Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Pretty Soldiers ❯ Act 09 - serenity : Princess ( Chapter 9 )

       The screaming of Venus had dulled in Sailor Moon's ears.
        In its place had risen a sound not unlike the rushing ocean, a flooding noise that imitated the sensation overwhelming her brain.
       On the cold concrete lay two people, both clad in black; but only one was immediately familiar to her eyes. Though the thief had taken the worst of the blow, it had traveled through her body and into Tuxedo Kamen's chest nearly as hard, their blood splattered across the odango-haired blonde's face and uniform. She had begun to sweat in the battle, and now, she could taste the salt of two fluids mixing on her upper lip; in a moment, she was sure she would be ill.
       She fell to her knees.
       Venus finally heaved her body over the edge of the deck and rolled, getting to her feet. She had stopped screaming, but her crying continued, her reaction almost infinitely worse than Sailor Moon's had been. "No, oh no, please, kami-sama, don't let them die…not like this…!"
       The thief, lying facedown across Tuxedo Kamen's hips, spasmed in what surely had to be death throes. After a moment, she lay completely still, having never said a single word; but beneath her, the dark-haired man moaned. "Usako…I finally…protected you…"
       Through the doorway stumbled Jupiter finally, followed by a bruised Mars and far less scathed Mercury. All three halted in shock so suddenly they walked into one another, staring as Venus crawled on hands and knees towards the two lying on the ground. "Tuxedo Kamen?" Mars cried, pointing rather uselessly at the masked, de-hatted man.
       "And another…kami-sama, they took the blow for Sailor Moon?" Jupiter added in a whisper.
       "Tuxedo Kamen-sama, don't leave me!" Sailor Moon was finally crying, her upper half folding across his as she held onto him, cradling him in her lap. His hand lifted towards her face as she sobbed, bloodstained glove caressing her cheek.
       Venus seemed to collapse next to them, before she used her strength to lift the thief's body from Tuxedo Kamen, holding the corpse to her chest as one would a child. Neither seemed to notice as she rocked, burying her face in the thief's shoulder. "This can't be…"
       "Princess, what are you doing?" The three remaining soldiers lacked surprise at Sailor Moon's actions, as the masked man had seemed to shine his attention solely on her when he appeared in their midst. But for Venus to cry over the body of someone none of them knew… Mercury's question didn't even seem to reach her.
       Next to her, Tuxedo Kamen was still stroking the odango-haired blonde's cheek, but the movements were slowing down amidst her crying his name. "Sailor Moon…your profile is finally so familiar, but…could it be you, from my dreams?" Mentally he began to picture the girl, his princess, her blurred form superimposing itself over the crying face of the girl above him.
       "Stay with me, Tuxedo Kamen! Mamo-chan! Don't go, don't go!"
       "Hai…that long hair, slender figure…but the face is so sad, like before," he whispered, letting his fingers touch her lips. "You screamed like this, long ago…"
       The three soldiers were running towards them, ignoring the silver-haired general who hovered in silence over the entire scene. And the dark-haired man closed his eyes as a memory rushed to his brain of the same scenario, of her highness's court running towards her, though in joy…. The last time, he had just breathed his last as he saw her fall on those steps next to him, and they had screamed in much the same way she had screamed his name, "Endymion!" over and over again.
       Beside him, Venus whipped her head up, staring at him with those deep twilight eyes. The horror on her face from witnessing the thief's death began to grow and flourish, and frantically shook her head in the negative at him, begging…. "Endymion. I was Endymion. Born as Chiba Mamoru, here, to meet you…"
       "No, don't!" the long-haired blonde cried.
       "Serenity, my princess," he finished, relieved. With the name spoken, his eyes rolled back into his head, his body going limp as consciousness fled.
       The light that seemed to simply explode from Sailor Moon's body was blinding in its intensity as she screamed. It stopped the three soldiers dead in their tracks behind Venus, their bodies flinching beneath the assault. "Noooo, Endymion! Mamo-chan, don't, don't!"
       Radiating with power, the odango-haired blonde lifted from the ground encased in the white light, Tuxedo Kamen's body floating with her in her arms. Kunzite fled back as the two gently hovered nearly at the top of the Tower's highest point, the halo expanding to gently bathe everyone in its glow.
       Below, every soldier could see the crescent emblem on her forehead shatter into a million pieces, revealing a simple crescent moon sigil on her skin in its place. As the golden pieces fell in a glittering, twinkling shower, Venus arched up off the ground, her own sigil dissolving beneath the magic to be replaced with an ordinary tiara. "The mark on Usagi's forehead…"
       "Iie, the mark of Princess Serenity has vanishes from Venus!"
       "But that means…Sailor Moon, Usagi-chan, is our princess!"

       Far above, safe within the sphere of light, the odango-haired blonde felt the rays of the moon bathe her in comfort. The glow gently disrobed her, shielding her modestly before wrapping her in a long white dress, simplistic but elegant, with only a lovely gold pattern across the top of the breasts. She remembered it well as her favourite, in a different lifetime; she had died in this dress.
       Now, she remembered everything. "Such sad memories," she moaned, looking down at the face of Tuxedo Kamen…no, her beloved Endymion.
       "Endymion, my prince, my strong Earth soldier. The owner of my heart, you overwhelmed me with your eyes that held the oceans…yes, I remember everything!" In her mind she recalled herself as she stood in one of the many halls of the palace, staring with longing at the conjured image of Endymion. The Moon had several viewing glasses to survey the blue planet, and once she had discovered the face of Earth's highest-ranking prince, the man who would be King of the entire kingdom, she was lost.
        Many times, she went down to the planet to run through the green grass, to feel the natural winds, so much more wild than the controlled environments of her kingdom. On the Moon, the air and its living greenery were created, contained within the palace grounds and the other few 'seas' that held their subjects. Mare Infinitus was the largest, Mare Serenitatis solely for the royal family and their army.
       And, one day, the prince spotted her, so young and innocent in a field of wildflowers.
       Afterwards she never spent a day away from his arms; with him, she first knew passion and heat, though immensely gentle. She had brought up to believe that Earth was like a growing thing; the inhabitants were to be watched and nurtured, but never to be loved as people love. They did not share in the long-life given by their holy stone, the Ginzuishou, as they were still evolving and developing.
       They broke that rule daily.
       Interference was a fatal mistake, as many in Earth's army suddenly craved a taste of the immortality the Moon wielded. With Beryl leading them, swollen with the power of a newly freed Metallia, they assaulted the white kingdom and laid it to waste. And Endymion had the bad taste to get involved. "Stop arguing, stop fighting needlessly! Why do you insist on killing these people, for power?"
       "For Earth's longevity and prosperity!" Beryl had cried, and like that, the prince had been slain.
       "We've been given another chance, surely!" Usagi, no longer Sailor Moon, gasped as she touched Tuxedo Kamen's face. "Reborn as Tsukino Usagi, I was destined to meet you, Chiba Mamoru! Don't you see, it's fate that called us back together, to love each other as we intended!" She felt the tears swell from her eyes once more, fat droplets. "There's so much…so much I wanted to share with you, Mamo-chan!"
       One tear in particular glistened like a tiny diamond chip as it slid down her cheek and around her lips. But it didn't fall as the others had, to soak into the velvet of Tuxedo Kamen's cloak; it shimmered in the air, defying gravity as it begun to radiate.
       Below, Venus, de-throned, stood in defiance of her failed masquerade, the only one showing no amazement at their princess high above. Only a gentle sadness as she held the thief in her arms, knowing that she couldn't stop what was coming; already, the brilliance of the tear was beginning to surpass the light that supported Usagi.
       And it grew.
       Across the city, people stared out of their windows and cars, gathering on the sidewalks. The light had overtaken the profile of the Tower by this point, eclipsing even the princess who had birthed the tiny tear. It had solidified, its size perhaps the size of a marble shooter if that, the power it gave off enormous. "Kami-sama," Mars breathed softly, shielding her eyes.
       "Is that….?" the blue-haired genius asked hesitantly, staring defiantly into the light through her blue eyewear. Venus nodded, eyes closed against the brilliance; she didn't need to see it to know what it was.
       "Hai, hai…the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou."
       Kunzite, unable to sustain his sphere under the assault, dropped onto the lower deck, buffeted by the mere power. He was nearly cowering as it reached its zenith, the epicenter revealing the crystal that now rested in Usagi's hand, its facets perfect. "Impossible, the holy stone we've been searching for!" Finally defeated by the light, he initiated a clumsy teleport into Beryl's throne room, nearly collapsing.
       But the cursed light was there too, surging from Beryl's orb as she stood back from it, shading her eyes with her arm. "Kunzite, what is this light! This power, immense and pure…it will shatter my globe!"
       "The holy stone, my queen!" he cried, resting weak on one knee. "The Ginzuishou you've longed for has revealed itself!" And, as the light poured through, illuminating their darkened castle, he remembered what she said of revival. She never noticed his teleport again, so much easier as he simply moved from one room to another, to stare at an astonishing sight.
       Three coffins, each holding the pieces of a general. Just when he thought the light could become no more intense, the containers shattered into pieces. Like stop-motion photography he watched their bodies form, become whole once more, their eyes opening! "Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite! It's true!"
       Bathed in the light, he felt a sudden joy that had been denied him for so long. But it faded into confusion as it worked through his body, clearing away the barriers in his mind that Beryl had long imposed on them all. "Our master…with this light flowing in, I can recall him! But where is he, why have we not searched for him? We should have been reborn on the surface with him, Endymion-sama!"
       Everything was clear again. Reborn so many years ago, they had been indeed searching for their prince, hoping for him to have been reborn the same as they. But they had only the faintest memory of him, their searching confused and hopeless, and it had been then that Beryl had found them. Because of their dislike of the Moon in their previous lives, she had played them against their prince in that lifetime, sending them with her army against the sailor soldiers. This time, she tricked them so much easier, claiming their souls and bodies as her own.
       The results of the process were showed to him in sudden detail as the three generals began to melt like wax, barely a scream of pain allowed to pass their lips. All three of them puddled down into the shapes of stones that bore their names, their souls having been bonded to the hard gems. He only watched, helpless, as his friends - he could remember everything now, painfully - disappeared.
       On the surface, the light was still strong. But as Usagi held the crystal in her hands, cupping its live warmth, she realized again why she had been crying. "Mamo-chan…I want to protect you, as you did me…you can't be dead so suddenly!" she moaned in anguish, looking at the still face that rested in her lap.
       Quite abruptly, the light retracted, dimming in size - but not radiance - to the size of a bottle cap. It dropped into Tuxedo Kamen's chest, taking with it the warmth of the crystal, leaving it as cold as a lump of stone. And no one was as shocked as Usagi as she watched it happen, astonished.
       The city dulled to its normal plethora of lights around them.
       Beryl hesitantly approached her globe, the painful light no longer blasting out from it. Within it, she could see the princess of the white moon, as beautiful as she had been in her previous life; the hatred rose again, colouring her vision red. "Kunzite! Go back and take that stone from them, take their precious princess away!" she screamed, spittle streaking down the curve of the glass.
       The silver-haired general held the stones in his hands, cradling them in grief, as Beryl's scream echoed through the kingdom. Though he knew where his loyalty should have lain, it was bound tight to the piss-eyed queen, and he could not disobey her. And, with the memories, the light restored to him his power again, filling him up; he teleported easily to the lower observation deck.
       He slid the stones into his uniform, not even bothering to conjure a sphere this time. His arms simply lifted upwards to lift him in the correct direction, and he shot towards the floating princess. And she, so absorbed in the sudden loss of light and energy from her crystal, was totally unaware of his presence.
       Too bad the same couldn't be said for the soldiers beneath her. Venus, her arms still full, saw him first; and she whirled around to face three astonished allies, screaming at them to protect their princess. Mars and Jupiter, to their credit, never even hesitated, simply leaping upwards into the air. Like a gravitational pull, the radiance still surrounding their princess pulled them in, and they blocked the energy bolt Kunzite released at them.
       But it was a damn powerful hit, and despite their own power lashing out to blunt it, they slammed back into Usagi. Not very hard, but it was enough to shake Tuxedo Kamen's body from her arms, and she screamed as he fell towards the ground. "Mamo-chan!"
       "Endymion-sama!" Kunzite, much more controlled in his flight, darted towards the falling prince. Everyone watched helplessly as a wave of energy caught the body, stopping its descent, and carrying it to Kunzite's arms. "Master, to find you like this…"
       "Release him!" Jupiter shouted, hovering awkwardly in Usagi's radiance. Her attack was however strengthened by it, the lightning twice as bright as it left her hand. The general simply flew out of its path, sneering. And though his arms were now full, he managed to shift Tuxedo Kamen into the crook of one arm, holding him against his body as he shot off a massive burst of energy back at the three girls.
       Neither soldier had the chance to return fire, as Usagi extended her arm to release her own attack, the white light simply swallowing Kunzite's energy like water. The radiance surrounding her strengthened and followed her command, flying towards the general with a speed that surprised everyone. "Usagi-chan, don't do this! You don't know what he can do!" Jupiter pleaded, grabbing onto the odango-haired blonde's waist.
       "Give me back Tuxedo Kamen!" she screamed, completely ignoring her two friends as she dove faster. The maniacal gleam in her eyes had the silver-haired general fleeing for his life without pause, suddenly afraid of what the princess could - or would - do.
       On the higher deck, a microphone extended from Mercury's earring, in much the same way her goggles did. Through it, she could hear Luna's voice, the frantic cat trying to talk over Artemis and his readings. "Mercury, what's happening! We saw the intense light…."
       "It's as I've told you, Luna; the Ginzuishou has been revealed! Nothing else could produce these extreme readings!"
       "We lost visual after the sudden power surge…is it true, Mercury? Is Usagi-chan truly our princess?" Poor Luna sounded so lost and hurt, and the blue-haired genius felt a momentary rage for the feline's ignorance. She stared at the back of Venus' head, wishing in that moment that the long-haired blonde had never revealed herself, even if it had been to protect Usagi.
       As if knowing of Mercury's stare, Venus turned her head slightly to see her out of the corner of her eye, her expression blank and empty. "Hai, Luna; Usagi-chan is the real Princess Serenity, and the heir of the Ginzuishou."
       Their princess cried out above them again as Kunzite held her off, with help; blackness had appeared to surround him like a storm cloud. Her light fought with it, being pushed back as her faith and strength began to fade. And even as she recoiled, they could see Beryl's face within the darkness, laughing at the princess's distress. "We can't match his power, Usagi-chan, we have to retreat!" Mars argued, attempting to physically pull the odango-haired blonde across the sky within the sphere.
       Kunzite felt himself being taken to the kingdom, his master safe in his arms. As he vanished, the flood of energy pushed outwards to attack the three again, and this time, it shattered Usagi's concentration totally, so intent was she on crying out her love's name. They began to fall in a tangle of limbs, helpless in the air. "Usagi-chan, Usagi-chan!" Mercury screamed from the higher deck.
       "Don't let your light dim, Serenity!" Venus' scream carried further than the blue-haired genius could handle, and upon hearing it, Usagi stopped crying.
       Venus finally smiled as the princess lowered gently to the concrete like an angel, her skirts billowing softly in the wind, her two guardian soldiers aloft above her, safe in her power. "Princess…"

      A night previous, Sailor Moon had lain on the counter, wounded.
       Now the thief was stretched out across it, her hood and scarf undoing gently to reveal sweaty, tangled, copper coloured hair. If her eyes opened, they would have been the intense lapis Usagi had known since childhood.
       In the Crown, empty save for four soldiers, their two feline companions, and their princess, the white-gowned blonde wept brokenheartedly against Moriya's unmoving chest. Beneath her cheek dried blood flaked like rust, proving that black did not hide all stains; the sweatshirt was hideously blotched with splatters of brown, ripped and singed over the redhead's heart.
        "Why didn't you tell me, Moriya-chan? You said 'no secrets'…." Usagi choked on the lump in her throat, hyperventilating for a painful moment. "Why did you have to die like Mamo-chan!?"
       Her four soldiers gathered loosely around her, Venus now the only one left with a dry face. Knowing Moriya in their civilian identities, they had been totally taken unaware by this turn of events, and tragically hurt in their own way. And they knew their princess, seemingly so fragile, was breaking under the sudden loss of two people she cared so much for.
       And those three had stared accusingly at the soldier of Venus, mutely cursing her for keeping this secret from them most of them.
       That lone soldier kept her back to them, refusing to answer their stares. She held Artemis in her arms like a comforting touchstone, watching her princess, her beautiful white dress bloodstained and torn, sob her heart out. "Princess…"
       "You're cruel, Venus," Mars finally whispered harshly. "Inhuman. To have told her, to have told us before uncovering her face, would have been human!"
       "And what would you have done!" The long-haired blonde didn't bother to keep her voice down, though she stubbornly kept her pose. "I had my mission to protect her, not to reveal so many secrets…this was my burden, not yours! I made my choice."
       Mercury, in one surprising sweep of steps, came around to face Venus.
       The slap of her hand across the blonde's cheek echoed in the room. "Damn your secrets, Venus, and how dare you presume that you can stay innocent in this!" She stepped even closer, forcing the orange soldier back against the row of consoles, trapped. Twilight blue had widened in naked shock, Artemis just as dumbfounded. "To be the leader, one must have the trust and companionship of her soldiers, or we're all lost."
       Despite the heat of her voice, the unspoken words were clear: Venus was no longer trustworthy in their eyes.
       "Stop fighting…just stop it!" their princess suddenly cried, lifting her tearstained face away from her friend's chest. "I don't…I can't blame Venus for this, why do all of you? She had her mission to protect me, and she did it as a sailor soldier!" The back of her hand wiped messily at her nose, in a very Usagi gesture, smearing a glistening trail of mucus along her skin. "V-chan posed as me and risked her life, she lived for over a year knowing who we were and unable to greet us. She's already paid a price for her secrets!"
       The tall brunette seemed the most forgiving of the three, her face already beginning to soften. But it was Mars and, surprisingly, Mercury, who still stared in rage at their leader, shaking their heads in the negative. "Iie. Nothing is going to fix this grief," the dark-haired shrine girl flatly stated.
       "Your princess has forgiven Venus, yet you persist in being stubborn?" Luna finally piped up, her usually high-pitched tone gone deep and angry. She was proving her loyalty, all right; though she felt close to all four she had awoken, Usagi was the one she was truly die for. "In distrusting Venus, the chosen strongest soldier, you distrust our princess' judgement!"
       "A hollow argument, Luna," the blue-haired genius retorted sharply. "Usagi-chan was a princess in her heart before tonight, she would forgive the United States the atomic bomb! But the fact remains that Venus has transgressed greatly, and I simply hold no trust for her."
       Usagi, gathering up her skirts, touched a kiss to her friend's cold cheek. Then she stood up straight, closing her eyes in concentration.
       It took a minute for them to feel the change in the air, so subtle no one else would have noticed. The lowest thrum of magic, creeping around them, soothing their spirits like a comforting hug; it was the aura of their princess. "I remember everything, V-chan. You, the chosen strongest sailor soldier of the five planets. Part of my court as Princess Serenity, you led with beauty and wisdom and spirit." Aggression swept away, they basked in the glow of her presence, totally calm. "Mercury, the genius as cool as her fog, always chasing me with my lessons. Mars, gentler than the flames she wielded, always ready with a kind word. Jupiter, strong and powerful, always teaching me how to dance or cook or sew in a womanly fashion."
       "Luna, the aide to our princess, always at her heels to remind her of a certain treaty, a coronation, a party," Mars added slowly, closing her eyes as the memories paraded through their minds as fresh as if they'd happened hours ago.
       "Artemis, smitten with Luna, always at her heels trying to pass off being an advisor to be around her all of the time!" Venus giggled, the happy sound almost shocking considering the tension in the room just a minute previous.
       They felt themselves release their own magic to touch Usagi's, melding together in recognition. Like souls, they knew one another by aura, and now, after a millennium of being apart, they were joyous. The two felines, unwilling to interrupt, watched the colours of each soldier blend with that of their princess in the air, swelling to encompass the entire game center in an ethereal glow.
       All too soon it ended, bringing them back to themselves. They opened their eyes, feeling suddenly silly and embarrassed after such a poignant, personal moment; only Usagi seemed untouched, angelic in her calm. Even with tearstains on her cheeks and blood on her clothes, she radiated serenity and the poise of a princess. "Now, minna, trust in V-chan. If nothing else, because I wish for it. Being reborn on this planet, given another chance; don't waste it, my strong guardian soldiers!"
       "Sou yo," Jupiter added, nodding in determination at Mars and Mercury. "Minako-chan did her duty as a soldier, diverting attention away from our princess. And though Moriya-chan died and we didn't know, it wasn't her fault! How could she know that Moriya-chan would recognize Sailor Moon as Usagi and try to protect her?"
       "I didn't know she knew who Sailor Moon was," Venus murmured, giving Artemis a quick scritch to his ears. "I only knew…I knew her identity as Chouno Moriyakumi, but I never expected…!"
       Usagi slowly sank down onto a stool, her hands clutched in her lap. Luna did a quick bouncing act to place herself on the counter next to her, tail curling comfortingly around her neck. "But, now we have another concern. Tuxedo Kamen as Prince Endymion…if they have his body, perhaps they could use his bond to the Earth against us."
       "And for the enemy to manipulate humanity so well, as that creature who attacked our kingdom did…but then why haven't we seen the source yet?" Mercury chimed in, lightly playing with the buttons of the console next to her in the nervous dance of a computer user. "A mass of evil darkness, I remember it!"
       Venus looked towards the ground, affecting a strange slouch against the last console near Usagi, arms folding. "Perhaps it isn't strong enough; someone else must be manipulating it, or tapping at its source. Stealing so much energy to make it strong and power hungry again…"
       "The woman who appeared behind that man, that silver-haired general!" the tall brunette burst out suddenly, gesturing with her hand madly. "Could she be the one who woke it up, running that Dark Kingdom to her own purpose?"
       "I know her face from somewhere," Mars added darkly, standing straight and tall, disdaining any sort of lax posture. "But surely our queen sealed it off in our past lives! How could this woman break it so easily?"
       With the sudden silence, they could hear the hum of the machines in the twilight darkness of the room. The odango-haired blonde slowly conjured the Ginzuishou into her hands again, rolling it against the palm of her hand. It was nearly frigid in comparison to the warmth it carried at first appearance, the warmth disappearing with the light… "We have to find the exact location of the Dark Kingdom!" Artemis announced with a wave of his paw, staring at the rolling crystal. "With that light absorbed into Endymion-sama, it may have taken much of the stone's power with it. Who knows what they could do, if they could contain it out of his body?"
       "Iie," Usagi whispered, frightened. "If they hurt him…" She clutched at the crystal desperately, touching it to her cheek. "There's still the slightest warmth left! Just a little, making me feel safe and warm…like his arms…"
       Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed, confined within the bodice of her dress as if it had tightened around her ribs; she took in a breath almost painfully, her head swimming. She fainted rather gracefully onto the shiny clean floor as everyone cried out, "Usagi-chan!"

      It was a dank and dreary palace room, dripping with condensation and hung with stalactites. A machine hung from the ceiling as well, trailing tubes and wires like a broken spider web into a coffin below. Lights beeped in no discernable pattern, most green.
       In the coffin lay Tuxedo Kamen, still dressed the part. Only his cape was missing, as if it had been hastily torn away from his jacket; shreds of it still hung from his shoulders. His hands were folded primly at his waist, as if he were ready for burial, the various cording inserted into his skin at several areas.
       Kunzite stared with a bland, almost bored face at the body of his master; he had long ago affected the look to counteract the sorrow, screaming rage, or disgust he felt within. Showing such emotions could kill you in this place. "His heartbeat is normal, though he has not yet awoken. And the strangest thing…the slightest power keeps emitting from his body at a low level, most likely saving him from my blow."
       Behind him and to the side stood Beryl, her purple gown trailing behind her along the dirty floor. Her hands were empty for once, her staff still erect in the throne room. "But the holy stone is not inside of him! How can he emit such power, so obviously stolen into his body from that crystal, but it's nowhere!"
       The lights stopped beeping, the machine suddenly retracting its wires so sharply that droplets of blood spattered the wall behind it. With a grunt and groan of unworked muscles, Tuxedo Kamen pulled himself upright. "A useless corpse…I have no use for it, if it doesn't contain that holy stone!" Beryl snarled, gesturing almost foppishly with her hand. Like wax, the flesh melted from the dark-haired man's skull as he reached up in vain.
       And of course, the horrific sight had Usagi screaming before she was even fully awake, her pillow wet against her cheek from crying. "J-just a dream," she sobbed softly, covering her mouth to stifle the sound. "A dream…."
       She pulled herself from her bed slowly, naked beneath the covers; she had been so tired, so very tired these past few nights that she hadn't even bothered putting on pajamas. But she wrapped her top comforter around her body as she walked around her room, picking up a stuffed bunny rabbit. "I've woken up crying ever since Mamo-chan…" She bit her lip. "All these horrible dreams!"
       Hugging the toy to her chest, she took a look at herself in the mirror. Her face, normally puffy from sleep alone, looked nearly gargantuan from the combined crying. She peeled down one eyelid, sighing at the sight. "My eyes all puffy and swollen from crying…! I look horrible. I have to stop crying before my face turns into a baked bun." A hand ran back through her still-tied hair, only to pause as she frowned.
       She gathered up a ponytail, her expression growing frantic as she found far more hair than normal to lift. Hurriedly she undid the pins holding her odango up, letting it all tumble down in a mass of waves long enough to cover her modesty with, and then some. Standing, it trailed well across the floor, like a train for a wedding dress. "Kami-sama…"

       With a frown, Minako stared up at the Tsukino household. With her stood Makoto, holding a plastic bag, Ami with books, and Rei, the looks on their faces no less somber. A week having passed since they had seen Usagi, they had an understandable right to worry.
       After Usagi had fainted in the Crown, Venus had left them to watch her as she carried out her own task; taking Moriya's body to the orphanage. It would have been easier to leave her out in the park, letting someone else find her and report it to the police, but her conscience would never allow it. The grief in watching her die had been horrible enough, and still, she felt like a failed soldier for not saving her in some miraculous way.
       Across rooftops she had taken her, her arms growing tired as Moriya's body stiffened, all of the blood sinking to the lowest points of her limbs. But she had borne it in silence, not once complaining until she had finally landed in the back playground of the orphanage. Though she looked up almost immediately to see Sakakku-san standing in the doorway, as if waiting.
       There had been no funeral, only a simple burial of the body beneath the stone bearing her family's name far outside of the city limits. Atop a small hill everyone had gathered, what few friends and well wishers Moriya had. Oddly enough, no one mentioned the absence of Moriya's oldest friend, or if they did, Minako heard nothing.
       Usagi's family had been with her, as they had been so fond of their daughter's friend. The odango-haired blonde had said nothing to her allies, acted as if they hadn't been there, and never once greeted nor dismissed them. She simply laid an offering atop the fresh dirt, of what looked to be a snow globe, and went back to her parent's car.
       The next day, she went to the orphanage to possibly take her friend's belongings; no family existed to claim them. And she had a feeling Moriya would want her to have her cherished items than the garbage dump. But instead, she found the elder Sakakku seemingly asleep in her office, serene; later, the police said it had been a heart attack, quick and almost painless. Beneath her hand had been a note, freshly written.
       It had been the main reason for her closeting herself off, shutting everyone out.
       After calling the police and gathering her friend's belongings, she had been taken straight home by one of the officers in pity. Two boxes she had lugged up the stairs and into her bedroom, and once there, she had locked the door, ignored her mother, and unfolded the note.
       Moriya's parents had been killed in a bank robbery.
       This, she had known for years.
       But what had not been said was that they had been the robbers themselves. It had been a failed attempt by two thieves who had been well regarded in the city's thieves guild; Moriya had always suspected a setup. And, as her parents had cut ties with their families upon becoming such accomplished thieves, Moriya had been left alone, literally, crying in the back of their escape car for her mother.
       The police who had eventually turned her over to Sakakku had warned them both to keep quiet about what really had happened, for Moriya's safety. But even though the redhead told only Mamoru the truth, she put herself right back into danger by finding the very guild possibly responsible for her parents' deaths…and proving her own accomplishment as a thief. Even at nine years old, she had been sneaking out at night to roam Tokyo's penthouses.
       Everything Moriya owned had been willed, essentially, to Usagi; the note ended with a lovely drawing of a bird, carefully posed as if risen up from fire. Usagi imagined the old woman finishing it with a sad smile, not realizing she wouldn't live to give it to her.
       She had gone through the boxes almost mechanically, rummaging through the CDs and a few records with titles and names she couldn't read, a few bundles of clothing that included her uniform, rolled-up posters and a small book of pictures. Very few were of Moriya's parents, both of whom were always laughing or smiling. And the stuffed rabbit she found she recalled giving to her.
       Her door remained locked for that next week, and she ignored all knocking. When her family finally went to sleep at night, she crept down to eat merely for survival. She didn't go to school, and slept almost all day. Luna, having been locked out, had taken to sleeping at the Crown, constantly voicing her concern to the girls.
       Finally, the four had decided to go straight to the source, hence the reason they all stood outside of her house. They stared at her window for a long time in silence, as if hoping to catch a glimpse of her. But of course, her drapes stayed pulled, the room dark. "We need to talk Usagi-chan out of the darkness," Ami declared firmly, looking away from the bedroom window to focus on the front door.
       "Hai, hai," the other three chorused sadly, and they trekked up to the door.
       Minako was the one who knocked, though they all seemed shocked to see the door open up. Ikuko stood in the doorway, wiping her hands dry on her apron. "Ara, Usagi's friends…I'm sorry she won't come down to see you herself."
       "Oba-sama," the blue-haired genius said respectfully, stepping up, "how is she? It's been nearly a week since she's been in school, and she doesn't answer the phone…"
       Ikuko stepped aside to let them all in, waiting for them to remove their shoes and put on house slippers. But just before she shut the door, Luna suddenly squeezed through, meowing in warning before she was crushed. "Eh? The bald spot kitty! I haven't seen her in a while...I thought, perhaps, Usagi's behavior had driven her off." She led them towards the stairs, Luna's tail disappearing at the top, as she continued talking. "As a mother, I should be responsible and send her to school, but she's been acting so sad! I feel terrible...she eats only after we've gone to sleep, so we don't bother her, and she won't see us...I think Moriya's death has affected her strongly."
       "That could be, Tsukino-san," Rei gently agreed. "Maybe we can solve the problem."
       They ascended the stairs in silence, and although none of them had seen Usagi's house before, they could find her room instantly by the cute bunny sign hanging lopsidedly on the door. Plus, Luna knocking at it didn't hurt. "Mou, Usagi-chan, open the door! Surely you won't shut us out as well!"
       "Let us try, Luna," Makoto offered mildly as she stepped around the black feline, doing one quick pound against the wood. "Usagi-chan, let us in! You can't bear this in silence…"
       The click of the lock silenced the tall brunette. Rei reached across to twist the handle and open the door, softly pushing it open, stepping inside. As she blocked everyone else's view, or most of it, none of them saw the reason for her sudden gasp.
       Dressed in a long skirt and peasant top, Usagi stood in the middle of her room, her hair still loose and free, freshly washed. It trailed almost a foot on the floor behind her, and once Rei finally moved out of the doorway, the rest of the girls made similar sounds of shock. "Luna…minna…what are you doing here?" she asked in confusion.
       "We were worried about you, Usagi-chan! And your hair…kami-sama, it's so long! We should fix that, right away!" Minako hurried into the room to gather up a handful of the golden strands, as if gauging the length. "As Princess Serenity, your hair was this long."
       "Perhaps her body is changing, now that everything has been revealed?" Ami asked as Minako picked up a pair of scissors from Usagi's desk.
       Makoto gathered the pins from the bedside table as the long-haired blonde kept touching her fingers to Usagi's back, asking where it was ok to cut. When she had an agreement, she snipped it off in a straight line to the knees, and immediately began to gather half of it up. Like a surgeon with her own assistant, she kept holding out her hands for pins, Makoto silently placing them in her palm, as she twisted the hair up into an odango.
       She repeated the process with the rest of the hair, while Rei and Ami cleaned the leftovers off the carpet. "You're truly changing into Serenity, Usagi-chan," Minako laughed as she fluffed the two balls of hair up, the tall brunette holding a mirror up.
       "I'm not me anymore, am I? I'm becoming someone else." The odango-haired blonde mumbled it so quietly that Minako thankfully didn't hear; all she did was stare blankly into the mirror like a victim of shellshock, holding the stuffed bunny rabbit. Out loud, however, she asked, "Why couldn't I save him?"
       Everyone exchanged a worry look over her head. Luna hung her own head, pawing lightly at the carpet beneath her paws. "I'm a horrible aide, Usagi-chan. I need to apologize for it; with my memory sealed, all I remembered was to find you, Tsukino Usagi. I was to train you as a soldier while Venus posed as the princess, all to hide you in plain sight. But if I had only known Tuxedo Kamen was Endymion, I could have spared you pain….!"
        "Chiba Mamoru no Tuxedo Kamen," Usagi moaned quietly, staring at her bedside table. On it lay the cracked moon phase watch. "It was never your fault, Luna! To be the princess again…I suppose it's destiny, like being reborn to meet him, my strong prince…."
       She felt Minako press closer, hugging her from behind. But the odango-haired blonde was stiff, unbending to the gesture. "Captured by those beings, the Dark Kingdom…I can still save him!" she suddenly exclaimed, twisting in the long-haired blonde's now tight grip. "I have to find them and rescue Mamo-chan!"
       "Usagi-chan, you can't do such a thing on your own!" Rei argued, yet saying it so affectionately that it literally stopped both blondes. "To get yourself killed as well, is that what you want? We weren't reborn to watch it again!"
       With a lowering of eyelids, Usagi fell still once more in her chair. But this time, it was her rumbling stomach that had her starting up her wriggling once more, even as Luna picked up on the conversation thread. "Though Endymion is not our highest concern, for Usagi-chan, he'll be rescued, ne?" Four heads nodded in response, though Makoto seemed more interested in rifling through the plastic bag she had brought with her.
       A wrapped box lunch and chopsticks was finally set down in front of Usagi, with a blush. "Gomen, Luna, I don't mean to be rude, but I thought Usagi-chan would be hungry," she explained demurely while Usagi's eyes opened wide behind her. The wrapping of paper followed as she uncovered the utensils and the lunch, and fell to devouring it.
       "That's the Usagi-chan we know and love," Ami laughed softly, as the odango-haired blonde popped a bit of sashimi and rice into her mouth.
       "I have to cheer up!" Usagi replied around a mouthful, the words mangled into gibberish. After she swallowed, she immediately picked up another bit of rice and fish, waving it for emphasis. "As the last heir to the throne of the Silver Millennium, I have to keep strong. He's alive, and I have to save him!" The fish and rice were happily chewed and swallowed. "And defeat the enemy, sealing it away for eternity, that too."
       "You always do think more clearly on a full stomach," Luna noted dryly.
       "Mochiron!"
       As the girls collectively laughed, Makoto looked around the bedroom. It was as large a room as her own living room, complete with a balcony and large windows. In Tokyo, owning land and a house was like owning gold; the tall brunette felt a momentary jealousy that she had nothing better than what amounted to a matchbox apartment, though she was lucky to even have that much. Technically, she should still have been in an orphanage.
       Minako stole a piece of cucumber as Ami began describing the books she had brought, for Usagi's missing lessons, Rei blithely and subtly mentioning that she had long ago passed them in her school. No one noticed as Makoto made her way like a bloodhound towards the two undescript boxes in the corner, oak green eyes peering in curiosity. Then, realizing after a long minute what the contents were, she turned back towards the girls. "Usagi-chan, is this Moriya-chan's stuff?"
       Conversation died again, as Usagi froze in lifting a sushi roll to her mouth. The sudden pain in her crystal blue eyes was enough to have Makoto lifting her hands in apology and defense, mumbling "Gomen nasai, I shouldn't have asked…"
       "Hai…Moriya-chan left it all to me," the odango-haired blonde verified as Makoto apologized, finally sliding the sushi into her mouth. "You can look, minna…she isn't around to be upset."
       The mild venom in her voice had everyone backing up, including Luna. But it was obviously not directed at any of them, and so, the black feline leapt up into her lap as the other three girls homed in on Makoto and the boxes. Call it morbid curiosity. "Ara ara, Moriya-chan listened to almost nothing local!" Minako whistled, holding up some of the CDs.
       Ami carefully lifted a record, peering rather birdlike at the title. "'Kii-lu-r-ooi Wa-suu He-a'? By someone called the…ss…ssuu-tiksu?" She nodded to herself, rather proud of her limited English. "An import from America."
       "I can't see anything in Japanese!" Rei said appreciatively, apparently thinking better of Moriya, knowing now she was bilingual. "For her to know such English…"
       Usagi wandered up behind them, Luna in her arms, as Makoto held up a CD case scratched and well worn. "What does this one say, Ami-chan?"
       "Laburinthu," Usagi replied before the blue-haired genius could attempt an answer. "It was one of her favorites…she always told me she liked the singer's voice. Such a magical soundtrack, it was the music of her dreams."
       Minako grabbed the CD away from the tall brunette, pulling out the booklet furiously. As she flipped through it, she affected a swoon back into Makoto's arms. "I remember this movie! It was subtitled, and I could hear his kakkoi voice….I wanted to be Sara-chan so badly!"
        The odango-haired blonde nodded slowly in recognition, lightly stroking her hand along Luna's back. "I wish you could have known her better, minna….she knew so much more than me! She was strong in ways I couldn't be…"
       "Usagi-chan, you're stronger than all of us, in your own way," Makoto said soothingly, still holding Minako, though she had long quit her swooning act.
       "Sou yo, Usagi-chan! To be so strong so fast, you're obviously a princess!" the long-haired blonde crooned, flashing her V sign from Makoto's arms.
       Rei surprised everyone by hugging Usagi, squishing the black feline between them. "Don't be so sad, Usagi-chan. Moriya-chan would be upset if she saw you now, so sad over her death. She did it so you would be alive now, and she was as loyal to you as we, your guardian soldiers, will always be!"
       "Rei-chan…arigatou…" Usagi murmured, laying her head on the dark-haired shrine girl's shoulder. She could see Makoto and Ami smiling with obvious pride behind Rei, though Minako's approval was far subtler; and, more reluctantly proud. "I will be strong, I have to be! To find out the secret of our enemies…to find where they hide! And perhaps, also, to discover the secret of the Ginzuishou, of everything kept from me…"
       Between the two girls, Luna's tail was lashing. They peeled themselves apart to see the black feline gasping a bit for air, ears flattened back against her head. "My need to breathe is essential to my health, Rei-san," she finally gasped, leaning back against Usagi. "And, Usagi-chan, I know how we find out everything!"
       "Consult a fortune teller?" Minako piped up, only to be thusly smacked with several pillows from the nearby bed and a resounding "NO!"
       Luna rolled her eyes skyward, shaking her head. But it was Ami who spoke next, her usually square and studious eyes wide with realization. "To the moon, minna, to the moon! Our previous home and kingdom, and the place all our secrets have remained hidden…we must go to the moon!"