"Once upon a time—"
An explosion rocked the air, booming solidly in the distance. She held her daughter closer to her chest, covering the girl's ears and rocking her back and forth, almost yelling over her fearful cries in an attempt to quiet her. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful queen who lived on the moon!" she projected, her voice barely carrying to the walls of their hiding place despite the volume. Her heart beat faster as she glimpsed the red glow of fire through the single soot-covered window; she stroked her daughter's hair, her story flowing faster from her mouth as the distraction she had started for her daughter slowly became her own source of calm and strength. "She was beautiful, and she was strong, and she was fair, but she was lonely, as lonely as the moon amongst the stars. 'Oh, I wish,' the queen would say, 'Oh, how I wish I had a daughter to share my life with! I would read with her, and laugh with her, and dance with her, and love her more than all the stars in the sky!'"
The cold floor beneath them shook as dust and rock fell from the concrete ceiling; she glanced up fearfully – would the shelter collapse?! – but she continued with her story, her daughter's cries lessening. Feeling her eyes, she stared down at the tiny child in her lap and hugged her tighter, kissing her forehead tenderly yet fiercely, silently promising herself that they would not give up. "She wished this wish for years and years, praying on every star in the night sky. The moon moved around the earth and the earth around the sun, but still the queen did not have a daughter, and she was very sad, and very lonely."
Her daughter's breathing quieted, listening intently; the war beyond the windows momentarily forgotten. "But then one night, as she slept, she was visited by a tiny dream fairy. 'I've heard your wish for a daughter," the dream fairy said, 'Is it true?' 'Oh, yes!' the queen replied, 'More than anything, I wish I had a daughter to share my life with!' 'If I gave you a daughter, would you love her?' the dream fairy asked, and the queen promised, 'More than all the stars in the sky.' 'Then from your heart I will give you a daughter for you to love and to be loved by you!' and when the queen woke, she knew she would soon have the daughter she had always wanted, whom she loved with all her heart before she had even met her – "
The door burst open and she recoiled, clutching her daughter to her and turning away, fearing the worst. Instead a familiar voice called urgently to her, "Your Majesty, we must go!" Soft hands urged her up. She gently guided her child from her lap, the toddler's tiny hand keeping hold of hers as her bright blue eyes followed her movements; once standing, she reached down for her little girl and carried her, keeping her close. Her little arms wrapped themselves around her neck and her little face nestled in the hollow of her throat as they followed her Sailor Senshi out of the bunker and into the violent night, moving quickly and silently through the maze of Crystal Tokyo.
The wagon trundled on, rocking back and forth on the dirt track as the horse carried them forward. She sat with her legs curled beneath her, her daughter perched before her; their years of exile had changed their attire drastically, but one thing would never change. "And when her daughter was finally born, the queen loved her even more," she spoke, separating her little girl's bright red hair into two sections, continuing to tell her favorite story as she brushed the tangled mess and pulled each side into high pigtails. "And they would read together and laugh together and dance together, and surely she loved her more than she loved the stars in the sky!" With a few deft twists and a handful of pins, the buns were complete. "But the night was dark, and sometimes dangerous, and so to keep her daughter safe the queen plucked four of the brightest stars from the night sky and asked for their protection. They became the Sailor Senshi, and loved her daughter nearly as much as she did. They would protect her."
Finished, her girl turned around and watched her with those bright blue eyes; she reached forward and brushed the bright red hair from her face, making minute adjustments to her daughter's odangos, and smiled softly. The wagon slowed to a stop, and her senshi poked her head through the canvas covering, telling them it was time to go.
She smiled, pulling her teenage daughter to her feet and keeping her hands as she guided her into the open clearing, her smile nearly coaxing a similar expression from her sullen girl. "And so the six of them lived together in peace and prosperity, and they would read together, and laugh together – " she pulled her daughter into a spin, their hands keeping them connected as their feet turned in tight circles, their long hair flying out behind them as they leaned back into the spin; in short accord, she had her daughter laughing as she spun and stared up at the trees above their heads and the waxing gibbous moon far above those. "—and dance together, and surely the queen loved her daughter more than the stars in the sky!"
"But not everything can last forever," she repeated quietly to herself, watching as her young woman strode forward to address the fearful crowd. She wore her power on her sleeve, her Sailor Senshi uniform drawing eyes and demanding respect. Her awakening answered a question that had persisted for centuries; the reemergence of the Silver Crystal both proving their right to rule and condemning them once again to a life of hardship.