Author’s notes:
Source Base:
"The Fragility of Time" is an anime based (Japanese version), magna influenced story in that continuity is primarily based on the anime; however, where it fits the story that I am telling, I have also included elements of the magna. The story begins during the first season of Sailor Moon, but by the conclusion of its third book it will encompass all five seasons. The characterizations that I use for Usagi and ChibiUsa are heavily influenced by the Universal Power series by Jendre and the characterization of Pluto is my interpretation of Douglas Helm and Tuxedo Will's portrayal of Pluto in their Tales of the Younger Senshi series.
For clarity, at the start of the story I have taken the ages of ChibiUsa and Hotaru to be 7 and 8, respectively.
While this is NOT a crossover, I have worked in cameos of other series as nods to those works. In most cases the cameo is very short lived, except for a couple of exceptions. The first is Star Trek Voyager, which gets the honor of being the catalyst for the story I am telling and as such they get a fair bit of "screen" time in the initial chapters before disappearing. I would also like to mention that I am giving a nod to Bill Harris's Sailor Trek works by the inclusion of Pluto and Q knowing each other. A second exception is Babylon 5, which is the source of many of the chapter titles and whose themes interwove nicely with Sailor Moon. The final exception is Harry Potter for the third book, which has a minor role to play. That said the story is still a Sailor Moon story and knowledge of these series is not necessary.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters here; they are part of commercial television broadcasts and novels produced by others. Sailor Moon in the US is distributed by DIC and is originally a Japanese Anime. Voyager is part of the Star Trek enterprise and is owned by Paramount. Babylon 5 is owned by Warner Brothers and JMS. All other series that show up in cameos are likewise are owned by their respective copyright holders and I make no claim of ownership in any such regard to the copyrighted material.
Distribution of this document is to always be free. You may post it wherever you like, as long as you give me credit, provide me with notice as to where it is being posted, and forward any reviews to me.
-Eagle
Prologue
First Posted: 9/9/00
Last edit 5/29/08
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters of this story with all rights being owned by the appropriate copyright holders; I make no claim of any ownership. Should you wish to distribute this story only do so freely and with proper attribution.
OoOoOoOoOo
Time is very fragile. Most people do not stop to consider the fragileness of time, for they travel from the past to the future at a constant rate. But for the one who guards the Gate of Spacetime, she knew all too well how fragile movement along that fourth dimension really is. Ideally, she had thought to herself many times in what went as the past for her that the Gate should just be destroyed. However, even if that was possible without destroying the megaverse, the future was dependent on various temporal paradoxes that were created by non-standard travel along the fourth dimension, i.e. time-travel.
One unfortunate consequence of allowing time-travel is that future can never be set in stone, as a change in the past results in a change in a future, which then proceeds to effect the time traveling who travels to the past and as the Guardian of Spacetime, Pluto was quite familiar with the fluid nature of the future. For an eternity she had stood guard over time from the moment of the creation of the universe till the final birth of her Queen watching time as it evolved and changed. For the most part she let time evolve and grow naturally, but there were certain parts of it in which she had to take action so as to ensure that the utopia that was Crystal Tokyo came to be and even more importantly that her Queen was fully born. However, as a consequence of standing outside of time, she never interceded in time just once, but instead spent an eternity interceding at the same moments. As an example, she had already been present for Small Lady’s befriending of Hotaru more times than she could remember and strange as the concept might be the time was again approaching during which she would once again need to return to a linear existence. Her total knowledge of the future would disappear, but she would get to see Small Lady once again.
Therefore with the need to travel to 20h century Tokyo, it appeared that she would need to find Q once again. While that omnipotent life form could be annoying at times, he did make a good stand in guardian of the gate. Of course nothing ever came to the gate when she was not around, that was not the way things worked at the gate. But, it never hurt to let Q think he was being useful, it made him much more easier to work with when his help was really needed.
“So, you almost packed for your trip?” Q asked seemingly in answer to Pluto's thoughts as he materialized by the gates.
OoOoOoOoOo
--Some where in the Delta Quadrant and displaced along the universe’s fifth dimension--
“Captain the Singularity Slip Stream Drive is completed.”
Hearing the announcement, Captain Janeway turned around to look at chief engineer and saw that Lieutenant Torres had a rarely seen glimmer in her eyes that betrayed her barely withheld excitement. Of course, that excitement was understandable. Voyager potentially now had a drive that would allow instantaneous travel throughout the galaxy. And, unlike the previous trial with the Quantum Drive a few years ago, this one did not show any signs of ripping the ship to shreds, at least not in the simulations. Heck, it even appeared to be safer than standard warp travel.
Janeway did not pretend to understand the physics behind this technology. While she was a scientist both by training and at heart, the theoretical physics involved here were just too much. Thankfully, for the crew, Torres and Seven did understand it. What she did know was that the drive would utilize the fifth dimension to traverse the ship to a common area in the megaverse (a singularity) and then traverse them back to any point in their dimension.
“That is great news Torres; how long till we can bring the drive on-line?”
“About a week captain. I would like to run some tests on the drive to make sure that we have assembled it correctly and that we were correct about the physics.”
“A wise percussion considering the problem with our last slipstream drive,” Janeway replied and then as Torres left, Janeway was left wondering what it would be like to see Earth again in a week.
OoOoOoOoOo
--30th Century Crystal Tokyo--
“Small Lady, you are going to need to travel into the past again,” Neo-queen Serenity informed her only child.
“Mother, why do I need to go into the past again?”
“It is time for you to train to be a Sailor Senshi. Take this locket and with the words ‘Moon Prism Power Makeup’ you will become Sailor Moon,” Serenity said before handing her daughter the located. Hearing those words Princess Usagi’s eyes became as wide as could be.
Eagerly grasping the locket, she called out “Moon Prism Power Makeup!” which instantly resulted in energy exploding from her body, first dissolving her princess dress and then covering her body with ribbons that rippled into her Sailor Fuku. When the energy receded a few moments later a flamingo-haired pink-outfitted Sailor Moon was left standing in front of her mother.
“Thank you mother. But, why do I need to go into the past to train? Can’t I just train here in the future with the others?”
Laughing gently Serenity walked forward and lifted her daughter up into her arms before answering the question. “I would love it greatly if you could do your training here, but your training will be much more effective in the past. Also you will get to learn from the master, myself.”
Unable to resist the opening, Usagi decided to taunt her mother. “Oh you mean, you need my help to keep yourself from klutzing out during the battles. Don’t worry I will take good care of you in the past mother.”
“Hey I was not that bad,” Serenity pouted while Usagi looked on dubiously before they both broke out into a spat of giggles. When the laughter calmed down a few moments later, Serenity told Usagi the other reason why she needed to go into the past. “Usagi you will also make a special friend in the past. Now you better go get packed. I believe Pluto will be coming for you in an hour.
Watching as Princess Usagi bounced onto the floor and ran out of the room, Serenity thought about her daughter’s taunt. How true that comment really was. Usagi would befriend both Hotaru and Pegasus during her trip back in time. Heck, Serenity even remembered the situation that she and Mars were in when ChibiMoon made her appearance. If it were not for ChibiMoon, both she and Mars would be a lot flatter today.
-End Prologue
