Meet Natsuya Manetsuyo

    The bright yellow convertible drove peacefully down the quiet street. They were on the edge of Tokyo now, away from the crowded, bustling streets of the city's center, and the tree-lined lane they traveled was almost deserted, except for a few families playing outside together in the warm sunshine of a late summer afternoon. The couple in the front chatted happily while their three-year-old daughter, strapped securely into her car seat in the back, giggled and squealed, enjoying the feel of the wind in her hair. Suddenly, the car hit something. The child's happy laughter turned abruptly to frightened shrieks as the restraint on the car seat broke and she wen flying. Seconds later, she landed in a thicket of blackberries, which stung her with their thorns. She struggled to get free, thrashing about wildly, crying, shaking with terror. . .
    . . . Suya sat up abruptly. Safe. She was safe. No cars, no blackberries. She sat on her tiny cot in Ward 7 of the Shijan Orphanage.
    My old nightmare again. I wonder why. She looked around her at the quiet, crowded room, the two dozen cots shoved into a space intended to hold ten or twelve beds at most. Almost dawn, she thought, perhaps I should just get up and finish packing. I will be so glad to leave this lonely place.
    Most of her few belongings were already packed, so it took her only a few minutes to dress, toss the last couple of things into her bag, and brush and fix her hair. Once she had finished putting her hair up in her usual style--a small, round bun with a long ponytail hanging below the bun--she brought her bag downstairs.
    "Morning, ma'am!" Suya greeted the nurse on duty in the lobby.
    "Good morning. Up early today, are we, Miss Manetsuyo?" the nurse answered.
    "It's sunrise. I usually wake up at dawn, if not before," Suya replied. "And I figured why bother trying to go back to sleep?"
    "Excited about leaving, aren't you?"
    "Oh, yes. I know it isn't very polite to say so, but I'll be glad to leave this place."
    "I don't blame you one bit," the nurse smiled at her sympathetically, "this place is too crowded, and I don't think you've ever been happy here."
    Suya gave the nurse a wry smile. "You're right. I really haven't been happy here. It really doesn't help that I'm such a light sleeper."
    "Is that why you decided to get up? Someone wanted a drink, or fell out of bed or something?"
    "No, actually," Suya's smile vanished. "As a matter of fact it was my old nightmare again."
    "About the crash?"
    Suya nodded.
    "Say," the nurse said, brightening, "why don't you go have a good breakfast at the hospital café? That'd be a great way to celebrate your last morning here." Everyone knew that the food from the hospital's café (cafeteria) was much better than anything from the orphanage kitchens.
    "OK, good idea. If I'm allowed?"
    "Of course, go ahead. You think the nurses and volunteers eat the gunk from the orphanage kitchens? Officially, the transfer is complete; you're only here because you're waiting for an escort."
    "So as of now I'm a Jubani orphan, and so I don't have to eat in the kitchens?"
    "That's right! Go on, you deserve it."
    "OK, thanks! See you in a bit!" Suya walked off down the far hall to the hospital proper.

A few hours later. . .

    Oh dear. What a lot of racket, thought the duty nurse. The lobby, which had been almost deserted when Suya returned from breakfast, was now crowded with orphans of various ages, some still in nightgowns or pajamas as they headed to the kitchens for breakfast, others in their gray-and-blue uniforms ready to head out for the day. "No running inside! Go to the park to play tag!" she scolded a group of young boys.
    "I can't get my shoes on!" complained a young girl seated near the entrance from the street.
    "Here, I'll help," Suya told the child, coming to have a look at the troublesome fastening on the shoe.
    "Why'd we have to get up so early on a Saturday, Rachel?" complained one of a group of eleven- and twelve-year-old girls gathered near the front desk, where the nurse was standing.
    "You want to hit the mall today, don't you, Marianne?" Rachel, one of the twelve-year-olds, answered the sleepy girl.
    "Well, yeah, but, half the mall won't be open for another hour or so," Marianne complained.
    "Some of us have the chance to get out of here and be on our own next year, if we can prove that we can get up on our own," another twelve-year-old pointed out.
    "Find and dandy for you, Rebeca, but why do you have to drag Kathryne and me out of bed, too?" Marianne argued back. She and Kathryne were only eleven.
    "I wanted to come, and you were the one who noticed the ad for that big sale," Kathryne put in, "I don't remember where it was at."
    "It was for the big department store," Rachel told her, "honestly, can't you remember anything ?"
    "Hey, Kassandra, maybe they'll have that pin you wanted to get earlier!" Rebeca said to the third twelve-year-old girl, who hadn't spoken yet.
    "It was a brooch, Rebeca, don't call it a pin. . . " Kassandra trailed off as the exterior door opened and a black-haired woman entered and approached the desk.
    "Good morning, ma'am. Sorry about the noise in here. What can I do for you?" the nurse asked.
    "Good morning to you as well. I'm Dr. Mizuno from Juban. I was sent to get someone who is being transferred," the woman replied.
    "Hey, Atalanta, your ride's here!" Kassandra shouted across the room at Suya, who was still busy helping the little girl with her shoes.
    "I'll be there in just a moment, as soon as I finish helping Megan with her shoes," Suya answered.
    "Atalanta? Is that her name? No one at Juban told me whom I was to get, only that I should take the bus," Dr. Mizuno said to the nurse.
    "No, her name is Natsuya Manetsuyo. Atalanta is just something that some of the girls call her, because she is so swift," the nurse answered.
    "Atalanta Fleetfoot," Kathryne told Dr. Mizuno, "'cause she's fast as the wind an' doesn't seem to like boys."
    "Or anybody else for that matter," put in Rachel.
    "That's not so and you know it, Rachel Teno," the nurse scolded, "she'd get along with anyone who was willing to get along with her."
    "Then how come she's got no friends, and hasn't ever had any?" Rachel wanted to know.
    "Because no one has been willing to try to get along with her in eleven years," the nurse retorted.
    "Good morning, ma'am. My apologies for the delay, Megan Kayure was having trouble with the fastenings on her shoes again," Suya said, bowing. "Did you need something?"
    "Miss Manetsuyo, this is Dr. Mizuno from the Juban orphanage. She has come to bring you to Juban," the nurse told her.
    "I am pleased to meet you, doctor," Suya said to Dr. Mizuno, bowing again.
    "Dr. Mizuno, this is Natsuya Manetsuyo, the girl who is transferring to Juban," the nurse explained.
    "It is good to meet you as well, Miss Manetsuyo," Dr. Mizuno said, bowing politely. "May I ask how old you are?"
    "I am fourteen, ma'am," Suya answered. Seeing the surprised look on the other's face, she continued, "I am small for my age, I know. I have always been small."
    Dr. Mizuno nodded. "I see. Are you all ready to leave? If we hurry we can catch the next bus for Juban, otherwise we'll just have to wait for a bit."
    "I am ready. My bag is over there by the door, next to where Megan was sitting," Suya told her, gesturing towards the opposite corner of the room.
    "And all the paperwork and everything is set here?" Dr. Mizuno asked the nurse.
    "Yep. All finished and set. Everything was ready last night for her departure," the nurse assured her.
    "All right, then, let's go, shall we?" Dr. Mizuno asked, turning once again to Suya.
    "Yes, please," Suya answered. The two headed out the front door, as the other girls watched and began whispering.

On the bus to Juban

    "One of the younger girls who were standing by the desk said that you didn't have very many friends," Dr. Mizuno mentioned.
    "Truth to tell, I've no real friends at all," Suya answered the implied question, "nor have I had any friends since I came to the orphanage."
    Dr. Mizuno looked a bit startled by this, but she asked calmly, "When was that?"
    "Eleven years ago," Suya told her, "when I was three."
    "Three? Wha...how did you loose your family?"
    "My parents died in a car crash," Suya explained quietly, "ever since that day, I've never been able to ride in a car. I'm terrified of cars, you see, that's probably why they told you to take the bus."
    "Oh! How awful! So young? No wonder you're afraid of cars."
    "Blackberries, too, because I was thrown from the car and landed in a thicket of blackberry brambles. That was how I managed to survive the crash, but even the scent of blackberries reminds me strongly of the crash..." she trailed off.
    "I see. But you've had no friends since then? No one at the orphanage...or at school?"
    "No one. I've had only my dreams to see me through, and the knowledge that someday I'll find true friendship again." Someday I'll find my sisters again. Soon, I think. I'll know my heartsister the first time that I see her. The others? Maybe not quite right away, but I'll recognize them. Someday I'll find the scouts again. I'll meet them once more when we face an enemy together. Oh, Serenity, where are you? Heartsister? Someday, I hope it will be soon. Serenity, I've searched for you, I've been actively looking for you since I first heard of Sailor V over a year ago. Where are you?
    Dr. Mizuno smiled. "Perhaps at Juban. Most of the orphans there are quite friendly, and you'll be attending Juban Junior High School, where my daughter and her friends go. I'll have to introduce you to Amy. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll get the chance to before Monday afternoon. She's off with her friends today, and I think the two of us will be busy getting you settled tomorrow, so there really won't be any chance for you to meet Amy until Monday. Perhaps you'll be in some of the same classes," Dr. Mizuno explained, smiling at Suya.
    "Perhaps," Suya said, smiling back at her. "I hope so." And I hope I find my sisters here. Oh, Serenity, I've missed you so much. Where have you and the others gotten to? Aminanka, Reikani, Makotari, Minakira, where are you all? Are you in Juban? Will I find you in my new home? Serenity...
    Dr. Mizuno nodded in agreement as the bus slowly came to a halt. "Ah! This is our stop, Natsuya, the orphanage is just over there," she told the girl, pointing to a large hospital building a little farther down the road. The two of them stood up, and Suya attempted to retrieve her schoolbag from the overhead rack. Unfortunately, the rack was too high up for her to reach, even when she set down her travelbag and jumped. "Oh, dear! Here, I'll get it for you," Dr. Mizuno said, reaching over and grabbing the bag. "There you go, Natsuya."
    "Thank you, Dr. Mizuno," Suya replied, bowing politely. She picked up her other bag and the two women got off the bus.
    "You'll be in Ward GA at Juban orphanage, Natsuya," Dr. Mizuno told her as they walked to the building. "I don't know if any of the other GA girls will be there right now, though. You'll have to meet them later."
    "How many girls are in the ward?" Suya asked.
    "Currently there are eight other girls in GA, but that might change. All of them are younger than you, Natsuya, but none of them have been here more than five years," Dr. Mizuno explained. "Here we are!" She opened the lobby door. "Good morning, Nurse Ibani!"
    "Good morning, Dr. Mizuno! I take it this is the new girl you were sent to fetch?" the nurse behind the counter replied.
    "Yes. Nurse Ibani, this is Natsuya Manetsuyo, who is transferring into ward GA," Dr. Mizuno told the nurse.
    "Good morning, ma'am," Suya bowed politely.
    "Good morning!" the nurse greeted her cheerfully.
    "Natsuya, this is Nurse Ibani, the daytime receptionist here at Juban. She is very friendly and likes to get to know the orphans brought in," Dr. Mizuno continued.
    "It is good to meet you, Natsuya," Nurse Ibani said, bowing.
    "It is good to meet you also, Nurse Ibani, but if you don't mind I'd rather be called Suya," the young girl replied.
    "Well, then, Suya it is," the nurse answered cheerfully. "I'm sorry that the other GA girls are away at the moment. Saturday tends to be the day when everyone goes off on their own or with their friends, so no one is here right now."
    "I suppose she'll just have to meet them later, then," Dr. Mizuno said. "Come, Suya, I'll show you to your room in the ward, and you can put your things away. See you later, Nurse Ibani!"
    "Bye for now!" called Suya as she followed Dr. Mizuno over to a side door.
    "See you in a bit!" Nurse Ibani responded cheerfully, as the two disappeared through the door.
    The room on the other side of the door was not very large. Raincoats and jackets of various colors hung from rows of pegs on either wall, baskets on either side of the door to the lobby were full of umbrellas, and cubbies beneath the pegs held boots and schoolbags. "This is the coatroom where all the kids stow things they need for outside, but would rather not keep in their rooms. Boys on one side, girls on the other," Dr. Mizuno explained. "You can choose any of the empty spots on the girls' side," she told Suya, gesturing at one wall.
    "Thank you. However, my coat is packed in my bag at the moment because it is a nice day," Suya answered. Are any of my sisters here? I wonder if I will finally find them now. Serenity? Where are you all? Aminaka? Oh! Close, but she isn't here....where? Reikani? Makotari? Minakira? No. None of them are here.
    "Then you can put your things away later," Dr. Mizuno said, smiling. She crossed the room to a door directly opposite the one by which they had entered. "This is the main common room," she explained, opening the door.
    Suya followed her into a much larger room. This room seemed like an oversize version of a living room, except that there were numerous doors around it. "Wow," Suya whispered, amazed. The only gathering places at Shijan Orphanage had been the lobby and the kitchens. Aminaka? No, she isn't here, but someone close to her is....perhaps...Is 'Amy' my sister Aminaka of Mercury? The only other one in this room is Dr. Mizuno, but she isn't Aminaka. Someone in her family is, though. Now I'm REALLY looking forward to meeting 'Amy' on Monday!
    Dr. Mizuno smiled at her. "Bathrooms are over there, those doors lead upstairs to the wards themselves, that door is for the dining room, and the one next to it leads to the kitchens," she explained, indicating each door in turn. "C'mon, let's go up to GA so you can put away your things. OK?"
    "Sure. Let's go." Now that I know I'll find my sisters here, I'm certain I made the right decision in coming.
    Dr. Mizuno led her across the room to one of the far doors. "I like the stairs here," Dr. Mizuno commented as she opened the door, "they're a lot like the stairs up to my apartment." She smiled at Suya. "GA is on the next floor up."
    "This place seems much more pleasant than Shijan orphanage," Suya commented as she followed Dr. Mizuno up the stairs.
    "Everyone here at Juban does their best to make this place feel like home for the children," Dr, Mizuno said, smiling back at Suya. "The lobby is made to look like the lobby of an apartment building, the common room--the gathering place we came through--is designed to seem like a living room for a large family, and the kitchens and dining room are homelike." They had reached the landing for the first floor. "Here we are. Each floor has two wards, a G ward--girls--and a B ward--boys." She led Suya out of the stairwell into a hall, then over to a door marked GA. "Nurse Ibani said no one was here, but Natasha and Emily may have sneaked back to plot some sort of mischief. Those two are always getting into trouble," she explained as she opened the door.
    Suddenly, a door on the other side of the hall slammed open, crashing hard into the wall. A group of boys rushed out, yelling.
    "I call goalie!"
    "Sam's on my team!"
    "If he wants to play!"
    "Hey, Trav, gimme the ball!"
    "Boys!" yelled Dr. Mizuno.
    "No way, Mike! 'S my ball!" Trav yelled back at the other boy.
    "BOYS!!" Dr. Mizuno shouted again, louder this time.
    Goodness, thought Suya. They're quite noisy. But they aren't all that different from the boys at Shijan. She smiled. And yet at the same time they seem more open and friendly. I think that I will like it here. Not to mention I have the feeling that I will finally find my sisters here in Juban. I can hardly wait for Monday!
    The group of boys quieted and looked at Dr. Mizuno.
    "Yes, ma'am?" asked the one who'd pointed out that 'Sam' might not want to play.
    "You know the rules. No slamming the doors, and no running in the hallways," Dr. Mizuno scolded, still standing in the doorway to GA. The boys looked at their feet.
    "Sorry, Dr. Mizuno," they all said in unison.
    "Good. Now go outside to play, please," she said quietly.
    "Yes ma'am!" the boys chimed. Trav kicked the soccer ball somewhat randomly. It hit the wall and bounced straight at Suya. Lightning-quick, she stopped the ball with her foot, then bounced it up and caught it.
    "Travis!" scolded Dr. Mizuno.
    "Woah! Hey, you're good!" called one of the other boys.
    "Sorry!" Trav said to Suya.
    "That's all right," she told him, smiling. "I caught it, didn't I? Here," she handed the ball back. "Maybe you should carry it until you get outside, OK?"
    "Yeah," Trav agreed. "C'mon, let's go!" he called to his friends.
    "Want to come play soccer with us?" asked Mike.
    "Not at the moment, I just got here and I have to put my things away. But thank you for asking. Perhaps I can play later," she answered.
    "That's a great idea, Suya. Boys, how about you go practice, and Suya can join you when she has a chance," Dr. Mizuno told them.
    "OK!" they called. "See ya later!" They hurried down the stairs, chattering loudly.
    "They seem quite friendly," Suya commented.
    "That they most definitely are," Dr. Mizuno replied. "This is the GA gathering room," she said, gesturing at the room behind the door. It looked like a smaller version of the room downstairs, except that it didn't have as many doors. "The bedrooms are over this way." Dr. Mizuno opened one of the far doors and Suya followed her into a hall lined with sliding rice-paper panels.
    "I take it the panels can be moved to change the layout of the bedrooms?" Suya asked.
    "Yes," Dr. Mizuno told her, "that way the girls can choose how many 'rooms' there are, and how many girls are in the same 'room', and can change things around any time they like. It also makes things easier for sleepovers. The girls just move the panels to add another bed to the same 'room'."
    "Sounds like a very good idea."
    Dr. Mizuno smiled. "The other girls certainly think so. Let's see," she led Suya down the hall. "Here," she stopped in front of one of the panels and slid it aside. "This will be your room for now, Suya. You can switch rooms later on if you like, after you've met the other girls."
    They stepped into a room flooded with sunlight from a large window on the far wall. The window's wide sill looked as if it would be a wonderful place to sit and read. The far wall jutted out in one corner, forming what was obviously a closet. This was also apparently where the rice-paper walls that formed three sides of the room were stored when they weren't needed. Near the closet was a small dresser with a mirror, and on the opposite side of the window was a bed. It seemed to be a very comfortable yet cozy room, certainly much more pleasant than the cot she'd had at Shijan.
    "It's wonderful," Suya whispered.
    "Why don't we unpack your things, then I'll give you a quick tour of the orphanage and we can stop in the kitchens for lunch," Dr, Mizuno suggested, smiling at the small girl.
    "That sounds great," Suya answered, smiling. She walked over to the bed and set her bags down atop the white sheets. Dr. Mizuno came over to help as Suya popped the suitcase open.
    It didn't take long to put all of Suya's things away. The suitcase had been filled mostly with clothes, which they quickly hung up in the closet or set into the drawers.
    "I take it you were required to wear your uniforms all the time at Shijan?" Dr. Mizuno commented, noting that most of Suya's clothes consisted of the same gray-and-blue outfit she was wearing.
    "Yes, we had to wear our uniforms every day. That way the Shijan orphans were easy to identify. At school we blended right in with everyone else, because these were also our school uniforms, but on days when there was no school..." Suya trailed off, knowing that she didn't need to explain any further.
    Dr. Mizuno nodded in understanding. "Well, I guess we should probably stop by the mall tomorrow, then. You'll need at least one new outfit, because Juban has no restrictions on what you can wear on non-school days. You'll also get your new school uniform tomorrow," she paused, "at least I think you will. I can't really be sure though, they might not have one small enough to fit you."
    "Then I guess I'll just wear the Shijan uniform until I get the Juban one," Suya told her.
    Dr. Mizuno laughed. "You know, my daughter has two best friends at Juban Junior High; one is the tallest girl in second year (eighth grade) and the other is the shortest. But you're about as much shorter than the shortest of Amy's friends as she is smaller than her tallest friend. Because of that, I think you may well find yourself the shortest girl at Juban Junior High," she explained.
    "That means I'll get to look up to all my classmates," Suya laughed back.
    "Well, we'll find out tomorrow when we go visit. You'll also get your class schedule then, and they may introduce you to your teachers," Dr. Mizuno told her.
    Suya smiled and nodded. "Looks like we're finished here."
    "Yes it does, and it's also almost lunchtime. Let's head downstairs."

After lunch...

    Dr. Mizuno had given Suya a quick tour of the orphanage before they headed to the kitchens for lunch. While they ate, Dr. Mizuno explained what the plan was for the next day. Suya had decided she already liked it here, and even if the girls in GA were as cold to her as the other Shijan girls had been, she'd still be happy here at Juban.
    "So, what would you like to do this afternoon, Suya? I'd introduce you to some of the other children, but they've all left," Dr. Mizuno asked her as they walked back into the main common room.
    "Well, I promised those boys I'd play soccer with them when I got the chance," Suya answered.
    "Are you sure you want to play soccer in a skirt?"
    "I don't mind. I've done that before without a problem."
    "OK, then. I'll walk you over to the park and introduce you."
    The park where the boys they'd met earlier were playing soccer was not far, and five minutes later Suya had been introduced to the boys from ward B1 and their friend Sam. Now they were trying to decide which team she'd be on.
    "Wait a minute," Suya instructed. "As they stand, the teams are uneven. I will join the team that is short a player, OK?"
    The boys agreed, and the game began again.

Elsewhere in Juban...

    "Serena, if you don't come back to school soon, you're going to be so far behind that you'll have to repeat second year!" Lita scolded her friend.
    "Quite apart from that, we need everyone's help right now with a new assignment," Artemis told the five girls gathered in Serena's bedroom.
    "New assignment?" asked Amy, looking over at the small white cat.
    "Yes," Luna told them. "We've just learned that we are still missing a scout. We also have to find the younger Princess of the Moon."
    "But I thought Serena was the Moon Princess!" Mina exclaimed in surprise.
    "Maybe Rini is this younger princess," Raye suggested.
    Luna shook her head at the raven-haired girl. "No. The princess we are looking for was only a couple of months younger than Princess Serenity, so she should be about the same age as the rest of you."
    All five girls stared at the little black cat in shock. "But, to be my younger sister she'd've had to be almost a year younger than me!" Serena exclaimed.
    "No," Artemis said, shaking his head. "You were sisters, but not by blood."
    "You mean we're supposed to find Queen Serenity's adopted daughter?" asked Lita. "How are we supposed to do that?"
    "It won't be as difficult as it sounds. We were told that she will be looking for us as well," he explained.
    "That will make things a bit easier," Mina commented.
    "So, we're supposed to find someone we've never met, who is looking for us, but we have no way of knowing that we've found her?" Raye asked skeptically.
    "Will we know her when we find her? Or will she know us when she finds us?" Amy wanted to know.
    "How does she know to look for us anyway?" Mina wondered.
    "Queen Serenity said that the princess will recognize Artemis and myself right away, and she'll probably also know Serena when she meets her. As for the rest of you, that's a bit less certain. However," Luna paused for her words to sink in, then continued, "you will probably experience some force of attraction to her, similar to that which drew the five of you together when you first became Sailor Scouts."
    The debate over how they were supposed to find this person continued for the remainder of the afternoon's meeting.

That evening...

    Suya had enjoyed playing soccer that afternoon. The game had ended in a tie, when Sam's mother had stopped by to get him. Since it was getting late anyhow by that time, the other boys had decided to head home, too.
    After dinner, they'd all gathered in the main common room to hang out until bedtime. Suya sat at one of the tables against the wall, setting up a game of chess.
    "Do you play?" asked a voice nearby, startling Suya. She looked up to locate the source of the voice. A young girl, perhaps eleven or so, stood across the table from her.
    "Yes," Suya answered the girl's question. "Would you like to play against me?"
    "Sure," smiling, the other pulled out the chair opposite Suya and sat down. "Do you want to be white?"
    "If I may?"
    "Go ahead. You've already got them set up in front of you anyhow. Besides, I like playing black. It almost matches my hair."
    The black pieces did indeed almost match the other girl's short, blue-black hair. Her blue eyes were smiling and friendly. She was also very good at chess. It did not take long for the two girls to become so involved in their challenging game that both completely forgot that they had not introduced themselves.
    Bedtime came long before their game was finished. "OK, everyone, time to head upstairs!" called one of the nurses as she entered the room. The youngest of the children were already in their beds, and now the older children reluctantly left their games and headed for the stairs.
    "But we haven't finished our game!" the short-haired girl complained.
    "Perhaps if we leave the pieces as they are, we can come back and finish it tomorrow," Suya told her.
    "Oh. But what if someone moves one of the pieces?"
    "Tell you what, I'll write down the positions while you head upstairs, that way we'll know where all the pieces are supposed to be," Suya suggested, getting paper and pencil from a nearby table.
    "OK! See you tomorrow!" The younger girl took off up the stairs after the other children.
    Suya swiftly drew the layout of the chessboard, then bid the nurse goodnight and headed off to bed.

Early the next morning...

    A tiny hint of birdsong drifted in the window. Suya woke and sat up. Not quite sunrise, she thought.
    She decided to get up anyway. Today was the day that she'd get to see her new school for the first time, and she was far to excited to go back to sleep. She dressed, once again in the gray-and-blue Shijan uniform, then brushed and fixed her hair. Now the sun was starting to peek up over the horizon, and Suya settled herself on the wide windowseat to watch the sunrise. Soon, she thought, I'll find you again my sisters. Will you know me? Do you remember me at all?
    None of the other girls in GA were awake yet, but Suya's excitement was building with each passing moment. As the sun crested the horizon, she decided to go on ahead downstairs and see if the kitchens were open yet.
    The door wasn't locked, so Suya went into the kitchens, half-expecting to find herself in the midst of bustling people busy preparing for breakfast. But the kitchen was empty. Recalling that Dr. Mizuno had told her breakfast was usually served rather late on weekends, Suya smiled and set about fixing her own, glad to be able to choose what to eat for breakfast.
    Excitement prevented her from lingering in the kitchens when she'd finished, so she wandered out into the lobby. "Good morning!" she greeted the nurse seated behind the desk.
    "Oh, good morning," came the other's startled reply. "I didn't' think anyone would be up this early. It is Sunday, after all."
    "I tend to get up early any day of the week," Suya told her. "By the way, my name is Natsuya Manetsuyo. I'm new here."
    "Well, its nice to meet you, Natsuya. I'm Elaine Tokusha, but you can call me Ellie," the nurse said, smiling.
    "It is very nice to meet you, Ellie," Suya smiled back, bowing politely. "I also have a nickname that I like better than my full name. Please call me Suya."
    "Certainly! Are any of the others awake yet?"
    "I don't think so. None of the other GA girls were up when I came downstairs."
    "Ah, well. They don't usually get up this early unless they have something going on. Uh," Ellie paused a moment, considering how to word what she was about to ask. "Could I ask why you're wearing a school uniform on a Sunday morning?"
    "I do not have another outfit to wear. At Shijan, where I lived for the past eleven years, we were required to wear our school uniforms all the time."
    "Oh, I see!" Ellie nodded in understanding. "I guess someone will have to take you to the mall!"
    "I suppose so."
    The conversation moved on to various other things, like why Suya had decided to transfer to Juban, as it continued on. About an hour passed in this manner, before the front door opened.
    "Good morning, Ellie; good morning, Suya!" Dr. Mizuno greeted them as she entered.
    "Good morning, Dr. Mizuno!" Suya greeted her cheerfully.
    "Good morning, Kate!" Ellie said at the same instant.
    "You look very excited, Suya," Dr. Mizuno commented.
    "Oh, I am! Today I get to see my new school, and tomorrow I get to meet new people, and I'm almost certain that I'll have found friends by the end of the week!" came Suya's exuberant response.
    "Well then, let's go! See you later, Ellie!"
    "Bye! Have fun!"
    "Of course! See you later!" Suya called as she followed Dr. Mizuno back outside.

A little later, back in GA...

    "So what are we doing today, Ali?" asked a green-eyed girl, as she stood in front of the mirror putting her brown hair up in a ponytail.
    Ali looked up from her book. "Not much at all until Nikki and Liza wake up, Mandy. They'd throw a fit if we just went off someplace without even waking them up to tell them."
    "I know. But I won't be the one to wake them. It really isn't worth trying."
    "Oh well. They'll probably wake up soon enough anyway."
    "Hey, Ali, who was that girl you were playing chess with last night?"
    Ali opened her mouth to answer, stopped to think, realized she didn't have the answer right at the moment, shut her mouth, thought some more, and finally said, "I really don't know, Mandy. I forgot to ask her name, and I forgot to introduce myself. I suppose, though, that she is the new girl."
    "What makes you say that?" asked Mandy.
    "She was wearing a Shijan district school uniform."
    "Who was?" came a sleepy voice from one of the four beds in the large room.
    "The girl Ali was playing chess with last night," Mandy answered.
    "Good morning, Liza. You missed the first part of the discussion," Ali told the black-haired girl who'd just awoken and was sitting up in bed.
    "Oh. Yeah. Nikki?" Liza looked over at the fourth bed, where a blond girl still lay fast asleep. "Darn. I want to go eat. Guess we'll have to wake her."
    "I wonder what ward the new girl's in?" Ali commented.
    "Maybe we could ask Ellie or Nurse Ibani after breakfast. But first we have to get this slugabed up." Mandy walked over and carefully picked up one edge of the mattress, dumping the blond onto the floor.
    "Ow! Hey! Wha..." she complained as she sat up. "Mandy! Wha'd you do that for?"
    "Time for breakfast, Nikki. Would you rather we let you sleep and miss breakfast?" asked Liza.
    "No, but did you have to dump me on the floor? That hurt!" Nikki glared at Mandy for a moment, then set about untangling herself from the sheets.
    "If you woke up without such drastic measures, I wouldn't do that. But nothing else works," the tall girl answered.
    Nikki made a face at her, then got up and went to get dressed.
    "Who's the new girl?" Liza asked Ali as she brushed her long black hair.
    "I don't know. All I know is that she's very good at chess, and she has long, ash-blond hair and blue eyes," Ali replied, closing her book.
    "New girl? Muph." Nikki's voice was slightly muffled as she pulled on her shirt. "What new girl? How old is she? What ward is she in? Is she nice? What's her name? Has she got a nickname? How'd her parents die? What grade--ow!"
    "One question at a time, Nikki! Please!" exclaimed Mandy, tugging a lock of Nikki's long blond hair to get the other to be quiet.
    "The new girl arrived yesterday," Liza told her.
    "How old is she?" Nikki still wanted to know.
    Mandy and Liza both shrugged, then looked at Ali for an answer.
    "I don't know. I think she might be about our age, maybe older, maybe younger, but she's almost definitely older than Eri and Ju. I don't know what ward she's in; she seemed nice last night; I forgot to ask her name, or her nickname; I certainly didn't ask how her parents died; and she's probably no more than one grade behind us," Ali told them, answering all of Nikki's flood of questions in one fell swoop.
    "Oh," the other three chimed.
    Nikki finished brushing her hair and put her yellow bow in. "C'mon, I'm hungry. Let's go get breakfast, and then maybe we can ask Ellie or somebody about the new girl."
    "Perhaps we can find her ourselves," suggested Liza.
    "We'll probably find her at breakfast, unless she's a real early riser," Mandy put in.
    "It is after eight o'clock, so she may have left already," Ali pointed out.
    "Left?" Mandy gave the other a blank look. "Why? Where would she have gone? It's Sunday."
    "Let's go downstairs," Liza insisted. "You two can talk and walk at the same time."
    The four girls tiptoed down the hallway to the gathering room. (Natasha and Emily were still asleep and they didn't wish to wake the other two.) As they left GA, Mandy and Ali resumed their conversation.
    "She's new to Juban district, so she may have gone to the school to meet the teachers and get her uniform," Ali pointed out.
    "You don't suppose she'll be going to the high school, do you?" inquired Nikki.
    "High school counts as 'considerably older than us,' dimwit. It'd be easy to tell if she was in high school," Liza scolded.
    "I'm not a dimwit, it was a perfectly reasonable question! How would it be easy to tell if she's in high school, anyhow?" Nikki glared at Liza.
    Realizing that the two were about to start arguing, Ali quickly stepped in. "No, I don't think she's in high school, but she might be. She could be anywhere from fifth year elementary to first year high school," she explained. (note: Ali means that she might be in any grade from fifth to tenth.) "But I don't think she's more than a couple years older than us."
    "How tall is she?" Mandy wondered idly.
    "I couldn't tell. I only saw her sitting down," Ali answered as the four of them entered the dining room.
    Most of the tables were filled, as kids from the six different wards sat about eating and chatting. The girls managed to find a table that was empty, and quickly grabbed it. Anxious to learn more about the new girl, they did not linger over their breakfast. As soon as they had finished eating, they headed out to the lobby.
    "Good morning, Ellie!" all four greeted the nurse simultaneously.
    "Good morning, girls!" she answered cheerfully.
    "Ellie, could you tell us anything about the new girl?" asked Liza.
    "You mean Suya? Oh, she just left about half an hour ago or so."
    "Left? Why? Where'd she go?" Many wanted to know.
    "She and Dr. Mizuno went to visit the school, so that Suya can get fitted for her uniform, and meet her teachers. After that, Dr. Mizuno is taking her to the mall to get a new outfit so she doesn't have to wear her uniform all the time," Ellie answered.
    "So her name's Suya?" Ali asked.
    "That's what she likes to be called."
    "Cool!" Nikki put in. "How old is she? What grade is she in? What school will she be at? What ward is she in? What's she look like? Is she nice? How..." Mandy cut her off by covering her mouth.
    Ellie laughed. "OK, Nikki! Slow down! I don't know how old she is; I'm not sure what grade she's in; Dr. Mizuno mentioned something about Amy, but I didn't catch the whole thing, so I'd guess she'll be at Juban Junior High, but I don't know for sure. She's in GA; didn't you see her last night? I thought she was nice, but I only met her for a few minutes this morning."
    "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait until later to meet her. What do you guys want to do today?" queried Ali, turning to her friends.
    "Lets go to the mall for a bit, then to the Crown Fruit Parlor for lunch, then see if the boys are playing soccer at the park," Nikki suggested.
    None of the other girls had any objections to this plan, so off they went.

At the school...

    "Well, I'm afraid that's the smallest size we have, Miss Manetsuyo. It'll have to be altered, which will take about a week or so," the uniform lady explained. "Meantime, you can wear your old uniform."
    "All right," Suya said calmly. She had no problems with it either way.
    "If we're all done here, why don't you change back and we'll go meet some of your teachers, Suya," Dr. Mizuno suggested.
    Suya nodded and stepped back behind the screen to change. She hung the blue Juban uniform neatly on its hanger and put it back in its place.
    "All set? OK, let's go!"
    Suya followed Dr. Mizuno out into the hall. "We'll visit your homeroom first," Dr. Mizuno stated as she led her small charge down the hall. "You're in class one, which means you won't be in Amy's homeroom, she's in class five. Here we are!"
    They stopped in front of a classroom labeled "2-1".
    "Yes? Oh, good morning," the teacher greeted them as they entered.
    "Good morning, ma'am," Suya answered.
    "Good morning!" Dr. Mizuno's greeting was much more cheerful than the teacher's.
    "Oh! Of course, you must be the new student, right?" the teacher said to Suya. "I'm Miss Haruna."
    "Nice to meet you, Miss Haruna. My name is Natsuya Manestuyo, but I prefer to be called Suya," the girl answered.
    "It's very good to meet you, Suya," Miss Haruna smiled at her. "And you are?" she asked Dr. Mizuno.
    "I'm Dr. Kateri Mizuno. I'm just here as Suya's guide," the other answered. "She's new at the Juban Orphanage, where I work."
    "Oh. Well, Suya, I hope you like it here in Juban, and I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. I'm sorry I can't talk longer right now, but I have a lot of stuff I need to get finished," Miss Haruna explained quickly.
    They bid Miss Haruna farewell and left to find Suya's math class.
    "Good morning, Mr. Seki!" Dr. Mizuno greeted the teacher as they entered.
    "Good morning, Dr. Mizuno! I see you have someone new with you," Mr. Seki said, turning. "Good morning, miss. I take it you are new to Juban? Do you like math?"
    "Good morning, Mr. Seki," Suya replied. "Yes, I am new to Juban; I just moved here yesterday. Math is one of my favorite subjects." She smiled at the friendly teacher.
    "Good, good! What's your name, child?"
    "My name is Natsuya Manetsuyo, but I prefer to be called Suya."
    "Well, Suya, it's very nice to meet you! I think I'll put you next to one of my best students. That way, if you need help with something, she can help you, and she'll also have someone to talk to who understands as much of the math as she does. The two of you will probably get along very well. Here, could you help me put this up?" Mr. Seki indicated the poster he'd been hanging when the two women entered.
    "Sure!" cheerfully, Suya complied with his request.
    They spent a very pleasant half-hour helping the energetic math teacher decorate his classroom, then bid him farewell and went to find the rest of Suya's classes. Many of the other teachers weren't there, since it was Sunday, so Dr. Mizuno and Suya just poked their heads in and glanced around the classroom.
    Home Ec. was another matter. "Hello!" a cheerful voice greeted them as they entered. "Please excuse the mess, I'm in the middle of getting things ready for tomorrow."
    "Hello!" Suya returned the teacher's cheerful greeting.
    "Hi, goodness, you do look busy," Dr. Mizuno commented. "Would you like some help?"
    "That would be nice, yes, thank you," the teacher answered. "Actually, I'm almost done. Oh, you must be the new student! I'm Mrs. Lanki."
    "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Lanki. My name is Natsuya Manetsuyo, but I am called Suya," the young girl replied.
    "I'm Dr. Mizuno; I work at Juban Orphanage," the black-haired woman explained.
    "Amy's mother, right?" asked Mrs. Lanki.
    Dr. Mizuno nodded.
    "I don't have Amy in any of my classes, but she sometimes comes in here to find Lita after school, that's how I know her." The teacher continued to chatter cheerfully as they helped her prepare for the next day's classes. "I think I'm going to clump the new students together tomorrow, if you don't mind, Suya. For some reason most of the class seems to be afraid of the last new student we got. She's really tall, but I don't see why the other students don't like her, she's really very nice, except to those who are trying to hurt her or her friends. Plus she's an excellent cook. I think you'll get along with her, though, even though you're about a foot shorter than she is."
    With three pairs of hands working cheerfully together, the job was soon done. As it was then about lunchtime, the three bid each other farewell and left the school.
    "OK, we'll catch the bus to the mall and get lunch at the food court," Dr. Mizuno told Suya as they left the school grounds. "Then we can see about finding you a new outfit. Of course, I'm certain the other girls will be quite willing to help you fill out your wardrobe later on!" she laughed.
    Suya giggled. "I will be glad to have their help. It has been far too long since I was allowed to wear anything but my uniform, and I don't think I'd be able to choose cool outfits on my own." I don't think I've chosen my own clothes since Silver Millennium, she thought. However, I'd probably still be able to choose a good gown. But I can't wander the streets of Tokyo in a gown, except maybe on special occasions.
    The bus pulled up just as the two reached the bus stop, and they got on. The ride to the mall wasn't very long, which was a good thing because the bus was rather crowded and they had to stand. (Suya, being rather short, had a hard time holding on to the bars.) Predictably, the mall was also packed, but fortunately the lines in the food court weren't overly long.
    As soon as they finished their lunch, Dr. Mizuno led Suya to one of the clothing stores. "This is one of Amy's favorite shops, besides bookstores. I think we can probably find something for you here," Dr. Mizuno told her as they entered.
    Mercury always loved books, Suya thought, recalling the quiet, serious princess, and she liked math. This gives me even more reasons to believe that Amy Mizuno might well be Princess Mercury reborn. Aminaka, I have missed you so much! And the others too, Reikani, Minakira, Makotari, Serenity. Where are you all? You’re here in Juban, that much I know. But where? Aminaka I’ll meet tomorrow, I’m certain. I know that she is Amy. Oh, heartsister, Serenity, where are you? Will I meet you tomorrow as well? What of the others?
    They did indeed find something. A pale blue shortsleeved dress caught Suya's eye. The knee-length skirt was wide and flowing, a breezy dress excellent for warm weather. With its sweetheart neckline and silky-smooth, soft fabric, it reminded Suya, albeit rather vaguely, of the gowns she'd worn in Silver Millennium. It’s like the one that I wore to a gala on Mercury once, Suya thought, remembering the fun she’d had at that party, trying to get Aminaka, who didn’t like such parties, to dance with someone, eventually giving up and pulling the other out onto the dance floor herself. And then a week later I wore it to Makotari’s party, and no one except Serenity realized that it was the same dress!  Queen Jupiter said it reminded her of the roses her friend Arianna used to wear all the time. It fit perfectly, too.
    "That looks marvelous, Suya!" Dr. Mizuno commented. "Do you like it?"
    "Yes, indeed!" Suya twirled, causing the skirt to flare out around her. "It's very comfortable."
     "You look like a princess!" commented a voice from behind them as Suya turned.
     Suya stopped mid-twirl, facing the blond woman who’d spoken. "Thank you, ma’am," she said, bowing politely.
     "Hello, Marie! Fancy meeting you here!" Dr. Mizuno greeted the other woman.
     "Hello, Kate! I didn’t expect to run into you here either," the blond answered. "And who is this little princess? One of Amy’s friends?"
     "Well, perhaps. Actually, she hasn’t met Amy yet. This is Suya Manetsuyo, she’s just transfered to Juban Orphanage. She’ll be attending Juban Junior High starting tomorrow, and she’ll be in Amy’s math class. Suya, this is Mrs. Aino, a friend of mine. Her daughter is one of Amy’s friends," Dr. Mizuno said, by way of introduction.
     "It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Aino," Suya greeted her.
     "It’s nice to meet you too, Suya," Mrs. Aino replied. "Are you going to get that dress? It really does look very nice on you."
     "Yes, I think I will get it," Suya answered. "Dr. Mizuno, I’m going to go change back to my own clothes so that we can go buy this, OK?"
     "OK, Suya! Do you want to look for anything else, or wait and let the other girls help you with that later on?" Dr. Mizuno asked her.
     "I think I’ll wait," she returned. "This is enough for now." Perhaps Minakira can help me with getting clothes and such, Suya thought as she walked back into the stall in the fitting room. Once I find her, that is. She is here though, I know it. She knows herself, at least in part, because she’s been battling the Negaverse for over a year. Sailor V for Sailor Venus. Minakira, when will I find you again?
     "Is she short of clothes?" Mrs. Aino asked Dr. Mizuno after Suya had left.
     "She’s been at Shijan Orphanage for eleven years, and Shijan requires them to wear their uniforms all the time. So she doesn’t have anything to wear except her old school uniform," Dr. Mizuno explained.
     "What about the Juban uniform?"
     "She’s too small! They have to get the uniform altered, so she’ll be wearing the Shijan uniform for her first week at Juban."
     "Hmm. Well, I hope that she’ll get a chance to meet Mina, even though they won’t be going to the same school. I’m sure that Mina’d love to help her fix her wardrobe."
     "Yes indeed! So would some of the other GA girls. I hope that Suya gets the chance to meet all of Amy’s good friends. I think  she’s in one of Lita’s classes, and she might also have a class or two with Serena, but I don’t know. Perhaps I’ll take her up to the temple later."
     "Good idea. You might also want to stop by the Crown Arcade, the girls like to hang out there. They might even be there this afternoon. That is, if they can get Serena out of her house. Mina says that she’s been rather depressed lately. Something about getting dumped."
     "Amy said she hadn’t been to school all week. Must have been really bad, whatever it was."
     "Well, I’ll be sure to tell Mina—oh, how old is Suya?"
     "She’s fourteen, same as the other girls. She just doesn’t look it."
     "No kidding? She’s small for her age."
     "Yes."
     "Well, I’ll be certain to tell Mina that there’s a new girl around town she might want to make friends with. Is Suya a Sailor Scout fan? "
     "I don’t know."
     "Yes, I am a fan of the Sailor Scouts. I have been ever since I first heard of Sailor V last year," Suya answered as she came out of the fitting room, dressed once more in her gray and blue uniform. Because I know that the Sailor Scouts are really my sisters reborn, she thought. And I’m a Sailor Scout myself! Perhaps I should look for the cats first. Luna and Artemis might be able to help me find the scouts. But I’ll know Serenity right away, and she is the one that the cats were both ‘attached’ to in Silver Millenium. Yet things might be a little different now. Actually, Venus probably has one of the cats, because she was the first to awaken. Minakira? Where are you? Do you have a mooncat guardian?
     "Oh, good! I know Mina’s a big fan of Sailor V. She’s always playing the Sailor V Fighter Game at the arcade," Mrs. Aino told her. "And then complaining that the game is rigged."
     "They all complain that the game is rigged, Marie," Dr. Mizuno told her.
     "Oh dear. I don’t know. I’ve never actually seen any of the girls playing it, but I can picture just about any of them yelling at it. Except Amy," Mrs. Aino commented. Then she glanced at her watch. "Oh! Oh dear, I’m sorry, Kate, but I’ve got to run! It was nice meeting you, Suya, I hope I’ll see you around again! Bye!"
     "Bye!" the other two called after her as she rushed away.
     The checkout line was rather short, considering how crowded the mall was.
     "Would you like to see where there is a temple? I know a good one on Sendai Hill. My daughter is friends with the preistess there," Dr. Mizuno asked as they left the mall.
     "Certainly. I would like to know a place where I can go to pray. I can ask the spirits to guide me in finding friends," Suya explained, thinking, And I can ask them to help me find my sisters. Reikani was a sort of preistess I think. Yes, though she delt with a temple quite different than the one I took care of. Hers was a Shito shrine, mine was the Temple of Artimia, which housed the TruthCrystal Spire. Perhaps the priestess at this temple can help me seek my sisters.
     "All right, then, off we go to Sendai Hill!"
     They decided to walk rather than to take the bus. On the way, Dr. Mizuno explained that Amy and her friends sometimes visited the temple during lunchtime instead of hanging around at the school. Amy said that it was more peaceful there.
     As they came up the steps, Suya decided that she agreed, it was peaceful there.
     "Uh, hey ladies!" a voice greeted them. "Grandpa’s taking a nap and Raye went to visit a friend of hers, so there’s really nobody here but me for the moment. If you’ve, like, got a question, you could ask me, but I, like, really can’t say for sure I’ll know the answer. An’ if you’ve got a request or somethin’ you’ll probably just have to come back later." A young man came up to them. He had long, dark, shaggy hair, and his bangs covered his eyes, but he seemed nice.
     "Do you know where Raye went?" Dr. Mizuno asked him.
     "Uh, no. She, like, didn’t say," he answered. "Oh, right, I know you! You’re Amy’s mom, right?"
     "Yes. Any idea when Raye will be back?"
     "She should be back by tomorrow, I guess. She never tells me anything though," his face fell as he said this last.
     "Well, I guess that’s life. I wanted Suya to meet her."
     "Suya? Who’s Suya? Oh, you?" he asked, spotting the small girl standing a little behind Dr. Mizuno.
     "Yes, I’m Suya. And you are?" she responded. Why does he make me think of Mars? Or is it him? This whole place kinda feels vaguely like Mars. Maybe Reikani comes here often?
     "Oh, I, uh, forgot to introduce myself, didn’t I? I’m Chad Kumada. I kinda help out here at the temple. Whatever Grandpa needs me to do."
     "It’s nice to meet you, Chad."
     "I wonder if the girls might have gone to the Crown? Excuse us, Chad, I’m trying to find a way to introduce Suya to some of Amy’s friends before tomorrow. It would be nice if she actually knew somebody going in," Dr. Mizuno told him.
     "They might be there. Raye said something about dragging somebody out of her room, or something. I didn’t really understand it, and she wasn’t talking to me," Chad explained. "I suppose I’ll probably see you around later on. Bye!"
     "Bye!" they called out as they turned and went back down the stairs.
     Next, they checked the Crown Video Arcade, but it was almost completely empty. The attendant greeted them as they came in.
     "They all left already, ma’am, you just missed them," he told Dr. Mizuno.
     "The girls?" she asked him.
     "Yeah, four of the girls from GA were in here before, yelling at the Sailor V game again, but they left about five or ten minutes ago. I haven’t seen Amy at all today," he explained.
    "Oh well. I wonder where she went."
     "Amy? Amy probably went to the library or something. What is odd, though, is that I haven’t  seen Mina or Lita all weekend, and I haven’t seen Serena for a week, but Dairen’s been in here a lot. Say, who’s this? You’re new to Juban, aren’t you?" he asked Suya.
     "Yes, I am. I just transfered to ward GA in the Juban Orphanage. I’m Suya. It’s nice to meet you," she greeted him, bowing politely.
     "Nice to meet you too, Suya. I’m Andrew. Do you like videogames?"
     "I don’t know. I’ve never really had the chance to try one. At Shijan, where I used to live, the younger girls always dragged me around, and I didn’t ever get the chance to do something that I wanted to do," she answered.
     "Well, why don’t you try one right now? The Sailor V game is pretty popular, especially with the GA girls and such. The two girls I mentioned earlier usually come in at least once on the weekends, and as often as they get a chance to during the week, to play it. They almost always wind up yelling at it and complaining that the game is rigged, though. I’m always afraid that one day Lita will get mad enough at it that she’ll punch the machine," Andrew told her. "I don’t think the game would survive being beaten up by Lita."
    Suya laughed, then went over to try the game. Dr. Mizuno came and watched over her shoulder. After a while, Andrew wandered over to watch as well. I wonder why they think it’s rigged? Suya thought. This is a great deal of fun! I get to battle the Negaverse without draining myself or getting hit!
     "Wow! Suya, you’re really good at this! Geez, I haven’t seen anyone get that far that fast since I first met Amy!" Andrew commented.
     "Watch out!" Dr. Mizuno warned. Too late.
     "GAME OVER" flashed on the screen. "Oh well. I can play again later. That was lots of fun!" Suya exclaimed as she added her name to the "High Scores" list.
     "I can hardly wait to see you play again! You’re really terriffic! Hey, see you later, Suya!" Andrew called as she and Dr. Mizuno left.
     "See you later!" she called back.
     It was getting late by the time Suya and Dr. Mizuno got back to the orphanage. Dr. Mizuno had to leave right away, because she’d promised Amy she’d be home in time for dinner. Suya made her way to the dining room. There was one empty table left, so she grabbed it right away. She finished her dinner quickly, for her excitement was building once more. She could hardly wait for school the next day. If I don’t calm down, I’m never going to get to sleep tonight!
     She wandered out to the common room and seated herself once more at the table where she’d played chess with the younger girl the night before. As she checked to be sure that all the pieces were in the same place they’d been when they’d been forced to pause their game the night before, she watched the other children coming in, playing cards and other games, and chattering. The boys from ward B1 came in as the nurses were shooing the younger children off to bed. They looked rather tiered and a bit dirty. Trav had obviously fallen down a few times.
     Following them was a small group of giggling girls. Both groups headed directly for the dining room without even glancing around to see who was in the common room. It was close to bedtime when they returned to the common room. Suya still hadn’t found the girl she’d been playing chess with the night before.
    "There’s not going to be any time for that now. C’mon let’s go upstairs. We have school tomorrow, remember?" said one of the girls as they passed Suya.
    "Oh, yeah. I guess we’ll just have to wake up early, so we have a chance to meet her before we have to go to school," another girl commented.
    "You? Up early? That’ll be a first, Nikki!"
    "Pot calling the kettle black, huh, Liza? You’re no early riser yourself," the first girl scolded.
     "Time for bed, everyone!" called a nurse. "Suya, you never found your chess partner? Oh well, maybe tomorrow."
    Suya nodded and followed the other children up the stairs. Fortunately, the long wait for the other girl had calmed her down, and she didn’t have too much trouble getting to sleep.

Early Monday morning...

     Sunrise, Suya thought. I don't think I'll be able to go back to sleep. I'm too excited, because I will be starting at Juban Junior High today. I will find my sister Aminaka! And maybe some of my other sisters! I can hardly wait for school to start! Aminaka, Amy, do you know the others? Perhaps your other friends are in truth our sisters, the Sailor Scouts?  She got out of bed and grabbed her uniform from the closet. For the first time, she noticed that the closet had no back. The room on the other side was empty, at the moment, but it evidently belonged to one of the younger girls. Ellie had told her the two youngest GA girls were spending the weekend over at friends' houses. Apparently the one whose room was adjacent to hers wasn't back yet.
    By the time the sun had fully crested the horizon, Suya was dressed and had finished fixing her hair. She headed down to the dining room, quietly so as not to awaken the other girls, but still as swiftly as she could manage without actually running. She was eager to begin the day.
    The kitchens were filled with racket this morning, as they had not been the day before. "Hand me that, would you? C'mon we have to finish quickly! It's Monday! Lots of the kids will be in here right after breakfast to make their lunches!" a voice called out above the racket.
    Oh! It is busy today! "Could I help you with anything?" Suya asked, shouting to make herself heard above the noise.
    "Hmm? What was that? Oh! Good morning! Oh, you're new here aren't you? Did you make your lunch yet? Oh, wait, you'll be wanting breakfast! What grade are you in? Could you hand me that spoon over there?" the woman who'd been yelling before answered her.
    Suya handed the spoon to the woman, who was apparently the head cook. "Yes, I'm new, I just got here on Saturday morning! I'm in second year junior high! Could I help you with anything?"
    "Oh, yes! Here, would you stir this for me, please? Then I can get other stuff going! I'll get you something to eat in just a few minutes, OK?"
    Suya took over stirring. "Thank you!" she smiled at the woman.
    Five minutes later, things in the kitchens had settled down considerably. "OK, we're just about set for breakfast. Would you like some pancakes, miss? Oh, dear, I don't believe I introduced myself! I'm Mrs. Onigino, the head cook here at Juban Orphanage. Did you make your lunch already dear, or do you still need to do that?"
    "Thank you, Mrs. Onigino," Suya said, accepting a plate of pancakes. "I made my lunch last night after dinner. By the way, I'm Suya Manetsuyo. I'm in ward GA."
    "Nice to meet you, Suya, and thank you so much for your help. Things are always crazy in here on Monday mornings. GA, huh? Have you met any of the other girls yet? Lessee, two of them aren't here right now, two of them aren't really all that nice anyhow, but the other four...wait they came in rather late last night, along with the boys from ward B1."
    "No, I haven't met any of the other GA girls yet. Perhaps I'll meet them today after school. I can hardly wait for school to start!"
    "Excited about making new friends?"
    "Yes indeed!" Today I will find the first friends that I've had since Silver Millennium. Amy, and maybe some others as well!
    "Well, I will let you be for now, then. See you at dinner tonight!"
    "See you later!"
    It didn't take long for Suya to finish her pancakes. She didn't linger in the kitchens for a moment after she was done. Gathering up her things in the coatroom, where she'd put her schoolbag and her lunch the night before, she headed out into the lobby. "Good morning, Ellie!!"
    "Good morning, Suya! Hey, this'll be your first day at Juban Junior High, huh? Would you like someone to walk you to school?" the young nurse greeted her.
    "No, thank you, I'm sure I know how to get there. Is it late enough to leave for school yet?"
    Ellie laughed. "I suppose that you could leave for school now. You'll be a bit early, though. It's only about ten after seven. School doesn't start until eight."
    "Well, I guess I'll just be early then! I'm too excited to sit around here and do nothing at all!"
    "OK! See you later, then! Bye!"
    "Bye!" Suya headed off out the door.

Tsukino house, 7:15am....

    "Serena! You're going to school this morning, I don't care what you say! You've already been out for a week, you're going to get too far behind!" Mrs. Tsukino yelled up the stairs. She knew that her daughter was actually awake for once.
    "Mo-om! You sound like Amy!!" complained Serena.
    "Well Amy is very smart and you know it! Now get dressed and get down here!"
    Five minutes later, Serena came downstairs, dressed in her school uniform and ready for the day. Mrs. Tsukino settled her at the table with a plate of pancakes, then went to get Sammy up. Serena stared at the pancakes for a moment, then ate them quickly, grabbed her lunch and left. She'd had enough of being in her house and was not at all ready to face her brother's teasing.
    "Thanks for lunch, mom! Bye!"
    "Bye, Serena!" Mr. Tsukino called after his daughter as she rushed out the door. "Do you suppose she'll actually be early for school this morning, Ikuko?" he asked his wife as she came in, followed by a somewhat sleepy Sammy.
    "Hmm? I don't know, Kenji, she might be. Where'd she go? She didn't leave already, did she?" Mrs. Tsukino answered.
    "Serena early? I don't think so. She's probably still in bed," Sammy commented. "Like Rini."
    "She just ran out, going about as fast as normal. You don't suppose she thinks she is late, do you?" Mr. Tsukino asked.
    "I don't know. Old habits die hard, I guess," Mrs. Tsukino replied.
    "I still think she isn't up yet," Sammy told them.
    Serena, however, was at that moment running top speed to school. This time I won't be late, and I won't get a detention, and Miss H won't have any reason to yell at me in homeroom, she thought as she ran. And anyhow I have the strangest feeling that something really great is going to happen today.
    It was about 7:40am when Serena got to school. She went directly to her homeroom, but Miss H hadn't arrived yet. Molly and Melvin were there, though. That reminded her of Darien, and she started crying again. She sat on the floor just outside of the classroom rather than going in and having to face her oldest friend.

Not far away...

    Suya wandered down the hall. She'd gotten to school at about 7:25 and spent about twenty minutes exploring the school grounds. Now she was looking for her homeroom. Hmm. Oh dear, I seem to have forgotten where it is. Wait, is that someone crying? I'll go see what's wrong, then I'll go back to looking for my homeroom. She turned a corner, and there in front of her was the source of the crying. A girl sat on the floor next to a classroom door labeled "2-1". Oh. Serenity?! The girl there...... is my heartsister Serenity! Why's she crying? Oh, Serenity, what's wrong? Suya walked over to the blond girl.
    "Hey, good morning. What's the matter?" she asked the other, squatting down so that she was level with the sobbing girl.
    "Oh, everything!" was the other's response. "I...I got dumped. And I just can't get over it," she sobbed. "And just now I saw my best friend talking to her boyfriend and it reminded my that I no longer have a boyfriend! Oh, I miss him!"
    "I'm sure he misses you, too. C'mon, there's nothing that sitting here crying is going to do to make things any better. You'll just make yourself even more miserable. Cheer up! I'm sure he'll come back to you! Perhaps he just needs some time alone to sort things out," Suya told her. As the girl had explained her problem, Suya had gently probed at the top of the other's mind--not very difficult, since this was her Heartsister--and realized that the young man who'd dumped Serenity was none other than the reborn Prince Endymion.
    "Seriously? You're absolutely certain?" the girl looked up, wiping tears from her face. "He'll come back?"
    "I'm sure. He'll come back to you, I promise. But, he's not likely to come back soon if you keep sobbing like this," Suya told her. "C'mon. Cheer up!"
    Serena looked at the girl who'd just promised her that Darien would come back to her. This girl wasn't wearing a Juban uniform. She wore gray socks with her cross-strapped black shoes, and her skirt and colar were both gray. Her blue bow was fastened with a small brooch, similar to the one that Serena herself had been given when she first became Sailor Moon. "OK," she said. "Oh! My name's Serena Tsukino. I take it you're new here? What's your name?" Though I feel like I already know it. I want to call you Suya, but I don’t know why. So is that your name?
    "Hi, Serena, it's nice to meet you," especially since I've been looking for you for over a year, Serenity! "Yes, I'm new here, this is my first day at Juban Junior High. My name's Natsuya Manetsuyo, but I'd much rather be called Suya," the girl replied. "C'mon, I'll help you up, and then we can go in to homeroom. I'm guessing that you're in 2-1?"
    Hmm. How did I know she was called Suya? "Yeah. You too?" Serena accepted the hand Suya held out to her and got up. Strange, it feels like I know here from somewhere. Well, that would explain why I knew to call her Suya. But where would I possibly know her from? I didn't get a feeling like this from any of the other Sailor Scouts. Nor did I know any of the other scouts’ names before they told me. Maybe she was closer to me in my old life than the rest of them? I wonder if she could be my younger sister. "It's nice to meet you, Suya. I hope you'll like it here. Hey, I know! Maybe after school I could introduce you to some of my freinds! And I know that Molly's here already, I can introduce you to her in just a minute! C'mon, let's go!" Serena had recovered some of her usuall energy, and she tugged on Suya's hand as she led the smaller girl into the classroom. "Hey, Molly!"
    Unfortunately, the bell chose that moment to ring, startling everyone. Miss Haruna walked in, seeming a little out of sorts. "You're seat is over there, Suya, behind Miss Tsukino, who probably isn't here yet anyway, but you're next to Melvin Gurio, OK? Oh! Serena, you are here! My goodness! Out for a week and then in early on your first day back? Did you have a fever or something? Are you sure you're alright?"
    Suya giggled. "Thank you, Miss Haruna," she said as she sat down behind Serena.
    "OK, class, time to take attendence!" Miss Haruna went through the list of students. Suprisingly, everyone was present and on time. "Maybe I'm coming down with something," she commented when she had finished the roll call.
    The bell rang again, sending everyone scurrying to their first peroid classes. "What have you got first, Suya?" Serena asked, hoping that Suya was in her class once more.
    "Math. I have to find Mr. Seki's room again. I like Mr. Seki, he seemed quite nice yesterday when Dr. Mizuno and I were here visiting the classrooms and getting me fitted for a Juban uniform," Suya explianed.
    "Amy's mom? Oh, well, I guess you're not in my class this period, I have..... uh..... I have...... oops I forgot what I have, but it's some class or other with Mol. I'll see you later, Suya! Say hi to Amy for me if you get the chance, please?" Serena rushed off, chasing the redhead who was next to her in homeroom. "Molly! Wait up! I forgot where we're going!"
    "See you later, Serena!" Suya called after the swiftly departing blond as she walked off down the hall toward Mr. Seki's classroom. Well, now I've found my heartsister, and I'm off to meet Amy, whom I’m almost certain is the reborn Princess Aminaka of Mercury.  She wasn't exactly looking where she was going, and she accidently bumped into a girl with short blue hair and her nose stuck in a book. "Oh, excuse me! I'm sorry, I didn't see you."
    "Hmm?" the girl put the book down and turned. "Oh, that's OK, I wasn't watching where I was going either. You're the new girl aren't you? Suya?"
    "Yes, that's me. How did you know my name?"
    "My mom works at Juban Orphanage, she told me that there was a new girl in GA—Suya Manetsuyo—who would be coming to Juban Junior High today and would be in my math class."
    "Then I guess you're Amy Mizuno, right?" I get a strong sense of Mercury from her. She’s definitely Aminaka, and she’s at least partially awake.
    "Yes I am! It's nice to meet you, Suya."
    "Nice to meet you too, Amy. Let's get to class, shall we? Oh, by the way, Serena asked me to tell you she said hi."
    "Serena Tsukino is back in school today? Good. How's she doing?" Amy asked as the two girls walked down the corridor--Amy leading while the smaller Suya followed.
    "Yes, she's back. Miss Haruna was quite suprised to see her sitting in the classroom before the bell rang. She was sitting outside the classroom crying when I first came in. She's upset because she got dumped."
    "Serena was on time to school?! My goodness! She normally runs in late or just barely ahead of the bell! Actually, I was kinda hoping she was feeling better about being dumped by now. Funny, she used to hate Darien. I remember she would argue with him all the time. But she was quite jelous when Raye started going out with him. Not that that lasted very long at all anyway."
    "Darien was her boyfriend? She didn't mention him by name." That means that this 'Darien' is really Prince Endymion. I wonder if he is awake yet. He must be, or she wouldn't have been able to picture him as the Prince. She's awake too, but I'm not sure quite how awake Aminaka is just yet. I’ll test her.
    "Really? I suppose she didnt' want to talk about it too much for fear it would just set her sobbing again. Say, that's a really pretty broach, Suya." Looks kinda like the one Serena had when I first met her.
    "Thanks. I got it a while ago. Isn't this a cool design?" The symbol of Astaria does make a cool-looking design, now that I think about it.
    "Yeah, it is! I wonder if that symbol is supposed to mean something? Somehow, it looks vaguely familiar, but I can't think where I might have seen it before." Silver Millenium, perhaps? That’s what I think of when I look at it, but where in Silver Millenium did I see it?
    So, Aminaka, you are awake, thought Suya, but not enough to remember me. You'll know me soon enough, though, my sister. I'll not bother seeking your Knight just yet, for if you don't know me, you're certainly not awake enough to recall him. "It makes me think of a shattered planet."
    "Oh, here's our math class! C'mon! Mom said Mr. Seki was going to put you next to me. Oh, I like the new posters!"
    Math class seemed to flash by. The two girls had a lot of fun solving the toughest problems that Mr. Seki could pose for them. All too soon, the bell rang, signaling then end of class. "See you later!" Amy and Suya called out to each other, as they headed off in different directions to their next classes.
    The day went by quickly for Suya. It seemed like she'd barely left math class when it was suddenly time for lunch. She finished her lunch quickly, then got permission to leave the school grounds for the remainder of the lunch period, for she'd already decided that she wanted to visit the Sendai Hill Temple again, to thank the spirits for helping her find two of her sisters, and ask thier guidence in seeking out the other three. She also wanted to ask their help in finding friendship. Getting to the temple didn't take long. She was certain of where she was going, so she was able to move very quickly. When she reached the temple stairs, she slowed and climbed them at a more normal speed. There was another schoolgirl in the courtyard at the top of the steps when Suya got there.
    Reikani? Suya thought, for the girl reminded her strikingly of the Martian Princess. Perhaps. She's certainly the right age--about fourteen, same as I am. Seems like she comes here often. I wonder if that's why this place reminds meof Mars so much? "Hello! This is the Sendai Hill Temple right? Where do I go to make a small request of the spirits?" Suya asked the other girl.
    "Oh! Hello!" the girl said, startled, as she turned to face Suya. "Yes, this is Sendai Hill Temple. Ring the temple bell over there to make a wish," she directed.
    "Thank you!" Suya bowed polietly  before walking off in the direction the other had indicated.
    Hmm, she's new here, that's for sure, Raye thought, watching as the small girl rang the bell and made her wish. Wonder what she's wishing for. Raye gently tapped into the other's mind, a small bit of evesdropping. Strangely enough, the girl's wish was easy to hear, almost as if the other wanted Raye to know what it was she sought. Friends? Well, with a wish like that, maybe she does want to be overheard. But that isn't all she's asking for. Someone--no, more than one person--she seeks........she feels shattered; now that was totally random......she's looking for several people? Why? Who is it she's looking for? Can't tell. Maybe she's just looking for friends. That I can do. Raye smiled. As the girl finished her prayer and came back to the courtyard, Raye approached her. "You're new here, aren't you? I'm Raye Hino, the preistess of this temple. You look like you need a friend or two."
    "Hello, Raye, it's nice to meet you," the other said, bowing polietly again. "I'm Suya Manetsuyo, and yes I am new here. This is my first day of school at Juban Junior High, and I don't know very many people yet."
    "It's nice to meet you, too, Suya. I've gotta get back to my school at the moment, or I'll be late, but hopefully we'll see each other again, right?"
    "I hope so! Bye for now!" Suya answered, smiling, as she and Raye trotted swiftly down the temple steps. She feels very strongly of Mars. She must be Rekani, and partly awake at least. I’ll have to wait to test how awake she is.
    "Bye!" called Raye as the two went off their seperate ways to return to their schools. I wonder why she feels shattered. I’ll ask the fire, Raye thought, after school. And perhaps I should ask Luna what planet the missing scout is from.
    Suya raced back to Juban Junior High, arriving well before the bell rang. Wandering the area of the grounds that she hadn't had the chance to explore that morning, she discovered that there was a blackberry patch near the school. She carefully avoided the thicket of thorny brambles, much to the amusement of a group of boys nearby.
    "Hey, missy! What's wrong with the bushes? Afraid you'll tear your skirt?" one of them mocked her.
    "Or your skin?" laughed another.
    "No," she replied quite calmly as she walked past a rosebush in the garden. Her skirt got caught on one of the thorns. "I just don't like blackberries," she explaind, working her skirt free. In the process, she poked her finger on the thorn. "Ow," she commented calmly, "oops." She put the poked finger into her mouth for a second, and it stopped hurting.
    "Oh really? What's wrong with blackberries?" asked yet another boy.
    "Maybe she thinks thier bite is worse!" suggested a fourth.
    "And maybe it's just none of your business anyhow," came a new voice from behind the teasing boys. "Leave her alone, she didn't do anything to you."
    The boys turned around to face the newcomer. "Aw, come on, we weren't hurting anything!" argued the first one.
    "We were just having a little fun!" complained another.
    "Spoilsport," grumbled a third.
    The newcomer, a tall girl with long brown hair pulled back in a high ponytail, glared at the boys. "'Just having a little fun', huh? But at her expence, wasn't it?" she asked.
    The boys looked at their feet, at the sky, at the school, anywhere but at her or Suya.
    "How do you know you weren't hurting her feelings? You've never had the experience of being at the other end of that kind of 'fun', now, have you?"
    They shook their heads, obviously uncomfortable being the subjects of her angry, emerald glare.
    "Then just leave her be. Get outta here."
    The boys left, running as fast as they could toward the school, almost as if they'd suddenly realized they were late for class. Looks like they’re glad to escape with only a lecture and a glare, Suya thought as she watched them go.
    "You OK?" the girl asked Suya. If they’ve hurt her, I’m gonna pound ‘em! Hey, have I met her before? She seems kinda familiar somehow. The girl stuck in the blackberry brambles when I was three? Natsuya? No, even longer ago than that. Silver Millenium? Maybe she’s the missing scout? But I didn’t recognize any of the other scouts. Still, that brooch……looks a lot like Serena’s old one.
    "I'm alright. I poked myself on a thorn, but no real harm there, I've done that hundreds of times," Suya said calmly, looking at the other girl. Makotari? She feels like Jupiter, sure enough, but why do I sense I’ve met her before now in this life? The girl who rescued me from the blackberry brambles when I was three? Lita? I never did get her last name. The tall girl, Suya noticed, did not wear the blue Juban uniform, but a brown one with a lace-up blouse and no big red bow. I suppose they didn't have a uniform big enough for her, just as they didn't have one small enough for me. Poor Makotari! She was always larger than the rest of us. But then again, her planet was much larger than our homes, too. Is that you, Makotari?
    "Hey, you must be new here. You're not wearing the Juban uniform either. Where're ya from?" the tall girl asked her. Silver Millenium, perhaps? Certainly from another part of Tokyo most recently. Wonder if she knows about the Sailor Scouts at all?
    "Yes, I'm new. I just transfered here from Shijan district, and they didn't have a uniform small enough to fit me when we went to get it yesterday," Suya explained.
    "Huh," the other commented, "I have the exact opposite problem; I'm too big for the Juban uniforms. Oh! By the way, I'm Lita Kino." Shijan, eh? That is where Natsuya was placed after that crash, and if she’s Natsuya, I suppose that’d explain her avoidence of the blackberries, but still…and anyhow I have no reason to believe she’s an orphan. Even if she does have that same hairstyle—the single round bun with the ponytail…that same ash-blond hair, those blue eyes…I just know I’ve seen her before, but where?
    "It's nice to meet you, Lita," Suya answered, bowing polietly. Maybe she is the girl who rescued me from those blackberry brambles, but I’m not sure. Lita isn’t all that uncommon a name. "I'm Suya Manetsuyo. Thanks for chasing those boys away; they hadn't really hurt me, but they were starting to get annoying."
    "Nice to meet you too, Suya," Lita said, returning Suya's polite bow. There, see? I had no reason to believe she was Natsuya, and as it turns out she isn’t. She just looks like Natsuya. I’ll just have to keep looking. I know I’ll find her someday. And the locket will be my key. Just then, the bell rang, announcing the end of the lunch period. "Say, Suya, what class have you got next? I'll walk you to it if it isn't too far." Such an honest face, so truthful. And her eyes are filled with truth. Why? Who is she?
    "I have Home Ec. now, with Mrs. Lanki," the smaller girl informed her. She feels like Jupiter. And her eyes are the same green as the trees—just like Makotari’s eyes. They flash with lightning when she’s angry.
    "Cool! We're in the same class! C'mon, let's go!" Lita exclaimed. Did she like read my mind or something? Hey, I’m gonna have to ask Luna and Artemis for more info on this missing scout…does she have something to do with truth?
    The two walked back into the school building and down to class. They got to the classroom just as Mrs. Lanki arrived (about two seconds before the bell rang). "Good afternoon, everyone!" she called out cheerfully as she came in. Lita quickly found her seat, and Suya placed herself in the empty seat next to the other girl. "We have a new student today,"  Mrs. Lanki continued her friendly chatter, "Suya, oh! I see you've already found your seat! Good! All right, class, let's get started!"
    Like math class, this one was a lot of fun, and seemed to be over all too quickly. The bell rang, forcing Lita and Suya to bid each other farewell. By the end of the schoolday, Suya was beginning to find her way around more easily. With a bit more practice, I'll be all set. I think I'll be able to navigate the school entirely on my own by Friday, she thought.
    The last bell of the day rang, releasing students to grab what they needed from thier lockers and go home. Suya got her things, feeling very cheerful by this time, for she'd found at least two of her sisters, including her heartsister, and she was certain that she'd made friends with at least three or four other girls her age. Happily, she trotted off down the sidewalk towards the orphanage. She'd talked to Serena in homeroom that afternoon, and the other had told her that she had to leave right away, but promised she'd introduce Suya to some of her other friends the next afternoon. Suya hadn't minded, and had promised to meet Serena at the school gates the next day.
    Her mind on other things, Suya wasn't really watching where she was going, so she didn't see the little girl until it was too late. The pink-haired girl was running top-speed and crashed into Suya, knocking both of them down. Suya's schoolbag went flying, as did the little girl's toy. The toy quickly floated back to hover beside the small girl, while Suya's bag sprang open as it hit the ground three yards (not quite 3 meters) behind her. The little girl started crying.
    "I'm sorry! Please don't cry, I'm really very sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. Are you OK, small lady?"  Suya asked the other. Odd. She feels like she doesn’t belong now. Strange.
    "Uh, uh-huh, I'm OK, I guess," the girl responded. That voice sounds kinda familiar… … she looked up, brushing tears from her face, and her tear-bright pink eyes met Suya’s crystal blue ones. "Aunt Suya?" she whispered. Not Pluto…she looks familiar somehow. Could she really be…wait a minute! "Hey! How did you know my nickname?"
    How did she know my name?! (Suya had heard the little girl’s whisper as "Natsuya?") "I’m sorry. I didn’t know that was your nickname, I just called you ‘small lady’ because that’s what you look like—a small lady of the Moon Kingdom. And how did you know my name? I don’t usually use it, and I only told one person today."
    "I don’t know your name. I just thought you looked like my aunt. Hey! What do you know about the Moon Kingdom? If you know about that, then you must know about the Silver Imperium Crystal!" the girl reached up and grabbed the round black toy floating near her. Poof! the ball vanished, and suddenly she held a gun, which she aimed at Suya. "Tell me where it is! Who has it? And who are you?"
    Suya’s eyes widened as she looked at the girl pointing a gun at her face. But she quickly recovered her composure. That gun isn’t real, it won’t hurt me. Yet I’ll answer her anyhow. "It belongs to my heartsister. I’m not sure, but I think Serenity has it. As for who I am, I’m Suya. However, that isn’t what you really wanted to know. You’d like to know who I was, right, Small Lady? In Silver Millenium, I was the orphaned Princess Suya. As Keeper of Truth, I cannot lie. Now, perhaps you’ll tell me who you will be, and how you came to this time? For I sense you don’t belong in this era, and I’d like to know if the Guardian sent you or if you found a way around the Gates."
     Huh? She hasn’t got it then. But how’s she know about Pluto? She is telling the truth, but not all of it. Fair enough. I won’t answer her first question. "The Guardian let me through the Gates of Time. That’s all I’m gonna tell ya, ‘cause you’re hiding something too." Her gaze still locked on the older girl’s face, she changed the gun back into the black, cat-faced ball it had been.
    Suya nodded. "Fair enough."
    "An’ I’m not gonna tell you who I am now, either. Nothing else." Until I figure out why you remind me of my aunt.
    "Here, Small Lady, let me help you up," Suya offered, getting up herself.
    The little girl took the proffered hand and let Suya pull her to her feet. Good, she isn’t gonna ask any more questions. "Thanks, miss, and I'm sorry I crashed into you. "
    "That's OK. I don't think either one of us was looking where we were going. I'm sorry that I crashed into you," Suya appologized again. "You sure you're OK?"
    The other girl nodded. "Thanks. Maybe I'll see you around later on. Bye!"
    "Bye!" Suya called after her as the small child rushed off, this time paying a bit more attention to where she was going. Something about that girl........
    The wind had picked up, and it blew one of Suya's papers out of her bag. "Oh!" Suya exclaimed and ran to gather her things. She refastened her bag and took off after the loose paper. But the wind kept the sheet high above her head as it blew into a nearby park. Suya chased the wind-blown paper through the park to a small forested area, where it got caught on a tree branch. Trouble was, the branch was much too high up for her to reach. "Oh dear!" How in the world am I going to get that back? The tree in which her paper was stuck had no branches close enough to the ground for her to reach, or she would have simply climbed up it to retrieve the renagade sheet. She set down her schoolbag and jumped, trying to reach the lowest branch. That didn't work at all.
    "Need some help, miss?" asked a voice from behind her.
    Suya turned and found herself facing a tall young man with brillianly blue eyes and ebony-black hair. Prince Endymion? she thought, for he looked like the picture in Serena's mind of her boyfriend. Yes. I sense the power of Earth in him. He’s awake, but how much so? Will he remember me? "Yes, I could use a hand. My paper is stuck in the tree and I can't reach it. I can't climb the tree, either, because I'm too short to reach the lowest branch," she explained, indicating the sheet caught in a higher branch.
    He looked up at it. "Hmm," he commented, contemplating the problem. "I don't think I can reach it either, but perhaps if you were to stand on my shoulders, you could get it," he suggested. "Here," he lifted her up. Huh? Why does she seem vaguely familiar? The Moon Palace in Silver Millenuim? Why does that image come into my mind when I touch her? Is she of Silver Milenium? But I didn’t even recognize Serena that quickly. Maybe she knows more of Silver Millenium than Serena did.
    Suya stood, as he'd told her to, on his shoulders and grabbed the paper, which was now within easy reach. "Thank you very much for your help, sir," she said as he set her gently back on the ground.I’ll have to think about how to test him. Perhaps I can do that another day. I can’t use the same test I used with Aminaka, but I can’t tell how awake he is, like I could with Serenity.  "Um, could you tell me how to get back out to the street? I wasn't paying attention to where I was going when I chased my paper in here."
    "Sure. The street is over that way," he indicated the direction from which he'd come. "Just head straight and you can't miss it." Who is she? Or, perhaps, who was she, in Silver Millenium?
    "Thank you again, sir! Goodbye!" I’ll see you again, Endymion. Another day. Then I shall test you to find out if you are awake enough to remember me.
    "Your'e quite welcome, miss! So long!" Hopefully, I’ll see her around again, and I can find out who she is and what she has to do with the Moon Kingdom.
    It didn't take long for her to get back to the street, but when she did, she discovered that she was once again lost. She had no idea what street she was on, and she didn't even know the name of the park she'd just come out of. As Suya stood on the edge of the sidewalk, wondering which direction would bring her back to the orphanage, a blond girl came trotting along up to her.
    "Hey, there, little girl! Are you lost?" the blond asked.
    "Yes, actually. I was chasing a paper that the wind had snatched, and wasn't paying attention to where I was going, so now I have no idea where I am," Suya explained. Minakira? She looks like Sailor V, especially with that red bow--just like the one Minakira used to wear all the time--and she certainly feels like Venus. Not to mention her smile looks like Minakira's. Perhaps…but how awake is she, if she is the reborn Princess of Venus?
    "You got wind-blown and lost?" the other giggled. "I have a friend who says she came to Juban because the wind blew her here. C'mon, I'll help you find your mom." Hey, wait a sec, that brooch looks kinda familiar. Hmmm. Oh! I know! It looks like Serena’s old brooch, the one she had when I first met her. Her eyes...they look strangely familiar...have I met her before?
    Suya shook her head. "My parents were killed in a car accident eleven years ago. I've lived in an orphanage since I was three, but I transfered to Juban Orphanage just this past weekend. So I don't really know my way around just yet." Venus has been awake much longer than any of my other sisters, but that doesn’t mean that she is any more awake than the other four.
    "Oh!" the blond girl looked surprised and turned bright red in embaressment. Lesee, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen—so she’s the same age as me. "I'm sorry. Hey, you're fourteen? You don't look it, sorry." I wonder where she got that brooch. That design…I’ll ask Artemis about it later.
    This time Suya nodded. "I've always been small. Actually, that's why I'm not wearing the Juban school uniform; they didn't have one small enough to fit me."
    "Oh well. Oh, by the way, I'm Mina Aino. Actually, Mom told me last night--or was it this morning? I forget. Anyhow, Mom said something about a new girl at Juban Orphanage, a girl about my age. I guess you must be that girl, right?" Why’s that design on her brooch make me think of something shattered? Wonder if she knows about the Sailor Scouts?
    "Yes. I'm Suya Manetsuyo. It's nice to meet you, Mina." Or Minakira, as you very well may have been. I’ll see if she mentions the scouts. If she’s Minakira, I should be able to tell when she talks about Sailor V. If she does.
    "Nice to meet you too, Suya!" Mina held out her hand. Suya took it without hesitaion, smiling happily as they shook hands. "Hey! Wanna go play some videogames? There's a really great one at the Crown Video Arcade--it's called the Sailor V Fighter game. Do you like Sailor V?" Mina asked her, thinking, That’ll tell me if she’s heard of the Sailor Scouts! Sailor V was the first scout to kick Negaverse butt! It was fun to beat the Negaverse, but it’s even more fun now that I’m not alone. Fighting the Negaverse with my friends is wonderful, because together we’re a whole lot stronger!
     It’s her all right. Only the real Sailor V would get that kind of look in her eye when talking about herself. Good to meet you again, Minakira. Do you remember me?  "Yes, I've been a fan of Sailor V since I first heard of her a little more than a year ago. Dr. Mizuno took me to the Crown yesterday afternoon, and I got the chance to play the Sailor V game. It's lots of fun!" Can’t reveal myself until I have some idea of how awake she is. Suya clamped down on her soaring hopes. She couldn't yet tell if her sister remembered her, and there really was nothing to say that the other would recall her, as even Serenity hadn't known her.
    "Cool! C'mon, I'll take you to the Crown and we can play it again!" Mina paused for a moment, thinking, Wait a sec…Mizuno? Amy’s mom? Did she really say that? Or maybe there’s another Dr. Mizuno in Juban?  "Did you say Dr. Mizuno? Amy's mom? Have you met Amy yet? She's really nice."
    Suya giggled at the other's rush of questions. "Yes, I did say Dr. Mizuno, as in Amy Mizuno's mother. I met Amy just this morning, we're in the same math class."
    "Wow, you must be really good at math! Amy's a genius!" Mina exclaimed as she grabbed Suya's hand again and tugged her along down the street to the arcade.
    It didn't take long to get there, and Mina's cheeful, friendly chatter made the trip seem to fly past even more swiftly. Moments later, the two girls pushed open the glass doors of the Crown Video Arcade and greeted Andrew as they entered.
    "Hey, Suya, nice to see you back again! Hi Mina, I was beginning to wonder when you were going to show up again!" Andrew replied.
    They quickly made their way over to the Sailor V game. Mina went first, and soon enough she was yelling at the machine and complaining that the game was rigged, while Suya giggled as she watched over Mina's shoulder. Then they switched places and Mina gaped in awe as Suya cleared level after level.
    "Woah! Cool! Suya, you're really good at this!"
    "Wow! She’s even better than Amy!" Andrew exclaimed as he wandered over to watch. "Are you sure this is only the second time you’ve played a videogame?"
     "Yes," Suya told him without turning.
     Mina’s eyes widened in surprise. "You’re kidding! You never played videogames before you came here?!"
     "Never. Yesterday was the first time I played one," Suya explained calmly, her eyes still glued to the screen.
     Artemis wandered into the Crown, still looking for Mina. What’s with the crowd around the Sailor V game? he wondered. The little white cat carefully wove his way through the crowd and jumped onto the Sailor V machine. He’d finally found Mina—at the front of the crowd, but she wasn’t the one playing. Still, if he distracted her, she’d probably get very mad. Deciding to wait it out, Artemis settled himself comefortably atop the machine, looking at the girl playing it.
     Huh? Suya looked up to see what had just sat down on top of her game. Artemis? she wondered, seeing the white cat with the small cresent symbol on his forehead.
     "Suya, look out!" warned Mina.
     Too late. Suya pulled her attention back to the game and tried to dodge the approaching monster and zap it. Unfortunately, the game’s computer wasn’t as fast as Suya, and she lost. "GAME OVER!" flashed on the screen. "Oops. Minakira never was quite as fast as me," she commented. Is she awake enough to remember her name? If she is, there’s a good chance she’s also awake enough to remember me. Suya's hopes began to soar again. This test would help her figure out how much her sister recalled of her past life in Silver Millennium.
     "Artemis! You distracted her! Stupid cat! She could’ve won!" Mina yelled at the cat seated casually atop the machine. Minakira? Huh? Why’s that name sound familiar?
     "No, Mina, it’s OK! Look, I got the top score! It wasn’t his fault, anyhow. Don’t hit him!" Suya exclaimed, quickly grabbing the cat before Mina could strike him. She’s not awake enough to remember me, Suya thought, her hopes plummetting again. Placing her hand carefully on the cat’s head—being certain that her palm covered the cresant mark—she spoke mind-to-mind with the cat. Artemis, it’s good to see you again. The missing scout will join the others soon. Serenity will know her little sister again, but not just yet. Why is it that the other princesses don’t recall their names? How do you expect to find the orphan princess when the others are not awake enough to remember?
     Artemis’ eyes opened wide in surprise. What the……? "Mrrow," he said to Mina.
     Mina had noticed the shocked look on the cat’s face when Suya had started to pet him, and she realized there was something odd about that. What’d she do to startle him like that? she thought. Nevertheless, Mina pretended to think that Suya had alarmed the cat by picking him up so quickly. "Suya, I think you scared him!" she giggled. "Well, if you don’t mind it, then I guess it’s OK. Hey, wanna play again?"
     Suya glanced at her watch. "Actually, I think I should probably be getting back now. Perhaps tomorrow. See you later, Mina!" She set the cat down on the machine, picked up her bag and made her way through the crowd.
     "Bye, Suya!" Mina called as the other left. I think we need a scout meeting tonight. Hey! We could turn the emergency meeting into sleepover at my place! I’ve gotta call the others! She grabbed her own bag, and Artemis, before making her way out of the crowd that was still admiring the "High Score" screen on the Sailor V game and Suya’s name at the top of the list—just above Amy’s.
     "Mina, there’s something strange about that girl," Artemis told her when they were away from the crowd. "I think we need a scout meeting, so we can find out if any of the others have met her and what they think."
     "I’m one step ahead of you, Artemis. I’m gonna call Amy in just a sec…Hey Serena!" Mina had spotted her friend entering the Crown with Molly, and she ran over to greet the other two.
     "Mina," Artemis sighed, exasperated. What about calling Amy?
     "Serena! Good to see you’re finally out of your room! Didja go to school today?" Mina asked as she trotted up to them. "You should’ve come in about five minutes ago, there was this new girl here…how’re you, Molly?…an’ she almost beat the Sailor V game but Artemis sat on top of it and distracted her. She went home, though, you just missed her. Where’s Luna? What happened at school today? Serena, you look much more cheerful than you did yesterday, or the day before! Was there a new girl in any of your classes?"
     "Mina, slow down, for goodness sake!" Molly laughed. "I’m fine, and it’s great to see you again."
     "Yeah, I went to school. Luna’s around; I haven’t seen her yet, we went for ice cream right after school. I got to school early this morning!" Serena told her friends. "Which was really good—not only 'cause Miss H didn’t have anything to yell at me about in homeroom, but also 'cause I got to meet the new girl before class started! She’s really nice; she’s in my homeroom. This morning, she told me to cheer up, 'cause Darien’ll come back to me sooner or later! And she sounded so sure of it, so I believe her! I think she might be in one of Amy’s classes and I know she’s met Amy’s mom."
     "She was that girl that sat behind you in homeroom, right? The one in the gray uniform that you didn’t get the chance to introduce me to?" Molly asked.
     "Yeah," Serena agreed. "Hey, Mina, what was that you said about the Sailor V game?"
     "Somebody almostbeat it!" Mina exclaimed. "Higher score than Amy! You just missed her, she left a couple minutes before you came in. It was so cool! And she said she’d never played videogames before she came to Juban!"
     "Oh, there’s Melvin! See you later!" Molly called as she rushed off.
     "Bye!" the other two called after her.
     "Speaking of scouts, Mina, you said something about a few minutes ago about calling a scout meeting," Artemis scolded her when Molly was out of earshot.
     "Right. Serena, could you come over to my place tonight? We need a scout meeting, because Artemis and I may have discovered something about the people we’re looking for," Mina explained.
     "Sure. Actually, I have something odd to report myself. I might have found out something about my younger sister," Serena told her friend. "Let’s call the others."
     The two blonds found an empty, out-of-the-way corner to sit down. "Artemis, would you go find Luna?" Mina asked the cat. He nodded and left. "OK. Amy first, then Raye, then Lita ‘cause I’m not sure she’s home yet."

In the Juban Orphanage lobby…

     "So she called you to sub for her?" Nurse Ibani asked the girl standing in front of the desk as she searched for a message slip. "That was nice of you to agree to come on such short notice, Miss Kino. Oh dear, I seem to have lost the slip. I suppose I must have given it to someone else already. Oh well."
     "I guess somebody took off with it," laughed the girl.
     "Oop, no, here it is!" Nurse Ibani picked up a small piece of paper. Then her attention was drawn to the opening door. "Hello! You’re the first one back! Did you see any of the others on your way? Oh, wait, you probably wouldn’t recognize them."
     The girl at the desk turned to see who’d just come in. "Hey, Suya! Wha’cha doing here?" Lita asked as the door closed behind her small new friend.
     "Hello, Lita! I didn’t expect to see you here, either. As for what I’m doing here, I live here. I transferred to Ward GA on Saturday—from Ward 7 of Shijan Orphanage," Suya explained.
     "Ah, Miss Kino, Miss Manetsuyo, you know each other already! Good!" Nurse Ibani exclaimed.
     She is an orphan, and from Shijan. I wonder if she could be…she looks like… I just know I’ve met her before! Lita thought, her hand creeping to her pocket to touch the locket. If she is… "Yeah, I met Suya at lunch today. We’re in the same class," she told Nurse Ibani.
     Could she be…? The locket will be my key. Someday, I know I’ll find my rescuer again. The Lita who freed me from those awful blackberry brambles has a locket just like mine. Maybe that Lita is Lita Kino, maybe not, but I know that Lita Kino was Princess Makotari of Jupiter. Suya touched the small oval locket tucked safely into her skirt pocket. "It’s good to see you again, Lita. May I ask what brings you to the orphanage?"
     "I’m here to work in the kitchens, making dinner. Mrs. Onigino—she’s the head cook here—couldn’t come in this evening, because her daughter got sick, and since I run the kitchens on her day off, she called to ask if I’d be willing to sub for her today. I love cooking, so I said sure!" Lita explained cheerfully.
     Smiling, Suya wandered over to the desk. "Could I help? I like to cook, too?"
     "Sure!" Lita answered brightly. "C’mon, let’s go get started! Before everybody else gets back and things get really noisy," Lita whispered to her small friend. Both girls giggled at that.
     Nurse Ibani smiled and winked at them. "Off you go, then! Monday evenings are always busy!"
     Lita and Suya laughed and headed towards the door to the common room. Suddenly, the doors from the street crashed open, and in marched a very irate little girl.
     "He is SUCH a jerk! He is just SO mean! Oh, I am going to get him THIS time!" she shouted.
     "What did he do? You still haven’t told me that yet," whispered a slightly older girl who’d come in just behind the angry child.
     "Who did what this time, Ju? Oh, nevermind—we have too much homework anyhow. Let’s go!" called one of the group of kids who’d entered just behind the two girls. "’Scuse us, please," they said as they surged past the older girls—both of whom had now turned to watch the girls in the doorway—and into the common room.
     Nurse Ibani frowned after them, then turned her attention back to the girls in the main entry. "Who is it you’re so mad at, Ju? And what happened?"
     "It was Kelly!" the angry girl shouted. "There was a new girl in our class today, and he was being mean to her! For no reason!"
     "You had a new girl in your class, Ju?" whispered the girl standing behind her. "Cool! Oh, Miss Kino! Hello!"
     "Hey, Eri! How’re you?" Lita answered.
     "Ju, if you keep yelling and carrying on like that, you’re likely to lose your new neighbor! Then you’ll be off on your own again," Nurse Ibani scolded.
     "New neighbor?" Ju asked, seeming confused. "What new neighbor? You mean there’s a new girl in GA?"
     "There is? Who? Where is she?" Eri added.
     Nurse Ibani laughed. "Yes, there is a new girl in GA; she just transferred here on Saturday….."
     Ju cut her off. "So where is she now? And how old is she? She can’t be the new girl in my class; Rini’s not an orphan."
     "No, she’s definitely not in your class, Ju. Suya’s fourteen; she attends Juban Junior High with Miss Kino, and Miss Mizuno. Actually, she’s right here," Nurse Ibani indicated the small girl standing next to Lita. "Suya, these two are the youngest girls in GA. The quiet one is Eri, the younger is Ju. Both of them go to Juban Elementary. Eri, Ju, this is Suya."
     "It is nice to meet you girls," Suya told them, bowing polietly.
     "Nice to meet you also, Suya," they chimed, returning the older girl’s polite bow.
     "You two should probably get started," Nurse Ibani suggested, turning back to Lita and Suya.
     "Yeah. C’mon!" Lita led her small friend through the coatroom and common room to the kitchens.
     "Did either of you see any of the older girls? I don’t think they’ve met Suya yet; Ellie said they were in here yesterday morning asking about her," Nurse Ibani explained.
     Eri shook her head. Ju started yelling again. "Only ones I saw’re the Nasties! Kelly’s nasty too! I’m SO gonna get him for teasing Rini like that! Rini’s cool, an’ she’s new, an’ I like her. So does Mel. I’m gonna POUND Kelly!"
     "Must you subject everyone to your noisy chatter, Julianna?" asked an older girl as she entered behind the shouting Ju.
     "Will you never learn to shut up? No one wants to listen to you little girls. Erika is at least smart enough to keep her mouth shut. You should learn to do the same, Julianna," scolded another girl.
     "Natasha, please," whispered Eri, "you know that I don’t like to be called by my full name. I’m Eri, OK?"
     "It’s not just chatter, Emily!" Ju shouted, whirling angrily to face the two older girls. "An’ you two oughtta learn to shut up yourselves! 'Specially since you can’t seem to say things right when you talk! I TOLD you a hundred thousand million trillion times NOT to call me Julianna! I HATE it when you do that! I’m JU!!!"

In the kitchens…

     "Uh-oh, sounds like the Nasties showed up," Lita commented. (The girls had heard Ju’s angry shouting quite clearly in spite of the walls between them and her.)
     "Nasties?" asked Suya. "Who are they?"
     "The Nasties are a couple of the older girls from GA—Natasha and Emily. They don’t get along very well with the rest of the girls in their ward, and one of the most notable differences between them and the others is that they don’t like to use nicknames. That’s always causing fights; most of the GA girls don’t like to use their full names, so they go by nicknames instead," Lita explained.
     "Oh, I see. I think I’ll get along fine with most of the girls, but the Nasties…I don’t know. They sound like some of the other kids at Shijan--Rachel’s group, who seemed to dislike me the most. What’s that?" Suya had noticed a beeping noise somewhere in the kitchen.
     "Uh…" Lita knew it was her communicator. "What’s what?" Why’s it gotta go off now?
     "The beeping noise. Have you got a pager or something?" Or perhaps it’s your communicator, Sailor Jupiter?
     "Uh…oh that!" Gotta think fast… "Uh, that’s my watch! Hold on a sec, I’ve gotta turn off the alarm." Lita walked over to a corner of the kitchen away from Suya and flipped open her communicator. "What is it, Mina?" she whispered.
     "Hey, Lita…" Mina started.
     "Shhh!" Lita hissed. "Quietly! I’m in the orphanage kitchens, and one of the GA girls is here helping me out, OK?"
     "Ooops. Sorry," the other whispered. "Anyhow, Lita, we need an emergency meeting, 'cause Artemis and I have discovered something. So can you come over to my place this evening when you’re done there?"
     "Sure, but why your place? Why not the temple?"
     "’Cause I’m the one calling the meeting, OK?"
     "Alright! I’ll be there as soon as I can. See ya later, Mina."
     "See ya, Lita."
     The communicator screen went blank, and Lita closed it quietly as she turned back to Suya. "All set. Sorry that took a while." I’m glad we’re going to have a meeting; I have something to report myself. I wonder what they’ve found?
     "That’s OK. Some things take a while to fix," Suya answered mildly. I’ve been dropping small hints to some of my sisters in testing them. I’d guess they’ll call a meeting soon to sort things out. Lost memories may be one of the things that take a while to fix. I hope I can rejoin my sisters soon. Too bad they aren’t fully awake yet, and they haven’t recovered their memories of me. But Mother said that they were looking for me……how do they expect to find me when they don’t know who it is they seek?
     "Oh, Suya, I forgot to mention it before, but that’s a really cool brooch. Where’d you get it?" And why does it look like Serena’s old transformation brooch? That symbol…I’ve seen it somewhere before…but where?
     Ah, good! I can use this opportunity to test her. "Mother gave it to me a while ago—about the same time I first heard of Sailor V. I like the design; it makes me think of a shattered planet." Does she recognize it as the symbol of Astaria? Or does she at least recognize the brooch as a transformation item?
     Sailor V—so she got it less than two years ago. No way she could be Natsuya, then, not if her mother gave it to her that recently. "Yeah, it does look kinda shattered. I think I’ve seen a design like that somewhere before, but I can’t think where." I think it had something to do with a friend of mine in Silver Millennium.
     Not awake enough to remember me, Makotari. Ah, well. I suppose it figures. Now the only one I’m not sure about is Reikani of Mars, and I rather doubt that she is much more awake than the other Guardians.
     Suddenly, the kitchen door flew open. "Mrs. Onigi—oops! Hi Miss Kino! I didn’t expect to find you here. Where’s Mrs. Onigino?"
     "Out today, Nikki. Her daughter got sick. And please remember to call me Lita, OK?" She handed the younger girl a small bowl of sweets. "Here. This is what you came for, right? Remember to share!"
     "Thanks Lita! See ya later!" Nikki vanished.
     The door hadn’t quite shut behind the blond when it swung open again. "Hey, Lita! How’re you? Running the kitchens today for Mrs. O? Can I help you make dinner?"
     "Sure, Mandy!" Lita answered. "Oh, have you met Suya yet?"
     "I don’t think so," the younger girl replied, turning her green gaze on the smaller girl. "Hi! I’m Mandy; I’m in Ward GA." She's the new girl! The one that Ali was playing chess with on Saturday.
     "Nice to meet you, Mandy. I’m also in GA; I guess I must’ve missed you this morning. I’m Suya." She seems nice, and certainly quite friendly. She also looks a lot like Lita. Hmmm.
     "Cool! Hey, Suya, how old are you?" Mandy asked. Wonder if Ali was right in guessing she's not much older than we are.
     "I’m fourteen, though I suppose I don’t look it."
     "Suya and I are in the same grade, Mandy. We have Home Ec. together, too," Lita explained.
     "Hey, cool! Now I know something that even Ali doesn’t know!" Mandy said brightly. Actually, that might even be something that Amy Mizuno doesn’t know. Second year junior high, huh? Wow, Ali was right, she isn't really all that much older than us. "You’re right, Suya, you don’t really look like you’re fourteen; you aren’t any taller than Nikki, who is the shortest twelve-year-old in GA. All the Scoutfans are twelve. Hey, do you like the Sailor Scouts?"
     Lita smiled wryly. Wonder how she’d react if she found out her favorite Sailor Scout was standing right In front of her? "You know me; I like Jupiter best."
     "Yes, I do. I haven’t really got a favorite Sailor Scout, though. I like them all," Suya told her smiling. I wonder which scout is Mandy’s favorite. I suppose it would be quite interesting to see her reaction if she knew that a couple Scouts are standing right in front of her—Sailor Jupiter is Lita, and I am Sailor Astaria. "Have you ever heard of Sailor A?" I know that I’m not very well known; I’ve tried to keep a low profile, so that my sisters wouldn’t find me before it was time for them to. Now I’ve discarded my mask and my ‘code name’. I am Sailor Astaria, the Keeper of Truth, drawing my power from the Shattered Planet Astaria.
     Both girls shook their heads. "I know Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus, that’s it," Lita answered. Serena, Amy, Raye, me, and Mina. We’re the Sailor Team! And we’re supposed to look for another scout, who is missing from our team. I wonder how Suya knows so much about the Sailor Scouts.
     "I’ve only heard of those four and Sailor V. Unless you count Tuxedo Mask, but he’s not a Sailor Scout," explained Mandy, giggling. "Who’s Sailor A?"
     "A was kinda the Shijan equivalent of V, except that Sailor A hasn’t found the other scouts yet," Suya told Mandy. That kind of hint may be just what the others need. As far as I can tell, they seek without knowing who they are searching for.
     Sailor A, huh? She hasn’t found the others? Maybe she’s the missing scout. I wonder……well, now I have even more to report at the meeting this evening. "We better get going with dinner, or we won’t be ready in time," Lita suggested.
     Once they really got to work, it didn’t take long at all before they were done. The door swung open a third time just as they finished. "Mandy, you in here?" asked the black-haired girl as she came in. "Oh, hi, Lita! Uh, hi miss."
     "Hey Liza! What’s up? Nikki having a problem again?" queried Mandy. "Nasties living up to their name?"
     "Actually, this time Ali’s the one with the problem," Liza explained.
     "Hi, Liza! So what’s with Ali?" Lita wanted to know. "What kind of problem has she got?"
     "A finding problem. She wants to finish a game of chess, but she can’t seem to find her opponent. Neither I nor Nikki ever saw who it was Ali was playing chess against on Saturday, so we haven’t been much help. Nikki didn’t even know there was a new girl in the orphanage 'till Sunday morning when Ali and Mandy were talking about the chess game." Liza walked over to lean against the counter next to Mandy.
     "Here, dry this for me, would you?" Mandy requested, handing Liza a wet pot.
     Liza took the pot and accepted a towel from Lita. "Mandy, would you help us to find Ali’s chess opponent?"
     "Is Ali the girl with short, blue-black hair and bright blue eyes?" asked Suya.
     "Yeah. Ali’s another of the GA girls," Lita answered her. "Oh! By the way, Suya, this is Liza," she indicated the smaller of the other two girls. "Liza, Suya is the new girl in GA."
     "Nice to meet you, Liza," Suya said, turning to face the younger girl and offer a polite bow.
     Liza returned the bow, "Nice to meet you also, Suya."
     Mandy giggled. "Sure, I’ll help you find the person you’re looking for, Liza! Suya, Ali is the girl you were playing chess with Saturday night. She forgot to introduce herself, and she didn’t realize that until yesterday morning when I asked her about it."
     "Well, I think we should be able to finish our game today; we’re finished in here now. Let’s go!" Suya smiled and followed Mandy and Liza out to the common room.
     "I’ll watch! I’m no good at playing myself, but it’s always fun to watch Amy, and Ali’s nearly as good," Lita commented, following the other three.
     "Hey, Ali! Guess what? We found her!" Liza called as they entered.
     "Liza! Mandy! Hi Lita! Hi…uh…hi!" a blond girl shouted across the room. "You’ll never guess what I just heard!" So cool! Hey, who is that small girl with them? She isn't any taller than I am. Oh, I know! She must be the new girl! Right! Wonder if she likes Sailor V?
     "What Nikki?" Mandy asked as they reached the table the other girl was standing next to.
     "You found her, Liza? Where is she?" asked the girl seated at the table.
     "She’s right here, Ali," Lita told her. "Suya, this is Ali, and next to her is Nikki. Both of them are in GA. The four of these girls—Mandy, Liza, Nikki, and Ali—are the GA Scoutfans. Ali, Nikki, this is Suya, the newest girl in GA. She’s the girl you were playing chess against on Saturday, Ali."
     "Hi Suya! Hey, do you like the Sailor Scouts? My favorite scout is Sailor Venus!" Nikki said excitedly. "I’ve always been a fan of Sailor V!"
     "We were all fans of Sailor V, Nikki," Ali put in," but the rest of us decided we had different favorites when Sailor Moon and the others appeared. My favorite scout is Sailor Mercury," she told Suya.
     "My favorite’s Mars!" Liza struck a Sailor Mars pose.
     "Jupiter!" shouted Mandy, striking a Sailor Jupiter pose.
     Lita giggled, a little nervously. Uh…she certainly does that very well. Then again, they all do.
     Suya laughed. "Yes, I’m a fan of the Sailor Scouts. I haven’t really got a favorite, though. Shall we finish our game, Ali?" Seeing the other nod, Suya sat down. "I believe it was your turn. Nikki, what is it you just heard that has you so excited?"
     "Oh my gosh! You guys won’t believe this! Jamie just told me that Lizzy said that Molly’d told her that she heard—from Mina—that someone almost beat the Sailor V game today! Except now Mina’s mad at her cat ‘cause he sat on the machine and distracted the girl playing it, so she lost, but she got a wicked high score! According to what I heard, Molly didn’t get the chance to see the girl—she and Serena got there a little after the other girl left—but Mina was all excited!" Nikki explained rapidly and excitedly. "Jamie said Lizzy didn’t know the girl’s name, ‘cause Molly said Mina hadn’t told her, so I have no idea who it was that nearly beat the game, except I think it was probably Amy, ‘cause I don’t know anybody who’s ever gotten a higher score than Amy!"
     "Wow!!!" exclaimed Lita, Mandy, and Ali. Suya remained quiet, studying the chessboard.
     "Want to know the real killer?" offered Liza. "It wasn’t Amy! Alex told me Jackie said she didn’t actually see the girl, but she overheard Andy saying that the girl who almost beat it had only played a videogame twice in her entire life!"
    "No way!" Nikki was incredulous.
    "You're kidding!" accused Mandy.
    "Impressive!" Lita commented.
    "If it's all true," Ali pointed out. "Rumor is not necessarily a good source of news. The whole thing might have been greatly exaggerated."
    "Ali," scolded Lita, "you sound like Amy. What makes you think it isn't true? Nikki's story fits so well with Liza's, and they heard the tale from different people."
    "Liza's tale bolsters Nikki's--insomuch as that neither contradicted the other--but while that is quite a rare occurrance, it does sometimes happen," Ali insisted. "That doesn't necessarily mean that their story is true, and I'm inclined to disbelieve it because they both heard it third- or fourth-hand."
    "Mina certainly did get rather angry at Artemis," Suya commented. "She was going to hit him. Your turn again, Ali."
    "Suya did you see the girl who almost beat the game?" Lita asked excitedly.
    "How do you know she was there?" Nikki wanted to know.
    "Nobody mentioned Mina's cat by name before," explained Lita.
    "So you must have been close enough to see Mina yelling at her cat. Wouldn't that also put you close enough to see the girl playing?" demanded Mandy.
    "No, I didn't see her." Suya moved a piece. I certainly cannot see myself without a mirror. I wonder if any of them will figure it out. "Check."
    Ali moved her king out of danger. "So you saw Mina and Artemis, but you didn't see the girl playing the game? How did you manage that? Did you see Molly and Serena come in?" Ali had a very thoughtful look on her face. Nikki said they came in after the girl playing had left. There is the possibility that Suya was the one playing the game, but there is also the possibility that she is just teasing us.
    "No, I didn't. They must have come in after I left," Suya answered, moving another piece. "Check, and mate. Good game, Ali." I think she guesses.
    "Wow!" exclaimed Liza, "you're really good! None of us have ever beaten Ali in a game of chess before! I think Amy's the only one who has!"
    "It certainly was, Suya! And a very challanging game as well!" Ali agreed. "Perhaps we can play again sometime?"
    "I shall look forward to it," Suya promised.
    "Perhaps you can play again later, but right now it's dinnertime," Lita informed them, indicating the clock. "Let's go."
    "Oh, good! I'm starved!" Nikki commented, rushing to the dining hall. "C'mon!" she called over her shoulder.
    "Nikki..." Liza sighed in exasperation as she followed the other girl. Ali giggled and fell into step behind her.
    "But we still haven't found out who was playing the Sailor V game!" Mandy objected. "All we know for sure is that it wasn't Amy!"
    "Well, you four can discuss it at dinner, OK?" Lita told her. "Suya, wanna help with serving? Scoot, Mandy, the others are probably waiting for you."
    Mandy made a face, but she scooted off to join her friends in the dining hall.
    Suya nodded in response to Lita's question. "Of course. Let's go!" I think I gave them just enough hints to nudge them in the right direction. If they continue the discussion the way it had been going, they'll probably figure it out soon enough. The two older girls headed off to the kitchens.

A little later, in the dining hall...

    "That's what Alex told me," Liza explained in answer to Mandy's question. The girls had been going over what Nikki and Liza had heard, trying to see just how well the stories dovetailed.
    "Suya must have been at least close to the front of the crowd," mused Ali, " if she saw Mina yelling at Artemis. But she said she didn't see the girl playing the game. And she claimed tho have left before Molly and Serena arrived. I wonder if she's ever played videogames..." Ali trailed off, apparently lost in thought. Well, she's good at chess, and we really don't know much about her. Mandy found out that she's fourteen and in Lita's class. She's a Sailor Scout fan, but doesn't really have a favorite scout. Hmm...
    "Suya's fourteen, she's GA, she's nice, she's second year junior high, she's at Juban Junior High, she isn't any taller than me, she came here Saturday from Shijan, she hasn't got her new uniform yet...we forgot to ask if she knows Amy or Molly or Serena or anybody else we mentioned...she's really good at chess...I think that's about all we really know about her," Nikki rattled off quickly. "Still to be answered, has she got a nickname? How long's she been in an orphanage? How'd she loose her family?"
    "Enough, Nikki!" Mandy glared at the blond. "Yammering on about Suya like that isn't going to help us figure out who it was that almost beat the Sailor V game, which is what we were trying to do, in case you've forgotten."
    "Ali, you sound like you're onto something," Liza commented. "Care to share your analysis with the rest of us?"
    "Hmm? Oh! I was just thinking," Ali replied, "maybe there's a clue in what Suya told us about seeing Mina and Artemis, but not the girl playing the game. If she saw Mina, Suya would've had to be close enough to have seen the machine--and more importantly the person sitting in front of it. Yet she claims not to have seen that person. She might have come in right after the girl left, but we know that Molly and Serena arrived less than five minutes after the highest-score player departed, and Suya said she didn't see either of them because they didn't get there until after she left. How is all that possible?"
    "I don't think it is," Mandy answered.
    "Unless..." Liza trailed off.
    "Unless what?" Nikki prompted.
    Mandy and Ali nodded. "Who is the one person you can't see without help that is not available at the Crown Arcade?" Liza asked Nikki.
    "Huh?" the blond obviously didn't get it.
    "There aren't any mirrors at the arcade," Mandy explained.
    "So?" asked Nikki. "What have mirrors--which I know they don't have at the arcade--got to do with anything?"
    "Dimwit," Liza muttered under her breath, earning a glare from Mandy, who wasn't in the mood to listen to another Nikki vs. Liza argument.
    Ali sighed. "Nikki, who is the one person you can't see without a mirror?"
    "Myself," the blond answered.
    "Exaclty!" exclaimed the other three.
    "But what has that got to do with who was playing the Sailor V game?"
    Liza, Mandy, and Ali all sweatdropped. "Think!" Liza shouted in exasperation.
    "Liza," came a voice from the table behind the GA girls, "could you please not shout? I'm tryin' to eat, an' I don't wanna listen to you girls arguin' with Natasha an' Emily, OK?"
    "Sure! Fine! Whatever! You get her," she indicated Nikki, "to figure out what we're trying to tell her!"
    "'Bout the Sailor V game?" asked Trav. "Jamie said it was one of Mina's friends that almost beat it."
    "That doesn't help, Trav. I dunno Mina all that well," Nikki told him. "I know she's friends with Amy and Lita and Serena and Raye and Molly, but I don't know any of her friends from school. And we already know it wasn't Amy, Lita, Serena, or Molly. And I don't think it was Raye."
    "Couldn't've been. Jamie said she heard the girl was new to the area."
    "Like Suya?"
    "Yeah, like Suya! You met her yet? She's in your ward. She's a really great soccer player!"
    "Nikki, what we've been trying to say is that we think Suya might have been the one who almost beat the Sailor V game," Ali explained.
    "Mina certainly seems to think so. I know I got the highest-ever score, but I don't know for sure how close I was to the end of the game," Suya said as she and Lita came up behind the GA girls, carrying their own dinners. "May we join you?"
    "Sure!" agreed the four Scoutfans.
    "So you missed and got killed because Artemis sat on top of the game and distracted you," Lita commented as she and Suya sat down, "no wonder Mina got mad at him! She hates it when he distracts her--or anybody else--and causes them to mess up on the Sailor V game."
    "What is all this fuss over a dumb videogame?" asked one of the other girls at the table.
    "I'll let you off with just a warning for that this time, Emily, but only because I don't wish to give a bad impression of myself," Lita scolded the girl, glaring at her.
    "Hi! It's nice to see you again!" chirpped Eri, who was also at the same table.
    "Hi! Hi! Hi!" Ju commented brightly. "Didja really get a wicked score? I hadn't heard about the Sailor V game! Cool! Cool! Coo--uph!" the younger girl's chatter was cut off abruptly as the table's tenth occupant, a girl whose shoulder-length hair was so dark a brown as to be nearly black, shoved a piece of shrimp into the younger girl's mouth.
    "Natasha!" Almost the entire table was now glaring at the dark-haired girl. Suya jumped up from her seat and rushed over to make sure that Ju was OK.
    "I thought I told you to shut up, Julianna. Apparently you don't understand the meaning of those words," the girl who'd silenced Ju commented condesendingly.
    "That was entirely inappropriate, miss! Do you realize you could have choked her?" scolded Suya. "Are you alright, Ju?" That girl! She reminds me quite strongly of Rachel Teno. I suspect she is one of the "Nasties" that Lita mentioned earlier.
    "Well you're certainly not making a very good impression, Tasha!" Liza told the girl angrily. "There was absolutely no call for that!"
    "Oh, no, here we go again!" groaned one of the boys at the table behind them.
    "What other kind of impression can she make, Liza?" asked Mandy, her voice dripping with sarcasm and anger. "She's only being who she really is."
    "I think you need to find a dictionary yourself, Natasha!" Ali's voice was sharp. "You need to learn the meaning of the words 'reasonable behavior'!"
    "Perhaps some introductions are in order here," Nikki suggested, her tone saccharine, as she stood and walked casually--almost too casually--over to the end of the table where the nasty girl sat. "Suya, this is Natasha," she indicated the dark-haired girl eveyone had been yelling at, "and this is Emily," Nikki gestured toward the girl who'd made the scathing comment about the Sailor V game earlier. "Natasha, Emily, this is Suya, who is new to GA."
    Suya nodded curtly at the other two girls. They're the "Nasties" Lita warned me about all right. I can certainly understand where they got that title.
    "Good evening," said Emily. "You will excuse my friend's somewhat sudden reaction, Julianna can be terribly frustrating to deal with. She is forever forgetting that she has been instructed to keep her mouth shut."
    Suya shot a glare in the other's direction, but refused to make any further comment.
    "Emily," scolded Lita, "I don't think you quite understand. Tell me, do you ever boss me around?" The other shook her head. "And why not?"
    "Neither of us bosses you around Lita. You're older than we are. And you're not in the orphanage either," Natasha pointed out.
    "Then where do you get off bossing Suya around?" demanded Liza. "She may be part of this orphanage, but she's also the same age as Lita!"
    "Enough!" Suya's voice cut through the beginning argument. "Let's drop the subject right here, please. Natasha, please appologize to Ju for shoving food into her mouth and nearly choking her. Then I want you to promise me that you will not do it again." Suya held out a pen she'd had in her pocket. I want a Crystal promise so I can be certain that she won't break it, but I can't ask for that until they know me better. Still, by getting her to hold the Asteroid Pen while she makes her promise, I'll get the Crystal binding.
    Hey, that looks like the Luna Pen! Except it's in shades of blue instead of pink. Weird! Now I have even more to report tonight! I wonder what she's going to do with that? Lita thought. "Suya, what's the pen for?"
    "Natasha, I'd like you to hold on to my pen while you promise me that you won't shove food into other people's mouths for no good reason, OK?" Suya's voice was still a bit sharp. Her instructions to Natasha, however, also answered Lita's question.
    I wonder why. What's special about that pen? Lita wondered, but she didn't ask.
    "Alright," Natasha said, reluctantly accepting the pen. "I promise I won't shove food in people's mouths without a reason. There!" she made a face and shoved the pen back at Suya.
   Suya took the pen, but kept her clear blue gaze locked with Natasha's brown. "And?" she asked, raising her left eyebrow. "Apologize to Ju, please."
   Natasha made a face. "Sorry," she said, but it was obvious to everyone at the table that she didn't really mean it.
   Ju paused for a moment, then gave the other a curt nod. She knew that was the best she was going to get from one of the Nasties. That's a lot more than I've ever gotten from either of them before. I'm gonna like having Suya around.
     Apparently satisfied with this, Suya returned to her seat. After this incident, they managed to finish their dinner in peace.

Aino house, 7:45 pm…

     "Hey, Lita! C’mon in!" Mina greeted her friend. "Now that you’re here, we can start. Let’s go up to my room, girls!"
     The five girls tromped up the stairs to Mina’s bedroom, followed by the two cats.
     "We’ll cut right to the point," Artemis instructed. "I think we’ve all got something to report."
     "Let’s go in the order we met up," suggested Mina. "Serena, you start."
     "Uh, OK," the other began. "Actually, first of all I have a question. Luna, do you happen to know my younger sister’s name?"
     "No," the little black cat answered, shaking her head. "Why do you ask?"
     "Might it have been Suya? ‘Cause I met this new girl this morning at school, and she seemed kinda familiar—like I’d met her before—and before I even asked what her name was, I felt like I knew it. I wanted to call her ‘Suya’," Serena explained. "So I was wondering if maybe that was my sister’s name, ‘cause I didn’t know any of the other Sailor Scouts’ names before they told me. Come to think of it, none of the others seemed familiar either—the first time I met them."
     "I don’t know. Perhaps. Anything else?" Luna asked.
     "Nope, that’s it. Amy?"
     "Well, Amy began, "I also met a ‘Suya’ today. She’s in my math class. She has this really pretty brooch that looks kinda like Serena’s old one. Except it had a different symbol on it. The symbol seemed hauntingly familiar, and I think it might have some connection to the Silver Millennium. Suya said it made her think of a shattered planet. I’m trying to run a program on my computer to find out what it is, but so far I’ve got nothing. Raye, have you seen anything? Oh, by the way, Serena, congratulations on making it to school early!"
     "What!? Serena early for school!?!?!" exclaimed Raye, Lita, and the two cats. Amy and Mina started giggling.
     "Well that’s a first!" commented Artemis.
     "No wonder I couldn’t find her this morning!" Luna put in.
     "Write down the date!" shouted Raye. "Serena was actually early for something!"
     "It wasn’t the first time, Raye," Amy argued. "Though the other time was because of the Negaverse…nevermind." Even Serena was giving Amy a confused look. Apparently she’d forgotten about the time Jedite had messed up everyone’s sense of time and sent the whole city into a frenzy.
     "I’d accuse you of playing a joke on us, Amy," said Lita, "except I think you’re about as ‘kidding’ as Liza was earlier!" The others gave her a quizzical look, and she sweatdropped. "Uh, I’ll explain later. Right now it’s Raye’s turn to report."
     "Oh, yeah. Take a look at this," Raye told them, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. "It’s a copy of the scroll written by a Shijan girl I met at lunch today. I kinda eavesdropped on her when she went to pray—I was curious about what she wanted, and she intrigued me!—and I discovered that she felt somehow shattered. Not like her life was in pieces or her heart had been broken or anything. Just shattered. It’s really hard to explain. I can’t describe it either, except that it was really strange."
     Amy took the paper and read it over. "She’s looking to find friendship."
     "That’s not all," Raye commented, taking the paper back from Amy. "She also seeks help in finding certain people—she doesn’t name them, though—and she’s grateful to the spirits for leading her to some of the people she seeks. The ending is what really gets me, though: ‘Reikani, do you listen? Do you remember me at all?’ I don’t know who it’s directed at, but somehow that name—Reikani—seems strangely familiar. Anybody ever heard it?"
     The others shook their heads, all except for Serena. "I…don’t…know," she said slowly. "Did you ask the fire?"
     "Uh, not for that," replied Raye. "Only about the ‘shattered’ thing."
     "And?" asked the others.
     "It showed me this symbol that looked sorta familiar—about as familiar as that name. A circle of small hearts surrounding a little ‘x’…"
     "That’s the same symbol as on the brooch!" exclaimed the other four scouts.
     "Luna, Artemis," Raye wasn’t really paying much attention to the rest of the girls, "do you know what planet the missing scout is supposed to be from?"
     The two looked at each other, shrugged, and shook their heads. "We really don’t have very much information at all," Artemis explained. "I’m not sure we have enough to find the sixth Sailor Scout, much less the missing princess. Lita, why don’t you tell us what you’ve learned."
     Lita nodded. "OK. I met this new girl at lunch today, and she seemed really familiar somehow. At first I thought maybe she was this girl I met when I was three, who’d gotten stuck in some blackberry brambles, but now I don’t think so. I thought maybe she could be the missing scout, because she had a brooch that looked a lot like Serena’s old one except for the design on it. She’d just moved from Shijan, and they didn’t have a Juban uniform small enough to fit her. Then I noticed that her eyes—they were like crystal-blue—seemed to be full of truth. So I was wondering if the missing scout might have something to do with truth."
     This earned more shrugs from the cats. "Earlier you mentioned something about Liza…" Luna prompted.
     "I’m getting there," Lita promised. "See, I also met up with Suya Manetsuyo later on at Juban Orphanage where I found out that she’s in Ward GA…"
     "She’s an orphan!?!?!" Serena and Rayed yelled in surprise.
     "You didn’t know that?" asked Amy.
     "No!!"
     "Well, she is. Anyhow, she was helping me in the kitchens when Mina called—that’s why I had to shush you. Then I asked her about her brooch. She said her mom gave it to her shortly after she first heard of Sailor V, and she mentioned something about the design reminding her of a shattered planet. I thought the design had something to do with a friend of mine in Silver Millennium. Later, Mandy popped in to help and started talking about Sailor Scouts. Suya said she didn’t have a favorite, then asked if we’d heard of ‘Sailor A’. Neither of us had, so Suya explained that Sailor A was the Shijan equivalent of Sailor V, but she hadn’t found the other scouts yet. So I’m guessing that Sailor A is the missing scout."
     "Good idea. I’ll see if I can dig up anything about this ‘Sailor A’," said Amy. "Meanwhile, you still haven’t told us about Liza."
     "Oh, that was when we were trying to figure out who it was that almost beat the Sailor V game," Lita explained. "Nikki’d heard about it though various channels—Mina told Molly, who told Lizzy, who told Jamie, who told her—and she thought maybe it was Amy, but Liza said it wasn’t, because Alex said Jackie’d overheard Andrew say that the girl who almost beat the game had only just started playing videogames. Ali objected to believing  rumors like that, and it was then that we found out Suya’d met Mina—she mentioned Artemis. The girls finally figured out that Suya was the one who’d topped the high score list,  but it took until almost halfway though dinner. Then the Nasties started being their mean old selves again."
     "Lita, what’s that got to do with Suya or the missing scout or anything?" asked Serena. "Those two are always making trouble. That’s nothing new."
     "I know. Lemme explain, OK?" Lita asked. "See, Natasha shoved a piece of shrimp into Ju’s mouth and that got everybody else mad at her. Suya scolded her, then took out a pen and told Natasha to hold it while she promised not to do that sort of thing. The interesting part is that the pen looked almost exactly like the Luna Pen, except it was light blue and topped with a pale blue crystal. There, I’ve finally managed to tell everything I had to report. Your turn, Mina."
     "Yeah. I don’t really have quite as much to report," Mina began. "I noticed Suya’s brooch too, and I was gonna ask Artemis about the design, but I forgot. It made me think of something shattered, though. She said she’d been a fan of Sailor V from the start. And she’d never played a videogame before she came to Juban! But she still blasted Amy’s high score on the Sailor V game! Then Artemis sat on top of the machine and distracted her. I heard her mutter something about ‘Minakira’ and the name sounded kinda familiar, but I can’t place it. Anybody?"
     Everyone else shook their heads. "No idea, Mina," Raye told her friend.
     "Oh well. So then she grabbed Artemis to keep me from hitting him," Mina continued. "And she somehow managed to startle him, but it wasn’t because she picked him up too fast. What did she do, Artemis?"
     "I’m not entirely sure it was her," Artemis explained. "I heard a voice in my head. It said: ‘Artemis, it’s good to see you again. The missing scout will join the others soon. Serenity will know her little sister again, but not just yet. Why is it that the other princesses don’t recall their names? How do you expect to find the orphan princess when the others are not awake enough to remember her?’ The voice was what startled me."
     "Orphan princess?" asked Amy.
     "Don’t remember names?" Raye and Mina queried simultaneously.
     "Luna, you’ve nothing to add?" Serena wanted to know.
     "Nothing. Let’s see if we can manage to sort out what we know," Luna suggested.
     "Amy, how’s that computer program coming? Has it done anything yet? I wonder if the missing sixth scout has something to do with a shattered truth," mused Lita.
     "Huh? Lita, you’re not making sense," scolded Serena. Then she let her mind drift away again. "My little sister…she really was smaller than me. But then she was the smallest of us all…a good five inches shorter than me…her eyes…I can still remember…crystal-blue and full of truth…she was three…" Serena trailed off.
     "Three?! But I thought Luna said she was our age!" objected Raye.
     "Three when what?" Mina’d realized what Raye hadn’t noticed—that Serena had trailed off mid-sentence.
     "When…" Serena continued, "the big…I didn’t see…big explosion…she didn’t remember…sisters then. Adopted…she eventually learned to call Queen Serenity ‘Mother’…like I did…’cause we were sisters…I miss her!"
     "I thought you missed…" Raye began, teasing.
     "Shut up, Raye!" Amy ordered. "Look! Oh, drat. That doesn’t help much."
     "What?" Everyone’s attention was immediately focused on Amy as she tapped away at her computer.
     "The program I set up earlier finished, but all it did was confirm what we already suspected: the symbol on Suya’s brooch is connected to something shattered," Amy explained.
     "Maybe it’s just attuned to her," suggested Raye. "Or maybe that’s her symbol."
     "Could be," commented Luna. "It might also be the symbol of the other scout. But there’s also the possibility that the design is completely random and she has no connection to Silver Millennium at all."
     "I don’t think that’s the case, Luna," Lita frowned at the cat. "There’s too much coincidence. Like the way that Liza’s story about the girl who almost beat the Sailor V game dovetailed with Nikki’s."
     "Well, so far this is the information we’ve collected," Mina began to list things off. "About the sixth Sailor Scout: perhaps she’s Sailor A; she might have something to do with truth and/or something that’s shattered; she’s supposed to join us soon, which may mean that we don’t hafta look for her; possibly the symbol on Suya’s brooch is the missing scout’s symbol. As for the missing princess: we don’t know her name but there’s a possibility—actually a very good one—that it was Suya; we know she was orphaned at the age of three—this is all from what Serena’s told us, because nobody else seems to have found out anything about the princess—her parents were killed in some kind of explosion and she didn’t remember; we have no idea what it was that she didn’t remember, though; do you suppose knowing what she looked like will help us find her?"
     "Maybe. It’s certainly worth a try," answered Artemis.
     "OK, then, we also know that she was shorter by far than any of the rest of us, and she had crystal-blue eyes that were full of truth," Mina finished. "Did I miss anything?"
     "Hmm…" mused Lita. "That description sounds a lot like Suya Manetsuyo."
     "I wonder if she could be the orphan princess. That’d certainly explain why she seemed so familiar," said Serena. "And why I seem to know so much about her even though I only just met her this morning. I have this odd sense that anything she says is absolutely truth. That’s part of how she managed to cheer me up this morning before homeroom."
     "How so?" asked Amy. "I heard form Suya that you were sitting outside the classroom sobbing, but she didn’t mention anything about cheering you up."
     "Oh, I told her that I got dumped," Serena replied, "and she promised me that Darien would come back. She said maybe he just needed some time alone to sort things out. And she sounded so certain! I knew, I just sorta sensed she wasn’t teasing or trying to cheer me up with false hopes, I simply knew that it had to be true!"
     "Good!" commented Lita. "I’ll have to remember to thank her the next time I see her!"
     "Oh yeah," agreed Raye. "I’ll do another fire reading tomorrow and see if I can find out anything about those names—Reikani and Minakira. Also, we’re supposed to have study group at Lita’s tomorrow. Shall we invite Suya to join us? That might be a good chance for us to all be able to talk to her, and it might give us some more hints about who she is."
     "That’s a great idea Raye!" exclaimed Mina. "OK with you, Lita?"
     "Sure," Lita laughed. "Actually, I was thinking of inviting her myself, but I kinda forgot."
     "Perhaps we can get her to tell us more about this ‘Sailor A’ she mentioned," Amy added. "Like when she first appeared, what she looks like, maybe some clues as to her identity."
     "Well, I said I’d meet her at the school gates tomorrow afternoon," Serena told them. "I promised I’d introduce her to some of my other friends, but I guess I won’t have to introduce her to most of them! She’s already met all my closest friends except for Molly! Amy, Lita, can you meet us at the gates after school? Then we can head straight over to Lita’s for study group!"
     "And you’ll be on time for once," Raye put in.
     "Yes, that sounds like a good idea, Serena," Amy replied. "I’ll meet you at the gate after school, the same place where we met Raye the day that we went to the animation studio."
     "Sure, Serena," Lita answered. "Wait a minute! Amy, you went to an animation studio? What for? And when?"
     Serena stuck out her tongue. "Yeah, Amy, Raye, and I all went—Luna too—but it wasn’t just for fun. We got to see the studio where they were working on the Sailor V movie!"
     Amy nodded. "It was a while ago, before we met you, Lita. Actually, it was the day after I’d done something kinda stupid…"
     Mina cut her off, "You? Do something stupid? Amy? No way!"
     "What’d you do, Amy? I never heard about that!" Raye shouted  in surprise.
     "Oh dear," the cats both sweatdropped. "Looks like the meeting is deteriorating into a gossip session," Luna continued.
     "Again," Artemis added.
     "I challenged Nephrite by myself," Amy explained. "That was on the evening when I went to the animation studio to try to return a folder that someone—Laurie—had dropped on the street. I kinda got chased out, but Cassie—a friend of Laurie’s—invited me to come back the next day. We went after school, and then we discovered that the Negaverse was attacking there—and Laurie was the target."
     "We had to battle a yoma—the Gemini Warriors. That was one of the tougher fights of the early days. They threw our own attacks back at us! And Tuxedo Mask didn’t show up to help," Raye told them.
     "But it turned out that we didn’t need his help," Serena reminded her. "Remember? We dusted them  by working together."
     As Luna had predicted, the conversation continued to drift from the original subject as the five scouts reminisced about earlier battles. After a while, Mrs. Aino yelled up the stairs that it was time for them to go to bed.

Next morning, at Juban Junior High…

     Suya wandered leisurely up to the school gates. She was in no hurry, because she knew full well that she was quite early.
     Suddenly a car pulled up right in front of the gate, frightening Suya (partly just because it was a yellow car). She jumped, then dashed through the gate to hide behind the wall. Calm down, she told herself, it’s OK. I’m sure it’s OK. This is school, and I’m safe. That car was a good couple of yards away from me when it pulled up. Now there is a nice, thick brick wall between me and that car. Calm down. But it pulled up so suddenly! It scared me! I don’t like cars! Memories of the crash that had killed her parents eleven years before flashed though Suya’s mind. Calm down! she ordered herself. It wasn’t working.
     "Hey, wasn’t that Suya?" Serena asked as she, Amy, and Lita got out of the car. "Thanks for the ride, Mr. Aino!"
     "You’re quite welcome, girls!" he replied cheerfully. "Have a good day at school!"
     "We will!" the three called out as he drove off.
     "Where’d she go?" Amy wondered. She’d also seen Suya vanish.
     "What’s the matter with her? Why’d she freak out like that?" Lita wanted to know.
     "I dunno, Lita," answered Serena. "C’mon, let’s go find her." She lead her friends through the school gate, glancing around for Suya.
     Amy was the first to spot the small girl hiding behind the wall. "Suya! What are you doing out here?"
     "I…I…car," she explained, at a loss for words. Her mind was still filled with images of the crash as she tried to calm herself. "It’s not working," she whispered, much to the confusion of the other three.
     "Huh? What’s not working?" inquired Lita. "The car?"
     Suya shook her head violently. "No! No! No car! No car! Please!" No car, no car, no car! Ahhh! Calm down! By this time she was in tears.
     "I think that just made it worse," Serena scolded her tall friend gently. "I kinda get the feeling she doesn’t like cars. C’mon, Suya, cheer up! It’s gone! You’re OK, what’s the matter? What isn’t working?"
     "Calm down," was all Suya could manage to get out.
     Doesn’t like cars? thought Lita, reaching into her pocket to touch the locket again. Natsuya? But she can’t be…can she? Lots of things add up…but her name. Should I show her the locket any way? No, I’ll wait. "Sorry."
     Sensing that Suya really needed to be comforted—otherwise she had no chance of managing to calm down—Amy reached out and gingerly set her hand on Suya’s shoulder. "It’s OK, Suya. There’s no car anymore. It’s gone. You’re at school. Everything is all right. You’re surrounded by friends." Hmm, maybe I can distract her from this whole business with the car. Let’s see, now what…ah! but how would I phrase it so that it doesn’t sound strange for me to come up with names like that out of the blue? I don’t think she knows…
     So, Suya could read Amy’s thoughts through the contact—largely because the other girl was just about broadcasting. My test of Reikani is done. She doesn’t remember me either. Oh well. Aminaka, I wish you and the others were awake enough to remember. Oh I wish I could manage to calm down!
     "Hey!" cried Lita, bending down to pick up the small black cat sitting at her feet. "I heard somewhere that petting a cat is supposed to help calm nerves. Maybe that’ll help you, Suya!" she held out the somewhat startled cat as Suya slowly lowered her hands from her face and looked up.
     Luna? Suya reached out to accept the little cat Lita offered her to pet. It is you, isn’t it? Oh, Luna, do you at least remember me? Artemis doesn’t. Neither do my sisters. She carefully positioned her hand so that it covered the crescent mark on the black cat’s forehead. Luna. It’s so good to see you again. Do you remember the orphan princess, Suya? Oh it is so good to think of Silver Millennium now. It’s working, to calm me. The others…they aren’t awake enough to remember me. Serenity almost remembers. I can tell that she’s on the verge of remembering, but I think…and the others are no where near remembering…except perhaps Endymion, I didn’t get the chance to test him, so I can’t tell. How do you expect to find the younger Moon Princess without any memory of who she was?
     Serena noted the startled look on Luna’s face as the cat caught herself just in time to keep from speaking in front of someone who was not a Scout. What the…? Hmm. I’ll make her give me a full report later—like at lunch.
     "It worked. I’m much calmer now. Thanks, Lita," Suya smiled up at her tall friend. "And thank you too, little cat," she turned her smile on Luna, stroking the cat so that Luna would now be calmed form her shock.

          “Good!” Amy commented. “Hey, maybe we should get going to class. We don’t want to be late for homeroom. Serena, I wish I was in your homeroom! I’d love to see the look on your teacher’s face when she sees that you’re on time twice in a row!”

          Serena started laughing. “Yeah, Miss H probably won’t believe it!”

          “I wonder if anybody will believe it,” laughed Lita. “It’ll probably surprise Molly, too!”

          “Oh that’s right! Suya, I didn’t get a chance to introduce you to Molly yesterday!” exclaimed Serena. “C’mon, let’s go!”

          “OK!” Suya set Luna down, then let Serena tug her off to homeroom as the other two girls, both still laughing, made their way to class.

          “Morning, Molly!” Serena called cheerfully as they entered the classroom.

          The redhead who sat next to Serena turned to face the two girls. “Morning! Hey, Serena, you’re early! The bell hasn’t even rung yet!”

          “Yeah I know! I came in with Amy today, so I knew I’d be early! I wanted to surprise Miss H!” Serena explained excitedly. “I also wanted to make sure I had time to introduce you to my friend Suya. Suya, this is Molly Osaka, she and I have been best friends for ages, since we were both really little. Molly, this is Suya Manetsuyo, she just moved here from Shijan.” Oops, now she’s gonna wonder how I found that out.

          “Nice to meet you, Suya!” Molly greeted cheerfully, offering a polite bow.

          Suya returned the bow. “It’s very nice to meet you also, Molly!” She looks familiar. . . oh! She’s the one that fell in love with Nephrite! I talked to her that one time, right after he’d been killed by Zoicite! Molly’s probably the only human who has actually seen Sailor A. Thankfully, I only met her that once, and as Sailor A, so there is little chance of her recognizing me.

          “Hi-de-ho girls!” a voice greeted cheerfully as a boy with Coke-bottle glasses popped up amid the three friends. Startled, they jumped back.

          “Melvin!” complained Serena and Molly. “Why do you keep popping up like that?”

          “Sorry,” the boy apologized. “I just wanted to meet the new girl. I didn’t get a chance to say hi to her yesterday.” Turning to Suya, he continued, “I’m Melvin Gurio, I sat next to you in homeroom yesterday. It’s nice to meet you, Suya.”

          Recovering from her startlement—that hadn’t been nearly as frightening as the car—Suya bowed politely. “It’s nice to meet you also, Melvin.”

          “Hey, Suya,” Molly asked, “have you been to the Crown yet? Mina said somebody blasted the high score on the Sailor V game yesterday.”

          Suya smiled. “Yes I have! I went Sunday with Dr. Mizuno—Amy’s mom—and yesterday afternoon with Mina Aino. That game is a lot of fun!”

          Serena giggled. “I heard from both Lita and Mina that Suya was the one who almost beat it! Oh, I wish I could’ve seen you!”

          Molly looked surprised, and opened her mouth to say something else, but the bell rang, cutting her off. Everyone scurried off to their seats.

          “Good morning everyone!” called Miss H as she rushed into the room. “Let’s get started right…Serena! Oh my! On time twice in a row!” The entire class started cracking up. “All right, all right, calm down everyone! Let’s take attendence!”

          Once again, everyone was in school and on time, but today the bell rang before Miss H had a chance to comment. Everyone scooted off to class—this time Serena knew where she was going.

Math Class

            Most of the class was busy working on a tough problem, but Amy and Suya were talking quietly. They’d already finished the problem, but Mr. Seki had his back to them as he walked the rest of the class through it, and he hadn’t yet noticed.

            “Suya,” asked Amy, “I have a study group meeting after school. Would you like to come?”

            “Serena’s going to introduce me to some of her friends this afternoon,” Suya explained, “and I promised I’d meet her at the gate right after school.”

            Amy giggled. “Oh! I guess she didn’t tell you the whole plan. Serena’s part of the study group, and she was supposed to invite you, but I guess she kinda forgot. Lita Kino is also a member of our study group—in fact this afternoon’s meeting is at her place.”

            Suya nodded. “In that case, I’d love to join you! I guess you’ve heard that I met her yesterday?”

            “Yeah. I also heard—from Mina Aino—that you almost beat the Sailor V game, but Artemis distracted you.”

            “He sat on the machine.”

            “Have you met the other GA girls yet?”

            “Yes! Most of them are nice, but I can tell why Natasha and Emily are called the Nasties.”

            “No kidding,” Amy agreed emphaticly.

            Just then, Mr. Seki turned around and noticed the two girls talking. “I take it you ladies are already done with the problem?” When they nodded, he gave them each a sheet of paper with a list of problems. “Those should be enough to last until the end of class, OK?” he smiled.

            “Thanks!” they chimed, and set to work immediately.

Lunchtime…

            Suya ate quickly, then took off for Sendai Hill Temple again (she’d been given permission to leave the school grounds durning lunchtime for the entire week, provided she was not late for class).

            When she reached the temple, she wandered about, looking for Raye. Suya soon found the priestess in the chamber of the temple’s Sacred Flame. Raye was quite obviously working on a fire reading.

            Wonder what she wants to know, Suya thought. Should I try to find out? I might be able to help, especially if it’s something about Silver Millenium. Suya nodded in answer to her question. Squeezed against the doorway, she watched the priestess carefully. If it’s obvious. I won’t probe for the question. It may not be about Silver Millennium at all. Suya closed her eyes, took a deep breath to relax herself, and opened her mind. Immediately she knew what it was the other sought. The names. Yes of course. Now which memory…ah, perfect. That should be easy enough to work with. Pulling the memory she’d chosen to the forefront of her mind, she projected it into the fire.

            Prayer wasn’t something that could be rushed, but Raye did hope the fire’s answer would come quickly, as she had to get back to school. Somehow, the Sacred Fire seemed to sense Raye’s need for speed. The answer came only a moment after she asked her question.

            Gazing into the flames, Raye found herself looking at a scene of a fancy ball. Five girls stood chatting nearby. One of them she recognized immediately—Princess Serenity. The other four looked vaguely familiar. The girl in the blue dress looked like Amy—the same short blue hair and bright blue eyes filled with knowledge, as well as the slightly shy smile. The blond in the yellow dress standing next to the blue girl reminded Raye quite strongly of her friend Mina. The yellow princess’ blue eyes held the same carefree, happy look the priestess so often noticed in Mina’s. Her golded hair was pulled back with the same kind of bow Mina usually wore. Another of the girls wore a green dress that matched her emerald eyes. Her brown hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, and she was considerably taller than the other four. But it wasn’t just her height that made Raye think of Lita—her eyes held compassion and caring, yet they also seemed to contain tamed lightning. Looking at the last girl gave the priestess the creepy feeling that she was looking at herself. The red dress she was wearing—Raye could easily picture herself wearing something like that to a ball. The other’s long black hair looked exactly like Raye’s own, and the face with its fiery purple eyes looked eerily like the face that looked back from Raye’s mirror.

            Unnerved, the priestess jerked her attention away from the girl in red. That can’t really be me, she thought in the back of her mind, I’d be eye-to-eye with myself, but she’s taller. Still… Raye clamped down on the thought. The girl in the blue was speaking.

            “I’ve told you before, I don’t like these parties,” she complained. Sounds like Amy, thought Raye. “I think they’re a complete waste of time that could be spent studying,” the blue girl continued.

            “Of course they’re no boring when you stand on the wall doing nothing!” exclaimed Princess Serenity. “You’re supposed to dance, silly! Didn’t you have fun last month at the party on Mercury?”

            “Serenity!” the first girl exclaimed. “I don’t want to dance! And the only reason I did last month was because I got dragged out onto the dance floor!” she shot a glare at Raye.

            “It was certainly fun to watch!” commented the girl in the yellow dress.

That is as far as I have gotten yet. I'll work on it a bit more, and type it up when I get the chance.
See you later! Come back and check again!
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