The bitter air chilled Sailor Earth to the bone as she crept along the icy pathways of
Pluto, searching for someone.

But who?

That question bothered her to no end. All she knew was that Queen Serenity had sent her, and
that was all that mattered. She desperately wanted to serve the queen and win her approval,
but she felt overshadowed by her brother.

Brother?

It seemed as if eyes were staring at her as she searched frantically for any sign of life.
All she found was a house, made out of crystal. She shivered and knocked three times on the
pure white door.

The door opened and a young woman stepped out. She had long green hair and wore the attire
of a Sailor Scout. A black staff with a garnet orb on top was in her hand. Her eyes traveled
over Sailor Earth and showed a look of understanding.

"You are Sailor Earth?" she murmured.

"Yes...and you are...Sailor Pluto...correct? But you should be at the Time Gate..."

Sailor Pluto nodded her head. "Indeed. You have a great memory, Princess Miyoko. The reason
I am not at the Time Line is that..." 

"How do you know my other name? Most call me..."

"Yes, I realize people call you the other name, but I prefer to call you by your Celestial
Name," Sailor Pluto replied, her turn to interrupt. 

Sailor Earth hesitated, and then continued, "Queen Serenity has sent me. Was it to find
you?" 

"Yes. She sent you on a unknown mission, didn’t she?" Sailor Pluto asked.

Sailor Earth bobbed her head in agreement, yet was still puzzled.

"What is the--" "My dear Princess Miyoko," Sailor Pluto murmured. "She has chosen you to
travel through time." 

A sudden mist chilled the air. Sailor Pluto gasped as a black vine appeared out of thin air
and wrapped itself tightly around Sailor Earth’s chest. Sailor Earth gasped for air and
fought. 

"It’s no use! This princess will never be able to travel through time!" A cold, high laugh
sounded as Sailor Earth screamed, the black cloud swarming, the vine strangling the very
life, even soul out of her... 

Rose woke up in a cold sweat, crying out. She felt her clammy hands clutch the sheets in
fright. She had dreamed of a girl visiting someone...she couldn’t remember exactly. The
girl had been told she would go through time but a black vine had grabbed her...

Rose shivered, remembering the jolting pain she had experienced during the dream. The girl
in her dream was a mirror image of herself, and the thought made her blood freeze like a
Popsicle. Sailor Pluto...was that the green haired woman’s name? And who...

Perplexed, Rose fell back on her pillow and glanced at the clock. It was 2:30 AM in the
morning.

"Just great," she growled. "A wonderful time having coffee with Sonny...and unluckily I have
this nightmare...?"

"Meow?"

"Comet?" Rose’s eyes widened at the sight of the brown cat. "I-I put you outside!"

Comet’s purrs were like a motor as he lay down next to her. A sudden warm feeling spread
through Rose’s nerves, and her tense body relaxed. She closed her eyes dreamily and thought
she almost smelled flowers. When she woke four hours later, at 6:30 AM, she didn’t remember
the dream at all.

Sighing happily, Rose saw that the sun was bright. She got out of bed and began to prepare
herself for school. She spotted the piece of paper on her desk and remembered; it had the
piano player’s phone number and name on it. She picked it up and read:

Haruka Teioh
482-768

Rose smiled, tucked the paper into her school uniform pocket, and grabbed her book bag. She
headed out the door and started walking to school, knowing she would soon hear the
chattering. She knew she was earlier; she would probably be fifteen minutes early at the
least.

She took longer than usual, breathing in the scent of damp soil that had been watered and
watching the people go by. She reached the school with a heavy heart; she was feeling like
a weight had landed on her shoulders. She was also feeling a little sick, yet she shook it
off. Phoebe was standing at the entrance, her hair tied into a ponytail that bounced when
she moved (she was pacing a little).

"Hi, Phoebe," Rose called out, a note of gloom in her voice.

"Is something wrong?" Phoebe asked.

"I remember having a nightmare, but I can’t recall what it was about," Rose replied,
stepping to Phoebe’s side.

"If you can’t remember, why bother?" was Phoebe’s remark as they entered the building and
started to walk down the halls.

"I don’t know..." Rose murmured as they sat in their seats in the English Class.

She sighed softly as the announcements came on. She wasn’t thinking about the announcements,
however. She was trying to remember the dream that had occurred in her mind last night. And
she was starting to feel worse and worse. She almost even considered asking to go home.

The minutes dragged on and when school finally was out, Rose thought she might collapse she
was so glad. Phoebe was looking worried.

"You shouldn’t obsess about that dream so much, Rose!" she exclaimed. 

"Maybe you should go home and rest. And besides, you look awfully sick..."

"Yeah...yeah I’ll do that..." Rose agreed, her book bag thumping against her leg as she
walked.

"Do you want me to walk home with you?" Phoebe asked.

"Of course, don’t worry," Rose replied, managing a small smile.

As the two went down the sidewalk, it seemed as if the sounds of the cars were ten times
louder in her ears. The people blurred and wavered in front of her and beads of sweat
formed on her forehead as she struggled to keep walking. She felt hot and then cold; the
sickness much worse than it had been earlier. Phoebe, her eyes full of concern, grabbed
Rose’s arm.

"Rose, are you really that sick?" she cried.

"I...I...I don’t know...I feel so dizzy..." Her head was a jumble of thoughts as she tried
to keep her legs moving.

"This feels like a movie," Phoebe groaned.

"Oh..." Rose stumbled. "I feel awful..."

She wrenched out of Phoebe’s grasp in order to keep walking, but the air around her was
almost suffocating. She had no idea what was going on with her. Phoebe quickly caught her
before she collapsed.

"No...Phoebe...let me walk..."


"No! You’re sick!"

"Let me walk!"

Rose tried to run, but her legs felt like wet noodles underneath her. She staggered and
fell, her head hitting the sidewalk. Phoebe shrieked as Rose lay there, her breaths coming
out short and ragged. Phoebe searched around for anyone to help.

"Somebody help!" she cried. "My friend is sick! Can’t anybody help us?"

Rose felt strong arms lift her up. She heard Phoebe’s murmuring voice: "Thank goodness you
came to help us..." There was a blur of white light that blinded her, and she slowly felt
as if she was being rocked back and forth. A strange unknown voice was whispering to her,
but she couldn’t catch the words. She slowly went unconscious.

When her eyes finally opened, Rose’s first sight was of a hand gently pressing a wet
washrag on her hot forehead. She murmured out of pleasure and looked around the room. It
was foreign to her, yet she felt at home. She was lying in a bed with a blue bedspread and
her hair was undone and flowing. She reached up to touch the person’s hand and got a look of
the person’s face.

It was a young man, looking no older than 20 or maybe 21. His expression was a solemn one,
but Rose could sense love and kindness in his blue eyes. His hair was midnight black, his
calm face looked down at her, and Rose thought he was handsome. Sonny would be jealous if
he knew I was thinking that, Rose thought to herself.

"Who are you?" Rose asked softly.

The fellow seemed surprised at the question. He took off the washcloth and looked down at
her inquisitively.

"I’m Darien...Darien Chiba," he introduced. "You’re Rose Opal, correct?"

"Yeah..." Rose sighed. "But why am I here?"

"You don’t remember? You were really sick, with a high-fever, and you collapsed right there
on the sidewalk. Your redheaded friend called out frantically, begging someone to help
you," Darien summarized.

"Oh...I’m so glad you helped me...thank you..." Rose mumbled, smiling. She laughed a little.
"This really does feel like a movie."

Darien smiled. He really did have a nice smile when he wasn’t looking serious. "I guess it
does, huh? Your friend’s name is Phoebe Martin, right?"

"You’re right." 

Darien dabbed a little more at her fiery forehead. "Your fever has gone down, but you’re
going to have to stay here for a while."

"But...but my cat...and my garden..." Rose stammered.

"Phoebe said she’d tend to the garden, and your cat’s here...he sprang on the couch and
fell asleep," Darien interrupted.

"Oh..."

Darien wrung out the washcloth and lay it down on Rose’s forehead. Rose’s hazel eyes looked
gently up at him.

"My girlfriend is coming over today; she asked if she could since she hasn’t seen me for a
while; I just came back for a break from college. She might be coming in sometimes, so
please be nice."

"You think I would be mean?" Rose teased.

"No...but..."

"But what, Mr. Chiba?"

Darien’s smile grew. "You’re a silly one."

"Thank you, that’s a compliment. Yes, I’ll be nice."

"Now try to sleep," Darien encouraged. "I’ll wake you up when she comes."

Rose, still exhausted from the fever, was glad to obey. Darien slipped out of the room,
turning out the light. It was cool and dark, making Rose feel rather like a mushroom. She
closed her eyes and felt her head sink down further in the pillow. Before long, she was
asleep.

Rose didn’t know where she was. All she knew was that there was a high-cliff and a deep
gorge below. She knew she was standing on the cliff. Cautiously she took a step forward.
The rock cracked beneath and she found herself falling. Through the clouds she plummeted
towards the gorge.

She was expecting to hit the ground but didn’t. Four arms were gently holding her, carrying
to safety. Rose looked up at them.

One of them was wearing a lime green dress and had green hair to her chin. When she smiled,
a symbol shaped like a leaf flashed on her forehead. The second girl was small of stature
but kind of eye; her blonde hair streaked with brown was tied into two buns looking like
odangos. She wore a sky-blue dress, and when she smiled a symbol like a lightning bolt
shone on her forehead. The third girl was wearing a magenta dress and her midnight black
hair was tied into two plaits that hung over her shoulders. She grinned at Rose and a
symbol shaped like a sword glowed. The last girl was tall with flowing red hair and she
wore a fiery red-orange dress. She smiled sweetly and a symbol shaped like a bird...a
phoenix, to be precise...sparkled on her forehead.

"We’ll never let you fall, princess," they chorused.

"Who are you? What do you mean?" Rose found herself crying out.They only shook their heads
and repeated, "We’ll never let you fall."

"Meow?" Something was pressing on Rose’s cheek.

"Uhn...Comet?" Rose asked sleepily, awakening from the dream.

"Meow!" Comet exclaimed, rubbing his warm brown fur against her cheek.

"I had the oddest dream," Rose told him, cuddling him against her chest. 

"Am I a princess, Comet?"

Comet purred softly, since of course he couldn’t reply. Rose giggled.

"What time is it..." Rose murmured, looking at the clock. It was 4:30 PM. 

"Shouldn’t Darien be coming with his girlfriend now?"

Just like magic, there was a knock on her door. Rose struggled to sit up as Comet leaped
over and stood at the entrance.

"The door’s open!" she called.

The door opened and Darien walked in. Holding his hand was a girl a lot smaller than Darien.
She looked around the same age as Rose.

Her eyes were blue and her hair was gold but...Rose almost laughed...it was pulled into two
buns looking like meatballs, with long pigtails hanging out of them to her ankles. The girl
smiled at Rose, knowing she probably didn’t have to worry about her boyfriend being stolen.

"Rose, this is Serena Tsukino, my lovely girlfriend," Daren informed. 

Serena giggled happily. "Serena, this is Rose Opal. I think...I think I remember Rose from
the orphanage."

"I never saw you, though," Rose told him. She grinned at Serena. "Hi, Serena! Nice to meet
you!"

"Nice to meet you too!" Serena exclaimed, but she clutched Darien’s arm.

"Hey, no worries, Serena, I have a crush on someone," Rose laughed, seeing her grip. Serena
released her hold on him. Rose looked at Darien. "You’re lucky to have such a loving
girlfriend," she said.Darien smiled down at Serena. "Yeah, she’s one of a kind."

"Oh, Darien! You’re wonderfully perfect!" Serena cried, then blushed. Comet leaped back onto
Rose’s bed and Serena spotted him.

"What a cute kitty!" She rushed over to scratch his head and pet him. "What’s his name?" 

"His name is Comet," Rose reported, smiling.Comet rolled over and allowed Serena to rub his
belly. He purred loudly, stretching his legs. Darien chuckled and then looked at his watch.

"Our date’s set for 5:00, Serena, and it’s 4:45. We better go. Are you feeling better,
Rose?" Darien rushed out in one breath.

"Oh...my fever’s gone down. I think I can be alone for a while," Rose replied. "But...maybe
you could ask Sonny to look after me?"

Darien’s eyes widened. "You mean Sonny Gregorson?" 

"Yeah. He’s a friend of mine...although I’ve only known him for one day," Rose laughed. "We
had to do a karate match against each other." 

"He’s one of my good friends," Darien notified, once again checking his watch. "I have his
number, so I’ll call him and tell him to come over. Think you can survive?" 

"Sure I can!" Rose burst. 

"Let’s go, Darien. Nice to meet you, Rose! I hope we see each other more often! I’m sure we
go to the same school," Serena called. 

"Nice to meet you too, Serena!" Rose shouted as Darien allowed Serena to exit.

Rose sighed as the door shut and gazed at Comet, who was curled up against her waist. She
smiled and scooped him up, cuddling him and stroking his little brown head. He meowed and
wiggled, showing he’d rather be against her than in her arms. She let him down and looked
into his yellow eyes.

"You know...Serena seems so familiar...like the name Serenity...have I heard that name
before, Comet?" she asked. 

There was not even a meow in reply. Comet had fallen asleep.