Guardian of Dimensions - Chapter 9: Travel to the Moon ------------------------------------------------------- "No, wait a second" Naru said. "How is it possible that I'm a Sailor senshi? Who are you? And..." The Queen smiled. "You'll learn everything you need to know when we get on the Moon." Naru looked unsure, but at last the nodded. "Oh, before I forget" the Queen said. "Serenity, where's Endymion? He needs to get his memories back too." Sailor Moon seemed to be on the verge of tears. "He...he's not here." She sniffled. "Endymion...my Mamo- chan...he's in America to study..." she was weeping openly now. "Oh...I miss him so..." Mars approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Usagi" she said "why haven't you told us?" "I didn't want to...there are more important things ...I'd have felt stupid if I troubled you with my problems ...when the world's in danger..." ::She has matured a lot since last year:: Uranus sent. ::Indeed:: Sunaru answered. Then, out loud: "What if I can bring him back here?" Everyone stared at her. "You're serious?" Sunaru simply disappeared, and reappeared a moment later with Tuxedo Kamen. "I've already filled him in on the most recent happenings" she said. Moon immediately flung herself at Tuxedo Kamen, hugging him tightly, while the other senshi stared wide- eyed at Sunaru. "How...?" "Dimensional travelling. As the guardian of dimensions, I'm allowed to use a particular dimension, called a "corridor dimension", which I can bend to my liking both in time and space. I used a slower time there than the one in this dimension, so what appeared to be a second here was ten minutes there. I also used smaller space, so I got to America in three steps, no more, nor less." "So now you're ten minutes older than Uranus?" Mercury asked. Sunaru shook her head. "Neither I nor Endymion aged. The bending of the corridor dimension does not affect me nor anyone who is with me. This means I don't age in there, nor I get, say, stretched if the space is enlarged." "Oh." Mercury nodded. "I think I understood." "Well, now that you're all here, we can go" Queen Serenity said. "I'm afraid you'll have to use the Sailor Teleport, though. I had put up a dimensional barrier there, and I can't undo the spell." "How so?" Neptune asked. "You should be able to undo it, if you made it!" "Well..." Queen Serenity hesitated. "She's not the original queen", Pluto said. "She's been reincarnated too." "Yes, that's true", the Queen said. "I have all the memories of my past, but" she turned slightly red "it appears that my mage skills haven't reincarnated with me... as a member of the Moon Kin, I still can teleport, and that's how I got here without you noticing. That's also how the Sailor Teleport works: it's Serenity that does all the work, but since she hasn't ascended to the throne yet, she needs to tap into her guardians' psychic powers to activate the ability." Mars groaned. "That's exactly why I hate it so much." "I'm afraid nothing can be done about that" Queen Serenity said. "Now, get ready." Mars groaned again. "No, wait a second", Sunaru said. "I want to try and get the barrier down." "Suit yourself" the Queen answered. Sunaru disappeared. A minute or two passed, then her head stuck out of nowhere. "Aaaah!" Venus screamed. "Do not ever *gasp* dare to do that to me again! You scared me!" Sunaru giggled. "That was exactly what I wanted to do." "Well, I was _not_ scared then" Venus said childishly, pouting. "Really?" Sunaru grinned. "Fine then..." Her left arm stuck out, at about ten meters from where it should have logically been. The other one did likewise. Venus screamed again, louder than before. "*evil grin* Scared yet?" "AAAAAH! Yesyesyesyesyes!!!" Uranus was laughing hard. "Quit it, Sunaru-chan", she managed to say between laughs. "We don't want Venus to become crazier than she already is, do we?" All the other senshi (save Venus, who frowned) looked at each other and started laughing too. Sunaru mock pouted. "Oh, ok. Spoilsport." She stepped completely out of the corridor dimension she had been in. "I got the barrier down." She smiled and bowed, signaling to the dimensional portal she had materialized. "After you, my ladies" she joked. *** The senshi stepped out of the corridor dimension to find themselves staring at a tall crystal monolith. "This" Queen Serenity said "is the Prayer Tower." The senshi looked at it in awe, while Uranus smiled, a tear of joy rolling down her cheek. "My prayers have been granted" she whispered. "Even if I had to wait four thousand years, they have been granted..." Queen Serenity hesitantly approached her. At first she simply put a hand on her shoulder, then, seeing that Uranus wasn't trying to draw away, she pulled her in a hug. "I'm happy for you, child..." the Queen was crying, too. "I'm really... really sorry for what I put you through. I was wrong in thinking your sister and your guardians were dangerous... I never should have banished them, I realized that when I felt your pain and hatred for me. The banishing spell is not one that can be undone... if I could, I would have brought them back... but..." Uranus was standing in the Queen's embrace, not drawing away nor returning the gesture, trying to decide what to do. "I know I have no excuse for what I've done", the Queen continued after a moment of silence, "and I'm not trying to make you forgive me for my actions. I only wanted to tell you I'm sorry..." "Why didn't you tell me the spell couldn't be undone when I repeatedly asked you to do so? Why didn't you tell me all of this back then?" Uranus asked, in the calmest voice she could muster. "I was afraid you'd have me even more because of that..." "So that's why you never answered my questions?" "Yes... I'm sorry..." the Queen hugged her even tighter. Uranus felt a warm feeling tugging at her heart. She smiled and lifted her arms, returning the hug. "I forgive you", she whispered. "I forgive you. For even if in the past I suffered a lot because of you, it doesn't matter now. I have had my sister and guardians back, and I have everything I could wish for. I don't hate you anymore, I couldn't. You have done what you thought was right, and you can't be blamed for this... I forgive you." She stayed in the hug for another moment, then she gently freed herself. "But now is time for the others to regain their memories, isn't it?" "It is" a voice answered from around the Queen's feet. The Queen stepped right, and there were Luna and Artemis, along with a cat no one recalled having ever seen before. Uranus chuckled. "Well, hello there, Selene! Long time no see, ne?" "Indeed, Haruka-san" the cat answered, jumping on her shoulder. Selene had brownish-golden fur, and golden eyes: she bore a crescent moon symbol on her forehead. Sunaru smiled and petted her. "Hello, Sele. Good to see you again!" Selene seemed surprised.. "Why, Seikyu-san, last time I saw you you were only..." "I was only four years old", Sunaru interrupted. "You are _not_ getting me with the 'you've grown up so much since I last saw you' thing. You're not in the condition to do that. You were little yourself, a little kitten who had scampered away from her mother - Cynthia was her name, if I'm not mistaken - during a visit of the Moon Royalty to my home planet. If I remember exactly, you had begged your mother - who was the Queen's advisor at the time - to bring you with her when she went with the Queen to visit Uranus, and you had gone out alone 'in search of adventures'. But you got in trouble with a grizzly bear in the zoo my parents kept, and..." "Enough of reminishing", Selene interrupted hastily. If her fur had permitted it, she would have been blushing bright red by now. "The others have to get their memories back." "So that your Gaia-chan will finally remember you, ne?" Uranus joked. Selene tried to swipe at her with her claws, but she missed and fell down from her shoulder, landing flatly on her face. "Unbelievable!" Venus said to herself. "That cat's almost as clutzy as Artemis!" "HEY!" Artemis yelled, outraged. "I HEARD THAT!" "Whoops. Sorry, Arty." "My name's NOT Arty, you... you..." "Enough of it", the Queen interrupted. "Senshi, put a hand on the Tower and close your eyes. Endymion, you too." While the senshi accomplished, Uranus turned to the Queen. "We're going to Uranus meanwhile. We'll leave our guardians here in case something happens while the others are defenseless." "And I'm going to check if everything's alright at the Time Gates", Pluto added. "Is that alright with you?" The Queen nodded, and the three girls vanished. "Now what?" Jupiter called out. "Concentrate" the Queen answered; and as the Tower started glowing a bright white light, the senshi remembered.