“Kazeko”

 

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By kazeko

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Title: Kazeko

Author: kazeko [ginnokonekochan@yahoo.com]

Chapters: 20

Rating: M15

Show: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

Series: prequel to “Chronicles of the Star Senshi”

Couples: Haruka/Michiru, Rei/Minako, Usagi/Mamoru, Makoto/Ami, Setsuna/Ailan

Time: About 6 years after Sailor Stars

Summary: Haruka and Michiru’s wedding has more consequences than any of the senshi could ever have guessed.

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all the characters thereof belong to Takeuchi Naoko and all companies with which she is associated: Toei, Kodansha, Pioneer/Geneon in America. I own the parents of the senshi from ‘The Last Sacrifice’ and their reborn spirits, any Cupids mentioned, all crystals except the ginzuishou, the Guardian of the Balance, the shadow-wraiths, and Michiru and Haruka’s daughter.

 

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Chapter 1: Ai no Uta

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Haruka looked at herself in the full-length mirror in the spare bedroom, smoothing down the white dress shirt over her semi-flat chest and reaching for her vest.  She stared at her strong hand, long fingers, slight tan, toughened by years of throwing around massive amounts of energy as Sailor Uranus and wielding an incredibly powerful sword.  She turned her long hand over, looking at her finely lined palm, remembering back to the days when she was a student at Mugen Gakuen, when she was looking for the talismans hidden in her pure heart crystal, when all she could see was blood.  In her mind, she heard her beloved Michiru’s words of comfort from those days: “Don’t worry, Haruka; I like your hands.”

 

Haruka pulled her hand to her chest and held it, brilliant green eyes sparkling, a slow smile spreading across her face.  Michiru.  Gods, but she loved that woman.  She had known her since Junior High, since she discovered that she shared a destiny with the most beautiful woman in the world.  And now that they had finished not only High School but also college and were preparing for their own new careers, she and Michiru could be much more than mere girlfriends, Senshi partners in service to their young princess.  Pulling her attention back to the task at hand, Haruka slipped her arms into her vest and pulled on her dark navy jacket.

 

“Ruka?”

 

“I’m ready when you are,” Haruka called back, looking at the closed bedroom door where her lover was dressing, knowing that her Michi was not yet ready.  That was fine with her.  Haruka checked the clock before picking up the one piece of jewelry Michiru had given her, one of the few necklaces she consented to wear.  It was a beautiful dark gold piece of amber, colorful iridescent scales buried in the depths of the petrified sap roughly forming the symbol of Uranus.  It gave Haruka a sense of power to hold the lifeblood of a tree that had been extinct for hundreds of thousands of years.  The piece of amber, almost a perfect heart shape, hung from a golden chain that sparkled in the light of the guest room where Haruka had been exiled when Michiru wanted to dress alone, away from her lover’s amorous hands and time-wasting plans.  Haruka fastened the chain around her neck, glancing at her reflection in the mirror once more.  The dark navy suit made the tall tomboy look even taller, and her short boots reminded her of her Sailor fuku.  She ran a hand through her short blonde hair, watching it fall back into place, revealing the tiny hoop earrings she always wore.

 

“I am now.  Coming, Ruka, or should I call a taxi?”

 

“If it comes to that,” Haruka laughed, “you can drive yourself.”  She exited the guest room, knowing that Michiru wasn’t out of the bedroom yet.  Setsuna had taken Hotaru shopping with Usagi, Mamoru, and the Inner Senshi, giving Haruka and Michiru time to perform at the diner they frequented before they all met for dinner at their favorite restaurant.  They only had one performance before the meeting, and they were going to be late if a certain violinist didn’t hurry up.  The subject of the pianist’s thoughts coughed discreetly behind her, closing their bedroom door, and the taller woman turned slowly to look at her.

 

She gasped.

 

In the years since Haruka had met the aqua-haired beauty, Michiru had grown from a stunning young lady just discovering her sexual potential to a drop-dead gorgeous woman fully aware of her effect on all men and her lover Haruka.  Her hair, longer than it had been when two Junior High students met each other on a dusty racetrack so long ago and so far away, now rippled down her back like a shimmering waterfall, just caressing her slender waist.  Her pale blue dress hemmed in lavender and covered in tiny white flowers hugged her breasts and hips; sleeveless, with a low neckline and virtually no back, the dress accented her sea-blue hair and deep sapphire eyes.  Her white skin seemed to glow with an inner light that had nothing to do with her immense Senshi powers, and Haruka could feel the joy pulsing off her girlfriend in waves.  Kaiou Michiru smiled at the blonde, tilting her head in amusement.  “See anything you like, Haruka?”  She fingered the aquamarine pendant hanging from her slender neck before turning her attention back to her lover.

 

Haruka nodded, swallowing.  “Beautiful,” she managed.  “I don’t think I’m dressed well enough to escort you tonight.”

 

Michiru laughed as she threaded her arm through Haruka’s, pointing her girlfriend toward the door and the car outside.  “Flattery will get you nowhere, Ruka, however, a kiss and I’m all yours.”  She smiled at the expression on her girlfriend’s face as they reached the door.  “On a more serious note, you look very handsome tonight, Haruka.  I wouldn’t go with anyone else.”

 

The two women had attended the same arts college for four years, both majoring in music and visual art.  Haruka told everybody that she wasn’t much of an artist, but her lover disagreed, and after the world returned to normal following Haruka’s wish more than six years earlier, Michiru encouraged the racer’s artistic talent.  Now their paintings were always displayed in one exhibit, and Haruka had received many medals and much fame, especially since most of the world thought that she was a man and her paintings were fairly delicate and “feminine.”  They also performed concerts together and had toured Japan many times since High School, even doing two overseas trips.  Their fame did not tempt them long, and the famous Kaiou-Ten’ou duet never failed to perform for the customers at their favorite nightclub at least once a month.

 

The drive to the club was silent, both women lost in their own thoughts.  Michiru kept glancing over at Haruka, wondering why the taller woman was so uncharacteristically nervous and unusually reserved.  She had never expressed any fear at not being good enough for Michiru, except for the little incident with the wish.  It was just a performance at their favorite old haunt, not a concert for the emperor and his family.  It was no different from their hundreds of other duets, and Haruka had written three of the songs they were to perform.  She should be a little apprehensive that the customers would not like her music, though they always did, but that was not the sense Michiru was getting from her lover.  It was almost like Haruka was afraid of her partner, and that made no sense at all to the aqua-haired woman.  It wasn’t their anniversary, it wasn’t anyone’s birthday, and it wasn’t a holiday.  So why was tonight so very special?  What could it possibly be?  Haruka’s mind remained closed to her partner.

 

The silent blonde could see her hands shaking almost imperceptibly on the steering wheel, palms sweating uncontrollably.  She had fought enemy after enemy as Sailor Uranus, including the Messiah of Silence, Nehelenia, and Galaxia, but she had never trembled.  She died, Michiru by her side, after sacrificing herself and betraying her princess for the sake of the mission, but she was never afraid.  Desperate to calm her nerves, Haruka rested her hand on the gearshift, letting the purring rhythm and vibrations of her car soothe her shattered nerves.  She jumped as Michiru’s warm hand slid over hers, glancing over at the younger woman.  “Michi?”

 

Michiru stared straight ahead, smiling, letting the warmth and reassurance of her hand provide Haruka with the support she so desperately needed.  Haruka relaxed, letting her thoughts calm and her worries blow away with the wind as the pair sped toward their destination.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Michiru and Haruka finished the song, both bowing, the aqua-haired woman reluctantly letting her mind return to the mundane plane from its flight with Haruka far above the earth.  In the past, before she met her soulmate, Michiru’s spirit wandered alone during her performances, and she always knew that she was missing something.  With Haruka, though, she felt complete, their minds and spirits so closely linked that neither felt complete without the other.  The muted applause as the music faded was the rowdiest the small, elegant nightclub would support, but the only person that mattered to Michiru was her partner standing at the piano.  Haruka bowed again, gesturing for Michiru to wait before leaving the stage.  She took center stage and cleared her throat, waiting for the noise to die down.

 

“Michiru and I have been performing together at least since we began High School seven years ago, and we have been playing duets here almost that long, certainly before I became known for the piano.  That is why I chose this diner for tonight.”  Michiru looked at her lover, eyebrows raised, as the tall blonde turned to face her.  “Michiru, we have been together for a long time, and I would like for ‘a long time’ to become ‘forever’.”  She crouched down on one knee, pulling a small blue box out of her pocket, watching as Michiru’s sapphire eyes filled with tears.  The aqua-haired senshi swallowed, hands flying to her mouth as she began to shake her head almost imperceptibly in wonder. 

 

Haruka opened the box.

 

A sigh spread through the room at the absolute beauty of the ring that shone brightly enough to be visible to every patron of the diner.  “Aishiteru, Michiru,” the blonde senshi whispered.  “Will you marry me?”

 

Absolute silence reigned in the diner as Haruka held her breath, blood pounding in her ears, heart beating as fiercely as if she had just run a marathon, her entire world hanging on her lover’s answer.  She could feel the other diners leaning forward in their seats, praying for her.

 

Michiru reached out one trembling hand, finger just barely brushing across the tiny diamond flower on the golden band, and her sudden half-sob broke the tension in the room.  “Yes,” she whispered, tears running down her cheeks.  “Kami-sama, yes, Haruka.”

 

The blonde pulled the delicate ring out of the box and slipped it on Michiru’s slender finger, biting her lip until it was safely on.  She had been so afraid that it wouldn’t fit.

 

Suddenly overwhelmed by the sheer reality of her lover’s answer, Haruka shot to her feet and pulled Michiru into her arms, kissing her as cheers sounded through the formerly quiet room.  Gods she loved this woman!

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 2: Senshi no Ai

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Usagi sipped her drink, glancing up at the door and back at her watch.  The time was passing quickly, the time for the rendezvous was passed, and two of the most punctual among them were late.  “Where are Haruka-san and Michiru-san?”

 

“Osoi, ne,” Rei sighed.  Glancing at the Senshi of Love, Mars grinned, a sudden image flashing into her mind.  “Maybe they got distracted.”

 

The women, all about twenty-two, laughed, and even Setsuna covered her mouth to hide her mirth.  Mamoru groaned slightly at the light in his fiancée’s eyes and looked outside, pretending not to notice the turn of the conversation.  He sat up straighter, the motion silencing the Senshi gathered in the booth, as a familiar yellow—gold, the owner insisted—convertible pulled up outside the parlor.  Haruka and Michiru stepped out, the latter smiling a little more than her cheerful usual, and the former wearing an uncharacteristic half-smile on her lips.  Michiru’s head was resting on Haruka’s shoulder, and the taller woman had an arm wrapped securely around her girlfriend’s waist.

 

Mamoru let out a low whistle, a sentiment echoed by the women sitting with him.  “Wow,” Usagi whispered, blue eyes wide.  “They’ve never been so . . . demonstrative in public before.”

 

Ami grinned, more at Usagi’s correct use of a rather large and complicated word than at the beautiful couple.  “Something must have happened at that diner.”

 

Setsuna’s red eyes shone as a smile spread across her face.  Hotaru looked at the taller of her mothers, and excitement spread through her thin frame.  She knew that something very important had happened and that her life would change somehow.  She couldn’t wait to find out how.

 

Haruka and Michiru entered the parlor, eyes widening as they were surrounded by five women almost out of their respective colleges and their little purple-eyed daughter, all demanding an explanation at once.  They finally sat down, and a shared tension and anticipation spread through the small group, silence infecting their small corner of the Crown Parlor as four pairs of blue eyes, one pair of green eyes, one pair of red eyes, one pair of dark purple eyes, and one pair of purple-grey eyes watched the new arrivals.  Haruka glanced down at Michiru, indicating that the secret was hers to tell.

 

Slowly, enjoying the moment of suspense, Michiru released Haruka’s arm and held out her left hand.  Seven pairs of eyes widened, and Setsuna closed hers, smiling her mysterious secret smile.  “Just like the old days.”

 

Then the girls exploded, demanding explanations and a description of exactly what happened and how.  Haruka and Michiru sat down, and Michiru looked at Usagi as the blonde took her hand, examining the tiny flower.  “It’s beautiful,” the young princess whispered, her own pink heart engagement ring sparkling from her left ring finger.  She and Mamoru had been engaged since she started high school, before they even knew about Galaxia, but they had decided not to get married until both had started their careers after college.  The Moon Princess could barely wait.

 

“But where will you get married?”

 

Everyone turned to the pair at Minako’s question, and Haruka shrugged.  “I don’t know, Minako-chan.  We haven’t discussed that yet.”

 

“What about my shrine?”

 

The miko smiled as all eyes turned to her, shrugging slightly.  “Well, I would like it.  You could have any kind or combination of wedding ceremony you want because all the government really cares about is that piece of paper, ne?”

 

Haruka decided to let Michiru choose, smiling when the aqua-haired woman nodded.  Hikawa Shrine, then.  Usagi smiled, frowning when her stomach let off the most amazing growling sound.  “Oh, I am so hungry.”

 

“What do you mean, ‘you’re hungry’?” Haruka demanded, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.  “This is one of the most important days of my life and all you can think about is your stomach?”

 

Rei laughed.  “Eight years later, and you haven’t changed at all, Usagi.”  She smiled, the love everyone knew she felt for their leader in her eyes, and the senshi laughed.  Surrendering to the inevitable, the women and Mamoru ordered supper, putting off the wedding talk until it could be heard above certain loud stomachs.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“I never expected it.”

 

Ami laughed.  “Neither did I.  They’ve been together for longer than we’ve known them, but they never mentioned marriage or the future together.”  She looked up at Makoto, blue eyes sparkling.  “I wonder who they’ll choose for maid of honor.”

 

“Usagi-chan, of course.  She is our princess and we all love her dearly.  Of course they’ll want her.”

 

“Really, Mako-chan?  Not Setsuna-san?”

 

The brunette shook her head.  “I don’t think so.  She may be a Senshi and she may live with them, but there’s very little any of us know about her.  After all, she still remembers the Silver Millennium because she was there.  She was never reborn, and we were.  I think she lost something, not dying, especially whatever connection she had with us in our past lives.  She could be father of the bride, though, since I’m sure she knew Michiru-san’s.”  Both women laughed, imagining the tall green-haired senshi in a suit, walking Michiru down the aisle.  “I wonder what I’ll wear.”

 

Ami glanced up at Makoto, her arms crossed in front of her as they approached the brunette’s apartment.  “What about that dress you wore to the dance at Mamoru-san’s college when we were still in Junior High?”  She blushed slightly as she remembered the dance she had shared with the taller woman.

 

“I’d think that, after all these years, I could do better than that,” Jupiter laughed as the two senshi stopped in front of her apartment.

 

“I liked it.”

 

Makoto locked eyes with her beautiful best friend at the soft comment, smiling slightly.  “I’m glad you, at least, did.  Thank you for walking me home, Ami-chan.  I enjoyed the company.”

 

The blue-haired girl nodded, not trusting herself to look into Makoto’s emerald eyes.  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mako-chan.”  Without glancing up at her friend, the older woman turned and headed for the elevator, almost running.  Makoto watched her leave, wondering why her best friend was suddenly so nervous.  Shrugging, Makoto entered her lonely apartment, tossing her jacket at the couch on the way to her closet.  Opening her closet, Makoto pulled out the black dress with the huge rose on the front that she had worn to the dance years earlier.  She held it in front of her, looking at her reflection in the full-length mirror, frowning as she remembered how the dance had started.  No one had wanted to dance with her because she was so tall.

 

“Then, will you dance with me?”

 

Makoto’s frown blossomed into a smile as she remembered following Ami onto the dance floor, remembering the feel of the smaller woman’s hand in hers.  She could see the other guests moving to one side, giving her and Ami a place to dance, she could feel the slight woman’s weight as she lifted her high above her head.  Dancing with Ami had felt so . . . right, and being with Ami made Makoto feel more complete than spending time with any of her boyfriends had.  Ami understood her so completely, accepted her no matter what, and never judged her.  They were friends, they were partners, and Ami would never, ever leave her.  The smaller woman was so kind and considerate, and Makoto knew that she would never have to hide anything from the Water Senshi, no matter how long they lived.

 

Makoto smiled at her reflection as the sun set, lost in thought.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Minako laughed as she raced Rei up the stairs of the Hikawa Shrine, letting the raven-haired miko win as her two crows watched them from the gate of the temple.  She pulled her opponent into a friendly embrace when they met at the top of the hill while both struggled to catch their breath.  “Can you believe that Haruka-san and Michiru-san are getting married?”

 

“Finally,” Rei added, knowing the blonde’s thought as they walked toward the Hikawa Shrine.  “I would think that you, of all people, would have figured it out, Minako-chan, Senshi of Love,” the shrine maiden added.

 

Minako laughed as she bounced down the path beside Rei.  “Honestly, Rei-chan, I was a little too preoccupied with my own love life to notice theirs.”

 

Rei glanced at her companion, a wild sparkle in her purple-grey eyes.  “Ah, the goddess of love has someone?”

 

“Yes, but that someone doesn’t know yet.”

 

Rei led Minako into her room, slipping out of her casual clothes and reaching for the white top and red skirt she wore around the shrine.  She never noticed Minako’s blue eyes avidly watching her every move, drinking in the sight of the beautiful half-dressed woman.  Minako had to keep herself from jumping the miko right then and there, regardless of decency or consequences.  “Do I know this person?”  Hino Rei straightened her incredibly long hair and turned around, unaware of the effect her movements were having on her companion.

 

Minako, shaking her head and swallowing, cleared her throat before she could answer.  “I’m sorry, what?  Strangely enough, whatever I was thinking of just went right out the window.”  I was too busy staring at your gorgeous half-naked body to hear a word that came out of your mouth, Minako added in her mind. 

 

“Do I know the person you have a crush on?”  Rei didn’t seem upset in the least to have to repeat the question.  She was used to it with Usagi.

 

“You do.  But I haven’t figured out how to make his person see my feelings and I really don’t want to tell anyone until I can.”

 

Rei grinned as she turned back to her friend.  She had grown so much and was no longer the reckless hothead she had been when she first met the people she shared a past and a destiny with.  She had become a much gentler person and more understanding of other people’s feelings.  Smiling kindly, she laid a gentle hand on the younger woman’s cheek.  “A person would have to be blind and stupid not to notice you, Minako.  You practically glow with love energy, and anyone would be honored to be allowed to love you.”

 

“Maybe that’s the problem,” the blonde whispered, tears in her eyes and voice that Rei could find no explanation for.  “Maybe I have so much love energy that the people I really care about cannot see that my depth of feelings for them has changed since we met.  Or maybe that person can’t imagine that I would ever look their way.”

 

Rei suddenly realized how much her friend had changed over the years, and she forced herself to note the changes in the shorter woman.  She was vibrant, and Rei realized that she was very jealous of the person Minako had pledged her heart to.  For once, Rei wanted the gods to give her such a wonderful gift.  She wanted Minako, and she pulled her hand away as she thought how unfair that would be to Venus.  “Um, when were you planning on leaving?  You could stay until Grandpa gets home and makes supper; I have a few chores to do, if you’d like to help.”

 

“I’d love to,” Minako whispered, struggling to keep her heart out of her voice.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Rei knelt in front of the sacred fire, her prayers ringing in her ears.  She opened herself to the flames, letting them fill her, complete her, listening for their answer or a vision of the future.  She was also quite desperate to drive Minako from her mind, determined that she would not think about the gorgeous Love Senshi like that.  Her friend was only interested in men, and that was all she ever thought about.  It wasn’t fair for Rei to tell Minako how she felt about her; the blonde deserved a normal life, and the miko could never give her one.  “So stop thinking about her,” Rei growled softly.

 

Rei’s eyes shot open as an image appeared in the flames.  She spun at the sound of Minako entering the room, and both froze.  The look in Rei’s eyes was incredibly powerful, and Minako took a step back, a little frightened.  “Rei?”  No honorific at all.  Rei knew that what she had seen was the truth.

 

“Mi-na-ko,” the miko managed to choke out, the image from the flame flashing through her mind.  “Minako.”

 

And suddenly Minako knew exactly what Rei had seen in the flames.  Minako’s secret love was revealed, and Minako took an involuntary step backward, unable to form comprehensible words.  Rei pounced, somehow managing to leave her kneeling position on the floor and grab Minako’s arm, long fingers wrapping around the blonde’s wrist as she pulled the senshi into her arms, staring into those startled blue eyes.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“Rei,” Minako whispered, eyes wide, her entire body trembling.  The miko loosened her hold for just a moment, and, a golden flash later, Sailor Venus sprang away.  Rei watched her leave, hands clasped to her heart, tears streaking her cheeks.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 3: Onaji Namida wo Wakeatte

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“Minako-chan, I can’t understand you.”

 

“A-and sh-she was s-so angreeeeeee,” the blonde sobbed hysterically, wrapped in Michiru’s comforting arms.  The Sea Senshi helped Minako sit back in the chair and handed her a cup of warm soothing tea.  Aino Minako sipped it, slowly regaining her composure and her ability to speak.

 

“Rei-chan?  Is she the one you’re talking about?”

 

Minako nodded, not quite trusting her voice.  “I didn’t say anything—I couldn’t really say anything—but after the vision she had, I didn’t have to.  She was so angry, and she grabbed me.  I’ve never been afraid of her before.”

 

“Minako-chan, you really didn’t expect to keep it from her, did you?  She can see the future and the truth.  What happened this afternoon was guaranteed to happen one day.  The fire hides nothing from her.”  Minako shook her head slowly, not wanting to believe the older woman’s words, but she knew that the Sea Senshi spoke the truth.  “I think you wanted her to find out and now you don’t know what to do.  I understand how you feel—I watched Haruka long before I had the courage to speak to her.  But once I did and once we ignored our mission long enough to talk about our feelings, I learned that she felt the exact same way I did.  She was just afraid that I wasn’t that kind of girl.  Maybe Rei-chan feels the same way.”

 

“What should I do?”

 

“Just give it some time, then go back to the shrine and tell her how you feel.  Seeing it in a vision and hearing the words are two very different things.  She was probably just as scared and confused as you were.”

 

“What if she never wants to see me again?  I know that we’re both senshi and that we’ll fight side-by-side for at least a thousand more years, but what if she never looks at me again?  I can’t lose her friendship even if I never have her love.”

 

“I don’t think you’ll lose anything with her,” Michiru soothed, refilling Minako’s cup.  “It’s very late, Minako-chan.  Do you want me to drive you home, or would you rather stay the night?  I can fix up this guest room for you.”

 

Minako, who had appeared at the Outers’ house on the outskirts of Tokyo, nodded and smiled at the kind offer.  “I’ll stay; thank you.”

 

“Anytime.  I’ll go tell Haruka, then I’ll return and fix up this room for you.  Why don’t you stay here and think about what I said?”  Michiru left the blonde alone, returning to the living room where Haruka was busily entertaining the second of their surprise guests, the Senshi of Thunder.

 

Kino Makoto was much calmer than Aino Minako and been, more confused than hysterically frightened.  Michiru only caught the last words, but she instantly knew that Makoto and Minako had the same problem.  “And Ami-chan just left.  I don’t know what I did to make her so uncomfortable all of a sudden.”

 

“Maybe Ami-chan is just growing up,” Michiru suggested as she entered the room.  “Haruka, Minako-chan has decided to stay the night.”

 

Haruka nodded as Makoto looked up.  “Minako-chan is here?”

 

“Yes.  She arrived about ten minutes before you as Sailor Venus, extremely upset.  I think you and she have the same problem, if you’d like to go talk to her.  The guest room has two beds, if you’d like to stay.”  Michiru went to get her guests a little food while Makoto went to talk to Minako.  As Michiru passed her, Haruka caught her hand.

 

“Who?”

 

“Rei-chan,” Michiru grinned.

 

“Ami-chan,” Haruka laughed.  “Do you think anything will come of it?”

 

“I hope so, for all of their sakes.”  She giggled as she leaned closer to Haruka, letting their noses touch.  “They’ll be fine as long as you didn’t give Mako-chan any stupid advice.”

 

“Michiru!  Don’t worry; I know what I’m doing!”  She kissed Michiru briefly, pulling the sea senshi into her lap.  “Besides, my advice should work fine for her; after all, she’s after a water senshi, too.  You and Ami-chan are very much alike.”

 

“Bad girl!  Keep your eyes off of those girls.”

 

“Trust me, I only have eyes for you.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Haruka-san!”

 

The blonde smiled at Pluto’s shocked reaction.  “Michiru wants it, but she’s busy finding bridesmaids, so she asked me to come to you.  And you may not be her father, but you must have known the king of Neptune, and you are family.  Besides,” the racer added, a wicked gleam in her emerald eyes, “you look great in a tux.”

 

“Haruka-san!  Honestly!  Don’t you feel guilty for saying such things to me?  What would Michiru-san think if she heard you flirting with me so openly?”

 

“Setsuna-san, guilt is only a fear of being caught, and I always tell Michiru everything.  She’d join me in the teasing of a very beautiful woman, I imagine.”

 

Setsuna blushed, having not expected such a compliment from a woman she had seen charm every type of girl under the sun, including most of the Senshi.  Her mind returned to the Silver Millennium, and she sighed as she remembered the carefree tomboy princess who had looked up to her so long ago.  “I was not invited to your last wedding.”

 

“What?”  Haruka’s green eyes widened, and Setsuna realized that Uranus did not remember very much of her past, especially not her illegal wedding.  She probably didn’t remember much about the end of the Silver Millennium.

 

“Haruka-san, how much of the Silver Millennium do you remember?”

 

Haruka shrugged.  “I remember Michiru a little, I remember falling in love with her, and I remember being a princess.  I think I remember you, too, Setsu-chan.  But everything else is a little fuzzy.”

 

The Guardian of Time smiled at the old nickname.  “And your parents?  Any part of your incredible, prophecy-worthy insane rebellion against the laws, customs, and traditions of the Silver Millennium?”

 

“Wasurenai no desu.  What happened?”

 

Setsuna shook her head sadly, wishing that she could be more honest with her senshi friends and family.  “You know I can’t tell you what you don’t remember, Haruka-san.  Unless you are meant to know, you would not benefit from me telling you.”

 

“And Helios?”

 

Setsuna looked up sharply at the soft words, at the pain in the mother’s voice.  “You . . . Helios?  Haruka-san?”

 

“Would you have denied me the knowledge of my own son, the only child I will ever have with Michiru, the proof of our undying, eternal love?  Would you?”

 

“How do you know about him?”

 

“We met him,” Haruka whispered.  “When we were in Elysion, the very end of the Silver Millennium was very clear to me, but that has since faded.  Helios let it fade.  I don’t even remember how we conceived him.  All I can remember now is that you helped save him.  I remember that he did not die and you know why.”

 

“Haruka-san, try to understand.  I have the power to destroy the timeline that we are in, the one taking us to Crystal Tokyo, and I cannot use that power for fear of changing everything.  You of all people know that even the best intentions can hurt or kill the ones we love.”  Haruka winced at the reminder of her wish, but Setsuna had to make sure that she understood.  “Haruka-san, I had no family back in the Silver Millennium and I lost the only woman I ever loved, the woman I would have given my life for if she would have allowed such a sacrifice.  Your mother died birthing you, and you turned to me as the only woman strong enough for you to look up to.  I loved you like my own daughter then, and I waited centuries for all of you girls to be reborn.  And now that you have, I have a real family for the first time in my long existence.  All of the Senshi are my family, and I couldn’t stand to lose any of you.  Please don’t ask of me what I love you too much to refuse.”

 

Haruka nodded, taking her friend’s hand.  “Okay, Setsu-chan, I won’t ask you about our past again.  Will you be the father of my bride?”

 

Setsuna nodded.  “Okay.”  In her mind, where no one alive could hear, she added, “you have no idea how appropriate that is.  But not you, my favorite Outer.  Maybe I’ll tell all of you one day the truth of the Silver Millennium and those of us who loved and lost at the end of that great kingdom.”  Her mind wandered and fastened on her last memory of Kaiou Tsuyu before the King of Neptune died.  “Her father died not long after your mother did.  You thought it meant that Destiny had a special plan for the two of you.”

 

“And?”

 

Setsuna laughed at her eager young companion.  “If you two had not defied all of the laws and traditions of the Silver Millennium and some older to create Helios, the Golden Crystal would never have had a protector and Earth as we know it would not exist.  Go on, now; your fiancée wants to speak to you.”

 

Haruka, a bit stunned by the revelation that she and Michiru managed to save Earth by defying the orders of the Silver Millennium, left, knowing without a doubt or a second thought where her lover was waiting for her.  Setsuna slowly walked to the window and stared at the scenery outside, at the tress whipping in the breeze, at the clouds floating lazily across the sky, waiting.  The peaceful, lazy scene outside was a marked contrast to her roiling emotions and the turmoil inside that she was barely able to contain when Haruka begged her for answers with those brilliant green eyes.

 

“You’re the one keeping their memories from them.  You buried their memories when the Senshi died in the Silver Millennium and you only released what you could not keep from the ginzuishou.”

 

“Yes, Hotaru-chan.  It’s better for them if they don’t remember the end of the Silver Millennium.  We all did things, horrible things, letting the future happen when we knew the carnage and bloodshed that was to come.”

 

“I remember, Setsuna-mama, and you can’t blame yourself for all that death and destruction back then.  You may have seen it, but you knew from the moment you picked up that Time Staff that Balance set certain rules that you cannot break.  As Sailor Pluto, you can only watch but never alter.”

 

“I know,” Setsuna sighed.  “It doesn’t matter, anyway.  After what happened back then, after Serenity’s birth . . .” She trailed off, tears gathering in her garnet eyes, refusing to let her sorrow leak into her voice.  “After that, and after my beloved’s death, I just stopped caring, I think.  I can watch and I don’t feel anymore.”

 

“But you still love our princess, Setsuna-mama.”  Hotaru might be out of High School, but sometimes she let her childish persona shine through, sparkling deep in her dark purple eyes.  “I’ve seen you protect her, and I’ve seen you look at her.  And you came back in time from the future to save her daughter, to save Chibiusa.”

 

“I didn’t exactly come back in time, I returned here after I saw the damage Galaxia would do to the time stream if I did not bend a few rules and return to this time and place.  But, yes, I do love Serenity—Usagi-chan, Chibiusa . . .”

 

“And the former Queen of the Silver Millennium,” Hotaru finished, her voice soft and shaking with tears.  “How much did you love her?”

 

“More than any senshi had the right to love her,” Setsuna whispered, knowing without a doubt that if she did not end the conversation soon she would not be able to hold back her tears.  “I love . . . I loved her more than my own life, than my duty and destiny, but I was denied the choice granted to every other Senshi.  I was denied the right to die by her side.  She wouldn’t let me die with her.  She forced me to go on living alone, to wait millennia for anyone I knew to be reborn.”

 

“Because she knew that you loved someone else just as fiercely as you loved her.  Who, Setsuna-mama?  Who else could you possibly love that much?”

 

“Usagi.”  The voice came out as a whisper, a sigh, a breath so soft she doubted that the purple-haired girl had heard her.  She couldn’t say anymore, knowing that if she opened her mouth again she would break Queen Serenity’s trust and reveal that which must remain secret for all time, beyond the bounds and rules of Balance.

 

“I think you love her more than we do, more than we can, and I can’t figure out why.  What is she to you Setsuna-mama?”

 

Setsuna clenched one fist by her side, a motion that did not go unnoticed by her senshi companion.  “More than you can ever know.  She’s my princess, as precious to me as my queen.”

 

“Will you ever tell her?”

 

Setsuna looked over her shoulder at the thin girl, and Hotaru took an involuntary step back at the pain and despair in those tear-sparkling garnet depths.  “No,” she whispered, the weight of the Universe resting on her sturdy yet frail shoulders, the fear and responsibility threatening to overwhelm her at any moment.  “Never.”

 

Hotaru, frightened by that small glimpse into Setsuna’s soul, backed out of the bedroom, suddenly wondering just what had happened to Meiou Setsuna in the Silver Millennium to scar her so. 

 

Setsuna stood there long after her adopted daughter left, long after the sun sank below the curving horizon, long after the memories of her life as the Queen of Pluto faded back into her mind with the rest of her memories from the past, present, and future.  Tears were streaming down her face, but she never wiped them away, still standing there hours later as the stars and planets rose, Uranus and Neptune hanging near each other in the star-studded sky.  Moonlight filled the sky, and she stepped onto her own private porch, looking over her shoulder at the crescent moon, golden Venus hanging near its bottom point, Mars a fiery red spot opposite the Moon, Mercury vanishing beneath the horizon, Jupiter and Saturn hanging above Uranus and Neptune.  Fuzzy Neptune was so faint that she had to strain, even with her enhanced senshi vision, to see it, but her own planet was invisible.  She could sense it in the sky, calling to her, begging her to return to the peace and solitude her rocky planet offered, but she resisted the call.  There was nothing for her there but more tears and more pain, and there was someone still on Earth she had to protect.  She could not fail her beloved’s daughter.  She could not fail her . . . no, she would not even think it.  She had no bond to Usagi, beyond the love she bore toward her lover’s child.  Her dead lover’s child.  Tears filled her eyes.

 

Sighing, briefly wondering why all of the planets were displayed for her to see, Setsuna turned away and returned to her room.  She stretched out in her bed, pulling the dark blanket over her slender, shaking form, knowing that there would be no peace for her that night and that she would never be able to relax and enter dreamland.  She cried silently all night, but she never fell asleep.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 4: Usagi no senshi

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Usagi watched her friends set up for the wedding, her blue eyes missing nothing.  Makoto watched Ami’s every move, while the blue-haired senshi refused to look at the brunette who had once been her closest and most trusted friend.  Makoto tried to work near Ami, but the genius always found some reason to leave.  It was almost as if she was afraid to let the thunder senshi speak, as if she didn’t trust their friendship anymore.  But why not?  What happened?

 

The relationship between Minako and Rei was even more strained, and Usagi could feel the tension between the two who had once been inseparable.  The miko, who tried to be everywhere at once for the sake of her shrine, made sure that ‘everywhere’ was no more than twenty feet from Venus at all times.  Minako looked away whenever her blue eyes happened to meet Rei’s purple-gray ones, and Usagi knew that the glint in the eyes of the Inner Senshi leader was tears.

 

Usagi found her boyfriend setting up chairs with Motoki, Hotaru, and Reika, and she waited until his hands were empty before pulling him to one side.  She looked out at the women again, her thoughts spinning, and jumped when Mamoru waved a hand in front of her face.  “Sorry, I’m having a bit of trouble focusing right now.  Mamo-chan, there is something very wrong with my Inner Senshi.”

 

Mamoru looked around, easily noticing the strange actions of the younger women working to prepare the shrine yard for the ceremony.  “Did they fight?”

 

“No, Mamo-chan; I would know.  Usagi took the tablecloth Motoki held and helped him spread it out on the appropriate table.  Mamoru watched her, as always amazed by the blonde’s new maturity.  She had grown up so much since the day he met her seven years ago, the fateful day a test marked “30%” landed on his head.  Now she was a graceful woman who never failed tests, backed down from her responsibilities, released projectiles to attack unsuspecting passer-bys, or tripped on her own feet.  She was a beautiful young princess, coming into her powers faster than she could keep up, and he couldn’t wait to marry her.

 

And he suddenly knew exactly why the senshi were acting so strangely.

 

“Usako,” he whispered, laying a gentle hand on the blonde’s arm.  “I think I know why they are acting strangely,” he continued when she looked up.  “Perhaps this is one problem that their princess cannot solve for them.  Give them some time to work it out for themselves.”

 

Usagi bit her lip, watching the other senshi set up for the wedding.  “Okay.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“And?”

 

“Usagi-chan!”  Ami blushed, eyes sparkling.  “I never expected them to ask me.”

 

“We’re their friends and their family, the only people who know about their past in the Silver Millennium.  They asked all four Inners, Ami-chan.”

 

“And you, Usagi-chan?”

 

The blonde princess blushed.  “Um, Michiru-san asked me to be the maid of honor.”

 

“Usagi-chan, that’s wonderful!”

 

Blue eyes met blue.  “You aren’t surprised?”

 

“I’m not,” a familiar raven-haired priestess answered as she appeared beside Ami and Usagi.  “They love you as we love you.  Who else deserves this honor?”

 

Usagi smiled up at her friend, knowing the depth of the miko’s feelings.  “I know, Rei.”  Mars smiled.

 

Minako watched the exchange and winced, looking away as a sharp pain spread from her heart into the rest of her body.  She had been so wrong.  Rei was a lost cause.  She had no chance against the Princess of the Moon.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Makoto knocked on the carved wooden panel, smiling when Ami’s mother, Mizuno Kae, opened the door.  “Hello, Mizuno-san.  Is Ami-chan home?”

 

“Yes, she is.  Shall I tell her that you’re here?”

 

“No, thank you, that won’t be necessary.  I’ll just go upstairs and see her myself.”  Makoto entered the house, smiling at Ami’s mother as the doctor returned to whatever she had been doing before the brunette arrived.  Makoto slipped her shoes off and slid her feet into the green slippers she kept at Ami’s house.  They had intricate green oak leaves embroidered on the edges and a blue-white lightning bolt on the toes, a subtle reminder of her second nature.  Picking up the small bundle she had brought as a present for her best friend, she headed upstairs.

 

She knocked on Ami’s door, grinning unrepentantly at the sound of books dropping.  A soft, nearly inaudible curse preceded the distracted, “Come in.”

 

Makoto entered, closing the door softly behind her, smiling as she watched Ami desperately try to gather the books that fell off her desk.  “Sorry,” she apologized, not yet looking up.  “I was busy . . .”  She trailed off, sapphire eyes widening as she looked up at Makoto.  “I didn’t know you were coming.”

 

“I was afraid you might not still be here if I called ahead,” Makoto admitted softly, desperate for Ami to open up to her, to be the friend she had been before Haruka and Michiru’s engagement.  She held out the small bag, a smile spreading across her face.  “I brought you a snack; I know you haven’t eaten.”

 

“You always know what I need.  Arigatou, Mako-chan.”  Ami, seeing that Makoto wasn’t at all upset about her running away days earlier, gestured for the taller woman to sit beside her on the floor, pushing her many medical books away to clear sufficient space.  She smiled at the variety of foods that Makoto knew she liked, as the brunette gestured for her to eat.  “It’s very good, Mako-chan, as always.”

 

“Ami-chan, why have you been avoiding me?”

 

Ami swallowed and put the snack down, looking away.  “I don’t know what to tell you.”

 

“What are you afraid of?”

 

“You,” Ami whispered, her voice so soft that Makoto wasn’t sure she had heard correctly.

 

“Me?”  Makoto was a bit shocked at the admission, though she realized that she had expected something like that.  “Because I might not feel the same way you do?”  Ami looked up, shocked, her eyes wide.  Makoto smiled and let her hand come to rest on Ami’s soft cheek, wondering if she was doing it correctly.  Haruka had mentioned something about actions speaking louder than words, especially where feelings were concerned.

 

Ami opened her mouth, and words poured forth, words she had never meant to say but now it was too late to stop the flow, just as she could not hold her tears.  “We’ve known each other for years, Mako-chan, and you were always so nice to me, and I know that I don’t deserve your friendship, and I really enjoyed that dance!  I’ve thought about it every day since, and all I wanted to do is dance with you again.”  She looked down, her tears flowing over Makoto’s hand and blurring her vision.  “I’m a lesbian, Mako-chan, but you are always talking about your old senpai and you’ve been searching for the perfect man since we first met you.  I didn’t think it would be fair for me to tell you.”

 

“And you think it’s fair,” Makoto whispered, her voice a soft purr, “to never tell me how you feel?  After you left my apartment, I went to ask Haruka-san why you ran away from me.  When she told me that you were only afraid of me because you were attracted to me, I was confused and a bit uncertain at first.”  Makoto laughed, and Ami looked up into sparkling emerald eyes.  “You’re nothing like my old senpai, and I don’t think that matters to me anymore.  But, you’re forgetting one thing: that I’m in love with you.”

 

Ami moved her lips, but no sound emerged.  “L-love?” she finally managed.  “You love me?”

 

“I think I always have.  I kept telling everyone that I was looking for a man because I didn’t want to believe that I was looking for a woman.  For you, Ami.”  There was no honorific, no –san or –chan.  Just Ami.

 

“Me?  My emerald-eyed thunder god wants me?”

 

Makoto blushed at the smaller woman’s words.  “Thunder god?  You really think about me like that?”

 

“I think about you a lot,” Ami whispered, a slight blush tinting her cheeks.  “I think of a lot of names for you, Jupiter, especially when we’re fighting.”

 

Makoto leaned forward and lightly kissed Ami’s pink lips, feeling the smaller woman open up to her.  She tasted like sweet peaches.  Ami giggled, and Makoto grinned, pulling away.  “You are nothing like my old senpai,” she smiled.  “I love you.”

 

“I love you, too, Mako-chan.  Makoto.  And that’s why I ran away.  Because I was afraid that you wouldn’t love me.”

 

Makoto pulled Ami into her arms and leaned back against the wall, kicking the genius’s books out of her way so she could stretch out her long legs.  For once, the blue-haired woman didn’t complain, content to let Makoto hold her.  They sat there like that for a long time, Makoto gently stroking Ami’s hair and cheeks, remembering all the time they spent together in High School, kissing the smaller woman’s neck when she felt the urge.

 

Ami suddenly giggled again, jumping up in a very un-Ami move and pulling Makoto to her feet with one hand, laughing as the brunette lost her balance and had to catch herself on the wall.  “Ami?”

 

“Let’s go somewhere, Mako-chan!”

 

“Where?”

 

“I don’t care!  I just want to show you off.”

 

Makoto wrapped an arm around Ami’s waist and pulled her close.  “There isn’t anywhere we can go that people don’t already know us.  There isn’t anywhere new.”

 

“There is for us as a couple,” Ami whispered, her breath warming Makoto’s neck.  “I am so tired of my room.”

 

“A date, Ami?”

 

Mercury smiled and Jupiter recognized the new maturity in the woman’s eyes.  “A date, Makoto.”  The brunette laughed as she was dragged from the room, following her best friend—her girlfriend?—out the door, laughing.  She hadn’t been so very happy in a long time.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 5: Meiousei no Himitsu

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Rei, lost in her own lonely thoughts, never noticed when she passed by the Crown Arcade.  After all, she passed it every day either when heading home or when she met her friends for a snack.  Heading home from her visit to the nearby bookstore in an unsuccessful attempt to find a new book on astrology she had heard about, Rei wasn’t paying that much attention to the people in the window of the diner until her mind registered who she had seen.  She stopped still, the pedestrian behind her swerving just in time to avoid hitting her, her mind trying desperately to process the scene.  She turned around, eyes flying to the window, and she gasped.

 

“Ami-chan . . . Mako-chan . . .”

 

Makoto and Ami were sitting in the customary senshi booth, sipping their drinks, no books in front of Ami (which was very strange), just staring at each other.  Every now and then, one of them would smile or laugh, then the other would, then they’d just stare some more.

 

The silence said it all.

 

Rei could sense the love binding her friends, even without her psychic abilities, and she felt her heart twinge.  She felt a warmth on her cheeks, and she reached up, her eyes straying away from the pair in the window.  Tears.  Rei fell against the side of the building utterly silent, as tears ran down her cheeks.  She had never felt such a painful loneliness fill her, and she wondered why seeing her friends together made her cry.

 

“Rei-san?”

 

Rei looked up as Setsuna knelt beside her, and the Senshi of time recoiled from the pain in her young friend’s gray-purple eyes.  Something in those depths reminded Setsuna of the fire in the young Princess of Mars just before the end of the Silver Millennium.  “Why?  I was happy once, Setsuna-san.  I remember being happy.  But it was so long ago and it’s fuzzy and I don’t remember who.  Why does seeing Mako-chan and Ami-chan together make me sad?  I should be happy; I want to be happy again.”

 

Setsuna looked up into the window and a strange smile spread across her face.  “I wondered if they would ever get back together again.  They’ve been very close friends for a very long time.”

 

“Back together?”  Rei looked up, her voice a soft whispered hinting at something much darker underneath.  Setsuna remembered that darkness, too.  “They . . . they were lovers in the Silver Millennium?”

 

“You all had lovers.  You don’t think you senshi could be the guardians of love and justice if you never experienced love, do you?”

 

Rei shook her head, angrily wiping away her tears.  She was getting more and more angry with every word that came out of Setsuna’s mouth, sensing a truth abut the Senshi of Time she had never suspected.  “But Serenity and Endymion remember their love.  Why wouldn’t we?”

 

“Their love was destiny, Rei-san.”

 

“And mine wasn’t?  I didn’t find my soulmate?  I don’t deserve to remember being happy?  I don’t deserve to be with my lover ever again?  I think you should explain yourself!  Now!  What about Haruka-san and Michiru-san?”

 

Setsuna couldn’t help but smile at the memory of two rebellious princesses, never sensing the trap she was falling into.  “Oh, yes.  They were lovers back then.  We had so much trouble trying to keep them apart; eventually we gave up.”

 

“And they remembered it.”

 

Setsuna, never expecting a trick from the miko, quickly answered the question.  Later she would berate herself for letting her guard down around the younger senshi; she was getting far too old for mind games.  “Yes, because they were destined, too.  Serenity and Endymion were meant to one day have Small Lady, and Michiru-san and Haruka-san already . . .”  She trailed off, staring into two very powerful and calculating lavender eyes.

 

“Do Haruka-san and Michiru-san also have a child?  Is that why they remember and we do not?”

 

Setsuna flinched, shying away from the most direct answer, finally realizing that path Rei was trying to lead her down.  It was a path she could not take.  “They do not remember everything.  None of you do, except Hotaru-chan.  She’s been reborn so many times that I couldn’t . . .”

 

“Again with the trailing off, Setsuna-san,” Rei whispered, her soft voice very, very dangerous.  “Why don’t you tell me what happened back then?”

 

“It’s against the rules,” she murmured unconvincingly.

 

“Why don’t you break them?”

 

“I don’t break the rules.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“I just don’t, okay?  Not anymore.”

 

“Are you the one that’s keeping us from regaining our memories of the Silver Millennium?  Is that one of those rules you won’t break, releasing our memories?  You would do this to your friends?  You would do this to your fellow senshi?  You would do this to your princess, the only daughter of your dead Queen Serenity?”

 

The last words hurt the most, but not for a reason that Rei could ever fathom.  Setsuna shot to her feet, dark tears in her red eyes.  “I would never do anything to hurt Usagi!  She means more to me than . . . than you could ever understand!  You and the younger senshi don’t love her half as much as I do—you couldn’t!  You don’t know what you’re talking about!” she cried, almost running away from the younger senshi.  Rei watched her go, wondering what else the Senshi of Time was hiding.

 

Mars stood back up, straitening her clothes, looked at the diner, and smiled.  Ami and Makoto were always glad to see their friends, and even their impromptu date would not make them chase her away.  Her mind made up, Rei entered the familiar diner.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 6: Raimei no Megami

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Makoto held one of Ami’s hands in hers, thumb caressing the shorter woman’s smooth skin.  Ami was blushing slightly, eyes flicking to their linked hands every so often.

 

She covered Makoto’s hand with hers as their conversation lulled, and deep sapphire eyes met sparkling emerald.  “Mako, why . . . why would you choose me?”  In that simple question were all of the others that Ami could not yet ask, but Makoto understood.  She had always been able to hear what Mercury did not say.

 

“I was wondering the same thing, Ami.  I’m not the most feminine of women, and I’m so tall—”

 

“That no one wanted to dance with you,” Ami laughed kindly.  “I didn’t ever care what anyone else thought, Mako-chan.  I liked you for who you were and I danced with my best friend because she was lonely.  You may not be all that feminine in the way you act, but you are a very gorgeous woman and I know anyone would be honored to have your respect, your friendship, your love.  You may be tall, but so is Haruka-san, and she’s never had a problem in the love and friendship department.  If you’ll remember, she and Michiru-san are getting married.”

 

Makoto smiled as she pulled Ami’s hand up and kissed the sensitive inside of her wrist.  “I think that’s what I love the most about you, Ami.  You never judge anyone.  You even like Shingo-kun, and that’s a miracle!”

 

Ami giggled again.  “Mako, do you think we were . . . lovers back in the Silver Millennium, even if we were princesses of our planets and senshi in the service of the Moon Princess?”

 

“Setsuna-san says so.”

 

Both women looked up almost guiltily at Rei, and Makoto held Ami’s hand, preventing her from pulling it away.  They had no reason to hide, especially from their friends.  “Rei-chan!”

 

“Hello, Mako-chan, Ami-chan.  I hope I’m not interrupting anything.  Actually, as happy as you two looked when I walked by a minute ago, I really hope I am.”

 

Makoto grinned, gesturing for Rei to sit as she scooted closer to Ami in the booth the senshi always used.  “You know that you are, but we don’t mind.  We were going to tell you guys sooner or later, and I imagine you are the first person to find out.  Setsuna-san told you that we were lovers?  She never tells anyone anything.”

 

Rei grinned.  “You’re right.  She didn’t exactly tell me about you guys; I kind of forced it out of her.  I think she’s the one that’s been keeping us from remembering our past lives.  When I asked her about it, asked if she would do this to Queen Serenity’s daughter, she kind of exploded.  I think she and Queen Serenity had a relationship in the Silver Millennium, and she seems to have some kind of link to Usagi-chan that I can’t figure out.  She did say that we all had lovers but she wouldn’t tell me who.”

 

Ami smiled at Makoto, eyes sparkling.  “I know who mine was.”

 

“I wish I knew,” Rei whispered.  “Maybe I don’t want to.  You two fell in love without knowing your past, but what if I discover whom I loved and only fall in love with them again because of our past?  Would that be true love or more like duty?”  She sighed.  “I think I understand why Setsuna-san is blocking our memories.  Maybe we even asked her to, in the Silver Millennium, because our loves didn’t work out.  After all, if it first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence proving that you tried so that you won’t make the same mistakes again.”

 

Makoto took the miko’s hand with her free one and smiled.  “I think if we loved someone back then and we fall in love with them again now then it’s not because of duty but because we are bound by the red string of fate and will always meet and fall in love.  I can’t imagine not wanting to remember Ami or the wonders of the Silver Millennium.  All I remember about your lover is that your brother most definitely did not approve.”

 

A moment of silence reigned before the three women realized what Makoto said.  Mercury and Mars turned to Jupiter, all three with wide eyes.  “What did you say?  Mako-chan, I’m an only child, like you two, Mamoru-san, Michiru-san, Haruka-san, Hotaru-chan, and Minako-chan.  I don’t have a brother.”

 

“You did,” Ami whispered, eyes clouding as she desperately tried to get past the block in her mind.  Images hung just at the edge of comprehension, teasing her.  “We all had siblings.”

 

“I had three brothers—two younger, one older,” Makoto continued.  “What about you, Ami?”

 

“I can’t . . . remember.  It’s right there, but I can’t quite reach it.  I think, twins, younger, a boy and a girl.  Rei-chan? 

 

“I don’t remember anything, not even this brother you speak of.  We have to get Setsuna-san to release our memories!  I want to know about my life back then.  And my lover.  I want to know who I loved . . .”  She whispered the last part, but there was no hiding from her friends.  Makoto laid her hand on Rei’s shoulder, sympathy in her eyes and an urge to end the miko’s pain.

 

The three women looked up at a familiar giggle as Usagi, Mamoru, and Minako entered the diner together.  Minako’s eyes met Rei’s, and the blonde looked away.  She turned to leave, but Usagi pulled her to the table, eager to have all of her friends together again.  That was so rare after they graduated High School, even rarer since Galaxia left.  Makoto and Ami moved further over in the booth, Rei beside Makoto, and Minako was pushed in before Usagi and Mamoru slid in.  Minako sat with her hands in her lap, and Rei cleared her throat.

 

“I only meant to stop for a moment,” she murmured, her friends straining to hear her.  “I really should get back to the shrine.”

 

“You can’t go, Rei-chan!  We’re going over the Haruka-tachi’s house so we can be fitted for our bridesmaids’ dresses.  They asked us to find you and bring you along.”

 

“Usagi, I need to get back.”

 

Usagi pouted, her blue eyes filling with tears, secretly wondering if Rei would let herself fall for the old trick or if she would explode as she had so long ago.  They hadn’t fought in a very long time, so chances were she would give in.  Rei sighed, and the princess knew that she had won.  She looked at Ami and Makoto, and her eyes locked on their linked hands.  “Mako-chan?  Ami-chan?”

 

The senshi of water blushed, her thunder god partner laughed.  “We would have told you sooner or later, Usagi-chan.  Ami and I finally realized why we always wanted to spend so much time together.  We’ve fallen in love.”  Ami blushed at her girlfriend’s blunt choice of words, but she really couldn’t have said it better herself.

 

Usagi’s eyes widened to an almost magical size, and she squealed as she leaned over and took her friends’ hands.  “I’m so happy for you,” she whispered, almost glowing in the light.  She never noticed Rei clench her fists under the table, nor did she see Minako look away, tears in her light blue eyes.  Not all of her senshi were happy.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 7: Hikarino Ailan

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Michiru embraced each of the younger senshi as they entered her house, overflowing with a joy she couldn’t quite understand.  Haruka kept telling her that she was just incredibly excited about their upcoming wedding, but Michiru kept getting a sense from the Aqua Mirror that she had done some of this before, that there was another reason for her unexplainable happiness.  She’d figure it out eventually.  She herded them all into the living room, gesturing for them to find a seat.  Makoto caught Ami and pulled her onto the floor at the base of the couch that Usagi and Mamoru chose, Rei and Minako squeezing in beside the prince and princess, and Michiru stood in the middle of the room, grinning.  Setsuna entered the room from the hallway that led to the den, long green hair hanging down her back, dressed in a form-fitting black tuxedo.

 

“Wow,” Usagi whispered; “kirei.”  Her blue-eyed boyfriend, wisely enough, remained silent, thinking about anything and everything except the Senshi of Time.

 

Setsuna smiled.  “Thank you, Usagi.  Haruka-san has asked me to be ‘father of the bride’ and, against my better judgment, I have agreed.”  Her eyes sparkled at Usagi’s comment, a hidden fire in those garnet depths.  There was someone she could be ‘father of the bride’ to.  The little Moon Princess had grown so much . . . She caught Rei’s attentive eyes on her and looked away, desperate to preserve this secret, at least.  Rei didn’t know, she only suspected, and as long as Setsuna didn’t do anything overtly suspicious, she’d be fine.

 

Haruka cleared her throat, and all eyes turned toward the den.

 

“Haruka,” Michiru breathed.  Haruka grumpily crossed her arms over her chest, pulling at the gold-embroidered dark blue tuxedo jacket.

 

“This thing is ridiculously uncomfortable,” the blonde growled as two of the fashion designers from the company Setsuna had found to do the wedding clothes flitted in behind her, the two women whispering to each other, adjusting, and measuring.  “And these guys,” Haruka hissed, raising her arms and glancing at the pests by her sides, “could get on someone’s nerves very quickly.”

 

Michiru floated up to Haruka and placed her small hands on her lover’s chest.  “I like it Haruka; you look very handsome.  I love those colors on you.  But if you would rather wear a dress . . .”

 

“Hmph.  When have you ever known me to wear a dress?”

 

Setsuna laughed, one particular image from the Silver Millennium flashing through her mind of a young blonde princess wearing a golden dress to please her aqua-haired lover.  She covered her mouth quickly, knowing that none of the younger senshi would understand.  Luckily for her and the secrets of the Silver Millennium, the only two men in the group of designers entered the room, gesturing at Mamoru.

 

“Sumimasen, Chiba-kun?”

 

“Hai?”

 

“Please come with us to be fitted for your tuxedo.”  Usagi laughed at that, multiple images of Tuxedo Kamen filling her mind.  One thing her boyfriend did not need was another tuxedo.  The black-haired Earth Prince glared at his fiancée before following the designers into one of the empty guest rooms.  Hotaru rushed into the living room as Setsuna and Haruka returned to the bedrooms so their tuxedos could be finished.

 

“When did I wear a dress?  Setsuna-san?”  Michiru laughed as she closed the door behind her lover, knowing that the garnet-eyed Senshi of Time would never speak.  She secretly suspected that something very traumatic happened to Setsuna in the Silver Millennium, something more tragic than losing the younger Senshi, something that she never wanted to remember.  The Outer Senshi had agreed to respect her privacy.  “Are you guys ready?  The head of this designer business will soon arrive with her closest assistants.”

 

Usagi giggled, hastily covering her mouth with her hands.  “I love new dresses!  Are they good designers, Michiru-san?”

 

“Setsuna-san says so.  She never actually met the head designer, but this company is renowned throughout Japan for their good work.  Their fame is even spreading to America and they’re going to open a branch there soon.”

 

A knock at the door announced the arrival of the rest of the team.  They hadn’t been able to come with the tuxedo makers due to an earlier engagement, but they arrived as quickly as possible.  Michiru rushed to the door, and a virtual army of women laden with cloth and supplies, including small, handheld sewing machines, entered.  The younger ones spread out their supplies in the room, each grabbing measuring tapes and heading for the younger six senshi waiting on the couches.  The silver-haired leader, her hair pulled back in an intricate braid to keep it out of her work, bowed to her host, her violet eyes widening in alarm and recognition, emotions hidden so fast that Michiru wasn’t sure what she had seen.  Michiru almost recognized the slender woman.  “Forgive their enthusiasm, Kaiou-san, but they are very eager to work on this project.  We haven’t done such a non-traditional wedding in a long time.”

 

“How did you know my name?”

 

“Easy, the other owners of this house wanted tuxedos.  I don’t remember their names, but you’re that famous artist and violinist.  I’ve been a fan of your work for a long time.  I hear you have a partner now, in music and art, and I assume it’s the person you’re marrying.  I am Hikarino Ailan, owner, founder, and head designer of Moonlight Fashions.”

 

“Kaiou Michiru, though the introduction seems so useless now.”  Michiru smiled as she pointed at the women scattered through her living room, each surrounded by designers and already being measured for their dresses.  “These are Tsukino Usagi, my Maid of Honor, and the Bridesmaids Aino Minako, Hino Rei, Kino Makoto, and Mizuno Ami.  And this is Hotaru-chan, my adopted daughter and the flower girl.”

 

“Dozo yoroshiku,” the girls called together, bowing automatically.

 

“Dozo yoroshiku,” Ailan smiled, bowing.  “Then let’s get started, ne?”  She waved her hands majestically, and the assistants swarmed—there was no other word for it—over the women as Ailan pulled Michiru to one side.  “Okay, young bride, what kind of dress were you thinking about?”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Setsuna listened to the wind, wondering what subtle messages Haruka could hear in the insistent howling.  Ignoring the sound and the answering turmoil in her heart, she let the cool air wash over her.  “Setsuna-san?”

 

The Senshi of Time, taking a break from the constant fitting and sewing, smiled as the young Senshi of Fire joined her.  The tuxedos were all finished, and the dresses were nearly complete, including the one Rei was wearing.  “Yes?”

 

“Setsuna-san, I wanted to apologize.  I didn’t mean to upset you earlier; I was just angry and very confused.  I wanted so much to remember the Silver Millennium that I didn’t realize that there must be very good reasons for you to hold back out memories.  I would probably make the same choice if I was in your shoes back then—err, boots,” she amended, referring to the boots Setsuna wore as Sailor Pluto.  They laughed lightly, the tension of the moment broken by Rei’s words.

 

Setsuna sighed as the two let the wind pull at their long, silky hair.  “There are many things I should let myself remember, Rei-chan.  I’ve buried everything because of a few things I can’t bear to relive.  As old as I am, I served three Moon Princesses, and lived alone at the Time Gate from the end of the Silver Millennium until only a few years ago.  The Silver Millennium was a wonderful age, full of power and love and most of it was good.  But there was pain in the final battle and I lost everyone I’ve ever known and loved.  She wouldn’t let me die for her.  She sent me to the Time Gate, ordered me not to fight, because she loved me and she wanted her daughter to have a future.”

 

“Queen Serenity sent you away?  She wouldn’t let you fight?”

 

Setsuna shook her head.  “Everyone else was allowed to fight and die with their lovers, but I was not.  I held her as she died, and I was the only one left.  You don’t know what it’s like to be the only one left.  I loved you girls so much, and I don’t ever want to lose any of you ever again.”

 

“Especially your daughter.”

 

Setsuna gasped, eyes wide, her entire focus on the black-haired woman before her.  “What?”

 

“I was right, then.  You were the King of the Moon, and that’s why Usagi can’t ever remember her father.  He wasn’t a man.  And that’s where most of your pain comes from; you had to watch your lover and your daughter die, and the Laws of Balance wouldn’t let you intervene.”

 

“We went through so much to give her a normal life,” Setsuna whispered, unable to hold back any longer.  “We lied to the kingdom, our fellow senshi, our families . . . we gave up our love for her, but in the end it wasn’t enough.”  She felt tears run down her cheeks, a very unfamiliar sensation, and Rei reached a concerned hand up to wipe them away.  “You don’t know what it’s like to kill your own secret identity to protect your only daughter and then being forced to watch her grow up from planets away, never able to hold her, or kiss her, or tell her stories.  I missed everything the first time, and most of it this time.”

 

“That’s why you latched onto Chibiusa so.  She’s just little Usagi.”

 

Setsuna nodded, drying her tears, then she looked up at Rei, garnet eyes dark.  “Please don’t tell her, Rei-chan.  She’s happier not knowing.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Rei-chan, I would have given up everything for Serenity—my kingdom, my senshi powers, my very life—but I couldn’t even sacrifice my pride for her, for my daughter.  At the first sign of pregnancy, we made plans to kill the Moon King.  I only saw little Serenity the day she was born and the day of her reception—after that, I stayed away from the Moon until the last ball, just before the end.”

 

“You should tell her one day.  You loved her enough to sacrifice your love and give her up to protect her future and her reputation.  I respect your decision, and your choice not to release our memories.  You’re a stronger woman than I, Setsuna-san.”  Rei put her arms around the lonely woman, lending her strength to face the world calmly.  “I won’t tell anyone, Setsuna-san; that’s your secret and your burden.”

 

“How did you know, Rei-chan?”

 

“Fire-reading, as usual.  You have a lot of candles in the living room, and I lit a few when they gave me a break.  It took a little concentration, but I managed an image of the Moon King when I was thinking about you.  I wasn’t sure until we spoke.”

 

“Is that why you came out here?”  Setsuna smiled tolerantly, in a much better mood now that she had been able to tell her greatest secret to someone.  That secret had been known to only two people in the entire Silver Millennium, including herself and Serenity.

 

“No, I really did come to apologize, but why waste the opportunity.”  Rei took Setsuna’s arm, glad that the older senshi was feeling better, and turned to return to the living room and the dress fitting.  “You should come meet this designer, Hikarino Ailan.  She’s fabulous!”

 

“Perhaps I will.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 8: Serenity

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“It’s lovely.  Light blue is a good color for you, Kaiou-san.”

 

Michiru smiled as Ailan delicately embroidered silver filigree on the hem of her skirt.  Her many assistants were finishing with the bridesmaids, and each one was wearing a slightly different dress.  While the basic design was the same, each woman had asked for a different color and pattern.  Ailan was willing to oblige.  All of the dresses had a white bodice, even Michiru’s, but each one faded to a different color skirt.  While Michiru’s was light aqua blue with silver filigree wave designs, Usagi’s was pale pink with gold roses along the hem, one blood red one with a long green stem on the front.  Rei’s was crimson red with her favorite flowers, Casablancas, on the hem, white edged in gold.  Minako’s was orange with a golden chain around the hem, each link a perfect heart shape.  Usagi had been worried about letting Venus wear such an obvious symbol of her Senshi form, but the designers just thought it was because Minako resembled the Greek Goddess of love, so a chain of hearts was appropriate.  Ami’s dress faded to dark blue, tiny dolphins leaping into the “air” from the hem, a design the water Senshi greatly admired.  Her designer specialized in sea creatures.  Makoto’s dress turned dark green, silver and gold lightning bolts intertwined along the hem.

 

Ailan continued to consult with Michiru over the last of the lace on the hem and the designs she had created with the fragile material, her outgoing nature one of her best qualities as a designer.  Her customers were happier if she asked for their opinions.  Setsuna and Rei entered the room, unnoticed by the silver-haired designer and her flock of employees.  Haruka, her tuxedo finished, returned to the living room and stared at her fiancée, who grinned at the constant chattering of the friendly woman crouching on the floor, all of her attention on the skirt in front of her.  Setsuna stared at the slender designer, knowing that she was young despite the striking color of her hair.  Her pale purple eyes and utter concentration reminded Setsuna of someone she knew long, long ago.

 

The designer stood to look at the finished dress, her back still to Setsuna.  “Beautiful,” Ailan whispered.  “You look just like your mother on her wedding day.  She would be so proud of you, as gorgeous as you are.  Shou-chan was so pretty . . .”

 

Setsuna gasped, hands flying to her mouth, dark red eyes wide in shock.  The designer spun to face her, and the room stood still as both women stared.  Ailan’s designers vanished into the den as Mamoru slipped into the living room, closing the door behind him.  “Setsu-chan . . .”

 

“Serenity,” Setsuna breathed, and the Senshi gasped.  “It can’t be you.”

 

The silver-haired woman, tears streaking her cheeks, nodded, a golden crescent moon appearing in the center of her forehead.  “You’re not dreaming, my love.  I didn’t know you would be here when I came.  I thought you were still at the gate,” she whispered as the senshi moved closer.  Usagi, blue eyes wide, came to face the woman, a crescent moon on her forehead.

 

“Mother?”

 

Then she was in Ailan’s arms, her memories of her mother filling her mind.  Ailan let her weak glamour fade, and everyone could see that she was their queen.  Eight Senshi and the Prince of Earth hit one knee, heads bowed, an automatic response barely remembered from their last life, and the last Queen of the Silver Millennium released her daughter.  “Do not bow to me.  I was the queen, but now that burden has passed to my daughter.  She is Serenity, I am no longer an owner of that name.”  She reached down and pulled Setsuna to her feet as the other senshi stood, unsure what they should do.  “Now I can live the life I’ve always wanted.  Not as Serenity, princess and then queen of the Moon Kingdom of the Silver Millennium, but as Hikarino Ailan, famous fashion designer.”

 

“A normal person.”

 

Ailan nodded.  “Yes.  Like you, like all of you senshi.  You’re able to live the life denied you by Beryl’s attack on my kingdom.”  She looked at her daughter, now safe in Mamoru’s arms, and she smiled.  “Even Serenity and Endymion can be together here in this life on Earth.  And our errant young princesses.”  She looked at all of the senshi, but Setsuna caught her chin and turned her back.  Touching her lover again after so many hundreds of years sent a shock through her, that small action convincing her more than anything that Serenity was alive.  This was the one person in the universe she loved, the one person she would obey without question, the woman for whom she would sacrifice everything.

 

“Ailan,” she whispered, trying out the new name.  “Can we all be happy?”  The silver haired woman nodded, tears in her eyes, and Setsuna leaned forward far enough to let their lips touch.  Her world exploded in colors she had only seen in the Time Vortex, and she moaned.  Ailan deepened their kiss, fingers linking behind Setsuna’s neck.  Setsuna used the hand resting on Ailan’s waist to pull the slight woman closer, their bodies pressed together.  For the first time since they met her so long ago, the senshi watched as tears coursed down Setsuna’s cheeks.  Rei watched as the Senshi of Time cried for the third time in one day, and she wiped a tear off her cheek for the forbidden love.  She glanced at Usagi, wondering if she would ever know, but watching the former queen and her senshi she realized that it didn’t matter.  Setsuna had a second chance, with her daughter and her lover, and she deserved to be happy.

 

Setsuna pulled away from Ailan, knowing that the woman that she held was the woman she had given her heart to millennia ago.  “Did you know that we were here, that we had been reborn?”

 

“I knew the instant Luna turned Serenity—Usagi, I mean—into Sailor Moon; I knew the first time Mamoru became Tuxedo Kamen and swept my daughter out of harm’s way; I knew what Minako was up to in England before there ever was a game or a control room in the Crown Arcade; I knew when Ami, Rei, and Makoto joined Sailor Moon; I knew when Michiru first dreamed of the Silence and transformed; I knew when she called her lover to be her partner in the fight; I knew when you came to Earth to help your Outer Partners; I knew when Saturn freed herself and eliminated Pharaoh 90 with Sailor Moon’s help; I knew when you died and I waited patiently for you to return to the mundane plane.  I knew when all of you died fighting Galaxia, and I cheered when my daughter’s love freed Galaxia from chaos and brought you back.  I’ve watched you since the beginning, beloved, but I no longer control the ginzuishou.  It belongs to Serenity now, so there was nothing I could do.  I thought it best never to meet you.”

 

Setsuna nodded, her mind returning to the final battle, watching Serenity die in her arms again.  “I know how hard it is to watch helplessly,” she whispered.

 

Serenity/Ailan laid her head against Setsuna’s breast, arms wrapped securely around her waist.  “I’m sorry, Setsu-chan.  I never wanted to make you watch us die.  But you had to live, you had to keep the spirit of the Silver Millennium alive and protect the Earth from intruders it could not fight.  The prophecies said that if all the princesses took their stones and woke their planets, Time must not stop.  I didn’t tell you in case it made you more determined to die with the other senshi.  We all made our sacrifices, Setsuna.”

 

Usagi cleared her throat.  “Um, Mother?  Why are you here now?”

 

Ailan grinned.  “I never intended that you should discover my true identity.  As a matter of fact, only Setsuna would be able to see through my glamour, but I had no idea that she would be living with the other Outer Senshi, mother to Hotaru.  Though, perhaps I should have considered that possibility.”  She glanced at Setsuna, returning her attention to her daughter as she laughed lightly and waved a hand at Michiru and Haruka, who had joined her finacée.  “This time I will not miss their wedding.”  Beside her, Setsuna also laughed, quite possibly for the first time in centuries, at least since Queen Serenity died.  “You do look like Shousha, Michiru-san.”

 

“She doesn’t remember her mother, Ailan.”

 

Ailan glanced up at the former Queen of Pluto, knowing instantly who was suppressing the senshi’s memories.  “Setsuna!  Why haven’t you returned their memories to them?”

 

Setsuna stepped back, eyes sad, as all of her loneliness and depression from the past centuries came crashing down on her, even worse than usual, worse even than thinking about losing her daughter, as the Garnet Rod appeared in her hand.  “Some things are better left dead,” she whispered, her voice full of a pain no one had yet to heal.  Clenching her fingers around the staff, the Senshi of Time vanished as she instantly transformed into Sailor Pluto.

 

“Oh no you don’t!”  With a sudden burst of whatever power she still had leftover from the Silver Millennium, Ailan jumped through the closing portal, vanishing with her lover.

 

Silence.

 

A silence so still that Pluto’s Time Stop might not rival it.

 

A silence more profound than Saturn’s ultimate power, Death Reborn Revolution.

 

And just as quickly, the Senshi seemed to catch their breaths and their wits.  Rei was the first to break the silence, many of the revelations in the past minutes no surprise to her.  “Poor Setsuna-san,” she whispered.  “At least she was used to loneliness. What if Ailan goes away?  I don’t think Setsuna-san could survive another heartbreak like that.”

 

“I didn’t know Setsuna-san and my mother . . .”  Usagi blushed, thinking about it, and Mamoru laughed at her uneasiness.

 

“What, did you think there were only four lesbians in the Silver Millennium?”

 

Haruka laughed at the suggestion, pulling Michiru into her arms.  “At least Setsuna-san has taste.  After all, the Queen of the Moon?”

 

Michiru elbowed her lover.  “Have some respect, Haruka!  This is a very difficult time for them.”

 

“And I always felt sorry for Setsuna, being the loneliest senshi,” Minako laughed.  “I wonder what their story is.”

 

“She is lonely,” Rei whispered.  “She had to watch the woman she loved die, and I think she’s in shock.  She never expected to see Serenity alive.  She’ll be okay.”  I hope.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 9: Kikan no Mon

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Setsu-chan?”

 

Ailan caught the barest whisper of movement out of the corner of her eyes, and she spun to face that patch of darkness.  She felt an old power wash over her, a power she knew once, long ago, and her clothes changed to the white silk dress she wore as Queen Serenity, her long silver hair returning to the Royal hairstyle she had refused to wear as a human.  The gold crescent moon returned to her forehead, and she was surrounded by the faintest silver aura, making her dismal surrounding a little easier to detect.  A flash of green indicated that her lover was there, just out of reach.

 

“Why did you follow me?”  Ailan flinched from the pain in the voice and the age that Setsuna would let no one but her queen hear.  She was tired and falling apart.  “I came here to be alone, like I’ve always been since you sent me away.”

 

Ailan winched, tears in her eyes.  Setsuna had never been angry at her before, even when she told the green-haired beauty that Pluto had to leave the Moon forever for their daughter’s sake.  “Setsuna, you know why I did what I did.”  Both times.

 

“No I don’t!  I left because I love you more than my own life, I lived because you asked me to, but if you loved me you would have let me die for you.  All of the other senshi died with the woman they loved!  I was denied the right to die for my wife and my daughter.  How could you be so cruel?”

 

Ailan shook her head, Setsuna’s pain worse than the shattering she felt inside at the end of the Silver Millennium when the ginzuishou took her life force to power itself.  She knew that her lover resented having to give up the Moon King disguise even though they both agreed that it was the only way.  “You don’t understand, Setsu-chan,” Ailan whispered, her voice choked with tears.  “When you told me that our daughter would die, I realized what a fool I had been.  Haruka was right all along, when she told me to teach Serenity how to fight, but I thought I could protect her.  Even without you, I thought I could.  But then you told me that it was hopeless, and I knew that my beautiful kingdom would fall, despite all we did to save it.  When I realized that all of the senshi, the queens, the kings, their little children, even the powerless commoners would die, I panicked!  I panicked, Setsuna, for the first time in my life!  I knew that you would demand to fight, to protect our daughter and our kingdom as I would, and I knew that you would die.  I couldn’t allow that!  I couldn’t die knowing that even you would not escape.  I love you to much to ask you to die with me.  So I sent you away, as I always did when I was afraid.”

 

A tall green-haired senshi stepped out of the black mist and wiped the tears off Serenity’s cheek.  Those red eyes, always so cold and distant, softened in love, and Ailan’s heart jumped.  She had missed that look!  “We were married for a year, Serenity, and you were very loving in public, telling me that you loved me all the time.  But I always had this nagging fear that you didn’t love me, you loved him, the man I pretended to be.  Then you said that you loved me for the first time you told Setsuna that you cared, and I have always wondered if you would have said it if we were not about to die.”  She kissed Ailan’s forehead, the moon glowing there, and the former queen shivered.  “I was so stupid, Serenity.  I should have known that you could never have been false.  The others were all right, in their own ways; you sent me away because you love me, and I resented you for it for the exact same reason.”

 

“I didn’t want you to face the centuries alone without telling you—the real you, not the king we invented to fool the kingdom and protect Serenity.  I do love you, Setsuna, but it wasn’t right for the queen to be more attached to one senshi than the other six.  At least when you were the king I could pretend that I wasn’t betraying the others.”

 

“I didn’t know you felt that way,” Setsuna whispered.  “I’m so sorry, beloved.  Our affair cost us more than either of us realized at the time.  And, at times, when this place was darkest, knowing that you loved me for me made the loneliness just that much more bearable.”  She glanced at the Time Staff waiting patiently for her next command, and she sighed.  “Would you have come to me, come to find me, in this time, in this life?”

 

“In all fairness, Setsu, you weren’t here very long before you died using that Time Stop power you’re not supposed to use.  Years ago, when I sensed you return to help Uranus and Neptune in their mission, I might have.  Maybe I would just have looked at you and loved you, but I thought my chance was gone after that.  Imagine my surprise when I felt you die for a second time a year later.  You weren’t reborn again, you just returned to this plane, and I knew the instant your Star Seed was taken.  I mourned you then, my love, but when I turned around in that room a few minutes ago, I thought I was hallucinating.  I wouldn’t have believed that it was you if I just saw you, but you recognized Shou-chan and I knew it had to be you.  I wanted to run, Setsu, as fast and as far as I could.  But I love you, and that held me.  I wouldn’t have come, I wouldn’t have disrupted your life and reminded you of an unhappy past, but destiny, as usual, had different plans for us.”

 

“You knew when I died?  Ailan, that power usually belongs only to the Moon royals.  You said you have no power left.”

 

“Only what I was born with, the power that makes me a senshi, but I don’t have the power to become a senshi.  Usagi has the ginzuishou, as I wished, and I’m just a mortal.”  Ailan pulled out of Setsuna’s arms, glancing at her dress and the hairstyle she had abandoned as a teen when she regained her true memories.  “I can’t stay, Setsuna.  I’m mortal now, and I’ll die in less than a century.  You’ll live forever, or at least into my daughter’s reign, and I can’t make you lose me again.  Serenity need Sailor Pluto, and I would just take you away from her.”

 

“No,” Setsuna whispered.  “You’re mine, and no one and NOTHING is going to come between us!  I will not lose you again!  It’s not fair.”

 

“It’s not fair for you to fall in love with me all over again because I’ll grow old and die and you’ll be even more alone than you are now,” Ailan sobbed, fists clenched at her sides.  “You deserve better than that.”

 

“I loved a queen,” she whispered, pulling the slender woman back into her arms.  “Maybe Usagi can use the ginzuishou to make you live a long time, too, since you still have some power.”  At Ailan’s muffled refusal, Setsuna kissed her bowed head and let her love wash over the younger woman.  “Or maybe you could stay just for a little while?  You could stay to make sure the six senshi princesses find happiness.  That won’t take until Crystal Tokyo, I assure you.  Maybe you can stay long enough to see Usagi marry Mamoru-kun.”

 

Setsuna’s gentle persuasion calmed Ailan, and she sighed as she looked up.  “How do you do that, my love?  Fine, but I’ll only stay for a little while.  Only a few months, at most.  Then we’ll both return to our lives and we won’t try to contact each other ever again.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Where did you learn that, anyway?  Calming people was never your specialty.”

 

“Kazeko’s grandson taught me.”

 

“What?  Haruka and Michiru had a child?”

 

“Yeah.  When they combined their powers the night all of the senshi absorbed their stones, they apparently conceived a child in Michiru’s womb.  They didn’t know until he healed Michiru in the final battle.”

 

“Haruka told Michiru to run, didn’t she?”

 

Setsuna paused, nodding.  “Yeah, she did.  I never thought about that before.  I guess if I needed to know that you loved me, I should have looked more closely at those two.  Michiru summoned me with the Space Sword and had me take the boy so she could die beside her lover.  I carried him, birthed him, and raised him to be the protector of Earth, guardian of the Golden Crystal, and when he was old enough I took him back in time and installed Helios in Elysion.  He’s the only reason Earth survived for our daughter; if the Golden Crystal was left defenseless, Earth would have fallen long ago.”

 

“So it’s a good thing you lived or no one would have been reborn.  Destiny had a duty for you in the form of Michiru’s child.”

 

“She wouldn’t become her mother,” Setsuna whispered.  “I just became you.  Thank you, for making me run.”  The two women embraced, the bond they had forged centuries ago beginning to return.  When they pulled apart, the Garnet Orb glowed, reminding Setsuna that the Time Portal was not a refuge for lovers.  “We should return to the girls; they’re probably worried sick.  I think we should return just in time for the wedding.”  She waved her hand, and her sailor fuku vanished, leaving the form-fitting tuxedo Ailan’s assistants had finished before the two queens retreated to the Time Portal.

 

Ailan looked at her queen dress and willed it to fade into the shirt and skirt she had worn to work on Michiru’s wedding gown.  “I’m not dressed for a wedding, love.”

 

“Easily remedied.”  Setsuna touched her orb and waved her free hand.  “That’s nice.”  She waved her hand through the mist, and a mirror formed.  “Look.”

 

Ailan gasped at her full-length reflection.  Her plain working dress had changed into an elegant, shimmering silver silk gown with tiny golden crescent moon designs decorating the skirt, and her shoes had become sandal-like silver high-heels, sparkling with tiny diamonds.  Her long hair was curled on top of her head, hanging down only to her waist, one silver curl caressing her cheek.  Chains of diamonds sparkled from the depths of her locks, twinkling even in the dim light of Setsuna’s domain.  Tears sparkled on her cheeks.

 

“I’ve had a few centuries to learn some tricks.  What do you think?”

 

“I love it.  Thank you.”

 

“Anything for my beloved queen.”  Setsuna held out her arm, which Ailan took, and touched her staff, commanding it to form a portal back to the mundane world.  They stepped through the space/time disturbance, the Time Staff vanishing, and entered a room filled with excited, nervous senshi.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 10: Kekkonshiki

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Usagi looked up from arranging her hair as a time portal appeared in the center of the room.  Setsuna and Serenity/Ailan stepped out of the portal, both dressed for the wedding, arms linked, and all activity in the room ceased.  Usagi smiled as she realized that the two women had come to peace with the time separating them.  “I was wondering if you two were ever coming back, Mother.”

 

Only Rei caught the expression of pain that crossed Setsuna’s features as she realized that that word was never going to mean her, and Ailan squeezed her arm reassuringly before smiling at her daughter.  Minako giggled at the sudden reappearance of the queens.  “What were you two doing that took so long?”  The women blushed, and Minako laughed harder while Ami and Makoto exchanged a knowing look.  Hotaru jumped into her green-haired mother’s arms, and Setsuna smiled.

 

“You almost missed the wedding, Setsuna-mama!  It’s today!”  She looked at Ailan and raised an eyebrow, remembering more about their doomed love from the Silver Millennium than any of the older senshi.  “You don’t want to miss Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama’s wedding this time.  Why don’t you take one of the empty seats in the family row?”

 

Ailan bowed.  “Thank-you, Hotaru-chan.  As always, so kind.”  She slipped out of the room and Rei followed a second behind, offering to lead the silver haired woman to her seat.

 

Ailan stopped just outside the shrine, out of earshot of the senshi and the guests, and crossed her arms over her chest.  “I don’t believe that excuse.  Why did you really want to talk to me?”

 

Rei sighed and pushed her long black hair over her shoulder.  “Ailan-san, I know all about you and Setsuna-san in the Silver Millennium.  I know that she was Usagi’s father, the Moon King, and that she left to insure that her daughter would have a future and her claim to the throne would not be threatened.”

 

Ailan stared at the Princess of Mars, seeing Rikuriko’s strength in those purple eyes.  “Back then you would never have figured it out.  I had enough power back then to block even the sight of the Aqua Mirror.  But now I have no power and your power of premonition can break through.  I want to tell her, Rei-chan, she deserves to know, but Setsu doesn’t want that.”

 

“Oh, she wants it, but she won’t endanger her daughter like that.  Ailan-san, you don’t have to worry about anyone else discovering your secret; they don’t remember their previous lives.  If Haruka-san and Michiru-san did, they would have figured it out by now.  So, until Setsuna-san returns our memories—and I’m not even sure I want that burden—you have nothing to fear.  Now, the seat there beside the Tsukino family is free. Those are Usagi’s parents in this life, and you should meet them.  They don’t know anything about Usagi’s soul mother—just tell them that you’re the designer for this wedding and Setsuna’s girlfriend.”  With that warning, Rei returned to the dressing room.

 

Ailan took her seat, wondering why Setsuna had chosen not to let the senshi remember their previous lives, and why was Rei so determined to keep it that way?

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Setsuna followed Hotaru to the room where Michiru was preparing for her wedding.  She had opted for an outdoors ceremony so her beloved could feel the wind around her.  Though Haruka would never have asked for such a consideration, she was grateful.  Only Michiru understood that the blonde was more nervous than her bride; the senshi of Uranus would need the comfort of the wind if she was to keep from breaking down during the ceremony.

 

“Michiru-mama?”

 

“Hai?”

 

“Setsuna-mama is here.”

 

“Come in, Setsuna-san!”

 

Setsuna entered Michiru’s dressing room, smiling when Hotaru settled down to wait outside.  Michiru, her aqua and white dress whispering against the floor, embraced Setsuna.  “Where have you been?  We were afraid you wouldn’t be back in time!”

 

“I’ve been at the Gates of Time, working out my problems with Ailan.”

 

“And?”

 

Setsuna sighed as she walked away from the woman who had become like a beloved daughter to her, a partner in the difficult life of the senshi.  “She’ll stay for a little while, but she doesn’t want to stay in my life.  She’s not a queen anymore, and she’s not a senshi, protected by the soul of a planet.  She’s mortal and she’ll die before Crystal Tokyo is ever formed.  And I’ll be alone again.  She’s afraid that if she stays too long I’ll let my shields down, let her in again, and I won’t be able to survive her death a second time.  It’s not fair, Michiru-san.  Your lover, your soulmate, is an immortal senshi, same as you.  But mine had the bad luck to love her daughter so much that she gave up the only crystal that could keep her alive.  Ailan is doomed to live and die the mortal life she spared her daughter.”

 

Michiru laid her head on Setsuna’s shoulder, tears in her eyes.  “I’m sorry, Setsuna.  You know that we all love you like our mother, especially Usagi.  We’ll take care of you, I promise.”

 

Setsuna wiped the tears out of her eyes and smiled at the bride.  “I’m going to make you late for your wedding!”

 

“Setsu-chan . . .”

 

The Senshi of Time flinched.  “Please don’t call me that,” she whispered.  “She calls me that, and all of the old queens called me that.  Everyone I loved and lost used that name, and I just can’t . . .”

 

“I understand, my friend.  Let me get my veil.”  Michiru’s silver veil was ringed by aqua-colored flowers and had a dark sapphire bow in the back, reminiscent of her sailor fuku.  In the front was a slender golden tiara with an aquamarine in the center, sparkling in the light.  Her long white gloves ended in aqua rings, and her silver shoes were studded with aquamarines.

 

Setsuna stuck her head out the door and whispered something to Hotaru, watching as her adopted daughter dashed away.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Haruka stood in the sun, letting the whisper of the winds calm her.  She would never admit it to anyone, especially her beloved, but she was scared to death.  She knew that something would go wrong; she wasn’t meant to be happy.  If Setsuna didn’t come back soon, the wedding would be short one father-of-the-bride.  In her mind, among other tiny snippets of her life in the Silver Millennium that sometimes leaked through Setsuna’s block, Haruka could see the final dance, Queen Serenity safe in Setsuna’s arms.  Those two loved each other desperately, and they certainly deserved to be together, but Haruka didn’t want their lover’s spat to ruin Michiru’s perfect wedding.

 

“Haruka-papa!”

 

Haruka turned to face Hotaru, smiling slightly.  “Yes, Hime-chan?”

 

“Setsuna-mama’s back and Michiru-mama’s almost ready!”

 

“Finally,” Haruka smiled.  “Go tell the girls to come out here so we can start.”  As Hotaru dashed away and Haruka walked to the front of the shrine, she noticed a familiar silver-haired woman in the front row with the senshi’s families, talking and laughing with Tsukino Ikuko.  She smiled as the two mothers of the Moon Princess conversed excitedly.  Ailan was gorgeous!  Setsuna sure had elegant and refined tastes.

 

Usagi exited the shrine, Rei, Minako, Ami, and Makoto behind her, all seemingly floating down the aisle between the rows of seats.  Haruka sensed Mamoru stiffen behind her, and she groaned silently.  That prince needed to learn to control his reactions.  You would think he was the one getting married!  Rei’s grandfather in the front row stared at the women as they passed, and Rei bopped him on the head as she passed.  “Grandpa,” she hissed in warning.  The priest behind Haruka watched, smiling, as the women took their places.  He was an old friend of Haruka’s, and she wondered why that seemed so familiar.  An old priest friend performing her marriage to Michiru.  She let that thought fade as all eyes turned to the shrine.

 

Haruka could feel everyone lean forward as Michiru slowly descended the stairs on Setsuna’s arm, a few steps behind the ring-bearer Shingo and the flower girl Hotaru—who, though a teenager, still looked young and delicate.  Haruka could feel her eyes widen at her lover’s beauty, and she knew that she had seen this before.  She and Michiru had been married in the Silver Millennium, but she just couldn’t remember.  

 

“Haruka?”

 

Michiru’s musical voice jolted Haruka out of her thoughts, and she smiled as the smaller woman took her hands in her own.  She could see her own excitement and worry in her lover’s deep sapphire eyes, and she relaxed.  She took comfort in the fact that Michiru was not as calm as she seemed, and she could hear her partner’s laugh in the back of her mind.

 

Haruka never could remember much of the ceremony.  Lost in Michiru’s veiled blue eyes, she soared higher than ever before, higher than they had gone with their music, finding themselves on the surface of a scarred moon, a crooked blue-green planet in the sky.

 

“Is that . . . Uranus?”

 

“Yes, Haruka.  Look behind you.”  Haruka turned around, which only required a thought as non-corporeal spirits, and she gasped at the formation jutting out of the sand.  She floated over them, touching the weather-scarred formations.

 

“This was my castle,” she whispered.  “I was born here.”  She touched the point of what had once been a spire, floating lower and looking through a huge hole, careful of the shards of glass scattered everywhere.  “This was my room,” she realized.  “I lived here for most of my life during the Silver Millennium.”

 

“It’s sad to see your castle reduced to rubble,” Michiru whispered, touching the edge of the glass.  “Why are we here?”

 

“I don’t know.  If I remembered more of our past, I would know why.”

 

“Setsuna doesn’t want us to remember for a reason.”  Michiru took Haruka’s hand and smiled, pointing at a single unflickering point of light in the night sky.  “That’s Neptune; shall we go?” 

 

They arrived on Neptune’s moon moments later, easily finding the ruins of her castle by the side of an empty sea.  Tall, jagged rocks sat below the ruins, at the edge of what had once been a raging sea.  Michiru knelt by the dry, dark sand, and tears ran down her cheeks.  “My sea is gone, Haruka.  My castle is in ruins, and all the people are dead.  I remember parties and swimming and picnics in green lawns, but all of that is gone now.”  She floated up to the one room that was still intact, though now rested only a few feet above ground level, and she sighed.  “My room.”

 

Haruka touched the wall beside the shattered window, and she gasped as desire flooded her.  She sensed Michiru respond to the feelings, and she pulled away.  “Our first night together,” she gasped.  “We spent our first night together in this room, Michiru.”

 

“I know, love.  We should return to the earth and our wedding.”  Michiru pulled Haruka into her arms, smiling as she felt the blonde’s love fill her, and they returned to Earth as easily as they left.

 

Mere seconds had passed.  The priest was actually still on the same word.  Haruka glanced at Setsuna without actually moving her head, and her eyes widened when she noticed that Setsuna’s red eyes were glowing slightly.  The Senshi of Time and Space nodded slightly, and Haruka returned her attention to her bride.  She never remembered much of the ceremony, leaving her body on autopilot, repeating after the priest when she was supposed to, answering his questions when expected.  When it came to exchange the rings, Haruka took the slim golden band studded with tiny aquamarines she had chosen for her lover onto Michiru’s delicate finger, thankful that those white gloves were skintight.  She briefly wondered if they were from Neptune’s fuku.

 

When Michiru slipped the simple golden band onto Haruka’s long finger, the blonde felt power fill her as the wind began to gust faster, surprising the guests.  The senshi didn’t even blink.  She could see in Michiru’s sapphire eyes that her lover could feel the wild energy, and she shivered, just noticeably.  Something was going to happen.

 

The feeling faded when the priest pronounced them married and paused for dramatic effect.  “You may kiss the bride.”

 

Haruka never heard the priest’s words.  In her mind, Michiru’s laughter sounded at her frozen state.  “I think I love you,” Michiru purred in her mind.  “Kiss me you fool, and make it snappy!”

 

Haruka was ready and willing to obey.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Michiru felt power surge through her body as Haruka’s lips touched hers.  She could hear the sea crash against the shore, reaching for the winds that swirled around the pair.  The wind began to sing as the lovers kissed, and the senshi smiled.  They knew.  Usagi glanced past the kissing pair at Mamoru, smiling in anticipation of their coming wedding.  Her boyfriend smiled back, blue eyes sparkling, wondering if his wedding with the Moon Princess would be so beautiful and so perfect.

 

Setsuna reached over and took Ailan’s hand, knowing that old queen could feel the powers of Uranus and Neptune combining.  They both remembered the night Princess Uranus and Princess Neptune took their stones and combined their powers.  Setsuna placed her free hand on her flat belly and remembered carrying the tiny babe Helios.  Haruka and Michiru’s child.  They didn’t even remember conceiving him.

 

Setsuna squeezed Ailan’s hand without realizing it as she watched the destined lovers kiss, an obvious display of affection they would not have permitted a few years earlier.  They didn’t remember conceiving their son, they didn’t remember any of the Silver Millennium.  Was that right?  Didn’t they—didn’t all of the senshi—deserve to remember their past lives, their past loves?  Despite what Rei said, even the Senshi of Fire wanted to know.  Her brave front was just to protect her form the reality that she would probably never remember her lover or her royal family.  Did Setsuna have the right to deny the younger senshi that joy?

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Haruka pulled away from Michiru, her arms wrapped around the smaller woman.  They were married.  For better or worse, until death and beyond, they were one.  She could see her joy mirrored in Michiru’s sapphire eyes, and Haruka felt a sudden sharp pang of trepidation and . . . anticipation.  She looked over Michiru’s shoulder at Setsuna, and she could see in those garnet eyes that the Senshi of Time knew what she was thinking.  Haruka got the feeling that she and Michiru had married in the Silver Millennium over Setsuna’s objections.  Michiru, sensing the path her wife’s thoughts were taking, glanced over her shoulder at the father-of-the-bride and frowned slightly.  Before they could say anything, a cheer sounded and the married couple was surrounded.  A talk could wait.  Haruka cried out in annoyance as she and her wife were lifted onto willing shoulders and paraded around the yard.  Michiru laughed at the excitement of their friends and family.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Haruka and Michiru were in the center of the crowd of dancing couples.  They stared into each other’s eyes, utterly content for the first time in their lives.  Michiru laid her head on Haruka’s breast and sighed.  “Aishiteru, Uranus, King of the Winds.”

 

“Aishiteru, Neptune, Queen of the Seas,” Haruka whispered back.  “I think maybe this time we can be together forever.”

 

“Honto?  Shinjiteru no?”

 

“Hai, Michiru, shinjiteru.”

 

Mamoru twirled Usagi across the dance floor, as always amazed by his partner’s new mature grace.  “You dance well, Usako.”

 

Usagi blushed.  “It’s all in the partner, Mamo-chan.”  She turned her head to look at the couple in the center of the dance floor, waiting for her boyfriend to follow her gaze.  “Do you think we’ll be that happy, Mamo-chan?”

 

“I promise we will.”

 

Ailan watched her daughter in the arms of the former prince of Earth and she smiled.  “They’re so beautiful together, Setsu-chan.”

 

“Who now?”  Pluto smiled as she followed her lover’s gaze.

 

“All of them.  Serenity and Endymion.  Haruka and Michiru.  They belong together, though I couldn’t see it when I was Queen of the Moon.  This reminds me of the last dance, except . . .”

 

Setsuna pointed at a table two down from theirs where Hotaru and Shingo had gone to laugh about something with the Inner Senshi.  Makoto looked at Ami and whispered something to Mercury.  The blue-haired girl blushed and nodded, following the brunette onto the dance floor.  “You must have faith, Ailan.  Their love is still there, just a little hidden.  It will come back, and they will be happy again.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Makoto listened to Hotaru talk about the wedding, a smile on her face, green eyes distant.  It seemed that she had attended a wedding similar to this one, but it hadn’t ended quite so well.  She looked at the couples on the dance floor and realized that she was no longer excluded from the festivities.  She turned to her girlfriend.

 

“Ami,” she whispered while the teens were busy with Minako and Rei.  The blue-haired girl turned, and Makoto almost lost herself in those sapphire eyes.  “Ami, would you . . . would you dance with me?”

 

Ami smiled, tears sparkling in her eyes.  “Mochiron, Mako-chan.”  She took Makoto’s hand, her mind flying to a dance years earlier when she had been the one to ask and to lead the tall woman onto the floor.  A blush spread across her face as she stood and followed her girlfriend and partner onto the floor.

 

Shingo cleared his throat and stepped back from the table, bowing deeply.  “Hotaru-chan, would you do me the honor of dancing with me?”

 

Hotaru laughed as she took Shingo’s hand.  “Mochiron, Shingo-kun.”  The two went out onto the dance floor, leaving Venus and Mars alone.

 

Minako looked away, her light blue eyes dark with tears.  She looked back, shocked, as Rei took her hand.  “Minako-chan,” Rei began timidly, “I hate to see my best friend upset.  I’m really not sure what’s been going on between us since Haruka and Michiru’s engagement, but I fear that I have hurt you, have lost our friendship.”

 

“Rei, no . . .”

 

“Then, as my friend, will you dance with me?”

 

Minako blushed and tried to pull away, but the miko was far stronger than her and would have none of it.  She smiled as she pulled Minako onto the dance floor and into her arms.  Whatever was building the wall between them could wait until after the dance.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Setsuna caught Ailan’s hand and pointed at Rei and Minako as they joined the couples on the floor.  “It looks like everyone’s dancing.  Even Rei and Minako, though they have had troubles recently.”

 

“I’d hate to be the only ones left behind,” Ailan whispered, pulling Setsuna to her feet.  “Dance with me, my king?”

 

Setsuna laughed, easily taking the lead.  “I thought you would never ask.”  Smiling, truly happy for the first time in centuries, the Queen of Pluto, the former King of the Moon, led the last Queen of the Moon and the Silver Millennium onto the dance floor.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 11: Ketsuron ni Tassuru

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Setsuna sat quietly on her bed, hands clasped in her lap and eyes closed.  She had taken off her suit and slipped into the simple white knee-length silky dress she wore to bed, the thought of the younger senshi halting her preparations for bed.  Was it right to deny the younger senshi their memories?  They had lives and loves back in the Silver Millennium, loves they sacrificed themselves for, loves they hoped to be with in their next lives.  Did she have the right to keep them from remembering that?

 

Ailan knocked on her door and entered the oldest senshi’s room, having sensed her turmoil three rooms away in the guest room.  “Setsu-chan?”

 

“Come in, Ailan.  I was just thinking.”

 

Ailan sat beside Setsuna on her large bed, resting her head on the taller woman’s bare shoulder.  Ailan had changed out of the exquisite dress Setsuna had given her and into one of Haruka’s long white dress shirts.  It was practically a dress on her, reaching nearly to her knees, and Setsuna realized just how much like the silver haired woman was like her blonde daughter.  All of Haruka’s shirts were too big for Usagi.  Usagi looked and acted like the ancient queen.  “But not like me.”

 

“Who?  Usagi?”

 

Setsuna nodded, wrapping one arm around Ailan’s waist as they leaned against the headboard of her bead.  “She’s nothing like me.”

 

“Yes she is.  On the outside she may look like me, and she may be a little flighty and a bit of a klutz now and then, but inside, her heart, is you.  Do you remember leaving the Moon?  You left because you loved our daughter so much that nothing else mattered.  I couldn’t have ever done that.”

 

“Serenity—”

 

“Setsuna, listen.  Her heart, her strength, her capacity for love, is from you.  I expected her to look like me, all daughters of the Moon Kingdom look similar.  But when she gets determined, she looks like you.  When she smiles kindly at her enemies or her friends, she looks like you.  When she smiles that mysterious little smile because she knows everything will turn out alright, that’s all you.  I don’t have your strength, Love, but she does.”

 

“Thank you,” Setsuna whispered.  “How long have you been watching her?”

 

“A long, long time.”  She closed her lavender eyes, sighing softly.  “Would you . . . would you have even noticed me if I wasn’t the Moon Princess?”

 

Setsuna laughed, kissing Ailan’s forehead before answering.  “I didn’t even know who you were when I first saw you.  It was so long ago, there was a party on Jupiter and you were wearing a silky pink dress covered in flowers.  It moved with the slightest breeze.  I had no idea who you were, but I fell for you in an instant.  I wasn’t even Sailor Pluto yet.  It was years before the ball on the Moon where we first spoke, and I wasn’t even going to speak to you once I learned that you were the princess.  I knew we had no chance, but I was determined to meet you.”

 

“Good thing for Usagi you found your courage.”  Ailan leaned up and kissed Setsuna gently.  “And good thing for me, too.”

 

“No matter how little time we had together back then, I never regretted my choice.”

 

“Then, since I’m only going to be here for a little while, could we . . . could you . . . could we be in love again?  Just for now?”

 

Setsuna smiled at her partner, turning to face the silver-haired woman.  “I have never stopped loving you,” she whispered.  “I never will.”

 

“I wish you could, Setsu-chan.  You deserve to be happy with someone who can stay.  You’ve been alone for centuries and I don’t want you to be alone any more.”

 

“I’m not with you here,” Setsuna whispered.

 

“Setsuna!  I’m not going to be here forever and you need to find someone to love, someone who can be by your side.”

 

“I’ve loved a queen; who else could ever compare?”  Ailan turned away, tears in her eyes, and Setsuna caught her chin, turning the woman back.  “Look, I have been alone since the Silver Millennium.  Alone.  I had so many chances, but I was never tempted.  Ever since I first saw you at the party on Mokusei, no one has ever come near my heart.  I loved you, I love you, and I will always love you.  Only you.  No matter what you say, I could never give my heart to another because it no longer belongs to me.  I gave it to you and I don’t want it back.”

 

Ailan wiped her tears away.  “That was beautiful,” she whispered.  “I wish I was good enough for you; I wish I could be here forever, like you deserve.”  She placed her fingers over Setsuna’s lips, knowing her beloved’s thoughts.  “You don’t have to say anything.  Back in the Silver Millennium, if I could have had just one wish, one wish in the whole world, I would have asked for you.  I would have been a servant on Pluto or a commoner on the Moon, so long as my position didn’t keep me away from you.  Life isn’t fair for us, for two old queens, but we have some time, at least.  I never thought we’d have this much.”

 

“I don’t regret what little time we have.”  Ailan’s sad purple eyes looked up at Setsuna, and the green-haired woman kissed her, aching to be with her one and only lover once more.  For the first time in her long guardianship as Sailor Pluto, Setsuna didn’t care about the consequences—she was going to make love to Ailan.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Haruka pushed Michiru onto their bed, their locked lips pulling her, too.  They had made love before and they had shared a bed for years, but tonight was different.  They were married now, they had an eternity to spend together, and no one would ever again question their devotion to each other.  Besides, the Inner Senshi had forced them to sleep in different rooms for the past week to prepare for their wedding, and Haruka was sick and tired of sleeping alone as a bachelor on Makoto’s couch.  She wanted to show Michiru how much she had missed her.  She could feel the slight woman wiggling slightly to get into position, and she gasped into Michiru’s mouth as her lover’s hands found their target.

 

Haruka suddenly realized that she wanted to give Michiru something more.  She knew that the aqua-haired woman had a wish so deep in her soul that she could never tell her lover, and Haruka wanted nothing more than to find a way to grant it.  They were married now and there was something that her wife deserved.  And she . . . almost . . . remembered how to grant that wish.

 

Haruka felt the power of her planet run through her in a much more intimate way than when she blasted enemies as Sailor Uranus, and she felt something inside her take that power and channel it, altering and refining as she sensed an answering surge of energy from Michiru.  The power left her and arrowed toward Michiru, wrapping around the smaller woman and slipping inside her, escaping from Haruka’s grasp.  The two women gasped, neither sure what had happened, as energy exploded through the room.

 

Haruka collapsed, panting, Michiru trapped beneath her, as the light and the sudden burst of exquisite pleasure faded.  “Michi?”

 

“What was that, Ruka?”  Her wife’s voice was soft and trembling, very uncharacteristic for the senshi of the seas.

 

“I don’t know what that light was, but the rest was incredible.”  Michiru snorted as Haruka rolled to one side and pulled the smaller woman into her arms.  “Are you okay?”

 

Michiru nodded, resting her head on Haruka’s breast, letting her wife’s steadying heartbeat calm her.  “I think so.  I feel a little drained, and I’d like to know what that light show was.  I didn’t know we could do anything like that with our powers.”

 

“I don’t know about you, but I, for one, was not in control.  It’s like Uranus took over and just used my body as a vessel to do what she wanted to.”

 

“I know.  I tried to stop, to pull away, but I couldn’t.  It was incredible, the most incredible experience in my life, but I wasn’t in the driver’s seat.”  She smiled.  “It seems so strange for me to be the one talking about cars.”

 

Haruka chose to ignore that comment as she moved into a more comfortable position and readjusted her arms around her wife, pulling the blanket up higher.  “It almost seemed—I don’t know—familiar, somehow.”

 

“I know . . . I felt . . . Neptune remembers something like this before, and she was a little . . . she is worried.  This doesn’t make any sense, and she won’t tell me.”

 

“It makes sense,” Haruka whispered, her breathing slowing.  “I’m so tired, Michi . . .”

 

“Me, too, Ruka.  I think, after today, we deserve some rest.”  She closed her eyes, and both women were asleep moments later.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Setsuna gasped as she shot out of bed, leaning against the window to let her blood stop pounding in her ears.  Realizing that she was naked, Setsuna slipped her robe on and sank to the floor, glancing up to make sure her shock did not wake her lover.  The green-haired senshi glanced at her hands, unable to comprehend the newest consequences of her choice so long ago.  She had vowed never to let the senshi remember, to never let them relive that pain, but now the Outers who had defied everything to be together were testing that vow.  They had tried to combine their powers again!  It was forbidden!  There was a seal on the planets to keep the incident with Helios from happening again, but it must have eroded over the centuries.  Pluto wondered if her power was fading—the seal should still be strong.  The planets knew better than to combine their powers and the senshi should, too!

 

How could they know, she asked herself bitingly, if they remember nothing of their pasts?  They’ll keep doing it again and again, and you can’t restore that damn seal if the senshi are alive and drawing power from their planets!  One day they’ll succeed and Michiru will get pregnant.  Again.  You cannot allow that a second time.  Setsuna snorted at her inner voice.  As if I allowed it the first time!  Anyway, how do I stop it?  How do I prevent the conception of another child of two senshi?  Usagi and Helios must remain unique, but Haruka and Michiru love each other too much to stop willingly, and they don’t remember how to control their planets.  Then there is only one choice.

 

Return their memories.

 

Before she had time to convince herself to stop or find another way to achieve her goal, Setsuna summoned the Time Staff to her side and pulled her Garnet Orb into her hands.  Closing her ruby eyes, Setsuna wrapped her fingers around the smooth orb, her talisman.  It warmed to her touch, and she smiled as its radiant energy filled her strong frame.  There was no confusion, no question of her true path when she held the orb, and it took a moment to remind her that she had not released its powers in years.  Life made perfect sense when she held the orb, and she knew that her choice was the right one.  Focusing that power, Setsuna reached into the past, into the last glorious days of the Silver Millennium.  “Let them remember,” she whispered, wind filling her room and whispering secrets of time that only she knew.  “Nine lonely planets, one mother star, a lifetime ago they knew the truth.  Let them now know what they did, let them see that truth once more.  Let them remember the Silver Millennium.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 12: Omoidashiteru

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Haruka rolled over, green eyes tightly closed, desperate to escape the images assaulting her mind.  Fancy dresses and regal suits, jewels of unknown power, other planets, kingdoms of unmatched majesty, Michiru . . . her beautiful Michiru was there, everywhere, shaping her entire life from the instant she first saw the child, by her side until the very end.  Haruka turned over again, fingers desperately twined in her sheets, as the final battle filled her mind.  Blood and screaming and death and fear . . . she told her pregnant wife to run, but the slender aqua-haired senshi refused outright.  She felt Neptune’s gloved fingers twine with hers as they both escaped the pain of the Silver Millennium for the peaceful silence of death.

 

“NOOOOO!!!!” she screamed, sitting up in bed.  Michiru woke with a start as Haruka’s scream filled the house.  Shocked, she looked up into her lover’s haunted emerald eyes, gasping as memories flooded her mind.  Setsuna, hair slightly disheveled, dashed into their bedroom, Hotaru just behind her.  Haruka finally managed to catch her breath, and she slipped out of bed, pulling on a rode as she stopped beside the window, panting slightly.  Her partner followed her, leaning her aqua-haired head on Haruka’s shoulder.

 

“What?”

 

“Our past, Setsuna-san,” Haruka whispered, eyes closed.  “I just remembered everything.  It was this huge burst of information, and I . . .”

 

“It was a lot,” Michiru finished.  Remembering her last encounter with Sailor Pluto, Michiru spun to face the green-haired woman.  “Setsuna-san!  I remember now.  I gave Helios to you!  That’s how he ended up on Earth!”  Setsuna nodded, remembering the boy she birthed.  “Thank you.”

 

“Any time.”  Setsuna gently pushed Hotaru out the door, knowing that the two women needed to be alone.  “I’ll see you in the morning, then.  Good night.”

 

Haruka turned to Michiru after the rest of their family left, a smile spreading across her lips.  “I told you to run.”

 

“I had to stay with you, Haruka.”  Michiru let Haruka wrap her arms around her waist, pulling her close.  “I can’t live without you.”

 

Haruka leaned down and kissed Michiru, tears drying on her cheeks.  “Aishiteru, Michi.”

 

Michiru laughed as Haruka pushed her to their bed, kissing the taller woman as the blonde landed on top of her.  “Aishiteru, Ruka.  Besides, everything turned out for the best.”

 

“It did.”  Before Haruka could instigate another game of passion, Michiru laid her fingers on the blonde’s lips.

 

“Haruka, remember what happened the last time you and I combined our powers?  I, for one, am not eager to upset the balance of the Universe once again.  Promise me that whatever else you touch me with, no Senshi power.”

 

Haruka laughed at her wife’s choice of words, letting her lips settle into a pout.  “Hmph.  I never get to have any fun.”

 

“Sure you do; I’m just limiting the field of acceptable outlets.”  She pulled away, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest, smiling as Haruka’s eyes wandered to the edge of the half-closed robe.  “Promise me, Ruka, or you’ll find yourself on the couch.  Again.”

 

Haruka winced at the memory.  “Okay!  I promise.  Now, come to bed.”

 

Michiru smiled as she let her amorous lover lead her back to their nest.  She briefly wondered how the younger senshi were dealing with the memories, and she hoped they were having as much fun as she was.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Minako fell to the floor as the last of the images faded, her pale blue eyes wide.  Struggling to catch her breath, the senshi of love pushed her hair out of her eyes and looked out her window toward Hikawa Shrine.  “She loved me then,” the blonde whispered.  “She really did.”

 

“I imagine she loves you now,” Artemis pointed out from his perch on the dresser, blue eyes reflecting red in the last of the silver moonlight.

 

“But she . . .”

 

“It’s all in your imagination, Minako.  You always run away; you’ve never given her the chance to tell you how she feels.  Makoto and Ami took that chance, and look how happy they are.  I always knew you two were a difficult pair; you’re both too stubborn and frightened.”

 

“I’m not afraid!”

 

“Yes you are.  You may be the goddess of love, but you have been burned by it so many times that you are unable to believe that anyone could truly care for you, especially your best friend.  You have to let go of Alan and your bad experiences in England and embrace the beauty and wonder you’ve found in Japan.  You have to give her a chance.”

 

“What about the wedding?  She could have said something . . .”

 

The little white cat snorted.  “She didn’t say anything because she was afraid of scaring you off.  She asked you to dance because she wanted you to have a good time and you looked a little sad.  All of you traded partners many times, but you’ll notice that Rei-san managed to dance with you a lot.”

 

Minako nodded as she stared out the window.  “What should I do, Artemis?”

 

“Go to her,” the cat purred.  “She’ll want to talk, too, after Setsuna-san returned your memories.  If you ever planned to speak to her, now is the time.”

 

Minako grabbed the nearest dress and slipped it on, for once thinking ahead as her henshin stick appeared in her open hand.  A moment later, Artemis hid his head from the breeze blowing in the window Venus left open as she jumped across the next rooftop and toward her hot-tempered Martian Princess.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

On the top of a hill in Tokyo, a young priestess awoke, heart pounding fiercely.  The image of Sailor Venus reaching desperately for her as the only world they knew fell to pieces around them brought tears to Rei’s eyes, and she sat for a moment to clear her mind and calm her heart.  “Minako,” she whispered.  “I had no idea.  What have we lost?”  Knowing that she would never get back to sleep, Rei changed into her miko clothes and headed outside, sitting on the steps leading away from the shrine.  She briefly considered praying to the Sacred Flame, but she dismissed that thought as quickly as she conceived it.  Her emotions were too wild, too raw, and she knew she could not find solace in those flickering orange-yellow depths. 

 

Image after image of her former life filled her mind, most of them side-by-side or arm-in-arm with the stunning heir to the Venusian throne.  Some of the memories were in her bed, and she felt her pulse quicken at the feelings.  “Now I know why you’re called the Goddess of Love,” she whispered.  “You earned that.  I remember Haruka and Michiru convincing us not to give up our love for anything, but it looks like time did what our fathers could not.  Back then it was so easy, and I knew that I loved you, but how can I show you now what I feel?  How can I make you see that I’ve fallen in love with you again even before Setsuna returned our memories?  How can I live without you, Minako?  How can I keep what I never had?”

 

She could sense the world awaken as the sun crested the eastern horizon, rising out of the sea and coloring the world in orangey-gold, the color her beloved had taken as her own.  Rei looked over her shoulder at the temple she had called home since her mother died, and she wondered if she should go prepare breakfast or pray.  The priestess stood to leave, halting her retreat as she caught the barest flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye.  She watched, a tentative smile spreading across her face, as the dawn brought a golden-haired beauty to Hikawa Shrine.  She had not been the only one to remember her past.

 

Minako jumped into Rei’s arms, both women crying.  “Rei,” she whispered.  “I am so sorry.  I should have told you before we grew so far apart.”

 

“Why didn’t you Minako?”

 

“Because you’ve always been in love with Usagi, and I can’t compete with our princess.”

 

Rei pulled away, looking into Venus’s blue eyes.  “Oh, Minako.  You don’t understand.  I’m not in love with Usagi.  After we returned from Haruka-san’s wish, from the world where Usagi was my girl, I realized that she and Mamoru-kun were and are destined for each other.  I do love her, all senshi do, but I’ve never been in love with her.”

 

“I think I understand,” Minako smiled.  “We all love her, even Haruka-san and Michiru-san, though they try their best to hide it.  It just seems that you love her more.”

 

Rei laughed.  “Do you think I love Usagi more than Ami-chan does?  No!  But she doesn’t express her emotions as vividly as I do.”

 

“Apparently it’s enough for Mako-chan.”

 

Rei smiled.  “Do I show it enough for you?  I know that we aren’t the same princesses that died in the Silver Millennium, but my feelings are the same as hers.”

 

“Mine certainly haven’t changed,” Minako whispered.  “Aishiteru, Rei.”

 

“Mo, Aishiteru, Minako.”  Rei leaned down and let her lips touch the blonde’s, and a fire she had never before known filled her frame.  She pulled Minako closer as she sent a brief prayer to whichever god had convinced Setsuna to return her memories and her lover.  Regardless of what she told Setsuna the day Ailan appeared, she needed her memories.  And she needed Minako.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Makoto awoke to a pounding on her door from a sleep her body had only reluctantly returned to after memories of her past life filled her dreams.  She tucked her loose hair behind her ears as she opened the door, eyes widening.  She was met by a blue-haired woman she knew very well, and Ami let Makoto pull her into her arms.  Some memories were best shared.

 

Ami was shaking when she pulled away, tears in her sapphire eyes.  “I never wanted that, Mako.  I never wanted to remember seeing you die.”

 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, my love.”

 

“You couldn’t have.  You were destined to die, as were we all.  Please don’t feel bad for what you could not prevent.”

 

Makoto pushed her door closed and pulled Ami to her couch, sitting down and pulling the smaller woman into her lap.  Ami pulled Makoto’s arms around her as both let their memories of their previous lives run through their minds.  They didn’t have to say anything to know that they were thinking the same thing.  “How could we forget?  How could I let our love die?”

 

“It wasn’t us, Mako.  Setsuna’s reasons for keeping our memories away were perfectly valid at the time of her decision.  And we fell in love even without them.  But it’s nice to remember.”

 

Makoto leaned down and kissed the top of Ami’s head.  “Yes, it is.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 13: Anshin

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Ailan was awake when Setsuna returned after sending Hotaru back to bed.  She was sitting calmly in the center of Setsuna’s bed, dark red and silver sheets pooled in her lap and in a circle around her, her nudity not bothering the former Queen of the Moon at all.  She held the Time Key that Setsuna had dropped when Haruka screamed.

 

“I returned their memories,” the green-haired woman whispered, closing the door and leaning against it, hands clasped in front of her and head hung.  She was acting like a child expecting punishment, an attitude only her lover could elicit.  “All of them.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I had to,” Setsuna whispered, clenching her fists.  Why did she always feel like she had to defend herself against this woman?  “Haruka and Michiru tried to combine their powers again.  They had no idea what they were doing, but they tried here as they tried before.  I had to stop them, but I knew just talking to them would never work.  They’re so stubborn, they would never listen to me.  They wouldn’t believe me.  I had to show them why I could not allow their powers to merge, and if I did not return the Inners’ memories, they might end up trying the same damn thing.  They’re powerful enough, if they really tried.  It should stop them.”

 

“But?”

 

“I hadn’t planned on this happening.  I hadn’t planned on releasing their memories.  I think that if you had not come back to remind me of who I used to be, I would not have even gone this far.”

 

“Was releasing their memories a bad thing?  Didn’t you want them to remember the love they shared?  I remember that they were happy back then, dodging their fathers to find time together.”

 

“I want them to be happy, Ailan, but will they appreciate remembering their deaths?  I was there, Ailan, I saw that horror.  I have perfect memory, so I cannot escape that pain, but they did.  I was hoping they would never have to go back.”

 

“I think they will appreciate remembering their lives, my love.  They lived good, happy lives as princesses of the Solar System.  It hasn’t hurt Usagi to remember her life and death in the Silver Millennium, and I am not dying from the pain of the end.  Even you, who seem to carry mostly sorrow from your long life, remember the Silver Millennium fondly.  Setsu-chan, most of the Silver Millennium was a wonderful time of peace; only the end was tragic.  I know it was hard for you to let them remember, but I’m proud of you.  No matter what happens now, Setsu-chan, you did a good thing.”

 

Setsuna raised her head, that slow, shy smile that Ailan knew so well spreading across her face.  She slipped out of her robe and slid into bed beside her lover, eyes sparkling with tears.  The smaller woman pulled the green-haired senshi into her arms as the Time Key vanished, leaving the pair alone.  Setsuna leaned up to kiss Ailan, nuzzling her neck gently.  “I love you, Ailan.”

 

“I love you, too, Setsuna,” she replied as the two women stretched out under the blankets, Setsuna pillowing her head on Ailan’s breast.  The silver haired woman was the only one who could ever make her feel safe, the only person who could make her relax, drop her guard.  Ailan breathed once more before she let sleep claim her, and Pluto smiled at the woman in her arms.  This was how life was supposed to be, sleeping with the woman she loved, threats and all other danger pushed away.  If she could live forever in this one moment, just before falling asleep with Ailan in her arms, she would give anything to do so.  That’s all she had ever really wanted.

 

Setsuna smiled as she closed her eyes.  Every ending brought a new beginning, and Ailan was hers, at least for now.  She was content for the first time in uncounted centuries.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 14: Setsuna no Wabishisa

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Usagi sighed, hands in her lap, as she waited for her boyfriend and her closest friends.  For once, she was the one on time and they were all late.  She sighed again as she felt a gentle breeze whisper across her face, the same wind eagerly rustling the leaves of the trees in the park.

 

“Usako?”

 

Usagi looked up, a brilliant smile spreading across her face at the word.  With a characteristic squeal that time had not been able to temper, the blonde jumped into Mamoru’s waiting arms, her eagerness a clear indication of how lonely the slender woman was.

 

“Usako, Makoto-san and Rei-san called me before I left to say that none of them would be able to make and they were sorry.  They tried to call you, but you had already left.”

 

“Ami-chan is at Mako-chan’s apartment?”  Mamoru nodded as Usagi smiled, blue eyes dancing.  “Then Minako-chan is at Hikawa Jinja with Rei-chan!  Mamo-chan, that’s wonderful!  Oh, but what should we do today?  We have no one to spend the day with.”

 

“Then you two seem to be in our situation.”  The pair looked up as Setsuna, Ailan secure in one arm, approached them, stopping at the bench Usagi had been sitting on.  “Hotaru-chan is at a picnic with some of her peers, and Haruka-chan and Michiru-chan are . . . occupied.”  Setsuna smiled as she looked at the silver-haired woman in her arms.  “So Ailan and I are out for a walk.”

 

Usagi smiled at her mother, still not quite sure how to act around the woman.  “Setsuna-san,” she began, not sure how to pose her question.  “Last night I relieved all of my memories from the Silver Millennium, thought most of them were no revelation.  I assume that the other senshi also remembered, which is why Minako-chan and Rei-chan finally realized their feelings.  Setsuna-san, was it your fault?”

 

“Yes, I’m the one who returned their memories.  They all remember now, even Haruka-san and Michiru-san.”

 

“Then they must be the reason you released the memories.”

 

Usagi’s conclusion silenced the small group for a moment, Setsuna nodding slightly.  Ailan finally broke the silence by embracing her daughter.  “I knew you would figure it out, Serenity.  You were always a very clever girl, especially when you snuck off to see Endymion.  Do you remember how you and Haruka-san tricked me and went to Earth for her wedding?  And how you took Endymion all the way to Neptune for Michiru’s birthday?”

 

Usagi blushed.  “Yes, I remember.  You were so angry.”

 

“I really wasn’t.  You may not believe me, but I was quite the rebel at your age.”  She glanced up at Setsuna, and Usagi wondered at the sparkle in her mother’s purple eyes when she smiled at her lover.  “But none of that matters now.  You and Endymion can be together here on Earth.”

 

“Thank you for giving us this chance, Mother.”

 

Ailan watched Setsuna’s face fall, and she pulled her lover back into her arms.  “Anytime.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

She stirred, her eternal sleep disturbed by a shaking in the fabric of her home, of herself.  She focused her incredible will, knowing that she was weakened from her latest excursions, hoping that the problem would just go away.  She found the disturbance, the slight pricking, and she Saw.  This was NOT allowed to happen!  This was FORBIDDEN!!!  She told her, showed her many times, but it was happening again.  And now that the powers were weak, the will marred by crippling emotions, she Saw the Thing she had been searching for since the last period of peace.  She Saw that her servant had disobeyed her then and was disobeying her now, and she would not let it happen.  She focused her will on her servant, the soul child she had nurtured for so long, sending a quick message to her brothers in charge of petty details.  This mistake would not be allowed ever again, even if she had to eliminate all life in her universe to achieve that end.  The promise I make is from long ago and was broken twice when I was not in full control of my realm and will not be once more.  She sends her will, weaker than it had been so very long ago, out into the universe, arrowing toward the one who should have obeyed her without question.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Setsuna gasped as a sharp pain tore through her, a pain more intense than what she felt when she birthed Helios.  She fell to the grass, eyes clouding, unable to feel anything but the burning, searing pain inside.  She bit her lip, blood running down her chin, tears running down her cheeks, but she refused to cry out.

 

Pluto collapsed, sent, as the pain abruptly vanished.  She could feel Ailan’s small hands whisper across her forehead and wipe the blood off her chin, as Usagi took her head and murmured something to Mamoru.  The former prince lifted the limp senshi and placed her on the nearest bench.  Setsuna slowly opened her eyes, finding Ailan leaning over her, lavender eyes worried.

 

“Setsuna?”

 

“I’m okay,” the senshi murmured, not ready to try sitting up yet.

 

“What happened, love?”

 

“She knows,” Setsuna whispered, a dark cloud covering her eyes before it faded.  “I must have let my guard down—I kept her out for so long.”  She sat up suddenly, grabbing Ailan’s shoulders.  “Serenity, she knows about Usagi!  She knows everything I did!”

 

“Who?”  Usagi looked up at Ailan, fear in her eyes.  “What does she know about me?  Who are you talking about?”  She could see from the horror in her mother’s purple eyes that the former queen knew.

 

“She doesn’t have a name,” Ailan whispered, “and she’s really not a she, just prefers to take female form in all of the stories.  She guards the balance of our Universe, leaving the actual work to her children Order and Chaos most of the time, and if she’s unhappy, it’s because we did something to disrupt her plan.”

 

“I did something,” Setsuna whispered.  “Three things now, but she would never have known so long ago.  My powers were strong once and I was not distracted.  My shields have crumbled and she has been able to look into the past and discover what I did to disobey her.  She never wanted the powers of Uranus and Neptune to combine so, long ago, she had the Senshi of Pluto tell all of the senshi to remove the Keystones, a tiny part of the Crystals that control the planets.  But Haruka and Michiru never listen, and they took the stones back.  They combined their powers in the Silver Millennium, just before the final ball, and conceived a child.”

 

“Oh my . . . who?”

 

“The boy with the power of a senshi turned to peace and protection.”

 

“What did her protect . . . oh.”  Usagi’s eyes widened, and her legs gave out, Mamoru catching her.  “Helios,” she whispered.  “He’s their child.  But how was he born of he was conceived just before the end of the Silver Millennium?  I know they died.”

 

“That’s the part that makes Her so mad.  I took Helios just before his mothers died.  I carried him, birthed him, and took him back in time to be the Guardian of the Golden Crystal here on Earth.  And now I have threatened Her plan again by releasing the memories of the Silver Millennium.”

 

“What did you mean when you said She knew about me?  What does she know, Setsuna-san?”

 

“I’d rather not say,” the green-haired woman whispered, turning her head away.

 

“Pluto!”  She turned back, eyes wide at her princess’s tone.  “Tell me what you mean.  Consider that an order.”

 

Setsuna glanced at Ailan, but the silver-haired woman was not her leader anymore.  “Serenity, do you know what you are asking?”

 

“I do.  The truth can’t be any worse than not knowing.”

 

Setsuna swung her legs off the side of the bench and gestured for Usagi to sit beside her.  “Usagi, what do you remember of your father, the King of the Moon?”

 

Usagi shrugged, closing her eyes.  “Um, he was tall and had green hair and dark red eyes.  He reminded me of you, oddly enough, but he always seemed like he had a cloud over his head.  He died when I was just a baby.”

 

“He didn’t die,” Setsuna whispered; “he had to go away.  His marriage to your mother broke every rule of the Silver Millennium, and your birth broke every rule that Balance has ever laid down.  He never should have married her.”

 

Usagi’s mind ran through the possibilities, landing on the only one that made any sense at all.  “He couldn’t be with her . . . because . . . he wasn’t a man.  He was—”  She looked up sharply, eyes searching Setsuna’s resigned features, and she shook her head, unable to believe what her mind and heart were telling her.  “She was you.”

 

Mamoru caught himself against the edge of the bench, eyes wide, as Setsuna slowly nodded.  “Yes.  And now She knows and she won’t want you.  As a child of two senshi, you’re far more powerful than she allows.”

 

Usagi laid a hand on Setsuna’s arm, joy sparkling in her eyes.  “I don’t care.”  She flung her arms around the taller woman’s waist, and Setsuna felt tears in her eyes as she embraced her daughter for the first time since she left the Moon centuries earlier.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“You just lie down for a bit, Setsu-chan.  You’ll feel better after a little rest.”

 

“I feel fine now!”  Setsuna groaned.  “I’m sorry.  My head still hurts a little.”  She closed her eyes and let her lover pamper her, sighing as she felt a cool cloth cover her forehead.  “I’m fine.”

 

“No, you’re not.  You’re getting paler by the minute.  Are you sure you’re okay?”

 

“She never wanted Helios to be born.  Why?  Did she mean for Earth to die?  Did she not want you to be reborn?  Certainly that can’t have been her intended destiny?  And what about Usagi?  I can’t imagine not having her.”

 

“You’re babbling,” Ailan whispered gently.  “Go to sleep now.  I’ll be here when you wake up.  I promise.”

 

Setsuna nodded and closed her eyes again, surrendering to the burning deep within her body.  “I love you, Serenity.”

 

“I love you, too, Setsuna,” Ailan whispered, tears in her eyes.  Setsuna was really sick, and she no longer had the power to save her.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The colors of the time vortex swirled around her, hiding her and her handful of loyal servants from view.  She clenched her fists as contraction after contraction rippled across her swollen belly, her servants swarming like drones over a queen ant.  She groaned at the thought, finding it totally inappropriate in her present condition, and she let her mind cross back in time to watch her once-wife birth their daughter.  Serenity had not taken nearly so long, or did it just seem longer because she was now the one in labor?

 

She snorted at that word as her muscles clenched again.  Labor.  That was quite possibly the only word that adequately described it.  She wondered if she should have asked Serenity what it was like to give birth before she had to.  One of her servants placed a cold cloth on her forehead while the others waited for the boy, silently.  There was nothing but silence.

 

Setsuna could hear blood pounding in her ears, her heart beating so fast, could feel her entire body throbbing and trembling.  “Michiru,” she whispered, “I am glad you didn’t have to go through this.”

 

At the next contraction, a scream forced itself out of her body, the strangled sound coming from somewhere deeper and darker than her soul.  And then the unbearable pain paused, and a tiny infant’s scream pierced the silence.  Setsuna rested for a minute, her tired body using one last contraction to expel the placenta, letting her servants clean the child.  She reached out, touching her staff as she willed her body to return to its normal shape.  Sighing in relief, she stood and took the tiny boy from her servant, wrapped in white cloths and calmly watching what was going on around him.  The servants faded into the mists, their jobs done, and Pluto smiled at Michiru’s child.

 

“Helios.  Welcome to my world.”

 

‘Mother?’

 

“In a way.  Your real mothers gave their lives so that you can live on and protect Earth for the future when they are reborn and will finally meet you.  Their sacrifice was great, for you.”

 

‘See them?’

 

“One day.  For now, let’s go to what’s left of my home.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Setsuna tossed in her sleep, fever raging within her.  Ailan clenched her fists, tears running down her cheeks at her lover’s pain.  Their daughter shook her head as she moved away from the bed.  “I can’t do anything for her, Mother.”  Usagi touched Setsuna’s forehead, tears in her eyes.  “I don’t want to lose her, but the ginzuishou can’t do anything.  Do you think it’s Her?”

 

“It could be,” Ailan whispered.  “When She feels that Her plans are threatened, she has a habit of punishing her children.  I hope that Setsuna will survive.”

 

In the doorway, Michiru stifled a sob and looked away, Haruka’s long arms wrapped around her.  “She won’t die?”

 

“I hope not, Haruka-san.  She is fighting now, and I don’t even know who.  I can only pray that Setsu-chan will survive.  She has to survive.”  Ailan took Setsuna’s hand, and her voice dropped to a whisper.  “I can’t live without you.”  The green-haired woman calmed for a minute at the soft words.

 

“She lived without you,” Usagi whispered.

 

“She has loved you since the Silver Millennium,” Hotaru continued, “but you weren’t there and she had to endure the centuries alone.  And now she’s remembering that.  It has to cause her pain.  That pain is killing her.”

 

“I won’t let it,” Ailan whispered.  “I let Kazeko die, and I loved her.  But I love Setsuna more than I even understand, and I lack the power!  I would give anything to save her, but I have nothing to give.”

 

“You have yourself,” Michiru whispered.  “Be with her, Ailan-san.  She’s so lonely; all she wants is your love.”

 

“Will it be enough?”

 

“Love always is.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Setsuna walked through the gardens of Elysion, hundreds—thousands—of years before the fall of the Silver Millennium, a boy who looked to be ten years old by her side.  Helios watched everything around him with purple eyes far too intense for his age, age that reminded Setsuna of Serenity, a woman she would only be happy if she could forget.  “And this is Elysion, the world of dreams?  It’s very pretty, Setsuna-san.”

 

“That’s the idea.  Ah, here it is.”  Setsuna touched a crystal flower in the center of the stone courtyard with the tip of her staff.  The Garnet Orb glowed fiercely for a moment, and the lotus flower opened to reveal a brilliant golden crystal.  “This is your charge.  It has the power to amplify any energy, good or ill.  Be careful to whom you entrust its care, for it can destroy this planet.  The time will come when the Golden Crystal will be needed, and you must be ready.”

 

Helios stared at the crystal, something in it calling to him, and he held his hand out.  “Can I stay here, Setsuna-san?”

 

Setsuna felt her heart turn to ice at the words, and she swallowed.  The boy was ready to leave her, but she was not ready to lose him.  Steeling herself, she nodded.  “If you are ready.”

 

“It’s ready for me,” Helios whispered.  He reached out to touch the crystal, and it glowed in recognition of its new master, its song of joy singing in his mind.  “I want to stay.  Don’t worry about me, Pluto.  I will grow here just fine.  Go back to the place you must guard and do not worry about me.”

 

Setsuna nodded, hardening her heart as she took her Time Staff and returned to the vortex she now called home.  She turned away from the boy she had birthed and raised alone, leaving Haruka and Michiru’s son to his fate, turning away from the child she had come to love.  It was dangerous to love.  She returned to her lonely gate, not allowing herself the luxury of tears, as the Guardian of Time turned her heart to stone.  She would never love again.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Never love again,” Setsuna murmured, caught in the throes of some nightmare, or perhaps some dark memory.  Ailan took Setsuna’s hand, tears dripping onto her lover’s hand.

 

“You can love, Setsuna,” Ailan whispered.  “Don’t give up, beloved, please do not give up.”

 

“No one left.  All gone.  All alone.”

 

“You’re not alone,” Ailan whispered.  “I’m here, and I’ll never leave you.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Setsuna closed her eyes, feeling her energy vanish into the void, as she began to give up.  No Sailor Pluto had ever guarded for so long, none had possessed the power she gained when she took her keystone and brought her planet to life.  But none of that mattered.  Senshi Duty, Time, Balance . . . it was pointless alone.  She had nothing left to live for, nothing left to guard.  The Silver Millennium had been gone for so long, everyone she loved was dead and dust.  For so long, ever since she left Helios on Earth, her only hope was that the senshi and the children of the Moon, the children of the Silver Millennium, would be reborn and she could see them again.

 

But the one person who made her life worthwhile was gone and could never be reborn.

 

She sensed an enemy, an intruder in the Time Vortex, an intruder in the Solar System, and she stood, for a moment eager to fight and protect her home.  Then she lowered her Time Staff.

 

For the first time in her life, Pluto gave up.

 

She felt a fiery pain tear through her, and she fell to the ground, holding her wounded side.  The Time Staff broke, Garnet Orb shattering, and she knew she was dead.

 

Then she was somebody else, standing outside her body, and Setsuna looked down, finding herself in her Sailor fuku once more, Time Staff in one hand.  She looked at her past self, curled on the ground, and she watched her opponent, whom she knew as a servant of Chaos, desperate to destroy the earth while it was defenseless.  She felt a pang of pity for her past self and she reached out to touch the shattered Time Staff, watching it reform.  The Pluto on the ground looked up, blood covering her white fuku and tears covering her face.  “I’m done for.”

 

“You can’t be,” present-Pluto whispered.  “This is not how I remember this attack.  I won.”

 

“No one left,” past-Pluto cried softly.  “All gone.  All alone.”

 

“You’re not alone,” a silvery voice whispered from deeper in the mists.  “I’m here, and I’ll never leave you.”

 

Both Plutos looked up as a white-robed, silver-haired woman appeared out of the fog, a silver crescent moon on her forehead, lacking the crown she had worn in the Silver Millennium.  She seemed surprised to be in her queen dress again, but she didn’t let her confusion hold her for a moment.  She knelt down and placed her hands on past-Pluto’s wound, pulling a fully-healed senshi to her feet.

 

“Serenity,” past-Pluto whispered.

 

Serenity took present-Pluto’s arm and stepped back.  “I will see you again, Setsuna, but you must not lose hope.”

 

“You came back to me?”

 

“I will, after our daughter realizes her destiny.  Look at Earth now, Setsuna.”

 

Confused, Pluto raised her staff to her hand and formed a mirror to look at Earth.  In the circular looking-glass, the three women could see a blue-haired Japanese woman holding a tiny newborn girl, a girl with gold hair.  In the magic of the mirror, a tiny golden crescent moon was visible in the center of her forehead.  “Princess,” past-Pluto whispered.  “Serenity.”  She waved her hand, and other pictures appeared.  There was a raven-haired girl with purple eyes, the symbol of Mars on her forehead.  The mirror recognized no time constraint, flashing images of a blonde girl with blue eyes linked to the planet Venus, a brunette with emerald eyes linked to Jupiter, and a blue-haired girl with sapphire eyes linked to Mercury.  It flashed again, showing two older girls, one a blonde with emerald eyes and a woman with sapphire eyes and aqua hair.  They were identifiable as the senshi of Uranus and Neptune, the women who shredded the very fabric of the Universe too young yet to endanger anything with their love yet.  The last image showed a small boy with black hair and stormy blue eyes, the powers of the last prince of Earth evident in his frame.

 

“They’re being reborn!  Serenity, they’re coming back!”

 

“They are,” Serenity whispered calmly.  “Keep your hope, and know that the senshi are finally coming, but you will not remember the two of us.  It would upset the Balance of Time.”

 

“I understand,” Pluto whispered sadly.  “But could I kiss you one last time before you leave?”

 

Serenity stepped forward and let her lips touch past-Pluto’s, the fire she felt from the younger Senshi of Time no less intense than the flame that burned in her lover’s soul.  She pulled away, eyes filled with tears, and Pluto waved her hand.  Past-Pluto shook her head, a little confused, as she was pushed back in time a few moments, mere seconds before the attack.  She raised her staff as she sensed an intruder, hope for the future filling her heart.  Only a little longer, then she wouldn’t be alone anymore.  She could do this.

 

Ailan and Setsuna, hidden in the mists, smiled as they heard the dark servant of Chaos die.  Ailan looked up at Setsuna, realizing that she was not lost in her lover’s mind but in her lover’s past and she did not have the power to return.  “Your pain called me,” she whispered, answering the question Setsuna had yet to ask.

 

“Thank you.  I hate time paradoxes, Serenity.  It seems that I saved myself from the greatest threat I faced during my long wait.  And you saved me, even without any power at all.”

 

“Can you get us back?  Are you ready to go home?”

 

“Why does She want to kill me, Ailan?  What can I do to show her that I never meant to threaten Her plan?”

 

“We’ll find a way.  Together.”  Ailan took Setsuna’s hand.  “Please come home.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Setsuna moaned slightly, her eyes opening just a crack, wincing from the light.  “Ailan?”

 

“I’m here, beloved.  Always.”

 

“Forever?  You won’t leave me?”

 

“I don’t think I ever could,” she whispered, afraid of herself at that admission.  “I’ll never leave.”

 

Setsuna opened her eyes, raising a hand to her pounding head.  “Hurts,” she whispered.  Ailan gently pulled her into a sitting position and handed her a glass.  Setsuna grimaced at the taste, but the pain faded.  “You stayed with me?”

 

“I love you, Setsuna,” Ailan whispered.  “Of course I stayed with you.” 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 15: Ninshin

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Michiru slept peacefully for the first time in a week since Setsuna was finally awake.  Very few people realized the close relationship between the Outers affected their mental state when one was sick or injured.  Michiru had been so sick with worry over the woman who had been like an older sister or a mother to her in the past years that Haruka wondered if Michiru would end up in bed, too.  Haruka leaned against the doorway and just watched her, amazed that such perfection was hers.  She was grateful to whatever miracle brought them together, and she never wanted this period of peace to end.

 

“You’re very lucky.”

 

Haruka looked up as Setsuna spoke from the doorway beside her.  The green haired woman was still weak from her long sleep, but she stood under her own power and refused to show any sign that the last weak even happened.  “I know, Setsuna-san.  What about Ailan-san?”

 

A smile of purest joy lit Setsuna’s face, a smile Haruka had never seen before.  “She’s decided to stay, Haruka-san, for as long as she lives.  I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.  She asked me to become a partner in Moonlight Fashions, and I’ve agreed.  It’s always been my dream to design clothes, though the little I do for you two and Hotaru-chan is all I’ve been able to amange so far.  It looks like we’ll get to have the life here that we were never allowed in the Silver Millennium.  She promised to be with me forever.”

 

“I hope you’re happy.”  Setsuna smiled as she left, closing the door behind her.  “Because I am,” Haruka added, slipping out of her robe and sliding into bed beside her lover and wife.  Michiru automatically rolled over and nestled into Haruka’s arms.  “I never want to lose you,” Haruka whispered to the aqua-haired woman in her arms.  “Never.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Just tell me what’s wrong!”

 

“Calm down, Michiru-san!”  Ami laughed as she scribbled notes on her pad, glancing over her shoulder to see of her friends were finished with the lab work.  Since the genius had been able to advance very quickly through med school, she was already poised to become a real doctor and was interning under one of the more successful gynecologists in Tokyo.  She was also learning to deliver and care for babies, her passion.  However, when Michiru visited her gynecologist to see why her body was acting up, the woman had been unavoidably detained delivery triplets, and Ami was allowed to do the tests on her friend.  She never lost her professional manner, even amid the excitement, and Michiru knew she’d make a great doctor someday.  “Michiru-san, has this ever happened before?”

 

The aqua-haired woman thought a moment, glancing at her wife as Ami adjusted her reading glasses.  “Well, once.  When I was younger, I had one year where my hormone levels were really bad and I missed three or four periods, I think.  The doctor said that it was just a phase that I would grow out of, but it might come back.  Do you think it could be that?”

 

“We’re checking.”

 

“You don’t think it could be something else . . . something worse?”

 

Ami patted Michiru’s arm, smiling kindly.  “Don’t get worried.  These things happen.  Everyone misses a period now and then.  I really don’t know why you came in the first place.”

 

Michiru glared at her wife, and Haruka raised her hands defensively.  “Hey!  I was worried!  You’ve always been perfectly regular, and my body readjusted to your clock, so when you’re off, my hormones go crazy.  Besides, Ami-chan, she wouldn’t let me sleep with her last night.”

 

The blue-eyed genius blushed, sticking her head out the door to get the test results as Michiru lightly punched her wife.  Haruka feigned pain as Ami returned, studying the results.  Makoto, who had stayed silent at Ami’s reaction to Haruka’s comment, glanced up from her book for a moment.  She was stretched out on the couch in the corner that was supposed to be reserved for the patients but belonged to the senshi of Jupiter while she waited for Ami to finish.  Sometimes she studied, but often she just read for fun, mostly ignoring the events around her.  “Don’t worry; Ami knows what you’re talking about.”

 

And then everything started to go wrong.

 

Ami gasped, the papers fluttering to the floor as she collapsed against the counter, staring at Michiru.  Her sapphire eyes were wide, one hand covering her mouth.  Makoto dropped her book and dashed to Ami’s side, gathering the papers the water senshi had dropped.  “What is all of this saying, Ami?”

 

“It’s impossible!  There’s no explanation . . . this can’t have happened!”

 

“What, Ami?  What couldn’t have happened?”

 

Ami turned to look at Michiru.  “She’s . . . pregnant.”

 

Michiru fainted.

 

Haruka caught the Sea Senshi before she hit the ground, easily lifting her and laying her on the couch Makoto had recently vacated.  She touched Michiru’s cheek, knowing that she would not have normally fainted, reaching for her wife with her mind.  She placed a hand on Michiru’s belly and gasped as a power answered hers, a faint spark of consciousness responding to her light probe.  Haruka looked up at the genius, green eyes no longer distant.  “Ami-chan, how can that be?  How is this possible?  When could it have happened?”  Haruka’s mind flew back to the night of her wedding, and she blushed beet-red as she suddenly recognized the burst of power that filled the room that night.  “Oh,” she whispered.  She glared at Makoto as the brunette burst out laughing, the look of pure guilt on Haruka’s face so strange that she couldn’t help it.

 

“I’m sorry, Haruka-san!  When . . . when did this happen?”

 

“Our wedding night,” she whispered.  “That’s why Setsuna returned our memories so suddenly.  She didn’t want this to happen again.”

 

“Again?”  Makoto’s mind automatically flew to the Silver Millennium, and she swallowed.  “I remember the huge burst of power from the outer planets that made our Keystones join the crystals of our planets in the Silver Millennium.  Did that have anything to do with you?”

 

Haruka smiled.  “Yes.  That was the night we conceived Helios.”

 

“Helios?!  He’s your child?”

 

Before Haruka could answer the two Inners, Michiru groaned and opened her eyes, closing them instantly at the worry evident in her lover’s stance.  “I wasn’t dreaming.  Oh no.  She’s going to kill us.”

 

“She’ll kill me.  It was my fault, in any case.”

 

Michiru opened her eyes and took Haruka’s hand, placing in on her flat belly.  “I almost can’t believe it.  We never got a chance with Helios, and I wanted to raise him with you.  This child is our second chance, a baby we can raise together.”

 

“I know how much you’ve wanted a child of your own.”

 

Michiru grinned.  “Actually, I always wanted to have a child of yours.  I’m very greedy, you see.  Maybe some part of me remembered Helios and wanted to give him a . . . a what?  A brother?  A sister?”

 

“Genetically speaking,” Ami interrupted gently, “it would only be possible for you to have a girl.  You don’t have the chromosomes for a son.”

 

“What about Helios?”

 

Ami shrugged.  “Not having been there, I really can’t say.  But there was a lot more power in this Solar System during the Silver Millennium, and maybe the planets, newly freed from their sleep, had the strength to make a male whose destiny it was to guard the Golden Crystal.  It had to be a boy, since the Golden Crystal—unlike the crystals of the other planets—only recognizes male guardians and rulers.  If the Universe needs something, it will find a way to create it.”

 

Michiru rolled her eyes at the long explanation, sitting up.  “Ami-chan, are you sure about this?”

 

Glancing over her shoulder to make sure none of her friends or colleagues were coming, Ami pulled out her computer and scanned the senshi.  “Your energy readings indicate a second, very small and very weak pulse inside you.  You are most definitely pregnant, and there doesn’t seem to be any problems that would keep you from coming to term.  Though, I have no basis for comparison.  With the exception of Usagi, we have no idea if any of the senshi ever have or will have children.  Our memories of the visit with our future selves are sketchy, but I remember no daughters.  And there is the added danger of this Guardian of the Balance that has Setsuna-san so worked up.”

 

Haruka wrapped her free arm around Michiru’s waist.  “I won’t let any of Her servants hurt you, Michiru.”

 

Michiru sighed, knowing better than to respond.  “Setsuna is going to kill us.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Ailan smiled at Setsuna as they glanced at their newest sketches.  “I don’t know, Setsu-chan.  This one looks suspiciously like the dress you wore to the last dance.”

 

“Well, maybe.”  Setsuna pulled out another pile, watching as shock spread across her partner’s face.  “I drew all of the dresses from the last ball.  I thought they might be interesting.”

 

“We’ll see what we can do.”  Both women looked up as Haruka and Michiru returned home, four younger senshi following in their wake.  Setsuna stood up as the senshi sat on the couches in pairs, all avoiding her eyes.  Rei looked at Minako, Makoto looked at Ami, and Ami looked up at the married couple.  Unlike the other five, Minako didn’t seem uncomfortable or worried; her eyes reflected utter joy, though she kept them pointed at the ground.

 

“What happened?”

 

Michiru reached for Haruka, who clasped her hand in both of hers.  The aqua-haired senshi swallowed convulsively, her free hand on her flat belly.  Setsuna’s garnet eyes widened as the Neptunian Princess looked at her, sapphire eyes incredibly worried.  Her voice, when she spoke, could not have drowned out a little kitten’s first cry.  “Setsuna,” she whispered, pausing for a moment to wet her lips.  “I’m pregnant.”

 

Setsuna’s legs gave out, some small part of her brain registering the jolt of pain that shot through her as her body hit her chair.  Incredulous, she summoned her Time Staff, pulling the Garnet Orb into her hands and staring into it.  A golden-haired girl stared back.  “It’s a girl,” Haruka added, knowing it was unnecessary.  “I’m sorry.”

 

Setsuna looked up sharply, the Garnet Orb vanishing.  “Sorry?  For her?  Why?”

 

“It was my fault.  It just . . . happened, right before you returned our memories.  I know that you wanted to prevent this, and I guess this is probably one of the reasons you’re in trouble with the Guardian of the Balance.  I’m sorry that we got you in trouble.”

 

Setsuna looked at Ailan, smiling as she looked back up at the married couple.  “I’m not upset,” the Senshi of Time smiled.  “I’m happy for both of you.  I don’t care anymore what the Guardian of Balance wants.  Your daughter is the reason the old queens were afraid to let the powers of Uranus and Neptune combine; the possibilities are endless for the daughter of two senshi.  After all, Usagi is the first Sailor Moon ever to power up to Eternal, and she’s going to be the Queen of the Earth and the Moon.  Your daughter could be anything.  And I’m proud of you.”

 

Michiru’s eyes filled with tears.  “Really?  You’re not angry?”

 

“No,” Setsuna whispered.  “No.”  She jumped up and took two steps, pulling the two women into her arms.  “I wasn’t angry then and I’m not angry now.  I am so happy.”

 

Minako cleared her throat.  “So, if Setsuna-san isn’t going to kill you, can we celebrate?”

 

Michiru smiled, raising one eyebrow as her stomach growled.  “Oh, can that celebration involve food?  I’m hungry.”

 

“What do you mean, you’re hungry?”  Haruka glared at her wife as Setsuna stepped back, and the smaller woman crossed her arms over her chest.

 

“Well, I am eating for two now.  Though I still bet you could out-do me any day of the week.”

 

“Hey!”

 

Setsuna felt Ailan wrap her slender arms around her waist, the silver-haired woman resting her chin on Setsuna’s shoulder.  “There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

 

Setsuna smiled.  “I really am happy, Ailan.  When I learned about Helios not long before his parents died, I was so upset, and it took me a long time to learn that I was only upset because Michiru and Haruka died, not because they conceived a child.  And Michiru has always wanted to be a mother.”

 

“I think maybe this is why Balance was so angry at you.”

 

“I don’t care.  She can’t have this child.  We’ll protect their daughter, Ailan.  No matter what.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 16: Kami no Kanshou

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Can you believe those two?  It’s like they think that it’s their job to disrupt the very fabric of the Universe.”  Setsuna laughed as she pulled off the last of her clothes and reached for the shift she wore to bed.  “I think they enjoy it.”

 

“Don’t you?”  Ailan chuckled at the look on her lover’s face.  “I know what you mean.  But maybe Destiny needs their daughter.  After all, their son is the only reason Earth survived this long.”

 

“Maybe.”  Setsuna slipped her shift over her head, looking up when Ailan’s hand stopped her.

 

“You do not need that,” she whispered, voice low and soft.  She slipped the last of her clothes off and pressed her bare body against Setsuna’s as she wrapped her arms around the taller woman.  “Ready for bed?”

 

“You know I can’t think when you do that,” Setsuna murmured, her entire body quivering.

 

“You don’t need to think.”  Ailan leaned up and kissed her beloved Setsuna, and the Senshi of Time surrendered herself to the siren in her arms.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“A what?  We haven’t had one of those in a long time.”

 

“I’m sure of it, Haruka-san.  Can you bring the Outers?”

 

“Yeah, sure.  We’ll be there in a minute, Venus.”  Haruka turned off her communicator and she looked up at the women she shared a house with.  Her eyes met Michiru’s, and she shook her head, all of her buried protective instincts rising to the surface.  “No.  You have to stay here.”

 

Michiru sighed tolerantly as her henshin stick appeared in her hand.  “I’m at three months; she won’t hamper my movements.  I might be pregnant, but I’m still a senshi and I will protect my princess.”  Setsuna smiled at the younger woman’s answer, glancing at Hotaru.  The purple-haired senshi shrugged, having known already how her mother would respond to Haruka’s surge of overprotectiveness.

 

Haruka was smart enough to know that she could not win this battle, and she sighed as she raised her henshin stick into the air.  “Fine.  But as soon as that fuku shows your pregnancy, you’re staying home.”

 

Ailan watched the four senshi leave, and she decided that she was tired of being left behind.  She knew that her daughter would be fighting, and she wanted to protect the people she loved.  In the Silver Millennium, her senshi never let her fight, and she was tired of being protected and left behind when her beloved went into battle.  Ailan followed the senshi, determined that her lover and daughter would come home safely.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Mars Flame Sniper!”

 

“Venus Love and Beauty Shock!”  Three more shadow-like black wraiths vanished in a puff of black smoke.  The two senshi fell back for a moment to catch their breath as Jupiter and Mercury moved to attack.

 

“Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!”

 

“Jupiter Oak Evolution!”

 

“World Shaking!”

 

“Deep Submerge!”

 

“Dead Scream!”

 

For the moment, the Senshi were free of enemies.  As the Outers joined the Inner Senshi, Sailor Moon greeted her protectors, Saturn standing to one side, ready to create a wall.  Tuxedo Kamen, who had been battling wraiths with his cane, paused to catch his breath.  “Neptune, are you sure you should be here?”

 

“I’m pregnant, not porcelain.  I wish you guys would quit trying to protect me.  This little girl will be fine.”

 

The wraiths, having regrouped, spun toward the senshi once again.  They seemed to be endless, attacking so fast and so aggressively that the senshi had no chance to get on top of the wave.

 

Pluto stepped back from the constant attack, her breathing heavy.  She was old; she couldn’t keep this up much longer.  She realized later how incredibly tired she must have been to miss the attack coming straight at her.  “Pluto!”  She raised her staff just in time to block the energy ball heading for her, and a quick ‘Dead Scream’ finished off its owner.

 

Pluto spun to face the woman who had warned her, red eyes narrowing.  “Ailan!  Why are you here?  You should have stayed at the mansion.”

 

“I can’t just sit back and let everyone else fight anymore.  It isn’t fair.”  Ailan stepped out from behind her tree, lavender eyes sad.  “I hate it when you’re in danger and I can’t protect you.  None of you would ever let me fight.  I never even transformed into Sailor Moon.  It isn’t fair.”

 

“It was to protect you,” Pluto whispered.  “We can’t lose you, Ailan.”

 

“Look out!” Mars cried.  Pluto spun around to face the attack, staff raised, but the cloud of shining black metal was too powerful.  She would never be able to protect herself.  All of the senshi moved to protect their oldest member, but none of them were close enough.

 

Ailan was.

 

She never hesitated, never considered the consequences, never even realized that her lover was a senshi and might survive while she, as a mortal, was doomed.  The blast hit her full-force as she pushed Pluto out of the way, and the silver-haired woman screamed as she was thrown against the tree.  Eternal Sailor Moon finished off the last of the wraiths as the senshi gathered around the fallen woman.

 

Ailan coughed, blood spilling down her chin, as she tried to hold her hands over the wounds on her side.  She knew she was dying; the senshi could see it in her eyes.

 

Setsuna took her lover’s hand, heedless of the blood on her white gloves.  She glanced at her daughter, a plea in her eyes, and Usagi pulled out the ginzuishou.  Before Ailan even had time to object, the crystal screamed in protest and darkened angrily.  It refused to heal the woman.  Usagi returned the crystal to its broach and shook her head.  Setsuna looked at Ailan again, tears in her red eyes.  “Ailan, why would you do that?”

 

“For you,” she whispered.  “For once I had the power to protect the ones I love and I took it.”

 

“Serenity, please don’t leave me,” Setsuna cried, pulling Ailan into her lap.

 

“I can make the crystal behave,” Sailor Moon whispered, staring at the quiescent stone in her hands.  “I’m sure I can save her.”

 

“Don’t you dare,” Ailan hissed.  “Evolved or not, obedient or not, that crystal will kill you if you try.  Just as Kazeko would not let me die to save her, I won’t let you save me.”

 

“I don’t want to lose you, Mother.  I only just got you back.”

 

“I know,” the woman whispered, coughing as she struggled for breath.  “I’ve died before; this isn’t so bad.”

 

“I won’t let you!”  Setsuna shifted Ailan into Usagi’s lap as she stood and wrapped her hands around the Time Staff.  She knew of only one being who could help if the crystal refused.  “Hades, Lord of the Dead and the Underworld, I Summon you!  Come to your servant!”

 

Wind swirled around the woman, whipping her long hair, desperately trying to force her to give up, to surrender, but the Garnet Orb glowed fiercely in defiance.  A dark portal opened with a scream in front of Pluto, a sound that caused the other Senshi to cover their ears in pain, but Pluto stood firm, eyes glowing.  A tall man—too tall to be human—with dark hair and glowing eyes stepped onto the grass, a scythe-like staff in one hand.  He looked at Pluto and ran his hand across his face in a very Human gesture.  ~Pluto, you fool.  You know better than to call me.~

 

“I didn’t have a choice.  You want a soul that I cannot let you take, and I want to make a bargain for that soul.”

 

Hades glanced at Ailan, her life’s blood staining the grass and her daughter’s fuku, and his eyes widened.  ~How did she get out?  I gave specific orders that she was not to be reborn.~

 

Pluto’s staff was at his throat in an instant, her eyes almost too bright to look at.  “What?!  You did not want Serenity to be reborn?  Why, Hades?  You wrote the laws that demand that every sentient being deserves a second chance.  You enforce the Law of Rebirth.  Why would you deny Serenity that?”

 

~She broke so many laws, Pluto, as have you.  But my orders came from a different source.  I imagine she must have had a link in the mundane plane that allowed her to escape me and be born again.~

 

“Me,” Pluto whispered, lowering her staff.  “I defied another god.  Hades, please don’t punish her for what I did.  Please don’t let her die.”

 

~I cannot prevent it, child.  You know I love you, daughter, but I cannot grant this wish.~

 

“I’ll do anything!  Hades, Father, take my life for hers.”

 

Hades hung his head.  ~I cannot.  You are too close to the gods and she too far away.  Your power would destroy her body and both of you would die.  She’s mortal, Se, and no longer under the protection of Selene, of Artemis, your cousin.  What do you expect me to do?~

 

“She’s mortal, yes, and she was not born with the ginzuishou in her body, in her soul, as our daughter was—”

 

~Your daughter?!~  Hades looked at Sailor Moon, so small and fragile-looking, and he laughed.  ~Of course!  No wonder she could perform such wondrous feats.  She’s the granddaughter of gods.  But the only reason she has such power is because she was born with the life crystal of the Moon.~

 

“No,” Pluto corrected; “she was born with the guardian crystal of the Moon.  The life crystal of the Moon was lost long ago.”  Her red eyes challenged her father, and he shook his head.

 

~There are some things I cannot say.~

 

“But I can,” a younger voice piped up in a voice that was far more human-sounding than the lord of the dead’s booming baritone.  Persephone, Hades’s beautiful wife, entered the mundane realm, a smile on her lips.  “Hello, my beautiful Se.  I missed you so.  Ever since Hades called you to be his Avatar.”  She glared at her husband, smiling when she stepped up to Pluto and placed her hands on the shorter woman’s shoulders.  “Se, the ginzuishou is not the life crystal of the Moon because the ginzuishou was formed from a drop of Artemis or Selene’s blood, and she is just the guardian of the Moon, not the essence of the Moon.”

 

“Eurynome,” Setsuna whispered.  “The light that rose from the wastelands of Chaos and twined with the Universal Serpent, Ophion, composed of the four Winds, to create the Moon and the Earth and the Stars.  She was the first God worshipped on Earth, and she was long associated with the Moon long before Leda birthed Artemis.  Are you saying Eurynome created a crystal?”

 

Persephone nodded.  “Chaos was all-powerful back then, before the younger gods, us, created a Guardian of the Balance and gave her the power to control Chaos.  Eurynome needed to create a force to counter Chaos, what you mundanes call Order, so she used most of her life-force to make a single crystal.  She sleeps on the Moon now, since she gave so much.  But the crystal’s powers of healing, light, protection, and love always killed its owner.  So Artemis created a less powerful stone with healing powers directly linked to the Moon Royal Family, the descendants of Selene she named Serenity, and gave it the power to cleanse evil.  The first stone had the power to cleanse chaos, which is more dangerous and less predictable.  The original stone was given to your father.”

 

Setsuna looked at Hades, eyes wide.  “Father, why can I not have that stone?  If its power of healing is as great as you say . . .”

 

~Se, it may not respond to her.  She’s not Lunarian anymore.~

 

“But her soul is still the soul of the Queen of the Moon!  Father, I have never asked you for a favor, and I want this with all of my heart and soul.  She’s fading fast and the ginzuishou will no longer recognize her.  This is her only hope.  I love her, Father, and I cannot lose her again.”

 

Hades sighed and handed his staff to Persephone.  ~Daughter, the goddess we granted the power of Balance to will not be happy, and the stone may refuse to heal your lover.  But since your souls are linked so closely, I will grant you this one wish.  However, the stone was entrusted to me long ago and I was told that it will always choose.  Its power cannot be forced.~

 

“I understand.”

 

Hades nodded and held out his cupped hands, concentrating as a silver light glowed from between his palms.  An unearthly silvery song filled the air as a tiny silver crystal appeared in the god’s hands.  He relaxed as it floated for a moment, seeming to take stock of its surroundings, and its silvery siren call filled the air.  Suddenly it stopped, the erratic, uncontrolled pulsing slowing and settling into a lazy but defined rhythm as its spinning stopped.  Hades opened his hands, stepping back, and the silver, pearlescent crystal flew away from the god and toward the group of senshi.  Pluto stepped back, wincing from the ancient, sentient power pulsing off the tiny stone in waves, her blood and soul screaming at her to stay away from it.  The stone landed on Ailan’s breast, its silver glow steady and strong.  It paused a minute, thinking, as Hades took his staff.

 

~Se, when it asks to be returned, you must send it back to us.  When it is done, it will ask.  It is called the Moonlight Crystal, or the Mother Pearl, and it will not be controlled.  What it wants, it gets.  Do not call me again, daughter, unless it is for a family reunion.~  The two vanished, not needing to wait for the outcome, returning to their brethren.  Hades’s last words filled the park.  ~She is going to be so angry.~

 

The blood on Ailan’s body slowly faded as her wounds closed up, the silver power of the tiny crystal healing the fallen human.  The unconscious woman began to moan, falling out of Usagi’s lap as the silver glow spread farther, enveloping her, too bright for even the senshi to look at.  Pluto held up a hand to shield her eyes as her lover glowed more brightly than a newborn star and the silver star song climaxed.  When the light and music faded, the senshi looked back to find Ailan standing, the crystal floating above her hands.  Pluto fell to her knees, eyes wide, as the other senshi gasped.

 

Ailan looked down and swayed faintly when she realized that she was no longer wearing the clothes she had dashed out the door in.  She was dressed in a white form-fitting fuku with a silver double skirt, white boots with silver filigree pattern snaking up the length, a gold band around the top of each, and a crescent moon in the center.  Her long white gloves ended in silver, a thin gold band around each wrist, a crescent moon on each.  The bow above her skirt in the back was gold with two long ribbons hanging to her knees, while the one in front was silver with a paler silver star in the center.  Setsuna stood and walked forward, one slim finger touching the moon glowing from the center of her lover’s forehead.  “Silver,” she whispered.  All of the moons on Ailan’s Sailor fuku were silver.

 

“What happened?”

 

Setsuna smiled as the other senshi gathered around their newest member.  “You’re a senshi,” Setsuna whispered, pointing at the quiescent crystal in Ailan’s hands.  It glowed as the star locket with a tiny crescent moon on the front opened, admitting the pearl, and the Moonlight Crystal entered the indention inside the broach.  “And it looks like the Moonlight Crystal is staying with you for a while.”

 

“Moonlight . . . Crystal?”  Ailan looked at her fuku again as a brilliant smile lit her face.  “I’m a senshi?  One of you?  Sailor . . . Moonlight?”  She looked at Eternal Sailor Moon, and a soft song in the back of her mind whispered a secret.  Closing her eyes, she concentrated, and two silver wings appeared from her back.  “I know you,” she whispered, her eyes glowing silver.  “A child of the line of Selene.  A child of the line of Hades.  But not blessed by Eurynome.  No, she has been gone . . . she blessed one child to carry on her work, to fight Chaos and save this small galaxy.”  Ailan shook her head, breaking free of the crystal’s control.  “What does it mean, blessed?”  She looked at her lover, sensing that Setsuna knew more than she would tell, and shook her head.  “I can’t believe I’m actually a senshi.  I’ve never been one before.”

 

“Never?”

 

“No, Sailor Moon.  Does this mean . . . does this mean that I’ll live as long as you?”

 

Setsuna felt tears fill her eyes as the full implications of Ailan’s rebirth as a Senshi hit her.  “We can be together now,” she whispered, pulling Ailan into her arms.  “You’re not mortal anymore, though I have no idea why the crystal did this to you.  I remember legends of an ancient senshi of the Moon, Sailor Moonlight, whose ancestors were part of an older Royal Line, the children of Eurynome, but the last Sailor Moonlight vanished before the Sailor Wars.”

 

“We’ll figure it out,” Ailan whispered, laying her head on Setsuna’s breast, feeling safe and content for the first time since she said goodbye to her Moon King so many centuries earlier.  “Now we have all the time in the world.”

 

As the other Senshi gathered closer to greet and welcome their new member, Pluto whispered a brief thanks to whichever god released her beloved’s soul from her father’s realm.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Aphrodite watched the scene unfold in the viewer, smiling when she sensed her son join her.  “Good job, Eros.  How did you convince the stone to choose Ailan?”

 

The winged man shrugged.  “Actually, Mother, I didn’t.  The stone was waiting for a child of Eurynome to claim it for the upcoming battle, but only she can name her child.  She chose the former Queen of the Moon, and I can’t find her to ask why.”

 

“Balance is going to be really upset.”  Eros nodded as he joined his mother.  “By the way, where is my great-grandson?”

 

“I haven’t seen Kiyoshi’s boy in ages.  He might have had something to do with this.”

 

Aphrodite snorted.  “Even after he ascended to join us, he still insists on bringing Soulmates together.  I hope he didn’t have a hand in this, though; Balance will be really angry at him.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 17: Kurai Jo’ou-sama

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Ailan stared at the crystal in her hands, lavender eyes entranced by the tiny silver stone.  It whispered to her, singing a sad song of loss and loneliness as she felt more and more of her hum in response.  She didn’t recognize the stone from having ever seen it in the Silver Millennium, but some part of her –blood, body, soul—beat in tune with it.  In a very old, very ancient way, Ailan knew that she belonged to the stone, that she served the stone, and she was ready to help its quest.  But she had no idea why.

 

“Ailan?”

 

She looked up as Setsuna entered the bedroom they shared.  The Senshi of Time recoiled from the new light in her lover’s eyes, knowing that the struggle to find a new balance with the stone would soon end and that their daughter had endured the same strain.  But the ginzuishou was not half so old or a tenth as powerful as the gekkouzuishou could be, and that frightened Setsuna in a way she could not put into words.  Ailan seemed unaware of her change.  “Setsuna?”

 

“I wanted to see how you’re coping.  The stone is very powerful and you haven’t channeled vast amounts of planetary mana in a very long time.”

 

“It’s older than the Silver Millennium,” Ailan whispered, “older than all of the ages of peace and great wars and times of darkness.  She’s older than any peace treaty and alliance, any light or hope, but younger than the darkness she fights.  She’s lonely Setsu-chan; she lost her daughter long ago and keeps trying to get her back, but they never meet.  It has not been their destiny to do so yet.  When she meets her child, the world will change and all Balance will be irrevocably cast in a new direction.  She’ll change the world, but even she cannot say for good or ill.”

 

“Daughter?  The ginzuishou, maybe?”

 

Ailan wrinkled her nose.  “The ginzuishou is her shadow, her follower, merely another defender of the light.  Her daughter helped write the new order, the one she defends and recreates every time she is called, and she is powerful, too.  But they have not crossed paths since the Sailor Wars, I think.”

 

Ailan’s eyes grew distant, and Setsuna stepped back as more power pulsed from the crystal.  She still wasn’t entirely certain the tiny stone she had begged her father for was safe.  Ailan seemed to notice the action, and she frowned, glancing at the power weaving its way into her soul.  “This, Setsu-chan?  She worries you?”

 

“She was supposed to go back, Ailan.  Hades was afraid of her, keeping her locked away in his palace far away.  Anything that makes a god nervous scares the hell out of me.  I’m just worried that you’re becoming one with her too fast, that she’ll subsume your personality until there is no more Hikarino Ailan.  I don’t want that to happen.”

 

Ailan looked at her crystal again, urging it to return to the star locket.  “I don’t know why she won’t go back.  She feels that it is her time, I think.  I don’t know why she chose me, though.  If she had to choose someone, why not Usagi?”

 

“She couldn’t have chosen Usagi.  First of all, Usagi has the ginzuishou, and while it may be less dangerous, less powerful, and younger, it is not less sentient and demanding.  It is linked to her soul, perhaps more intimately that it ever touched yours, since Usagi was born with the stone inside her.  Second, she is not only the daughter of two senshi, but the granddaughter of a god, the God of the Underworld.  I’ve spoken to some of my family and consulted some of the oldest texts tonight while you were recovering, and they and what legends I’ve heard of this ‘First Stone’ indicate that she deals in the eradication of all evil, all darkness, and all pain.  Death is pain.  She would not choose the granddaughter of death.  Thirdly, she is a very demanding stone.  Persephone tells me that her other hosts in the very distant past were pure, untainted by power.  Usagi has had her dark moments, and her moments of evil, and she’s died.  Taints like that drive the stone away.  It takes a woman pure of heart, mind, body, and soul, free of any and all other power, to accept the crystal.  You’re human; there is no greater innocent purity.”

 

A slow smile spread across Ailan’s face, and Setsuna recognized her lover taking control.  “You mean that I’m only a Senshi because I never was a senshi?  I’m one of you because I was born human?”

 

“Yes, but she’ll only take a child of the Moon.  The part of you that still is Lunarian, your soul, is what made the ginzuishou refuse to heal you.  It won’t heal one it once controlled once it has a new host.  That same part identified you as a daughter of the Moon and a candidate for the Silver Moonlight Crystal, and it latched onto that.  It must have a mission here.  With Usagi taken, it needed you as the only other Lunarian who could help it.  That must be why Balance ordered that you not be reborn.”

 

Ailan closed the broach and placed it on the table beside her, wincing as she lost contact.  She sensed Setsuna relax, and she smiled as she patted the bed.  “If it’s really that powerful, I’ll take it slow and make sure not to let it control me.  Come to bed, Setsu-chan.”  Setsuna slipped into bed beside Ailan, stroking the smaller woman’s silver hair as they both settled down to sleep, exhausted.  “Setsuna?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“I don’t know if I can do this.  Be a senshi, I mean.  I’ve never done it before.”

 

“Don’t worry,” Setsuna purred as they both fell asleep.  “I’ll watch out for you.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Neptune chased the solid wraith across the beach, her element calling to her, begging her to be careful, offering to help her.  For the moment, she was alone, but her fellow senshi would arrive soon.  A brief second of thought led her to conclude that she had not been alone since Ami told her that she was pregnant, especially not fighting the servants of the Dark One, as they had come to call the queen of their enemies.  They had only glimpsed her once, before Ailan became a senshi, and the last Queen of the Silver Millennium had yet to prove herself in battle.  Perhaps she would answer this call, Neptune mused.  Haruka, the ever-protective ‘father’, had been at the track all day, so Michiru had been walking home alone from her brief violin recital with three of her colleagues.  When she spotted the wraith hovering near the water’s edge within striking distance of a few families, she called the other senshi and took off after it.

 

She was tiring quickly, her body sore in places she hadn’t dreamed of months earlier, the added weight and bulk slowing her down and shifting her center of balance enough to prevent her usual agile leaps.  Haruka didn’t want her running or fighting, but Michiru refused to let her pregnancy endanger Tokyo or her princess.

 

The wraith turned and entered a sea-side cave, Neptune close behind.  She stopped just inside, the cool waters of her element caressing her bare and swollen ankles, her wife’s wind calling her name, begging her to be cautious, urging her to wait.  The others would arrive in just a little bit; she could wait until then.  Neptune brushed the words away.  She was tired of being cautious and tired of waiting for the others.  She could fight alone.

 

Neptune entered the cave, raising her mirror to reveal the dark recesses.  Light surrounded her, and little gems sparkled in the dim glow.  She heard a sound deeper in the dark cave, and she swallowed once before moving forward.  When the last of the light behind her vanished, Neptune stepped onto a shelf of rock looking down on a shallow crater in a huge cavern where her mirror was no longer required.  A tall, dark woman sat on a throne in the center, her long black dress flowing to the ground in silky layers, her wraith minions swarming around her.  She was the source of the light and, oddly enough, the darkness, her red eyes seeing everything.  All activity stopped as the senshi entered the cavern, and the queen stood, her feet finding a walkway from her dais to Neptune’s ledge, her skirts fluttering around her feet as she walked.  “Sailor Neptune,” she greeted, her voice a growl and a gentle whisper, barely a breath but loud enough for all of her minions to hear and understand.  “I was wondering when you senshi would finally arrive.”  The woman stopped in front of the senshi, a mocking smile on her face as she peeked behind the frozen woman.  “Where are your friends?”

 

Neptune took a step back, automatically placing a protective hand on her slightly-swollen belly, the five-month bulge more easily apparent in her Sailor fuku.  The Dark Queen’s blood red eyes widened, flying to the aqua-haired senshi’s belly.  “No,” she whispered.  “Not again!  She was supposed to stop this!  I will not tolerate such a blatant disregard for the balance of fate!”  She returned to her throne in an instant, waving her arm at the woman.  “Dispose of her and rip that child from her belly.”

 

“No,” Neptune whispered, backing up.  For the first time in her life, the senshi of the eighth planet was going to run away, but she had to for the sake of Haruka’s baby.  A sound behind her, a whispery hiss, informed the senshi that she was surrounded and there could be no running away.  Raising her hands, both glowing with the blue of her power, Neptune prepared to fight for her life and her daughter.  She would not go down so easily.

 

“Moonlight Flash!!”

 

Light filled the cavern, eradicating the nearest dark minions.  The queen hissed her displeasure at the sudden interruption, eyes widening as a silver-suited senshi entered the cave, clothed in a silver power that lit the cave and drove away the darkness.  “Ai to seigi no, Seeraa fuku Bishoujo Senshi, Sailor Moonlight!  Tsukini kawatte, oshiokiyo!”

 

Neptune almost laughed as she heard Usagi’s traditional greeting from her mother, but the silver-haired woman did not speak for the same reason the blonde princess did.  Usagi’s voice was her strongest weapon, and the distraction her speeches provided often provided the senshi with an opening to defeat the youma of the week.  Ailan used the words as a last resort, desperate to buy Neptune a few seconds, still uncertain of her own powers.  The Dark Queen was not amused.  She stared at Moonlight, her glowing eyes even more furious than before.  “That stone was hidden in the depths of death itself!  It was not to be used ever again.”

 

As the shadowy wraiths backed away from the light Ailan emitted, the newest senshi crossed her arms over her chest, Pluto and Uranus appearing behind her.  “We don’t care anymore about your plan.  You never wanted Helios to be born and you wanted Earth to fall into darkness.  So I don’t care what you think about me or my stone and I will personally insure the safe birth of this child.  Regardless of what you think.”

 

Uranus scooped Neptune into her arms, letting Pluto defend them as she leapt away, heading out of the seaside cave.  Ailan waved her hand, and a long, pearlescent white staff appeared in her hand, a silver crescent moon on top, a tiny clear crystal in the curve of the moon, silver flaws sparkling from the inside of the stone.  The dark queen moved to fight Pluto, but Moonlight raised her new staff, defying her.  “You cannot stop me.  It is time for Chaos to cover this galaxy once more.  The time of the senshi is over!  All of you will die with that child, especially you, abomination.”

 

“None of that, now,” Moonlight warned, a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach at the mention of the baby.  “Go, Pluto.”

 

An instant later, the dark queen was alone.  She clenched her fists, vowing that Moonlight and the child of Uranus and Neptune must die.  She sensed that another daughter had been born of two senshi, long before even Helios, but the twists of power and time kept the child’s identity from her.  She knew, though, that only a few senshi in the Silver Millennium were strong enough to birth a daughter, and one was her own servant.  One of the others was the queen of the moon.  “Wraiths!  Have you located any of the Cupids yet?”

 

“No, mistress,” the leader hissed.  “They have been remarkably silent of late.  I think they know you are looking for the cupid assigned to your servant.”

 

“Which means we won’t find him.  Very well, Plan B.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Uranus placed Neptune on the ground underneath the old tree, green eyes scanning her wife for injuries.  “Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine,” Neptune whispered unconvincingly, hands shaking.  “They wanted to kill our baby, Haruka.  She really wants her dead.  Haruka, I’m so scared.  For the first time in my life, for the first time since I became a senshi, I’m afraid.”

 

Uranus embraced her aqua-haired partner.  “I’m so sorry, Michi.  I should have been with you.  From now on, for the rest of your pregnancy and as long after that as needed, I will never leave your side.”

 

“Haruka!  What about your races?  You have a life of your own, parts of your day that don’t include me, and you can’t give that up.”

 

“If you can’t make it to my races, then I won’t go.  It’s not like a few months off will hurt my career at all—it’ll probably make me more popular.  I will protect you.”

 

“Haruka, you can’t give up racing for me.  It’s your dream.”

 

“No, Michiru.”  Haruka placed her hand on Michiru’s swollen belly, a smile on her face.  “This is my dream.  You two are my future, the only future I want or need, and I will make sure that this dream, this future, at last comes true.  Nothing else matters.”

 

Neptune wiped the tears from her eyes, pulling herself into Uranus’s arms.  “I love you so much, Ruka.”

 

“I love you, too, Michi.”

 

A few feet away from the old tree, Pluto touched the smooth white staff in Moonlight’s hand.  “So, where did that come from?”

 

“I haven’t the slightest.  When I faced the Dark Queen, some old instinct buried in the Moonlight Crystal called this staff forth.  Like Sailor Moon, I use a tool to channel my power.  I didn’t need it for the Moonlight Flash, but it might have helped.  And I also have no idea where my power even came from.  But when I heard the Dark Queen threaten Michiru-san’s child, I felt light and knowledge fill me.  I knew how to eradicate the darkness, and I did.”

 

“Ailan, I don’t know much about that crystal, but I do know that its primary power is the creation and maintenance of order above all other callings.  She’s powerful and her only duty is to fight chaos.  But Balance requires that Chaos rule every now and then, and now that she knows that Eurynome has chosen a carrier for her crystal, Balance will be after you.”  Pluto shook her head, trying to hide the tears in her eyes.  “I wish you had never gotten into this.”

 

Moonlight pulled Pluto into her arms and rested her head on the taller woman’s shoulder.  “I never gave you a choice, Setsu-chan.  I want to protect you.  You had no idea that the crystal would react to me as it did, and you certainly had no idea that Eurynome would choose me to be her next avatar.  Besides, I wish your weren’t involved in this whole senshi business either.”

 

“I have an excuse,” Pluto whispered, a smile lighting her face.  “I’m Hades’s daughter.  I was born to be the senshi of Pluto.”

 

“I was the queen of the Moon.  I was also born to be a senshi.”  Moonlight smiled as her staff disappeared, wrapping both arms around her lover and former husband.  “Look, I have faith that we will get through this.  As long as Balance is focused on me, she won’t notice Usagi.  I think our old shields and blocks are enough to keep our daughter safe.  I am not afraid of her.”

 

“That comes from the stone, love.  Don’t let it overpower you.”

 

“Don’t worry; I know what I’m doing.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 18: Odorokaseru

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Michiru tossed and turned, lost in a nightmare she was desperate to escape.  Haruka shook the smaller woman, desperate to pull her out of the dream before she accidentally hurt herself.  Michiru’s thrashing and squirming slowed as her sapphire eyes slowly opened.  Her swollen belly was pressed against Haruka’s stomach, and the green-eyed senshi could feel their tiny daughter kicking, upset by her mother’s dreams.  Michiru stifled a sob as she dove deeper into her wife’s arm, tears streaking her cheeks.  “Ruka . . .”

 

“What is it, Michi?  What did you dream?  Why did it upset the baby so much?”

 

“I saw your death, Ruka,” she whispered, trembling.  “And she saw hers.”

 

“What?!  Michiru!”

 

“Not in this time, in the past.  I was remembering your death from the Silver Millennium.  Ruka, what if you die here, before she’s born?  I can’t raise her alone.”

 

The Senshi of Uranus smiled and rubbed her hands along Michiru’s back.  “I’m not going to leave you, Michiru.  I love you too much for that.  What do you mean about our baby’s past life?  Who was she?”

 

Michiru shook her head, wiping her tears away.  “I really shouldn’t tell you, Ruka.  It’s so very weird.  It’ll just make you act strange.  You’re going to laugh when I say it because you won’t believe me, then you’re going to say ‘Kami-sama!’ when it sinks in.”

 

Haruka raised an eyebrow, glad that her wife was smiling.  “I promise I won’t laugh.”

 

Michiru took a deep breath, sitting up and placing one hand on her swollen belly, letting the sheet pool around her.  Haruka remained lying on her side, eyes trained on her wife in the moonlight.  “Our daughter’s soul once belonged to a Sailor Uranus in the Silver Millennium.”

 

“Which one, Michiru?”

 

“One of the later ones.  Her daughter reigned for less than a month before she died.”

 

“Who was . . .”  Haruka trailed off, and she chuckled.  “You’re not serious.”

 

“See, I knew you would laugh.”  Michiru was still perfectly serious.

 

“No, because that would mean . . . Michiru, the only Uranian Queen to rule for less than a month was me.”  Michiru nodded.  “Kami-sama!  That can’t be my mother!”

 

“Told you so.”  Michiru nodded.  “She showed me, Ruka.  This baby was once Kazeko.  You have become your mother’s mother.”  She giggled, the dark dreams forgotten.  “That is so weird, Ruka.”

 

“I’ll say.”  Haruka reached out and rested a hand on her wife’s belly.  “I never really knew her, Michi.  Setsuna-san and Ailan-san did, but I never met her.  When I entered the world, she left it.  I caught a glimpse of her spirit but I always wondered what kind of woman she was.  Now I can know.  The gods have given us a second chance.  Do you think she’ll remember any of the Silver Millennium?”

 

“Probably a little, but I think we should have Setsuna block those memories.”

 

“Michiru!  You remember how much we fought with her to get our memories back!  I don’t want to put my baby through that!”

 

“And I don’t want her to live knowing that she birthed you more than a thousand years ago!”  Michiru clenched her fists, knowing that her sudden outburst had startled her wife.  “I want her to have a normal life, Ruka, as normal a life as the daughter of two senshi can have.  Knowing that she was a queen of another planet who died birthing one of her mothers . . . she would never be normal.”

 

“Michiru, she might fell incomplete without those memories.  And what about when we give her memories back?”

 

“She’s not going to be a senshi; she won’t need those memories.  I know that this is the last thing you want, especially after Setsuna did it to us, but I know why she did what she did.  It wasn’t to protect herself, and it wasn’t to protect her secret.  It was for us.  She wanted to give us normal lives, or at least normal childhoods.  Please, Ruka, think about it.”

 

Haruka stood up and pulled on her robe, staring out the window.  “You know how much I love you, Michiru, and you know that I want to agree with you, but I know, deep down, that it would be wrong to take a piece of her away.  She died so that I could live, sacrificing her own love for my future.  She deserves to be whole.”

 

“I understand,” Michiru whispered, lying back down.  Curling around her stomach, she glanced at her wife.  “Are . . . are you coming back to bed?”

 

“No.  I think I’ll just stand here for a while.”

 

Michiru nodded and turned over, her body shaking with her silent sobs.  Haruka clenched her fists, feeling her wife’s pain and her daughter’s confusion, but she couldn’t bring herself to return to the bed.  She placed her palm on the window, standing there, all of her memories of the Silver Millennium flying through her mind.  Long after Michiru cried herself to sleep, long after the moon set, Haruka stood there, eyes fastened on the tiny dim dot in the sky she recognized as Uranus.  “I never meant to make her cry,” she whispered, tears on her own cheeks.  “Mother, what should I do?”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Setsuna, come to bed.”

 

The green-haired woman joined her lover, sighing as the smaller woman curled into her arms.  She remembered that safe feeling from the Silver Millennium.  “Ailan, I was thinking about their daughter.  Who do you think she is?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean, she has to have a powerful soul as a daughter of two senshi.  Usagi does.  Do you think her soul is from one of the queens?  One of our old friends?”

 

Ailan lifted her head.  “Why, all of a sudden?  And what does it matter?”

 

“If it’s someone from the Silver Millennium, won’t she remember?”

 

“Oh.”  Ailan rested her head on Setsuna’s chest, tracing the flower patterns on her lover’s silk bed dress with one finger.  “You’re afraid you’ll have to block her memories.”

 

“With the senshi I knew.  I could see their power in the mirror from the Time Gate.  But this girl is different.  I’ll have to return to the Mists when she is born and check to see if she comes from the Silver Millennium.”

 

“I don’t see the problem with letting her remember, if she does come from back then.  I was born knowing my past, and . . . well, I did have trouble trying to find you.  I never had any sort of serious relationship and I had problems with friends, and I always felt like I was a thousand years old.  Wow.  Maybe you should . . .”

 

“It doesn’t matter unless she is reborn from the Silver Millennium, and then it will only matter if Haruka and Michiru ask me to.  We have a couple of weeks left to think about it, anyway.”  The Senshi of Time smiled and caressed Ailan’s cheek.  “Now, what’s bothering you?”

 

“I was just remembering our time in the Silver Millennium.  Setsuna, I know we never should have concocted that fake king plan, and I know that we never should have allowed the pregnancy, but the truth of the matter is that you and I were married for quite a while.  I miss being your wife.  Here it’s not against the law for you and me . . . Setsu-chan, what’s the matter?”

 

Setsuna slipped out of bed when her lover started talking about their time together in the Silver Millennium, leaning against the wall, panic clouding her ruby eyes.  “I . . . I can’t, Serenity.  I love you, gods know I do, but I can’t marry you again.  I can’t go through the pain of losing you again.”

 

“Marrying me won’t make you love me more.”

 

“No, but it will make me rely on you again.  Ailan, When we were married . . . it was like I was in heaven.  I’ve been there, it’s a nice place, and I know that living with you was that wonderful.  I want it again.  I want it more than anything I’ve ever wanted, but I can’t.”

 

“Setsuna, there’s nothing to say that you won’t die before I do.”

 

“Ailan, my parents are gods.  I won’t ever die, and even if I do, I’ll join my mother and father.  I will never see you again.”

 

“Setsuna, I was touched by a god, by Eurynome.  I remember seeing her the day I was born.  She released me from Hades’s domain so I could wield her crystal and save this planet again.  When I die, I believe that I’ll be with you.”

 

“I can’t!  Never again.”

 

Ailan nodded, knowing that something else was bothering Setsuna.  “Okay, love.  Pretend I never brought this up, okay?  I love you, and that’s enough.  Please, come back to bed.”

 

Setsuna grabbed her robe and opened the glass door to the porch.  “Let me get some air first, Ailan.  I’ll be back.”

 

Setsuna closed the door behind her, leaning against the railing as she stared at the stars.  There were so many.  “I wonder how many of them have planets and senshi,” she murmured.  “Do any of you have this problem?  Did any of you illegally marry the only woman you have ever loved?  Was she reborn?  Will she die again?  Eurynome, I wish you had never given her back to me.  It’s almost worse, having her here, than it was to live centuries without her.  She was right.  I never should have asked her to stay.  I wish she had gone away like she wanted to do.  I wish we really could be together the way she wants.  I wish I wasn’t so very scared.”

 

“Scared, daughter?  Of what?”  Hades appeared by her side, also leaning on the balcony, his body and his voice toned down to mortal proportions.  He stared at the stars, his eyes a rich mahogany color as he let his entire godly glamour fall away.  “What frightens you, Se?”

 

“She does, Father.  I do.  How could I have let myself fall in love with my queen?  I was so stupid.  I knew that I was a god, I knew that no one could ever live as long as I will, but I still followed her onto the balcony that night.”  An image appeared in front of the pair, an image of a very beautiful silver haired princess in a lavender dress smiling at a younger Setsuna, her long green hair pulled into an intricate braid and piled on top of her head, her black dress sparkling in the light of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede.  She smiled as the princess held out her hand, following her onto the balcony of the great palace, where they both stared out at the stars.  “She was so very beautiful that night.”

 

“She looks like your mother did the day I first glimpsed her.  Oh, not the hair,” Hades clarified, “but that childlike innocence.  She was kneeling in a field, painting the flowers, wearing a light purple dress that very much resembles that one.  She had flowers in her hair, and pretty ribbons.  She was glowing with life and love and naïveté, and I wanted her so badly.”

 

Setsuna smiled.  “Both of us broke the law, you know.  You kidnapped Mother and I married her, pretending to be a man.  My mortal mother would have turned in her grave if she ever found out.  But that night, there was no Moon Kingdom, no laws, no restrictions, no senshi.  When she asked me to her room, I almost fainted.  When she kissed me . . .”  Setsuna smiled, eyes half-closed, a blissful expression on her face.  “When she kissed me I thought I was on Olympus again.”

 

“Really?  You know, I don’t think my brother would mind if you brought Ailan to Olympus once in a while.  Since Persephone asked Demeter to forgive me, you and I are no longer banned from Zeus’s table and land.”

 

“To the godly plane?  Hades!  You might be allowed to leave the underworld again, and I might be allowed to cross the boundary, but Ailan would never be permitted on Olympus!  Only gods are allowed there.”

 

“So are Avatars and demi-gods.  Zeus revised the rules during your millennium in that blasted Time Gate.  In any case, Ailan is one of us.  She told you in there that she remembers Eurynome freeing her from my domain.  The only beings that can leave are those of god stock.  She was Touched.  Your senshi friends were born with their crystals, and that makes them more than Avatars, immune to mortal restrictions and laws.  And now Ailan is free, too.”

 

“Really?  I don’t have to worry about losing her?”

 

Hades smiled and embraced his daughter.  “No, Se.  She’ll never leave you.  Your mother would never allow it, in any case.  She’s asleep already.  In the morning, you two should talk.”

 

“Thank you, Father.”  Setsuna hugged the God of Death and kissed his cheek.  “I miss you guys sometimes.”

 

“I know.  Come for a visit sometimes, okay?  Oh, and don’t tell anyone about this, especially your mother.  I have a reputation to protect.”

 

“Okay,” Se smiled.  Hades vanished, and she turned back to the scene playing out in the air before her.  Setsuna pulled away from young Serenity, slowly leading her to the bed, a gentle and excited look on both women’s faces.  Passion and love.  She missed being young.  “Maybe I’m just afraid to fall in love, really fall in love,” she whispered to herself.  “I’ll think about it, Ailan.  After all, the past doesn’t repeat itself.”  She knew the lie for what it was, but Setsuna ignored the apprehension she felt.  The past didn’t always repeat itself.  Ailan was not doomed to die.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 19: Ikenie ni suru

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Michiru began to play, letting her soul soar free with her music, releasing her doubts and her worry and her pain as Haruka joined her.  Their spirits twined, the combined chords of their song lifting them on wings they never knew they had.  At that instant, her violin’s sparkling voice joining her partner’s piano, Michiru could see into her beloved Haruka’s very soul, and she cried at the intensity and wonder she found there.  They connected, their music bringing them as close mentally as their lovemaking brought them physically, and both women finally understood why they were fighting over their daughter’s fate.  And both surrendered.

 

Michiru opened her eyes as their song ended, lowering her violin to the stool by her side, eyes never leaving her wife.  Haruka, wearing the navy tuxedo Michiru liked so much, stood from her piano, emerald eyes full of the love Michiru had missed so much.  “God, Haruka,” Michiru whispered in her mind, “why didn’t we do this sooner?  I miss you so much.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Haruka purred, wrapping her arms around her pregnant wife.  “I never meant . . . I never wanted to hurt you.  I’m sorry I’m so damn stubborn.”

“A week of sleeping alone I can deal with.  Living without you I would never survive.  I love you too much for that, Ruka.”

 

“Kami-sama, Michi.  I love you, too.  Both of you.”  As their lips met, the crowd of the small diner cheered, having absolutely no idea why the pair suddenly embraced, only knowing that they had not been the same harmonious couple when they walked onto the stage earlier that afternoon.  Haruka pulled away, tears in her eyes, resting one hand on Michiru’s swollen belly.  “You know, I bet she’ll be a fantastic musician.”

 

Michiru laughed, wiping the tears from her own eyes.  “I hope she’s just like you, Ruka,” she whispered.  “From what I heard from my mother, you and she could be twins.”

 

Haruka raised an eyebrow at Michiru’s mental comment, shaking her head as the pair turned back to the crowd.  “Thank you all for coming tonight,” the blonde smiled.  “This will be our last concert for some time, since our daughter is expected to make an appearance within the week.  One year ago today, Michiru and I stood on this stage, playing the exact same song, and I stood here and asked her to be my bride.  It doesn’t seem like an entire year has passed, but . . . this has been the best year of my life, and it started right here.  There is no better place for Michiru and I to say goodbye to the music world for a while.”

 

One of the patrons, an elderly woman who sat with her husband, three daughters, three sons-in-law, and seven grandchildren, stood up, smiling at the musicians.  “Ten’ou-san, Kaiou-san, I know I speak for everyone here when I say, good luck with your daughter.”

 

The musicians exited the diner, Haruka carrying Michiru’s violin, among cheers from the people who had listened to the duo for so long.  Michiru was crying when Haruka helped her into the car, and Haruka wiped the tears off her wife’s cheek.  “What?”

 

“I’m just . . . I missed this, Ruka.”

 

“What?”

 

Michiru reached over and laid her hand over Haruka’s heart, sapphire eyes shining.  “This,” she whispered.  The link.  Haruka closed her eyes for a moment, smiling as she realized that the bond she had shared with her partner from the day she accepted her henshin stick was back, and she hadn’t really been sure that it was ever gone.

 

“Me, too.”  Without another word needed, Haruka started the convertible and headed home.  The Sea Senshi leaned back in the seat, wind whipping through her hair, letting her mind drift back over the years.  Haruka had been so much a part of her life that she couldn’t imagine being without her.  Smiling, she placed a hand on her belly, feeling her daughter’s restless kicking.  She had been kicking every time Haruka was around recently, and Michiru wondered if she was trying to get her mothers to get back together.  Groaning, Michiru sat up and rubbed her aching back.  “Michi?”

 

“It’s just my back.  It has been hurting nonstop all day and no amount of medication has helped.”

 

“Michiru!  You know you’re not supposed to take too many pills!”

 

“I didn’t know what else to try,” she whispered.  “I can’t exactly reach it very well.”  By myself.

 

Haruka closed her mouth, turning off the main road and heading to the park.  They stopped near a grove of some of the oldest trees in the park, and Haruka carefully lifted her wife out of the car.  “Come on.”  The two wandered down the dirt paths, Michiru nestled safely in Haruka’s arms, and the blonde stopped underneath one of the cherry trees.  Smiling, she helped Michiru sit under the pink branches, joining her on the soft grass.  Closing her eyes, Haruka laid one hand on her wife’s belly and one on the base of her spine, right above the painful spot.  The Sea Senshi gasped as a gold glow enveloped Haruka’s hands, and the pain faded as it did.

 

“Haruka!”

 

“Feel better?”

 

Michiru nodded, eyes wide.  “I thought Hotaru was the one with healing powers.”

 

“There was nothing wrong with you, Michi.  Our daughter was just trying to get my attention.  As soon as she sensed that you and I were together again, she let go.”

 

“She has that much power?  Haruka, what are we going to do?”

 

Haruka leaned against the tree and pulled Michiru into her arms.  “I don’t know,” she admitted, running her fingers through her wife’s aqua tresses.  “We don’t know who she’ll become, but it really doesn’t matter yet.  We could start discussing names.”

 

“Ruka, we already did.”

 

“Yes, but not since you informed me that our daughter was my mother.  We haven’t really . . . talked recently.  Do you have any ideas?”

 

“I like Masako.  Or Megumi.”

 

“How about Noriko?  Or Chiyoko?”

 

Michiru laughed, her light voice music to Haruka’s ears.  “I definitely like –ko ending names.”

 

Haruka grinned.  “Akiko?  Keiko?  Yuriko?”

 

“Shioko?  Mameko?”

 

“Kazeko?”

 

Michiru turned around, blue eyes serious.  “It’s up to you, love,” she whispered, the playful banter from a moment ago gone.  “I named Helios, you can name her.”

 

Haruka lapsed into silence, the thought of her mother darkening her spirits.  Memories of the end of the Silver Millennium filled her mind, and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.  “Michiru, maybe we should . . .”  She trailed off, straightening and pulling her wife closer protectively as a very familiar and unappreciated tingle vibrated along her spine.  “Shimatta,” she growled, pulling Michiru behind the tree.  A very familiar black wraith floated into the small clearing, red eyes searching for the power it sensed a moment earlier.

 

“Oh no,” Michiru whispered, face completely white.  “How did it find us?”

 

“I don’t know.”  Haruka quickly summoned the other senshi, glancing down the dirt path.  “Can you make it back to the car, Michiru?”

 

“Not a chance.  And I can’t drive the damn thing this pregnant.”

 

“I’ll go with you, then.”

 

“No!  Haruka, you have to go fight it, stall for time.”  Michiru placed a finger over Haruka’s mouth, shaking her head.  “I promised myself months ago that I wouldn’t let my pregnancy endanger the world or our princess.  You can’t protect me and let the world suffer.”

 

Haruka sighed, her henshin stick appearing in her hand.  “I hate it when you’re right.  Okay.  Stay here and stay out of sight.  If you try to make it to the car, those damn wraiths will most likely find you.  I’ll take care of these shadows and then I’ll take you back home.”  She grinned, the mischievous glint back in her eye.  “We still have to think of a name for the next generation.”

 

Moments later, Sailor Uranus jumped into the clearing, emerald eyes challenging the single shadow wraith.  It grinned as a dozen of its friends joined the fight, and Uranus found herself suddenly very outnumbered.  Sailor Jupiter and Mercury appeared a moment later, followed by Mars, Venus, Moon, and Tuxedo Kamen.  Pluto was late, Saturn by her side, and Michiru found herself searching for Sailor Moonlight.  Where did the newest senshi get herself to, and why wasn’t she with Pluto?

 

Uranus dodged one of the wraith’s energy balls, grinning as she sent her own back, eliminating a pair of the creatures.  “Where’s Neptune?” Jupiter asked, falling back beside the leader of the Outer Senshi as Saturn raised a quick shield.  The Senshi gathered around the tree, turning to Uranus for the answer as the wraiths tripled in number.  Uranus glanced over her shoulder, and the others nodded, knowing that their pregnant member was safer away from the battle.  A dark laugh interrupted their thoughts as a very familiar and very unwanted Shadow Queen appeared in the air above her minions.

 

“Well, there you are, Sailor Uranus.  Where have you been these past four months?  I thought my constant attacks would draw out the expecting mothers, but I only get you.  Where’s the pregnant brat?”

 

“Far away from you,” Uranus spat.  “You’ll never lay a finger on her.”

 

“I always get what I want.  Shadows, attack!”  As the wraiths swarmed forward, Saturn dropped her shield and the senshi returned to battle. 

 

Michiru watched from her hiding place, tears in her eyes as her wife and friends faced the danger alone.  Every time one of the senshi eliminated a wraith, the Dark Queen waved her hand and easily created another.  Even Eternal Sailor Moon’s attack was useless.  Michiru pulled the Aqua Mirror into her hand as she desperately searched for the newest senshi, but all her talisman showed was a brilliant silver light.  “Where are you?  They need you, Ailan,” she whispered.

 

She returned her attention to the battle, her brilliant sapphire eyes following her beloved as more and more wraiths appeared.  Uranus was holding her own, but unlike her wife, she had never really fought alone before.  She kept glancing to one side, expecting her partner to be there, but Neptune was no where to be found.  Michiru found her henshin stick in her hand at one point, and she clenched her fists, refusing the transformation.  Haruka was only trying to protect her.

 

“Where is she?!” the Dark Queen roared.  “You blasted senshi always travel in packs!  Where is the one who broke my laws?”

 

“She is safe,” Uranus hissed.  “You will never hurt her.”

 

And then the dark queen laughed, raising her hands above her head, black energy sparkling from her fingers.  “Foolish child!  I don’t have to kill her to eliminate your child.”  She threw the gathered lightning at Uranus, and the tall Outer, alone at the edge of the battling wraiths and senshi, countered with a golden ball of her own power, raising her arms as the energy breezed past her attack and headed for her.

 

“Deep Submerge!!”

 

All eyes turned to the tree as Neptune joined her wife, her blue attack reflecting the lightning toward the wraiths clustered under the Dark Queen, her pregnancy painfully obvious.  The Dark Queen smiled as the senshi gathered around their expecting member, instinctively trying to protect her and her child.

 

“Are you okay, Ruka?”

 

Uranus sighed.  “I told you to stay hidden.  She’s after you.”

 

“At the moment it looked like she was after you.  I will not let our daughter grow up without you, my love.”  Neptune suddenly clenched her fists, pain crossing her face.  “Oh, no.”

 

Uranus’s eyes widened.  “Not now,” she hissed.  “Anytime but now!”

 

“I don’t have a say in this,” the Sea Senshi pointed out.  “She’s ready and she couldn’t care less what’s going on out here.”

 

The Dark Queen threw her next attack and her next wave of minions at the group, and Uranus pulled her wife back as their fellow senshi counterattacked.

 

“Mars Flame Sniper!”

 

“Jupiter Oak Evolution!”

 

“Venus Love and Beauty Shock!”

 

“Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!”

 

“Dead Scream!”

 

Uranus pointed Neptune toward the trees and the pair began to make their escape, praying that their enemy would ignore them.  The Dark Queen was not so easily fooled.  Shifting her gaze, she threw one of her strongest lightning attacks at Neptune, determined to end that threat once and for all.

 

Neptune and Uranus turned at the last instant, both sensing the attack but both knowing that they could never counter.  Uranus did the only thing she could; she jumped in front of her wife.

 

“HARUKA!!!”

 

“Silence of the New Moon!!”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 20: Kazeko

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

A silver white dome surrounded the group as Sailor Moonlight joined the senshi, staff in hand, and Neptune knelt beside her wife.  “Haruka?”  Tears filled her eyes, pain from her wife competing with the labor pains she felt moments before.  “Haruka?”

 

Uranus placed her hand over the gaping wound on her side, red soaking into her white gloves and staining her fuku, pooling on the grass and her wife.  She held up her hand, tears in her green eyes as blood dripped to the ground and ran down her arms.  “Blood,” she whispered.  “There’s blood on my hands.  I knew it.  I saw this long ago.”

 

Neptune felt her blood run cold at her lover’s words as Haruka’s fuku changed back into her civilian clothes.  She was losing strength.  With some effort, Haruka pulled her transformation back, knowing that she had a better chance of surviving as Uranus.  “There isn’t any blood,” the younger senshi whispered, taking Haruka’s hand in hers.  “Please don’t leave me.”

 

From her position outside the transparent dome, the Dark Queen laughed and crossed her arms over her chest.  “You could never understand,” the shadow laughed.  “The destiny of a princess linked so closely to Uranus is to die, her daughter unborn.  The carrier of the Crystal of Uranus cannot live to see her child.  Balance has proclaimed it thus.  It’s all your fault, Neptune.  You got pregnant, condemning the woman you love to death.  Again.”

 

“No,” Michiru whispered.  “Haruka, I can’t lose you.  Fight, baby.  Don’t leave me alone.”

 

Ailan, silver white staff held upright as it maintained the wall, locked eyes with the Dark Queen.  “It’s you,” she whispered as Eternal Sailor Moon knelt beside the fallen senshi.  “You aren’t any of the embodiments of chaos.  You’re the Guardian of the Balance.”

 

“Yesss,” the Dark Queen hissed.  “And I am tired of having my plans disrupted by you senshi!  Earth was supposed to fall into an extended dark age after the Silver Millennium fell, but those two birthed a male with the powers of a senshi, the one creature that could guard the stupid golden crystal!  Chaos was supposed to rule with Mettalia and Beryl, but you thwarted that, too.  And Mistress Nine and Pharaoh Ninety!  You freed Saturn and saved the planet again!”

 

Eternal Sailor Moon took the ginzuishou back, shaking her head.  It would not or could not heal the wounded woman.  “If you, Guardian of the Balance, wrote this destiny,” Moonlight whispered, “then the ginzuishou can’t save her.”

 

“Nothing can save her,” Balance laughed.  “The senshi will fall and the destined age of darkness will finally consume the Earth.”

 

Michiru stifled a sob as Haruka’s breathing slowed, becoming more painful and ragged with each passing moment.  If the ginzuishou could not help, nothing could.  “Why?  Why do you want her dead?  She did nothing to you.”

 

“That child is not nothing!”  Balance began to glow, her red eyes even more powerful.  “I will not have any of you tamper with my plans ever again.  I am fed up with you high and mighty senshi, so sure that you know what is best, especially you, Serenity, last queen of the Silver Millennium.  I wasn’t sure before, but I know now that you and my servant created the first Sailor Moon to ascend to the final evolution.  That was forbidden.  The Senshi were never meant to become so powerful, they were never meant to be reborn, they were never meant to take their stones.  You disappoint me.”

 

Pluto looked up at Balance, her powers having failed to help the fallen senshi, ruby eyes glowing as brilliantly as the god’s.  She sensed some of her parents’ power fill her, and she was seriously pissed.  “I am NOT YOUR SERVANT!!  You didn’t want Helios,” she growled menacingly, her voice only slightly calmer.  “When you sensed his conception and the resultant power explosion, you broke the seals containing Mettalia.  But why?  Aren’t the senshi needed to maintain the balance?”

 

“Foolish child!  Nothing is needed to maintain the balance save my will alone!  It was Chaos’s turn to rule the cosmos and you keep delaying his reign.  Everything must be ended so that it can be remade anew.”

 

“Maybe we like the universe the way it is!  You may have been given the power to moderate Order and Chaos, but you never let either of them really rule!  Your job is to provide specific circumstances at intervals unspecified by the gods to facilitate the vacillation of power between the two aforementioned entities.  But you don’t do that!  You take control in the name or order or chaos, whichever suits your needs at that specific moment.  I was ordered to be your servant so I could watch you, but your actions have proven you unworthy of the power bestowed on you by the gods.  You are not allowed to directly interfere.  As the gods are not allowed to destroy that which threatens their people, you are not allowed to kill the Avatars of Order.  And now we must stop your madness.”

 

“I do not fear you, daughter of gods.  Your power may not touch me.”

 

“My God power may not, but my Senshi power can.  As can my former wife’s and daughter’s.”

 

Balance sneered at the group.  “That is another thing.  I must kill your child.  All children of two Senshi threaten my plans.”

 

“Because they have power greater than that of a normal senshi.  Helios has the power to guard the dreams of the Earth, and Usagi has the power to control all of the energy of the ginzuishou as even her mother never could.  Which means that Michiru and Haruka’s unborn child . . . their daughter . . . by the Gods.”  Pluto spun to face the senshi, Garnet Orb glowing fiercely.  “We cannot let Haruka die.  Your child can be turned to evil as Galaxia was if she has only one mother, or worse, none at all.  Maybe the ginzuishou alone cannot save the child, but all of our powers combined might be able to.  We are Avatars, Chosen of the Gods, and we can save her.”  She closed her eyes, the symbol of Pluto appearing in the center of her forehead, as all of the Inners and the other two Outers followed her lead.  Tuxedo Kamen let Endymion take control as he accessed his power, and Eternal Sailor Moon let her power join her senshi’s, the gold crescent moon on her forehead glowing.  Sailor Moonlight, sensing something was terribly wrong, just watched, maintaining the shield.

 

The colorful power flew at Haruka, touching her prone, semi-conscious form as it fluctuated between mundane and senshi, but a brilliant light more golden than Haruka’s power exploded from Michiru, throwing the other senshi back as it blocked their power.  Ailan’s eyes widened.  “Don’t try again!  She won’t accept the raw power!  It has to come in a form she knows will not endanger her mother.”

 

“Nani?  Wakaranai.”

 

Moonlight stuck her staff into the ground, letting it hold the Silence of the New Moon Shield against Balance’s curious minions while she knelt beside Neptune and Uranus.  A silver crescent moon glowed from her forehead as she cupped her hands, pulling the tiny pearl out of its star-shaped locket.  “I’ll explain in a minute, Setsuna.  Everyone, send your power to me.  If that child is who I think she is, she will not allow raw power near her mothers.”  Confused, the senshi sent their power to Moonlight, who closed her eyes, straining under the effort of redirecting and focusing so much raw power into the Moonlight Crystal.  It glowed more and more fiercely until it was blinding white, glowing like a newborn star.  Sailor Moon waited until last, slowly feeding the enhanced power of the ginzuishou into her birth mother.

 

As the immense power of the guardian crystal of the Moon entered the glowing pearl of the Silver Moonlight Crystal, the white star Ailan held between her white gloves began to turn silver.  When all of the senshi’s powers—marine blue, aqua, white, orange, red, green, purple, and dark garnet—were held within the tiny crystal, Ailan leaned forward and added her own silver power, holding the pearl over Haruka’s heart.

 

Sailor Uranus gasped, the dark gold symbol of her planet glowing from her forehead as her tiara vanished.  The child in Neptune womb, oddly quiescent after her initial struggle to enter the world, did not object to the altered energy, and that made Ailan very uneasy.  The wound on Uranus’s side slowly healed, the blood vanishing from gloves, fuku, the ground, and Neptune.  Dark lightning assaulted the shield and Ailan flinched at the onslaught, hands shaking.  Sailor Satrun’s “Silent Wall!!” echoed in the small space as a dark purple web reached up to reinforce and sustain the faltering shield.  Moonlight relaxed and finished healing her fallen companion.

 

Uranus stirred and sat up, emerald eyes glowing as she embraced Neptune before both stood, knowing that the battle was far from over.  “Can we kill her?”

 

“No,” Pluto and Moonlight replied simultaneously.  “We cannot lose the moderator of Balance,” Moonlight continued as she took her staff again, glancing at Neptune.  “But there used to be a power to send her away, fight off chaos, to take our destiny for our own once more.  She has been meddling in mundane affairs for far too long.”  She glanced up as the light from the sun seemed to flicker, and her purple eyes widened.  “Mercury, scan the sun,” the former queen whispered breathlessly.

 

“Um . . . wow.  Massive sunspot activity and solar flares that you would not believe.  It’s a far more intense version of the readings I took when Mettalia broke free in the Silver Millennium and years ago.  Galaxia initiated the same response, but not nearly as powerful as this.”

 

“She’s here,” Moonlight sighed, glancing up at Balance.  “She has returned to get rid of you as she has so many times before.”

 

“Impossible!  She cannot be born unless . . .”  The Dark Queen trailed off, eyes flying to Neptune’s distended belly as a brilliant golden symbol flashed, a symbol only she and Ailan recognized.  Screaming in fury, she renewed her attack, desperate to eradicate that symbol once and for all.

 

Ailan gasped at the symbol as she pushed Neptune in front of her, purple eyes fierce.  “Give me your power again!  All of it that you can spare and live!”  Instants later, the Moonlight Crystal was pulsing silver again, in time with Ailan’s heartbeat.  Endymion and Helios fed her the power of the Earth as Eternal Sailor Moon sent the energy of the ginzuishou, and Ailan knew that there was no power left.

 

She looked at Pluto, tears in her eyes, and the Senshi of Time finally realized what her beloved was planning.  “No,” Setsuna whispered, but it was too late.  Ailan poured every ounce of strength she possessed into the pearl, opening her fingers like a flower opening its petals to catch the sun, and the pulsing crystal flew to Neptune’s side, eager to be put to the use for which it was created.  Ailan fell to the ground, her life’s energy in the crystal, her transformation fading as the shield fell, leaving the group of weak senshi vulnerable to Balance’s attacks.  She instantly threw her black lightning. 

 

But Ailan’s plan had worked.  Neptune, no longer in control of her own body, rose off the ground, floating in the silver white filigreed sphere the Moonlight Crystal created.  She began to glow in a white-gold too brilliant to look at, and a tiny crystal formed between her hands.  The golden light around her flowed into and focused through the crystal as the Moonlight Crystal began to fly in tight circles around Michiru’s hands, so fast that no one could see it anymore.  The golden light burst forth, webbed in silver-white from the combined powers locked in the tiny pearl, and intercepted the dark queen’s lightning.

 

Ailan felt cold tears run down her hot cheeks as she watched the silver-gold struggle against the black, her vision blurry as her body lost the fight to keep living.  “It won’t be enough,” she managed.  “It was never going to be enough and she knew it.  We’ve lost.”

 

Setsuna looked up from her place by her lover’s side, tears streaking her cheeks.  Ailan had relinquished her stone and she would die for nothing if Balance could not be defeated.  She stood, determined not to let her beloved sacrifice herself for nothing.  “There is more power.  We have to give the stone more power.”

 

“We have none left,” Sailor Moon whispered from her kneeling position.  “She has it all.”

 

“Even Helios has nothing left,” Endymion murmured.  “What can we do?”

 

“The stone doesn’t have all of our power,” Pluto corrected, pointing at the broach on Sailor Moon’s bow.  “The crystal you carry, the ginzuishou, has a life force and an awareness of its own.  Send it to join Neptune.”

 

Usagi, opening her broach, whispered a command to her stone, watching as it flew up to spin around Neptune’s hands and her transformation faded.  “But it won’t be enough.”

 

“Yes, it will.  Min’na, call forth the stones of your planets that you reformed by absorbing the Keystones in the Silver Millennium.  They contain part of your planets’ life forces, and they can channel as much energy as possible without killing their wielder.”

 

Mars held her hands in front of her breasts, concentrating, and a fiery ruby red crystal appeared in her palms.  The colorful, faceted gem held tiny striations in its depths, cracks colored in gold and orange.  Whispering a word as her transformation faded, she sent the Fire Dust Crystal to join the ginzuishou and Silver Moonlight Crystal spinning around Neptune’s hands.

 

Venus closed her hands and concentrated, smiling when a small, round orangey gold gem, the Heart Shock Crystal, appeared.  Jupiter’s Thunder Cry Crystal and Mercury’s Aqua Song Crystal sped to Neptune’s hands, and all three new colors joined the web of magic defying the black lightning, three more senshi returning to their mundane forms.  The point of contact between the colorful golden beam and the black one moved closer to Balance as Neptune’s attack gained power.

 

Saturn held out her white-gloved hand, and the purple Silent Night Crystal joined the fight, Hotaru falling back to the ground.  Balance’s red eyes widened as she finally began to realize that she might lose.  Pluto, reaching deep into her heart, called forth the Time Stop Crystal, a garnet stone with black imperfections in its depths.  It joined the fight as Endymion sent the Golden Crystal of Earth and both returned to mundane forms.  The golden power reached Balance, but she held on, determined not to lose.

 

Uranus jumped into the air, determined to join her wife, and the silver filigree of power pulled her into the sphere.  She held her dark gold stone laced with navy, the Space Turbulence Crystal, in her right hand, and she felt another stone appear in her left hand, the Sea Melody Crystal of Neptune.  The last two stones joined the fight as Haruka wrapped her arms around Michiru, sensing that the power flowing from and through her wife was not from the musician.

 

The Dark Queen screamed in fury as the power sent her back to her home in the void between galaxies, the Chaos power she had amassed dissipating to the cosmic winds, her power depleted enough that she would be unable to meddle in mundane affairs for quite some time.  Her minions vanished like so much smoke as Haruka and Michiru sunk to the ground and all of the crystals returned to their owners, save two.  The Golden Crystal vanished into Elysion once more, and Michiru held both her Sea Melody Crystal and a strange white-gold one.  The Silver Moonlight Crystal, its power spent, fell to the ground.

 

Setsuna reached for the quiescent stone as all of the senshi found star-shaped lockets in their hands and coaxed their crystals into the necklaces as the stones shrunk to fit.  The tiny silver crystal, tired of fighting and mundane affairs, rolled away, unwilling to deal with power and senshi again.  “Ailan,” she whispered, tears choking her, “call it back.”

 

“Sh-she won’t c-come,” Ailan whispered, her weak voice faltering.  “She’s f-finished with m-me.  Forever.”

 

“I won’t believe that!  I can’t.”  Setsuna sat beside the fallen senshi and pulled her head into her lap.  “I can’t lose you.”

 

Neptune closed the tiny necklace-hung locket and smiled at her wife.  The smile turned into a grimace as pain shot through her, announcing her daughter’s arrival.  The girl, having helped banish the dark guardian, was ready to see the world she saved.

 

Haruka helped her wife back to the ground, draping her jacket across the woman.  “Do we have time to get to the hospital?”

 

“No,” Michiru gasped, clenching her fists.  “She’s coming too fast.”  The senshi gathered closer, all eyes turning to Setsuna, and she closed her eyes, accessing the powers she received from her parents.  A flash of dark red moved the entire group to the empty guest room in the Outers’ mansion, including the exhausted Moonlight Crystal.  Haruka grabbed a pillow and placed it under her wife’s head, covering her with a sheet as Ami pulled out her computer and the other Inners reached for cloths to clean the child.  Mamoru, a practicing doctor, sent Usagi for the kit of medical supplies he kept in the mansion as he washed his hands and deputized his fiancée, declaring her a nurse.  Amid the buzz of activity, Setsuna ran her fingers through Ailan’s silver hair, crying as her lover’s breathing slowed.

 

Michiru screamed at the next contraction, and Haruka closed her eyes, feeling her wife’s pain.  Cracking one violet eye, Ailan waved her finger with the last of her fading strength, forcing the sleeping pearlescent crystal to land on Michiru’s breast, and the woman’s sapphire eyes widened as the pain eased.

 

Setsuna held Ailan in her arms, crying as she felt her partner’s life force leaving.  “Don’t die,” she whispered.  “I just confronted Hades to save you; don’t leave so soon.”  Ailan, completely unconscious and falling closer and closer to death, twitched, her hand in Setsuna’s tightening convulsively.  But she was too far gone to hear anymore.  Setsuna leaned over the silver haired woman, her tears dripping uninhibited for the first time in her life.  “I love you so much,” she whispered.  “I watched you die once and I barely survived.  I can’t do it again.  If you die, I’ll follow you this time.”

 

Makoto reached over and took Ami’s hand in hers, seeing that the tears in her eyes were shining in her lover’s, too.  Rei wrapped an arm around Minako’s shoulders as she sensed her partner begin to cry at the emotions they could sense from the oldest lovers in the room.  Setsuna shouldn’t have to be alone again.

 

Michiru gasped as one final contraction pushed her tiny daughter into the world.  Mamoru caught the child who had a dusting of gold hair on her head, smiling as the senshi cleaned her, amazed at her silence.  The round silver pearl, the last of its energy and all of its will spent.  Michiru collapsed into her wife’s arms, tears in her eyes, smiling in relief.

 

Setsuna held Ailan as her destiny on Earth ended, and the woman who had sacrificed herself in order to lock Balance away and ensure the birth of Haruka and Michiru’s daughter breathed her last.  Setsuna pulled the limp body closer, sobbing.  “NO!!  Ailan, please don’t leave me!  I only just figured it all out.  You were right all along.”  Her voice dropped to a whisper.  “I was ready, Ailan.  I wanted to marry you.  I can’t live without you.”

 

Unnoticed by the senshi, a tiny red light glowed briefly from the heart of the Moonlight Crystal. 

 

The golden-haired baby opened her baby-blue eyes and let out her first cry.  Michiru sat up and took her daughter as Haruka leaned forward to caress the tiny child, an errant heel nudging the sleeping crystal.  It rolled away from the family and the senshi, slowing down as it crossed the floor and stopping as it just brushed Ailan’s cold finger.

 

The woman jerked as if shocked, the Silver Moonlight Crystal lifting itself off the floor as it began to glow once more.  Ailan fell out of Setsuna’s arms, curled around the tiny stone as her eyes slowly opened.  “Setsuna?”

 

Gasps filled the room as the woman presumed dead sat up, her crystal returning to her hand.  She looked at Setsuna, lavender eyes confused.  “Why am I still here?”  She turned toward the giggling infant and visibly paled.  “I wasn’t supposed to live to see this.  My destiny was to die to pave the way for her.  That is how it has always been.”

Setsuna pulled Ailan into her arms, tears still streaming down her cheeks.  “I don’t care about fate or destiny,” she sobbed.  “You can’t leave me alone.”

 

Ailan smiled as the pair embraced, pulling away to glance at the crystal in her hand.  “I guess something changed her mind.  She returned my life force and wishes me luck with you.”  Her eyes sparkled as she leaned over and smiled at the golden-haired infant.  The girl looked up at Ailan with baby-blue eyes as Ailan touched her forehead.  A brilliant golden light enveloped the child as a fiery symbol appeared on her forehead.  A beam of light shot out from the child, one end of the energy chain linking to Ailan while the other wrapped around Setsuna.  Ailan fell into her lover’s arms as the child released two more chains, one binding Ami to Makoto and one linking Minako to Rei.  The women were thrown against the walls of the house, stunned.

 

The six senshi bound by chains began to glow with their power, and Setsuna felt something deep inside her shift, change, and move along the child to Ailan.  Ailan’s silver power absorbed the garnet-tipped chain, and the younger woman gasped, the stone in her hand glowing fiercely.  Across the room, Rei began to glow fiery red, a color absorbed by her lover’s orange as the chain between them faded into Minako.  Makoto caught the end of the emerald-tipped chain as it struggled to enter Ami’s blue-wreathed body, having already guessed its purpose, but the strongest of the Inner Senshi lost her grip, catching her lover as the senshi of Mercury fell back into her arms.  The senshi stared at the newborn, safe in her mother’s arms, and Michiru raised an eyebrow.

 

“What is this symbol on her forehead?  Is it her senshi symbol?”  Ailan nodded.  “Then what is she the senshi of?”

 

“What else?”  Ailan opened her hand, and her crystal returned to its locket.  The white-gold crystal Michiru had dropped on the ground floated into Ailan’s hand, the tiny golden starburst in the center identical to the one on the baby’s forehead.  “The name of the sun in ancient reckoning is Baby Song because she was the first born to fight chaos.  When Eurynome created my crystal to maintain order, she called crystals from the stars to help her, and the stars called for crystals from the planets.  As with the crystals of the planets, the crystals of the stars called for Bearers, but they were more powerful and the bond more demanding.  The Baby Song Crystal called for a carrier during the Shadow Wars to banish the darkness, and Sailor Moonlight died birthing the girl who became Sailor Sol.  After the Shadow Wars, another warrior was called during the Sailor Wars, and again Sailor Moonlight died birthing Sailor Sol and her twin sister.  Star Senshi can only be the children of one or more Planet Senshi, and Sailor Sol can only be the child of two.  The girl’s twin chose not to represent a single star, becoming instead the legendary strongest Sailor Senshi, Galaxia.”  She paused to let the gasps silence.  “The mother of the twins was the Princess of the Moon, and children of the daughters of the Moon Royal Line and Sailor Moonlight were expressly forbidden.  She gave the crystal to Hades and begged him never to return it, never to let another mother of Sailor Sol live alone, and gave the twins to the Sailor Pluto of that time.  Her younger sister succeeded her as Pluto.”

 

“But you’re Sailor Moonlight,” Michiru whispered.  “And she’s Sailor Sol.  You didn’t birth her, Ailan-san.”

 

“That was not required, but the death of the carrier of the Moonlight Crystal is required.  Or was.  It seems that we broke that tradition, too.  The sun called for a carrier, and for the first time since you were reborn, a convenient explosion of power allowed a soul to assume that power.”  She raised an eyebrow.  “She looks like your mother, Haruka-san.”

 

All eyes turned to the baby, who opened her eyes again.  The bursts of power she had given off had changed her eyes from blue to green and blue specked with gold.  Light and power.  “We should give her a name,” Michiru whispered.

 

Haruka looked up, her green eyes filled with tears.  “Can we name her Kazeko?”

 

“Yes, beloved.  Yes.  It’s perfect.”

 

Setsuna pulled Ailan into her arms.  “Are you back to stay?”

 

“Yes,” Ailan whispered.  “The crystal would not have allowed the power surge if she did not intend for me to live.”

 

“Power surge . . . what was that, Ailan?”  Everyone turned to the silver-haired senshi, who blushed.

 

“Usagi, I hope you’re ready for a sister.”

 

“Kami-sama . . . Mother, you don’t mean . . .”

 

“This I would never joke about.”

 

“Why, Ailan-san?”

 

Rei wrapped her arms around her lover’s waist, placing both hands on Minako’s flat belly.  “I think it’s fairly obvious, Ami-chan.  Sol is not the only star, and if the guardian of Baby Song is needed, the other stars are, too.  So Kazeko has chosen us to breed her partners.”

 

“Not all of them,” Ailan clarified as shock spread through the room.  “Some of them have been born elsewhere, but not every star has a suitable planet.  Minako-san, Ami-san, and myself will birth the first of the Star Senshi needed to help Sol.”

 

Ami looked up at Makoto, sapphire eyes sparkling.  “Are we ready for a child, Mako-chan?”

 

The brunette nodded.  “Of course we are.  We’re both out of college and we’ve got decent jobs and we have futures.  We can move in together, if you’d like.”

 

“Very much.  And in this life we don’t have to be afraid to marry.”

 

Rei and Minako embraced silently, needing no words to express their love and wonder, as Haruka lifted her wife and new daughter, carrying them into the bedroom for some silence.  Ailan, finding Setsuna’s arms around her, smiled as she created a locket for the Baby Song Crystal.  “We’ll have to watch after this stone until Kazeko is old enough to wield it.  It would never have materialized so soon if its power weren’t needed to push Balance away.”

 

“I guess so.  I’m more worried about our child.  I wish you weren’t the one Kazeko chose to carry the baby.  I’ve given birth before.”

 

“So have I, Setsu-chan.  Serenity was an easy birth, and this girl probably will be, too.  I’m not worried.”

 

Setsuna turned Ailan around as she felt a suggestion in the back of her mind.  “Ailan, when you were dying, I realized something.  I have nothing left to be afraid of, and I love you so much.  We have no laws or traditions left to fear, and I can’t live alone anymore.  Hikarino Ailan, will you marry me?”

 

Ailan chuckled as she kissed her lover’s cheek.  “Of course I will.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Ura-kun!  There you are!  You naughty boy!”

 

The Cupid shrugged as his grandmother appeared by his side.  The Goddess of Love tried to appear angry, but he knew she was proud of him.  “What?  All I did was shoot that stubborn stone with an arrow.  I wasn’t really sure it would work.  But it has a heart and has labored for so long against Chaos that it had forgotten the power of true love.  When it was hit by the arrow, the crystal realized that it was breaking apart two soulmates, a pair that might never be reunited.  And I guess it decided to break Balance’s rules.”

 

Aphrodite shook her head as she pointed at the newborn.  “Now that Eurynome released the soul of the last Queen Serenity, all of the old senshi’s souls are free to be reborn.”

 

“And since I am in charge of the team dedicated to the senshi, I will be able to distribute the souls.  I think I chose correctly with Kazeko.”

 

Aphrodite smiled and hugged her grandson.  “You did well, Urakaze.  I’m proud of you.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

In their bedroom, Haruka pushed Michiru’s hair behind her ears.  “You are so beautiful.  I still can’t believe you’re mine.”

 

“Believe it, beloved.  And so is our little girl.  And this baby we are allowed to raise.”  They looked at the babe, the golden starburst on her forehead slowly fading.  “Are you ready to face this world, Ten’ou Kazeko?”

 

The baby, Sailor Sol, gurgled.  Her eyes sparkled, seeming to say “bring it on.”

 

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Owari!!!

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Chronicles of the Star Senshi: Gathering

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