Disclaimer: Tsukino Chibi-Usa, Elios, Diana, Sailor Moon, and all other characters and concepts are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha Publishing, and TOEI Animation. This is fanfiction, people! Please don't sue me - I have no money to give you anyway! Feedback, please? Kotetsu@bishoujosenshi.com Shameless plug: Visit Starlight Pops at http://www.angelfire.com/in3/starlight! ********************************************************* The Awakening of Tsukino Chibi-Usa By Kotetsu There isn’t much time left, is there? No, I suppose not. That is why I chose to share my story now, in this moment, when I am tired and slow and perhaps even a bit boring to you. You may already know about my beginnings - the sugar-spun rose-colored fairy child, the body that was but a mere caterpillar of the butterfly that I became. But now I’m afraid that my wings have wilted, and my legs are creaking with age, and my colors have faded. But it doesn’t matter. I mustn’t dwell upon that. I must tell my story. My name is Tsukino Usagi. It is the same name that was given to my mother by her mortal parents, eons ago. I suppose that when she named me this, it was her way of remembering her long-dead parents. Yes, I think that was it. When I was younger, I was called Chibi-Usa, or Small Lady. I have been called so many names in my life. Lady, Usagi, Serenity, Queen, Mother . . . Bara-chan. My Dear Rose. It was the name that he would whisper to me when he wrapped his arms around me and surrounded me with the scent of clovers and honey and pressed those cool lips to my hot and blushing face. But he never liked being called any name other than that of his birth. Elios. So that was what I called him. Elios. You all know about my beginnings. That spoiled, wanton child who pranced around in her pink sailor fuku and laughed and screamed and cried and clutched her father to her as if he was her lover. Please understand, I was a child then. I was in a time and place that was not my own, and fighting with a power that was also not my own. Sailor Chibi-Moon was the shadow of the shadow of Sailor Moon. I never really belonged there, in that time. But the training was valuable, I guess. And the friendships were important, but I wouldn’t understand just how important until much later in my life. The most precious memory I have of that chapter in my life . . . Elios, of course. He was just a boy then. Like me. A shadow, an un-formed lump of clay, a mere child. Oh, but his eyes already shown with all the pain and grief and suffering of an entire lifetime! Did he know that I sometimes wept for him at night, wept because of the pain that I saw in his eyes? I returned to the thirtieth century shortly after Elios and I parted ways. For years, I lived in an emotional and intellectual coma. My mother was kind and loving, my father was strong and wise, I lived the life of a princess, and I wanted for nothing. Except . . . I was . . . In a sort of a fugue. Between lives, between duties. Sailor Chibi-Moon was dead, I hadn’t seen or heard from Elios in years, and Crystal Tokyo was in a state of peace and tranquility. After my chest finally blossomed, I used to clothe myself in the most scandalously revealing sundresses and dance around barefoot in the palace gardens, hoping that some prince from visiting royalty would notice me and whisk me away on the most wild and romantic adventures. I was bored, you see. My father noticed me dancing one day, twirling like a madwoman, flashing my bosom and my thighs and even my buttocks for all the world to see, sweaty and heaving and tossing my hair and surrounded by whirling flower petals. “You’ve grown up so fast, Chibi-Usa,” he said to me. And I was so disappointed, because his kind and loving eyes were focused on my flushing face, and not on my heaving chest or shapely waist or long slender legs. We had many visitors in the palace back then. Everyone from common folk to royalty from far-away planets came to pay their respects to the King and Queen. One day a handsome prince *did* spy upon me dancing. He sneaked into the gardens, approached me silently as he shuffled through the rose bushes, and surprised me by grabbing me roughly around the waist. I was going to scream, but I never got the chance. This prince, merely a boy, barely a year older than me, silenced my protests with his deep, passionate kiss. His breath was scented with cinnamon. I remember that quite clearly. Sometimes, if I focus hard enough upon conjuring up the memory, I can still taste the sweet cinnamon-kiss that he gave me. When he had finished with the kiss, he abruptly pulled away from me and fled. I still don’t know his name, even to this day. I don’t even know where he was from. I never had the courage to ask my mother or my father about the mysterious prince. Or, perhaps I didn’t care too. His kiss was sweet, but it only made me long for the kiss of another. An angel who had not been part of my life for years, but whom I still thought about every day and every night. Looking back, I wonder if my dancing in the garden wasn't just a way of luring him back to me. My elusive, flighty love. Had I been planning to snag him on a hook baited with the most tempting bait available - my body? Oh, but I was a mess. I aged. My sixteenth birthday came and went. I became a Lady - rose-colored locks of hair, full red lips, shimmering garnet eyes, round bosom, full hips, long, slender legs. My brooch, the one that I used to transform into Sailor Chibi-Moon, finally disappeared completely. It vanished into thin air, as far as I know. I hadn't used it for years, but its sudden absence caused me a moment of panic. I asked Diana about it, one morning. She told me that there was no more need for Sailor Chibi-Moon. I wondered if that meant that Crystal Tokyo was finally at peace. I was wrong. One night, my father visited my chambers as I was preparing to go to bed. I was in my nightdress, brushing my hair, when he entered, knocking softly first, but not bothering to wait for my reply. He was still fully dressed in his formal attire, and there was a dark shadow across his face. Worry? Pain? My breath caught in my throat when I saw his eyes. "Usa," he murmured softly, "I must speak with you." I dropped my brush to the ground and rushed toward him, without a thought, without hesitation. I encircled his waist with my slender arms and raised my face towards his. "What's wrong, father?!" I asked breathlessly. My heart pounded in my chest. Panic crawled up my spine. My father, the King, Mamo-chan, raised one white- gloved hand to my temple, and slowly ran his fingers through my loose, flowing hair. He smiled, sadly. There was so much love and pain and grief in his eyes that I wanted to burst out sobbing. But I bit my lip, sternly, and refused to give in to the threatening tears. I had to be strong for him. "I fear that our kingdom is in danger," he said. "How? Why? How do you know?!" "Usa . . . I want you to try something." "I'd do anything for you," I answered. "Then close your eyes." I did. "Now listen." I listened. There was hardly anything to listen to. Silence in my room. My father's breathing, his heart pounding. My breathing, and my heart, too. Somewhere outside my window, leaves rustled in the palace gardens. Crickets chirped. There was a brief thump, and a squeak. I wondered if Diana had caught a mouse, somewhere, wherever she was. "I can't hear anything . . ." I mumbled. "No, I don't want you to listen with your ears," my father explained. "Listen with . . . Listen with . . . I'm not sure exactly how to describe it, but you need to listen with your inside, Usa. Listen with the shadows inside of yourself. There are some senses, my dear, that defy conventional explanation, and that may not develop until much later in life." "I don't understand." "Here. Take my hand." I drew my arms away from his waist, and stood back a step. Then I reached out and held his hand. The same hand, the same fingers, that had been running through my hair a moment ago. "Now turn your thoughts inward, and listen," he commanded. I closed my eyes again, and listened. I started with my ears, because that was the only way that I knew how to start. I could hear the crickets again, and the whisper of the wind, and the settling of dust and dirt. Then I *withdrew*. I pulled myself away from my ears, inch by inch, slowly, carefully, pulling myself inward until I was tight and small and insignificant inside my own mind. Then I opened my eyes, and watched the shadows inside my head. And listened to them. There was a song . . . . ! Such a sweet and joyous melody as I had never heard before filled the shadows of my soul with penetrating light. I gasped, and dropped my hand from my father's. But the song didn't stop. It crescendoed. It sang of graceful birds and flashing butterflies, crawling insects and gnarled oak trees, prowling tigers and hot steaming jungles, arid tundra and wide blue ocean, calling dolphins and bubbling corals, rain and snow and thunder and lightning, the changing of the seasons, the rocky mountains and infernal volcanoes and rolling plains and deep valleys, the whole planet, the whole planet was spinning on its axis and tilting through space and singing with all of its might to be heard in the vast silence of the cosmos--- "Can you hear it, Chibi-Usa?" My father's voice brought me crashing back to reality. "Yes," I breathed, barely a whisper, my whole body trembling. "Oh, yes. Is that the song of this planet? Earth?" "Yes." He nodded gravely. "Can you hear it, too? Is this your power?" "I have always heard it. But I didn't always know how to listen to it properly. I suspected that you, as my daughter, would be able to hear it as well." "What do you mean, 'listen to it properly?' " "If you listen carefully, the song will reveal knowledge to you. Try it again, and you'll see." So I did. I didn't need to close my eyes, this time. I turned my thoughts inward, watched the shadows inside of myself, listened to their song, which became the song of the planet. Beautiful . . . . ! It roared into my soul, again, searing and powerful and deafeningly loud, my being vibrated with its awesome power. Perfect melody, perfect harmony, perfect joy and happiness. And yet . . . And yet . . . I sensed something amiss. The song wasn't perfect, not completely. Something was discordant, wrinkled, askew. I focused my thoughts, honed them, searching for the source of the problem. There! A note like a dark, slithering snake. I pushed the song out of my conscious mind and listened only to the darkness. It creeped, and wormed, and wriggled its way through the song, searching, seeking, but not grasping, content to wait, to bide its time. I shuddered, and shut the song out of my mind. "That is an invader," my father said. "An invader . . . ?" "An enemy. I've heard something like that before. When we fought Tau Ceti. And when we fought Nehelenia." My father's voice sounded so tired, and so infinitely old. Cold fear settled over me, a feeling of something wet and clammy. "What can we do?" I asked him. "Nothing, for now. Just watch. And wait. And be alert." "Crystal Tokyo has never been attacked, not since the Black Moon." "I know. I know, Usa. I just wanted you to be forewarned. I trust in you," he said to me. He smiled at me, briefly, but warm and loving and enough to make the fear dissipate, if only for a moment. Then he turned away from me, and with a swirl of his violet cloak, he was gone. The door clicked shut behind him. Diana padded softly across my windowsill. She had just returned from the garden, a freshly killed mouse hanging from her jaws. "Forgive me," she apologized as she dropped the mouse in my hands, as a peace offering. "I didn't want to interrupt the King, but I also didn't want to eavesdrop, so I just sat below the window, and tried not to listen---" I laughed. It was good to be with Diana tonight. "Don't worry about it. Is this mouse a gift for me?" Diana's chest puffed with pride, and she mewed with delight. I laughed again, and scratched her behind her ears. I didn't let the fear and the worrying bother me again until the next morning. Without my henshin brooch, how was I supposed to fight the new enemy? I rolled over in my bed, blinking in the morning sunlight, restless with excess thought. Seeking answers, I listened to the song again. I could hear the singing of the birds as they flew through the clouds. "Am I no longer a Sailor Senshi?" I asked them. "Yes. You are always a Senshi," they answered. I asked the wolves that prowled through the forests, "Why haven't I seen Elios in years?" "Elysion is sealed," they growled in reply. "Sealed?" I turned to the wild horses that galloped over the grassy plains. "Is Elysion sealed?" "Only you can break the seal, and unite the Earth Kingdom," they answered. "How?!" In despair, I implored the flashing trout in the mountain streams. "How am I supposed to break the seal?" "When the time comes, you will know," they answered. I tossed and turned in my bed, throwing the song out of my head. I ached for Elios, for power, for something, for *anything*--- "Lady?" Diana purred softly. "Diana?" Diana padded across the bed and seated herself in front of my face. Her paws were slightly dirty, and she smelled of fresh earth and green grass. Once again, there was a gift for me in her mouth. Only this time, it wasn't a mouse. "Lady, this is for you," she said, nudging her gift toward me. It was a brooch, rose-colored but bordered in gold, which opened to reveal the unearthly glow of the ginzuishou nestled inside of it. "Oh, my . . . " It was the only thing that I could say. "Keep it with you, my Lady. You never know when you might have to use it," Diana mewed. She sounded concerned. I suddenly cupped her slight body in my hand and pulled her close to my face, hugging her tightly, drawing strength and comfort from her warm, furry body. "Please call me Usa," I muttered as her silky ears caressed my cheek. Diana sighed, half with resignation, half with delight, and nuzzled my ear. The rest of the day passed in peace, as did the following night. And the next night, and the next. I can no longer recall exactly how long it was before the enemy finally made his first move. It might have been a week; it might have been a month. It doesn't matter now, does it? All that matters is what happened when I saw the youma. It was midday, and the King, the Queen, and I were involved in a lengthy and insufferably boring meeting with the Prime Minister of Mau. She had brought along her son, a mop-headed boy with whiskers and pointed ears, who was about my age, and who kept kicking my legs underneath the table. He had a cat's eyes. I remember that he was annoying, and that I was hungry, and that the Prime Minister's voice droned on and on and on, and I marveled at the fact that my Mother appeared to be paying perfect attention, although I wondered if she wasn't really sleeping with her eyes open. When I could stand the boredom and the hunger no longer, I stood up and wobbled, saying that I felt a nasty headache coming on. I apologized profusely for my rudeness, and scurried out of the room. I walked down the cool palace corridors, grateful for the fresh air that circulated through the wide-open spaces. I decided that I would make my way to the kitchens and grab a snack, hoping that I wouldn't disturb the cooks too much as they prepared for the evening meal. When I was younger I would venture into the kitchens nearly every day, but I made a horrible nuisance of myself, and although the cooks enjoyed my company, they complained about the fact that I slowed down their work. Some of the palace aids admonished me and told me that a proper Lady never consorted with the Help. I ventured into the kitchens less and less as I grew older, but I still made the trip every once in a while. Like on that particular day. The kitchens were sweaty-hot and bustling with clashes and clatters and shouts and barks. I wove my way through the smells and the sounds and the heat, snatching a slice of bread here, an apple there, and popping a grape into my mouth. "My Lady Princess! What are you doing here, dressed in such finery?!" The head cook, Athele, waved a cheerful greeting. "I'm escaping royal duties," I replied, munching on another grape. I could *never* talk with my mouth full in the presence of my parents. "It's been a while since you were down here. Would you like me to fix you something?" I never had the chance to answer her, because at that moment, the kitchen aid immediately behind me screamed and threw her arms up in the air, stumbling backwards. I whirled. The air was tinged with something dark and sinister. A dripping hand emerged from the mammoth soup kettle that the aid had been stirring. "Oh, Kami-sama," Athele gasped and crossed herself. The abandoned soup kettle trembled and rocked, as its contents boiled. Steam and smoke choked the cooks as they stumbled about in a panic. Something growled. Another hand emerged from the kettle, and then two pointy ears, red eyes like rubies, hooked nose, a twisted smile showing cruel fangs, emaciated torso and long, lithe legs. The youma roared, and finally jumped, slashing through the air and landing right in front of me. "Princess," it giggled, a high-pitched cackled that sounded and smelled like raw meat. I clutched the henshin brooch at my chest. "Who are you?!" I demanded information from it, even though I was really in no position to demand information. "I've come for your head," the youma politely introduced himself. He threw his hands toward my neck, long bony fingers with wicked curved claws. I leapt backward, no small feat in a formal gown. Athele and the other cooks screamed, having gathered in the farthest corner of the kitchens. There were plenty of escape routes available to them, but none of them could leave me alone with the monster, because I was their Princess. Fools! I silently cursed their loyalty and their devotion, wishing that they had enough common sense to escape. "I demand to know who sent you!" I challenged the monster. Another swipe with his claws, which I avoided. "My master is someone who wants you dead!" "Too bad!" I danced around him, avoiding his blows. Diana, seeming to appear from nowhere, leapt onto a hanging bunch of garlic cloves. "Lady! It's time to henshin!" "Right." The brooch on my chest opened of its own will, and the ginzuishou glowed with silvery light. The youma stumbled backward, hissing, shielding his eyes from the glare. "Wretched witch!" he snarled, striking blindly with his claws. His hand encircled my fist and yanked me forward. "No!" Diana alighted from her perch, landed on the monster's face, clawed furiously at his cheeks, and leapt to safety. He howled in pain and outrage, snapping his hand away from my wrist as he tried to shield his face after the fact. I spun away from him. "USA, NOW!!!" Diana practically screamed. "Moon Crystal Power, MAKE UP!" For a moment, there was nothing but heat and light and a dazzling kaleidoscope of ribbons wrapping around me. And then it was over, and I was wearing my Sailor Fuku once again. Only this time I was a lot bigger, so the fuku was a lot bigger, and there were crescent moons in my ears, and the Pink Moon Rod that I clutched in my left hand was much longer and more slender. And I knew that I wasn't Sailor Chibi-Moon anymore. I pointed the Pink Moon Rod at the startled youma and curved my fisted right hand in front of my chest. "For you who would dare to defy the sanctity of our palace and attack the Princess of this kingdom, there will be no forgiveness! For love and justice, I am the beautiful soldier in a sailor suit, Sailor Moon!" "DIE!!!" The youma screamed and rushed toward me, claws outstretched. I could feel the ginzuishou glowing on my chest, spreading liquid heat through my veins. I held the Pink Moon Rod in front of me and stood my ground. "Moon Beautiful Princess Heart BEAM!" There was a flash of rose-colored light. I saw the beam hit the youma, I watched as his flesh ran like liquid where the light touched him, I watched as his momentum carried his body into the heart of the beam and his bones crumbled to dust as the rest of him melted away. In a moment, the youma was gone forever. The Pink Moon Rod dropped from my limp hand. I clutched my head and moaned, feeling weak and dizzy, sinking to my knees. "Sailor Moon!!!" Diana leapt onto my shoulder and nuzzled my neck. "You did wonderfully!" "Diana . . . I don't feel so good . . . I don't know if I'm strong enough yet . . . " "It will get better with time." Diana licked my neck, showing her confidence. Slowly, Athele and the cooks emerged from their corner. I could hear their awed whispers. "Bloody hell, she's a Sailor Senshi!" "I've never seen one in her fuku before!" "I've never seen one in action before!" "I would have never thought . . . The Princess, a Sailor Senshi . . . " And, because I didn't know what else to do, I grinned at them, and saluted. "Sailor Moon saves the day again!" They applauded. So, that was my first dramatic transformation into Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon. The *real* Sailor Moon. It was in a hot, steamy kitchen, with no audience other than the cooks that I had been harassing all my life, and my first enemy was a foul-smelling youma that crawled out of a soup kettle. Dramatic, wasn't it? Mother and Father were so very proud of me, and Luna and Artemis congratulated Diana to no end, and even Mother's guardians, the other Sailor Senshi, each took the time to personally congratulate me in the days to come. There were no more attacks for a while, but there was plenty of publicity. Sailor Moon once again walked the Earth, and Crystal Tokyo was safe from invaders. Well, that was the spin that the media put on things. Three days later, as I laid in bed at night, Diana sleeping by my head, I once again turned my thoughts inward and listened to the song of the planet Earth. I was still searching for answers. <*No . . . Not yet.*> <*Questions . . . Too many questions. You seek easy answers, which is impossible. And your true blossoming is yet to come.*> I grumpily turned over in my bed and clutched the pillow to my head, muttering angrily to myself. The night air was hot and humid, I was sweaty and impatient, and I wanted to see Elios. I missed him so terribly . . . . The year passed. Exactly 365 days from the moment that the first youma appeared. There were many more youma to come. They emerged from mirrors, from drawers, from teacups, from underneath the bed. They scared the wits out of innocent bystanders, but never bothered to attack humans unless they came between the youma and their objective. Their objective was me. Monsters of all shapes and sizes attacked me, demanding to rip of my head, or slit my throat, or slice open my stomach and pull out my intestines. At first, the palace guards were put on full alert, and constantly surrounded me. But once I demonstrated the ease with which I could deal with the creatures, the guards were needed less and less. The ginzuishou brooch was always with me, as was Diana. The monsters appeared every few days. Had Diana and I been more amateur, we would have lived our lives in a constant state of fear. But I was never afraid. I refused to let the constant threats drag my spirits down. Besides, I knew the truth behind the attacks. No real harm would ever come to me. I knew this because the dark harmonies in the planet's song whispered truths to me as I listened every night. "Why are these creatures attacking MY daughter?!" I heard my father cry out angrily one evening as I passed by my parent's bedroom. I stopped in my tracks, a sudden chill creeping up my spine. I had seen Mamo-chan angry before, but I had never heard that undertone of frustrated helplessness in his voice before. "It's all right," my mother's calming silver voice comforted him. "She can protect herself. She's a Lady of unknown powers." "But the youma only seem to want *her* blood---" "Daddy!" I cried out as I ran into the bedroom. It was their fault for leaving the door open; I felt no guilt. "Daddy, don't worry about me! Haven't you been listening to the song?!" My parents gave me, blank, uncomprehending stares. "I don't know who's controlling these monsters, but I *do* know that he . . . she . . . whatever . . . is only testing me, testing the limits of my Senshi abilities. The real attack hasn't even started yet. The Invaders are just providing a distraction, that's all." I meant to comfort them with my words. I truly did. But, somehow, I think that my outburst that night just made the situation worse. So, a year passed in this fashion. I, Sailor Moon, fought bravely against the youma menace that was determined to destroy me. And, exactly 365 days after my first transformation into Sailor Moon, Elios returned to me. It was a rare summer night, when I was actually asleep, dreaming softly, in my bed. Diana was gone for the night; I assumed that she was mousing in the garden, or perhaps spending a night with Luna and Artemis. Either way, I was alone, asleep, drowning happily in the sweet syrup of my dreams, when Elios knelt by the side of my bed and gently shook me awake. "Usa . . . Sailor Moon . . . " I moaned, and my eyes fluttered open. Silver hair and golden eyes aglow with moonlight. I gasped, my senses snapping awake. "Elios!" I breathed his name from my trembling lips. "Hello, Usa." "I thought Elysion was sealed!" "I broke the seal." "But . . . I thought that I was the one who had to---" "I couldn't wait any more, Usa. I wanted to see your face again, hear your voice, your laughter and your smiles, I missed you more than I thought possible . . . It was the thought of you, as a beautiful young Lady, that gave me the strength to bridge the divide between Earth and Elysion." "Oh," I gasped. There was nothing else I could say. All the lonely empty days, the long nights full of longing, the dancing barefoot in the garden and the kiss from the nameless prince that made me want to scream with despair and frustration - all of it dissipated like a bad dream as I drank in the sight of his face and eyes and hair, greedily, hungrily. I sat upright and threw my arms around him, sobbing, pulling him into my chest. "Oh, Elios! I've waited years to see you again!" I could feel my teardrops dripping into his hair. "Usa, Usa, don't cry . . . I don't want to see you sad." "But I'm not sad! These are tears of joy." He was always so kind and caring, he never wanted me to experience any pain or grief. We slipped, stumbled, spilled out of the bed and onto the floor, somehow managing to remain half-standing, half-sitting. I pulled my arms away from Elios and he laughed, warm and sweet and relieved, and we both stood up, facing each other. "Usa," Elios whispered, a serene smile lighting up his features, "I'm such a fool for leaving you, and for allowing the seal to separate Elysion and Earth. Can you ever forgive me?" "There's nothing to forgive," was my answer. I reached out my hand and reverently stroked his cheek. Smooth and white, buttermilk. Like me, he had aged during the years that we had been apart. He was now a strapping young man, taller, broader at the shoulders, but his eyes still held that same innocent yet suffering aura. "You're so terribly handsome," I told him frankly. Then I blushed bright crimson at my audacity. Although nothing could have prepared me for what he said next. "I love you, Usa." I blinked. "W-What?" "I love you. I told you, I was a fool. I should have realized it years ago. You were all that I thought about, all that I dreamt about. You have such beautiful dreams, and you're such a strong and brave and caring person, and---" "Hush." I put my finger to his lips. They burned with unnatural heat. "Hush. Someone will hear you. Why did you come here, tonight?" Instead of answering my question, he brushed my finger aside, leaned forward, and kissed me, deeply and passionately, clutching my shoulders and pulling me towards him, arching my back, sucking my startled breath into his own mouth. The sweet scent of clovers and honey engulfed me. I wrapped my arms around his head and ran my fingers through his hair, fine silver-spun threads that felt cool and clean, like silk. It was unnatural hair, but exciting, too. It was exciting to touch such strange hair. My eyes were closed, and wanton visions danced on the crimson stage behind my eyelids. After an eternity, the kiss ended. I pulled away from him, gasping for breath. He stared at me openly as I struggled to still my pounding heart and convulsing lungs. "You're so beautiful . . . rose-colored hair and garnet eyes . . ." His voice was a reverent whisper. "Elios, I---" He silenced me with another kiss. My lips locked to his, and my mind whirled with panic and confusion. I couldn't breathe! I couldn't breathe!!! Why was he clutching me so tightly? Why was I so hot and sweaty? My own skin was stifling me. He might have sensed my discomfort, because he pulled back, just for a moment, enough for me to catch my breath. I gasped once - exhale, then inhale - and suddenly he had once again sealed my lips with his. I made an animal noise, deep in my throat. It was half protest, half invitation. I struggled weakly in his arms, half-heartedly. But my foot slipped around his, and we stumbling, falling backwards, throwing ourselves across my bed and landing in a tangle of flailing limbs and seeking mouths. "Usa!" He laughed. "Elios!" He grabbed me by my hair, and wrenched my face up to meet his. Without a word, his lips locked mine again. That was when I began to panic. My Senshi senses flared with alarm. Something wasn't right. Elios and I were tumbling around on my bed, my arms and legs were getting more and more entangled with his, and it hurt it hurt it hurt the way that he was pulling my hair, and his lips suddenly felt cold and I couldn't breathe I couldn't breathe I was choking on him--- I kicked, I threw my arms out, I lashed out with every inch of my being. Elios jerked his lips away from mine and tumbled to the other end of the bed, eyes wide and startled. When he looked at me again, his honey- colored eyes swam with betrayal and despair. "Usa, why did you do that?" "You're not Elios," I said. My voice was ice. "Usa!" He gasped as if he had been hurt. A tear slid down his cheek. "I love you! Please, Usa---" "No!" I shook my head, gritting my teeth. "No, don't call me that!" I didn't have to even consciously attempt to listen, to hear the song that was surrounding me. The planet screamed with alarm. The dark notes soared with triumph. The Invader had come, and he was sitting on the bed with me. "Usa, I---" "Reveal yourself! Reveal your true form!" "I'm Elios!" His voice was rough with tears. "Usa, what's wrong with you?!" "No!" Now I could feel my own tears threatening, and hear my own voice rising. "You're lying! Lying lying lying lying lying!!!! YOU'RE NOT ELIOS!!!!" Half the palace must be awake by now, I thought. "Usa, listen to me----" Elios lunged forward, reaching for me. "NO!!" Diana cried out as she leapt from the windowsill, appearing out of nowhere to save me, as usual. She sunk her fangs and her claws into the false Elios's wrist, drawing blood. "DAMMIT!" The false Elios screamed an obscenity that the real Elios would never use. With his free hand, he smacked Diana away from his wrist. He smacked hard. Diana flew across my bedroom and landed against the far wall with a wet, meaty thump. The intruder spat in Diana's direction. "Your stupid cat has bad timing," he muttered sourly as he turned back to face me. His voice was changing, lowering. It was achieving an almost sonorous quality. "Well, I'm sure that she won't be a bother anymore. Shall we finish our business together?" Diana lay in a heap at the base of the wall. She wasn't moving. Slowly, horrified, I turned my head to look at the open window that she had leapt from. A dead mouse had fallen by the base of the window. It was Diana's prey. She had been in the garden, mousing. She had dropped her bounty at the windowsill when she had seen that I was in danger. I turned back to stare at the Intruder. I could only stare, and nothing more. My muscles were frozen with terror, and my throat was choked with loathing. He was undergoing a metamorphosis right in front of my eyes. Face elongating, eyes narrowing and deepening to rich earthy brown, hair lengthening and fading into coal black, growing taller, gaunter, older. The priest's robes melted into black trousers and a blood-colored red shirt, open at the throat. He smiled at me. "If I scream," I managed to whisper huskily, "the whole palace will hear me." "It doesn't matter. Nobody can enter that door," he said as he pointed to the door of my bedroom. The edges of the door writhed with dark, slithering shadows. "I've sealed it," he explained. "If I had remembered to seal the window too, your little kitten wouldn't have interrupted us." "What do you want from me?" "I want you dead." "Really? A moment ago you wanted to kiss me." "I wanted to catch you off guard." "Who are you?" "What does it matter to you?" "I demand to know your name." He laughed, a low, gurgling sound. "Princess! What an attitude you've developed!" His voice lowered to a snarl. "Do you honestly expect me to obey your every spoiled whim and desire?" "I certainly demand to know your name and why you feel that you need to murder me," I retorted. I could feel hot anger spreading warmth through my frozen muscles. If I could just distract him for a little longer . . . "Very well. My name is Janus. I am an enemy of the White Moon Kingdom. After I am finished with you, the last of the blood of Queen Serenity will be gone from this Earth. Now that your Senshi powers have fully matured, and the ginzuishou has chosen you as the next Sailor Moon, your mother's powers have begun to fade. She will age eventually, Chibi-Usa. She will die. At this moment, she is incapable of having another child. I will kill you, and the White Moon Kingdom's blood will die with you." "Why do you hate the White Moon Kingdom?" "I assure you, Princess, it's nothing personal. Against you, that is. But I have a deep hatred for your grandmother, Queen Serenity, of the Silver Millenium." Oh, but this was becoming interesting. "What did Queen Serenity ever do to you?! She was pureness and goodness personified. She's incapable of evil or injustice. What possible grudge could you hold against her?" He growled, and clenched his fists together. He knew that I was playing mindgames with him. Either way, it had the same effect. "Why should I tell *you*?" "It's my right to know. If I am to die for my grandmother's sins, I have a right to know what they are." "FINE!" he spat furiously. "I'll tell you. My family - my wife, and our two young sons - were murdered by bandits while I was away from home, guarding the Moon palace and your grandmother. I was a military officer, and captain of the palace guards. But it's not as if your witch of a grandmother couldn't have protected herself, with her own powers! Because of her, I wasn't there to protect my wife and--- well, they died. The local law enforcement caught the thief responsible. He was a liar, a robber, and a murderer, cold-blooded and unrepentant. He claimed that he sold his soul to a witch so that she would grant him supernatural good luck. During his trial, he vocalized death threats against the jury members if they dared to convict him. They convicted him regardless. As a member of the Queen's army, I was entitled to exact my vengeance by beheading the convicted criminal. This I told the judge, my superior officers, and the Queen herself. It had always been so, for thousands of years, a practice that brought honor and closure to those who survived brutal attacks like the one perpetrated by . . . that . . . scum . . . But the Queen said that in this case, it was not to be so. "The Queen had heard of the practice in use on other planets, but had never had an incident that warranted it as such in her own kingdom. She absolutely forbid it. She told me that by succumbing to my vengeful urges, I was walking the path of darkness, and inviting greater evils in the kingdom. I was aghast! It was my RIGHT to spill his blood with my own hands, after what he did to me! Had I been anywhere else in that solar system at that moment, vengeance would have been mine. But I was in front of Queen Serenity, and she said no." Janus paused for a breath. "But you did it anyway," I whispered, low and soft. "You killed the bandit." "The guards in the royal prison conspired with me. I took the shift of a friend of mine, the night shift. I had his keys, which could lock or unlock any cell. I slipped into the demonic bandit's cell, and beheaded him. We didn't make any noise at all. I cleaned up the mess and left without waking any of the other prisoners. I should have gotten away with it. It shouldn't have been a crime in the first place! But the Queen found out. I don't know how she found out, but she did. I guess, in the end, she knew that I was going to do it all along. She saw everything, and knew everything, even the shadows within men's hearts. So she let me go ahead and take the bandit's life, just so that she could prosecute me for it later. She was a clever bitch, I'll give her that. If she had really cared about the bandit's life, she would have stopped me. As it was, she just wanted to punish me, for daring to question her unjust orders." I shook my head. "You are wrong . . . So wrong . . . You've twisted the events all out of context." "HAH! How would you know?! You weren't there, Princess. But *I was*. I was charged with murder, of all things. MURDER! For taking the life that was rightfully mine! I was discharged from the military, all of my worldly possessions were confiscated by the State, and I was banished to Earth, where the less liberal correction system sentenced me to a gulag in the Arctic circle. "It was there that I met the demon. "He came from a place that he called the Dark Kingdom. He offered me his blood, which I drank. He offered me his anger and his hatred and his power. He offered me a front-row seat to witness the death of Queen Serenity and the destruction of all that she held dear. "When the Dark Kingdom finally invaded the Moon, I was there. I was at the front lines, commanding the soldiers, dancing in the blood, rejoicing in the Queen's misery. When Metallia killed Princess Serenity, I almost wept with joy. But alas, my victory was short-lived. "The Queen, and her blasted ginzuishou, gave life back to the Princess, and sent her, and her ambitious consort from the Earth, and the Sailor Senshi, into the future, to be reborn into an era of peace and prosperity. "The ginzuishou also sealed away the Dark Kingdom, and I along with it. But it was an imperfect seal, partly because the Queen was near death, and partly because I was not a full member of the Dark Kingdom. I was only a human, made immortal by the blood of its youma. So I slumbered for over a thousand years, and awakened shortly after the Dark Kingdom once again became active on Earth. I could see immediately that Beryl and her generals were once again pitted against the might of the ginzuishou. I did not wish to gamble with my own life, so I left. I simply walked right out of the Dark Kingdom and into Tokyo. I was small and insignificant, so nobody on either side of the war noticed me. And I bided my time. As I waited, my powers grew, until I could create and control youma of my own. So I waited, and while I was waiting, I was watching. Watching your mother, that wet-nosed brat, surviving blood of Queen Serenity, as she grew and aged. Watching her marry her King, and building this utopia, Crystal Tokyo. Watching you being born, growing up in the palace, mastering the ginzuishou, earning the mantle of Sailor Moon. I have been watching you, Chibi-Usa. I have always been watching you." "If that's true, then why haven't you killed me before? Why didn't you kill my mother when she was younger? Why did you wait so long?" He laughed again. I thought I could discern fangs glimmering in the moonlight. Across my room, Diana stirred and moaned weakly. "I was waiting for the perfect moment! After I kill you, your mother will lose EVERYTHING! Her daughter, her palace, her kingdom, her utopia. Don't you understand?! Your death will bring ruin to your parents, and to this kingdom. When your mother walks into this room tomorrow morning and finds your naked and dismembered corpse spread across this bedroom, it will be her utter and final undoing. The most gruesome murder possible, for the one that she loved dearest, in the safety and sanctity of her own palace! And your *father* . . . The guilt and grief will be too much for him to bear. He should have protected you. He failed as a father, and as a warrior. Your parents will be destroyed, and when my youma invade, the kingdom will crumble without their leadership in a time of crisis. This crystal utopia will be overrun with demons, and will revert to a land of shadows. This is what will happen if I kill you now, Chibi-Usa. The downfall of a utopia. If I had tipped my hand and exacted my revenge earlier, it wouldn't be nearly this thorough, nor this complete." "You're insane! That's insane! You're - You're a monster!" I clutched my hands into fists and snarled. "I won't let you get away with that! I will not allow you to harm my mother, my father, OR this kingdom!" His muscles tensed, and he hooked his curved nails into claws. I instantly recognized that he was preparing to charge. "You will die, White Moon Princess. Tonight I will spill the last of the White Moon's blood!" He leapt at me, with a roar and a grin and a flash of fang and claw. There is something that I wish you to understand about that moment, before we go any further. My only thought as I saw my own death flying across the bed to meet me was thus: There you have it. Nothing heroic or dramatic. No, "I must protect my kingdom," or "I must protect Mamo- chan," or "I must exact revenge for Diana," or even, "I cannot permit this evil to exist any longer." I just did not want to die. This was what my mind and soul screamed to the heavens. This was the thought that flooded every fiber of my being as I added my own final notes to the song of the planet Earth. And the song heard me, and responded. My mind was overwhelmed with music. The song directed my movements. As I rolled out from underneath his trajectory, my hand shot to the brooch on the nighstand beside my bed. With a wordless roar of rage, Janus crashed into my headboard. I slid across the floor of my room, managed to halt myself, threw myself upright, and brought the brooch to my chest. Janus paused, watching me from the bed. "Will you transform into Sailor Moon?" he laughed, condescendingly. "How perfectly appropriate. The fuku will make your corpse ever so more lovely come tomorrow morning." I rankled at his comment, but stood my ground. "I will show you the true power of the White Moon Kingdom," I threatened him. "True power?! Don't make me laugh. You're not even truly Sailor Moon, are you? You've never even had a real battle. My youma have been soft on you. You don't know what it's like to face a REAL opponent. You are not truly Sailor Moon." The whole planet was singing. The song poured into my soul, infusing me with radiant heat. I felt as if my heart were to burst into flame. "You're right," I said softly. Janus paused, raising an eyebrow. I had caught him off guard. Slowly, I lowered the henshin brooch in my hand. Then, with one careless gesture, I tossed it aside. "I am not truly of the White Moon Kingdom's blood," I said calmly. Inside my head, a chorus of Earthly voices crescendoed. "I WILL DESTROY THE MOON KINGDOM!" he screamed at me. His eyes bulged with hatred, and white spittle flew from his convoluted jaws. "The Moon Kingdom is already gone." This was my reply to him. "A new kingdom has risen from its ashes." Listen, do you hear that? A newborn bird, barely a hatchling, crying for food. The serpentine rustle of a snake in the foliage. The quiet panting of the lumbering bear stalking his prey. The delicate flutter of moth's wings. The splash of a slick green frog into the pond. The bubbling of a fish in the stream. The braying of a walrus on the seashore. A young green shoot, breaking the soil, arching its sensitive photosynthetic tip toward the sunlight for the first time. A flower blooming. This last, barely a whisper. This is the song that I heard. Somewhere deep below the surface of the Earth, or perhaps existing on a level parallel to ours, wherever, who knows, does it matter?, golden eyes fluttered open against the bright sunlight. A young man raised his hand toward the heavens, offering a glowing treasure in his palm. "This is the Rose Earth Crystal," he told the patient blue sky and floating white clouds, letting the wind snatch the words from his mouth and weave them into Earth's eternal song. "Take it, and use it well, my Lady." His hand was suddenly empty. I threw my hands upward in supplication, watching with joy and terror as the rose-colored glow engulfed them. Janus screamed and drew back from the light. "NO!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!" "I will break the seal between Earth and Elysion," I whispered, more to myself than to answer him. The song chorused a resounding affirmative. I gathered up every ounce of my courage, took a deep breath, and then shouted the fateful words to the ceiling. "Rose Crystal Power, MAKE UP!" It felt as if my heart had exploded in my chest. My first frantic, panicked thought was that I had just killed myself. The world around me spun. My skin lit on fire, danced with crimson flames. And then there were butterflies, and flowers, and roses most of all, hundreds upon thousands of roses, falling down from the sky and up from the ground and sideways across my vision, cloaking me in a choking sweet-scented fog. Ribbons danced around me, and the song swelled and crashed through my head, echoing throughout my skull, deafening me. Something felt cold and heavy in my hands. I was holding a sword, I realized as the rose petals cleared and the ribbons constricted. The rose-colored glow faded. "USA!!!!" Diana screamed my name, half-panicked, half-triumphant. She was back on her feet and staring at me with wide eyes. "Your fuku---!" I finally looked at myself, really looked for the first time. I could see my reflection in the full-length mirror across my room, shimmering in the moonlight. My hair, which had been loose and flowing when Janus interrupted my sleep, was now pulled back into its rabbit-ear odangos, adorned with feathers, two roses at the bases of my odangos. I was wearing rose earrings, and a rose-colored choker. My fuku was the same as my Sailor Moon fuku, petalled sleeves and flowing ribbons, only . . . strange. Different. Different colors. My sailor collar was the color of crimson blood, adorned with slick silver piping. My skirts faded from white to rose to cherry-red. The long, flowing bow at the base of my back was a strange shimmery material that was almost transparent and gauze-like, yet seemed to sometimes flash with different shades of metallic silver and gold. The bow at my chest, too, was silver. But my boots were creamy-white. And then my sword was silver, a rose emblazoned on its hilt. It felt heavy and strange in my hand, yet when I lifted my arm slightly, I realized that it moved easily and gracefully. I knew that I could handle it well. Janus's face twisted into a mask of pure hatred. "Who are you?" he growled. "Who am I . . . ?" I paused for a moment, considering. And then I answered him. "I am the soldier of love and justice! "I am the daughter of the King of the Earth and the Queen of the Moon, the Princess of Crystal Tokyo, and the future ruler of this planet! "I unite the ancient power of the Silver Millenium with the new Kingdom of the Earth! "I am the pretty soldier in the sailor suit! "I am SAILOR EARTH!" The moment that I said the words, his eyes widened with dawning fear. I pointed the sword at his chest. "Any last words?" "ROT IN HELL!!!" he screamed as he launched at him, one final suicidal plunge. He whipped his claws in front of his face as he flew toward me. With less than a moment to react, I immediately knew what I had to do. "CRIMSON ROSEBUD FREEZING KISS!" A thousand swirling rose petals shot out from the tip of the sword and engulfed him. He screamed as they whirled around him, whipping into his skin and drawing blood, slashing his flesh off his bones. He glowed with blood-colored light, and stumbled backward. I turned my head away, holding my disgust down inside my gullet, pulling my thoughts inward, willing myself not to vomit. And still he screamed. Janus screamed and screamed until he could scream no more, until there was nothing left of him but a pile of bone-dust, until the light faded and the rose petals disappeared. "USA!!!" Diana cried out again. She pelted across the floor toward me, bleeding from the mouth. "Sailor EARTH!!!" She collapsed at my feet, coughing up blood. "Usa . . . Forgive me . . . I couldn't protect you . . ." "No, Diana, no, don't move!" I gasped as I slumped down to my knees. I rested one gloved hand on her tiny heaving body. One touch was all I needed, and then I knew. She was bleeding internally. Her ribs were cracked, and one lung was punctured. She might die. All because she tried to protect me . . . ! "Hold still, Diana. Hold still. I can help you." I waved my hand, and a rose bloomed in front of my face. I cupped the blossom in my hands and brought my face down until it was level with Diana's wide ruby eyes. "Crimson Rosebud Healing Kiss," I whispered. I blew softly on the rose petals. "Ah, ah, ah!" Diana mewed as the rose petals swirled lazily and softly around her body, suffusing it with a pink glow. She stretched happily and purred. Her bones were knit, her lung healed and filled, her blood draining back into her veins. The rose petals faded, and she jumped up happily, licking and nibbling at my hand, purring my name over and over again. "Usa, Usa, Usa!!!" "I love you too, Diana," I sobbed with joy and relief. I picked her up, cradling her furry body against my wet, tear-streaked cheeks. We sat like that, clutching each other, for a long time. Finally, I broke our embrace and set Diana down. "There's one more thing that I have to do, before I can unseal this bedroom," I told her. "What is that?" "I think . . . " I turned around in a circle, searching my room for clues. There. The full-length mirror. Slowly, I approached the mirror. I reached out and rested my right hand on its smooth surface. Then I closed my eyes and pressed my fiery, flushed, damp cheek against its cold liquid slickness. I felt the barest brush of warm lips against my fingertips. "Lady . . . ?" I heard a voice whisper softly, eagerly, imploringly. "I await your permission." "Of course. Did you expect otherwise?" My hand fell easily through the surface of the mirror. I groped, searched, found his fingers, and pulled, smooth and hard, one sweeping motion backwards and out. That was how I pulled Priest Elios out of my bedroom mirror. He flowed into my arms and into my fiery, passionate kiss. I could tell that he was more than a bit startled, but he responded, just the same, heat for heat, push for push, touch for touch. He ran his fingers through my hair, across my cheek, down my arms, around my waist. Circling and embracing and surrounding and exploring. I pulled away from the kiss, and away from him. "Forgive me," I mumbled, blushing. "But I must unseal the door." "The door . . . ?" "Behind that door," Diana indicated the wooden door that still writhed with Janus's seal, "the King, the Queen, the Sailor Senshi, and all of the palace guards are waiting for you." "I woke up half the palace with all the screaming," I explained to Elios as I blushed deeper. He smiled as he took my hand in his. "I've missed you, so terribly, for all these years . . . I suppose that I could wait another night or two." "I've missed you, too. I love you, Elios." "I love you too, Bara-chan." "Bara-chan . . . ? I like it." "It suits you. You are the most beautiful flower I have ever had the pleasure of watching bloom." "I'm going to unseal the door now," I said. "Please, whatever you do, don't let go of my hand." "I won't." And he didn't. He didn't let go for a long, long time. That was my first transformation as Sailor Earth. I was the daughter of King Endymion, after all, and heir to all of his powers. Elios explained, later, that because the center of power in the Solar System had shifted from the Moon to the Earth, there was no longer a need for a Sailor Moon. With the moon as an airless orb in the distant sky, but the Earth teeming with life and energy, the guardian Senshi of Crystal Tokyo needed to be tapped into a more viable source of power. Already, even as Neo-Queen Serenity's daughter, I was not purely of the blood of the White Moon. I was a hybrid of the Earth and Moon Kingdom, and when the Moon Kingdom lost the pull on my soul, the Earth claimed me as its Senshi. My connection with Elios and Elysion only strengthened the bond. When I finally summoned the Rose Earth Crystal from Elysion, it broke the seal between the two worlds and connected them permanently, ensuring that the Earth would always have a central source of power. So that was how the legacy was born. That was how Sailor Earth came to protect this planet, the Silver Millenium faded into the annals of history, always to be remembered and never forgotten, but also never to overshadow the new utopia that we had built, the kingdom of Crystal Tokyo, on Earth. I was its first Senshi. There have been others who have followed me, and many more in the future to come. There will be thousands of generation of Sailor Senshi, who will always protect this beautiful planet from the forces of darkness and oblivion, who will keep its light shining strong and true and clear and bright forever. This I know, because it has always been so, and always will be. Elios and I, reunited at last, engaged in a passionate love affair. We married not long after. I gave birth to a daughter, which we named Mai. Elios was a wonderful father, kind and loving and caring, who taught our daughter the names of the flowers and the birds in our garden, who was always patient and kind and full of fathomless, infinite love. Elios and I entwined our souls and banished our loneliness in the company of each other, and in the bright growing glow of our daughter. Crystal Tokyo was not a perfect utopia. There were enemies to fight. Some were foul, alien creatures that invaded from distant stars and from the dark nether- regions of outer space; some were demons that grew within the black hearts of the people of the Earth; and some were simply human enemies, sometimes conjuring forces that they could not control, sometimes not even that. There were trials and tribulations, and tragic battles, and always more evil, always lurking around the corner. But I persevered. I was Sailor Earth. I fought by the side of the older Sailor Senshi, and then the new, younger Sailor Senshi, and Elios was always by my side, and I was always loved and protected, even in my worst extremity. I was Sailor Earth. When all else failed, when my loved ones were cut down and the soil ran dark with their blood, when it seemed as if all hope had been lost, I always had the song of the planet to turn to, and the song gave me the courage to fight on. I fought, and I won. I used the power of this living, breathing planet to heal wounds, and to sometimes give the gift of rebirth. I righted wrongs, and I triumphed over evil. It was a long life, but full and rich and satisfying. One thousand years later, well into the Golden Age of Crystal Tokyo, my mother took off her crown one morning and set it gently down into my hands. My father passed his staff on to Elios, who took it reverently, trembling slightly. "I have reigned over this kingdom for one thousand years," my mother said softly, serenely, as she took my father's hand. "It has been a good life, but I'm tired now. Yes, that's it. I'm tired. I have seen many of my loved ones live and die, passing like fading leaves in and out of my life, and I miss them terribly. I miss every single person that's ever touched my heart, and over the years, that has been a great many. And I know that it is now your time to be Queen, my Usa." "M-Mother?" I choked. My lip trembled dangerously. The woman standing in front of me appeared no more than thirty years old, but an infinite weariness weighted down her sapphire eyes. "We are tired of being immortal," my father explained gently. He pulled my mother close to him, and she rested her head on his chest. "We will be waiting for you at the Elysian Fields, so don't be sad, and please don't cry. You know that we will always love you. Both of you." "One thousand years," my mother sighed. "After you have ruled for one thousand years, you may pass the crown on to your daughter. Until then, from this point onward, you are now Queen Usagi of Crystal Tokyo. You must pass your Rose Earth Crystal on to Mai. She will assume the role of Sailor Earth." "Yes," I said as I choked back tears. "Yes, I understand." It was the most painful thing I had ever had to say in my life. "Goodbye, Usagi. Goodbye, Mamo- chan." Elios bowed low, his bangs shielding his eyes, and his tears. "Farewell, my King, and my Queen," he said softly. "Farewell, Elios," my father echoed. "Farewell, Chibi-Usa." The old name, at once familiar and yet distant and strange, cut through my heart like the thorn of a rose. Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion . . . no, Tsukino Usagi and Chiba Mamoru, retired to their bedchambers late that night. They embraced each other underneath the covers, bracing against the cold winter night, and breathed their last in each other's arms. Elios and I dressed in black for a year. Like the rest of the planet, we were in mourning. Mai sobbed profusely during the funeral, clutching her arms around my waist, her face buried in my chest, her tears splashing into my bosom. She had been terribly fond of Mamo-chan. Elios, on the other hand, cried quietly and softly in the dark of the night, as I wrapped him in my sleeping arms and tried my best to give him comfort. I was public with my tears, but not as passionate as Mai was. I let the grief drip from my eyes silently and slowly, plopping softly into the collar of my gown, or into my lap, or onto my gloves. I washed my face in sorrow. I passed the Earth Rose Crystal on to Mai. She trained with the help of the daughters of the original Sailor Senshi, and sometimes, with their daughters' daughters. The cycle of life and death continued to flow around me, even as I sat on the throne in the Crystal Palace, ruling over the utopia that had spread its wings outward and now encompassed almost every planet in our solar system. (It was during my mother's reign that the planet were colonized.) Elios was a wise and patient King, and I was a regal, noble Queen. The people called me Queen Usagi. It was not as glorious of a name as Queen Serenity, but then again, I had no wish to be called Queen Serenity. Serenity was the rightful name of my mother. My mother was dead, and although her spirit lived in my heart and her warmth still filled my soul, I was my own person, and I had forged a new kingdom from her legacy of the old. Diana found a mate, and gave birth to a brood of kittens. One of them had the gift of speech, and became Mai's guardian. Diana's mate was a mortal cat, whom she loved dearly, and whose eyes sparkled with the sharp intelligence of the felines of the White Moon Kingdom, but whose lifespan was short, and whose voice was forever consigned to purrs and growls. He passed away soon after Diana's kittens had grown up and left her to make their own way in the world. Diana found him curled in a patch of sunlight on the soft grass of the palace gardens, breathing his last. She stayed with him, cuddling by his side, and watched the light in his eyes fade away. Then she returned to the insides of the palace, found me, said her final farewells, and padded softly back out into the garden. She rested her head beside his, sighed contentedly, and followed him into the afterlife. I buried both Diana and her mate in a great funeral full of ribbons and flowers and mournful violin music. I wept for her. But I was happy for her, as well; I knew that as she romped and played with her husband in the Elysian Fields, he would finally be able to tell her how much he loved her, his tongue forming the speech that had been impossible for him on Earth. I saw dozens of my Sailor Senshi grow, mature, find love, give birth to daughters, and age, and die. They lived for hundreds of years, but then again, Elios and I lived for thousands. I saw great battles with fearsome enemies that ravaged my kingdom and brought me to the depths of despair; I saw Mai, my Sailor Earth, and the other Senshi, drive back the evil and secure years of peace and prosperity, time and time again. I saw Elios grow tall and strong into silver-haired, golden-eyed manhood; and then he stopped, froze in time, as his outward appearance remained static, but his soul aged through the centuries alongside my own. I became a Queen of unearthly alabaster white skin, rose hair, garnet eyes, a timeless, ageless countenance. I became old. I became tired. Mai married and gave birth to a daughter. I blessed her, christened her with a name that Mai told me the Earth had whispered to her in a song, and held the newborn babe in my arms, feelings its beating heart and glowing heat against my chest. I grew weary. On the eve of the five hundredth birthday of Mai's daughter, now a sprightly young girl with a missing front tooth and the same freckles that had bespeckled Mai as a child, Elios took me in his arms and brushed his lips against my temples and whispered, "I love you, Bara-chan. But I feel that it is time for us to make our final journey." "I love you too," I whispered to him, a tear sliding down my cheek. I had not cried for over six hundred years. But now I was afraid. The song of the Earth roiled in my head. I could already feel the strength ebbing from my limbs, feel the centuries of bent back and gray hair and wrinkled skin and hoarse voice, so long denied, now returning to creep up on me. "We will have to say goodbye to Mai," Elios said sorrowfully. When we approached Mai and her husband, Mai wept, sniffling her small nose, still slightly freckled even though she had begun the process of forming the ageless skin which Elios and I now wore, tears running down her pink cheeks, chest shuddering with grief. But she did not beg us to stay, and did not demand that we not go. She accepted my crown with weeping, fatalistic pride. "But before you leave us," she finally asked, her voice low and watery, "my daughter would like to see you both, for one last time." So Elios and I retired to our bedchambers, I without my crown, and he without the staff that King Endymion had passed on so many years before. We laid down on our bed, side by side, Elios encircling my hand in his, and waited. Within moments, the servants sent Mai's daughter into our chambers. The servants sent *you* into our chambers. You came, uncustomarily quiet and somber, eyes large and wet and innocent, in a dress of pure white snow, bare feet, ribbons in your hair, Mai's freckles splashed across your cheeks. You approached the bed, and kneeled, somber and silent, trembling with fear and awe. "Is my mother the Queen now?" you asked me. "Yes. And soon you will become the leader of the Sailor Senshi, as Sailor Earth," I told you. I wanted so terribly to reach out my hand, caress the ribbons in your hair, smooth my fingers across your forehead. You were so beautiful. You glowed with the life energy of this planet . . . "Sailor Earth? Like my mother?" I did not think it possible, but your eyes grew even wider. "Yes. Did your mother ever tell you that I was the first Sailor Earth?" "No," you breathed softly. "No, I didn't know." Elios stirred beside me. "Bara-chan was always the most wonderful story teller," he sighed. He sounded as if he were fading away. Which he was. "I want to hear the story," you told me. "Please, will you tell it to me? About how you became Sailor Earth." So that was how I mustered the last of my strength, gathering my most distant memories for one final confession. That was how, lying on my deathbed, my husband beside me, I told you my story. I watched as you absorbed my tale into yourself, reflecting, examining, analyzing, turning it over in your head and observing its angles and sides, like a jeweler examines a roughly-cut diamond. And finally, you must have found something that gave you joy, for your face shone with a dazzling smile, and as I finished my story, you bent over and kissed me on the forehead. "I always knew that you were a great Queen," you whispered. "I, too, will do my best to be a great Queen. And to be a great Sailor Senshi." "I fear that there are many trials ahead of you," I said honestly. My voice was soft, low. I wondered if these would be my last words. "I know," you answered, still smiling. "But I will meet them when they come. I will have the great Queens of the past keeping watch over me." Your smile faded, slightly, as your eyes swept over my face. Then your eyes turned to Elios, lying still beside me. Your final words were thus: "I think I shall leave you two alone. Rest in peace, Grandmother. Grandfather." You left the bedchamber with your chin trembling. I closed my eyes, and brought my hand to my chest. This small movement was a feat of incredible effort. Not long now. I rested this hand on my bosom, feeling my heartbeat slowing, slowing, slowing. I could no longer feel Elios's breath on my neck. His hand relaxed in mine. The wailing crescendo of the song of the Earth faded into a sweet note of final sorrow. I can see light. I can see rose petals, blowing in the wind. I can hear laughter. That childish voice, feather- soft and floating on the wind. My mother! I hear other voices. Father! Diana! My loved ones! I can see green grass and blue skies, cool water and green shade. I can see Elysian Fields . . . - The End - Kotetsu, 2/11/01