"NEPTUNE!"
Sailor Uranus's desperate cry echoed in the empty street, alerting the other senshi. Her partner's body, clutched in a monstrous embrace by a powerful Daimon, was an indistinct bloody mess. The enemy looked like a giant, bloated green insect. Still, it could have been something else entirely. It was hard to tell in the dark of midnight.
There was something blood curdling and final about the gory picture that was the fallen sailor senshi. Head and limbs hung in unnatural angles. Dozens of poisonous green spikes, as long as she was tall, pierced Neptune from side to side, quickly dyeing her pale sailor fuku crimson. Saturn stared in shock while Pluto winced at the sight of her injured friend.
"WORLD SHAKING!"
The frantic attack flew across the pavement with devastating strength, destroying everything in its path before reaching the Daimon who stood in the crossroads. The creature fell heavily across the street with a horrible agonizing scream. Then it disappeared.
A praying mantis lay on the floor next to Neptune, its tiny body as broken as hers. An impossibly huge egg fell out of its minuscule host into to the floor. The shell broke in two pieces, letting out a dark, toxic smoke that evaporated within a second.
"NEPTUNE! NEPTUNE!"
Uranus jumped off a street light pole and ran towards her lover in desperation. A white light had appeared a feet above the fallen senshi. It danced and swirled, expanding more and more until it covered her mangled body. Then it shrunk, slowly at first yet, gradually faster until the young soldier was enclosed by a translucent cocoon of light.
Halfway across the city, Usagi's silver crystal woke her up. It was beating, resonating in time with an aqua haired dying girl. The future princess had been too fast asleep to feel it before, but it was clear now. Tears cascaded down her cheeks as realization hit her. Neptune was gone. They hadn't been close, of course, but the sensitive dumpling headed teenager cherished every single life on planet Earth. She wept and cried and begged for a different fate for the water senshi.
The light encasing Neptune's body shone brighter and brighter as it shrunk, way smaller than her original body size. It had become so intense, one couldn't see through it anymore; so small no one could have fit inside.
Sailor Pluto bent one knee to the ground, lowering her head in contrite respect for the fallen comrade. Saturn still stared in horror, her youthful mind unable to process reality.
The same was true for Uranus, who stood motionless in front of the blinding light. She wasn't screaming anymore. The shock was too great to lead to acceptance, or allow coherent thought for that matter. She just stared into the sun like shine that was hurting her eyes. Everything was too surreal for her to react.
Neptune had been alive and powerful a minute earlier, the bloody pulp engulfed by that luminosity couldn't possibly be related to her beautiful partner. It was too grotesque to be true. There wasn't a way to accept such a harsh truth without resigning all resemblance of sanity. Not for Uranus, at least.
Time seemed to slow down almost to a stop. The light once surrounding the water senshi's body began to fade. Eventually, it was reduced to a bulge the size of an obese cat and became translucent again, revealing a tiny baby sleeping among a mess of blankets. A thin layer of aqua fluff covered her newborn head as she floated in mid air.
Uranus's eyes widened in shock when being shaken even further seemed impossible. If she was still years from accepting her partner's death, this was certainly beyond her comprehension. Yet, she did understand deep inside, as it had happened before. Only this time it was only Neptune who was embarking on a new journey, not Saturn.
Yes. The wind senshi definitely connected the dots. She was smart enough. It was her emotions that were on hold, unable to catch up with the facts wrecking havoc in her head at full speed.
Instinctively, she extended her arms to receive the baby. Haruka had had enough practice raising reborn Hotaru to know how to properly hold a baby's head. Uranus did, still in awe at both the miracle performed by the silver crystal, and the perfectly beautiful infant cradled in her arms. Haruka had often fantasized about snatching Michiru's baby album from her apartment and sating her curiosity on that regard. Now she regretted ever making such a wish. This was definitely not how she had expected it to come true.
An overwhelming sadness washed over Uranus as realization sank in. Neptune had died. Michiru was gone, forever; leaving her to walk a lonely existence for as long as she stayed alive. She wanted to die. Nothing could ever make her feel ready to face such a fate.
Sure, Michiru had been reborn, as Hotaru had, but she was a baby now. Haruka instantly loved it unconditionally, beyond words, like everything related to the young musician, but it was a different kind of love, an innocent one. She wanted to protect that infant and make sure it never had a reason to cry.
It was somewhat comforting to have a piece of her lover back, but her future still held mainly hurt and solitude. No matter how she looked at it, Haruka would never see a partner in that child, even if it eventually grew up to have Michiru's memories. It would be too weird. The age gap would be too wide and just thinking about it made her feel sick.
Since death wasn't an option anymore, she swore to protect the baby with her life, bringing her forehead to the infant's to seal the deal. Her smell brought back memories of Hotaru and the time the four of them had spent together as a family. That was when the pain became truly unbearable.
Eventually, Saturn and Pluto approached quietly, trying not to disturb the grieving senshi. She was too absorbed in contemplation of the baby through her misty eyes to notice them. They gave her space to make her peace with Michiru's death. Pluto had seen many passings in her long, long life, but they always brought tears to her eyes. The very nature of her job filled her with guilt and helplessness.
After a while, Saturn's childish curiosity won over. She tentatively stretched a gloved hand towards the baby. That brought Uranus back to reality. The wind warrior proudly blinked away bitter tears and nodded to her once adoptive daughter.
Saturn caressed the infant's tiny fist with her own finger until Michiru, still fast asleep, instinctively wrapped her impossibly small hand around it. The younger senshi's smile brought fresh tears to Uranus's eyes and Pluto put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The fact that she didn't shake it away was proof of just how upset the woman truly was.
A few minutes later, the inner senshi finally arrived. Sailor Moon's loud, exaggerated crying preceded them, giving the outers time to put a decent distance between each other and recompose their faces. Pluto and Saturn were sober. Uranus was all defiance, from her stance to her expression. Fight or flight instincts finally kicking in.
"Oh, everyone! We are so sorry!" Sailor Moon moaned as more tears cascaded down her cheeks while she approached the older women. Her companions followed her a couple of yards behind, shedding tears of their own in a more dignified way. Pluto's expression softened as her eyes met the newcomers with the wisdom that age brings.
"You guys were fighting and we didn't even know." Sailor Moon whined. "We could have helped... this is so unfair!"
"Go back to bed. The battle is over. There is no use for you now. I'll take it from here." Uranus barked, directing all her hurt and frustration towards the inner senshi. Her nasty remark visibly hurt Sailor Moon, who broke down in sobs. Mercury and Mars hurried to her side, trying to reassure her in hushed tones. Saturn and Pluto exchanged a worried look. It wasn't like Uranus to exclude them like that. Not after all they had been through together in the past few years.
"We should give them some space." Mercury suggested to a still upset Sailor Moon. "Everyone needs some rest. We can talk this over in the morning. We'll meet you at the Shrine." Pluto agreed playing mediator. Mars nodded in approval, her awkwardness spreading throughout the group. Since when people invited themselves to somebody else's home? Still, the situation was too serious to care for good manners.
The air was still heavy with tension when the larger group left, leaving the grieving friends alone. After a silent exchange, Pluto and Saturn turned to Uranus only to find her gone with the baby.
"Do you think they'll be all right?" Saturn asked with genuine concern to an equally worried Pluto.
"Let's go home. They'll come back when they're ready. As usual."
With a nod, both women reverted back to their human forms and disappeared into the night.