It was early morning in the third week of June,
Cherry Blossom season. Every year at this time,
cherry tree blossoms would break free of their'
restricting buds, and stretch their' petals towards
the warm rays of the sun.
As the petals burst free, their' sweet fragrance
sprayed forth, using the scent to announce the
arrival of the pink flowers.
A light breeze carried the scent, and mixed it
with those of the snow-white stock, the soft
purple lilac, and the deep red rose. In harmony,
they gave a fragrance that could only be
described as that of heaven.
Song birds rested on the cherry branches, and
sang songs of praise to the beauty that surrounded
them.
The sky was a perfect blue, except for a few small
white clouds, that added to the beauty of the sight.
The sun's golden rays spread light to every inch
of the surface, exposing all the beauties present.
Aino Minako stepped outside from the back
door of the crystal palace in Crystal Tokyo
and took in a breath of fresh air. She held
it in for a while, because it was too sweet
to let go. She finally let it go in a long sigh
of satisfaction.
It had been a little over a week since she and
the other senshi defeated their' last enemy.
The war was finally over. The queen had
destroyed the evil with the mighty power
or her ginzousho. Peace had finally been
restored to Tokyo. Now, the royal soldiers
could finally live the peaceful lives they had
dreamed of having when they were just girls.
Each of the soldiers were 23 years of age.
Selenity and Endymion were married when
she turned 18 and began her rule in Crystal
Tokyo. They had a child, a girl. They named
her Usagi, after Selenity's earth name, but
everyone called her Chibi-Usa, because
she was a small version of her mother.
Ami, Rei and Makoto also had husbands.
Ami and Makoto each had a daughter,
and Rei was pregnant with her son.
Minako had no one. Long ago, she was
cursed to never find true love. Unfortunately,
the curse held true. She will never be a wife
or a mother, only a good friend and soldier.
She finally learned to accept it, but it still
hurt inside.
But right now, all she could feel was happiness.
The wars were finally over, and they could all live
normal, peaceful lives.
~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~
That evening, Minako sat out on her balcony,
staring at the bright evening star, her home,
Venus.
Just then, Queen Selenity walked out to meet her.
She looked up in the same direction Minako was,
and sighed.
"I know how you feel, Minako-chan." she said in her
soft, soothing voice. "You wish that peace could have
come much sooner."
"I do." Minako replied. "I'm happy that we've found
peace, but I wish thatg we could have before evil
destroyed all our homes."
Selenity noticed Minako's eyes glimmer in the
moonlight. "I miss my mother, too." she said.
Minako nodded, and they both stayed there,
silent, staring at the Moon and Venus.
The silence was disrupted when Minako
noticed something strange. A greenish grey
fog was coming between them and the view
of their' planets.
"What in the world is that?" Minako asked,
puzzled. Selenity didn't answer, she just
stared at it with a look of horror on her face.
Rei then burst into the room. "GET INSIDE!!"
she screamed at them. Minako got up, but
Selenity seemed frozen in place. She wouldn't
say anything, she just stared right at the fog.
"Come on, Selenity!" Minako yelled at her.
She wasted no time. She grabbed both
of Selenity's hands, and pulled her inside.
Once the door was shut, Minako asked Rei,
"What's going on?!?!" Rei gave her a serious
look.
"No! We defeated the enemy!" Minako
screamed. Just then, Selenity dropped
to the floor. Minako caught her just in time.
"Selenity!" she yelled. "Wake up!" Selenity
opened her eyes, filled with tears. "It can't be!"
"What can't be?!?" "This fog has been haunting
me!" Selenity said. "Every night, I would dream
of this fog, coming and destroying Crystal Tokyo!
I thought it was just because of the traumatic
battle we just fought. I thought it was nothing!
But i's real!" She sobbed.
"What should we do?" Minako asked. Right
then, Makoto and Ami appeared. "We're
going to fight it!" Makoto yelled.
Before anyone had a chance to say anything
else, they heard the children screaming.
"Chibi-Usa!" the five girls ran as fast as they
could to the nursery. Once they opened the
door, they saw the fog fleeing out the window,
and the three young girls lay on the floor, dead.
"Noooooo!!!!!!!!!" Selenity screamed. Ami and
Makoto ran over to their childrens' bodies, cradling
them, sobbing.
Rei put her arms around her stomach, hoping to
protect her baby from the fog, but it didn't work.
The fog shot straight back in, hitting and instantly
killing Rei and her baby.
"NOOO!" Minako shouted as she ran over to Rei's body.
"I won't let you get away with this!" she yelled at the fog.
She looked around at the the sorrow. Selenity was rocking
Chibi-Usa in her arms, Ami was kissing her baby's cheek,
while Makoto was singing her daughter's favorite lullabye
as if it would make things all right again.
Minako rolled Rei's body over so that she could see her
face. " Oh, Rei-chan."Minako sobbed. "How could it do
this to you and the children?! I will avenge your deaths!"
The fog had since then left the room. Minako got up,
and wiped the tears from her eyes. She had to be strong
for the others. Comfort them in their' time of loss.
She walked over to Selenity, who was still crying.
"Please, Chibi-Usa. It's time to wake up now.
Mama will make you cookies if you do. Oh, please"
she continued, "wake up, and you can have all the
cookies you want, forever!"
Minako rested a hand on Selenity's shoulder.
Selenity looked up at collapsed, sobbing even
harder.
Minako reached down, and picked up the little
princess, and tucked her in, giving her one final
kiss, and whispering "Sleep well, princess, I'll
always love you."
Minako helped Makoto and Ami do the same
with their' children. They then gathered around
Selenity. Selenity looked up, and knew what
needed to be done.
They took Rei's body, and brought her over
to her room. They placed her in her bad, and
pulled up the covers. They then had a moment
of silence for the fallen soldier.
As they all stared in disbelief, Rei's spirit appeared
to them.
"Minako" she said. "Don't mourn over me right now,
there's an enemy to defeat. I will give you my powers
so that you can protect the queen with them. I'm sorry
that I can't fight with you."
As she said that, she vanished. The girls had almost
lost hope, but Rei's voice came back, saying
"Now, go kick some nega-butt!!"
End Chapter One.
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