001 - Beginnings

Prompt: 001 - Beginnings
Rating: A
Characters: Makoto (with references to the other members of the Sailor Team and the Chibi Sailor Team)

It had been a long time since she had thought back to the start of it all. Makoto idly stirred her coffee, resting her cheek on her fingertips. She was alone in the kitchen of the Crystal Palace---amazingly alone. Usually the enormous chef's dream space was bustling with activity; there were more than twelve assistants on duty in the kitchen on a normal day. At the moment, however, no-one was working; it was just a lazy weekend afternoon. Echoing down the hallways, the brunette could hear the bright laughter coming from the children; that was the only noise that illuminated the white silence.

It felt like only a few days, but it had been far, far longer than that. Hundreds of years had passed since the girls had arrived at the Crystal Palace, but they were still so young. It was odd...they aged at approximately the same rate as Small Lady. Ami still had her theories about the impact of the Silver Crystal, but nothing had been proven.

Personally, Makoto didn't care. She loved it. Small Lady wasn't home very often; Neo-Queen Serenity was always sending her off to train in the past. The children cleared up the prevailing solemnity and calmness. One could always hear them, scampering down the marble hallways, giggling and chattering to one-another.

Their arrival was still a bit of a mystery. To be honest, they had just...appeared: four small babies with glowing planetary symbols on their foreheads. Ami had insisted upon analyzing them, although Neo-Queen Serenity expressed discomfort initially wary. With gentle persuasion, however, the scientific Ami won over the trepidations of the queen. It was then they had discovered that the four girls were derivative clones---of themselves. At first, it had been an eerie thing to get used to, but it hardly seemed out of the ordinary now. Makoto thought of them as her daughters and nieces, and it seemed that the others felt the same way.

"Makoto-mama!" called a young, boisterous voice, interrupting her quiet memories, "Is it lunchtime yet?"

The tall brunette chuckled to herself and stood up from the table, heading over to the preparation areas of the kitchen. Without any real conscious thought, her mind mulled over ideas for lunch. Maybe today she would make them grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup...

As she gathered up the various ingredients and preheated the enormous gas griddle built into the massive stovetop, she leaned back to issue a response down the corridor.

"Wash your hands, girls---lunch will be ready in a few minutes!"