========================================== 
Unnumbered Episode #205: The Class of 3028 
========================================== 
 
 
	Kanomi looked anxiously around the hall.  Mizuno Ami High School had
a rather nice cafeteria.  If you moved a few walls around, changed the
lighting, and placed plants in strategic locations, you forgot that you were
in a high school cafeteria and felt instead that you were in a ballroom.
 
	And what a splendid ballroom it was. 
 
	Indeed, the only thing that marred the decor was the huge sign,
obviously an amateur job, that read "Welcome Class of 3028." Under it, in
slightly smaller letters, was something to the effect of this being the
five-year reunion.
 
	Five year reunions were traditionally well attended in Japan.  It
was an excellent way to check up on classmates, solidify ties, and above
all, for better or for worse to cement the old boys' and girls' network. 
This was no exception; as Kanomi looked around, she could see that just
about the entire graduating class was there.  One hundred forty-five strong,
most with dates or spouses, all seeking to advance in life.
 
	She sighed.  By most accounts she'd had an excellent five years. 
But in comparison to Mizuno's most famous graduate, who had never
technically graduated, she could just as well have been a janitor for the
past half-decade.
 
	Kanomi ran her hand through shoulder-length blonde hair and sighed. 
Time to bite the bullet, so to speak.  *She* was presently unoccupied. 
Kanomi set her drink on a nearby table and walked over to the pair,
smoothing out a couple creases in her conservative turquoise-blue dress.

	At three meters away, her quarry turned and noticed her approach.
Her face lit up with recognition, and a smile broke across her face.

	"Kanomi-chan!" 

	Kanomi smiled.  "Hello, Jennifer-san."  She looked at the shoulder
boards on Jen's dress uniform.  "Or should I say, Captain Sakachi?"

	"Jen's fine, really." 

	"I see."  Jennifer Sakachi, more popularly referred to as Sailor
Orion, hero of the campaign against Selenite, widely-touted participant in
the Gemini incident, holder of a doctorate in history, and the most
illustrious product of Mizuno High, beamed back at her with her titles
silently bludgeoning the blonde.  She was in the dress whites of the Royal
Star Navy, as was the woman next to her.  "And, of course, this must be your
friend Eileen Pearcy?"
 
	"Hi."  The brunette extended her hand.  Kanomi unhesitatingly took
it. She was more or less used to shaking hands, as opposed to bowing.
 
	"So Kanomi-chan, how have things been?" 
 
	"Pretty good," was the reply.  Never mind that you never wrote
anything to me after you left for the School, she didn't add.  "Went to
college-"
 
	"Really?" asked Eileen.  "Which one?" 
 
	"University of Crystal Tokyo." 
 
	"Great!"  Getting into UCT was no small accomplishment. Graduating
from it virtually guaranteed a job at the business of one's choice.
 
	"I don't remember anything about that," said Jen uncertainly. 
 
	"You wouldn't, would you?" said Kanomi, a bit more sharply than she
had intended.  More calmly, and hoping that her slip had gone unnoticed, she
added, "After all, you were a bit occupied at the time. You know, leaving
town, heading for the School, meeting your destiny, silly stuff like that."
 
	"Oh yeah," said Jen, and the three shared a laugh.  "But seriously, 
you got in?" 

	"Yep.  I got my degree, well, degrees, in political science and
American studies," this last directed towards Eileen who nodded
appreciatively.

	"Lemme guess," said Jen.  "You got a job at the American embassy and
work there?"

	Kanomi was surprised.  "How did you know that?" 

	"Lucky guess," interjected Eileen.  She fidgeted and adjusted a 
button on her uniform.  "So, are you single?" 

	Kanomi choked down her first response and marched on.  "Yes, I
suppose so.  But what with shuttling back and forth from here to America,
and occasionally Venus . . . I guess a relationship would be a bit hairy."
 
	And it would be, she realized for the first time.  True, she was
rather good-looking, and she really had no shortage of dates, but she had
yet to meet a man that was willing to put up with a planet-trotting
girlfriend for long.  At the moment, she had just broken up with yet another
boyfriend, and she was beginning to despair of ever marrying.  Not to
mention that one thing she wanted, but knew she could never have.

	"Well," said Kanomi, "I guess there's no point in asking what you've
been up to, is there?" After all, seemingly everything Jennifer did was
front-page news.

	"Not really," and the smile faded a bit from Jen's face.  From the
corner of her eye, the blonde thought she caught a scowl cross Eileen's
visage, and she involuntarily shuddered.  From her dealings with Americans,
she could tell when one of them was upset, and this was one of those cases. 
But why?

	"Eileen, I'm a bit thirsty, I'm going to the drink table.  Can I get
you anything?"

	If Eileen had been scowling before, she positively bristled now. 
"Um, sure.  Could you get one of those Leedys?" she asked, referring to the
latest drink fad.

	"Sure.  And you?" 

	"I'm fine," said Kanomi, trying to figure out what had set Eileen
off like that.

	"Okay," said Jen.  She sauntered off to a far corner of the room. 

	The moment that the redhead was out of earshot, Eileen pounced on
Kanomi like three of Her Majesty's most trusted advisors would pounce on
members of a certain family of rodents.  "Right, now what the hell do you
think you're doing here, trying to give my Jen a nervous breakdown?"
 
	'Taken aback' was one way to describe Kanomi's mental state at that 
point.  'Surprised as hell' was another. 

	"What are you-" 

	"You know exactly what I'm talking about, you hussy!  If-" 

	"Oh no, now wait a minute," said Kanomi, a hair under a shout. 
"First, senshi or not, you do *not* get off calling me a hussy, hear me? 
Second, *your* Jen?  I've known that woman a hell of a lot longer than you
have.  *Before* she got that fuku that seems to make all of you think you're
gods, she was one of the nicest, most caring, most decent people that I
knew."

	Eileen's face turned a slightly darker shade of red.  "How dare you! 
If there's one thing Jen's never been guilty of, it's arrogance!  She used
to . . . be a great person, and she still is," said Eileen, finishing in a
murmur. Kanomi picked up on it.

	"Oh no, she's not.  The Jen I knew would have written.  The Jen I
knew would have called.  The Jen I knew would have made at least one visit
in five freaking years.  In short, the Jen I knew would have given a damn!

	"That, *Sailor America*, is not the Jen I knew." 

	Kanomi sighed after this tirade, and prepared for the inevitable
backlash from the brunette.  Therefore, Eileen's reply came as a great
surprise to the blonde because of how loud it wasn't.

	"No," she said sadly and softly, "it's not.  Tomoji, people change
over time.  I'm different, Jen's different, and most importantly,
*you're* different. 

	"Look, we're both in interesting positions here." 
 
	"Not really.  You're a sailor senshi and I'm a pencil pusher at the
Embassy."
 
	Eileen arched an eyebrow.  "You'll have to tag along with me at work
one of these days and see just how glamorous it is.  Frankly, Jen has . . .
or had . . . the most exciting job of us all, but that's not important right
now.  You were closest to her before she became . . . who she is, and I was
closest to her while she became who she is."

	"So?" 

	"You're not seeing the point." 

	Kanomi had a rather scathing retort prepared, but Jen came back from
the table.  The blonde idly thought that it had taken a rather long time to
get two drinks.

*** 

	Jen went to the table and rested her hands on it a moment, trying to
gather herself.  To say the least, she hadn't been overly pleased with
Kanomi's attitude towards her.  The fact was that she was meeting someone
she hadn't seen in five years, and she felt that if anything, it should be a
rather joyous experience.  Instead, Kanomi seemed awfully bitter about
something.
 
	'But can you blame her?' another part of her mind asked.  'After
all, you did more or less abandon her when you went to the School.  You and
Kanomi were best friends in high school.  To just break off relations like
that with literally a day's notice, and then not call or write or anything
over the intervening interval . . . that just isn't very smart. '
 
	She turned and watched Eileen and Kanomi.  Eileen appeared to be
giving Kanomi an earful, and it looked like Kanomi wanted to do the same. 
Knowing the tempers of both when they got riled up, she decided that it
would be best to just walk off for a moment and let them sort things out.

	As she walked away, she bumped into another old acquaintance from 
high school. 

	"Sakachi-san!" 

	"Umino-san!"  The two bowed, the sailor senshi and the former nerd. 
 
	"So Umino-san, how have things been going?" 

	"Splendid.  And I have no need to ask you, have I?" 

	"Not really," said Jen wryly, hoping to avoid a repeat of the scene
with Kanomi.  "So, what are you up to these days?"

	"Oh, nothing really.  I have a small consulting firm, but I think
I'll be going into civil service."

	"Really?" asked Jen, getting bored already. 

	"Yep!  I'm applying for a job at the Palace, in the PR department,
actually."

	Jen got a sinking feeling in her stomach. 

	"And I was wondering, you know, since you're close to Sailor
America, if you could, you know, have her put in a good word for me, and . .
. ."

	To be fair, it wasn't an out of the way request.  Since time
immemorial, Japanese schoolmates had made it a custom to look out for each
other after graduation.  In twentieth century Tokyo, school ties were often
the only way to get ahead in the world.  Things weren't quite so competitive
now; after all, if things got too hard, you could always go to one of the
less crowded colony worlds.  But the old tradition still stood.

	And to be fair, she would probably grant it.  But she wouldn't like
it, partly because she wanted people to advance on their own merits as she
had, and partly because of the row she knew Eileen would raise.

	"I see," said Jen slowly.  "Well, I suppose I *could* help you out, 
but . . . " 

	"But what?" 
 
	"Well, there's a slightly more lucrative position that's open, and
perhaps you'd be interested."
 
	"Really?" 
 
	She scrutinized his face.  Yep, he'd bought it, hook, line, and 
sinker. "You could join the navy." 
 
	"What?" 
 
	"The navy.  Specifically, the civilian sector.  I have it on fairly
good authority that the RSN will be undergoing major expansion soon." In
actuality, she was fairly certain that the Royal Star Navy would downsize,
and turn its attentions toward building up a civilian fleet to facilitate
increased colonization.
 
	This was direct from Her Majesty's Bureau of Shipbuilding, headed by
Sailor Aldebaran.  Aldebaran was a friend of Orion's, and they'd been
working rather closely on modifications to the Haruna-class ships.  After
all, Orion was the latest to take a Haruna-class into battle, and it had
been decided that she could have the best input as to improvements.  "You
say you run a consulting company.  What exactly does it do?"
 
	Umino obviously had a stock answer ready.  "We specialize in
advising our clients in methods designed to streamline production procedures
and provide an array of options in-"
 
	"Yes, yes, that's very nice," interrupted Jen.  "Yes, I think Sailor
Aldebaran would be *very* interested in what you might have to say to her."

	"Splendid!  Can you set up an appointment?" 
 
	"As a matter of fact, I think I can."  A slight smile creased Jen's
face.  Sailor Aldebaran hated a certain class of people.  In the twentieth
century, they'd gone by the names of assistant general manager, middle-
management, and so on.  Their names had changed in a thousand years, but
they still did basically the same thing.  In Aldebaran's opinion, that thing
was to slack around and eat up funding.
 
	Aldebaran knew that she couldn't get around them, however.  She had
to deal with them, or else she simply couldn't get her job done.  Therefore,
she consoled herself by giving those people a hell of a time accomplishing
anything.  Over lunch, she had often regaled Jen with tales of how she'd
nearly driven consulting firms insane.  Apparently, Umino hadn't heard of
this.
 
	So much the better. 
 
	"Yes, I definitely think that your company can pull it off.  You
seem to be just the right material Aldebaran is looking for."
 
	"Thank you.  Thank you, very, very much!" 
 
	"Don't mention it.  She'll be in touch with you after the weekend." 
 
	"Wonderful."  He bowed and left. 
 
	"Serves him right for looking up my skirt five years ago," she
muttered, and moved off to where Eileen and Kanomi were talking.
 
 
*** 
 
	"Here you are," said Jen, offering Eileen her glass.  The brunette
sniffed it cautiously, smelled what she was expecting, and sipped slowly. 
Kanomi eyed her carefully.  She'd only tried a Leedy once, and spent most of
the rest of the night in a cold sweat.  It wasn't alcoholic, but as far as
taste went it was a remarkable imitation.

	"Thank you," she replied. 

	Jen looked at her watch.  She and Eileen had an appointment in a few
minutes, and she didn't want to be late.  However, she didn't want things to
be left unresolved between herself, Eileen, and Kanomi.  Time to wrap things
up.

	"So," asked Jen casually, "what were you two talking about?" 

	Eileen and Kanomi shared a glance. 

	"Er, nothing, actually," said Kanomi weakly. 

	"Nothing of importance," agreed Eileen. 

	Jen cast a wide blue eye at both of them.  "You really expect me to
believe that?"
 
	"Er . . . ." 

	"That is . . . ." 

	Jen wiped some invisible lint from her shoulder boards.  "Fine, if
you want to be that way, then be my guests."

	"Jen, you know I didn't mean it like that," began Eileen.  But the
redhead was already walking off again.

	"Dammit," muttered Kanomi.  Eileen started to run off after her
lover, but Kanomi caught her with a surprisingly strong grip.

	"Not so fast, Ms. Pearcy," she said in clear English.

	"Please let go of me," said Eileen in a very calm voice, in
contradiction to what Kanomi expected from an American.

	"Look, you may have slept with her, but I still know a few things
about her that you don't, okay?"

	"We've been together five years-" 

	"And in all that time you've never had a single fight?" 

	"Well . . . ." 

	"She's *never* gotten mad at you?" 

	"Look, I don't see where-" 

	"Let me handle this," said Kanomi impatiently, letting Eileen go and
stalking off after Jen.  But she was nowhere to be found.  She looked about
and saw that Eileen was already heading for the restroom.  Kanomi made a
guess.

	She found Jen in a classroom on the second floor.  She knew that Jen
would probably come here, to the room where she'd had two of her history
classes.  Yes, the furniture was in different places, and in some instances
had been replaced, but it was still recognizable.

	"Hi Jen-chan," Kanomi said, sitting down next to Jen in the darkened
room.

	"Sure you don't want to argue with Eileen some more?" she asked
bitterly.

	"That act isn't going to work with me, Jen-chan.  I'm not
Eileen-san."

	"I know.  You seem to enjoy reminding Eileen of that constantly." 

	Kanomi sighed.  Had she really screwed up so badly?  She knew that
she probably had gotten off to a bad start with Eileen.  She also knew that
she'd underestimated how attached Jen and Eileen were to each other.  Their
relationship wasn't secret, but it wasn't tabloid fodder either, partly
because lesbian relationships were more or less accepted in Crystal Tokyo,
and partly due to the vigorous efforts of the press relations office.

	In any case, it hadn't seemed like she was saying anything really
harsh at the time.  And of course she hadn't planned on breaking them up.

	"Okay, so maybe I'm a bit jealous of Eileen-" 

	"WHAT?" 

	Kanomi noted idly that Jen had picked up the habit of speaking in
English when she was upset.  "I mean, she's best friends with one of the
most popular senshi in the world and all, and so-"

	"Most popular?" asked Jen with a smile.  "My popularity peaked the
day I came back from Pleiades.  In another five years the world will have
forgotten about me."

	"You're a senshi, and that's a lot more than I'll ever be." 

	"Kanomi-chan, if you think that your not being a senshi makes me
like you one whit less, then . . . ." She stopped before she said something
unnecessarily sharp.  "Kanomi, I'm sorry about not writing.  But you have to
understand, being a senshi is hardly easy.  I've got errands to run-"

	"And I don't?" 

	Jen looked away, unwilling to perpetuate an argument.  "That's
right.  That's absolutely right.  But that still gives you *no* right to go
off at Eileen like that."

	"And it gives you no right to just brush me off like so much lint!"
Kanomi paused a bit to gather her breath . . . and then she stopped
completely at the tears that streamed down Jen's cheeks.

	In all the years that she'd known Jennifer, she had never known her
to cry.  Not when she was a young girl and fell down on the pavement, not
when she found out that her parents couldn't afford the latest high-tech
toy, not when she found out that she was going to go to the School and leave
her life behind.  And now a little remark like that was enough to bring
Jennifer to tears?

	She reacted.  "Oh come on, Jen-chan, don't fall apart on me now,"
she said, whipping out a handkerchief and dabbing the redhead's cheeks,
ignoring the couple of wet spots that had gotten on her uniform.  "You know
I didn't mean it, and-"

	"It's true," choked out Jen.  "You may not have meant it, but it's
true.  My parents . . . I haven't told you about them, have you?"

	"Er . . . ." 

	"They barely know me.  They still love me, for certain, but as far
as I'm concerned . . . I'm just a girl who left their lives on a spring day
in 3028.  They know I'm Sailor Orion, they know I've done all these neat and
*wonderful* things, but do y'know how they treat me?  Like I'm a bloody
eighteen-year-old!  Kanomi-chan, I'm twenty-two!"

	Kanomi simply sat back. 

	"I'm twenty-two, and yet I'm still their little girl they lost five
years ago!  And what have I done to fix this?  Nothing!  I've just sat back,
smiled and nodded and acted like everything was okay when of
*course* it wasn't.  And those were my *parents*!  Kami-sama, we've seen 
what did to you, and Umino-san?  Do you know what I just did to Umino-san?  
I just delivered him into the hands of a senshi who I *know* will give him 
a hard time, for something I did FIVE YEARS AGO! 
 
	"You're bloody right, Kanomi-chan, you're right.  You have every
right to be bitter, because you still have your dreams, you still have your
ambitions, and all I have is a pretty suit and a vow to the queen."

	Jen took a couple deep, gasping breaths, and Kanomi looked for a
moment into her blue eyes, red-rimmed with tears for the first time in far
too long.  Kanomi wanted so dearly to hug her friend and tell her that
everything was all right, but she knew that there was only one person who
really should do the hugging, and she wasn't here right now.  Instead she
said, "You've got more than that, Jennifer.  You've got Eileen-san.  And you
have the love of your parents.  Don't ever forget that.

	"Don't beat yourself up about this."  She paused, realizing that
this was just what Eileen had been thinking about when she told her that
people changed over time.  "You changed.  We all do.  Look, you're Sailor
Orion!  You've been to places I can only dream of, rubbed shoulders with the
very elite.  You're a lot better off than a lot of people, and you should be
thankful."

	Jen looked up at her.  Kanomi answered the unasked question that
they both knew had been at the heart of it all.  "And no, being a senshi
hasn't changed you one bit.  You're still idealistic as ever, though you
don't want to show it.  You're still kind, still sweet, still ready and
willing to beat anyone in a discussion of history.  Jen, if you had
*really* changed, I don't think you'd even have the courage to tell me 
what you just did." 

	Jen looked at Kanomi for a long moment, and nothing happened. Then
the light came back into her eyes.  "You're right," said Jen, almost in a
chuckle.  "You know, I could never talk like that to Eileen.  She'd be
convinced that I was nuts."

	"You mean . . . I don't mean to pry, but you've never cried in front
of her?"

	"No.  Oh, sometimes we'll be watching a sad movie or something, but
a good hard cry . . . we don't do that enough.  Crying is good for the soul
in some ways."

	"That's profound," said Kanomi. 

	"It should be.  It's from a history book on the original Tsukino 
Usagi." 

	Kanomi looked at Jen for a moment, trying to decide if she was
joking or not.  Eventually she decided upon the former.  But something
troubled her; this recovery seemed a bit too sudden.

	"I just bet it is," remarked Kanomi.  "Now, come on.  I think
there's a brunette out there who's trying to figure out just where you've
gone to."

	"Yes."  They shared a long hug. 

	'Wow,' thought Kanomi, 'nothing like trade negotiations with the
American Confederation.' She happened to turn and look out the window. 
Light pollution from the city, the only pollution worth noting in all of
Crystal Tokyo, blotted out most of the stars, but she could pick out one or
two.

	There was the moon: full and bright, almost at the apex of the sky. 
That was where she'd spent her earliest days; that was in fact where she'd
been born, to a couple who worked on the archaeological digs run by the
Palace.  At an early age, her parents had decided that they'd had enough of
digging in the Lunar dust and came back to Earth, there to write for trade
journals and for her mother to get a doctorate.  It had been tacitly assumed
that she would also enter the field, but she was happy to stay on Earth.

	And now, her closest friend had been past the moon, past the stars,
come back . . . and only Kanomi had been privy to her thoughts at her lowest
point.  That, she decided firmly, was something to think about.

	She closed her eyes and considered what might have been.  What might
have been . . . .

	Almost without her volition, she moved her mouth closer to Jen's. 
 
*** 
 
	Eileen fumed.  First Kanomi had come along, obviously looking to
start trouble.  She'd gotten Jen worked up, and now she'd gone and run off
trying to find her, leaving Eileen hanging around the main hall.  The party
was still going full-blast, especially now that a couple dozen marching band
alumni had grabbed instruments from some storage room and started playing
tunes that they hadn't played in five years.  It sounded like they hadn't
played them in five years, too.

	She'd waited ten minutes, then twenty.  After half an hour she had 
had enough. 

	Mizuno High was laid out a lot like other high schools, and so she
found her way around rather easily.  It was a lot easier, since the room Jen
and Kanomi were in was the only room that had any lights on inside.

	Stalking to the door, she stopped, thought about what she would said
to that blonde hussy, and firming her resolve, flung open the door.  She
stood stock-still for a moment.  For the first time she could remember, she
was at a loss for words.
 
	Kanomi was the first to notice.  She caught sight of the brunette
and her eyes widened.  With a mixture of reluctance and embarrassment, she
broke off the kiss.  Jen, whose brain was still in a sort of daze from how
fast things had progressed that night, was slow in realizing what was going
on.
 
	Eileen's face turned a deep red, her fists clenched in apoplectic
fury.  It was only thanks to a year's training at the School that she didn't
transform right there and then.  Her mouth moved, but no sound came out.
 
	Jen turned around, trying to figure out what had Kanomi so upset. 
She saw Eileen, and suddenly she got a sinking feeling in her insides, a
feeling like her entire body had collapsed like a house of cards, leaving a
shell outside.  It was not a pleasant feeling.  She gasped, and her face
drained of color, a stunning contrast to her red hair.  "Kami-sama, Eileen,
I-"
 
	"Shut up."  

	A deaf man could hear the menacing undertones in that voice, and
Kanomi certainly could.  "Pearcy-san, I can explain, you-"
 
	"Shut up.  There's no need to explain."  She almost spat the words
out.  "Jennifer, I'm going home.  Enjoy yourself." She spun on her heel and
stomped out of the room.
 
	Once outside, she only made it a couple of meters before breaking
into tears.  She ran down the hallway to the exit, the clicking of her heels
echoing against the walls.
 
	In the classroom, Jen immediately disentangled herself from Kanomi. 
"Kami, what have I done?" she whispered.  "Eileen, come back!" She ran to
the door and stopped--Eileen was nowhere to be seen.  "Dammit!"

	"Jen," said Kanomi softly, "look, about-" 

	Jennifer whirled on Kanomi, putting every centimeter of her height
to her advantage, seeming to tower over the blonde.  "I think you've done
quite enough tonight!  Was that your whole plan, hm?"

	"Jen, I don't know what-" 

	"Well, whatever it was you were trying to do, I hope you're GODDAMN
HAPPY!" she screamed, ending her sentence in English.  She clenched her fist
for a moment, and then turned to look down the hall, making a decision. 
"Eileen!" She started running.

	Kanomi simply stood there.  "Shit."