As the blinding flash of light faded away, Sailor Moon practically flew toward the Crystal Palace, long pink ponytails streaming behind her.

A roomful of politicians, city planners, district officials, and contractors were crammed around a large collection of portable tables which had been jammed together in the center of the makeshift assembly hall to form one large conference table. Sailors Mercury and Pluto watched the proceedings silently as the men of power attempted to plan a reconstruction schedule and budget for the ruined city.

"Look," a contractor growled. "The bottom line is, we're looking at several billion yen just to get foundations repaired and utilities reconnected. And that alone will take well over a year given the extent of the damage."

"I think we need to concentrate on first establishing more permanent relief camps for anyone who's not planning to pack up and leave Juuban," a councilman put in. "These people have lives, a lot of them are out of a job because the places they worked were destroyed...we've got to think about the people before we think about the city."

For several minutes, the committee bickered about reconstruction budgets, timetables, relief for the people, and the cost of setting up a permanent shelter camp. At length, the two Senshi glanced at each other, nodding.

Sailor Pluto stood, clearing her throat. "Gentlemen," she began, "if I may?"

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, whose presence was a direct result of the Senshi's attendance, nodded. "Yes, I believe it's time we heard what the Sailor Senshi have to offer."

Pluto walked to the head of the table with measured steps. "We believe we have a way to facilitate an expedient and efficient reconstruction of Juuban which will only require measures equivalent to a temporary construction effort and a minimal budget on the part of the government."

The committee murmured amongst themselves. "Very well...we're listening."

Mercury rose, moving to stand beside Pluto. "As you've no doubt surmised, the Crystal Palace is entirely self-sufficient. Its power is generated by the lattice structure of the crystal itself, which is imbued with self-replicating energy whose properties even we don't fully understand. However, what we do know is that the palace is capable of expanding its own structure by expending its energy surplus into a type of matter replication." At the rather lost expressions on many of those present, she coughed. "The palace is capable of growing," she clarified.

"I see," someone said. "So what does that have to do with rebuilding this district?"

The blue-haired Senshi produced a long, thin crystal out of nowhere. It was tapered to points at both ends, and seemed to pulse with a gentle prismatic light. "This crystal is an offshoot of the Crystal Palace, designed to function as both a beacon and an energy conduit that links back to the palace itself. I call it a 'Crystal Point'." Leaning forward, she began to push one of the myriad tables away from the gathering. "I advise everyone to stay back," she commented as she hefted the Crystal Point and drove it into the ground right beside the table. Pushing the furniture closer so that it was in direct contact with the glowing shard, she stepped back and began tapping keys on her computer. In a flash of light, the ordinary wood, metal, and particle-board furnishing began to change...

There was a collective gasp from the assembly. "It...it turned into crystal!"

"That's amazing!"

The mayor of the ward rose from his seat and walked over to tap on the surface of the table. It lit up, bathing him in warm luminescence. "This is absolutely incredible! But how...?"

"When the Crystal Palace appeared, it didn't destroy the Hikawa Shrine. It absorbed the structures of the temple and integrated them into its own infrastructure." Mercury laid a hand on the smooth, glassy surface. "The Crystal Point doesn't possess a great deal of energy on its own, but it does have enough energy to self-replicate, provided it can find pre-existing matter to convert in a similar manner. This table is now generating energy of its own, as you can see, and can self-replicate just like the Crystal Point and the Crystal Palace itself."

Pluto moved among the assemblage, picking up another of the tables with an ease which disconcerted some of the men present. In a sudden, violent motion, she slammed the wooden furniture over the newly formed crystal. The table in her hands shattered under the impact, while the softly glowing crystal surface remained unblemished. "As you can see," she remarked, smirking at the stunned expressions on the committee's faces, "the crystal is quite sturdy as well."

Mercury nodded. "The reason the Crystal Palace survived Jadeite's explosion completely intact is because, with the exception of an extremely powerful, sustained attack, it's virtually indestructible."

"So," another member of the Diet who was present said, leaning forward, "What exactly are you proposing?"

The two Senshi glanced at each other. Pluto nodded silently, and Mercury approached the crystal table, setting her compact computer on its surface. The committee murmured in awe as a holographic map of Juuban sprang right out of the tabletop.

As the blue-haired Senshi spoke, she tapped keys, changing the hologram bit by bit. "The first step will be to get up as many portable buildings as possible. Prefabs, trailers, worksite buildings, welded-together hulls of broken-down buses...whatever can be done quickly and cheaply. This will be used for housing, and should be on the inner rim of the district.

"The next step will be to repair the damaged roads to a degree of functionality. They don't have to be perfect, just usable.

"Then we get construction crews to build frameworks for new buildings farther out; these can be two or three stories each, and they'll no doubt take longer to build.

"Finally, companies who want to rebuild in this district can bring in their own crews to reconstruct their buildings on the outer rim of the district, around where the office buildings and shopping streets stood. This part of the reconstruction, we'll leave to private interests."

The holographic display now showed a concentric map of the district, with three rings of crude, unfinished buildings arranged around the Crystal Palace. The inner ring was flagged "Projected completion: 2-4 weeks", the middle ring displayed an estimate of five to nine months, and the outer ring was simply labelled "~12 months". A gridwork of roads framed the entire area, with no estimate given on its completion.

"Once the infrastructures are in place, the Senshi and members of the palace staff will begin distributing Crystal Points at locations around the district." The map lit up with dozens of glowing dots, arranged in a five-pointed star pattern with the Palace at the direct center. Lines and circles and polygonal patterns zagged through the star, connecting every vertex.

"The next step is the tricky part," Mercury continued. "By my calculations, it may take at least three iterations of each phase before the project is completed." Tapping her computer again, she continued, "By focusing surplus energy reserves from the palace, we will activate the Crystal Points distributed throughout the city, causing a wave of lattice synthesis and infrastructure absorption similar to the event that occurred on the day the palace first appeared."

On the holographic map, the Crystal Palace began to glow, and a concentric wave of silver light poured forth from it, striking each of the glowing points on the map. Each point spawned a similar ripple of energy, and in short order the entire map was shining. The brilliant silver light faded slowly, revealing a gleaming city of crystal. The words "CRYSTAL CITY" snapped into view, floating prominently above the map. The council ooh'ed and aah'ed appreciatively.

"The initial wave will supply sturdy crystal foundations for the buildings. Depending on how much energy is required overall, the number of buildings, and various other factors, the larger structures may remain incomplete at first, as they will need time to recover enough energy for self-replication. During that time, crews may begin filling in the gaps with secondary construction materials, to hasten the process by which skeletal crystal buildings will become full-fledged, inhabitable constructs.

"With the palace as the primary energy source, and the crystalline buildings generating their own internal energy supplies, the district will be completely self-sufficient as far as utility concerns," Mercury explained. "The energy generated by the crystal lattice easily converts to alternating current, allowing for the use of any household appliances the citizens choose to utilize. Furthermore, the palace—and all offshoot buildings—are capable of synthesizing water readily, and re-absorbing sewage and waste water directly as energy. In return, the energy output of the crystal buildings serves to fortify the palace itself."

There was a long silence as the councilmen stared thoughtfully at the shimmering holographic map.

"I guess the only question left to ask," the mayor put forth, "is what the Sailor Senshi demand in return for this miracle."

Mercury looked over at Pluto. The taller Senshi nodded, and moved to address the committee.

"In return for providing a fast, economical, and ultimately superior total reconstruction of Juuban, we will require that the government of Japan first recognize the sovereignty of the Crystal Palace. Second, we will require that the Japanese government recognize the newly rebuilt district as territory belonging to the city-state of Crystal Tokyo."

*One large wad of feces thrown into the fan? Check,* Mercury thought to herself as the assembled politicians and businessmen reacted in the expected manner.

A shadowy flash of movement broke Shingo out of a near-doze, and he snapped upright, bringing the Grave Lance to bear. "Halt! Who goes—"

A booted heel slammed into his face, knocking him back a few steps. Grimacing, he twirled his naginata, lashing out to trip his attacker. The other form backflipped out of range, rising to a standing position. "Stand aside! You will not impede my passage!" The female voice of the intruder spoke.

"That's sorta the whole idea of me being here," Shingo muttered. He tried to size up his opponent, but she was gone again...

...there she was! Overhead, silhouetted by the sun, moving too fast to make out any details. *We'll fix that,* he mused, calling forth his power as he spun his lance in a circle. "GRAVITY RING!"

The attack struck home, bands of compressed darkness tightening around the interloper as she crashed to the ground with a sickening *thud*. The girl twitched, gritting her teeth as she strained against the gravity.

"Nn...name of...moon....punish..."

Shingo crouched to get a better look at the struggling girl. She was roughly his age, with long pink hair done in a familiar style...way too familiar...and wearing a seifuku that was also disturbingly familiar...

A memory tickling his mind, fuzzed by long-weakened magicks... "Ch...chibiusa!?"

The pink-haired girl's head snapped up, eyes wide. "Sh—shingo?"

Shingo dispelled the gravity effect, helping the pink-haired Senshi stand. "Gomen ne, Chibiusa-chan," he said, red with embarrassment. "I thought you were another stupid reporter...didn't recognize you...and you're older than you were, too..."

The princess stared at the young man before her, eyes wide. "Shingo? Where...where did you come from...? How are you...you can't be...and..." She took in his uniform, his weapon, the reeling aftereffects of the gravity attack, and wobbled unsteadily.

The princess' uncle quickly moved to support her. "H-hey...you alright?"

The pink-haired girl stared up at him, then further at the central spire of the Crystal Palace, and murmured, "I...don't understand..."

She then promptly fainted.

"You can't be serious!"

"Why not?" Pluto asked, calm in the face of the furious storm surrounding her.

The mayor of the ward shot out of his seat. "You honestly expect the government to just...just...just SURRENDER a large chunk of the MIDDLE OF TOKYO to a bunch of girls in school uniforms?"

"They planned it! The whole thing! The earthquake and all! It's a setup!"

"Bunch of...this is inexcusable!"

"Of all the nerve...!"

"GENTLEMEN! Please! Calm down and let's discuss this rationally," Mercury interrupted, her generally calm demeanor slipping a bit.

"Yes, I concur," the Minister of Foreign Affairs said, his calm, controlled voice somehow carrying over the pandemonium. "This is something that we must discuss with cool heads." As the shouting and exclamations died down in the face of two voices of reason, the Minister cleared his throat, turning to face Mercury. "Young lady, would you mind clarifying and explaining the logic behind such a request? I mean no disrespect, but your companion seems...well..."

"Prone to drama and generally irritating?" Mercury laughed lightly. "Yes, she can be that way at times." Sailor Pluto made an exaggerated display of mock offense, which seemed to lighten the mood in the room a bit. Clearing her throat, the blue-haired Senshi began in a serious tone, "I assure you, there is no conspiracy, plot, trick, or setup involved here. When we earlier stated that we did not cause the destruction of Juuban, this was the truth. In fact, our King was killed in battle by the very monster which did in fact destroy the district.

"As my colleague has pointed out, however, we do consider ourselves to be a self-governing nation-state, a monarchy ruled by a benevolent queen. It is only natural that any nation would wish to expand its borders. This was once the way of many nations on Earth, including Japan."

"Yes, well..." The middle-aged diplomat coughed. "It's generally not a common practice for a nation to appear right in the center of another nation and start attempting a peaceful takeover."

Mercury winced. "The emergence of the Crystal Palace right in the middle of Tokyo was...unexpected." *At least, a few hundred years earlier than we thought it'd happen,* she didn't add. "There was...certain information concerning our Queen which we were unaware of at the time."

"Oh? Please, enlighten us."

Pluto stood up again. "This concerns the marriage of the former Princess of the Moon Kingdom to the crown prince of what was long ago considered to be the predominant empire on Earth. This civilization is known to most as Atlantis."

There were a number of murmurs at that.

"In the Silver Millenium, Princess Serenity of the Moon and Prince Endymion of Atlantis were deeply in love, and would have married, uniting the two realms, had the Dark Kingdom not risen and laid waste to everything.

"Because it had been foretold that one day a princess of the Moon and a prince of the Earth would unite the two realms, engineers and magicians from both kingdoms worked in conjunction to create a grand palace, constructed with the highly advanced technology of Atlantis and powerful Lunar magic. The Palace was designed as the ultimate beacon of peace, prosperity, and tranquil unity...the centerpiece of what would surely be a grand utopia to rule the solar system for eternity.

"The Crystal Palace was constructed in pieces, which were buried deep beneath the surface of both Earth and the Moon. Powerful Lunar spells were imbedded into the palace, and it was decreed that, should a princess of the Moon marry a prince of the Earth on the day of her eighteenth birthday, on that day the great Palace would rise on the spot where the two were married, and they would become the Queen and King of a new era of peace.

"The thirtieth day of June was the eighteenth birthday of Princess Serenity, and the day on which she wed Prince Endymion. The ancient prophecy fulfilled itself at the moment they were joined in matrimony...and I believe you are aware of the rest." With that, Pluto sat back down.

There was a long pause as everyone digested this. "Ahem...alright, I suppose that explains away the location," the Minister spoke after a while. "That aside..." He steepled his fingers, leaning forward. "What you're asking is for the nation which prides itself on recovering from adversity and strife to hand over an entire district of the very heart of its capitol city, with no reasoning aside from averting the time and cost of reconstruction." He paused for a moment. "Putting aside diplomatic factors, that's not exactly a fair trade-off. Crystal Tokyo, as you call it, would gain territory and increase its citizenship potential. The true Tokyo would gain nothing in return."

"That's not entirely true," Mercury said. "We are more than willing to engage in trade with Japan, but more to the point, we offer..." She paused, covering a grimace. "We offer the government of Japan a strategic alliance."

There was a pause as the Minister of Foreign Affairs considered this comment. At length, he stood. "I believe that, at this time, we should adjourn. This matter is moving beyond the scope of this committee, and it will be necessary to take the matter of any...alliances with the Sailor Senshi up with the Prime Minister, as well as a full session of the Diet."

Sailor Mercury nodded. "I agree, this is a serious matter that deserves serious discussion and consideration." She tapped some more keys on her palmtop before folding it up and banishing it to pocketspace. A thin rectangle of crystal popped out of the table, which she retrieved and offered to the middle-aged diplomat. "This is a full transcript of the meeting, including everything said about Crystal Tokyo by both Sailor Pluto and myself, and the offer we made." Showing him how to page through it, she continued, "Please, give this to the Prime Minister and anyone else you feel necessary to share this with, within the body of the Japanese government."

The man nodded, examining the slender tablet with curiosity. "Alright. We'll contact you as soon as a preliminary decision is reached."

Mercury bowed. "We await your response. Please consider our offer carefully—it would be beneficial to both our nations."

The diplomat schooled his expression carefully as he bowed. "I assure you, all due consideration will be given before we reach a decision."

Once the two Senshi had teleported back to the palace, Mercury commented, "That went well."

Pluto shrugged. "These things are never easy, Ami. But generally speaking, this meeting went rather well." She chuckled. "At any rate, consider it a success if we don't hear tank shells pounding on the walls by nightfall."

Mercury couldn't help but smile at that. "So, how is this going to turn out? Wait, no...you can't tell me, I know."

Pluto smiled enigmatically. "It's more fun to wait and see, don't you think?"

Any response Mercury might have made was forgotten as a rather panicked Shingo appeared in the corridor with them, an unconscious girl in his arms. The two Senshi blinked at him.

Rushing over, the young sentry exclaimed, "Mercury! Pluto! Gimme a hand here!"

Mercury was quickly scanning the girl, lips pressed into a thin line. "Vitals are steady...she's in good shape...her tissues are showing stress from brief exposure to a high gravity field." The blue-haired Senshi glanced pointedly at Shingo, who blushed.

"I didn't know who she was," he admitted. "She just...attacked me out of the blue."

Pluto, meanwhile, was staring at the girl in shock. "I..."

Mercury glanced up. "Pluto? What's wrong?"

The green-haired senshi simply pointed. Mercury followed her finger, and looked—really LOOKED—at the girl Shingo was carrying for the first time.

"...oh my God," she breathed.

Shingo blinked at them. "What?"

The Guardian of Time stepped forward, peering into the unconscious face of the pink-haired girl. "S...Small Lady..."

"But...how?" Mercury wondered.

Shingo shook his head at them. "I don't know what's wrong with you two, but shouldn't we, I dunno, put her somewhere where she can recover? Besides, she's kinda heavy..."

"I guess...we should just take her into the throne room," Mercury said.

Pluto sighed. "I hope Her Majesty isn't in there. She won't be ready for this."

The two Senshi and Shingo carefully carried the unconscious pink-haired girl into the throne room.

The buzz had quickly spread through the palace, and a good many of its residents were already gathering in the throne room, observing the young girl who had been laid out on a futon taken from the old shrine building, a cold compress on her forehead.

"It...it can't really be her, can it?" Jupiter asked.

"How can it not? Who else would look this much like odango-atama?" Mars commented, stroking the young girl's hair affectionately.

"She's wearing the uniform of...of Sailor Moon," Venus noted.

"Makes sense," Uranus said. "Her Majesty isn't Sailor Moon anymore, after all..."

"Right," Mercury nodded. "So it makes sense, logically, that Chi—that Small Lady would become Sailor Moon when she was old enough...and she's physically fourteen, according to my equipment."

"Not such a small lady anymore," Jupiter said, chuckling.

Shingo stood. "I'm gonna go find Hotaru," he said, excusing himself.

"That's a good idea," Venus said. "They're really good friends."

Luna, who had arrived only a moment earlier from the training facilities, frowned. "How is it possible for Small Lady to be alive?"

Pluto shrugged. "It startled me as well. Endymion is dead, and it doesn't seem Her Majesty could be pregnant with Small Lady right now, given the date. But..." She scowled. "I can't see this in the future. I'm being blocked."

Mars freshened the cold compress as she commented, "It could mean...I don't know how or...but..."

"It might indicate that Endymion will be resurrected yet again," Mercury finished the thought.

Jupiter chuckled. "That'd make sense. He's got more lives than a cat."

Luna scowled. "This isn't something to joke about, Jupiter!"

The tall Senshi appeared properly chastized. "Still," she said, "it's possible...anything is possible, when you get right down to it."

At that moment, the pink-haired girl stirred, groaning. "Ugh..."

Mars gently prompted, "Are you alright, Chib...Small Lady?"

The girl sat up, shaking her head as if to clear it. "I just had the strangest dream..." Looking around, she said, "I dreamed...I dreamed the whole city was destroyed, and I ran to the palace...and I saw Shingo...he looked like one of those Shitennou Mother used to tell me about..." Noticing that everyone was glancing at each other and shifting uncomfortably, she sat up straighter, confused. "What? What's wrong?"

Pluto crouched beside the girl. "Small Lady...what you saw wasn't a dream."

The pink-haired Senshi blinked. "But...then...why...how..." Her eyes widened. "Mother! Is Mother...why isn't she here? And who's attacking us? Why is everyone here and not out..."

"Shh, calm down, calm down," Pluto said.

"How can I calm down?" the younger girl screamed, rising. With a flash of light, a crystal longsword appeared in her hand, a gleaming golden crescent moon inset with a large pinkish stone at its hilt. "Crystal Tokyo's being destroyed, and everyone's standing around and nobody's telling me what's going on and—"

Mars walked over and firmly slapped the hyperventilating girl across one cheek. "Settle down, Chibiusa-chan. Everything's under control."

The pink-haired girl's eyes widened. "You..."

The raven-haired Senshi crossed her arms. "Would you please tell us the last thing you remember before you saw...what you saw?"

Leaning heavily against her sword and still in a shellshocked state, Small Lady swallowed. "I...I was headed to the past...back to old Tokyo, to surprise Mother and Father. I...went back to attend their wedding. But after...after I went through the Gate of Time, everything was wrong..."

The Senshi shared a glance, then turned as one to Pluto, who nodded. "I think I understand what happened." Walking up to the pink-haired girl, she spoke softly, "Small Lady...this is the early twenty-first century. Your parents were married just four days ago."

"The...twenty-first..." Small Lady repeated, blinking. "Then...then I'm not...and Crystal Tokyo isn't...and...this really is the past?"

"That's right," Pluto affirmed.

Standing and banishing her sword, the pink-haired Senshi looked around, remaining quiet for a long moment. At length, she said, "...so what the hell happened here?"

"It's a long story," Venus supplied.

Pluto nodded. "That is true. And...as for how you ended up here today, since I know you're going to ask..." She shrugged. "My guess is that the energy from the appearance of the Crystal Palace, or from...other subsequent events...gave off some kind of temporal distortion that most likely threw off your trajectory in time."

Small Lady pondered. "The ride did feel a little bumpy..." She blinked. "What is the palace doing here in this time anyway?"

"It appeared when your mother and father married," Mars explained. "Right in front of a lot of very surprised bystanders."

It was then that the teenager noticed the roomful of people who were not Senshi. "Ikuko-mama? Kenji-papa? Tomoe-sensei?" She noticed the Ayakashi Sisters, and blinked. "And even you four..."

"And Shingo, to whom you owe an apology for kicking him in the forehead," Pluto nodded. Smiling, she added, "And someone else you probably miss..."

At that moment, the two avatars of Saturn re-entered the throne room. "Ah, she's awake," Shingo commented.

Sailor Saturn blinked. "Chibiusa-chan?"

The pink-haired girl's eyes widened. "Ho—hotaru-chan..."

What happened next caught everyone present off-guard.

Faster than anyone could blink, Small Lady flew across the throne room, latched onto a surprised Sailor Saturn...

...and kissed her passionately.

"Mmf...!" Saturn commented.

"Aaaaaaaaaanooooooo........" Shingo offered.

"...goodness," Neptune chimed in.

"This is..."

"...eeetooooo...."

"This is NOT appropriate behavior in the throne room!"

"Or at all for that matter!"

"Mercury, can't you hose them down or something?"

"Umm...I would if my brain weren't frozen solid right now, I think. Yes."

"....ooooroooooooooo...."

Small Lady broke off the kiss, and hugged Saturn fiercely. "Oh, Hotaru-chan! I'm so happy to see you!" She blinked. "Hotaru-chan? Hello? Hey, anyone in there? Hotaru-chaaaan..."