The crying of a baby echoed through the halls.
Serenity lay back, heaving for breath with sweat covering her every inch. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed with a sense of relief and joy that made tears begin to fall.
It had only been a year since the end of the great freeze, and now, surrounded on all sides by the crystalline walls of the Crystal Tokyo Palace with her loved ones all around, the first child of the crystal era was born.
Ami's mother was the acting physician for the birthing, one of the few survivors of the disaster that had nearly caused a planet-wide extinction event. Serenity opened her eyes too see the dark-haired woman wiping the fluids off the baby, smiling down at it.
"Congratulations," she said, wrapping the child in a blanket and handing it back to its mother. "Its a boy."
The tension in the air was immediate, backs stiffening and eyes widening. Serenity looked down at the baby boy in her arms, still too overjoyed to let the implications intrude on the moment. He had a tuft of silver hair on his head, her hair, the deep inky blue eyes of his father. She cradled him in her arms, cooing at him as he continued to wail his displeasure at this new world he'd been forced into.
Endymion placed his hand on Serenity's shoulder, bending down to kiss the infant's forehead. "He's perfect," he said, but Serenity heard the slight catch in his voice.
Rei was exchanging a glance with Ami that spoke volumes about what she thought of this development. Setsuna kept her face an expressionless mask, eyes unreadable. The sense of wrongness was palpable, a deep disquiet had settled over everyone present except the new mother.
No one voiced the obvious question hanging in the room like a guillotine.
Where was Chibi-Usa?
Without any intact facilities to perform imaging scans on the growing baby, Serenity and Endymion had been forced to wonder about the growing life. However, given their previous encounters with their future and only child, everyone had been prepared for a baby girl. The nursery was pink.
"The firstborn prince of Crystal Tokyo, Aido," Serenity said, rocking the baby as he began to quiet. She didn't seem the least bit perturbed by the change in plans, and continued to hold the baby to her chest. She gave a large yawn, exhaustion slamming into her as the baby also drifted towards sleep.
Haruka was torn over whether to spoil the moment with the many questions she could barely restrain herself from blurting out, but Michiru placed a hand on her arm and Haruka clamped her mouth shut.
Stepping outside the room, Makoto closed the door behind her before turning to face the others. Endymion stayed beside his sleeping wife and child, but everyone else had gathered outside the room in unspoken agreement that they needed a meeting.
A heavy pause passed between them, before all eyes turned to Setsuna.
"It is as it should be," she said, turning to walk away. Before she could take two steps, Haruka had caught her arm.
"That's it? That's all you have to say?" Haruka glared at the older senshi, confused beyond disbelief.
"Yes," Setsuna simply said, yanking her arm free of Haruka's grasp and continuing down the hall.
"Chibi-Usa never mentioned a sibling," Ami mused aloud, wringing her hands together with worry. "Does that mean something happens to this child before Chibi-Usa is born?"
"Don't talk like that," Minkao said, frowning. "He's just a baby, and he has us to protect him."
"I don't like this," Rei admitted, pacing back and forth to try and calm her nerves. "If Serenity was suppose to have multiple children, we would have met them when we traveled to the future."
"Maybe we did, and we just didn't know it?" Makoto said, shrugging. "Or maybe there was a reason we didn't see them, like the outer senshi. Protecting us from knowing too much about our futures or something."
"Its possible," Ami agreed. "The other children could have been elsewhere when we visited, or they might have been affected from the black moon's attack like we were, crystallized and frozen for their own protection."
"Only a female may harness the great powers of a planetary crystal," Luna said, tail twitching in anxiety. "It has been passed down mother to daughter for generation. He may be prince of Crystal Tokyo, but he will never inherit the legacy of the crown."
"Its too soon to be worrying about heirs and succession," Michiru said. "He's just a baby, and we know nothing about what comes next."
Another pregnant pause hung over the group.
"Setsuna knows something," Haruka huffed, folding her arms over her chest. "She knows who this child is and where he fits into our memories."
"She probably does, but that doesn't mean she can tell us," Michiru consoled, sliding her arm around Haruka's waist.
"She named him after love," Minako mused. "Whoever he is, we're going to show him exactly that," she said, determined. "Nothing but unconditional love, we'll leave all of our unfounded," she stressed the word for emphasis, "concerns right here right now."
"You're right," Rei said, feeling chastened. "Its premature to judge Aido or his future based on speculation."
Agreed, the group dispersed, but the sense of impending dread stayed around them like a dark cloud.
AN: Foreshadowing is foreshadowing. I don't think anyone has taken this angle on the SMverse before and I want to give a shoutout to Ami Vurbo for helping to develop this plot bunny out of our mutual SM obsession.