This revised version uses a bit of continuity that probably not a lot of
people are familiar with.  But I'm not making it up....

                      Sailor Moon: Strategy and Tactics
                                by Ken Arromdee

                                   Chapter 3
                               Secret Identities

    Usagi, Ami, and Rei, at the moment, were sharing the biggest problem in
Usagi's life, which happened to be an upcoming science test.  Ami's mother
was going to be home late, which left Ami's apartment free for just them; just
three teenage girls who worried about school (even Ami did at times),
nonexistent boyfriends...  and occasionally saving the city from evil.  In the
calm of the past two weeks, evil had been slowly dropping down on the scale,
which Usagi was glad for; she didn't think she'd relish fighting a constant
stream of youmas.

    "... and the chemical formula for salt?" asked Ami.

    The last question.  Ami had long since finished, and Rei didn't go to the
same school as the others.  "Sodium chloride", replied Usagi, crossing her
fingers behind her back where Ami couldn't see it.  Usagi knew that though Ami
was a very sweet person, when it came to helping other people study for tests
she showed little mercy.

    "That's right" said Ami, smiling just slightly at Usagi.

    "Well, that's all over", said Rei.  "Good luck on the test.  Now why
don't we go to the arcade and..." She noticed Usagi frowning a little bit,
almost like she did when she kept forgetting all those chemical formulas.
Usagi really needed to loosen up, thought Rei; she should forget about tests
except when actually taking them or studying for them.  Grabbing Usagi's hand,
she got up and ran for the door.

    "Let go of me!" yelled Usagi.  "Rei, I...."

    "Now we're going to have some fun, Usagi.  Stop moping about that test!"

    "It's not the test, Rei.  It's Sailor Senshi stuff.  We have to find the
other Senshi and the Princess.  I didn't do it Friday, because we were
having ice cream.  Saturday and Sunday were the weekend.  I didn't do it
Monday because we had a test then too.  I didn't do it Tuesday because they
were showing a 6 hour Hime-chan's Ribbon marathon.  And on Wednesday we were
all at the mall!  We have to do it sometime."

    "So each day you put it off just a little bit more until you got nervous
enough that you have to do it right now at this very moment?"

    "Ah... er...  you don't have to put it that way, Rei."

    "Come on, let's go.  What do you need to do for this anyway?"

    "I was going to go through the phone book and check all the names with the
right kanji...  Wait, I know.  I have an even better idea!"

    Now that sounded like Usagi, thought Rei, not realizing that spontaneously
generating ideas was really something Usagi was still pretty new at.

    "We girls can all go to the arcade after all.  And Luna can make all the
phone calls.  You can't see that someone's a cat if they're on the phone.  I
just know you'd be glad to help us all in our quest to fight evil, right,
Luna?  It'll be great!"  She talked so fast that Luna could hardly get a word
in edgewise.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    The girls arrived back at Ami's house at ten PM, pockets and purses empty
of all change.  Usagi and Rei were smiling, having reached the end of Gradius
by playing together.  Ami was smiling, having gotten a new high score on
Tetris.  Luna, left all alone in the apartment, had an open phone book in front
of her and wasn't smiling.

    "Poor Luna", said Usagi.  "It must have been bad in here.  Let me get you
some milk."

    "You're the one that left me here, Usagi!"

    "You could have said 'no'.  I wouldn't have made you do it."

    Luna looked at Usagi's innocent face.  Did she mean it? wondered Luna.
And the cat realized: there was no doubt; Usagi did mean it.  She had
honestly thought that Luna was the best choice to do the job at the time;
the fact that it gave the girls a chance go to the arcade made it more
convenient, but that was all.

    "Luna?" asked Usagi.  "Did I say something wrong?"

    "Well, it's okay, but next time, Usagi, we should discuss this a little
longer, okay?"

    "Okay?" answered Usagi with a bit of hesitation.

    The cat nodded and began her explanation.  "There are a hundred and fifty
names in the phone book that start with 'ki' as in 'Jupiter'.  I checked thirty
of them.  None of them have any girls your age in the house, or if they did,
they wouldn't tell it to someone taking polls."

    Usagi nodded.  "It's our turn now... Luna, are you upset?  We're going
to do the rest of the names; I'll get you some milk and you can watch TV for
a while."  And again she didn't let Luna get a word in edgewise.

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Almost an hour later, Usagi was pretty tired of checking names.  The girls
were taking turns, but even then they didn't have enough time to do much
except chat and occasionally play some of a video game between turns; Usagi
had never used the pause button as many times before in her life.  She crossed
off another name, "Kinomoto Sakura", as Ami finished a call, and she poked her
finger at the list to pick her own random name.  "Kino Makoto".

    Usagi handed the game controller to Rei, hoping Rei wouldn't get her
character killed, as she dialed the phone.  It rang three times and a girl
answered.  "Hello?" said the girl.

    "Hi, is this Kino-san?  I'm Tsukino Usagi, it's a strange question, but
I need to know.  You sound as old as me.  Are you around fourteen years old?"

    "I..." responded the girl.  She sounded very sad.  "You're right, I am.
Why are you calling me?"

    That was enough to know what Usagi needed to know.  She could come over
with the others and Luna and the transformation pen, and see if this really
was Sailor Jupiter.  She could put the phone down now...  but she wouldn't.
The girl was obviously upset.  "I'm sorry about that", said Usagi.  "I'm
really sorry, but I can't say it.  It's something I can't just talk about
without you thinking I'm nuts...."

    "You're not one of the gang, are you?  Spreading rumors, laughing at me
behind my back because they won't dare do it to my face.  Everyone seems to be
taking Sempai's side."  What was this girl involved in?  Trouble of some kind,
Usagi knew.  She may need some help.

    "I'm not any such thing!  They sound like very mean people.  If...  if you
want to talk to me you can, okay?  I'll listen.  I won't do whatever those
people in your class would do."

    The girl on the other end paused.  Maybe she was thinking it over.  And
then the words came out in a flurry.  "Sempai dumped me for another girl and
everyone thinks I did something to him, that I hurt him or something.  The
whole class is taking his side because they never liked me to begin with."
She started crying.  "And the teachers don't care....  Sempai was the one
person who didn't hate me...  I thought he really loved me... and now it's
down to nobody."

    Usagi listened earnestly, and looked around herself... only to see Rei,
Ami, and Luna all crowded around her.  Ami was blushing a bit as if caught in
some act; they must have been listening.

    "I don't know if you heard that", she said, "but the girl sounds really
really upset.  She says that everyone hates her.  I want to go visit her even
without all the Sailor Senshi stuff.  What do you think?"

    "There are still a lot of names left", said Rei.  "We should see if there
are any more before going."

    "Yeah, but she was so upset.  If she's the right one we can do it tomorrow
or sometime else."

    "Who is that?" asked the girl on the phone.  "And who are you with anyway?"

    "I go to Juuban Junior High" explained Usagi.  "It's not your school...  I
don't know the people in your class...  I'm just calling because it's a
mission and we have to call a lot of people whether I want to or not.  I wish
I could tell you now but there's no way to.  Do you really not have any
friends?  Why don't we all come over and we can meet you for real?"

    "I...  oh, sure.  I need some company here.  There's nobody around."

    Nobody, wondered Usagi?  The girl didn't even have parents?  "I'll be
right over.  The address in the phone book says it's not that far from here at
all."

    "I...  I'll be waiting."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Makoto had been trusting enough of this unknown stranger to invite her
over.  Perhaps she just wanted to be able to trust someone.  And Usagi had
trusted Makoto enough to be willing to come over in the first place.

    Usagi knocked on the door, with Ami, Rei, and Luna waiting with her.  A
tall girl, several inches taller than Rei, let alone her, answered.  "Are you
Kino Makoto?" she asked.

    "That's me" said the girl.  "I don't know what this is about, but come
on in.  But I should warn you, I'm strong and I know martial arts."

    "I..." said Usagi.  "How do I say this?  We all came over for something
else, but it sounds terrible what happened to you.  People hate each other
for such silly things.  Like people pick on Umino at school, they say fake
things about coconut-fried shrimp and inchworms.  As the saying goes, the nail
that sticks up gets hammered down.  But please could you just try one thing?"

    "What?" replied Makoto.

    Usagi handed Makoto a pen.  "Hold this in the air and say 'Jupiter Power,
Make Up'.  It's got to be right, you're so tall and strong and Jupiter is the
biggest planet.  If we're right you belong with us...."

    "That's weird.  You're not trying to initiate me into a street gang,
are you?"

    "No!  Just do it.  I promise it's all I'll ask you to do."

    Makoto looked at the pen and held it up, saying the phrase.  She
transformed, a dizzying experience that left her garbed in a strange costume
much like that of Sailor V.  "Wow..." she said, looking down at herself in
disbelief.

    Usagi smiled.  "I knew it!  You're Sailor Jupiter.  I'm secretly Sailor
Moon.  Ami here is Sailor Mercury and Rei is Sailor Mars."  She pointed at the
cat.  "This is Luna.  She talks and gives me advice that I follow sometimes."
The three girls all got their pens out and shouted their transformation
phrases.  Makoto watched them all spin and magically change clothing, amazed.

    "Now that that's over", asked Sailor Moon, "can we come in?"

                                *   *   *   *   *

    "... and that's why I was thinking of switching schools" explained Makoto.
"At least I can start again, no rumors, not having to look every day at a guy
who dumped me...."

    "Is that really a good idea, Mako-chan?" wondered Usagi.  "You can't run
away from problems.  I wish I could, but every time I do it I have to do them
anyway and then I have to rush!"

    "It was just a thought.  I really don't know.  Maybe I won't.  It's nice of
you to be here anyway... would you like me to get something for you?  I have
cake left...  I just made it yesterday and I'd be glad to have someone else
eat it."

    "We already had dessert", replied Ami.

    "But that doesn't matter", added Usagi quickly, whispering "Don't spoil it"
to Ami.

    Makoto brought back the cake and some milk, and Usagi, Rei, and Makoto
began to eat.  "Now", said Usagi between bites, "we have the rest of the
Senshi to find, and the Princess...  There's still Earth, Venus, Saturn,
Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto...  Oh, never mind.  I'm tired.  We can go looking
some other day.  Mako-chan, what do you like to do for fun?"

                                *   *   *   *   *

    By this time, Usagi knew better than to procrastinate *too* much.  A few
days later, she eventually did decide to take the next step.  What could she
do?  Find the other Senshi?  Track down Beryl?  Find Tuxedo Mask?  There was
one other thing she was thinking of doing, but....

    "Usagi!" yelled Haruna.

    "Oh...  teacher...  what is it?"

    "You're not paying attention in class.  Usagi, what's a square root?"

    Usagi tried to remember.  "It's the ratio of the circumference of a square
to its diameter?"

    "No!  You're not going to amount to anything if you keep dozing in class
and never pay attention to what I'm saying."

    "I was not dozing in class!  I was just thinking about how to..."  Usagi
frowned.  There was no way she could tell her about her Sailor Moon troubles.
"Never mind.  I'm sorry, Miss Haruna."

    Haruna blinked.  "You're sorry?  You sounded like you meant that honestly.
That's not like you.  Usagi, is something wrong?  Are you sick?"  She walked
forwards.

    "I'm not sick, Miss Haruna.  There's just something that's been on my
mind a lot lately."

    Haruna put her hand on Usagi's head.  "You seem okay."

    "Teacher..." said Usagi.

    "Yes?"

    "I don't get it.  You want me to study.  You want me to pay attention and
you want me to act all grown up.  But if I say something that's the slightest
bit close to being grown up, you start to think that I'm sick and I can't
really mean it and there's no way in the world I could talk like that.  It's
hard being me, Miss Haruna!  If you want me to act grown up and smart you
should think I really mean it when I do it."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    After school, Usagi was excited.  "She just walked away!  I didn't get any
detention, Naru.  I can't believe that worked.  But I wonder if I should tell
her...."

    "What do you mean?" wondered Naru as she walked along with Usagi.

    "I wonder if I should tell you too" continued Usagi.  She sighed.  "I'm
fooling myself.  I've been thinking of doing it all along, but I could never
bring myself to do it for real.  I'm going to have to, before someone dies.
I'm going to tell everyone, starting with you."

    "Before someone dies?  Usagi, are you sure you're not sick?"

    She shook her head.  "I'm not sick, Naru-chan.  I just figured something
out.  Naru-chan, can you keep a secret?  The biggest secret you ever had to
keep?"

    "Well, Usagi, I think I could."

    "You have to be sure!" said Usagi.  "It's not an 'I'm in love with Motoki'
sort of thing, or a 'I'd like to borrow 500 yen' thing.  It's a lot bigger
than that.  Can you do it?  For real?  Please...."

    Naru blinked.  "You're in love with Motoki?"

    "I just think he's cute.  I don't know if that counts."

    "Aww, everyone thinks he's cute.  So what's your secret, Usagi?  I promise,
cross my heart and hope to die, that I'll never tell anyone your secret even
if they paid me and gave me a 100 on every test."

    Usagi looked around and saw nobody watching.  Besides, she'd never had a
problem with bystanders accidentally seeing her identity when she transformed
for a battle.  There was no more reason she'd have a problem now.  "Here it
is, Naru-chan.  I'm Sailor Moon."  She summoned her wand and yelled "Moon Prism
Power, MAKE UP!"

    "Wow!" exclaimed Naru as the glowing figure of her friend faded, to
reveal her costumed identity.  Wow!!"

    Usagi posed.  "For love and justice, I'm the pretty sailor-suited fighter,
Sailor Moon!  I'll punish you in the name of students everywhere!"

    "I can't believe it.  You, Usagi...  you're Sailor Moon!"

    "Of course!  I just said that!"  Well, thought Usagi, that worked well.
She was half expecting "I knew it all along", which would really have been
the pits.

    "No wonder you two looked so much alike...  say, do you know Sailor V?
I really want to meet her."

    "Naru, I only know Sailor Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter."

    "You don't know Sailor Venus?"

    "Sailor Venus?"

    "That's what V stands for."

    "What makes you think something like that?"

    "Well I heard her give a speech once and she says that she's Sailor
Venus, so I just bet that's who she is."

    "Oh.  That's cool.  Say, Naru-chan, do you want to meet the others that I
do know?"

    Naru nodded eagerly.  "Of course!  If you're Sailor Moon I have to meet
all your friends."

    "I just have to ask them first.  If you can wait just a little bit...."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    The three other Senshi looked at Usagi in disbelief, but it was Luna who
finally spoke her mind.  "You told her *what*?" she screeched.

    "I told her I'm Sailor Moon, Luna.  We're all going to have to tell
everyone."

    "Usagi, there's no need to--"

    "Listen, Luna.  I'm supposed to lead the Sailor Senshi...  if I am I have
to make decisions like this.  I know you give me advice but I had to decide
it myself.  It's my job."

    "But you didn't even *ask* for advice."

    "I had been thinking about it but it was a little spur-of-the-moment.
Besides, I know what you would have said.  You would have told me not to do
it."

    "Of course I would.  What benefit would you get from telling everyone?"

    "Well to begin with, I wouldn't find that I can't transform because if I
did I'll reveal my true identity.  And if I tell the teachers...  and I didn't,
Luna, I just told Naru so far...  I'd be able to fight a youma without it
making me late for school...  and if I tell Mom and Dad nobody would die if
I was grounded and I couldn't leave to rescue someone like I had to leave in
the middle of the night to rescue Naru."  Usagi took a breath.

    "But that'll put your friends and family in danger, Usagi."

    "Luna, they're already in danger.  Naru got attacked by the first youma and
even I didn't know who I was then!  The next person to get attacked was
Umino.  Then it was Naru again, and then Miss Haruna and then my brother.
My friends and family are already so in danger that they must be special orders
on the Dark Kingdom takeout menu.  At least if they know who I am, I'll be
able to protect them without so much trouble.  Besides, I got some good
information from Naru."

    Luna sighed.  "Okay, tell us your 'good information'."

    "Sailor V is Sailor Venus."

    "Why would she know something like that?"

    "Because Sailor Venus says it?  It's not supposed to be a secret that she's
Sailor Venus, if she says it in her speech.  We just happened never to see her,
and never hear her say it, that's all.  Luna, we've got to find her, and
Tuxedo Mask and all the others and the princess.  Anyway, I'm going to call
Naru, if nobody minds.  If we're going to give out secrets, we should do it
right.  Does anyone mind?"

    "I can't stop you, Usagi" answered Luna.

    "I...  have a confession to make" said Mercury.  "I never even tried to
figure out if it was a good idea to reveal my secret.  I just never thought
about it."

    "That's a confession?" said Usagi.

    "But I never thought about it!  I never even had the idea.  I try to
figure out everything I can but somehow that completely slipped my mind."

    Usagi smiled.  "Don't be so upset, Ami, I miss thinking of things all the
time.  You'll be okay.  Mako-chan, Rei-chan?  Do you mind?  Neither of you go
to our school anyway so it won't matter so much."

    "She doesn't sound like a bad person, Usagi" said Makoto.  "Of course we
should tell her."

    Rei looked at Usagi and, pretending that she was bowing to the pressure,
said "Go ahead, Usagi.  Do it."

    Usagi picked up the phone and punched in Naru's phone number.  It rang
three times before it was picked up.  "Hello?" answered the voice of a woman.

    "Hello...  Ms. Osaka, is Naru-chan there?"

    "It's for you!" yelled the woman.  Soon Naru picked the phone up.  "Hi?
Usagi?  I was waiting for you to call.  When can I come?  Where can I come?
This is so coool."

    "Come on over.  We're at Mako-chan's place."  Usagi gave Naru the address.
"And if you see any youmas on your way over, run, okay?"  She put down the
phone and smiled.  "We just have to get ready now."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Usagi heard a knock on the door.  Walking over to peep out at whoever it
was, she saw that it was Naru, as expected.  Naru didn't seem to have been
running, so there were no youmas, which was good.  Youmas would have ruined
the night.  Opening the door, she told her friend "Come on in!"

    "I can hardly believe it", said Naru, entering the apartment while Ami
fiddled with her computer.  "You're really the Sailor Senshi, aren't you?"

    "Half the Sailor Senshi" replied Usagi.  "Everyone that I know about.  We
still need to find the rest."

    "It's okay, Usagi", said Ami.  "Go ahead."

    Usagi pulled out her pen, and so did the others; and they all shouted their
transformation phrases.  There was something about the transformation, perhaps
some memory of the distant past, which let them synchronize the transformations
with absolute precision.  "Moon Prism/Mercury/Mars/Jupiter Power, MAKE UP!"
shouted the group as Naru watched.

    Once all four Senshi were in their costumes, Sailor Moon introduced the
others.  "This is Sailor Mercury, Mizuno Ami.  You met her once...  she's the
only other one in my class.  This is Sailor Mars, Hino Rei.  And Kino Makoto,
Sailor Jupiter.  And Luna you already know too...  but she's never said 'hi'
to you."

    "Hi, Naru-chan" said Luna.

    "Hi, Luna!  I never knew you could talk like that.  It's really great to
meet all of you...  really amazing.  I never expected that in my own class
would be two Sailor Senshi, and one's my best friend!  Oh by the way, what
were you doing with that computer, Ami?" she asked Mercury.  "It was pointed
at me."

    "Oh, it was my idea", said Usagi.  "I don't want to tell you secrets and
have our enemies find out because they're listening in or they're disguised as
you or something.  So I asked Ami to scan for that.  It was the only sensible
way to do it."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Of course, Naru wasn't the only one who had to be told.  There was at
least Miss Haruna, and Usagi's parents, and her brother.

    But if she told her family, there was something they could do.  Usagi's
mother and father could tell her to quit being a Senshi.  Because it's
dangerous.  And they'd be right.  What could she say to them?  "Nobody's died
or gotten hurt yet, but yeah, they could have"?  She might be forced to stop
being Sailor Moon.  So telling her parents was out.  She'd already told
Naru-chan, so unless she wanted the whole class to know--something she was
still unsure about--the next person to tell would have to be Haruna.

    Usagi planned to do it before school.  It didn't work, because while
recently Usagi's brain had actually gotten some use, it would take far more
than that to get her to school early.  So she ended up having to talk to her at
the end of the day.

    "Miss Haruna?"

    "Yes, Usagi?"

    "Can I speak to you in private?  It's very important.  I want to know if
you can keep a secret."

    "I'm not one of your classmates, Usagi.  Why wouldn't I keep a secret?"

    "Well, teacher, you did try to read a love letter I was writing.  Remember
that?"

    "I always have to use my judgment.  But I don't think you'd say anything
that I'd have to tell anyone else."

    "Like my parents?"

    "Usagi, is this really something you need to hide from your parents?  If
it's like that, I can't promise you anything.  Usagi, I have to know what it
is.  I'll do what I can to keep it secret, but there are things that people
like me have an obligation to talk about."

    That didn't sound good.  But Usagi would have to risk it, if she didn't
want a slight change in the Dark Kingdom's plans--like sending out youmas
during school hours--to make her fail all her subjects.  "Can we go to an
office somewhere?"

    "I think I can do that...  say, Usagi, you're *sure* you're feeling okay,
aren't you?"

                                *   *   *   *   *

    In the safety of the office, Usagi explained.  "I'm secretly Sailor Moon."

    "What an interesting story", said Miss Haruna.  "It could be a little
longer, though.  I was expecting more than four words."

    "I mean it!  I'm really Sailor Moon!  Moon Prism Power, MAKE UP!"

    Haruna watched the transformation, amazed.  "You're Sailor Moon!"

    Sailor Moon waited.

    "I suppose I'm saying the obvious", added Haruna.  She laughed a little.

    "I suppose you are.  Miss Haruna, I don't want to ruin the class or
anything like that, but I might need to be late or miss class because I need
to save someone, or worse.  Could you cover for me?  And Ami too?  Please?"

    "Oh, I...  hahaha...  Sure, Usagi.  Hahaha....."

    "Ms. Haruna, are you sure you're feeling okay?"  Usagi put her hand on
her teacher's forehead.

    She brushed it away.  "Usagi, did you know it's pretty rude to put your
hand on someone's forehead like that?  Anyway I'm fine.  I won't tell your
parents, and I can do a lot better than that.  You've never met my sister,
Natsuna, right?"

    "No, teacher."

    "She's the chief of police.  She's also a huge, huge, fan of Sailor V.
It's almost like you teenagers act towards idol singers."

    "Wow!  That's really impressive!  She must really like Sailor V!"

    "She wants to get Sailor V to work for her.  She calls her every chance
she gets to ask.  And here you are, a Sailor Senshi, just coming up to me, not
to her...  I'm sure if you spoke with her she could arrange something even
better than just being excused from class.  Especially if you brought Sailor V
with you."

    "We don't know her.  We've been trying to find her.  She's a missing member
of our team."

    "Well, then she'll probably ask you to talk to Sailor V to try to get her
to join the police.  Maybe you should join too."

    "Maybe we will", replied Sailor Moon.

    "It would make her so happy and excited."

    "Boy, you make her sound like a really cool person."

    "You and her would probably get along great.  Much to everyone else's
dissatisfaction."

                                *   *   *   *   *

    Meanwhile, Queen Beryl was finally getting her act together.  Jadeite's
early defeat had abruptly ended the Dark Kingdom's supply of energy.  She
barely even had enough to awaken another Dark Kingdom soldier.  But if she
didn't want to lose, a millennium after the defeat of Serenity, she would have
to.  Her resources would be stretched thin, but she had no choice.  "Arise,
Nephrite", she said, and the man sat up from his crystal prison and stretched.
"Get me energy for Metallia and for the Kingdom", she said.  And Nephrite
bowed to her.  "As you wish, my Queen.  Through the stars I will find the
person in the city with the most energy...  the Dark Kingdom shall reign
forever more."

    Though not if Usagi could help it.