Disclaimer - I don't own Sailor Moon or Harry Potter and half the time I don't even own my own life, it seems.

Author's Note - Merry Christmas, here's my chintzy little contribution to the world. This year has really kicked my backside creatively, and the rampaging stupidity that is my life these days does not look likely to improve in the near future. This story has two chapters left in it, and while I won't make promises on time frame I intend to finish this story or die trying. In the meantime, enjoy. Or don't. I can't make you.

Up in what was left of Sweet Rose Shopping Center, things were stabilizing. Since the Owl Knight and Sailor Moon had called up to say that they were alright and that they'd found some kind of enchanted door down below, the area had been evacuated and emergency crews were carefully checking the surrounding buildings for structural damage. No one wanted a commercial tower toppling over right now.

The Senshi were catching their breath while Jedite and his Warriors conferred quietly in their own part of the square. At Sailor Moon's request a package of snacks and drinks had been lowered down by magic, but the pair had elected to stay down in the tunnel until the rest were ready to join them. The door hadn't opened and there'd been no sign of monsters, so they weren't in a hurry.

Sailor Mars was sitting cross-legged on a bench, trying to meditate, when Tuxedo Mask sat down next to her. "I think we need to continue our conversation from earlier, if you don't mind..." She opened her eyes and nodded silently. "You said something earlier about a breakthrough?"

She nodded again. "I think I have figured out a few things. Are you still feeling like you have a crush on me?"

Tuxedo Mask thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I am. It's not like I've ever disliked you, Mars, you have a lot of good qualities and you've grown quite a bit the last couple of years… I mean that you are a lot stronger person and more mature, not…"

She smiled a little. "I know what you mean, it's okay. And just for the record, I have grown in that way too; it's just …not relevant right now."

He laughed with relief. Spending as much time around teenage girls as he did, he had to be careful what he said, lest he give them or Sailor Moon the false impression that he was trying to flirt. "Anyway it's just that since the hospital I've found myself responding to you differently, like I want to be closer to you. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, you're a lovely girl, this morning I was still thinking of Sailor Moon as my girlfriend."

"And now you're not?" she asked calmly.

Tuxedo Mask took off his helmet and rubbed his forehead. "Earlier, before she fell down the hole, I looked at her and my first thought was 'she's such a child.' It didn't bother me before - I actually liked it about her, so why am I suddenly noticing how much more adult you are?" He groaned. "I need to break up with her. Whether you return my… Whether I act on these new feelings or not, I need to end things with her properly. We all deserve that much."

Sailor Mars sighed quietly. He looked so torn, so confused… Part of her wanted to leave things be, to enjoy what was starting to happen. She'd always liked him, and he hadn't gotten any less noble or handsome. She'd always had a thing for older men, and while Tuxedo Mask hadn't been her first or last crush he'd been one of the strongest… No. Not like this. She glanced around to make sure no one else was close enough to overhear, and reached up to touch his cheek. "Mamoru Chiba," she forced the name past the secrecy magic, "once known as Prince Endymion of House Earth, I release you." She could feel the magic rising within her, words had power in the mouth of a magical princess but only if she truly meant them. She had to mean this completely or else… She didn't know what else, but she didn't want to find out.

"I release you from any and all vows sworn between the Prince of the Earth and the Princess of the Moon, in this age or any other. I release you from any bonds of magic that guide your heart or mind." She felt magic begin to pull away and saw his eyes flicker, and hurried to add "I reaffirm your rights as a Prince of the Moon Kingdom, but as Princess I bid you to love as you will and give only what loyalty you truly feel. Let no one command your heart again unless you allow it… and I grant you leave to change your title and uniform if you want. So Let It Be."

A pulse of magic passed through the both of them, and Tuxedo Mask pulled away from her to double over, dry-heaving. Sailor Mars sat quietly as he convulsed; she would have rubbed his back but he'd never have felt it through his new armor. When the heaves turned into coughs and eventually the coughing ceased, she touched his shoulder. "How do you feel?" she asked gently.

He sat up again slowly, and rubbed his mouth with a gloved hand. "Like the Moon just fell on my head… What did you do?"

She took a deep breath. "Please, look at me." He did, slowly. "What do you think of me now?"

He smiled. "You're still a lovely girl, Mars, but I really don't think we should date. …Wow, that's different."

Mars smiled. "Why shouldn't we date?"

The words just tumbled out of him, as if he'd been set free of more than he'd realized. "You're kind of young for me, to start with. It wouldn't matter so much in a few years, but right now it really does. Besides, I think you've already decided to live your life as a priestess, and you're going to need someone who won't get jealous of Hikawa-sama…"

In spite of herself, she giggled. "You're right, I really will… And that's not you?"

He laughed, partly from sheer tension release. "I don't know… Everything's so muddled; I don't know what I really want right now. What's going on?"

Mars smiled, letting the feeling sink in that she'd done the right thing. "When Jedite mentioned story books earlier, I had a thought. Everything we've been told about magic, about the only consistent thing we've heard is that it responds to the will. If we want something, we focus our mind and heart and if we're powerful enough it happens." He nodded, following her so far. "This is just intuition on my part and I don't think anyone made it happen on purpose, but Jedite was right - Usagi has always been a daydreamer and a bit self-centered and that was even the case a thousand years ago. In fact it was probably worse back then because she didn't just think of herself as a princess, she actually was one."

Tuxedo Mask looked confused, so she elaborated. "What does a dreamy young princess want more than anything?"

"…A pony?" he hazarded.

Mars smiled. "That's fair, but she probably already had all the ponies her heart desired; she was an actual princess, remember. No, what a princess wants most is her prince. She may not have any idea of what she'd do with a prince, but she still wants him. She'll want a prince who's handsome and kind and puts up with her flaws and feeds her cake and dances with her all night and saves her when she needs saving and never, ever tells her to grow up or eat her vegetables or stop clinging onto him all the time." She gave him a sidelong look. "Yes, I went through the princess phase too. But the point is that we want the fairy tale…"

"And Usagi still believes in fairy tales…" he concluded.

"Yes. Why wouldn't she? One day she turned into a magical princess who wore pretty dresses and a sparkly crown and got rescued every time she needed it…"

"…by a prince. Her prince." He buried his face in his hands. "Oh, kami…"

She ran her fingers through his hair gently. "Again, this is my intuition, I cannot say for sure that it happened this way, but even if it did I don't think she ever had any bad intentions. But I suspect that a thousand years ago or so, Princess Serenity wished so hard for her handsome prince that her magic tried to make it happen."

He shook like he was about to start heaving again. "So all this time I've been …under a spell?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, "but I doubt it was anything that strong. Usagi has never been a bad person; she would never want to force someone to love her. Besides, things were probably really different back then. The age difference wouldn't have been an issue and you were both rich, attractive, and magical, all you would have probably needed was the courage to court a Moon Princess. So the Crystal would have only had to make small nudges to give her what she wanted. But now you're both reincarnated, and the kind of relationship you had back then doesn't work the same way today. But Usagi still wanted her fairy tale, so …maybe it meddled a little harder this time."

Tuxedo Mask… no, Mamoru… shook his head. "I want to say you're wrong, but if Usagi gave the role of Moon Princess over to you and suddenly I'm mooning over you instead… I don't know who I am anymore…"

She reached over and hugged him in spite of his armor. "You're our friend, the guy who has always been there for us. You're also Master Flitwick's apprentice, you got yourself into that one. You're getting a degree in architecture; the Crystal didn't give you that. You've still got your magic, I'm pretty sure I managed not to take that away. You are whoever you choose to be, Mamoru, but at least you've got something to start with."

He sighed. "Why did you free me? Weren't you tempted?"

"Absolutely," she said, smirking. "You're still pretty hot, after all. But what kind of a priestess would I make if I selfishly took advantage of you like that?" His face darkened, and she guessed where his mind was going. "No, I'm pretty sure Usagi had no idea about any of this, and if she had she would have freed you too. I know you feel lost right now, but do you really think Usagi would knowingly use you like that?"

Mamoru shook his head. "No… She's immature and a bit selfish, but she's nowhere near that selfish. This is really going to hurt her, though…"

"Yeah… I have no idea what to do about that."

"Maybe we shouldn't tell her." She looked at him in surprise and he shrugged. "If it's not her fault and it probably didn't even begin in this lifetime, I don't see how telling her about it would help anything. She'll feel horrible enough when I break up with her."

"You're still going to do that?"

"What else can I do? I don't know who I am, let alone who I want to spend my life with. It wouldn't be right to string her along while I figured things out."

Mars nodded slowly. "I'm not sure if I agree about telling her, but I feel like this is more your decision than mine. Just let me know if you need anything, Mamoru, whatever you decide on we're still your friends."

Smiling, he kissed her cheek. "You're a good friend, Mars. Thank you."

"I'm just trying to be a responsible …whatever-I-am-now," she said, blushing in spite of herself. Freeing him from the fairytale had been the right thing to do, but …it was still nice to be appreciated.

(OoOoO)

"So now that you're not the heir of the Moon Kingdom anymore, what do you want to do?" the Owl Knight asked. He and Sailor Moon were sitting against the tunnel wall, relaxing with rice crackers and juice as they waited for backup. Several magic lights were floating in the air around them, the product of practicing while bored.

"What, with my life?" Sailor Moon stared up at the ceiling. "Well, I guess I want to finish high school, and then get married. Mamo-chan is pretty much done with his education, so once he's done with whatever that mean old man suckered him into there'll be nothing to stop us." She sighed. "I can't wait… All I ever really wanted was to be a bride…"

"Not a princess?"

She shrugged. "Who doesn't want to be a princess? I mean, I would never have turned it down, but I didn't really expect it to happen to me. My dad's a photographer, photographers don't get to be kings. And being a Moon Princess, well, that's been more headaches and scary stuff than fun. It's not all bad, I met Mamo-chan and most of my best friends through the Moon Kingdom, and I get to have magic which is great when it works, but I wouldn't mind giving up the magic if I could keep my friends and my hot, hot, hot boyfriend. And, you know, not have monsters trying to kill us all the time." She shook her head and sighed. "That's probably never gonna happen, is it?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. This has been a pretty confusing day already and who knows what we're going to find behind this door, but it'll probably change everything all over again. It's been that sort of week, hasn't it?"

"Yeah…" She crunched down another large frosted rice cracker and thought. "I guess if we're talking about it, then what do you want out of life, Owl Knight? We've never really talked much…"

"No, we haven't really. Mostly what I know is that you're in love with Mamoru and you hate Gundam." She snorted in confirmation. "I've sort of been thinking about it, but the best I can come up with is that I want to have friends and family. I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up, except …not famous." He shrugged. "My sister thinks I should aim for college, but I'd never really thought about that. There's no college in the magical world, at least not that anyone's told me about."

"That's Mercury, alright. She's been planning for college since she was in diapers, I bet. I know she's been aiming for Todai for as long as I've known her." Sailor Moon cocked her head. "I wonder if she heard that rumor that if you go to Todai – you know, Tokyo University – with someone you love, you'll live happily ever after?"

He shrugged. "I would think that if you went with someone you love, it wouldn't matter much which university you went to."

"Still, it sounds like it would make a great romance manga."

"Or a wacky pile of madness and mayhem."

They lapsed into quiet for a while, until finally Sailor Moon said "Owl Knight?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you… For coming down after me, I mean." She looked around and shuddered. "I know the others are near and it seems to be safe, but I'm really glad I'm not down here alone."

He nodded. "That's alright. At least this place is nothing like the Chamber of Secrets, all the snake carvings…"

"Ugh, please, don't tell me, I'm jumpy enough already."

A pulse of light in the tunnel interrupted their conversation. Jumping to their feet, Sailor Moon and the Owl Knight saw that they were no longer alone.

(OoOoO)

A pulse of light drew attention from all around the plaza. Near the shaft, two new figures had appeared. They were both Sailor Senshi, though somehow the uniform seemed less cute and more serious on them. The blonde woman wore gold and blue, and her intense eyes swept the area for threats. Her partner was dressed in blue and green, with wavy turquoise hair and a softer expression. She held a sleeping child in her arms.

Sailor Venus was the first to react, jumping to her feet happily. "Uranus! Neptune! You're here!" She caught Sailor Uranus in a dashing hug that nearly bowled the tall woman over. "Oh, and Hotaru-chan has gotten so big! It's so great to see you guys!"

Sailor Uranus patted the younger blonde on the shoulder nervously. "I guess you really don't change, do you Venus? We weren't sure what kind of welcome we'd get, showing up uninvited like this." She looked around. "What the hell happened here? Have things with Jedite gotten that baaaa…" Her voice trailed off as she spotted the Negaverse General standing off to one side. "Neptune, get Hotaru out of here. I've got this!"

Jupiter stepped up, imposing herself between Jedite and the Outer Senshi. "Easy, guys, easy! It's okay, we have a truce going right now. If you don't attack, he won't either."

They didn't look convinced, but Sailor Uranus stopped reaching for her enchanted sword. "A truce? Seriously? Princess Butthurt agreed to a truce with the Negaverse?"

Sailor Mars was the next to join them. "Sailor Moon isn't in charge anymore. I was the one who agreed to the truce."

Uranus blinked. "She resigned? Seriously?" She made a point of looking around. "Where are the pigs? There are flying pigs, right?"

Sailor Neptune smiled her partner's bluntness. "Congratulations, Princess Mars. I'm sorry if we missed a ceremony…"

Mars shook her head. "No, it happened an hour or two ago and we've been running all over Juuban ever since. Its…been a really crazy day. And…it's not that we aren't glad to see you, but why are you here?"

Uranus and Neptune looked at each other for a moment. "Well, she woke us up fifteen minutes ago and told us we needed to be here," Neptune said calmly. "We could have arrived sooner, but we needed to pack a bag for Hotaru-chan."

"Who woke you?" Jedite asked as he joined the conversation whether anyone wanted him to or not.

(OoOoO)

"PLUTO!" Sailor Moon cried happily as she ran toward the woman who'd stepped out of the shadows. "Oh, thank the gods you're here, things have just been getting crazier and crazier, first Jedite nearly killed Venus and -!"

The woman had silenced her by placing a single gloved finger on her lips. "I know, Usagi. I've been watching all this time. First things first, I know who he is but would you please introduce me to your friend?"

Sailor Moon stepped back, and the Owl Knight got his first good look at the new arrival. She was elegantly beautiful, with dark green hair that cascaded down from a simple bun to just past her knees and a Senshi uniform trimmed in black. She held a tall staff in one hand, topped with a wine-red orb embraced in silver and decorated with protrusions along its length that made it look a bit like a giant key. It was her eyes, though, that grabbed him. They were the same dark red, and as he looked into them he felt his stomach sink. This woman… It was just intuition probably, but he had a feeling that this woman had seen things that had made his worst dementor-fueled nightmares look like a church fair in comparison, and whatever she had faced in her life she had faced it alone. Swallowing, he stepped forward and bowed formally. "I am honored to meet you, Madame Pluto. My codename is Owl Knight, and I am at your service."

The woman smiled and returned his bow. "Harry Potter, it is a pleasure to meet you at last. Have you enjoyed your time in the Moon Kingdom?"

He blinked, surprised to hear his name but quickly shrugging it off. "On the whole it has been wonderful, milady. I wouldn't trade the family and friends that I've found here for anything I could possibly think of."

"A good answer, if there is one thing that can be said of the Moon Kingdom as it stands today, it is that we understand the value of loved ones," She turned her gaze to Sailor Moon for a moment, "even when we don't see eye to eye with them."

Sailor Moon gulped. "I know this is rude to ask, but …are you here because things are about to get world-endingly horrible, or because they're about to get a lot better?"

Sailor Pluto smiled. "Either one is possible, but I for hope the latter. I am here because of a door that won't open without me, and because …choices will have to be made, and some explanations are owed." She looked up at the shaft to the surface. "Ahh, good. Everyone has arrived above. Once they join us down here, we can begin…"

As the pair watched, Sailor Pluto opened a gateway to the surface. One by one, people stepped through and the tunnel began to fill. Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus (holding the still-sleeping Hotaru), Sailor Jupiter… Jedite and his two retainers… Doctor Mizuno stepped through, accompanied by Sirius Black and Sailor Mercury. Lastly, Tuxedo Mask came through along with Inspector Ade and Forge-Master Flitwick.

"Hotaru-chan?" Sailor Moon exclaimed in surprise. "What's she doing here? Where are…"

Venus held a finger to her lips for quiet. "Her moms are upstairs, they agreed to guard the plaza in case the yoma attack again. I wasn't sure bringing her down here was a great idea, but they insisted that Pluto would keep her safe no matter what."

"And so I shall," Pluto said simply before turning to face the assembled crowd. "Ladies, gentlemen, welcome to the ancient tunnels of Gringotts' Japan branch. These vaults and caverns were carved more than a thousand years ago, and they were only abandoned when the threat of nuclear attack fell upon Japan in 1945. They remain abandoned because of the legal uncertainty regarding the treaties made with the Japanese magical society during the Yayoi period. Simply put, the Goblins are uncertain who they should be negotiating with to take re-possession of their homes. Is that an accurate summary, Forge-Master?"

The old smith nodded slowly, clearly surprised at this stranger's understanding. "It is. I do not believe we have been introduced, young lady…"

Sailor Pluto nodded and bowed. "Forgive me. I am Sailor Pluto, once warden and administrator of the Moon Kingdom research facilities on the planet Pluto and now the guardian of the Moon Queen's greatest creation. You may call me Lady Pluto if it makes you more comfortable, technically I am a Princess but there are an abundance of princesses here at the moment. Also I beg your indulgence, I have not had much human interaction these last few centuries and my manners may not have …adjusted well."

Inspector Ade looked around and decided that the question was going to fall to him to ask. "Forgive me, lady, but how old are you?"

"In linear time, one thousand two hundred and seventy-six years as of last October. In subjective time, …significantly more."

He swallowed. "You wear them well, lady."

She tilted her head and smiled slightly. "I am the Senshi of Time, sir. Mortality is not part of my remit. But…" she continued, "we are not here to discuss my nature. We are gathered here today to open this door and show everyone what they have been fighting for these past months. Master Flitwick, have you been briefed on this procedure?"

He shook his head slowly. "I was not. However, the instructions are clearly written on the door. Are you certain you wish to open this vault, my lady? This grade of security is reserved only for the greatest treasures of the Goblin Clans… and in this case the Moon Kingdom as well."

Sailor Pluto nodded slowly. "It is time. Today is a turning point, much has already changed and more changes are coming. It is time for you assembled here to decide the course of your future."

More questions were called out to her but she ignored them, turning and walking toward the vault door. Master Flitwick followed, his crystal-topped staff clacking on the stone floor. Together, they placed their hands on the glowing seal. Sailor Pluto spoke first, syllables spilling from her lips in a language almost no one recognized. It sounded like liquid silver in the air. "What is that?" Venus asked quietly, awestruck.

"The high language of the Moon Kingdom," Jedite replied, nearly whispering. "It's hard to master without magical aid; we only used it for formal occasions and, apparently, certain security elements."

Master Flitwick went next, speaking in the harsh, rasping language of his adopted people. As he finished, the seal began to glow and, as they took their hands away, it sank into the door. The circles of writing pulsed with magic, and after a few moments the door swung slowly inward on unseen hinges. The two of them walked into the vault, holding their respective staffs upright. "Come in, everyone. Come and see…"

The crowd followed, hesitantly. The ancient vault was, at first, a tunnel, but it soon opened out onto a broad balcony with high metal railings. Beyond it was a large chamber with a vaulted ceiling like a great and ancient hall. The balcony was near the top, giving it an impressive view of the crystal obelisk in the center. It stretched up nearly to the ceiling, and its length was carved with ring upon ring of runes. The spire pulsed with blue-white light, nearly blinding everyone after the dimness of the tunnel. "It's beautiful…" Sailor Moon breathed, awestruck. "What is it?"

Pluto closed her eyes and soaked in the radiance. "This is a Secondary Distribution Node of the Moon Kingdom's magical power network, one of two surviving nodes on the planet Earth. The rest of them were either destroyed in the cataclysm or have failed since. Its purpose is to gather magical energy from the ley lines of Earth and channel it through the Primary Node to the Lunar Nexus on the Moon, where it is redistributed and transmitted by the Imperium Silver Crystal. The Primary Node and the Lunar Nexus are both gone, but having the Crystal close to the Secondary Node allows it to tap and control the node directly. It's the primary reason the Senshi have been reborn here in Japan."

Sailor Venus scratched her head. "But I was awakened in England…"

The elder Senshi waggled a finger cheerfully. "Ahh, but you might recall that I said there were two nodes remaining. The other one is below London; it belongs to the Goblin Clans. Technically you weren't accessing it as its flow belongs to the Goblins by ancient agreement, but the leakage from it was enough for you to awaken."

Master Flitwick looked irritated for a moment, but then sighed and nodded. "The Goblins Clans made a bargain with Queen Serenity, we would protect and maintain the Nodes as best we could, and in return several nodes were constructed purely for Goblin use. We have kept our part of the deal as best we could, but with the loss of the Moon Kingdom we lost our access to many of the techniques needed to repair and create them."

Sailor Mars cleared her throat. "It's very impressive, but why are we here? More specifically, why is everyone here?" She glanced meaningfully at Jedite and his warriors.

Pluto smiled mysteriously. "To know the strength of someone's resolve, you must test it. Congratulations, General, there it is, the end of your search. What now?"

Jedite took a deep breath, recognizing the danger. "My original plan was to either capture and reprogram it to serve me, or if that failed destroy it and deny the Senshi their power." He waited a moment to watch the gathered princesses' reaction. "However, I'm not a fool. Eight and a half against three is not a battle I expect to win. Therefore, I will hold my course and request that Princess Mars use this power to rescue the people of the Enclave from the Negaverse."

Mars growled. "Jedite, are you trying to make us turn you down? Because that's what it looks like. You ask us to trust you, and then you give us reason after reason why we shouldn't. Cut the crap and tell me the truth, do you want us to rescue the Enclave?"

He took in a deep breath, and then let it out. "Yes."

"Say please."

He grimaced. "Please…"

Mars's glare didn't waver. "Now say 'tonkatsu kotatsu shiatsu shiri shiri coco-bop'."

Jedite blinked several times. "What?"

"You heard me," she growled.

"…Tonkatsu kotatsu shitatsu shiri shiri kotoko-bonk."

She nodded. "Close enough. Now wasn't that easier than all of this 'whoo, I'm a complete jerk but I'm a jerk for JUSTICE!' stupidity? We could have done something about this months ago if you had tried talking to us." He tried to retort, but she cut him off with an upheld hand. "Shut up and let me talk to some people."

He saluted mockingly. "Yes, your Princessnessness…ow!" Sailor Mars had set one of his boots on fire.

"We need a Moon Kingdom meeting, folks, would the rest of you please step outside for a minute?" When the others had cleared away, Mars looked around at her fellow Senshi (and their two male auxiliaries). "Well, this is it. Are we going to do this?"

"I haven't been here for half of what's gone on today," Jupiter complained. "What exactly are we talking about?"

Mars sighed and nodded. "Okay, here's the deal – when the Moon Kingdom went boom a thousand years ago, a whole bunch of people from various planets survived because they'd already been carried off into the Negaverse. Jedite's flunkies are descended from those survivors, and apparently there's still a whole lot more still living in a hidden Enclave in the Negaverse. Jedite wants us to try and rescue them, because the Silver Crystal and that Node down there can be used to create a portal directly to the Enclave. Apparently he can't do that without our help."

Tuxedo Mask cleared his throat. "I've spent some time talking to Adriann, the lady with the sword. The Enclave residents are like people who live in a sewer. They survive in whatever way they have to, but it's not remotely healthy for them. They eat yoma, use dark magic because that's the only kind they can get, and consider love and happiness to be a bedtime story the elders tell. They raise their children away from the rest of the Enclave because it's so hard to feel love in the Negaverse that only the most self-controlled can be patient with crying babies. I know I'm not the most reliable person mentally, but I want to help them. No one should have to live like that."

"Okay, but what are the risks? Can we trust Jedite on this?" Jupiter asked.

"The risk is that Jedite might be lying and has an army of yoma waiting for us to open the door," Mars replied.

"I bet that's it, alright," Sailor Moon said with an adolescent huff. "That guy's a dirtbag, start to finish."

"But if he is telling the truth, can we abandon a whole bunch of people to rot in the Negaverse? They were once Moon Kingdom," Venus interjected. "Our subjects, our responsibility."

"Okay, but what are we going to do with them if they do come through?" Jupiter argued. "We're high school students, we don't have the money to support dozens…"

"Hundreds," Pluto corrected.

"Hundreds of people… It's not like we have a place for them to live."

Venus rolled her eyes. "Why do you think Jedite invited that guy from the government? With his help, we can make it work. Being a refugee from a dimension of evil can't be that much harder to fill out forms for than, say, being a refugee from Soviet Russia. And some day, when we have a Moon Kingdom or a Crystal Republic or whatever, we can invite them to come live there."

"Still, that's a lot of people with dark magic and no idea how to live a normal life," mused Sailor Mars. "If they get frustrated and decide not to play by the rules things could get really ugly. What is it, Owl Knight?" He had put his hand up.

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure I have a say in this…"

Mars sighed. "You do. You're the newest member of the club, but you're still part of the club. What are you thinking?"

"A while back, someone told me that Sailor Moon has magic that drives out yoma possession and evil magic…"

"Sure, my Moon Healing," Sailor Moon replied cheerfully. "Honestly, that's my favorite power."

He took a deep breath. "Do you still have it?"

She shrugged. "I think so, let me check." Striking a pose, Sailor Moon held out a hand and her Crescent Moon Wand appeared in it. "Moon…Healing…Escalation!" Silver-white light sprayed forth from the wand and washed over Owl Knight, making his body tingle. "Yup, I've still got it!"

Sailor Mars rolled her eyes. "Was that really necessary, Meatball Head?"

Moon was about to retort, but Sailor Mercury stepped between them. "Not now, guys. Owl Knight is fine, right?"

"Yeah. Honestly I feel better now, less tired." He took a deep breath. "As I was saying, if that power cleans up dark magic then why don't we use it? Everyone who comes through the portal gets a free cleansing, courtesy of the Moon Kingdom. Then if they're not happy, they don't have all that dark magic to make a mess with."

"You want me to whammy hundreds of people?" Sailor Moon asked, boggling. "My arms will get so tired…"

"Perhaps we could weave a similar effect into the portal," Mercury mused as she summoned her magic laptop computer. "Lady Pluto, if we create a portal sufficient to rescue that many people, will we need some kind of physical component for it?"

Pluto nodded. "It wouldn't be strictly necessary, but it would make the portal more stable and easier to maintain. And yes, you could weave a cleansing effect into it. It will take some work, however, and you'll need Jedite's help."

Sailor Moon grimaced. "Why?"

"Because his knowledge of Negaverse geography is better than all of ours put together."

"Why do you think we can trust him?"

Mars smiled fiercely. "Because he and his girlfriends are going to get cleansed before we scribble a single rune, or there's no deal."

All around the group, smiles blossomed. Sailor Moon giggled. "He'll never agree to that!"

(OoOoO)

"I agree to your terms," Jedite said, five minutes later.

"What?!" screeched Sailor Moon.

"Very good," Sailor Mars said, summoning her onusa. "Shall we get it out of the way, or would you like to wait and prepare yourself? For the record, Jedite, you are going first."

He took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "Alright then. At your leisure, Sailor Moon-Dumplings, you may fire when ready."

"I oughta just zap him," Sailor Moon grumbled as she took up her stance. "Moon…Healing…ESCALATION!"

The silver-white energy enveloped Jedite, and a few moments later he began to scream. Sailor Mars stepped around to the other side of him and began chanting a prayer while waving her rod. As the streamers fluttered, they began drawing wisps of darkness from inside of the cocoon of light, gathering them up like …evil cotton candy. It was a terrible simile, but unfortunately the most apt at the moment. It went like that for more than a minute, but probably less than five before the last wisp was drawn away. The onusa looked like it was dangling a beehive of dark energy, it pulsed as if it wanted to fly away but Sailor Mars held it together through sheer will.

Sailor Moon let go of the healing magic and sagged to her knees. Even her pigtails were drooping as she sat down on the tunnel floor. "I hope that did it, I don't want to try again right now," she groaned. The Owl Knight, knowing that look of fatigue, was at her side with orange juice in moments.

The silver light cleared, leaving behind …Jedite. It looked like Jedite, though a Jedite who'd received a good scrub and polishing. His hair was gold instead of merely blonde, and his dark grey uniform had been bleached into a stylish pearl grey. He raised a white-gloved hand and clasped it with the other as he looked around at everyone with wide-eyed delight. "Oooh, hello there! My name is Jeddy-doo, and I love fuzzy kittens and great big ice cream sundaes and playing games in the meadows with all my very best friends!" As all of the Senshi stared at him in shock, he smirked. "Gotcha."

A groan rose up all around. "Are you alright, General?" Calyx asked with sincere concern.

He massaged the back of his neck with both hands. "I won't lie, that was painful. I'm also feeling like a rubber sack that's had most of its contents poured out, and it's like an itch I've never been able to scratch has finally gone away; it's such a deep relief that it's actually rather annoying. Mars actually managed to drain all of my magic reserves, but I can feel it coming back. I suppose Queen Serenity never got the chance to turn off my access to the network, so I'm still getting my little trickle of a share."

"Can we fix that?" Sailor Moon asked, looking over at Pluto.

"Let's hold off on that for now," the woman advised. "We're going to need him, remember?"

"How soon can we not need him?"

"Roughly as soon as I can not need you, alright?" Jedite said grouchily. "Calyx, Adriann, you'll be alright. It will hurt while it's happening, but you shouldn't have to suffer as long as I did. I'm a lot older and more powerful than you, and neither of you are all that magic-dependent to begin with. Please, submit to the procedure so we can move forward. Our future is riding on this, and it would have to happen sooner or later anyway."

They both looked uncomfortable, but nodded anyway. As Jedite moved aside, they stepped into the space between the two Senshi. "Can you cleanse us both at once?" Adriann asked.

Sailor Moon gulped down the rest of the juice and, with Owl Knight's help, stood up. "I think so; it'll be better that way anyway. I'm not sure I can do it two more times in a row, holding it that long really takes it out of me…" She accepted another can of juice and chugged half of it. "Give me a moment."

Ten minutes later it was done. The second round had gone much quicker; both Calyx and Adriann looked like they'd been struck between the eyes with a brick and yet somehow felt better for the experience. The node vault had been sealed again, and Sailor Pluto's portal was ferrying everyone back to the surface. Jedite was off to another meeting with Mister Kudo; the Senshi's terms had been met but the government was not about to accept several hundred extra-dimensional refugees without some assurances. Sailor Mars was off to the shrine, she had extracted a large quantity of dark magic from the three Negaverse warriors and she needed Hikawa-sama's help to dispose of it safely. Sailor Moon was heading home for a hot bath and some ice cream, in no particular order.

The Owl Knight gave his guardian a discreet signal, and Sirius hung back while Venus and Inspector Ade took the next trip through the portal. He signaled Mercury, Jupiter, and Doctor Mizuno as well. "What is it?" Mercury asked quietly.

"It's been a long and insane day," he began. "I was thinking that I'd like to invite you all over for dinner, if Sirius doesn't mind. I can't speak for him, but I could use the company."

It took only a moment for Sirius to make up his mind. "Please, come. We could all use some quiet time to unwind, and we'll all eat better if these two cook."

Jupiter shook her head in amusement and then smiled. "Of course I will, but if you want me to cook then you have to promise that someone will explain what happened today. I'm still pretty confused."

Sailor Mercury turned pleading eyes to her mother, safe in the knowledge that everyone who wasn't privy to secret identities had already left. Doctor Mizuno sighed. "All right, we'll come. I'm too tired to argue."

Dinner that evening was a quiet affair. Makoto got her explanation while working in the kitchen with Harry, so by the time the food hit the table everyone was ready to let go of the day and just talk about commonplace things for a while. The Mizunos brought the dessert, a maple cream millefeuille that left them all sedated in their seats. They'd earned a rest.