A/N: I've posted and reposted this thing so many times, you may have seen it before. I intend to actually leave it up this time! The story is set in Crystal Tokyo, and it follows the SM manga canon except where the Amazon Trio are concerned. Instead of being destroyed, Helios brought them to Elysion's crystal forest, as in the anime. They are now his guardians.

"Pallas has a date!"

"They aren't dates," Vesta told Pallas for the thousandth time as the squealing blue-haired girl wriggled into her gown. "Priest Helios' guardians are devoted to him, just like we're devoted to our Lady. We don't have time for dating."

"I know, I know," Pallas huffed. "But I want someone to dance with! Like Fish-Eye. . . ." She stared dreamily into the girls' mirror. Her sisters exchanged tired glances.

"Pallas, Fish-Eye is. . . well, he. . . ." Ceres fumbled for a polite way of explaining.

"He's gay, Pallas," Juno blurted out.

"But Pallas is gay too! You know I'm always soooo happy!"

Juno threw her hands in the air. "I give up."

"I'm sure no one will mind if you dance with him," Ceres finally said consolingly.

"Yay!" Pallas smoothed down her blue gown and turned to her friends, beaming. All four were dressed in their princess gowns, ready for the royal winter ball. We're finally ladies, Juno thought to herself. Looking at Pallas, it was sort of hard to believe.

"Girls, are you ready?" Princess Lady Serenity's Mauan Guardian, Diana, poked her head around the door. She too looked like a young woman, on her way to becoming as beautiful as her mother Luna.

"We're ready." Ceres smiled and took Pallas' hand, squeezing it gently. "Let's go."

Even to Juno's often jaded perspective, the ball room of Crystal Tokyo Palace looked beautiful. She could only catch glimpses of light and noise from her place in the royal procession, but she felt her heart beat faster all the same. She could tell that the others felt the same way; in front of Ceres, Princess Lady Serenity was bouncing up and down on her toes.

"Oooh, the music's starting!" the princess cried in a stage whisper. She looked over her shoulder and grinned at her guardians. "This is so cool!"

The procession began to move forward, led by NeoQueen Serenity and King Endymion. Joyful applause sounded from the ball room as they entered, followed by their trusted guardians: Princess Venus and General Kunzite, Mars and Jadeite, Jupiter and Nephrite, Mercury and Zoisite. Behind them came Serenity's other four guardians: mysterious Uranus and Neptune who guarded the outer solar system; Pluto who stood before the Gate of Time; and Saturn, princess of death and rebirth. After them followed the princess of Crystal Tokyo,

Lady Serenity, escorted by Helios, priest of the dream realm Elysion. Finally it was the Asteroid Senshi's turn, along with Helios' three guardians: Ceres and Hawks-Eye, Vesta and Tigers-Eye, Pallas and Fish-Eye.

Then Juno, all alone. In her green gown, she held her head high, but she was very aware that she was the only member of the court who walked without a partner. Even those behind her walked in groups: Helios' two shrine maidens, and the trio of Mauans. Juno could imagine the whispers of those present at the ball: "Why is that strange girl always alone?"

I don't need anyone! Juno thought to herself fiercely. I don't!

Still, it was hard during the first dance, watching all the royal couples before her. Even though the male and female guardians could never think of each other romantically, they smiled at each other happily as they danced. Juno's green eyes fell on Princess Jupiter, sweeping across the floor on the arm of General Nephrite.

He's so handsome, Juno thought, then shook her head hard. The last thing she wanted was to be crazy about guys like Ceres was. If I fall in love, I'll really be grown-up then. I'll lose my childhood forever.

"They look lovely, don't they?" The low, husky voice startled Juno out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see Princess Pluto at her side. "Especially Saturn and Diana." Pluto smiled a little as she looked at the two friends happily waltzing around together.

"Yeah," muttered Juno with little conviction, as she eyed Pluto. "Why aren't you dancing?"

The tall princess looked down at Juno with kind maroon eyes. "I prefer to watch from afar. What about you, Juno?"

"I don't have anyone to dance with." Juno scowled and folded her arms. She found herself rather angry at Pluto, who certainly could have had her pick from dance partners. Pluto was absolutely beautiful-- the most beautiful of all the princesses in Juno's opinion. And here she was wasting her chance to have someone at her side on this winter evening.

"It is awkward not to have an automatic escort," Pluto replied. "Perhaps Priest Helios needs to find himself another guardian." She smiled a little, but Juno only frowned.

"He doesn't need to trouble himself on my account," she growled, tossing her head back. Pluto looked as if she were about speak again, but at that moment the first dance ended, and the others came back to them in a flurry of music and laughter. Juno felt very small and out of place as everyone traded partners for the next dance. She saw Pallas, with a dreamy expression on her face, being led out by General Zoisite (She has a way of picking the unavailable ones, Juno thought wryly), Vesta dancing with Hawks-Eye, and Ceres flirting with a handsome young man from the crowd. Juno cast one glance at Nephrite, but he was already dancing with a laughing Princess Neptune and fending off playful threats from Princess Uranus.

Priest Helios bowed to NeoQueen Serenity. "My lady, may I have the honor of a dance?" The Queen smiled and took his hand, gracefully ignoring the princess as she stuck her tongue out at her mother. Then Juno caught her breath as the King himself approached them.

"Would you care to dance, Princess?" King Endymion asked Pluto, holding out a white-gloved hand. Pluto stared at it as if she didn't know what it was, and Juno was shocked to see her red eyes open wide.

"No, my king," Pluto said in a low voice. "I prefer to watch." This time, she didn't sound so convincing. Even the king hesitated a moment, then withdrew his hand.

"Good evening, Princess," he said to her, bowing at the waist, then went to take his daughter around the dance floor. Princess Pluto watched him with a slight flush on her dark cheeks and a sad look in her eyes.

"Princess?" Juno asked hesitantly. "Are you all right?"

Pluto blinked hard and smiled at Juno. "Yes, of course."

"Why didn't you dance with the king?"

"I. . . ." Pluto gave her a curious look. "That's rather personal, Juno."

"Sorry." Juno scuffed one of her green shoes on the floor, looking down.

"It's all right though. Would you like to step outside for a moment?"

Juno nodded and followed the tall Princess to one of the great crystal doors that led to the palace balconies. Juno glanced over her shoulder, but no one seemed to notice that they were gone.

Outside, Pluto seated herself on a wrought-iron bench, smiling a little as the lightly falling snow dusted her hair. Juno sat beside her, a little in awe of being alone in the presence of such a lady.

"Sometimes," Pluto said quietly, "things happen in a strange way. I live. . . a little outside time, I guess, and I have learned something of its movements. Time is a wheel of birth, death, rebirth. . . the silence warrior swings her glaive and we all fall down." She glanced down at Juno, listening raptly, and smiled. "But we are always reborn. You are one of the new stars-- you haven't seen one full cycle yet. But I. . . I've seen them all."

"All? You've seen all of time?"

Pluto nodded, her maroon eyes misty. "I am Time's daughter. I have not lived through all time, of course-- but I have lived through much, from long before the first Serenity came to rule the moon. And I have seen the rest-- I watched when the Galaxy Cauldron was created from nothing, and watched again as it gave birth to the two greatest forces in this galaxy, Cosmos and Chaos. And I have seen the final bonding of Cosmos and Chaos. It is very beautiful, but very sad."

"Sailor Cosmos," murmured Juno, remembering the beautiful soldier as if from a dream. Sometimes Juno wondered if she had even met her at all.

"Of these cycles, I've watched the cycles of our lives with the most interest. And I've seen. . . ." Pluto paused and took a deep breath. "I've seen how things are to be. We are all lonely stars, and we all drift towards each other. And in every cycle these driftings are the same." She caught Juno's gaze with her own, held it. "That is why I do not try to change things. And besides-- as I once told your princess, watching from afar is a kind of love too."

"Is that why I'm always alone?" Juno blurted out. "Because that's how it's meant to be?"

Pluto put a hand on her shoulder. "Do you feel that's how it's meant to be?"

"No." Juno looked down. "I get lonely. I'm sure not as lonely as you, always by yourself at the Time Gate-- but the other three get along with everyone. They always have someone to dance with. But I'm not like them. I always say just what I mean, and maybe it's rude, but. . . but that's how I am. I don't see any point in not being honest."

Pluto nodded. "That's why I remain quiet much of the time. I do not wish to say anything untrue, but most people don't want to hear the truth. "

"Well, I do!" Juno tilted her chin up defiantly.

"Good!" Pluto stood and smiled down on her. "There are other people like you, Juno. Just give yourself a chance."

Juno stood too, and they walked back into the ball together. Still, Juno wondered, Other people like me? What does that mean?

Back inside, the dancing had ended for the time being, and everyone was scattered about talking and enjoying the party food. Pallas spotted Juno as she returned and ran over to her with her hands full of divinity.

"Juno! Where were you? Look! Pallas has candy! Want some?"

Juno took a piece and ate it; it was so sweet, it made her head spin. As Ceres and Vesta joined them, she felt a little better. Even if she weren't like them, she knew they still loved her. . . and she loved them.

"Were you talking to Princess Pluto?" Vesta asked. "I can't believe it! She's so beautiful-- and I thought she wouldn't talk to anyone but the queen and Usa! Uh, I mean Lady Serenity," she added with a hasty glance around her to be sure they were alone. It was a secret among the princess and her guardians that she preferred to be called by the name she had used in the twentieth century, instead of her formal title.

"Pluto's pretty cool," Juno said casually, feeling rather proud of herself. Then she frowned a little as she glanced at Pluto, who was standing by herself once more. Pluto had tried to help her, and Juno wanted to help her too.

Hours passed, and slowly the crowds thinned until few people were left. Even most of the court had retired when the last dance was called. Vesta and Pallas had left a few minutes before, but Ceres had stuck it out, wanting to dance with every last man she could. Now she was happily leading a tired General Jadeite out onto the floor. They were joined by Princess Lady Serenity and Priest Helios, then Fish-Eye and a grumbling Tigers-Eye-- although the look on his face when Fish-Eye leaned against his shoulder undermined his griping. The queen was gone, but King Endymion was still there, watching his daughter proudly. Juno looked to where Pluto still stood in the shadows and saw her watching the king wistfully. Juno narrowed her eyes and stomped over to her new friend.

"Pluto!" she hissed. "You said it was good I was honest, right?"

"Right," Pluto conceded, looking a little puzzled.

"Then go dance with the king! You'll be mad at yourself otherwise-- trust me!"

For the first time, Pluto looked frightened. "Juno, I can't!"

"Yes, you can!" Juno grasped Pluto's hand and tried to forcefully drag her out of the shadows. "You showed me that sometimes it's good to let fate take its course-- now I'm gonna show you it's also good to give fate the finger once in a while!"

"Juno. . . ." Pluto looked down at her with a bewildered little smile. Looking up at her, Juno realized for the first time that her own skin had that same dusky hue, her own hair had the same tints of green. In a way, Juno thought, amazed, I look like her.

Pluto's garnet eyes darted from Juno's face to Endymion's, but she still did not move. Juno clutched at her hand and whispered, "Don't watch from afar this time."

Then Pluto's long, black-gloved fingers closed over Juno's hand. "Princess. Do you think our lives will always be the same? Could there be a future I've missed?"

Juno looked down at their clasped hands and flushed. "The future can always be changed. When her parents were threatened in the twentieth century, Princess Lady Serenity disappeared-- that shows that the future would have changed if they hadn't been reborn, and she never would have existed. So if the future can change to make bad things happen. . . there's no reason it can't change in good ways too." She took a deep breath and forced a small smile. "Wow, I sound like Pallas. Usually she's the one who reasons things out in weird ways."

When Juno raised her head, Pluto was looking down at her fondly. "You know, it was Saturn who realized the true identify of you girls-- I missed it. Even though I knew the princess had four guardians, I didn't recognize you in the past. Your beautiful glow was hidden by the darkness that embraced you then. So maybe I have missed other things as well. Maybe I was looking so hard for what I expected to find, I missed the unexpected. . . like my happiness."

"You never expected to be happy? Because. . . of him?"

"No, I didn't expect to be happy. But like you say, there's no reason the future can't change in good ways too."

As her husky voice faded, the last dance of the evening ended as well. Juno looked up at her in frustration. "Pluto! You missed your chance to dance with him!"

Pluto just smiled. "I'd rather talk to you." She let go of Juno's hand and raised her own to the younger girl's cheek, brushing it with her fingertips. Juno could feel the warmth of her hand through the delicate glove she wore. "Good night, princess."

Juno's cheek burned as Pluto turned away to follow the last of the guests out of the hall. Juno felt paralyzed for a moment, then she clattered after Pluto in her awkward shoes. "Wait! Where are you going-- back to the Time Gate?"

Pluto paused to let her catch up. "Yes. It is not completely unattended; a few trusted soldiers of the queen are there now. But I have already been away too long."

They walked out of the hall into the shadowy corridors of the castle. Juno looked down the one which she knew led to the Time Gate, the one no one but Pluto and the queen was allowed to traverse (though of course that had never stopped Princess Lady Serenity).

"Do you have to go?" Juno asked softly.

"Yes." Pluto started down the corridor, then turned back to her. "Please come to see me someday. I know it isn't supposed to be allowed, but. . . ."

Juno felt herself break into an unusually bright smile. "When have I ever been one to follow the rules?"

There are other people like me, she thought as she watched Pluto walk away from her, back to her lonely post. At least, there's her.

When she returned to the room she shared with Vesta, the red-haired girl was already asleep. Juno quietly changed into her pajamas-- she refused to wear a nightgown like the other princesses-- and slipped into her own bed. Maybe she'd still be the girl in green, always alone at the royal functions, but she thought, Being alone isn't so bad when you have someone to be alone with. . . . Now how's that for Pallas-logic?

Princess Juno had a smile on her lips when she fell asleep, already planning to visit Pluto the very next day.

The End