Insert usual disclaimers here, characters don't belong to me but to
someone(s) else but they were soo much fun I just had to borrow them.

Chikyu no Senshi - Part One
By Lei <elisas@geocities.com>
www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Field/2272/

 A glowing planet floated in the midnight darkness, supplying
a faint light to see by as he swiftly approached the familiar stone
wall.  He had seen this scene many times and it was always the same.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw the dark shadow of his reflection
on the pond and felt his cloak catch on the thorns of an unfamiliar
plant.  A sudden gust of wind tugged at his hair, tossing it away
from his forehead.  He pulled his cloak from the delaying grasp of
the thorns and began to run closer and closer, stumbling a little.
He felt his heartbeat pounding, fast and heavy and a certain
desperation mounted as he ran.  Suddenly he stopped, a hand resting
on the cold wall he had been striving for.  He tilted his head
upwards, restlessly searching the shadows.  He could hear someone
crying, the sobs tearing at his soul and he fell to his knees at the
pain.  Then the sobs began to change, taking on form and cadence and
he knew if he was close enough he would understand them.  Gathering
what power he could, he leapt upwards and took hold of the balustrade,
pulling himself over and onto the balcony.  In the dimness he saw
a small grey shape huddled, shaking uncontrollably.  The sobs were
coming from there and he took a step closer then another until he
found himself kneeling beside her.  His arms came around her and
he held on as her shaking increased.  She moved to return the
embrace, turning her face into his neck and she whispered brokenly
into his ear.

 "Free me.  Oh please, free me�"

    *   *   *   *   *

 "�before it's too late."

 Mamoru jolted awake, the last echoes of his dream reverberating
through his head.  He raised his hands to his face and felt the tears
there.

   Taking a deep breath Mamoru held onto the dream, replaying it.
It was different.  It had changed.  Where before he could always see
the girl standing on the balcony, leaning towards him as he stood
below her, now she was hidden, hidden in the lightless shadows,
crying for him.  Always before there had been an urgency to her
request for freedom but now it was desperate.  Time was running out
for her.  And somewhere deep in his soul, Mamoru knew that when her
time ran out, so would his.

 He threw his sheets aside and walked across to the balcony door.
He stepped outside and went to lean against the railing, his breathing
deep and regulated.  Turning his face to the sky, he searched as ever,
for the moon; whether it was full and silver, divine in it's glory,
or whether it was a small sickle-curve tinted golden and waiting for
the chance to step out from behind the shadows once more, he always
searched for it after a dream.

 The first time he had ever had the dream was when he had been
six.  He had woken to the sight of a giant, white moon staring
benevolently down at him, much like the planet in the dream.  He
had thought of the girl from the dream, likening her to the moon,
but not knowing why.  He had, however, known that she was the one,
his to protect and love.  Before that time he hadn't known any love
but that which he had for his family and the sudden burgeoning of
his heart and soul had terrified him.  He didn't understand what
it was and couldn't deal with the adult emotions that burned
through him like wildfire.  He had run to his mother and thrown
himself heedlessly into her arms.  She had stroked his short hair
softly and he had fallen asleep to the sound of her gentle crooning.

 Mamoru shook away the memories and focused on the present.  Now
he knew what the emotions were.  He had to find her before she
disappeared and took him with her.

 Sparing a last lingering glance at the waning moon, he went
back inside to search for sleep he was unsure would come.

    *   *   *   *   *

 In another part of the city a young woman woke just as suddenly,
her hand reaching out for the light that was fading.  Tears fell
heedlessly from her eyes as she whispered, "�too late�"

    *   *   *   *   *

 "Mamoru!  Mamoru-kun!"

 Motoki hopped across the stones which wound their way across
the pond to the small island in the middle.  Heading unerringly for
the small pagoda hidden by the autumn trees he continued to yell for
his friend.  Breaking through the final arborial defenses he skidded
to a stop and laughed at what he saw.

 Mamoru was standing in a semi-defensive position trying to
ward off a pretty girl with long brown hair who was almost draped
over him, her lips pursed for his favours.  He sent distress signals
to Motoki with his eyes as he turned his head away from the pouting
red lips.

 Motoki laughed again as he bounded up to them, unembarrassed
by the situation.  He clapped Mamoru on the shoulder and smiled at
the girl.

 "What's up?"

 "Er�"

 The girl blushed furiously as she finally noticed Motoki's
presence and began to stutter something about returning to the house
and it was nice meeting him and she'd see him around.  She ran to
the house without looking back and Mamoru glared at Motoki's grinning
face.

 "What do you want?"

 "Mamoru�you�I never knew you had it in you, to hit on innocent
young girls like that.  The poor thing.  You even made her cry."
His laughter was loud.

 "What.  Do.  You.  Want.  Motoki."

 "Oh, I was going to invite you to a party at Reika's dorm.  You
know, let you break a few more hearts before the semester finishes.
Give you an excuse to get out of whatever your mother has planned for
this evening, things like that.  You interested?"

 "Sure, I guess.  I need a break from studying."

 "Great.  Now, details.  Reika-chan has this friend�"

 "No."

 "Hey, at least let me finish!"

 Mamoru sighed, "Fine, go ahead."

 "Okay�she has this friend, Jun, who's really pretty but who
forgot to ask anyone to be her date, so Reika-chan asked if I knew
anyone who was coming but didn't have a date�"  Motoki raised his
eyebrows in question and waited for Mamoru to agree or disagree.

 "Jun's the purple-haired girl who always wears black, isn't
she?"

 "Ah, yeah.  You know her?"

 "You and Reika have been together for, what�a year and a
half�and you've dragged me with you all over the place.  I'm pretty
sure I didn't escape meeting all of Reika's friends."

 "Oh.  Well�at least you'll be colour coordinated?"

 Mamoru shook his head.  "Look, I'd rather go alone than end up
stuck with someone."

 "But, Mamoru-kun, think.  If you go alone, you'll end up being
propositioned from all sides.  At least this way you'll only get
propositioned by Jun."

 "No."  Mamoru began to walk in the direction of his house and
Motoki knew that as of now, unless he changed the subject, Mamoru
would ignore him.  He sighed in resignation and caught up to his
friend.

 "Anyway, who was the chick?"

 "Hmm?  Oh, I think she's the daughter of the Director of
Marketing in the company.  Kurumi or something."

 "You like her?"

 Blue eyes looked with disbelief into green then turned away
without deigning to answer.

 "Mamoru!  Hey, Mamoru!  Can you come and show Mika how to do
that thing with the dragon in the Sailor Senshi game?"

 Mamoru looked at his younger brother and sighed.  "Sure.  I'll
be there in a minute, okay, Hiro."

 "Okay, but hurry up.  Mika has to go home soon and she wants a
go before then."

 Motoki decided it was time to go and said so to Mamoru who
shrugged and saw him out, lifting his hand in farewell before heading
upstairs.

    *   *   *   *   *

 Motoki opened the car door and lowered himself into the seat
before looking across at his long-time girlfriend Reika.  He sighed
dramatically and shook his head.

 "He said no."

 Pushing a strand of silky auburn hair behind her ear, Reika made
a face.  "Doesn't he ever date?"

 "Sure.  About once a year."

 "Jun's not going to be happy, she has a really big crush on Mamoru.
Is there any way we can get him to change his mind?"

 "Nope.  He's met Jun before."

 "He has?  But I thought�oh, I suppose Mamoru-san did come to
my birthday party, didn't he?"

 "Yeah.  Alone as usual."

 "What's with him?  I mean, you'd expect a guy as cute and as
rich as Mamoru-san is to have plenty of girlfriends, but I've never
seen him with a girl, unless it was for a project or something."

 "Well, don't ask me.  I don't understand it either, but he just
isn't interested in girls.  He told me once that the longest he can
keep interested is five minutes, then he gets bored and irritated.
The only way he can stand them is if they're doing a project and
they're not trying to hit on him."

 "Oh well.  I guess I'd better go break the news to Jun.  Let's
go."

 "Right."

    *   *   *   *   *

 Mamoru watched as Mika finally managed to kill the dragon and
jumped up and down in excitement, turning to hug her best friend Hiro.
He smiled a little at the look on her face and the one on his
brother's.
 She liked him, he didn't have a clue.  Then Mika turned to thank him
for showing her what to do.

 "Thanks for showing me how to do that, Mamoru-san."

 "No problem, Mika-chan."

 "Well, I'd better be going, or I'm gonna be late.  I'll see you
tomorrow, okay, Hiro?"

 "Yeah.  See ya, Mika."

 Mamoru left with Mika, showing her out the door before going
to find his mother to let her know he wasn't going to be there for
her party this evening.  He wondered, vaguely, why she insisted on
having a party every Saturday night without fail then shrugged.

 "Okaasan?"

 "Mamoru-kun.  What is it, dear?"

 "Motoki and I are going to a party tonight, so I won't be here,
okay?"

 "Mamoru, you know I particularly want you here today.  We need
someone to look after Kurumi and you're the closest to her in age."

 "I know, kaasan, but this is the last time I'll be able to see
some of these people for a long time, if ever, and Kurumi will be
here for the next few days, won't she?  If you want me to I'll take
her to zoo, or something, tomorrow."

 Kyoko sighed and nodded.  At least she thought, he was going
to spend some time with Kurumi.  She was such a sweet girl, and the
daughter of one of the Director's in the company.  She would know
how to be the perfect wife for Mamoru when he took over running the
company, her mother would make sure of it.  "Okay, Mamoru-chan, you
go, and have a good time with your friends.  And say hello to Motoki
and that lovely girlfriend of his for me, okay?"

 "Okay, kaasan.  Bye."  He kissed his mother and left her to
her thoughts, kicking himself for going as far as to offer to do
something with Kurumi.

 It was not going to be fun, but his mother would probably have
found some way to talk him into it anyway since she knew he hated
saying no to her.

 He wandered around the ground floor of the mansion, and let his
mind finally return to where it wanted to be.  With the mysterious
Princess of his dreams.

 He hoped to be able to go out looking that night, leaving the
party as early as he could and cruising through the city, from shadow
to shadow, blending into the night, dressed in the Tuxedo he was
finally
beginning to find comfortable.  He didn't know what the odds of
finding
her in the city, late at night were, but he had to try at the very
east.  Maybe he'd even run into the Sailor Senshi again.  He shook his
head as he thought of the female vigilantes who went around saving the
people of Tokyo from youma attacks in between yelling at and fighting
each other.  He wasn't sure how safe the city would be if they had to
rely on that group if another enemy like the Negaverse turned up.

 He wondered what he'd do if his dreams told him his Princess was
gone.

 He had to find her, he didn't want to know what it meant that she
spent all of her time in darkness now, huddled in a shapeless ball on
the ground.  He wanted her to stand proudly, her pale hair gilded by
the planet-light that spilt over the ponds and gardens as she laughed
down at him, telling him to hurry up or they'd be late.

 Late to what, he didn't know, nor did he care.  All he wanted was
to find his dream Princess.

    *   *   *   *   *

 "Mammoooorrrrruu-saaannn..."

 Mamoru looked up as his name was breathlessly drawled into his
ear.  He turned to find Jun standing there, smiling invitingly at
him wearing her traditional black.  He flicked his eyes dismissively
over the pasted on dress and raised an eyebrow.

 "Yes?"

 "I'm so glad you're here," Jun wriggled a little, trying to be
sexy he supposed, "And you're all alone.  How about...I keep you
company?"

 "Why don't you find someone else."  It wasn't a question and a
startled expression appeared on her face followed by one of hurt.

 "Harsh. Hey, Mamoru-kun, take this."  Motoki shoved a paper cup
full of liquid at him and grinned.  "Glad you actually came.  Hey, did
you here that Ten'ou Haruka-san's here?  And brought this gorgeous
friend along, Michiru or something.  She got this great pair of legs
and..."

 "Motoki-chan!"  Reika whapped her boyfriend on the back of the
head and smiled in apology to Mamoru.  "Besides, Michiru-san's *with*
Haruka-san, so it doesn't matter how good looking she is."

 "Ah...Oh."

 "Come on, let's dance."  She looked at Mamoru then at Jun, "Why
don't you dance with Jun, Mamoru-san?"

 "I don't dance."

 "Sure you do.  Don't you remember last year at your mother's
christmas ball you..."

 "I don't dance, Motoki-kun."

 "Ah...right."  Motoki took in the look in his friends eyes and
then looked for Reika and joined her on the dance floor.

     *   *   *   *   *

 Mamoru did manage to slip out of the party that night as the
two girls who had chosen him as their object of druken affection began
to bicker amonst themselves.  He slipped the indestructible rose out
of his pocket and looking around to make sure he didn't have company,
transformed into his Tuxedo and leapt to the top of the dorm, running
off into the darkness, jumping from roof to roof, keeping his eyes
wide
open for sight of the princess.

 He breathed in deeply as he sped through the night and found
himself smiling.  He was free, finally to be who he really was.  He
looked up at the sickle moon and the silver stars and his spirit
quietened, removed from the hectic life he led as Chiba Mamoru.
He paused on the top of a highrise building and allowed his cloak
to flutter around him in the breeze as he stood motionless, watching
the velvet skies.

 A flicker of light caught his attention and he looked down to
where a battle was taking place in a city street below him.  He made
his way closer and nodded.  It was the senshi.  And...the senshi.
He'd seen the two vigilante groups a number of times during his
midnight roamings over the past couple of years since they had first
appeared and was always interested in watching their fights, they
were so...interesting, particularly when they got together.

 Standing in the deep shadows of a doorway he watched Jupiter's
lightening crackle and spark as it headed directly for Neptune's
position.  With a graceful spin and slide, she sent a return attack
speeding for one of the other senshi.  Mars and Venus were taking on
Sailor Uranus and Mercury looked like she was playing with an
electronic diary or something.

 He snuck his way around the battle keeping to the shadows and
appeared behind the busy senshi.  Stealing closer he managed to see
over her shoulder and discover that it *was* an electronic diary
though he suspected it was somewhat more powerful than the type you
could pick up any old place.

 It was about then that it chose to begin beeping frantically
and Mercury drew her finger across one part of the 'keypad' then spun
around in alarm.  The electronic diary disappeared and she took a
few quick steps back bringing her arms up ready to attack.

 "Hey, don't mind me, I was just wondering what you were doing
with that...um...electronic thingamee."

 "Who are you!"

 Tuxedo Kamen bowed deeply swirling his cape with a flourish
and materialising a rose which he handed to Mercury, "I am Tuxedo
Kamen.  And you are Sailor Mercury."  He straightened abruptly.  "So
what was with the electronic thingy?"  He tilted his head to one
side and regarded her curiously.  There was fear in her eyes which
was quickly being replaced by anger.

 She answered abruptly, "It's my computer.  *What* are you?"

 "Merely a masked vigilante, not unlike yourself, I suppose.  I
see you  still haven't resolved things with Uranus and Neptune.  Such
 a pity.  It does however seem you and the other Inners are getting
along better, that's gotta count for something."  He shook his head
with overdone sadness then grinned.  "Ah well, it makes watching you
guys interesting."

 "Watching...?"

 "Oh sure, I remember the first time I saw any of you guys.  You
and Venus were taking on sensei-turned-youma at some school.  Then as
 soon as you had managed to beat it she left and you stood there
swearing.  A most impressive vocab by the way.  Anyway, I'd better
be going, nice meeting you finally, Mercury, I'm sure I'll see you
around."  With that he leapt upwards and landed on the roof of a
nearby building then disappeared into the night leaving Mercury
standing open mouthed on the ground having totally forgotten about
the analysis she was meant to be running on the Outer Senshi.

     *   *   *   *   *

 Neptune and Uranus hopped from rooftop to rooftop not speaking
as they moved away from the battle arena where they had again drawn
in the fight with the Inner Senshi.  They were lucky that there was
only two of them.  If there had been more the Inner Senshi would have
ended up...well, possibly dead.

 The animosity between the two senshi groups had begun at their
first meeting when Neptune had taken a heart crystal from a young boy
and hadn't managed to get it back into him before it darkened into
death.  The soft-hearted Inners had fought on behalf of the boy but
hadn't got very far and the two Outers had left to continue their
search for the Talisman's.

 That had been over a year ago and they still hadn't had any
luck and now they had the Sailor Star Lights and Sailor Galaxia to
worry about aswell.  As the Outer Senshi it was their job to protect
what had been the Silver Millenium from outside threats, which
included both the DeathBusters,  Galaxia and the Star Lights and
they *still* hadn't found any of the Talisman's or the Messiah and
they were running out of time.  It wouldn't be long before The
Silence would descend.  In fact they were lucky it hadn't already
fallen.

 The two senshi stopped and detransformed, their sailor fukus
dissolving into street clothes as they dropped into the concealing
darkness of an alley.  Nodding to each other they walked out onto the
street and headed towards the apartment building that housed their
penthouse apartment.  Neither of them spoke until they had walked
in the front door when Haruka broke the silence softly asking a
question as she flicked the light switch.

 "Did you see it?"

 "You mean that guy who was talking to Mercury for while?"

 "Mm.  I think he's...well someone we knew before."

 "He did look familiar."

 "Like the Princess' Love."

 "The what?"

 "I'm not sure but that's what came to mind.  The Princess'
Love.  I wonder if he knows where the Princess is?"

 "If we see him again we'll have to ask him.  After all the
Princess may know where the Talisman's are...for that matter he may."

 "I do think we need to talk to him."  Haruka smiled a small
smile that didn't reach her eyes and taking Michiru's hand led her
through into the bedroom.  "But for now we should probably get some
rest.  After all you've got that concert tomorrow and you want to
look your best."

 Michiru smiled at her lover.  "I guess so."

 The two walked into the bedroom closing the door behind them.

     *   *   *   *   *

  Mamoru opened an eye the next morning with a groan and a hand
emerged from beneath his covers and made it's way towards the alarm
clock that had interrupted the first dreamless sleep he had had for
many a night.  His palm fell heavily on the sleep button and he buried
his face back in his pillow closing his eyes and sighing.  Why had he
put the alarm on?  It was a holiday.  Then his brain shut down once
more as he drifted back into the darkness of sleep.

 Half an hour later someone shook him awake.

 "Mamoru, 'kaasan says you have to get u-up."  Hiro spoke directly
into his ear without modulating his voice.  It was his lot in life to
torment the older brother he idolised.

 Mamoru groaned and swatted at Hiro with his hand as he would
have at a fly.  "Go 'way."

 "C'mon, Mamoru, rise and shine and all that.  'Kaasan says you
have to get up now.  Kurumi-san's coming over in a while and she says
you have to be ready."

 "Aahh?  Who?"

 "Kurumi-san, you know, that girl who's been trying to get you to
ask her out, Honjo-san's daughter?  You said you'd take her to the
zoo."
 Hiro snickered.  "You have to get up, Mamoru."

 Mamoru lifted his head and glared at Hiro.  He didn't remember
anything of the kind.  Why on Earth would he have said he'd take her
to the zoo when he didn't like her in the least and was, in fact,
one of the more annoying females he had met lately.  She couldn't
compare to Jun from last night but she came close.  It was the
recollection of last night that triggered the recollection of his
conversation with his mother earlier when he had said, off-handedly,
that he would take her to the zoo.  He sighed.  His mother had
obviously taken things into her own hands.  He wished she wouldn't
do that.

 Sighing, Mamoru pushed himself up onto his hands and turned until
he was in a sitting position.  He ran his hands through his hair and
scrubbed at his face before turning to Hiro again.  "Okay, you can
tell 'Kaasan I'll be down in a while."

 Hiro nodded and skipped out of the room, disgustingly cheerful and
wide-eyed.

 Mamoru winced as the door slammed shut and slowly worked his way
to the bathroom wishing he hadn't stayed out so late looking for the
princess and wishing, even more, that he hadn't gone and set himself
up for this thing with Kurumi which she would probably end up calling
a date and Mamoru would end up calling incredibly boring, a waste of
time and something he would not want to do again under any
circumstances.
 He turned the shower on and waited till it was warm enough before
tepping under the fall of water and slouching as he scrubbed himself
clean.

 Exiting the shower long minutes later he roughly dried his hair
and folded the towel around his waist, stepping back out into his
bedroom.  He was a few steps into the room when he heard the small
gasp that came from his bed.

 He turned and found himself looking blankly at Kurumi.

 "Oh, Ohaiyo, Kurumi-chan, can I help you?"

 "Ah, n-no..." Kurumi trailed off and stared at him.

 Mamoru frowned and wondered why she was staring, surely he wasn't
that bad.  He looked down at his chest to see if everything was where
he had left it.  Yup, so what was the problem?  He glanced over at
Kurumi again and finally noticed the rosy blush on her cheeks and
the embarassed, excited look in her eyes.  Oh.  His expression froze
and he gave Kurumi a cold look.

 "I need to get dressed, so if you could leave?"  Mamoru gestured
 towards the door and Kurumi nodded, her colour rising further as she
stood up and walked towards the door, stumbling a little at one point
but finally managing to make her way out.  She closed the door softly
after her and Mamoru heard her lean back against the door for a long
moment before heading off down the hallway.

 Mamoru shook his head and sighed.  Well at least he could use
today to get rid of her.  Cold looked like it would work with perhaps
a slight tinge of mockery thrown in.  He'd have to be careful though
that his mother didn't find out.

 The pains of being attractive yet unattracted to any member of
the opposite sex.  Not of course that he was attracted to members of
the same sex.

 Mamoru threw on a shirt and pants and combed his hair before
going to see if he could find breakfast.  Spending the day with Kurumi
would be bad enough on a full stomach, he didn't even want to think
about it without one.

     *   *   *   *   *

 The sun was shining brightly, birds were singing and somewhere
Mamoru could hear the screams of monkey's.  Kurumi walked happily next
to him, an ice cream cone held in one of her hands and  Mamoru's arm
in
the other.

 "This is so great.  Thanks for inviting me Mamoru-san, I've always
liked the zoo."

 Mamoru looked down at her disgustedly.  How could she be so
cheerful?  And nothing he had done had made her lose heart.  There had
been a couple of times when he had seen her expression fall into
despair
but then she had rallied.  He sighed.  It looked like this would end
up with him just telling her straight out to go away.

 Fortunately they had almost been around the entire zoo which
meant he could now take her home and forget all about her.

 Unfortunately Motoki and Reika were also at the zoo.

 "Hey, Mamoru-kun!  What are you doing here?"  Motoki clapped
a handon Mamoru's shoulder and practically yelled in his ear.

 Mamoru raised an eyebrow.  "I should think that would be obvious.
I'm visiting the zoo."

 Motoki laughed and looked down at his companion.  "Hey!  You're
that girl I met the other day at Mamoru's place."  He sent a confused
glance up at Mamoru.

 Kurumi blushed furiously remembering what she had been doing when
he had seen her.

 "Ohaiyo, Mamoru-san."

 "Ohaiyo, Reika-san."

 "I thought you said you weren't interested in..."  Motoki stopped
before going any further as he realised just how tactless that
statement,
if completed, would be.

 "I'm not."

 "So what are the two of you doing here?"  Reika asked as she
worked but what those two statements had been about and hoped that
Kurumi had been too busy being embarrassed to work it out for herself.

 "Visiting."

 "So are we.  Reika-chan dragged me along 'cause there's this bug
exhibition she wanted to see."  Motoki made a face.

 "You did?"  Kurumi spoke up for the first time, her eyes wide as
she stared at Reika.  She herself shivered each time she saw a bug and
had waited outside while Mamoru had gone into the bug exhibit.  She
had spent half an hour wondering what anyone saw in them until Mamoru
finally came out.  She didn't think the exhibit would have been that
big or that Mamoru would have been interested enough to spend all that
time there but if he had friends who were interested in them maybe
that's why he spent so long in there.

 "Yes."

 "Reika-chan's an entomologist She *loves* bugs."

 "Well, they're really very interesting animals.  And sooo cute."
Reika giggled as Kurumi sent her an aghast look and Mamoru and Motoki
glanced at each other with raised eyebrows before shrugging.

 "By the way, Mamoru-san, are you going to introduce us to your
friend?"

 "Oh, right.  This is Takashi Kurumi.  Kurumi-chan, this is
Furuhata Motoki and Ginga Reika."

 The three bowed to each other.

 "It's nice to meet you, Kurumi-chan."

 "Ah, you too, Ginga-san."

 Reika smiled.  "Call me Reika."

 Kurumi nodded.  "Reika-san."

 "And although we weren't introduced last time it's nice to meet
again, Kurumi-chan."  Motoki smiled at her and she blushed.

 "H-hai, Furuhata-san."

 "If you can call her Reika, you can call me Motoki."

 Kurumi nodded shyly and they all turned back to Mamoru who was
staring at something across the other side of the exhibit they
were standing next to.

 "Mamoru-kun?  Mamoru?"

 Mamoru turned his head back towards Motoki.  "Hunh?"

 "What were you looking at?"

 Mamoru frowned slightly, "I'm not sure."  A flash of gold caught
his eye and his heart leapt, "Wait here will you."

 Without waiting for an answer Mamoru took off running quickly
past the pits and cages full of prowling animals and happy families.

 His heart was beating faster than the run warranted but...but
that girl, her profile looked like the princess'.  He picked up his
speed and rounded the corner and stopped looking around the area
wildly searching for the person he had glimpsed.

 Children's laughter echoed in his ears and the gaudy colours of
their clothing jarred in Mamoru's eyes as he searched desperately but
there was noone there.  She had gone.

 Mamoru bowed his head and drew in a deep breath and let it out
again slowly.  He drew his hand down his face.  He stood irresolute
for a few moments then turned and walked slowly back to his friends
and self-styled date.

     *   *   *   *   *

 "Hey!"

 Tuxedo Kamen whirled around at the shout but saw nothing until
two figures seemingly dropped from the sky to land directly in front
of him.  He took an involuntary step backwards then steadied himself
and looked at Sailor's Uranus and Neptune impassively through his
mask.

 Neptune began to prowl around him as Uranus kept her gaze locked
on his.  Tuxedo Kamen's eyes glinted.  He wasn't about to let himself
be intimidated by a couple of the bickering senshi, especially not
when
that seemed to be exactly what they wanted.  Neptune stopped in a
position at the corner of his eyes and then Uranus opened her mouth to
speak.

 "Who are you?"

 Tuxedo Kamen allowed his lips to curve upwards, "Hmm.  I wondered
why you and the Inners didn't get along very well.  Obviously it's
because you're so similar.  I am Tuxedo Kamen."  He took in the flash
of anger that passed through Uranus' dark blue eyes and the sudden
abortive movement of Neptune towards him before she controlled
herself.
His grin widened.

 "*What* are you?  I don't really care what your name is."

 "Yes, very similar," Tuxedo Kamen murmured.  "Just a person who
happens to wear a mask and runs around the city for no particular
reason."

 Uranus' eyes narrowed.

 "Where is the Princess?"

 His head swung around to look at Neptune, the smug look on his
face disappearing.  His eyes searched hers for a long minute before
he collected himself.  "Princess?"

 "Mm.  And don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about
because you obviously do."  Neptune took a step closer and gave him
a look that said quite clearly 'Tell me, or else.'

 The trio stood in silence as Tuxedo Kamen considered his answer
and finally spoke.  "I know there *is* a Princess.  But as to whether
she is the same princess you're looking for or where she is, I don't
know."

 The two Outer Senshi looked each other and Neptune gave an
almost invisble nod of her head.  Then they spun around and leapt off
the building leaving a parting statement, half-promise, half-threat
and Tuxedo Kamen stood unmoving for a few moments a thoughtful look
in his shadowed eyes before he too left the vicinity.

					*   *   *   *   *
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