Chapter Three: Falling Stars
Time was something that Makoto had an abundance of. It was also something she didn't really want to have an abundance of. She was old, really old, and she didn't really have anything to live for. However, her mind was kept off of this depressing fact by two small boys who constantly showed up on her front step wanting to play. She loved Trunks and Goten to no end, but how was she to keep up with them? They wanted to go swimming, or fishing, they wanted to look at the clouds, play hide and seek or tag. Today, they wanted to learn to make cookies.
The lookout's kitchen was covered from top to bottom in flour and splatters of batter, and there were trayes lying about with cooked cookies on them, some burnt, some not. At the center island both boys stood on tall stools clad in aprons, cutting fun shapes out the sugar-cookie dough that was rolled out before them. Makoto sat in a chair with a small smile on her face as she placed cookies into jars for the boys to take home with them. Once the stress of being awake had calmed down she'd immediately given the lookout a more homey look, and was constantly in the kitchen making something or out with Trunks and Goten. They didn't leave time for her to be sad, and she was grateful.
Picollo had begun to teach her the z-fighters's way of fighting, and she found the physical effort refreshing. She hadn't realized what bad shape she was in until she spent a day in the time chamber with Picollo. Now she was more dilligent to her training than she had been at first. Tonight however, she had the day off. There was a meteor shower going on that night and Makoto was determined to watch it. She had invited the other members of the z-team and Trunks and Goten were staying the night. That was the main reason for the cookies. Sayajin men had a tendency to be constantly hungry. Cookies after dinner would hold them off until they all went home.
After dinner Makoto planned on setting out blankets on the lookout for them to sit on to watch the shower. Makoto planned on telling Trunks and Goten (and anyone else who listened) the story of the Silver Millenium. They would most likely believe that she made it up, but she was going to share memories with this group. The meteor shower proved a perfect backdrop for it.
*
"Goten, Trunks? Why don't you go get the cookies we made earlier?" Makoto asked a few hours later as she retrieved a pile of blankets. The two boys dashed off while Chi Chi, Bulma and Videl helped her lay out the blankets. Videl had been surprised when she'd been invited, and Chi Chi and Bulma thought that something like this was original and fun. It didn't involve fighting in any sense of the word and the world seemed so peaceful that night.
Once everyone was settled on their respective blankets - Chi Chi and Goku, Bulma and Vegita, Gohan and Videl, Krillan, Eighteen and Marron, Tein and Choa-su shared a blanket while Yaumcha was forced to share with Master Roshi. Dende and Mr. Popo sat nearby and Makoto was lying on her back with Trunks and Goten snuggled into her sides. As the last of the day's dying light faded from the world and the stars twinkled overhead Goten spoke.
"Mako-chan? Will you tell us a story? You promised!"
Makoto laughed a little. "Of course. Now, where to begin. Right, it was a night just like this one, the sky was clear and twinkling with stars - only this story begins many, many years ago, on the moon. You see, there was once a grand kingdom on the moon, made of silver. The Moon Kingdom was the leader of an alliance of all the kingdoms in the sloar system, and the alliance was called the Silver Millenium. The Silver Millenium was ruled by a fair queen who was just and kind - "
"Queen?" Vegita snorted. Bulma smacked his arm.
" Yes a queen. Queen Selenity had a daughter, Serenity, called Usagi by her friends. Now, on this night there was a ball taking place, it was the princess's fifteenth birthday, and that night she would meet the man of her dreams. She was betrothed to a prince called Endymon, who was the crown prince of Earth, the only planet in the Solar System that was not a member of the Silver Millenium..."
*
Picollo listened as Makoto wove her spell of love and friendship. As the stars streaked across the sky overhead she told the group of Usagi, of Minako, Ami, Rei and the outers. Tale after tale she spun a web of intracate stories that would eventually come crashing down around them. The magic was woven, keeping even Vegita enraptured with this tale of love and betrayed. Of joy and death.
She herself seemed to have come out of a storybook herself. Telling the z-fighters about the Silver Milennium, much less her own story as the princess of Jupiter, allowed them into the secret places in her heart. Until now Picollo hadn't been sure if she was ready to start life again without the other Sailor Senshi, but she was. He supposed that spending a year in the time chamber helped as well. She had had a lot of time to consider what she was going to do when she got out of the never-ending room, and she had chosen to make a life out of the situation she found herself in.
Watching her as she described her past to the two little boys on either of her arms from where he sat under a nearby palm tree caused Picollo to reaize that, even though she'd only been with them for four days, she had wormed her way into the hearts of everyone who lived on the lookout, two small demi- sayajins and was working on the rest of them. She'd somehow found a nook in his cold heart to fit herself into. He didn't mind though, sure she was weak, startlingly so. She had once been a warrior, a very powerful one, but her kind of fighting, the magical kind of fighting had died long ago when Chaos had returned from the depths of hell and destroyed the Neo-Silver Millenium, leaving Makoto on her own, wounded and locked in a crystal.
Another small thing he noticed was how much she adored Trunks and Goten. She would have been such a wonderful mother should she have been given the chance, and the thought that she never had something she so obviously wanted hurt not only her, but anyone who watched. It was painful for Dende, Picollo or Mr. Popo to watch as she became best friends with Trunks and Goten, even if it left such a happy feeling on the air. It hurt her that the two boys weren't actually her's, and Picollo saw that.
"On Princess Serenity's seventeenth birthday there was to be another ball, but that night did not go as planned. With the Jovian fleet missing the Moon Kingdom's defenses were weaker than they normally would, and Metallia and Beryl struck. The Sailor Senshi led their warriors in a fierce battle, but in the end they fell. Endymon faced Beryl to protect Serenity and fell, and Serenity, unwilling to live without her beloved took his sword and plunged it into her heart. The Queen was devastated, so in a last attack she took the ginishouzou and sealed Beryl and Metallia into exile, sending her daughter, her prince and the Senshi into the future of earth to be reborn, so that they could once again have the cance at happy lives." Makoto finished the tale of the Silver Millenium as the last of the metors flew through the atmosphere of the planet.
"What happens next?" Trunks asked. "After they get reborn?"
"Yes, what happens to Serenity and Endymon?" Videl asked, stars in her eyes.
Makoto smiled. "That is another story altogether, and one we should save for later, because it's a long one, and it's really late."
"But Mako..." Trunks and Goten whined.
"No buts. It's time for little boys to be in bed." Makoto replied as the z-team began to gather their things and head home. Chi Chi and Bulma said goodbye to the two demi-sayajins and soon everyone was gone. Goten and Trunks were both really tired, even if they didn't want to admit it. Makoto rose, Goten in her arms and Picollo appeared next to her, stooping to pick up Trunks. He followed her to they would be using and they tucked them into the over-sized bed. Makoto then moved to her room and changed into her nighgown and robe, moving out onto her balcony to watch the stars a bit more.
"Are you alright Makoto?" Picollo asked, floating up to the balcony to stand next to her.
"I'll be okay. Memories like those are hard to remember." Makoto replied, smiling slightly at him.
"Yes, but they are memories that spin quite the magical tale."
"Yes, but none of them know that they're my memories, not just a story from a book." She replied softly.
"I know." Picollo said, placing a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "But you are allowing yourself to move on in life by remember and sharing the past. Tales like these need to be told."
"But it hurts, Picollo."
"I know it does."
