Hey, I'm on a real role, part 4 is even partly done.  This one's longer
than the last two, around 6 pages.

*ack* It's always the little things that you forget.  All characters in
this and the pervious parts of this story (and the future ones, too, but
we'll discuss that when I get to them) are owned by whoever owns the
rights to BSSM, which I assume to be that pretty Japanese lady we saw in
that Dateline interview.  Anyway, it's not mine, so don't sue me cuz I'm
certainly not making any money off of it.  Not to mention the fact that
fanfiction actually INCREASES the purchasing of your products
(seriously, I'd never sat through the dubs if I wasn't already familiar
with the story from fics, and not to mention that neat Crescent Moon
Wand I would have bought at Animazement if I wasn't already out of money
:( ). 

// are thought conversations.  If something is said to be thought and
there aren't any //, it's a private thought, not broadcast to whoever
else is inside the person's head.  Oh, did you know that the price of a
two bedroom head in Tokyo can reach upwards of 60k yen?

Part 3 of God knows how many

	Kino Makoto wrapped her arms tightly about her pillow and mumbled into
it.  Then the first rays of the morning sun touched the foot of her bed
and the alarm began to sound.
	"Mina-chan... turn that off..." she muttered and rolled the pillow
halfway over her head.
	After a few seconds, she groggily sat up and stared at the alarm
clock.  It was 5:45 am.  She hadn't gotten up that early for decades. 
Minako must have set it for some strange reason.
	She flipped over and slammed the snooze button, reaching her other arm
out toward her bedmate.
	It was at this point that two things sank in.  One, she wasn't in her
normal bed.  Not that that was anything incredibly unusual, since she
did so much traveling, but it didn't look like a hotel room, either. 
Two, she was alone in bed.  This send a definite shiver down her spine. 
The only reasons that Minako would have left bed early would be a
serious emergency, but surely she'd have woken Makoto first, or she was
going to cook breakfast.
	The cooking of Aino Minako is just as legendary as that of Kino Makoto,
though for an entirely different reason.  While Makoto's food was a
delight to eat, Minako's would usually lead to a long hospital stay.  If
you were lucky.  If she was even looking at the stove, she had to be
stopped.
	That was more than enough to get Makoto out of bed, even at such an
ungodly hour.
	As she stood there, naked, several more things caught her attention. 
For one thing, the bed she was sleeping in was far too small for two
people and the furnishings of the room were so old as to be antique. 
Also, the clothes scattered around the room didn't look like anything
she or Minako had been wearing.
	"Uh, oh," Makoto muttered.  "Where am I?"
	The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in the other girl's
arms.  She sighed faintly at the memory.   Their encounters were always
wonderful.  For the last seven or so centuries, they had sought each
other out at irregular intervals, usually not going more than a decade
apart at a time.  	
	It was true love.  Not some trashy sex thing like they ended up falling
into far too often, but two friends who were always there for each
other, who always would be there for each other.  They would spend a
night or three together, most of the time just holding each other and
talking about times past, and then move back into their separate lives.
	There was something about knowing that she could hold the same person
again in another thousand years that made the encounters so desirable,
even needed.
	Both of them had had more husbands than they would care to count,
Minako even had a wife briefly, but they all left after a few years,
unable to handle the stress of being married to a Senshi, or met with a
tragic end.  The pain would keep accumulating until it was almost
unbearable.
	And so, they found each other when it became too much and shared their
burdens.  To hold each other and know that at least one thing in their
lives wasn't going to be eroded by time.  It was something like what the
Prince and Princess had, or Neptune and Uranus.  Love among the
immortals.
	They had only seen each other briefly the night before.  Minako,
nursing the pain of the last man who had left her when he found out that
she was one of Serenity's soldiers, had sought her out as she was
leading a delegation to the Peoples Republic of New Australia and that
night they had talked a long time before finally falling asleep in each
other's arms.
	But now, Minako was missing, and this was definitely NOT the hotel room
they had been in the night before.  For one thing, it was far smaller.  
	She made her way from the cramped bedroom to a small hallway and into
the neat little bathroom.  She fumbled with the old fashioned knobs
until the water was good and cold and splashed a healthy amount on her
face.
	She shivered as the cold brought her fully awake and then glanced into
the mirror for the first time.
	The face looking back at her was hers, but it wasn't.  It was much
younger, and her hair was back in the long style that could be easily
tied back that she had favored through most of her young life but given
up as impractical later.
	It was then that she heard the voice.  Well, it was her voice, but it
wasn't.
	//Hey, how'd I get in here?//  
	"What!?!"
	//Who said that?  Hey!  Why can't I talk?// the voice was loosing it's
grogginess and taking on an angry tone.
	"What are you doing in my head?" 
	//Your head?  This is my body, give it back!//
	"This is my body, in case you haven't noticed.  Look in the mirror."
	There was a second's worth of pause before the voice answered. //Yeah,
that's me in the mirror, now GIVE ME BACK MY BODY!//
	Makoto clutched as the sink as she experience something akin to a
mental kick in the shins.  Not very powerful, but it came as a total
surprise.
	"Cut that out.  What do you mean, �That's me in the mirror'?  That's
me."
	//Like hell it is, get out of my head, and get out of my body before I
hurt you bad.//
	"Listen, kid," Makoto spit out.  She wasn't sure why, but the other
voice seemed much younger than herself.  "I don't really have time for
this, a friend of mine is missing and I don't care what it takes for me
to get her back.  If that includes taking you out of the picture, so be
it.  Now shut up and tell me exactly what you're doing inside my head."
	//It's my head.  I went to sleep last night and when I wake up,
someone's standing in my bathroom using my body.  Where the hell did YOU
come from?//
	"I went to sleep last night and woke up with a different hairstyle, a
missing friend and a in strange house.  You sure you don't know how to
get out of my head?"
	//MY head.  And would you kindly get out of it?//
	"Err... no, don't know how I got into �YOUR head' in the first place." 
Makoto frantically searched for a change of subject, if this
confrontation kept going on for much longer, she was going to have to
hurt the punk.  "Say, what's your name?  One of us is in someone else's
body and we don't even know each other.  This is a bit too much like my
last boyfriend."
	//What's yours?//
	"A bit defensive are we?" Makoto said then hurried on before the
impending outburst could hit.  "My name is Kino Makoto, now will you
tell me yours?"
	//MY name is Kino Makoto, what's your REAL name?//
	"That IS my real name.  I've had that name for over a thousand years,
and I've never met anyone with the same name."
	//A thousand years?// there was a mental snort.  //Get real.//
	"Hey, we're two people in the same body, and you have trouble believing
that I'm a thousand years old?"
	//Good point... Can I have my body back now?//
	"Will you get off that?  I don't know how to give you the body even if
I wanted to."
	//Just don't stop me when I take over.//
	Makoto stood there for a couple seconds, a bit confused by it all. 
Then she felt a... presence attempt to take over her limbs. 
Instinctively, she fought back and the presence vanished.
	//OUCH, I said for you to let me take over!//
	"Sorry, reflex."
	//Well, let's try this again, and you don't stop me this time.//
	Makoto nodded and soon felt the presence again.  This time, she fought
her instincts and let it take over.  She found herself sinking back down
into herself as something else surged past her into the front of her
body.
	"Ah, much better."  Her body moved out of the bathroom and into the
bedroom and began collecting the pieces of a school uniform and putting
them on.  "Geeze, this whole fiasco is going to make me late if I don't
hurry.  Happy?"
	//Happy?  Sharing my body with you?  Yeah, right.//
	"My body."
	//Whatever.//


***

	Mercury's tiny star shaped vessel cruised silently through warp space
as she played yet another game of chess against her guest.
	"Are you sure you won't tell me who this "Mihoshi" person is that you
were babbling about in your sleep?" Mercury asked, one delicate blue
eyebrow arched in a quizzical expression.
	"Were you listening in on me last night?" her guest asked.  Her hair
was tied back in a pony tail because of the strange effect the goo in
the stasis capsule had on it.  She was also missing her trademark
headband because it didn't look right with the braid.
	"No, but "babbling" is not quite the right way to describe what you
were doing... I think "screaming" is a better fit."
	Kiyone brushed a stray strand of hair from her eyes.  "Yeah, I guess I
have some rather... strong feelings about her."  She paused as yet
another strand of hair drifted into her eyes.  "How long do you think
it'll take for my hair to recover from that junk, anyway?"
	Mercury smiled sadly, "It won't.  You'll have to wait for it to grow
back normally.  Though we could give you a trim if you want to get some
semblance of order going again."
	"Hmm..." Kiyone started at the hair in front of her eyes for a moment. 
"Okay, I can't live with it like this.  Are you sure you can cut it?"
	"Oh, I've cut hundreds of people's hair, just let me go find a pair of
scissors."
	Kiyone nodded and proceeded to clear off the table and fold it back
into it's storage compartment.
	Mercury mumbled the rest of her sentence as she walked through ship in
search of a pair of scissors.  "Of course, they were being shaved for
surgery at the time, but it shouldn't be too different."

***

	Dr. Frankenstein would have given his left arm for even half of the
eerie, mad scientist style equipment that filled Washuu's laboratory. 
Well, someone's left arm, anyway.  
	Crackling worms of electricity danced across instruments that probably
served no purposes other than generating crackling worms of
electricity.  Bubbling vials of liquid sat on bubbling machines and
there was even a lifelike human body attached to a strange, table-like
device in the middle of the room.
	Well, Frankenstein would probably have had a dead body, but this one
was still living.  And struggling.  And mostly nude.  
	"Now, Tenchi," Washuu began as she pulled the second rubber glove into
place.  "Where were we last time?"
	She walked forward a bit before continuing, "Oh, yes, Angel of Mercy
time."
	Tenchi struggled harder against his bonds, but it was no good.  Mihoshi
usually saved him from these situations, but this time Washuu said that
she had taken the ultimate precaution.  Namely, locking the door.  It's
amazing what the owners of multi-dimensional homes take for granted.
	Washuu let out an insane cackle as she pulled open his boxer shorts
with one hand.  "Time to shake the dew off this lilly!" she exclaimed
happily.
	 Tenchi squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to ward off the approaching hand
with the power of his mind, not that it ever worked when his life wasn't
in danger.
	"Excuse me, Washuu, we need to talk."
	Tenchi opened his eyes and heaved a sigh of relief.  Over to one side
of the room was a strange looking woman with long, dark green hair in a
black sailor fuku.
	"I don't know who you are, but thank you!" he exclaimed.
	"Pluto, dear, would you mind coming back in half an hour?  I've got
some... business to attend to," Washuu replied with a distinct note of
annoyance in her voice.
	"Actually..." Pluto began.
	"Hey!  This doesn't look like the bathroom."  Mihoshi wandered out from
between two particularly large machines and began looking around the
room in a puzzled manner.  Or, at least, that's what she wants you to
think.  Ever think about that?  Huh?
	Washuu shot Pluto a scathing look.  "You let her in here, didn't you?"
	"Nope, she was in here before you locked the doors," the Senshi replied
with a smirk.
	"Okay, Tenchi," Washuu said with a sigh.  "We'll continue this later. 
Just get Mihoshi out of here before she breaks anything."
	There was a muffled boom from the device that the blond detective had
been playing with.
	"Too late."
	"Just get her out of here!" Washuu yelled as she flipped the switch
that released him.
	Tenchi wasted no time in grabbing his clothing, Mihoshi and darting out
the door.
	Washuu watched him go with disappointment clear in her eyes.  "So, what
did you want?"
	"Well, there have been some major changes in the time stream," Pluto
began.  "I was wondering if you would care to try to figure out what
caused them.  Oh, and how are you set up for cloning Earthlings?"

***

	Makoto spent most of her day as normal, though the voice that had taken
up residence in her mind kept nagging her to see a guidance councilor.
	Finally, she relented and skipped lunch to have a talk with
Hinawa-sensei.
	"Hinawa-sensei, I was wondering if I could have a word with you?"
Makoto bowed slightly at the older woman.
	"How may I help you, Kino-san?" she replied, returning the bow.
	//Let me handle this.// the voice asserted.
	//Okay, but I really wish that you'd tell me what you want to see her
for.// Makoto released control of her body to her other self and sat
back to watch the meeting.
	"Sensei, I've been thinking a lot about my record."
	Ms. Hinawa's face tightened slightly.  "Yes?"
	"I know that I've been in a lot of fights and all, and I know that it's
only going to lead to more trouble since I've developed a bit of a
reputation as a fighter."
	//Errr... what exactly are you doing?//
	//Trust me.  I've been through this before.  Besides, they kick you out
of here tomorrow.//
	//They what!?!//
	//Do the words "chicken-legged bitch" make you angry?//
	//Hell yes.//
	//Let's just say that they made me angry, too.//
	Makoto was silent and let the other mind handle the rest of the
encounter, not that she could have wrestled back control, anyway.
	"Kino-san, I'm well aware of your record and I know that one more-"
	"Ma'am, I know that I'm close to being ejected from this school, but
with my reputation, another fight is inevitable.  Some guy will
undoubtedly try to pick a fight before the week is out."
	Ms. Hinawa nodded gravely.  The girl had finally figured out her
problem.
	"So, I was thinking that it might be best if I just left for another
school where I can start over again."
	Her counselor heaved an inward sigh of relief.  Finally, she thought,
she's getting out of my hair.  "Have you decided where you want to go
to?"
	"Yes, I was thinking that Juuban seems to be a nice, calm area to live
in.  Exactly what I need right now."
	"I couldn't agree more.  When shall I have your papers sent over
there?  Next week?"
	"Actually, Sensei, I was hoping to start there tomorrow."
	If Makoto hadn't been there, her teacher would have jumped for joy.  "I
see... It is highly irregular for transfers to be so fast, but in your
case, I think I can pull a few strings."  She glanced at the clock on
the wall.  "Why don't you go say goodbye to your friends before the
lunch period ends and take the rest of the day off.  I'm certain that
you'll need the time to move your things into a new place."
	//Exactly why am I moving?  And to Juuban of all places, that's the
most boring area of the city!//
	//Juuban is anything but boring, believe me.  Besides, it's not like
you were going to be able to stay here much longer anyway.  Not with the
way you and that Akira punk go at it.//
	//Akira?  He's the punk that gets me kicked out of here?  When I see
him, I'm going to smash his face in-//
	//Calm down!  Geeze, I can't believe that I was ever this dense.//
	//Dense am I?//
	Things just went downhill from there.

END

Forgive the first part, but I really want to leave in the long piece on
Minako and Makoto.  A lot of it's for personal reasons that I won't go
into, and part of it's defense of any attitudes that I end up using that
might hint at the two as a couple (yeah right, I use neon letters for
it).  I know it's kind of cliched to have some of the Senshi (other than
U&N) turn out to be bisexual or gay, but I feel that it's appropriate, I
could write an in depth psychiatric profile on Makoto if you want, but
I'll save it for after I run out of plot in this one.  It's not as if I
wrote in a tawdry sex thing, it's well grounded as an emotional
relationship.  Besides, it's a great way to handle the questions of
where they were and what they were doing when the wave rebounded... err,
you'll see what I mean by that whenever I get around to explaining it.

And I seem to have discovered the secret to getting writing done (for
me).  You see, I'm not a writer, I'm a story teller.  The last time I
tried to write a story out, I got wrapped up in getting the mechanics
right and I got stuck on the plot.  I'm trying to pour out as much of
the plot of this thing as I can before I get bogged down.  Though I
doubt it'll end up being very long even after it's over *sigh*

Anyway, I love hearing from people who take the time to read my work. 
Just a note saying that you read it is great.  I'll probably repost the
other parts of this on Friday, since I believe that's a long enough
interval.  

Oh, and a BIG thank you to all the people who helped answer my questions
about the Outer Senshi, though I've decided that a lot of their work is
going to happen off screen.  Though I would dearly love to follow
everyone, I'm not sure that I can handle 2 major plotlines at one time
and there are 2 big tasks that are ahead of the Senshi... Though you'll
have to wait a while to find out what those are BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

-- 
Tim Williams
http://www.angelfire.com/tn/twillia/ 

"This time, we're leaving nothing to the imagination.  We tried that
last time, and, in our opinion, it didn't work." -- Henry Rollins,
"Driveby Shooting"