A prequel to Normal Enough. It helps to read them together, but both are pretty stand alone. The whole series is a study on what it might be like for the characters to start remembering their past lives. I love this time period of the series. It has so much potential! More parts to come in this universe. It's just too much fun!

She was panting. The tree bark was rough against her back where her dress had been unlaced and fallen open. The man's hair was long; she knew because her fingers were twisted in the length of it.

It was a dream. She knew that. Because where else would she be braced against a tree with her long skirts shoved up over her hips and a man kneeling between her knees? Certainly not her current love life, that was for sure.

She was saying something, she thought begging him not to stop, but she wasn't sure. He replied back, his voice vibrating intimately against her and it was all she needed to--

"Minako!!" Artemis shouted right into her ear.

"Ah!" Minako woke up with a start and sent her guardian cat flying across the room. It took her a moment to remember she was not half naked against a tree in some orchard. No, she was (alone) in her bed, and it was bright outside her window. …bright outside her window.

"Iie! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?! I have volleyball practice before class!" Minako began a mad dash around her room, throwing off pajamas and hurrying into her uniform. Artemis covered his eyes with his paws and expertly maneuvered himself out from under her feet in a way that only came from years of practice.

"I tried three times in the last hour, and you kept saying 'five more minutes' -- don't you dare--!"

Too late! Minako jumped out her second story bedroom window with her school satchel gripped between her teeth. She landed with a backflip and started running. If she kept up the pace, she just might make it after warm-ups and only have to do a few laps before class.

***

She was up a tree. It was a tall tree with thick, winding branches and large, umbrella shaped leaves. Above her, the sky was filled with stars and a full Earth presenting Australia. Below her, the large leaves mostly hid her from view of those wandering the gardens. Excellent place for hiding. And ambushing.

There was her target.

"V-chan!"

Closer. Closer…

"V-chan, where are you?"

She wrapped her legs around the thick branch and rolled so she was now hanging upside down just above her target's head. Reaching out, she was about to undo one silver pigtail when Princess Serenity turned her face upward and shrieked.

"Oi, V-chan!" Usagi was waving a hand in front of Minako's face. "Come back, V-chan!"

"We were offering you chocolate, but you were zoned right out, Mina-chan," Makoto told her. "You know, that's Usagi-chan's job."

"Iie!" Usagi turned on Makoto. "That's not fair!"

"But it's true!" Minako joined in. "We know that if you're spacing out around food that means we need to have a serious meeting!"

Usagi pouted, and both Makoto and Minako relented with hugs and more offers of the leftovers from their bentos.

"Are you all right, Mina-chan?" Ami asked quietly as they were packing up to head back to their afternoon classes. "You were quiet for most of the day."

"I'm fine, Ami-chan," she assured and threw her arm over the other girl's shoulders. "I guess I overdid it during practice, that's all."

Ami watched her out of the corner of her eye for a moment before nodding to herself. "If you're sure. But tell me if you're still feeling odd in a few days." She knocked her hip against Minako's and offered a small smile.

"I will, Ami-chan. Promise!"

***

She was on a horse, and she wasn't alone. There was a man riding behind her, one of his arms wrapped around her waist to help keep her in the saddle. It was cool out, though that might have had more to do with the fact she was only wrapped in a blanket and nothing else. The man behind her was little better, but he at least had pants to help protect himself from saddle rub.

The horse was walking slowly up a rocky incline, bobbing her with each step.

"If I did not know you better, I would think the rumors were true."

"Mmm?" The man made a questioning noise that started deep in his chest.

She tipped her head back and lazily kissed the underside of his well defined chin. His skin was dark, his chin was rough with stubble, but his face was a blur. She only had the impression of very green eyes. "That you carry off women and ravish them on the backs of your horses."

He laughed, a deep bass sound. "I am a barbarian king," he reminded her. His hand crept under the blanket and over her belly. "You can barely stay astride my horse now, princess," he breathed into her ear. "Do you wish to tempt me further?"

Minako opened her eyes. The window was open over her bed and the sun was just beginning to set, but it did little to help against the summer heat. She sat up on her elbows then made a face. She had forgotten to take off her school uniform before she had laid down.

"Ech," she said to herself. Now she was going to be all wrinkly tomorrow.

"Speak for yourself," Artemis muttered and lashed his tail in annoyance. He was curled in a ball next to her hip.

Minako smiled and scratched behind her guardian's ears. "Just because you look like a cat right now doesn't mean you get to sleep twenty-three hours a day." Artemis opened one eye to glare at her before rolling and letting his belly be scratched.

"Were you dreaming again?" he asked. Minako made a noncommittal noise. Artemis swatted at her hand then settling himself in her lap. "You were dreaming of the past. Just like you used to do before we found the others."

"Yeah, okay. You got me, kitty." She continued to rub Artemis from head to tail. When he began to purr, her smile returned full force. "It's okay, I promise. Just stress from exams and…everything. It'll go away soon."

***

The air was filled with smoke and the clanging sound of metal meeting metal. She could not see, her vision blurred by the haze and the sweat leaked into her eyes. Her golden chain was wrapped tightly around her wrist as she felt her way along the edge of a rust colored trench toward the sounds of violence.

She knew she was in command of some battle. It was not going as planned. This was not her world. The sky was the color of spilt wine, the desert ground red, and not from the blood of the war around her. She hated this place.

There was a shadow in the cloud of smoke ahead. She leapt, and a fireball scorched the earth where she had been to black glass. Her whip shot out at her mental command, and she felt it connect. With a yank, her attacker landed at her feet.

Sailor Mars was sprawled on her knees before her with the golden chain wrapped around her neck. The senshi had thrown up one of her arms up to keep the chain from becoming a noose. The palm pointed at her was still smoking. Her own fist was glowing gold.

"Stand down!" She shouted.

Mars' red eyes burned up at her. "Release me!"

"Not until you stand down!" She shouted again into the din. She knew, she knew deep down, that Mars had not known it was her when the other senshi had released her fire. But, if she had been killed, her second-in-command would not have wept for her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the line of creatures step out of the haze. She let loose her chain and blasted the twisted things with light from both hands. Mars threw a fireball the moment the chain dissolved. Venus felt the searing heat on her face as it passed by and the tips of her hair were singed.

Turning her head, she watched two more of those creatures shriek and wither in the flames.

"The right flank lines have broken," she informed the other senshi. "Pull together what you can with the center column. I'll join you with what is left of my army. We'll push the enemy back into the canyon and collapse it."

Mars stood at the command. Brushing the black glass from her knees, she disappeared into the smoke without a word.

Rei set the tea tray down on the low table with more noise than necessary, and Minako blinked open her eyes. "Are you falling asleep already?" she asked.

Minako leaned up on her elbows to watch the other girl. Rei flipped back her long sleeves with a flick of her wrist and served the tea with an elegant air. Minako made a face: she would have spilled tea all over herself and soaked her sleeves up to the elbows.

"Your face will freeze that way," Rei advised her.

"Hope you fall on yours," Minako told her with a smile.

Rei snorted. "Drink your tea before it gets cold."

She only picked up the tea cup and watched the stray tea leaves settle to the bottom. "Do you ever think about it?"

"It." Rei repeated to herself. She sipped her tea. "Mina-chan, I've told you. I can't read your mind. It's too empty."

"The Silver Millennium." Minako let her head fall back to the table. Rei stayed quiet, letting Minako work out her more specific thoughts. "Our past. Who we were. Were we…do you think we're the same people from before? Are we different? Are…are we going to be the people we were again, once we're older?"

"Mina-chan." Rei reached out and ran her fingers through Minako's bangs.

"Before I joined you, all of you, I would dream. I would dream of the past. Flashes of how things were, of the final days. I…" Minako trailed off. Rei continued to run her fingers through the blonde's hair.

The quiet stretched on. Outside, the crows cawed to each other in conversation and flew off toward the front entrance of the shrine. The sound of the stream flowing over the rocks floated up from the gardens. It was a peaceful summer day.

"I have seen things, in the fire," Rei almost whispered in the quiet. "Of the past. Of…of the future." Minako said nothing, only turned her head so Rei's hand slide down to rest upon her neck. Rei laid her head on Minako's shoulder. "When I think of Usagi-chan's wish: to be a normal girl, I am glad fate intervened. For what I have seen…" Rei trailed off and turned her head to hide her face in Minako's hair. The blonde closed her eyes and held both Rei's hands to her chest. "It is our destiny, and there is no place I would rather be than here. With you, with everyone."

"Rei-chan." Minako whispered. She turned her head slightly, and the two girls rubbed their foreheads together. "…the tea will get cold."

"That's all right," Rei told her without moving.

***

There was a naked woman pressed against her (also very naked) back. One arm was draped over her waist. It didn't feel sexual. ...Not exactly.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"He is a king, yes, but a Terran king, cousin. It is not the same thing," her bed companion whispered smoothly in her ear. "It is forbidden, and rightfully. No matter what you might think of the seers and prophesy."

"Yes, but..."

"Yes, but." Her companion repeated as she sat up. Mercury leaned over her now, her small breasts hanging free in the cool night air.

"He is...unlike any king I have meet before," she insisted. "He rides into battle. He helps train his own troops. He is involved in everything, all the daily running of his lands. Have you ever met a king such as that? Even Ashur--"

"Our cousin is your regent. And he has stewards. There are limits of what he is allowed. You know this."

"Yes, but..."

"Yes, but." Mercury repeated again. A hand smoothed over her belly. "You are the heir, the first born of Venus. You are second in rank only to our princess. That is not your path. You must either marry our cousin and make him your king, or you must never marry and make one of his mistress' sons your heir. Why can he not be a consort? It is a respected position. Or continue as you are now. You have been discreet."

"It is not the same for him. It would not be allowed; for it to be found out that he even had a discreet dalliance with a Moon courtier, let alone with me--"

Mercury sighed and flopped back down on the bed. "If you insist on some sort of Alliance, Jupiter is the only choice. She comes from a merchant family and is free to choose. Mars and I can not. You can not."

"Yes, but..."

Mercury rolled over. "Yes, but..." was repeated against the corner of her mouth in a not exactly kiss.

Minako was hit with an oversized pink bunny easer directly between the eyes. "Ooooow," she moaned.

Ami blinked wide, innocent eyes at her from across the computer desk. "I'm sorry, were you resting?" she asked kindly. "I know it takes a great deal of energy to run late to class and eat up three sandwiches in someone else's bento. ...Mina-chan, are you blushing?"

Yes, she was, but she wasn't going to admit that. Minako sniffled. "That hurt!"

Ami was instantly apologetic. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think you would let it hit you! Here, let me-- aiya!"

Minako cackled when she got Ami into a headlock. "Works every time! Revenge!"

Maybe noogies would help get the feeling of making out with a naked Ami out of her head before class started again.

***

She was hiding behind a column on the outskirts of a palace garden. The full moon was high overhead, and that made her feel very uncomfortable. Even if the gardens were lovely by moonlight.

The princess had escaped again, down to the Earth to see her savage prince. They were hiding in the gardens, whispering sweet words to each other behind a curtain of bamboo leaves. She was watching them from the shadows, magically disguised as a rather plain palace servant. Another one of those dream facts one simply knew. She would give them a few more moments together, she thought, and then return Serenity to the Moon. Just a few moments more…

"You should not linger here," a man whispered in her ear.

She was not surprised. She did not even move. "You believe so?" she asked the air.

A cape was lifted up to block her from view from the rest of the corridor. She turned her face up to stare into green, green eyes.

"If you were discovered," the man whispered.

Boldly, she interrupted, "If one did not know better, my king, one would think you were worried for me."

He was quiet; his face a breath from hers. "…No matter your disguise, your eyes are always the same blue," he whispered.

"What?"

"They have had long enough, do you not agree?" He straightened, letting his cape fall away. "Ah, captain. A quick word." With that, he was walking away from her toward the approaching company of guards, his cape bellowing behind him.

It was when he looked back at her over his shoulder: that was when the blurry illusion of memory shattered. He walked through a patch of moonlight that glinted off the long, pale stone earrings he wore, and she knew him.

Minako sat up in bed. The heat was still stiffening, and she flung off her comforter (and guardian cat, much to Artemis' dismay) and threw open the window over her bed.

"Minako!" Artemis wormed his way out from under her blanket and glared up from the floor. "What is wrong with you? I was sound asleep!"

"I'm--I'm sorry. I." She swallowed another deep breath of fresh air. "I think I had a nightmare."

"You think?" Artemis was beginning to soften. His ward did look shaken. At least he hadn't been kicked or stepped on. "You don't remember?"

"No. No, I. It was something? Something unpleasant? I'm sorry, kitty. Go back to sleep. It's nothing." Minako let out a weak laugh. "Me being silly."

"Well, if you're sure…" Artemis knew he should fight hard and get a real answer out of her, but the blanket was just so comfortable. And it was so hot. And he had been sound asleep when he had woken up midflight. With a big kitty yawn, he flopped face first into the comforter and was a sleep within seconds.

Minako watched him until she was sure Artemis was fast asleep and then turned back to the window. The moon was full overhead. Maybe that was it. The full moon did odd things to people. The face from her dream, of a man with deep green eyes and an almost pleasant expression superimposed itself in her mind next to her memory of an enemy.

"Kunzite," she whispered to the stars.

***

"Mina-chan, that's. That's almost right." Ami took her glasses off and squeezed the bridge of her nose. Minako blinked her big blue eyes and tried to look innocent. "Do you remember what I told you before about substitutions?"

"Um."

"Mina-chan!"

Honestly, she was distracted. All she could see when Ami talked to her was a naked Mercury dancing through fields of wildflowers. Everything she said came out "blah blah blah, boobies, blah blah, wanna make out this century?, blah blah".

"May be you can walk me through it one more time?" Minako flashed her best smile at her friend. She heard Makoto snort from behind her own stack of practice books.

Ami sighed, slipped her glasses back on her nose, and bent over the math text yet again. "First, you have to find the lowest common denominator…"

"…the Jovian naval fleet is at its lowest numbers in over a century. The farther flung moons will be a prime target for pirate raids once the harvest season beings." Mercury was bent over her computer, her mop of blue hair barely visible above the screen.

"Where are the weakest links in the patrol network?" she asked.

"All of the patrols are weak," Mars informed the group.

Jupiter slammed her fist down on the table. "Be careful, witch, or your planet's grain shipments will suddenly lessen."

"Be careful. Advice you should heed yourself. Or those mineral rights your cousins keep demanding are theirs in the Asteroid systems will suddenly--"

"I will not have my family's honor questioned by the likes of--" Jupiter started.

"And I will not be threatened by some backwater--" Mars interrupted.

"Enough," she intoned.

A vast map of the solar system blinked into life, floating over their heads. The mass of multicolor lights and lines meant absolutely nothing to her now, but she knew that a thousand years ago, it made perfect sense. She had even memorized most of the trade routes.

"Here, here," without looking up, Mercury waved her fingers at the floating map. Several points became brighter. "And this area of the Asteroid Belt."

"Add a dozen ships from our own planetary fleets to their patrols."

Mars snorted loudly at the proclamation. Jupiter slammed her fist down again on the stone table. It cracked. Mars looked even more pleased with herself.

Mercury looked up and glanced vaguely in the direction of her fellow senshi before looking back down again. "My ministers inform me there are no ships to spare for any further--"

"Then take it from my own fleets and Mars. The inner system must be protected! I have had several strange reports from that area of the Belt. Better we--"

"Mina-chan?"

Minako blinked. Ami and Makoto were staring at her.

"You, ah. You said something about ships?" Ami asked.

"I did?"

"Yes." Makoto was looking at her oddly now.

"Ships. Oh, ships!" Minako put her head behind her head and laughed. "It's this space pirate manga I was reading! There's this cat girl captain that wants to have a love affair with the dog faced pirate man, but the tentacled police officer won't--"

"That's nice, Mina-chan. Why don't you try this problem for me again?" Ami looked so hopeful.

"Idiot!" Rei shouted at Usagi and ripped a rice cake from the blonde's mouth.

"Rei-chan! You're so mean! I'm huuuuungry!" Tears formed at the corner of Usagi's eyes. She pawed the air above her head where Rei kept the tray of rice cakes and tea out of the girl's reach.

"How many problems have you finished? Correctly?!"

"Hey, hey, may be we need some food to help us study better. How about a snack break?" Makoto easily plucked the tray from Rei's grip and brought it down to everyone's level.

"Hurrah!" Usagi and Minako leapt and shoved as many snacks in their mouths as possible before Rei could smack them both with a handy broom.

"Race you!" Minako shouted at Usagi, spraying crumbs every where. "First one that finishes a packet wins Makoto's extra honey cake!"

Usagi got so excited, she swallowed wrong and fell over from lack of oxygen. Makoto helpfully shoved her away from the table and started frantically trying to solving math problems alongside Minako. Sometimes, they even accidentally got a few things right! Rei rolled her eyes and tried to cover up a smile.

"No, no, no!" Ami flailed and pulled at her short, blue hair. "Faster but wrong doesn't help!" She tried to throw herself between her friends and their study books.

Minako laughed and tickled the bit of Ami's belly that peeked out from under her uniform top. It helped hide the shaking of her hands.

***

She was on the horse again. The man behind her was lazily running his hand across her ribcage, just below her breast. She was singing softly as they bobbed to and fro.

"The morning star," Minako sang to herself as she walked toward the bus stop. "Follow the white path of destiny home. --Aiya!" Her school satchel fell to the ground with a clatter. She stumbled and held her head with one hand, bracing herself against the wall with the other. "Not now. Please, please," she whispered to herself.

She looked up. The Tokyo street at twilight quivered and warred with a rocky desert trail at the early moments of dawn.

"No, no, no. I don't have time for--this--!" Minako took heavy steps away from the wall, picked up her satchel , and heaved herself to the bus stop. The man waiting there gave her a sidelong look over his newspaper. She ignored him. She still felt lightheaded and very, very confused. It looked awfully bright out to be almost dark.

The bus came.

"Thank Kami!" Minako shouted and leapt onboard. The driver and other passengers gave her odd looks. The man from the bus stop sat pointedly away from her and crinkled his newspaper loudly. She ignored them all and leaned her forehead against the metal pole next to her seat. It was slightly cooler than the warm bus, but not by much. She closed her eyes.

The desert swam into view behind her closed eyelids.

She sat up with a start. The man gave her another look. Two woman across the way moved out of her sight range. Her hands shook. Quickly, she shoved them under the folds of her skirt, out of view. She shook her head from side to side. Outside the bus window, it was almost full dark. The cityscape blurred by.

The horse crested the ridge.

"Please," Minako whispered.

She and Kunzite sat looking out over a desert plateau just as the sun was beginning to rise. The sky changed from deep blue to pale pink, the stars slowly faded, and she could now see where the rocky desert ended and the fertile farmlands of the foothills began. In the distance, there were the faint purple outlines of high mountains.

"How can your world have so many colors?" she asked in wonderment.

"...so many colors..." Minako whispered.

"My father would often bring me here when I was young. He said it was my mother's favorite place," the memory told her with that deep, bass voice. It gave her goosebumps and her heart give this odd quiver.

A young man, some college student with purple hair and extra large headphones, was across the way from her now.

She turned to smile up at Kunzite. "Your favorite place as well." The college student looked at her funny. Was she talking to him?

Kunzite continued to look out over his kingdom, but the corner of his mouth quirked up in a small smile. "I come here when I can, especially after long missions away."

"You share much with me, my king."

"...Miss?" she heard the college student ask from far away.

Kunzite watched her for a long moment before leaning down and kissing her: a warm, chaste press of mouths that was full of unsaid promises. "Yes," he whispered.

"Miss?" The college student had reached across the aisle and shaken her shoulder. Minako blinked several times. She felt like she was coming out of a deep sleep. Her mind was groggy. The young man had green eyes.

She blinked again. No, his eyes were brown.

"Are you all right?" he asked her carefully. He hadn't let go of her shoulder yet.

"I..."

The bus was stopped. Minako stood up with a start. She grabbed her bag and bound out the exit just as the doors were closing. The bus driver yelled at her and shook his fist as he pulled away. The young man that had woken her from her memories looked out the window at her as the bus pulled away.