Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Fragility of Time ❯ Epilogue ( Chapter 37 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

The Fragility of Time BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"
Epilogue
Author: etj4Eagle
Email: etj4Eagle@fanfiction.net
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com
Posted 4/17/05

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of
this story, all rights are owned by others. However, the
unique circumstances of the story are mine. If you
distribute the story, do only so freely and inform me of
where you post it.
_______________________________________

Epilogue

With the afternoon beginning to wear late,
Ikuko was busying herself in the kitchen
preparing dinner for her family. She was a bit
concerned that Usagi hadn't returned yet, given
what had happened last night. But, she figured
that Usagi was probably just with Hotaru and
ChibiUsa. After all, Hotaru's excitement over
being cured of her illness would have to be
contagious and she knew her daughter too well.
Usagi would forget about any of her own ills so
as to make sure that Hotaru and ChibiUsa had the
time of their lives.

Opening the fridge, Ikuko removed the tuna
she had bought at the market. She and Usagi had
gone there after dropping Hotaru off to see her
father. They had only been there about fifteen
minutes when Usagi told her that something was up
and that she was needed. Ikuko hadn't wanted
Usagi to run off to fight, but she managed to
squash her own motherly fears so that Usagi could
be a "mother" to the other girls. There of course
being no way that Usagi would ever let those
girls go off to fight without her being there.
Now realizing that she hadn't heard from Usagi
after that battle, Ikuko let the thought cross
her mind for a few moments that maybe Usagi's
tardiness had to do with the battle. But she
dismissed that as her just being paranoid.

Now opening one of the cupboards, Ikuko had
to duck out of the way as a pair of mugs came
flying out. Not having the presence of mind to
try to catch them, she instead watched as the two
of them fell and hit the floor shattering.
Bending down to pick up the broken pieces, she
realized that the two cups that had fallen to the
ground were the mugs that Usagi and ChibiUsa
always used when the girls were over. <Now why
did I open that cupboard, there is nothing in
there that I needed for preparing dinner.> Ikuko
thought to herself as a cold shiver ran through
her body.

With the large pieces now all collected, she
stood up and walked over to the trash can to
throw them out. <ChibiUsa is not going to be
happy that her favorite mug was destroyed. I
think Usagi had bought that for her the second
day she was here with us.> Ikuko thought to
herself, remembering that last memory with a warm
feeling as she got a broom and dust pan and began
cleaning up the mess. She remembered how
surprised she was to learn that Usagi had used
her own money to buy ChibiUsa that mug,
especially since she knew that Usagi had been
saving that money up to buy something that she
and Molly had been gushing about for the past few
weeks. Usagi had probably pestered her at least
three times a day during that time for advances
on her allowance and it was only that morning
that Usagi had received the final bit of
allowance that she needed. And it was not just
the mug that Usagi had bought for ChibiUsa, but a
school uniform as well and not once did Usagi ask
her for help in outfitting ChibiUsa.

When she had seen ChibiUsa the following
morning decked out in the uniform for the
elementary school, she had felt negligent for not
having thought about that before and a bit
surprised that Usagi hadn't ask her for a
reimbursement the previous night. Over the
following weeks she found that Usagi would accept
help in buying stuff for ChibiUsa, but never
would she accept after the fact reimbursement. It
made Ikuko proud when she realized that Usagi was
actually wanting to spend her own money on
ChibiUsa. Of course she would occasionally hear
Usagi whine to herself when she thought no one
else (other than maybe Luna) was listening about
having to spend her arcade money on ChibiUsa, but
Ikuko had also realized then that those whines
were only halfhearted. Not wanting Usagi to
sacrifice everything for ChibiUsa, Ikuko and
Kenji had raised her allowance with the
stipulation that she use the extra money for
mother-daughter activities with ChibiUsa, knowing
that that would be the only way to get Usagi to
actually use the money on herself. And that only
worked because Usagi still had the innocence of a
small child in her heart and would whole
heartedly enjoy herself in the same activities
that ChibiUsa did.

Pausing in making the sashimi, Ikuko allowed
her body to feel warm over those memories. Usagi
had really matured during those first few days,
going from a slacker with no motivation to a
devoted parent. <Maybe we should have let Usagi
get that puppy she had wanted a few years ago.
Her lack of responsibility was just due to her
not having anything that required her to be
really responsible.> Ikuko now realized. Putting
the knife down, Ikuko looked up at the clock and
was surprised with how late it had gotten. During
her trip down memory lane, a few hours had
passed. With her body working basically on
autopilot dinner was just about ready; all she
had left was to finish the rolls she was
currently working on.

Hearing the door open, Ikuko thought to
herself, <That must be Usagi and ChibiUsa now.
Wonder if Hotaru is with them?> Now picking up
the knife to slice the cucumber she was a bit
puzzled by why the two girls were being so quiet.
Figuring that ChibiUsa probably had just worn
herself out running around with Hotaru, Ikuko
went back to her preparations.

"Tsukino-san?" came the slightly timid voice
of Minako.

"What is it Minako?" Ikuko asked as she
paused and looked over at the girl. Then noticing
traces of what looked like guilt and sorrow on
the other girl's face, Ikuko continued,
"Something has happened."

"Hai, The enemy is defeated, but... Something
happened to Usagi. She's safe for the moment
but..." Minako fumbled.

Now remembering the fallen mugs, Ikuko
suddenly realized that something had to have gone
wrong, that this battle hadn't been one of their
normal ones. Memories of letters stashed away
upstairs in Usagi's bedroom, suddenly came back
to her, as Ikuko brushed past Minako.

Walking into the living room, Ikuko came to
a sudden stop as she caught her first glimpse of
the figure in the crystalline coffin. While she
didn't have a good view of who it was, her heart
already knew the truth - Usagi had done what
Ikuko knew was going to happen one of these days,
she had given her life for her friends. Falling
to her knees, she looked up at Ami and asked the
blue haired girl, "Tell me what happened."

And with that request, Ami with the
occasional help of Mamoru and Sailor Erion began
to recount the events of the day, beginning with
Erion explaining exactly what had initially
happened the previous night when she had attacked
Usagi. As the explanation moved onto the battle
at Mugen, Ikuko caught Mamoru's eye and with a
silent request had him bring ChibiUsa over to
her. Wrapping ChibiUsa up in her arms, she began
to give the child some comfort, knowing that
ChibiUsa's pain would have to be even more than
her own and knowing that she needed to reassure
ChibiUsa that she did not blame her for what had
happened to Usagi and that ChibiUsa was still her
granddaughter. And as she gave ChibiUsa comfort,
she was able to gain comfort herself from those
actions.

For his part, Mamoru tried to comfort Hotaru
the best he could, now that he didn't have to
split his attention. Unfortunately he didn't
really know this newest member of the team that
well. Most of the time when ChibiUsa played with
Hotaru Usagi was the only one around. <Well I'll
just have to use the reasons why I love Usako as
a guide on how to comfort her. After all, it
wouldn't matter if Usako did or did not know
Hotaru, she would still be able to comfort her
just as well.> Mamoru thought to himself as he
gently rocked the shell shocked girl while Ami
continued her story. A little while later, he
felt a weight on his left arm, looking over to
the side he caught sight of Luna giving him a
slight tug. Knowing exactly what she wanted, he
adjusted the way he was holding Hotaru so that
Luna could leap up and curl up in front of
Hotaru. And Hotaru immediately latched onto the
kitten, pulling her up to rest just below her
chin. Looking down now with a slight smile on his
face; Mamoru could clearly see that the healing
was finally beginning for Hotaru.

* * * * * *

".... And that was how Pluto kept ChibiUsa
from vanishing now that the future has changed so
much." Ami said ending her explanation.

Looking over at his wife, Kenji, who had
arrived home during the middle of the
explanation, received a nod from her for his
unspoken question. Then turning back to look at
the assembled group of girls and two guys, he
said, "Minna-san, you don't have to worry about
either of us blaming you for what has happened.
We both know that all of you would have gladly
given your life to keep Usagi alive, just as she
would do the same for you. As much as I hate to
say it, both Ikuko and I knew that this day would
eventually come. We have already been forced once
to face the harsh truth of what it means for you
girls..." and then looking at the two guys "and
guys to be out fighting this evil that has of
late come. When you went off to face Beryl in the
artic, Usagi left behind with us letters that we
were to give to each of your families if you
didn't make it back. Since then, she has
periodically updated the letters. Each of those
letters is written on the assumption that she
would be dead as well. As much as a parent
protects their children, Usagi wanted to shield
each of you."

"But she was our princess that is our duty."
Rei interrupted.

"Hai, I know. But her heart did not see it
that way. Instead it saw that as even more of a
reason why she had to protect each and everyone
of you. That if someone was not going to come
back alive it was going to be her and not any of
you."

With that explanation, each of the girls,
guys, and cats lowered their heads to say a
prayer to their departed princess. Then one by
one they stood and walked over by the crystal
coffin to say a goodbye for now to their
princess. The longest of goodbye's came from Rei,
whose words of parting turned to tears and
accusations of leaving her alone. Knowing how the
hotheaded priestess felt, Makoto and Ami led her
away from Usagi's body and then out the door,
deciding that it would be best to walk her all
the way home. Of all of them, her love for Usagi
probably came third, following just after Mamoru
and ChibiUsa.

Before long it was just Mamoru and Hotaru
who were left in the Tsukino household. Walking
over to where Mamoru was now standing, holding
Hotaru in his arms, Kenji opened his arms to take
the other girl up. "I know that I wasn't always
the warmest to you Mamoru-san." Kenji said as
Hotaru was transferred to his arms. "But know
that our doors are always open for you. I just
didn't want my little girl to grow up, but she
has and into such a wonderful woman and I know
that it is because of you that she has been able
to weather all of the hardships that life has
thrown her way. Arigatoo." Kenji said as he gave
the other guy a slight bow, as much as he was
willing to try with Hotaru in his arms.

"Thanks Kenji-san. You and Ikuko's
acceptance means a lot to me. Usagi gave me the
one thing I have not had this lifetime, a family.
If you don't mind I would like to be a father to
ChibiUsa and Hotaru. I know my involvement with
ChibiUsa isn't what it should have been, but I
owe it to Usako to raise our daughters properly."

"Hai, we would love to have you as part of
our family."

"Arigatoo. I know this won't be as easy for
me as it was for Usagi, but I will try my best.
And I know that in a few years, I will be very
much understanding where your initial reaction to
me came from when ChibiUsa begins to date."
Mamoru said with a slight look of horror crossing
his face as he hoped that maybe that would be
another 900 years off in the future. "I think for
at least the time being that it would be best if
the two girls remained here with you and Ikuko.
Living a college life, my apartment would not be
the best place for these two to be living,
especially right now. They need the tighter watch
you and Ikuko can give."

"Hai, I understand. I don't think either you
are them are ready for that step yet. Not even
Usagi would have been ready to take care of
ChibiUsa when things were going good if she was
living on her own. You need to be able to focus
on your studies, as you need to think as much
about the future that the three of you will be
living as the present. Let Ikuko and I worry
about the present."

"Hai that's right Mamoru-san. Let Kenji and
I be the pillars for your family. Together we
will all get through this and make Usagi proud.
Remember someday she will return to us. We just
have to be there for her when that day comes. Now
why don't you stay for dinner with us."

* * * * * *

The next morning, Ikuko was vacuuming the
house when she heard a knock at the front door.
Turning of the vacuum cleaner, she made her way
over to the door and then opening the door she
was surprised to see Ami's mother there. But then
very quickly her mind reminded her that Rikou
knew about Ami being Sailor Mercury.

"Konnichiwa Mizuno-san, what brings you here
this morning?" Ikuko asked while greeting her
visitor.

"Ami told me about what happened during
yesterday's battle and I thought I would come
over to see how you were holding up. And truth be
told, I am in need of some support myself."

"Hai, I understand. Come on in then. Let me
put away the vacuum cleaner and then I'll get us
some tea."

"Arigatoo, Ikuko-san." Rikou said as she
slipped off her shoes before entering the house
proper.

"Rikou-san, if you wouldn't mind could you
check on ChibiUsa and Hotaru. The two of them are
up in Usagi's room, I am keeping the two of them
home from school today, neither of them got much
sleep last night."

"No trouble." Rikou said before heading up
the stairs. Walking down the hallway, she
silently opened the door to what she figured had
to be Usagi's room. Then walking into the room
she released a gasp as she saw the crystal that
now contained Usagi, which had been moved
upstairs the previous night by Mamoru and Kenji
before Mamoru had headed on home. While she did
know that Usagi was here at the Tsukino
household, she hadn't been really prepared to see
the girl. Drawn by a medical curiosity that she
couldn't pull away from, she walked up to the
crystal and placed a hand on it while she peered
into its depths. The crystal felt different than
any other mineral she ever touched, but the sight
she saw chilled her blood. For Usagi's expression
was not one of peace that she had expected to
find, but one of someone in great pain. Releasing
another gasp of surprise, she stumbled backwards
for a few steps, but managed to catch her balance
and avoid falling down.

However, her actions hadn't been
sufficiently noiseless to prevent the awakening
of ChibiUsa and Hotaru. Opening her eyes,
ChibiUsa looked up and was a bit confused to see
Ami's mother there in the room. "Mizuno-san?" she
asked.

"Hai, ChibiUsa-chan. Gomen-nasai for waking
you, your grandmother asked me check on the two
of you and seeing Usagi like this was..." Rikou
explained, trailing off at the end.

"Hai," ChibiUsa replied, knowing what Rikou
was trying to say for she felt it far worse. Then
breaking down again, she said "I miss momma and
this time I don't have Usagi." as she began to
cry again.

Hotaru, who had also been awoken, instantly
reacted; sitting up as well, she pulled ChibiUsa
into her embrace letting the pink haired girl
bury her face in her chest. As Hotaru tried her
best to comfort ChibiUsa, Rikou knelt down and
after catching Hotaru's eye, let Hotaru transfer
ChibiUsa to her arms. Then giving a little grunt
from the weight of picking up ChibiUsa, she stood
back up with ChibiUsa snuggled in her arms.

"Let's go on downstairs. Tsukino-san is
making some tea and it will do the two of you
good to get some food into you, even if you don't
feel like eating that much." Rikou said to
Hotaru, adding the last part as she noticed that
Hotaru did not look that much better off than
ChibiUsa. <And I need to talk to Ikuko about
moving these two girls to a different room; they
don't need the constant reminder of what has
happened to Usagi.>

By the time the threesome arrived
downstairs, Ikuko had the tea ready and some
cakes to go with it. Having heard Mizuno-san's
stumbling from downstairs, she had gotten out
place setting for both ChibiUsa and Hotaru as
well. And meeting Rikou at the base of the
stairs, Ikuko took ChibiUsa into her own arms
before leading her friend over to the table. As
the four of them sat down, Ikuko kept ChibiUsa in
her lap while Hotaru took a place to herself.
However, she didn't stay there alone for too
long, as Rikou knowing that Hotaru was also in
need of some comfort moved her place to be next
to the black haired girl's, a move that very
quickly resulted in Hotaru resting against her.

At first the two adults chit chatted for a
while as they tried to coax the two girls into
eating something. While they weren't able to get
either girl to eat as much as they would have
liked, they did at least manage to get each of
them to eat something, which was sufficient for
them.

* * * * * *

"How are you holding up?" Ikuko asked Rikou,
finally breaking the ice after returning from
putting on some anime for the two girls in the
other room.

"I don't know, but shouldn't I be asking you
that question?" Rikou replied

"You probably should, but this is still all
fairly new to you, it was not all that long ago
when you learned about Ami being Sailor Mercury.
For me I have already had to face the real
possibility that I was saying goodbye to my
daughter for good once before. I want to show you
something." Ikuko said as she picked up an
envelope that had been lying next to her place on
the table and handed it over to Rikou.

"What is this?" Rikou asked as she saw that
the envelope was addressed to her.

"It is something that Usagi wrote some
months back before a battle which she and the
others stood a good chance of not coming back
from alive. Before she left she handed me these
letters, there is one for each of the families of
the girls. While she tried to put on a brave face
that night, I could tell that she did not believe
that she was going to return alive from that
battle. Her goal was to stop Beryl, whatever the
cost.

"And from what I understand, she, ChibiUsa
and Chiba were the only ones to have survived
that battle. The other girls were all killed, but
somehow Usagi was able to work a miracle and
brought them all back to life."

"Ami died?" Rikou asked, disbelief in her
voice as it began to crack.

"Hai. Both Usagi and ChibiUsa have been very
tight lipped about what happened that evening,
not wanting to relive the nightmare, but for
several weeks after that event Usagi would be
periodically wracked my nightmares over what she
had witnessed. While I don't know if her
nightmares were what really happened or hideous
perversions of it, what I heard those nights gave
me my own nightmares, for each of the girls
apparently died a very violent death." At this
point Ikuko trailed off in her explanation so as
to give Rikou a chance to process what she had
just said. Then continuing, "I take it that Ami
has kept things like that from you."

"Hai she has."

"Usagi did the same. But over the months I
have learned a fair bit of what she wanted to
shield me from knowing, the horrors of being a
soldier. Each time one of the girl's gets badly
hurt, Usagi has nightmares for the next night or
two. But even during those nightmares her
subconscious still looks out for ChibiUsa for she
never tosses and turns. Instead the only way you
could tell she was in a nightmare is by watching
her face."

"I believe that. From the times I have
watched Usagi interact with my daughter and even
more so from the few times when the two of us
have talked, I know that Usagi would put everyone
else before her. I am sorry to say that when I
first met Usagi, I was not very impressed and on
many occasions I was about to tell Ami to have
nothing more to do with your daughter. But each
time when I was about ready to do so, I would see
Ami come home from having spent an afternoon with
Usagi and see her in such happy sorts that I
couldn't bare to carry through with my decision."

"You have nothing to apologize for. I myself
was worried that Usagi was heading down the wrong
path, but then ChibiUsa arrived and I learned
about her other side. During those first few
weeks I would grill Luna on how Usagi was as
Sailor Moon and while in many ways her
performance there wasn't that much better, when
things mattered Usagi would always pull through.
But then with the arrival of ChibiUsa, Usagi
appeared to almost overnight decide to grow up.
Every now and then I still see the old Usagi and
it warms my heart, but she appears to have
decided that nothing is more important to her
than her daughter's happiness - even her own
childhood.

"Kenji and I were actually starting to worry
a bit that she was sacrificing too much and were
going to start taking a bit more responsibility
for ChibiUsa so that she could spend some more
time with her friends. And when she finished up
with this school year we were going to surprise
her by telling her that we would watch ChibiUsa
for her summer vacation so that she and the rest
of the girls could go spend a couple weeks off
just by themselves...." At this point Ikuko finally
broke down in tears. Rikou let Ikuko have her
time to let the pain out and once the tears began
to dry, Ikuko continued. "Sorry about that."

"Iie, you don't need to apologize. You
deserve to be allowed to grieve. And remember
Usagi is still alive even if she is trapped in
that crystal for now. And knowing my own
daughter, she won't stop until she finds a way to
save Usagi and I am sure the others are the same
way. As much as Usagi would give anything for her
friends, that love goes two ways and each of the
girls would do the same for Usagi. But until that
day comes, there are two girls here who need your
love and guidance. You can do your daughter proud
by raising ChibiUsa and Hotaru for her."

"Hai, I know. And Kenji, I and Mamoru will
do our best to raise the two of them. I just hope
that I can convince the social workers that
Hotaru would be best off here, but I am afraid
that is not a realistic outcome." Ikuko replied
as she looked down at her tea. Rikou had nothing
to reply for she too saw it as a long shot that
the Tsukinos would be awarded custody of Hotaru.
And especially when the social workers learned
that the eldest child was in some kind of coma
due to mysterious circumstances.


* * * * * *

At the Gate of Spacetime an extremely cute
little child with heart shaped odangos sat at a
child's desk playing with finger paints. She had
already made liberal use of the blue, red and
green paints making a nice array of hand prints,
lines and just blotches. Backing away from her
piece of art, she looked at the paper for a few
minutes while her face crumbled in deep thought.
Finding it to be lacking a little green in the
upper left corner; she plunged two of her fingers
into the paint and then placed a pair of green
lines on the paper. Now happy with how it looked,
she bent down to her right where she had placed
her stamps. Picking up the first stamp, she made
sure to get plenty of ink on it and her clothes
before place a nice prominent rabbit stamp on the
paper. Then getting a second stamp she repeated
the process, this time leaving a series of
fireflies.

Happy with her work, ChibiChibi carefully
picked up her art supplies, dumping half of the
paint on the ground and crated them over to a toy
box that was now sitting beside the gate. Then
after dumping the items into the box and closing
the lid she returned to her desk and picked up
the painting she had been working on. Carefully
rolling up the sheet of paper, with only a few
creases, she also gathered up the other two rolls
that were on the ground beside the desk. Both of
these were also results of her finger painting,
though on one she had used the bunny stamp twice
and on the other she had used the bunny stamp and
the heart stamp once. Now with the three rolls
gathered up, she walked over to the gate, which
had opened and tossed the three items out into
the timestream with a happy exclamation of,
"Chibi-Chibi."

With that taken care of she looked over to
the left of the gate where a nice bubble bath was
setup and paused to consider if she wanted go get
cleaned up and play with her bath toys. She
thought about this for a quite a few minutes
before she finally decided that she wanted to
play one more game before bath and bed time. Now
returning to her toy box, she pulled out a
fishing rod and a set of plastic fish. Then after
walking so that she stood in front of the gate,
she tossed the plastic fish on in.

With a bright smile on her face, ChibiChibi
gave a cast of the plastic fishing rod into the
swirling energy of the timestream and then with a
yank pulled one of the plastic fish back on out.
Releasing the fish from the rod she tossed it on
the ground and with her head cocked slightly to
the side she watched it for a few moments. Seeing
that it wasn't going to do anything, she just
shrugged her shoulders and returned to casting
into the timestream to catch the remaining fish.

The sixth fish she pulled out from the gate,
however, behaved differently than the others when
she tossed it on the ground. This one shortly
after being dropped began to glow while its
surface became translucent. With a questioning
"Chibi-Chibi?" ChibiChibi watched the plastic
fish closely as a black insect like leg reached
up and out of the toy to be followed soon by a
second leg.

Now yelling "Chibi-Chibi!" at the creature
that was trying to escape from the fish,
ChibiChibi quickly picked up the fish and tossed
it back. Then turning back from the gate, she
made a second check and a fifth check to make
sure that the creature had indeed been tossed
back from whence it came. Finally satisfied,
ChibiChibi once again picked up her rod and
continued her fishing.

* * * * * *

The remaining days of the week slowly passed
by for each of the Sailor Senshi and those who
knew the truth. Lost as they were in their own
pain, their ability to comfort each other was
limited and as the second week began, they each
began to slip into their own little shells. Rei
began to become consumed by her meditations,
while Makoto began to become mixed up with gangs
and fights again. For the tall girl, the insults
and jokes that she had once been able to ignore,
she could no longer do so so easily. But it was a
crude comment about Usagi that had finally set
her off. Going up against two high school boys,
she had come within an inch of beating them out
of their lives and receiving for her troubles a
pair of cracked ribs and a broken arm. And then
the next day at school she had been called into
the principal's office. Already knowing she would
once again be hopping from school to school as
she was expelled from one after the other, she
was a bit confused as to why Haruna-sensei was in
the meeting. Going out on a limb for the troubled
teen, Haruna had somehow convinced them that
Makoto needed some leniency that it was the coma
that her friend Usagi was in that had set her
off. As a result, she instead of being expelled
received a two week suspension followed by a
medical excused absence until the school
counselor had determined that she was mentally
fit to return to class.

"Why did you do this for me?" Makoto asked
Haruna as the two of them left the office.

"Because I know it is what Usagi would have
wanted. She might have been one of my worst
students academically, but she had the biggest
heart and I do not want to see her friends
destroy themselves. I have also taken the liberty
of submitting your name to a group that maintains
various community gardens around the city. Think
of it as some community service as part of your
punishment." Haruna said, knowing that she needed
to convince Makoto that she had to take this
treatment, which she had devised based on
knowledge from Usagi about Makoto's love for
plants and hoping that that would help her heal.
"And I will also be stopping by your place after
school a couple of times a week to see how you
are doing and to drop off your work. Finals are
only a month off and you will do Usagi proud by
passing them all."

"Hai I will." Makoto said, knowing that
especially now that using the phrase "make Usagi
proud" would get her hook, line, and sinker every
time. "And Arigatoo Haruna-sensei. Besides, Usagi
no one has ever done this much for me."

"You are welcome and as long as you are
ready to return to school and pass those exams
when your suspension is finished that is all the
thanks I will need."

"That I will." Makoto said as she gave her
teacher a low bow before heading out of the
school with a slight whistle and for the first
time since the incident an upbeat outlook.

* * * * * *

As for Haruka and Michiru, they found
comfort in each other as they drew away from the
rest of the girls. Being separated by age, they
found it hard to interact with the other girls
during this time of morning. Instead each of them
focused as much as they could in their own art,
painting and music for Michiru and racing for
Haruka. In some ways they had it easier than the
other four girls for in neither lifetime did they
really know their princess that well. But,
Usagi's personality was one that had very much
integrated in their beings during the short
period of time that they had known her this life
and as a result both of them still felt her loss
quite strongly.

* * * * * *

Watching a Sailor Suited warrior outfitted
in a suit with red and blue trim, Sailor Erion
stood hidden in the shadows as she had each night
since the incident. For the past ten nights she
had watched as Minako snuck out of her room late
at night to patrol the streets until the wee
hours of the morning. The first night, Erion had
come across her quite by accident. She hadn't
approached Minako that night, instead just
watching her. And each night since, she had
followed Minako from her room and into the city.
As a trained soldier and even more so as an
officer, Erion knew exactly what was going
through Minako's mind, it was something she had
seen happen to quite a many other soldiers during
her long career. Each night that Minako came out,
she came out not to fight crime as Sailor V, but
to find a reason to die. The only reason why
Minako was still alive was because she hadn't yet
found a battle that was worth dieing in, but
Erion knew that wouldn't last and that was why
she shadowed the girl each night.

"Didn't your mom ever tell you that stealing
is wrong? I am Sailor Venus, code name Sailor V
and in the name of the Moon I will punish you." V
suddenly declared as she landed down in front of
a group of men who were in the process of robbing
a jewelry store.

"Hey its one of those sailor suited bimbos."
One of the men said.

"Hai and Rubeus showed us what to do with
them." The other replied with a smirk in a lower
voice. And while V didn't hear that response,
Erion did.

Still not taking action, Erion instead
watched as the four men began to attack V using
energy attacks, attacks which caught V by
surprise. Thankfully the attacks were only
moderately strong and therefore didn't hurt V too
badly. But as Erion watched, she noticed that V
was fighting with much less gusto than even the
previous few nights, which could only mean one
thing - that Minako had finally found a battle
worth throwing her life away in.

Now moving to act, Erion jumped into the
fray taking a blast that would have been fatal to
V with her injuries, well not immediately fatal,
but one that Minako would not have recovered
from. While V was fighting to die, Erion was
fighting to live and so she was able to properly
block the attack before going on the offensive
and a few minutes later a bound group of robbers
were awaiting collection by the police.

"Arigatoo for your help." V said to Erion.

"Sailor Venus, I know what you were doing
out there. I know that the loss of Usagi hurts,
but that is no reason to go throw away your
life."

"And what would you know about loss?" Venus
asked, this time with animosity creeping into her
voice.

"Much more than you realize. I watched as my
entire world was destroyed by a great evil, an
evil that I was helpless to stop. I still have
scattered memories of my time under Galaxia. When
I fall asleep at night I can still see my son, my
own son, begging for his life before I butchered
him while I was under Galaxia's control.

"I know you want to prove your worth to
Usagi by finding a way to sacrifice your life to
her ideals. But you know that is not what she
would want. You need to find something to live
for. Make her proud and live."

"Demo..." Venus started.

"Iie, you are the leader of the Sailor
Senshi of this system now. They all will be
looking to you for strength and you need to be
strong to lead them. I didn't want to tell you
this till after you had all recovered since it
should still be a over a year off, but there is
another evil coming this way, one that is far
stronger than what you just fought. This evil is
a consequence of the Sailor Wars."

"The Sailor Wars?"

"Hai, long before modern civilization arose
on this planet two separate Sailor Wars swept the
Galaxy. The first war is when the Sailor Senshi
first appeared and in its aftermath colonies such
as your Silver Millennium were founded around the
Galaxy. And each of those colonies was protected
by their own Sailor Senshi. Then over an eon ago,
a great darkness began to sweep the Galaxy, a
darkness now only known as the Darkness of the
Failed Stars. All of the Sailor Senshi in the
galaxy joined together to fight back this
darkness, but only the greatest Senshi of them
all, Galaxia was able to finally stop and seal
away this darkness. However, it appears that even
she was not strong enough, for the evil has
corrupted her and now the evil has returned. But
this time instead of just trying to overwhelm the
Sailor Senshi and take their worlds, Galaxia is
specifically hunting down the Sailor Senshi,
stealing their souls.

"That was how Galaxia gained control of me
and was what I was attempting to do to Sailor
Moon. Galaxia will be coming here to Earth to
hunt all you down. As you all are now, you won't
be able to put up a fight; you all need to become
stronger. And as their leader you will need to
prepare them for the coming war using every means
at you disposal." Erion said ending her
explanation. Then seeing the light of
understanding cross Minako's face, she knew that
she wouldn't have to watch her so closely any
more. It was a shame that fate had not given
these children time to grow into adults before
sending them such hardships, but it could not be
helped. Then continuing, Erion added one last
item, "If you need my help, Mizuno-san is
graciously putting me up."

* * * * * *

Walking out of the house and into the
backyard, ChibiUsa headed over to a tree so that
she could sit against it and think. She knew
Hotaru was hurting badly, but she did not know
how to help her friend, now her sister. Whenever
she tried, all she could think about was her own
pain. Hearing the padding of feet on the cobble
stones of the back patio, ChibiUsa looked up and
saw that both Luna and Diana were coming her way.
Frowning, she knew why Diana was always around
her nowadays, after all Diana was her guardian.
But, Luna was not her guardian, she was her
mother's. Of course given Usagi's current state
it wasn't unreasonable that Luna would be
watching over the current Moon princess. But
ChibiUsa had Diana and she did not feel like
having a second cat watching her 24-7.
<Wait that's it!> ChibiUsa thought to
herself as she suddenly realized a solution that
had been there since the beginning. After all why
should she have both cats when Hotaru had none.
Now getting up from where she had been sitting on
the ground, she walked over to meet Luna and
Diana. Then kneeling down, she reached out to
pick up Diana, but left Luna on the ground.

"Luna-san, I know you feel the need to watch
over me right now, but I have Diana." ChibiUsa
said. Then with a wave, she silenced Luna's
protest and instead continued. "But, Hotaru
doesn't. And while I might see momma again one
day, the same cannot be said for Hotaru. And
Hotaru was forced to kill her father. Luna I want
you to go be her guardian. And remember she is
now also a princess."

"Hai, your Highness." Luna said with what
goes for a bow amongst cats. She had recognized
the air of command in ChibiUsa's request and knew
that she couldn't refuse her princess. And
ChibiUsa was right; Hotaru was now royalty of the
Moon as well. She might not be by birth, but
Usagi would never have made that distinction and
she would soil Usagi's memory if she did. And so
there was only one thing that Luna could do,
agree and then turn and head into the house to
the attic room where Hotaru and ChibiUsa were now
living.

<I wish momma would remember about her
ability to take a human form. If she is going to
watch over Hotaru, she would do much better like
that. And then I could also be with ChibiUsa at
school as well.> Diana thought to herself as she
once again tried to figure a way to break her
charge and Hotaru out of their respective funks.
She had hoped that by now the two girls might
have at least begun to regain some of their
happiness, but except for an occasional reaction
the two were essentially zombies most of the day.

* * * * * *

Looking up from her textbook, Ami noticed
that the clock now read 3 A.M, an hour had past
since she had last looked at it and she was still
working on the same math equation. It was not
that the equation was particularly hard, in fact
the equation she was doing was just part of a
warm up exercise for the night's real studying;
studying which she was making no headway into.
<Well I guess I should just head off to sleep, I
am not doing myself any good just staring at the
text book. At least this way I will be slightly
more rested for tomorrow's practice exam.> Ami
thought to herself as she closed her book.

Then getting up from her desk, she changed
out of her clothes and into her pajamas before
walking over to her bead and crawling into to it.
With the covers pulled up to her chin she drifted
off for the time into a dreamless slumber.
However, the slumber was not dreamless for the
other half of her soul.

"Spirit why are you not helping Little One?"
the silver fox asked.

"Unlike you demon, I can not appear as a
separate entity to Ami. It is your disturbance
that has caused me to split away from her in your
presence." The power of Mercury replied.

Mulling over the power's explanation, Youko
remained silent for a few moments. "You do
realize that if something is not done Little One
will die, she is already loosing her will to
live."

"Hai I know. Even I'm in mourning, but as I
am just a star I don't have the emotions to feel
what she is feeling. Why do you even care?"
Mercury asked with a sudden severe voice.

"I have my reasons. You do not need to know
them, only know that if we don't act Little One
dies. It takes a fair bit of my and her energy to
bring her to this dreamscape and she needs your
help when she is awake as well." Youko replied.
For Youko it was very hard to admit why he wanted
to help Ami, his time merged with Suiichi had
affected his demonic soul, such that it now held
human emotions. Other demons would see him as
easy prey because of this and so he kept quite,
even though it might have made the spirit more
trusting of him.

Not sure what to say to the demon or even
more how she could help the other half of her
soul, Mercury looked up at the sky searching for
answers. The stars here in Youko's created
dreamscape were quite beautiful and Mercury was
able to quickly find her guardian star on the
horizon. Then seeing a full moon hanging in the
sky, Mercury looked up at it and said a silent
prayer for the star she served. Five minutes
later she finally broke her gaze away for her
prayer had been answered and she knew what she
had to do. Now looking at Youko, she addressed
him while she still had the courage to do what
she knew she had to do "Demon, Ami does need help
during the day hours, but I cannot provide her
the help she needs during any part of the day.
Instead, I am going to place my trust in you.
Know this; I won't be able to protect her
anymore."

"Huh?" Youko asked in confusion as to what
the spirit meant. But before he could formalize
his thoughts into a formal question, the spirit
of Mercury began to shine so brightly, that the
rest of the dreamscape was lost in her glow. As
this was happening Youko first began to feel
strength returning to his body, but then before
long he found himself growing more and more tired
until sleep took him.

Beside the sleeping teenager a light began
to glow by her chest. With time the glow
elongated into a form that Ami instinctively
grabbed a hold of. Finally after reaching its
final size, the light faded away to reveal a
silver-blue fox that was clutched tightly in the
arms of the sleeping girl. As Ami's subconscious
became aware of the soft fur that she was holding
onto her sleep transitioned from a fitful
nightmare that had recently started and into a
truly peaceful slumber.

* * * * * * * * *

With eyes wide in fear, Sailor Q quickly
leapt up from the ground where she had been
laying. Unfortunately for him/her, she had leapt
right up into the arms of a fairly burly inmate,
who had been sentenced as a sexual predator.

"Must be my lucky day that this sweet young
thing like me best of all," the inmate said as he
roughly squeezed Q's chest.

Reacting on instinct, Q brought his arm
around and decked the inmate knocking him into a
nearby wall. Panting a bit, he fearfully eyed the
rest of the inmates who had paused momentarily in
their advance. Now standing up tall he hollered
into the sky, "Curse you Cosmos, because of you I
have seen Hell."

While the inmates didn't really understand
why she had just stopped to holler out a curse at
this Cosmos person, they didn't really care
either. She was here and that was all they cared
about. However, his sudden reversion from a very
cute and what looked to be an underage girl to a
man nearing middle age did cause them all to come
to sudden halt and gasp. A few of the newer
inmates turned a bit green at what they had just
seen, though some of the others just shrugged
their shoulders and wondered what else this
man/girl had up his sleeve.

<Huh? I am back to normal? Yes!!!> Q thought
to himself when he realized that he was no longer
a girl. Unfortunately his happiness was very
short lived as looking at the still advancing
group of inmates who had predatory gleams in
their eyes caused him to gulp and move slightly
backwards. But now with the shock of having been
turned into a girl gone, he was able to more
rationally think about his situation. <As this is
Cosmos's universe I still won't be able to use my
powers, and I really don't know how to fight.> Q
thought, not really liking the situation. <And of
course there is never a prison guard around when
you need one. However, as much as I might dislike
it, if I am now a Sailor Senshi I have to have
some kind of powers do work in this universe,
otherwise I wouldn't be able to protect the gate
of Spacetime.> Q thought to himself, now finally
beginning to feel a bit better about the
situation. Then swallowing his pride he let his
body flow naturally with the transformation
magic, hoping that it would instinctively know
what to do. And that it did, for with a call of
"Pink, frilly magical girl, unicorn and bunny,
guardian of time, Make-Up!" he was turned back
into his female Sailor form.

Now this time with an evil smile on his face
he regarded the approaching hoard as he began to
wonder what powers Cosmos had given him. He just
hoped that using them wouldn't be as bad as his
transformation sequence. However, he didn't hold
much hope for that.

* * * * * *

At the gate of Spacetime, ChibiChibi was
still playing with her fishing set. Unhooking
the current plastic fish that she had caught, it
began to glow, just as some of the others had.
And as she watched what appeared to be a squid
made of energy come out of the fish, ChibiChibi
began clapping her hands together and smiled
while exclaiming "Chibi-Chibi!" Once fully out of
the toy, the being began to morph into a humanoid
shape. During the change, the brilliant white
light being emitted by the energy being was too
bright to look at, but when the change was
completed, the light died down to reveal a
glowing Cosmos to be standing there before
ChibiChibi. Cocking her head, ChibiChibi asked
the creature, "Chibi-Chibi?"

Looking around, the energy creature that was
known as Kosh Naranek regarded the child before
it with its own questioning gaze as it as well
cocked its head. And deciding to go with the
tried and true Vorlon question, the Vorlon
ambassador who had been on his way to Babylon 5
asked, "Who are you."

To which ChibiChibi replied, "Who are you?
What do you want? Chibi-Chibi. Where are you
going? Chibi-Chibi." Then dropping her fishing
rod, ChibiChibi turned and made a dash for the
bathtub; dropping her clothing as she ran,
leaving behind one very confused Vorlon. Diving
into the bathtub with a big splash, she appeared
to have completely forgotten about her guest.

Left by the gate, Kosh turned to regard the
strange structure and found that its door was now
closed and locked. Then turning away from the
gate, he noticed that his encounter suit had
somehow arrived in this strange realm. Not
knowing what else to do, Kosh returned to the
suit to await what might happen next.


-End Book II

* And with that Book II of this story is
finally finished. However, the muse will not
let me rest, so once I get back from all of
my business travel it will be time to get
started on Book III. Though unlike Book I
and Book II, Book III will be posted as a
separate entity.

* The bit with Makoto and Haruna is a nod
towards Comet Moon who had Haruna adopt
Makoto in one of his stories. And of course,
I then after writing that section had to go
spend an hour reading my favorite parts of
that story :).

* Brownie points to anyone who figured out
what why ChibiChibi was playing with finger
paints and then fishing in the gate of
Spacetime. And no this is not the start of a
Babylon 5 crossover.

* And no Kosh is not Cosmos. Those who have
seen "The Fall of Night," the final Season 2
episode of Babylon 5 will know why he
appeared before ChibiChibi like that.

* And for those B5 fans, the first creature
that tried to come out of one of
ChibiChibi's fish toys was a shadow.

* For some good stories to read while you wait
for the next chapter, I would suggest Youma
1/2 by _____. It is Sailor Moon crossover
that has an interesting take on splitting
Ranma's boy and girl side. Which happens as
a result of a youma battle. The only thing
that would hare been nicer was it the story
was longer (wanted mor of its goodness).

* Another good story is "Usagi a Saiyon
Child." by ______. This a quite good AU
crossover of Sailor Moon into DBZ. And even
though I am not a large DBZ fan I quite
liked it. It is long so a lot plenty of time
to read it, I am still in the process of
working my way through it. Though I was
pleasantly surprised to find out that I had
actually read some of the chapters in the
later books of it before, for Comet Moon had
shown them to me for comment way back when
(Comet Moon has guest written a few of the
chapters and they are just as good as the
ones by the author). Too bad I wasn't into
DBZ at all then, for I really missed out on
reading a really good story, though even as
a standalone chapter the Disney World
chapter is a quite good one. :).

* Things to look forward to in Book III: The
Dead Moon Circus, Galaxia, and the
Starlights making trouble in Tokyo. (Do you
honestly think I would let the Sailors fight
off one threat at a time?). At least one
more escapade of Sailor Q (too bad for him
that ChibiChibi is in such a playful mood).
Cameos by your favorite wizarding students
of Hogwarts. Dreams exploring the
consequence of Ranma being allowed to be a
Sailor Senshi. And the awakening of a new
Sailor Senshi for which I have laid all the
threads for.

* Now to decide if I should have a certain
mage learn the Dragon Slave. After all,
glamour magic and flying really isn't that
useful in hunting demons. Though two others
might be in a similar position.