656/There Are No More Do-Overs

There Are No More Do-Overs
Date of Scene:	02 November 2023
Location:	Administrative Office
Synopsis:	Usagi and Setsuna have a lot to talk about. Featuring: ramen, the mercury computer, the concept of being the sole survivor, and teleportation.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Setsuna Meiou

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Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi hadn't wanted to do this. She really hadn't. Despite everything, she wasn't a fan of confrontation or arguments or anything like that, and her conversations with Uranus and Michiru-san haven't convinced her that this will be anything else.

However.

Her conversation with Rashmi, that had given her a little hope, but -

Still. She walks into the nurse's office with her expression vaguely nervous and her shoulders set. She's got her backpack in hand, as she looks around to make sure there's no one else getting attention from the nurse.

"Setsuna-san?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As it's just after classes have ended...the Nurse's Office is...actually rather dim.

It looks like about half the overhead lights have been turned off, at at first glance, it doesn't appear that there's anyone here.

However, as Usagi calls out, Nurse Meiou's voice can be heard from one of the little side rooms...almost a closet, really, that has a small medical refrigiration unit where perishable supplies are kept, "...one moment..."

Apparently, Usagi got here while Nurse Meiou was getting everything secured for the day.

After a few moments, someone walks out into the main part of the infirmary...though at first, one could be forgiven for not thinking it was Nurse Meiou...as said Nurse is almost always seen in her labcoat long enough to nearly double as a dress.

Instead, nurse Meiou is...well, apparently she's dressed for Halloween week.

Because she's wearing leather and gold armored chestpiece, a large golden torc around her neck, a short black pencil skirt with hanging maroon sash/belt with armored boots that come up to mid-thigh as well as long armored gloves.

Someone familiar enough with either anime or western animation might recognize her as being dressed as Pyrrha Nikos from RWBY or RWBY: Ice Queendom.

As she walks into the main room and sees who called to her, she blinks, then smiles a little, "Ah. Miss Tsukino. I was wondering when you'd stop by. I take it you'd like to talk?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The costume catches Usagi off guard - she stares, for a moment, baffled at first, and then realizing, oh, right, Halloween, and shakes it off. Even if the leather and the armor, the boots and the armor, are all baffling to see.

"...yeah," she says after a moment, shaking it off. "Naru-chan told me you two talked about the Midnight Tokyo Project. That you think you need the Mercury computer to crack the cypher?"

She's getting right to business - avoiding that personal subject, the memory of that yelling fit, the violence of Pluto attacking the pavement, the way she would have killed Sunbreaker -

Usagi does not want an argument today. If she can avoid it.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna...for at the moment, she's very much NOT 'Nurse Meiou' arches an eyebrow at Usagi. She tilts her head as she stares at the shorter young woman for a few long moments, then shakes her head, "Oh, I imagine we have more to talk about than just that...but, yes. I'm fairly certain that's the best chance we have. I've given it my best, but whatever cypher that document was written in FAR exceeds my very meagre codebreaking skills...and having a computer that already is programmed with and understands the language will help IMMENSELY."

She sighs, "I'm fairly certain I'll be able to READ anything written in that language...but at the moment, I doubt I could teach it to whomever would have to program it into something new."

She absently chivvies Usagi back out of the office, then locks it up behind her, "...which is not to say it can't be done...I have a line on a way to maybe brute force it...but doing so will take a LOT of time if we need to go that route. The Mercury Computer would be VASTLY quicker."

She then frowns...but after a moment, it's clear that she's not frowning AT Usagi, merely NEAR her as she then goes on, "...look...there's much I imagine we need to discuss, else you wouldn't have sent that message to me...and while I am more than willing to discuss all of it...by the same token, I am STARVING."

She waves an arm generally out to indicate 'away from campus', "...can I interest you in some early dinner we can have discussions over? I am buying and I don't particularly care where or how much it costs...so if there's someplace you've always wanted to try, I'm MORE than happy to try it with you. I just need food, and it's perhaps best if we get it to go."

Not the least reason because she's reasonably sure that food will help smooth over the rough edges of what promises to be a perhaps difficult conversation.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
They do have more to talk about than that. But Usagi doesn't want to. She wants to deal with this one thing right now, so one thing can be marked off the checklist on the whiteboard in her room, and she can say - progress could be made. Options are being explored. Stuff is happening.

Naru-chan's explored some of those places they encountered strange events, with Kazuo. She knows from their chats, late into the night and in the morning, from updates shared. Usagi knows she trusts Naru with a lot, when it comes to puzzles and information storing and making things make sense. Of course she does - it's the habit of a lifetime, and it hasn't changed just because life has magic.

So as Setsuna explains the reasons she needs the Mercury computer, Usagi nods, and opens up her backpack. From inside she withdraws a slim, pale blue device, with the symbol of Mercury in gold inscribed upon the back of it's front surface. "Sailor Mercury says you can borrow it for your work, but she wants it back as soon as you're done with the cypher. Luna promised me she could make sure it comes back whenever Mercury-chan wants it, but she's going to try and be patient."

And maybe it reveals a bit of trust that's lacking, that Luna had promised Usagi, implying that Usagi had been the one to ask in the first place, rather than Mercury. It's an accurate suspicion.

Usagi had come prepared, after all. If Pluto needed the Mercury computer for this, then Pluto could use the Mercury computer - it would have been better, with Ami-chan, but Ami-chan couldn't help, right now. She could spare her computer. The offer of dinner makes her hesitate, conflict avoidance warring with free warring with really not wanting another argument warring with hoping things could go well -

"I don't have any plans. I could do... dinner. But I'm okay with anything, so -" she wants to suggest Korma, then considers that a reminder of Rashmi-chan might not go over well - "Ramen?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna blinks as Usagi brings out the Mercury Computer...and she reaches out to accept the offered piece of equipment with a care and reverence that may or may not be surprising, "...of course she can. This is a part of her. It's bound to her like her pen is. She can always retrieve it from however far if she really needs to...though obviously more effort is required for greater distances. Within a city, however, should be a minor effort at best."

She holds it and stares for a few moments, then takes a deep breath and very carefully rotates it within her grip...and then it disappears, "...there. While we're out and about, it'll be much safer in my pocket...and that won't hinder Mercury in the slightest if she needs it back suddenly."

At Usagi's mention of ramen, Setsuna nods, "That actually sounds really good. Do you have any particular favorites? I know a place not too far away, we can grab some stuff to go."

As she walks with Usagi a short way off campus to a slightly out-of-the-way little cubbyhole of a Ramen stand, she says in what a good ear will be able to tell is a very sincere tone, "...actually, I'm glad you stopped by...I'm fairly certain Michiru has a concert or thing tonight and it was going to be just me...and..."

She pauses, then shakes her head, "...and I've come to realize that I REALLY HATE eating alone..."

Said cubbyhole is...it's one of those unique little places that's apparently been wherever for almost forever that mainly only the locals know about but has been in buisness forever for a REASON.

As the two walk up (apparently the evening rush hasn't started quite yet), Setsuna places an order for extra large Tonkatsu Ramen and some potstickers to go, then waves Usagi forward to order and indicates she's picking up the tab as she hands over a card.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It doesn't surprise her. Usagi might be frustrated with Pluto, might not quite - trust her, the way she had once, but she does believe she cares. She believes she cares about the other Senshi especially. Maybe there was some of that edge, that Uranus had - but maybe not. Usagi couldn't be sure. But as she hands over the Mercury Computer, she considers, maybe not.

"...really?" It's a thought that has her tilting her head, thinking about it, but, she's only been without her broach once, and she'd made sure, ever since, to always have it on her. You never knew when something could happen, and you never knew when someone would need you.

"The place you know sounds good to me," she decides, because she doesn't have a favorite ramen shop - she has a few she really likes, but most of them were out of the way, back in the middle of Juuban. The trip is mostly quiet, with Setsuna's sincere words thawing some of the not-ice, as Usagi admits, "I don't like eating alone either. I usually get dinner with friends, Naru-chan most of all."

Her patrols were the longest time she spent alone, and even then, Luna came with her half the time, and she could always bother Rei-chan or Ami-chan or Naru-chan or Mamochan over her communicator. Eating alone was just no fun - being alone in general, was just no fun.

At the ramen shop, she orders an extra large shoyu ramen, with soft boiled eggs and chashu, green onions and six slices of chashu. So much! And agedashi tofu, the sauce packaged to go.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna smiles as Usagi orders.

Simple joys, after all.

As soon as the food is packed to go...which doesn't take long because, let's face it, Ramen is DESIGNED to be quick and easy. Doubly so for places that specialize in the stuff...as soon as the order is ready, Setsuna leads Usagi off to an alley just out of the way and says, "...if you don't mind...there's someplace I should probably show you...and we can eat there and not be interrupted."

...and when did she get the Garnet Rod? Because it's in her left hand when Usagi looks over at her.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi... doesn't know if she minds. Her guard is up, at least partially, when she's with Setsuna these days. But still - if they're going to talk, and they probably are, she's resigned to it - then somewhere private would be a good idea.

"I have to be back before 7," she says firmly, knowing that was a few hours away. "I have a study date."

And she did, with Mamochan, and he would most certainly get worried, if she didn't show up.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna smiles a bit, "I don't think that'll be a problem."

She hangs her takeout bag from one of the flanges on the side of the Garnet Rod (handy, those), then reaches out and puts a hand on Usagi's shoulder, "The Lesser Keys require a bit of a passphrase to work...but the Garnet Rod here is a bit of a Master Key, as it were."

And then everything goes white for a second.



When things resolve themselves again...well, things are STILL primarily white...as in a huge, formless void.

Until one turns around a bit to see a HUGE ornate Door (the capital is justified) just standing by itself not too far distant.

Clearly, said doors have seen better days. There are little panels all over the sides open and it looks like several places are charred from smoke having come out at some point.

When Setsuna speaks, she sounds both happy and sad to be here, "...behold, the Gates of Time."

She gives a moment to let Usagi take them in, then starts walking off to one side...where, once one walks past the Gates enough, a small area of furniture can be seen...and there's a table and some chairs amongst the various random (if apparently at least organized) detritus of someone who's lived a very long life.

And there's a HUGE bookshelf that's oddly...empty, though that seems to be a recent development.

Setsuna walks over to what's obviously supposed to be a kitchen table, then starts setting out the takeout, "Have a seat." She pauses, "...I think you're the first guest I've had here in...fourteen thousand, one hundred fourteen years, one hundred eleven days, four hours, ten minutes, and fifty seven seconds."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Her take-out bag hangs from one hand. Her nerves are probably gripped in the other, as she stands tense, and the world goes - white.

White and gone and formless and - even when she can see again, there's nothing there. Nothing but Setsuna, and their take-out, and Usagi is kind of, definitely, freaking out, an anxious squeak leaving her lips - and then, as she turns, she sees that there is something else in the world - a set of doors. Huge, ornate, taller than any doors would have to be, and she stares as Setsuna offers their name. The Gates of Time.

"When you said you knew a place, I didn't think..." she trails off. But she shakes her head, and follows after Setsuna, clutching her take-out to her chest, looking at all the nothing. At least, eventually, there's some furniture. A table, chairs, a bookshelf...

"You lived here for.... all that time? And you kept track?"

She's taking her food out too, but with the numb distraction of someone shocked.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna smiles at Usagi again...but this time? In this place? The cracks are showing.

She takes a deep breath and looks around, "...yes. Pretty much. Oh, every so often the Gates would have to cycle down for some self-maintenance and I could go visit earth for a day or so...generally once every few decades...but yes...I've spent most of my life here."

She sits down, "...and I can never NOT know the precise time. It's part of who and what I am. I know what time it is. Always. Anywhere."

She snaps her chopsticks, then takes a few bites while Usagi takes things in, then goes on, "So...while I imagine I know what it is you want to talk about...I could always be wrong...or you might have other questions for me first. Feel free to ask."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
This place, like this? Just... staying here? Usagi hates it. The very idea of it. How could anyone stand to live here? How could anyone ever want to?

But how can she ask Setsuna about that?

"I don't really want to talk about it," she says plaintively, and swishes her noodles about with her own snapped chopsticks, distributing toppings. "I talked about it with Michiru-san and Uranus, and neither of those went too well."

She's not a glutton for punishment. She doesn't need to strike out three times.

She brings a bite of the noodles to her mouth, chewing slowly, thoughtfully.

"If you want to talk about it, you start."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna stares at Usagi for a few moments...then visibly starts pondering as she eats her Ramen. Which means it's quiet for a few minutes...but...well...Ramen is quick. Not just to cook but to eat, as well.

So it isn't terribly long before the taller woman is finishing her broth and wiping her mouth with a napkin.

At which point she sits back a bit and sighs before she turns and looks at the Gates...and the look on her face is...complex.

After the silence stretches out for a very long moment, Setsuna speaks quietly...though in this place, it's easy enough to hear her. There ARE no nother sounds, after all, "...I watched you die."

There's a pause as she takes a deep breath, "...I watched you ALL die. I watched EVERYONE die. Everyone I knew and loved. Either killed by the enemy or consumed by the Silence that ended it all."

Another pause, "...until there was nobody else. Just me. Here...ALONE."

The way she says 'alone'...there's a lot of hurt behind that word.

She lets the silence stretch again as she continues to stare at the Gates before she goes on, still quite quietly, "...I spent the first three months screaming...every waking moment just...screaming...at the terror...at the things I saw...at the idea of being the only sentient being left in perhaps the entire universe...at not knowing if the Queen's spell worked...at the prospect of being alone forever."

Setsuna then takes a deep, shuddering breath, "...after that, I cried. For...well, the exact numbers aren't important. Call it six months, or near enough. For everything that had been lost."

"...I don't think I've been able to cry since."

She goes quiet again for another beat, then continues, "...so seeing it all happen again is something I hope you can understand I most definitely do not want. I most certainly do not want to go insane again."

She then leans forward and puts her hands over her face before continuing, "...so I'm afraid that when Ironbutt burnt someone I consider a very good friend, tortured and tormented poor Miss Skyline to the point she was screaming what she thought would be her last words IN MY ARMS and then when I found her about to murder one of the few people I care about most in all the world..."

A glance is given to make it clear she's speaking about Usagi, "...well, I'll admit I perhaps defaulted to much more 'battlefield' protocols than I might have intended. Rashmi-chan has already given me an earful about it..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's not something Usagi can imagine. It simply isn't. The closest thing to loss she's faced is relatives already old in her memory, who had been comfortable and loved.

She knows that they lost. She knows that once upon a time, she died. She knows that reincarnation is the only reason she's here, the endless cycle of karma, and -

But she can't imagine someone surviving that loss. She'd thought, they lost. They lost and had to do it again.

She hadn't really thought about how much they could lose. Or to survive. To think about being the only living person - no. It's not something she can imagine. Even her imagination can't stretch that far, can't think that deeply.

There's a well of sympathy - a sea, an ocean, a world - of compassion that lives in her core, and it churns in her gut, thinking of what Setsuna confesses. Not easily, but - willingly. Readily.

What can she say? What wouldn't be callous or naive, compared to all that?

"Setsuna-san," she starts, and stops. "I can't - understand all of that. I mean. I don't remember any of our old lives. I don't - knowing that we lost, that we - that the rest of us - died -"

There are tears in her eyes. It's horrifying, to cry, in a cold way that horrifies her, because she's never really been all that embarrassed about crying, not the way she is now, when Setsuna says she can't cry and here's Usagi tearing up just trying and failing to imagine something. She scrubs at her cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone - I didn't think anyone lived through that."

She shoves noodles into her mouth, to drown the tightness of her throat, the chill taste of her own saliva flooding her mouth.

"I - I wanted to kill Sunbreaker, for a minute there," she says finally. "When the pain hit and wouldn't stop hitting. When I was burning and thought it wouldn't ever stop. I wanted to, to make it stop. She didn't give me a chance, and then you all saved me, and I understand. Wanting that."

She had felt it, after all. She'd wanted it, for that heartbeat of a moment.

"But that was because I hurt. And when I had a second to breathe, I didn't want that, anymore. I - you almost killed her, because you were scared. I might have, if I could in that moment, for the same reason."

And maybe part of that is why she's wanted to avoid Setsuna in particular, because Uranus frustrated her and Neptune scratched at the surface, but Setsuna - she did like Setsuna. She did trust her. She had trusted her, when Luna was hurt.

"But that didn't mean she would have deserved it. She's a jerk, and she's a menace, and she's kind of awful and she does awful things and I haven't forgiven her and I doubt Rashmi-chan has either. But I don't want her to die for those things. And I hope you don't really want that either."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna looks over at Usagi...and there's compassion in her eyes as she sees Usagi comprehend some of what she's gone through. Then she closes her eyes and lets out a heavy sigh, "...scared isn't the right word, Usagi-chan."

She opens her mouth to say something, then pauses...and there's a moment where she clearly reconsiders what she's about to say before she then goes on, "...terrified might be closer...at least, a little. She was seconds away from killing you...and I had every reason to believe she was fully capable of doing it...and..."

She trails off for a moment, the takes a deep, shuddering breath before going on, "...and...I can't lose any of you again. There is no Queen this time to save us. There are no more do-overs. I saw you about to die and..."

She trails off again, then swallows, "...and...well...I reverted to triage...I had to make a snap decision in the heat of the moment in an admittedly emotionally compromised state. At that moment, in my mind, it was her or you."

She turns to look Usagi directly in the eyes and says, "...I chose you."

After a moment, she turns away and looks towards the Gates again, "...sometimes we have to make choices in the heat of the moment...and often all we can do is pray they're not the wrong ones."

Her voice goes quiet, and she says very softly, "...sometimes there ARE no 'good' or 'right' choices. We do our best to avoid those situations, but sometimes we find ourselves in them, anyway."

She closes her eyes and shakes her head, "...at that point we make the choices we have to and live with the consequences."

She closes her eyes for a few moments, then turns and looks at Usagi once more, "...in that place...in that moment...faced with an unrepentant enemy about to murder someone I care for with no way to permanently contain her? I chose the young woman I love and care for over the young woman who has only hurt and tormented those I know and love."

She sighs, "...ultimately, I pray to all that is Holy that you were right and I was wrong in that moment."

She leans over and gives Usagi a very intense look, "...please...PLEASE don't put me in a position where I have to say 'I told you so.'...because in this instance, I really, REALLY want to be WRONG."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"When you fought her -" Tuxedo Mask had saved her. For the very first time, in her moment of need, when everything seemed lost, he had been there. A wall between her and the agony that threatened to burn away everything she was. A voice that called to her, when she was blistering away. "She needed to be taken down. It wasn't wrong to stop her."

And Usagi is very firm, there. She might be a child but she isn't stupid, and she knows Sunbreaker had needed to be stopped, before she did something worse - before she did break Usagi's power, before she did kill her, before she hurt someone who couldn't heal the way Usagi could, because yes, she had thought of all that, before, she'd had to.

"I never thought there were do-overs. I never - Setsuna-san, I don't want any of us to die either. I don't know what happened, before, that we could all be here again, besides our karma being good, but -"

She can't lambast her about right and wrong. Not now. She doesn't want an argument, not when Setsuna admits she wasn't in her right mind, in her right place. She breathes and eats her ramen, because chewing gives her room to think.

"I'm not as old as you. Probably no one is. But I know about making hard choices. I've been having to make hard choices since Luna found me and woke this power in me. I have to make choices too, all the time. If I do this, will they find out about my family? If I do this, will they hurt my friends? If I do this, will I hurt someone? How much power is too much power? How much strength is too much strength? Do I have the right to tell someone to stop? If I'm stronger than them, is that just bullying?"

She thinks about these things, so much more than she ever did, so much more than she ever wanted to.

"Even if Sunbreaker k-kills someone later, it was the right choice to spare her. Even if she hurts them. Because - killing her, when she was weak and scared, wouldn't be right. She's not a good person. She's making mistakes she'll have to pay for, all her life probably, because people might not forgive her. I don't know if I'll forgive her. But Setsuna-san."

And she pauses, and she looks at Setsuna, and she says -

"I picked that fight. I pressed her buttons. I told her no one loved her and that she was miserable and alone. I'm not saying words are a reason to try and burn someone's power out of them - but Sunbreaker isn't just some, some heartless killing machine that does horrible things to people just because. She's a girl like me. She's a girl like Rashmi-chan, and Hannah-chan. She's selfish and arrogant and bossy and awful, and she's never had anyone come back for her or help her when she fell or take care of her. That's why I saved her. Because she's a person too. She might be awful, but when she was on the ground, she wasn't a threat. I wasn't going to let you do that to her - or to you."

There will not be an I Told You So. Even if Sunbreaker gets worse. Even if she does wrong. Usagi might carry the guilt, the regret, all her days, but saving someone who was helpless was the right thing to do.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna stares at Usagi for a few moments...and it's a rather flat stare that goes on perhaps a bit too long before she asks in a very SERIOUS voice, "...was that a dig about my AGE?"

She then holds that stare for a few more moments before her lips quirk just a tiny bit...and then over the course of a few seconds she's fighting to keep her composre before just dissolves into giggles.

Sometimes there needs to be a good break in the tension.

After a few moments, Setsuna waves a hand at Usagi as she regains her composure, "Sorry...sorry...I couldn't resist."

She sits up a bit straighter, "...in any event, there are people that can be saved and people that MUST be saved from that rotten hellhole called Obsidian."

She then frowns, "...and I'm certain that there are some BEYOND saving there, too."Shee scowls and shakes her head, "Still, I'm doing what I can there. Miss Rainbowfist has already told me of someone she desperately wants to save...and I've endeavored to help her with little gift."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi is prepared for anything. Anything except that, and the unexpected question is enough to make her break too, as first she stares in shock and then starts giggling right along with Setsuna, laughing into a bite of marinated egg.

Eventually, she collects herself too, shaking her head, "No, that was a good one! You really had me going for a second there!"

It broke the ice rather perfectly.

"There are definitely people who need to be saved. There are people I want to help, and people who deserve another chance. I'm not saying I'll sacrifice any of our people, no matter what Uranus thinks. But if I have a chance, I'm going to help, you know?"

Maybe Setsuna does know, now. Maybe she's had enough of a taste of Usagi's character to know that she's always got to try. She's got compassion enough to fill an ocean, and the well is nowhere near run dry.

"Adora told you about her friend too? You know her middle name is Applesauce?" Usagi is still not over it.

And then her lighthearted tone drops. "There are definitely people not worth saving there. People like Hannah's uncle."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna smirks a bit, "...yes. Yes, she did. And right around now, she's probably getting back to her dorm room to find a small fridge, a supply of apples, and all the equipment she needs to make her own applesauce to help win over her friend."

She glances over at Usagi with a bit of a smile, "I figure knowing Adora herself made it might help with the gesture."

She then frowns a bit, "...though one way or the other, I'm going to have to smack that young lady for the scars she left on Adora."

After a moment more, Setsuna shakes her head and sighs, "...though I think that at least part of my annoyance there was because that big goof of a girl made her injury WORSE by not coming to me or some other medical professional to get those cuts sewn up properly."

The comment about Hannah's uncle gets Setsuna to look over, "...oh? As I recall, you were rather of a different mind about that earlier."

An absent glance is given to her bowl to doublecheck it's empty before she goes on, "Frankly, I always knew it was going to be a THING one way or the other given that politics was involved...I take it he's somehow managed to do something even MORE egregious to demonstrate he has well and truly gone past the moral event horizon?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh, I would have had some scars from the time she stole my pen, but Daifuku-chan saved the day with some really good mochi," Usagi sighs wistfully, dreaming of that delicious bacon wrapped mochi. It had been so good.

And then she focuses, frowning. She really considers the fact that Catra had left so many scars on Adora.

"I guess it's not a good thing, to leave so many scars on someone you're dating. Ex dating. Want to be dating?"

At least a refrigerator full of apples and the chance to make real applesauce to make it better will probably help, right? It's got to be a winning gesture!

And she blinks, looking at Setsuna because -

"No, I just don't think Hannah should have to kill him. Because it will hurt her. I mean, I think it would be good for him to go to jail, murder is like, really bad? But if he has to die - I just don't think it should be Hannah-chan who has to do it."

For her, it's always been about that last unfair thing, that Hannah should have to kill her own relative.

"He hasn't really done anything else, except give that Riventon boy an order to go after Hannah-chan once, it's just - I mean, I don't really care about some guy who made Hannah-chan so miserable."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna sighs, "Well, on the one hand, you're not WRONG, per se...but as I said before. Politics is involved. And while Politics IS dumb, it's sadly VERY important at times."

She sighs, "It's very much likely that Hannah's uncle has ALREADY been tried, convicted, and sentenced to execution. Murdering the sovereign IS a capital offense pretty much everywhere. As for Hannah having to do it?"

She waggles a hand a little and shrugs, "That's where it gets trickier. It probably depends on the laws on Tharkad and how they're worded. She PROBLABLY doesn't have to do it PERSONALLY...but I don't think she's going to be accept that until that wound heals some more...and sadly, Time is about the best agent we have for that."

A shrug, "I figure it's best to kind of play it by ear...which is about all we can do for now there."

She goes quiet for a moment, then smiles a bit as a thought occurs, "Ah, Guardian Daifuku. Yeah, I had to help her a while back because her hands were too hurt for her to make stuff to heal herself...so I got to see the inside of that kitchen of hers..."

At this point, she grins a bit wider, "...you know, ever since I saw that, I've had this idea I want to run by her. Some day, when we all need to relax or take a day, we need to get her and a few other girls or boys who like to cook...I'll get some horridly expensive special ingredient, and we can have our own little Iron Chef competion."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Politics are stupid. And Hannah-chan isn't on her homeworld, she's here. If politics are why she has to kill her uncle, she could throw him in jail here." Huff! "Maybe our princess would do it as a favor."

That would be nice of her, if she could imprison a great big awful jerk (monster) for her friend.

"We talked about it. She's not - she wasn't exactly thrilled I told her she shouldn't be the one to do it," a huffy exhale, as she grumbles to herself, "But that doesn't mean I'm not right. It would hurt. And she'd have to live with it. It'd be one more thing he got to do to her."

She has conviction! She is confident in this, more than some other things. But Setsuna is right that they can't make anything happen on that front - the best thing that they can do is sit and watching and hope to be able to interfere the next time something awful happened.

"Yes! She's really cool - and, ah, I'm glad you could help her, if she got hurt that bad..." that wasn't good to hear, that Chiyo-chan had gotten badly hurt, but then, Usagi doesn't run to tell Chiyo every time she's hurt, so...

"That would be pretty cool. Sailor Jupiter is pretty good at cooking, I've tried her sweets. But I don't know if anyone else is."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna nods, "Politically speaking, local laws WOULD take a certain degree of precedence. It's definitely a subject for you to bring up with the Princess when we find her."

Shrugging, Setsuna stands up and starts policing up her trash into the bag she brought the take out in, "Well, then...maybe we can have Sailor Jupiter compete for the honor of the Sailor Senshi."

She shakes her head, "Heavens knows *I* wouldn't be a good choice. My skills in the kitchen are pretty limited. I can basically make breakfast from scratch but that's about the end of my skills. Uranus is useless in the kitchen. Neptune's been trying to learn a little, but I don't think she's very far along. I couldn't say for the Inners, you know them better than I do.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
No extra information on the princess, there, but it sounds like the princess would at least want to hear them out... Usagi sips at the broth of her ramen as she considers what Setsuna has to say, thinking, wondering -

"I'll make sure to tell her that's her job, from now on. Defending our honor in the Iron Chef competition."

The most important thing. Wouldn't that be nice? For the most important thing for any Senshi to face being a cooking competition?

"I can make things that look nice or taste nice but not both," she huffs, remembering home economics classes, "Unfortunately. I dunno about Minako-chan, but Mercury-chan and Mars-chan don't seem like people who do a lot of cooking."

And then she pauses.

"What's Uranus like? When she's not being a jerk, I mean."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna sighs, "...Uranus is..."

She frowns, "...give me a moment..." A glance is given over at Usagi, "...I'm trying to figure out the best way to word things without betraying any confidences."

She then goes silent for a moment, tapping her lip before she goes on, "...I guess the easiest way to put it is that Uranus just doesn't really have a filter. If she thinks something is a bad idea, she's not going to dance around it. She's not going to sugarcoat it. She's not going to couch it in softer language...she's just going to flat tell you precisely what she thinks."

A shrug is given, "A lot of families have someone like that. She's ours...but don't ever think that she won't 100% have your back if you need it. That's not who she is."

She waves a hand, "...her and Neptune...well..."

The green haired woman's expression softens, "...they're one of those couples that is Destined. Fourteen Thousand years later and they found each other again even before Uranus awakened...and it lightens my heart a little every time I see them get lost in each other."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"That sounds like a nicer way to say she's a jerk," Usagi says dryly, "But that's fine. She already said we're not allies. At least this way I know she meant it."

That's how Usagi had taken it, at least. Uranus may not have meant it to be taken that way - but it was. And it still is. And there's a flicker over her face when Setsuna says family - maybe because Usagi has a family, and maybe because she has friends too, plenty of them who weren't Senshi, who she considered so much closer to her. It was hard to imagine Uranus being family, for the simple reason of a common origin.

"That's... nice. Good for her - honest. Love is - nice."

She can't help but sigh a little dreamily, thinking fully about Darien and not at all about Uranus and Neptune and their sweet love.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna shakes her head, "...there's more, but it's...complicated...and kinda personal for Uranus...so I just ask that you not think TOO harshly of her."

She sighs, then looks over, "Are you about done? I should probably be getting you back to your room before someone starts arranging search parties. We don't precisely get cell signal here."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I meet a lot of jerks," Usagi says dryly, "Half of my class, right now! I won't hold it against her unless she makes a habit of trying to kill people."

And then she would hold that against her.

"I'm ready. I can put the rest of this somewhere!" And she sticks her tongue out. "I always wear my communicator, just so Naru-chan doesn't go making search parties for me."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
When Usagi sticks her tongue out at Setsuna, the taller woman narrows her eyes and gets a REALLY SEVERE expression on he face...

Which she holds for about ten seconds, then she responds by sticking her tongue out right back at the blonde. Then she turns around and walks a short distance away...but as she does, it's pretty obvious by the cant of her shoulders that she's biting a knuckle so that she doesn't giggle out loud.

The Garnet Rod is in her hand once more as she taps it on the ground, "It's been a while since I did this, but I should be able to drop us right back in your room. You and Miss Osaka haven't moved the furniture around much, as I recall...which bed is yours, the one on the left coming into the room or the one on the right?"

As she strikes the ground, it becomes clear that said ground is a slightly raised plate that has a large circle inscribed on it which lights up as she speaks, "...eventually, you girls should be able to do long-range teleports on your own as long as there are enough of you channeling your power together...but you generally need four of you or so together and I think the technique requires you to be pretty adept to pull it off."

She waves at the circle below her, "...fortunately, this is My Place of Power, and I have the Key...so with a little work, I can do this by myself, but I'll need you here next to me to get the target right."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Drop us back the way you let us in, you mean?" Usagi packs her take-out up, fully intending to finish those leftovers later - she could put microwave ramen in that broth! She follows Setsuna, not taking her severe face to heart, this time.

She's getting the idea that Setsuna is softer than she thought, which is - nice.

"We have bunkbeds," she corrects, "I'm the top punk! Luna likes climbing all the way up and divebombing me."

She has no problem exposing Luna this way, thinking of entirely too many rude early morning wake up calls.

"Wait, wait, you mean - we can do this?" Teleporting? Like Mamoru did? Well - maybe not like he did, he didn't need friends with him, but still - the idea alone was amazing.

She steps up to the circle, looking down at the platform with bright, curious eyes. There are so many things she doesn't know. So many things she hasn't seen.

"Alright. Just tell me what to do, okay? I'm with you."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The circle is glowing...and there's writing in a script that very few in this day and age would recognize as being that of the Silver Millenium.

As Usagi mentions bunkbeds and which one is hers, she reaches out with the butt of the garnet rod and makes a little change, "...okay, then...about half a meter down, two meters or so over, back about thirty centimeters...that should be good..."

And then she reaches over into a different place and taps three spots...one shows the four-quarters symbol for Earth...and the other two are the astrological symbols for the Moon and Pluto.

Nodding to herself, she says, "Okay...in just a moment, I'll tap the floor and activate the circle. I'll need you to put a hand on my arm or shoulder and imagine a clear spot on the floor of your dorm room."

She pauses, then says, "...but before that..."

She then lets the Garnet Rod go...which hangs in the air in place where she left it in much the same way that bricks do not...so that she can turn around and move to give Usagi a hug.

Quietly, she says, "...don't ever stop being who you are, Usagi. The world needs more people like you."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Something deep within Usagi recognizes the symbol of the Earth. The sight of it fills her stomach with butterflies, while the symbol of the Moon is welcoming and familiar. The symbol that is Pluto, she nods to, and as they step forward, she nods, already thinking about her bedroom, already imagining them stepping into the empty space in front of their planning white board.

She could definitely do this.

And now - now - now -

Huh?

A hug? A hug!!! She knows what to do in a hug. She grabs Setsuna tight, hugging her close the way that Usagi always returns a hug - wholeheartedly.

"I wouldn't know how to," she admits easily.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna holds the hug for a good few moments...and Usagi can probably FEEL her relax a little...like someone who wants more hugs than they get.

But eventually, she sighs, lets go, then straightens up and turns to grab the Garnet Rod again, "...alright...hold that image..."



And a few moments later, after Usagi has visualized the spot once more, the circle flares to light...there's a build up of power over several seconds...and then with a flash and a feeling of motion along an axis that isn't quite possible to point at...the two are gone.