Usagi was a happy camper, on her right was her boyfriend, Mamoru, and on her left was her daughter from the Future. A Future where all her hopes and dreams were fulfilled, no hate, no violence, no one getting hurt, only love and happiness, a heaven on Earth. What more could a girl want? They were even headed to the ice cream shop.
Life was good.
Usagi got her usual, five-scoop "Death By Chocolate" sundae, while Mamoru just got a single scoop of vanilla in a small cup. Chibi-Usa got the Junior "Death By Chocolate" sundae, which had only two scoops.
Usagi was busy eating her sundae when Mamoru muttered something, so she asked, "What was that, Mamo-chan?"
Mamoru sighed and repeated, "I asked, which college are you going to?"
"College?" Usagi echoed in puzzlement.
"Yes, Usako," Mamoru remarked. "College. What are you going to do with your life?"
Usagi blinked in confused, "What do you mean what am I'm going to do with my life, Mamo-chan? I'm going to be Neo-Queen Serenity, and you're going to be King Endymion."
Mamoru nodded his head, "Yes, Usako. But that's in Crystal Tokyo -- in the future. I'm asking about now."
Usagi was puzzled, "Why wonder about it? It's our Destiny to be together and rule Crystal Tokyo; we don't need to do anything about it."
Mamoru sighed; it was impossible to talk to Usagi when she was in such a mood. And these moods were coming more and more often.
"CHIBI-USA-CHAN!!!" Usagi screamed as she saw her daughter from the Future start to fade away. She panicked, as she had no clue what to do.
Until Mamoru put his hand on Usagi's shoulder to calm her and stated, "Usako, use the Ginzuishou."
Usagi could feel the calm radiate from her Mamoru and comfort her. Taking out the Ginzuishou, she prayed, "I don't want to loss my daughter... I've lost too much already..." over and over again.
Mamoru watched as a silver glow started from the Ginzuishou and encompassed Usagi, transforming her into Princess Serenity. Whatever Usagi was whispering so softly that he could not heard seemed to working, as similar silver glow spread through Chibi-Usa, making her solid.
Once the glowing stopped, Usagi, still in Princess Serenity mode, gathered Chibi-Usa into her arms and started to run to Rei's shrine. Mamoru had to run hard just to keep them in sight.
"Get the others," Princess Serenity commanded as she passed Rei, who was sweeping the shrine walkway. She did not stop until she got Rei's room. There, she was hugging Chibi-Usa to her, as if afraid if she let go, she would fade into nothing.
Rei came huffing and puffing into the room several moments later.
Just as Rei's mouth opened to demand an explanation, Princess Serenity stated, "Not now, Mars. I only want to go through once, so we'll wait for the others to get here."
Rei finally noticed that Usagi was in Princess-mode and had a very serious face. One that Rei had never seen, since she was dead each time Princess Serenity had to face Metallia and the like alone.
The Princess waited in silence, something that unnerved Rei all the more. Rei also noted how protective that her friend was of Chibi-Usa. The manga that she had gotten her Princess lay untouched off to the side.
Fortunately, for Rei's nerves, the wait was not long, although it felt like an eternity to her. As each of the Inner Senshi came in, they all noted Usagi was in what they have dubbed "Princess Serenity" mode. In other words, Usagi was serious and "in command", versus the regular "Usagi" mode of playfulness and slacker.
Minako laid herself down on the floor to her Princess's right, subconsciously ensure she was in contact with her right leg and thigh, to give comfort and support.
Rei went to the Princess's left and did the same.
Ami kneeled before her Princess, in front and to her right. She examined her with her eyes, noting her health and thinking of ways to improve it.
Makoto kneeled before her Prince, opposite side of Ami, with a tray of sweets, which she was prepared to give to her.
Once they were all positioned in their proper places, Princess Serenity began, "There is a new enemy, who wished to destroy all our hard work and to render all our sacrifices to be in vain for a brighter, safer tomorrow."
"Nani?!" exclaimed the others in shock.
Holding Chibi-Usa tightly, the Princess continued, "This afternoon, we almost lost Chibi-Usa. Fortunately, the Ginzuishou was able to save her."
Looks of horror appeared on the Inner's faces. They knew that if Usagi had lost Chibi-Usa, she would go off the deep-end. As it was, they felt a bit of pity for anyone foolish enough to attack their Princess's family.
"Who would destroy such a wonderful and peace-loving paradise?" Makoto asked in an angry voice. Their thoughts could be sum up with the statement; Chibi-Usa was a sweet, little girl, most of the time, when she was not being a brat.
Chibi-Usa muttered something, when asked by her future-mother to repeat it, she whispered, "The Chaosbringer."
"Who?" the others exclaimed.
Chibi-Usa looked scared, but Usagi hugged her child close to her and encouraged her to continue. Taking a deep-breathe, she recited from memory, "He has many names... While Mama-sama brought peace, love, and harmony to the World, the Chaosbringer tried to bring war, hate, and distrust. But Mama-sama stopped him at every turn."
Seeing that she had an audience, Chibi-Usa continued, "It was the Chaosbringer that brought about the Great Freeze. Mama-sama tried to prevent it, but the Chaosbringer had taken control of the leaders in this Age, setting them against Mama-sama. There was nothing Mama-sama could do...." Chibi-Usa started to cry.
Princess Serenity held her daughter close and cried with her.
In a weary voice, Ami moaned, "It never ends..." There was always someone fighting them, trying to take the Ginzuishou from her Princess, or just trying to take over the world. All she ever wished to be was a doctor, like her mother, and help people.
With fire in her eyes, Princess Serenity commanded, "It will End! And with Crystal Tokyo, we will finally have peace, happiness and harmony in the World! The Evil Ones will try to stop us, but they will not succeed! For we are the Soldiers of Love and Justice! We will create a paradise on Earth! There will no longer be any war... No hatred... No death... No violence... All the ice cream you can eat... Everyone will be friends with everyone else... The world will be prefect!"
Everyone felt renewed and gung-ho from the inspiration that their Princess, and future queen, gave them.
Haruka and Michiru were worried about their charge, Hotaru. While they understood the need to side with Ranma, they were not so eager to see Hotaru's Sailor Crystal be giving away like Setsuna's was or their own... when the time came. They knew they really did not have a choice in the matter, as they, and Humanity as a whole, did not have a future as long as they followed the Princess.
They knew where the Princess stood. She had tried to integrate both the Inners and Outers several months ago, but even she gave up on that a couple of weeks ago. The Princess had accepted the Inner's views over the reality of the situation. They had truly tried to get along with the Inners, but they had no common ground, save they were all Senshi.
But even in that, they were different. The Inners had the best of the Royal Moon Palace, and served the Princess, while the Outers were exiled, in all but name, to their barren worlds, to serve the Kingdom as watchdogs. The Inners spoke of the Silver Millennium Balls and politics, while the Outers could only recall the loneliness and isolation of their Duty-post.
Even at the End of the Silver Millennium, Queen Serenity of the Moon had only sent her daughter and the Inners forward. It was Sailor Saturn that bought them to the current Age, after she cleaned up after the Queen and Metallia. But then after Setsuna's revelation, that seemed to be that was always the case, the Outers would have to clean up after the Queen and Princess.
While each one was lost in their thoughts, they still heard the front door open as two young women walked in.
Haruka, trying to be parental, demanded, "Where have you been...." Her voice trailed off as she took in the sight of the two young women.
Setsuna, although changed, was easily identifiable, while the other young woman was not. They knew that Setsuna was an only child, so their impulse to say that the other young woman was her sister was ignored.
"Hotaru-chan?" Michiru inquired of the other young woman.
It was a bit understandable why her guardians did not recognize her. Her hair had lighten from a dark purple, almost black, to a light, rosy purple, while her eyes had gone in the reverse, darkening from the light purple to a dark, rich purple. Before, she had been sickly and thin, now, she was very healthy and fit.
"Hai," Hotaru replied with a giggle. Haruka had been quietly checking her out until Michiru called out her name.
Haruka whistled and remarked, "Wow... you look good enough to eat."
"Haruka!" Michiru exclaimed in surprise, even if she privately had to agree.
Haruka blushed, while Hotaru just smirked, enjoying the attention.
Feeling energetic, Hotaru went to the kitchen and started to cook a meal for the four of them. She had been shown the basics and all, but she had, previously, lacked the energy to spend the time standing up for the amount of time it took to make a meal.
The other three sat down to watch Hotaru, ready to assist should it be needed. It was not. Although, there were a few splashes and false starts, Hotaru had everything under control. She made a very basic, very simple meal for the four of them, which she served with a smile.
The four ate in silence, enjoying the meal.
Haruka and Michiru kept checking out the new Hotaru, one minute to see if she was all right and the next... in a non-parental manner. Gone was the helpless, young kid, she had been replaced by a very health, very beautiful young woman.
After the meal, they sat and talked. Michiru began, "I don't know about this." What 'this' was, they all knew.
"It's understandable you have doubts, Mi-chan," Setsuna answered. "Usagi-san isn't as bad as the Queen was... not yet anyway. But she's already fanatic about Crystal Tokyo, which will doom Humanity."
"Queen Serenity was a good queen," Haruka had to comment.
Hotaru snorted and replied, "Right... How do you figure that? First off, you three were banished, in all but name, from the Inner Worlds, simply because the Queen's vanity and I was held in suspended animation because my power, which she corrupted, rivaled her own. Let's not forget, the Queen did not do a damn thing about Queen Beryl and Queen Metallia, until after her daughter committed suicide to 'be with' her love, and even then, her actions was to destroy her own kingdom and send only her own daughter's spirit to a 'better world', where we would have dealt with the Queen's mistakes already. Instead, Usagi-chan took Prince Endymion and her Court, which did not include us, with her. We still had to clean up after them, alone and forgotten."
"Like always," Setsuna agreed sadly. Speaking from her Future-Knowledge, she added, "Even Usagi-san can't live up to her own ideals... and she'll take it out on us and those around her. Just like the Queen."
Haruka and Michiru were a bit uncomfortable with where this talking was going. Yet, it was nothing they hadn't heard before. They also knew it was all or nothing. United they stood, divided they fall.
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(Posted Fri, 27 May 2005 20:16)
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