Title: Tomorrow
Author: Amarylis Cemetery
Rated: PG
Disclaimer: All Sailormoon characters belong to Takeuchi Naoko and Toei, etc.; this piece of fan-written fiction intends no infringement on any copyrights.
Fandom: Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon
Pairing: Usagi/Mamoru, Haruka/Michiru, (slight implied Hotaru/ChibiUsa, if you want to read it that way)
Word count: 2081
Feedback: Would be nice.
Summary: Futurefic, oneshot "Even then, she'd be happy with the knowledge that she'd have the chance to see them all, in some form or another." Serenity mourns.
Notes: Un-betaed. Came out of nowhere. Seriously. But this is what you get, in all its raw glory. So. Feel free to hunt me down with torches if this burns your eyes and defiles your mind. Meh. I'm not happy with it. Like, at all. But, yeah, you can form an angry mob. : D Don't forget pitchforks! Pitchforks are cool and pointy. ... I think I need sleep.
There was a fake smile pasted on her face as she waved glibly at the roaring crowd. How long had it been? How many years had she been doing the exact thing, on the exact date? She couldn't remember anymore. She wasn't sure she wanted to.
The cries reached a crescendo as she turned and left the balcony. Muffled cheering filtered into her ears even after the doors had been shut, even as she was halfway down the hall. It made her feel numb.
Servants bowed to her as she walked past. She granted each a falsely bright grin, though her eyes were simply trained on the set of doors at the end of the corridor. Her fingers itched to fling open the door, to make it slam against the wall. But before she even reached the threshold, someone (some girl named - god, what was it? - Yaoke or something) opened it for her, bending low at the waist as she entered the room.
"Leave me." At her instructions, the entourage that had followed her from the balcony (mostly guards, but there were other political figures there as well) considered themselves dismissed and she found herself standing solo in the center of the room.
After making sure the thankfully soundproof door was shut, she let out an almighty shriek and threw herself onto the enormous bed, tears smearing her makeup onto the pristine sheets. She flipped herself onto her back, ignoring how the tears pooled in her ears and slipped into her hair.
She didn't care anymore.
When had things gone so wrong? Was it after the Black Moon family's attack? Was it when she decided to send her precious girl back in time to train? Was it when her darling remained dead after Galaxia's terror?
It was probably then, she decided, that everything had fallen apart. Oh, not in the public eye - nothing had changed for them. She felt envious of their blissful ignorance.
When her daughter - oh, her beautiful, elegant ChibiUsa; her very own Small Lady - died, the others began to disappear as well. Something happened after ChibiUsa's death that caused whatever spell allowing the senshi immortality to shatter. Even the most trusted of her guards had left her.
It had been Venus first. No one knew exactly why the vibrant avatar of love left them first - perhaps, with the demise of such a precious person, Venus hadn't had her unwielding faith in love to cling to. If ChibiUsa could be taken from them, after all, was there any hope for the rest of them? She'd been discovered in the throne room, next to the case that held the powerful Ginzuishou - which never had enough of its legendary power to revive Venus. A red ribbon was tied around the right armrest of the Queen's throne.
Mars died second. One day, Mars had approached her, and the passion and fire that had always been associated with the flame soldier was gone. She'd handed her Queen the jewel at the base of Mars' skirt, a lingering touch on the Queen's cheek. The next morning, Mars had been found in Venus' room, clutching the metal rope that encircled Venus' waist in life.
With two of her most trusted friends gone, it was only a matter of time before Jupiter left as well. They'd found her in the gardens, a smile on her face as lightning rained down from the sky, rain and wind drenching the Queen as she sobbingly called the Ginzuishou to her in a futile attempt to raise the dead. She'd left her wreath of oak leaves in her chair in the throne room, the two seats of Mars and Venus holding each one oak leaf and scattered poupourri.
Mercury was the last of her inner circle left, and it wasn't long before she passed either. After Jupiter had been laid to rest, the ice soldier always had tears in her eyes behind her visor - but not once were they shed. But the Queen knew when Mercury died, her dear friend just collapsing at her feet as they passed through the inner courtyard together. It had snowed that day.
Uranus and Neptune fell together. There was no one shocked to find the warriors together in their quarters, limbs wrapped together in a last, desperate embrace. By the time they'd been stumbled upon, rigor mortis had set in, and the two were entombed together, next to Saturn's future crystal coffin, on the left of a larger crystal structure. The Space Sword stuck out from above Uranus and Neptune's stations next to the Queen's throne, the broken Aqua Mirror swaying on the blade.
Saturn had held out longer than expected, the stoic soldier's heart torn with grief over the loss of her first friend. She'd waved off the Queen's attempts to console her frayed emotions, merely handing over the glaive which had caused terrible destruction. She'd laid down her henshin stick and left it in the Queen's hands, walking out of the Crystal Palace for good. Pluto reported a week later that Saturn had been found in the crater of Mugen Gakuen and moved her to rest beside her adoptive parents in the underground mauseleum.
Surprisingly, it had not been Pluto to follow the young soldier in death, but the Queen's own husband - Endymion. There was no sort of warning with him as there had been for her senshi; the Queen had merely awoken one morning to find Endymion in a seat by the balcony glass doors, eyes closed peacefully in death and fingers clutching a thornless red rose. The rose was placed in a vase next to the Queen's bed; Endymion was positioned in the large tomb that would one day hold the Queen as well, nestled protectively between her soldiers.
For years, the Queen and Pluto mourned the loss of their friends and loved ones. Then, on the tenth anniversary of Endymion's death, Pluto bowed to her Queen before handing over the Garnet Orb. "This is my last day," she said sorrowfully, "for even the immortal must fade someday." The Queen, distraught and blinded by pain, ordered Pluto to the physician, but the warrior of time passed quietly as the clock struck midnight. Her final resting place was next to Saturn and Endymion, the staff of her rod placed with her body as well.
Now, Serenity walked the length of the room. Uranus and Neptune, forever locked together as lovers. Saturn, the best friend of her only daughter. Pluto, the mysterious guardian of time. Her husband, Endymion, appearing peacefully asleep and regal as ever. Venus, the sunny, vivacious blonde twin in all but blood. Mars, the passionate will and power. Jupiter, the soil and grounded comfort. Mercury, the intellect and serenity.
Far in the dark end of the room was the coffin of the girl who should've become Lady Serenity. The empty crystal only served as a reminder of the Queen's mistake to send her daughter back to battle Galaxia. Many of ChibiUsa's things, such as schoolwork and toys and clothes, were styled around the crystal, as though a morbid "welcome home" to a girl who would never return.
Serenity's heart ached as she stared blankly at the pink-covered shrine. Her hands brushed across the smooth, jutting edges of the coffin, tips nearly sharp enough to draw blood. She wouldn't allow such an impurity to touch her daughter's shrine - no, blood would somehow tarnish the almost dark innocence of the tomb. A bitter smile touched the corners of Serenity's mouth.
Hesitatingly, she turned from the coffin to stare at the corporeal bodies of her friends and lover. Somehow, the fact that they had bodies to leave comforted some of the pain, helped to accept their deaths. Serenity didn't think she'd ever be happy again, but it made the weight a little easier to bear.
In a way, ChibiUsa's death caused her the most anguish. Without her small body, Serenity could keep hoping that her little girl would come back someday. Serenity could keep waiting eagerly, deluding herself into believing not all hope was lost, that not all of her loved ones left her alone selfishly.
She cringed. No, not selfishly - her guardians were never selfish. Serenity was the selfish one - she was the one who, in the depths of her heart, wished for the same death to capture her, to wisk her away to some afterlife so she could see her family again. And even if there was no afterlife, even if everyone was just reborn automatically, over and over; even then, she'd be happy with the knowledge that she'd have the chance to see them all, in some form or another.
Serenity would not weep over her senshi. She would not even weep over Endymion, her soul mate. But just a look at ChibiUsa's shrine, or a picture of her, or a glimpse of the same shade of pink as her hair, or a whiff of her bubblegum scent - that was enough to make Serenity choke back tears. But she would not turn to face the coffin shrouded in darkness on any day but this day.
Once, today brought her selfish happiness as a child. Then, it brought her pride and warmth as a Queen. Now, there is only sorrow, heady and palpable like the air before a storm. June thirtieth held no comfort for her now, this day that began everything.
Silence seemed a little bit emptier, time seemed a little bit slower. Perhaps it was Saturn and Pluto's way to mourn from beyond the grave, Serenity often mused later, or maybe it was just Serenity's own sadness that was stronger, that caused everything to seem so much duller.
If only she was like Princess Serenity, back on the moon. Then, she hadn't cared about consequences when her Endymion died - she only cared for joining him. Serenity's lips turned up wryly; she'd been such a coward, too afraid to face life without her soulmate. She hadn't even cared about her family, the senshi and her mother.
But now, it was as if the old Queen had instilled her sense of responsibility into her daughter. Back then, the Queen had been the last to die, after all her subjects and enemies succumbed to death. Would the same happen to Serenity now? Would Serenity have to wait until all of Earth's population ceased to exist before she, too, could join the ranks of the dead?
Usagi hoped she wouldn't. Usagi hoped that she could die, that the connection to the Earth Endymion had passed onto her would fade or be severed. Usagi wanted it to be over, selfishly wished for an apocalypse which was so abundant in the past.
Serenity wanted Usagi to shut up.
"Your Highness?"
Startled, Serenity froze, the caressing motion of her hands over Endymion's coffin ceasing abruptly. She slowly turned her head towards the arched doorway, relaxing slightly as she saw her intruder.
"Yes, Elios?"
Elios sent her a sad, wobbly smile, and Serenity thought she saw an irregular glistening in his eyes. "The Prime Minister of sector five is requesting your prescence."
Serenity frowned. "Does he not know that on this day, I am to be left in peace after the ceremony?"
"Yes, your Highness, but he says it's of the utmost importance. Something about rioting in one of the larger cities." Elios looked apologetic as he spoke, gold eyes traveling from Serenity's face to the shadowed lump behind the rest of the coffins.
Soon, Elios was looking straight into Serenity's eyes, surprised to see her so close. Serenity pursed her lips, and embraced the Elysian priest, ignoring as he tensed in her arms.
Tears slipped down her face again, and soaked into Elios' white uniform. His arms slowly wrapped around her back, taking comfort from his Queen as offered.
"Elios," Serenity said, voice thick, "thank you."
As Serenity walked back up the winding stairs to the main part of the palace, she could hear Elios' ragged sobbing, knowing he was kneeling before her daughter's coffin.
A small, genuine smile reached Serenity's face, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd smiled like this. Today, she would wait for her Small Lady to come home. Tomorrow, she would wait for her daughter. And until she died, Serenity would patiently wait for ChibiUsa to come home, to embrace her happily and chat energetically about what she'd seen in the past.
For now, though, Neo-Queen Serenity had a meeting to attend.