a fake policeman. I have a hunch it was Hani, but I’m not sure.” “What did he look like?” Minako asked, thinking back to her own encounter with a mysterious man. “He had his hat on...It was hard to tell...but he had white hair and strange burning eyes.” Usagi described the man in as much detail as she could. “White hair?” “And those burning eyes?” “You saw him too?” Usagi asked quizzically. “Where?” “At school.” “School.” “Track practice.” Minako, Hotaru, and Makoto answered in unison. “He seems to know all of our schools.” Guardian told them. “Do you have any idea of how he could know our location?” He asked the senshi. “YES!” Makoto jumped out of her seat. “When I was leaving track practice, we were talking and he said something like, ‘The girl does not lie.’ Which means, he must be using Michiru! She’s giving him all the answer to his questions! He might as well know all of our weaknesses and strengths by now!” “Don’t jump to conclusions, Makoto. I know Michiru. She would never give in to a man like that Hani.” Haruka growled. “I know, I know. But remember? She was never healed like we were. She’s not even in her right mind right now.” Makoto quieted down. “But...but...Michiru...would she really...?” Haruka stopped right in her tracks. “If only we could figure out where she was being held. Then we could rescue her and stop her from telling Hani what he needs to know.” Ami said. “Well, we do have an energy tracker....but I doubt it’ll even work. Michiru’s been gone quite some time, and the tracker can only pick up things from a few days ago.” “Alright!” Haruka exclaimed. “Leave this one to me! I’ll find out where they are! Just teach me how to use the thing.” “Uhh..Haruka, it’s been more than a week since Michiru disappeared.” Ami told Haruka and a sarcastic tone. “I know, I know. I just have an idea that’s all. I’ll take care of this! Don’t worry about anything at all.” Haruka smiled. “Yessss! Finally we can locate them! Thanks for visiting me, Michiru.” Haruka thought. “Alright you guys. If Haruka’s idea works, we can track down Hani and Michiru and heal her before it’s too late. Then we can defeat Hani and the rest of the brothers. Everyone, listen to me. Before now, history was made for us. It was out fate to come this far. But now it’s our turn. The pages of destiny are blank and we are the ones who fill them in. We have to be selfless and be ready for absolutely anything. We will never give in, give up, or give out. We have to stick together to win this. I know we can win. I believe in you...all of you.” Usagi motivated the senshi with a short speech. “Yea!” “Let’s do this!” “For us and the world!” “Let’s save the future!” “Whatever it takes!” The girls yelled out, determination and endless energy flowed in their blood. “I have bad news.” the Guardian said amidst the celebration. “You are all going to have to quit school. We have to get out of here. Hani knows where we are. We cant afford to risk splitting apart for one second. He knows he can pick us off, one by one.” “What?! Why are we hiding? We can’t just run from him!!” Makoto said. “That’s right! I mean, are we really gonna hide? You said it yourself, we have to eliminate him, not run from him!” Rei argued. “Yes, I am aware of that. But at that time I did not know that he had information like this. We all have to stay together at all times. The Solitaire’s special ability is to separate and destroy, an ancient code, but effective. Live or die, school is you path leading into death right now. We have to go somewhere for the time being and strike when he least expects it.” “That’s a good strategy and I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t get where we’re gonna go, and why we have to leave so soon...” Minako mumbled. “Can you not comprehend?? He does not only know where we are, but he has visited almost half of us! Although Hani is only confirming where we are right now, believe me, he will find our everything about us: when we’re left alone, when we are powerless, what will destroy us. We can’t let that happen or else we’re doomed.” Guardian calmly sat on the couch. “Tomorrow morning you will go to school and turn in your release papers. As for now, we sill split up into two groups and go to each senshi’s residence to gather their belongings. Bring then here, to Usagi’s house. That is your mission for now.” “But...” “Do not question me. Go.” Guardian’s stern face was enough to make everyone drop down on their knees and obey any command. “Haruka, Hotaru, Setsuna, Minako. You will go together. Rei, Ami, Makoto, you will go together. Usagi will accompany you in case something happens. One more thing. If you happen to encounter Hani, run. You will not be able to defeat him while you are separated.” The girls looked at each other skeptically and finally split into their groups and left. They did as the Guardian told them to, each carrying an ample amount of clothes and other necessities. As the first group reach Haruka’s house, she insisted on going in alone, and left the rest of the group by the door. Quickly she ran upstairs to her room where she had sworn to have seen Michiru. Flipping the energy tracker on, she walked around until she saw a mass of green specks on the screen. “This must be it.” She whispered. Hope rose up in her heart and she waited anxiously for the tracker to finish reading the energy codes left by Michiru. When the tiny machine stopped its rapid beeping, she looked to see if it had picked up the traces properly, and quickly saved it and turned it off. She would look at it with Ami later on. Grabbing some clothes and a large duffel bag, she stuffed in her belongings. Almost crashing into 3 waiting girls, she ran out the door. “Oops! Sorry...” she said, helping up Setsuna. Neither group met Hani along the way, so they all went to Usagi’s house relieved and in peace. Usagi’s arms were piled high with all the spare blankets, pillows and sleeping bags she could possibly find. “It’s just like a big sleepover!” She said, her voice muffled by the many objects covering her face. “Reminds me of the old days, eh?” Everyone laughed and Rei hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. The intense mood was broken and everybody began to talk casually. After an hour of talking and munching on snacks, Usagi brought up the topic of school. “we should start writing our papers now.” “Oh...right...” Makoto’s smile disappeared and she looked down at the floor. “But...track...I was really looking forward to that. I found something I love and I can’t even do it anymore.” Makoto thought as she looked for a pen. Each girl scribbled down their name, address, phone number, and ID number on their release forms. After that, they changed into pajamas and snuggled down to sleep.

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