Setsuna turned over the card in her hands; it looked... well... impressive. “Thanks, Michiru.” She frowned. “Why are you giving it to me, though?”
Michiru smiled. “It’s yours. You gave it to us for safekeeping before...” She looked at the card with a small amount of horror; Haruka quickly jumped to her side.
“Michiru? What’s wrong?”
Michiru took a step back, her brow furrowed in thought. After a second, she looked around the table, in as excited a tone as she dared. “Does anyone have a pen and paper I can use?”
Rally pulled a small notebook out of her jacket. “Here,”
Michiru snatched them away, and was soon engrossed in the process of sketching. “Setsuna, I apologize if this seems rude, but your old self had a habit of keeping her secrets close to her chest. You - or she, depending on how you want to view it - gave me that card the last day I saw you before now; you told me to keep it for you, and to give it back when your family - not you, but your family - needed it.” She paused for a moment in her drawings as the enormity of the situation hit. “I have a feeling you knew exactly what you were getting into. And the Setsuna I knew never did anything without it having great importance.”
Everyone blinked at this news. “What are you talking about, Michiru?” Nodoka whispered.
Michiru took a moment to finish her sketch, handed it to Setsuna, then stood up. “Mom... it’s about time you found out my secret.” She looked around. “Are there any hidden cameras?”
Rally snorted. “In a cop joint? Not likely.”
Michiru nodded at that, only to encounter an arm from Haruka. “Love, are you sure?” She didn’t say a word in response; the eyes told enough. “Okay. They might as well know about all of us, then.”
“All of you?” Nabiki asked. Michiru stuck her hand out; as though by magic, a turquoise wand appeared.
“The transformation is fast, I’m told; I suggest that you not blink for a few seconds. She raised her arm into the air; Haruka did the same.
“Neptune Planet Power... Make Up!” “Uranus Planet Power... Make Up!”
For the span of three seconds, the entire room was bathed in a light that could only be called heavenly. Burning fire and soothing water mixed, the light from their transformations mingling, entwining like a pair of two lovers... then quieting as the soldiers of the outer planets made their presence known, their backs turned to each other in an intimidating pose.
Sailor Neptune smiled, and tilted her head to the side. “Mom... I’m Sailor Neptune. Haruka, of course, is Uranus.” She nodded in Setsuna’s direction. “Setsuna-chan, could you visualize in your mind the drawing I gave you?”
Setsuna stared at the drawing for a moment; she jumped back when the drawing took on solid form, as the dark henshin rod of Pluto made itself known. She touched it carefully, still unsure of its existence, then let her hand grasp it elegantly. “H... How?”
“Speak the words, ‘Pluto Planet Power, Make Up’, and you’ll find out.”
Setsuna eyed the wand from several different angles. “Pluto Planet Power, Make Up, huh..AAAH!”
The transformation from Setsuna to Pluto seemed a marked contrast from Michiru’s and Haruka’s twin change. While the first two celebrated life and energy, Pluto’s change, while spectacularly arrayed in purple, seemed more somber than joyous, as though the weight of the universe ws held within its light. After a few seconds, Pluto stared at the outfit and the Time Key in her hands.
“I... I’m a Sailor Senshi? A superhero?”
Haruka nodded. “More than that, actually. You’re the Senshi of Time, older than all of us - and perhaps the saddest.” She frowned. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you always seemed to hold the weight of the world on your shoulders. I think that’s what Michiru might be getting at - that you might have purposely not avoided what happened in order to forget.”
"Not... not avoided?" Setsuna stared at the Time Key. "I could do that?"
Haruka nodded. "You could do a lot more than that..."
See other episodes by Nightelf
(Posted Wed, 08 Jan 2003 02:03)
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