Chapter two.

Warmth and cool washed over me as I slowly came to, warmth from the water streaming around my body cool from the air in places the water escaped. I coughed and groaned as I moved from the dirt feeling instantly lighter. I stood up and looked around; the field was dark save for a single bright light above me. I looked down at my feet only to find the battered crumpled body that had been mine. Somewhere in my mind I had already known, this was the passage to the afterlife. I stepped out of my former self and into the squishy dampness of the field looking at myself with particular interest, my killer was seated next to me his body naked from the waist down as the memory of him raping me stirred. He had held me down in the dirt pushing into me hard as the knife pierced my throat, he'd come inside me violently then spit on me before dragging the blade deep into my throat and ending my life. I moved to face him; now clearly recognizing his background, he was Middle Eastern and he was crying. I waited a moment, watching my killer stare at the blood on his hands, I watched him smile and look down at himself his penis hard. I watched as he moved my body to please him then rape the corpse that was me. The wind picked up around me, my killer didn't notice it but I did. I was being pushed, forced to follow the bright light, called if you will to the other side. I welcomed it letting my feet escape the earth as my body soared into the light. 'Welcome Princess.' A voice said once my feet were firmly planted on a clear glass floor. I looked down through it and saw my killer raping my corpse.

'Where am I?' I asked feeling lost and unsure. Heaven I had been told would be a wonderful place with all the cake I could eat and all the games I could play.

'You are in limbo.' The voice said. I squinted my eyes hoping to see the owner of the voice beyond the light, I could not.

'What am I doing here?'

'You are here Princess Serenity because your time on earth was not to be finished yet. You were to have a longer life than this and your killer has robbed you of that. Limbo is chances to enjoy your life although not live it.'

'I don't understand.'

'You will watch your child grow, your friends enjoy their lives, your husband move on but you will never again be alive.' The voice was calming even if the words were unbearable.

'I see.' I said letting a tear escape my eyes. I glanced below me at the field; my killer had finished and was now heading for the road. Police cars were sailing toward him and soon I knew he would be caught. I felt redeemed.

Anyone who knew me while I was alive would say death aged me. In my reality I had been full of life, almost overly. I can see that now; how my hyperactive self seemed to at times burden those I cared for. It was my personality that brought them all together however and that they missed the most. My funeral was for family and friends only, and from limbo I watched as people I had not seen in years filed into the small church Mamoru and I had been married in to say their goodbyes. The voice on my arrival day told me I would want to be with my family, and that if I had willed it enough they may feel me around them. I would have to focus but I would grant both them and myself a bit more time. At my funeral I watched Chibi-usa I willed myself so much to be with her, to hold her when she cried and to wipe her tears away. I watched from limbo as she hugged herself holding on to whatever pieces of me she could my wedding ring around her neck, my hair ties laced through her pink buns.

'I'm so sorry Mamoru-san.' Haruka said shaking Mamoru's hand as my casket was lowered into the cool ground. 'I heard they're giving the guy the firing squad.'

'Hai.' Mamoru nodded stiffly.

'Come on Mamo-chan.' Rei said. Gently she wrapped her arm around Mamoru and pulled him along with her. Chibi-usa followed them, tears flowing down her cheeks dripping onto the ground as she walked.

'I don't know what to say to him.' Haruka complained rejoining Michiru at the site of my grave.

'How could you?' Michiru asked taking her lovers hand into her own. 'You would be destroyed if I were killed Ruka, imagine how he feels. Helpless and alone and with a child; all we can do is be available to him.'

'Rei has pretty much taken the job of wife since she got the call about Usagi.' Makoto said pulling her scarf out of her purse.

'Is that really good for either of them?' Haruka asked.

'Rei needed to be distracted and we all know she likes to feel in charge. This is probably the best thing for her medically.' Ami said quietly.

'I can't believe she's gone.' Minako said wiping her eyes as she stare into the grave. 'Not just Usagi, but our Princess.'

'I guess that means the world no longer needs her. The silver crystal would have saved her if she was still needed.' Makoto said.

Slowly the group separated Haruka gently pulled Michiru while Minako, Setsuna and Hotaru lingered only a moment more. Makoto and Ami were the last to leave, finally dropping the last of the roses over my grave. A tear escaped from my eyes rolling slowly down my cheek and dripping from my chin landing on the clear glass floor. 'I miss you already.' I said aloud.