A/N: Okay, her's the second chapter! Enjoy!
The still silence hung heavy in the air as they all stared in horrified shock at the pink-haired princess' battered form. Usagi's head spun as her heart hammered uncontrollably in her chest and her ears started ringing so loudly that she could no longer hear what the others were saying, if anything. It was only when her husband spoke that the tension in her snapped.
"Chibiusa..." He whispered, horrified and still frozen in place.
"CHIBIUSA!" His wife shrieked.
She scrambled off of the bench as everyone else snapped out of it and did the same. As one they rushed over and swarmed around the little girl, surrounding her as her parents kneeled beside her. Usagi half picked her up, using one hand to support the girl's pink head. Mamoru took one of his daughter's hands, his own glowing golden and focused on healing her.
"Chibiusa! Chibiusa! Wake up sweety!" The princess begged desperately, "Oh, God," She moaned when she got no response, "Please wake up..."
As the cuts, bruises and burns faded like they had never existed – the state of her uniform now the only evidence of what had happened – she finally began to stir.
"Mama? Papa?" She mumbled, her eyes opening a crack to peer at everyone, "But... You all died..."
Everyone felt a chill creep into them at her words as they stared down at her, horrified all over again. Then, before anyone could react beyond that, Eternal Sailor MiniMoon sat bolt upright and screamed, "Sailor Chaos! She followed me through the Gates!" MiniMoon looked around frantically, "Where is she?"
"She's not here." Mamoru told her soothingly and his daughter slumped. The others all exchanged worried glances while Setsuna felt the color drain from her face; if Chaos was now in the Gates...
Moaning the young girl buried her face in her hands, drawing all back to her, then she suddenly sat straight again, her head snapping up.
"Where's Luna-P?" She asked frantically.
Makoto straightened and looked around and spotted it. Pointing to the cat-faced ball with it's antenna and red-flashing eyes, she said, "It's over there."
MiniMoon scrambled to her feet and the others moved out of the way so that she could get to Luna-P. Watching her, they figured that she wanted the toy for comfort, but instead of hugging it when she dropped to her knees bedside it she spoke to it.
"Stop moving! I'm going to release it!"
Everyone exchanged glances, then looked back to the princess of Crystal Tokyo just in time to see her press the mouth of the now-still Luna-P. In a puff of smoke as pink as the girl's hair Diana appeared, one paw held close to her tiny body as though it were injured. Her fur was a mess and singed and her eyes solid white.
"Princess..." The small, gray kitten started shakily, her tiny voice frightened, "Did we make it?"
"Yeah... We did."
"The others..." Diana sounded desperate, "They couldn't have..."
Chibiusa remained silent, her shoulders shaking as she clenched her hands in her lap helplessly. Her silence told her answer for her.
"No..." Diana whimpered, then screamed, "NO! They can't be! They can't be! We can't be the only survivors..." The little kitten trailed off as everything that had happened caught up with her and she passed out.
Artemis caught her before she even hit the ground and both he and Luna huddled around their kitten, tears silently held back.
Usagi wrapped her arms around Chibiusa's trembling form and held her, whispering in her ear, "It's okay to cry."
Those were the magic words that broke the dam, letting out the flood. A wail went up and Mamoru's arms were around her too. Both sets of parents held their daughters and wondered what could have possibly happened and how they could make it right for their child again. Eventually, Chibiusa cried herself into an exhausted silence while Diana remained passed out.
Grandpa Hino watched it all from a distance and felt tears pricking at his old eyes. He had known for a few years about all the girls and about his granddaughter before she ever transformed, so he wasn't surprised that MiniMoon had come to this place; he had been secretly watching them for years, proud beyond words of Rei. But today, watching MiniMoon and that little kitten was breaking the old man's heart. He couldn't imagine someone so cruel that they'd want to hurt these two kindhearted children. Taking a deep breath to steady himself and stepping fully around the corner he called out to the group.
"Hey!" All heads snapped over to see him, "Bring them this way; they should get out of the heat. Don't worry about the food, I'm sure Deimos and Phobos will keep an eye on it."
Rei opened her mouth to ask her grandfather a number of questions, but he held up a hand to forestall her.
"Wait until later for your questions Rei. First they need to be taken care of."
Realizing that he was right she reluctantly nodded in agreement. Wordlessly, Mamoru picked up his listless little girl and he, Usagi, Luna and Artemis started following the short, old man as he led them inside. The others trailed after them, their earlier cheer forgotten in their concern and fear for the two traumatized time travelers.
Artemis set Diana down as gently as he could on a soft cushion in the guest bedroom while Grandpa Hino discreetly exited to go retrieve something... And someone. As soon as the tomcat's hands were out of the way Mamoru was there, his own hands glowing golden again as he started healing the bundle of singed gray fur. He was immediately met with resistance; it wasn't from Diana, but something else... Something familiar...
"Chaos!" He all but snapped, angry and startling everyone, "These injuries..." Pressing his lips into a thine line he focused more.
He reminded himself that even if he's not as powerful as his wife he still has enough power to keep someone alive without their heart crystal for a protracted period. Instead of driving out the destructive darkness as his beloved no doubt would, he instead drew it out, coaxing and cajoling until it was free and clear of Diana, until, in the palm of his hand, a swirling ball of miasma contained in a shell of gold floated there. Everyone stared aghast.
"Wh-what is that?"
It was Luna who asked the question, staring, horrified that it came out of her daughter.
"I think it's miasma." Rei said, disgusted and just as horrified as Luna.
"What was it doing inside of Diana?" Ami wondered.
"Is she going to be okay now?" Makoto asked.
"I still have to heal her injuries."
"But still," Minako spoke up from beside her princess' future daughter, "Like Ami-chan said; what was it doing inside of Diana?"
"We were running from Chaos while we were in the fourth dimension." MiniMoon explained, her voice mostly flat, drawing all eyes to her.
Chibiusa was sitting on the guest bed, the blonds on either side of her as her transformation faded. She absently caught the front of her far to big dress before it fell off.
Her summer clothes consisted of a pink, off the shoulder summer dress with a red and white checkered skirt going down to her shins and a pair of red flats, one of which fell off. Around her dainty neck was a string of looped, multi-colored beads that looked like they might be gemstones and went down to her naval. On her ears were a pair of enormous, lacquered, daisy earrings with pink centers. Her hair was still a mess.
Mamoru forced his eyes away from his daughter and back onto the globe hovering over his palm. He pushed his power into the miasma until it dissipated into nothing.
"Tell us what happened," Mamoru told her, "Once were sure Diana is okay."
A quiet affirmative was Chibiusa's only answer as Mamoru dissipated the now-empty globe of power that he had been using to hold the miasma, then set both hands over the tiny, gray kitten. His hands glowing golden again, the former prince of Earth focused... And encountered another problem. He could see and feel Diana's injuries, but at the same time it was like they weren't actually there. Frowning, he focused harder. Still nothing... Mamoru added the tiniest drop more of power, not wanting to hurt Diana, trying to bolster his healing and reach to where Diana's injuries are.
The kitten cried out and he snatched his hands back.
All around him were voices demanding to know what had happened. He ignored them all as he thought it over, trying to understand how his daughter's adviser could be injured and not injured at the same time. Everyone fell silent when he turned and walked over to the quiet, pink-haired little girl and knelt down in front of her.
"Chibiusa, where did Diana get these injuries?"
The girl winced and said, "While we were in the fourth dimension."
"And yours?"
"...During the attack on Crystal Tokyo. Chaos seemed to be fighting someone else while we were trying to get to the past. Diana's injuries were from a stray blast that nearly hit us."
"I see... Did it have any effect on you?"
"It turned us both back into children. Diana caught the worst of it though."
The blue-haired genius in their group frowned and pulled out her upgraded mini computer from her pocket. She started running scans as Luna and Setsuna came over to help how they could. Mamoru turned to star at Luna and Artemis' daughter and inwardly winced in sympathy when he saw the white-haired man standing off to the side, looking lost helpless as he watched the unconscious kitten silently. He hadn't said even one word since the two companions had arrived and Mamoru found himself worrying about him. He knew from experience what it feels like to watch someone you love needing help and not being able to give it.
Grandpa Hino returned at that moment, the sound of the door sliding on it's track seeming too-loud in the quiet hush that had fallen over everyone. Everyone looked over in his direction, though Artemis barely spared him a glance. Without a word the old man walked over to Chibiusa and handed her a brush and a pair of hair elastics. Surprised, but grateful, she took the proffered items from his wrinkled old hands with a forced smile, set them in her lap and reached with trembling hands up to her messy mass of cotton-candy pink hair to try an undo what was left of her buns. Usagi's hands beat her too it as her mother's past self began deftly untangling the mess. Minako started working on the other bun before Chibiusa could try so she let her hands settled onto her lap as she let the two blonds work on her hair.
Grandpa Hino quietly exited to give the eight girls and two men some privacy.
"What happened?" Minako asked as gently as she could once she was certain that the old man was out of ear-shot.
The attention of every occupant in the room now on her Chibiusa shifted from small, scared, grieving child to the princess of Crystal Tokyo. Graceful and strong, she straightened her back, hardened her resolve and spun her tale.
A/N: Well, this chapter was shorter than the first one, but this was kind of where I had to end it. Next chapter will begin the tale of what happened, but not as a flashback; it'll include the details that Chibiusa missed.