Refractions of Souls

By

Black Rose

Chapter Four: A Father's Gift

"Along the road ahead lies something you need. However, in order to claim it, you must lose something that is dear to you" Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

MoonKindom Present day

The Moon Princess walked down the stone halls to the prayer room. Luna followed her. She didn't really know why, but she had a feeling that it was right thing to do. She knew that her daughter and Hotaru had gone to earth, and she had a feeling of why. The two entered the peaceful room. Bunny glanced around until she saw it.

The holy blade was embedded in the floor of the prayer room. It was glowing and humming. From within the blade, an image appeared before them of a male.

Usagi couldn't believe what she was seeing—a ghost of a man that looked very familiar to her, but she had never seen him before. He stood next to the stone sword, which, once again, was embedded in the floor of the prayer room.

"My daughter Serenity, if you are here then what I have feared has come to pass," stated the ghostlike man.

"Daughter?" Bunny asked, confused on why this man was calling her his daughter.

"Yes, my beloved daughter, I'm your father from the past, though you may not remember me," he stated.

"Luna?" Bunny asking, looking down at her cat.

"I don't remember there being a King, but I believe that I have seen him before," Luna stated, moving in front of her change just in case something was to go wrong.

The spirit smiled at them.

"I see you haven't changed, Luna—still very protective of your queen," he stated kindly.

The spirit glanced back at his daughter.

"Allow me to show you some of my life with you, and it may answer some questions that you have come to ask about," he suggested.

Bunny and Luna looked at one another and nodded.

"Very well," replied the princess.

"Thank you," he said.

Waving his hand over the holy sword, a white light shone around them. When the light faded, they were in a different room.

"The day you were born was one of the happiest days of my life—you so looked like you mother, but you had my eyes," he stated as they saw ghostlike images around them.

They saw him standing next to a bed with the late queen handing over their baby over to him. He held the newborn with care and love.

"We named you after your mother, and knew one day that you would be a great queen," he stated with love in his voice.

"Over time you grew and found your closest friends—some the same age, some older, and even one who was younger," he stated with worry in his voice.

"I was gone a lot, for a reason that you don't need to know at this time, just know that I came and saw you as much as I could," he stated with sadness.

The images changed around them as they saw a young princess grow and find her senshi.

"The day that your mother told me what your senshi have done, I was not the happiest man alive."

Flashback

"Serenity, why didn't you stop it?" he asked with worry in his voice.

"I didn't know; they did the bonding without telling me or the other mothers," stated the queen with a calm voice even though she, too, was worried.

"To give our daughter their powers and all will kill her," he stated, pacing back and forth in the master bedroom.

"Yes, I know. And I must say that I'm very proud of our daughter, for she gave them back their powers, but with the bonding added to it, so she wouldn't die," Serenity stated, watching him as he continued to pace back and forth.

"They love her and wouldn't do anything to harm her," she stated, trying to get him to understand why they did it.

He stopped moving and looked out the window to the gardens and saw his daughter talking and playing with all her senshi. He, too, knew that his daughter loved them—and then some, to a level that he didn't understand.

"I don't understand, Serenity, and maybe it's not for me to understand, but, as a father, I need to make sure that in case something goes wrong, my daughter has a chance at living," he stated as a tear or two slipped down his face.

The images changed again. This time they saw him walking down a road into a cave.

Within the cave was a very well-built man working in his own blacksmith shop.

"Hephaestus, you there?" he called out.

"I'm here, my old friend, come in," stated the blacksmith.

"I could feel the heat of the flames that made all his crafts and sculptures and swords. Hephaestus was an old friend of mine, and we each had a daughter. His daughter would one day become the leader of the senshi."

"Venus…" Bunny stated sadly, missing the feeling of her love goddess.

The father looked at her and nodded.

"I told Hephaestus what had happened and he laughed, happy," he stated with amusement in his voice.

"That is my daughter for you, she loves your daughter so much that she told her mother that she would never marry because she belonged to her," Hephaestus said with happiness in his voice.

"Then I told him about my fear and he understood why I would feel that way. And so we talked it over, on what we could do about it. We came up with a plan. He would make me a sword that would keep the other powers in check for a short while. It wouldn't fix the problem, but it would give you time to figure something else out.

He then asked me to travel around the earth and the solar system, finding the rarest materials for it, and so I did.

As I traveled, I found myself on the home planets of each of your senshi, where I'd find these rare materials that I had never seen before—each calling out to me as if they knew why I was there. On earth I, too, was called and found my way to the golden kingdom where a young prince and his men were working on their sword shipment.

The young prince was kind and when I told him what I was looking for, he offered the material that he and his men had, which had been passed down from father- to-son."

"Mamo-chan?"

"I thanked the young man and it wasn't until I met a young priest on my way out of the kingdom that I started to understand a little. The young priest told me to have faith in you and that of your senshi.

He also said that I should have faith that what I knew was true. He then left me to my thoughts. As I traveled back to Hephaestus, I knew that something else was going on which was out of my understanding, but, like the young priest said, I should and did have faith in what I knew to be true and also I had faith in you, my daughter.

When I returned to Hephaestus, he was shocked at what I had found, and at once started to work on the sword. As he did, you could see the care he put into this work and the love he had for it.

It took many months to get it into shape, and even more months just to form it into what you see today. By the time it was done, you had grown to be about 12 years of age."

End Flashback

As Bunny and Luna watched and listened to his story, they both felt what he had said to be true. Images flowed through their heads of this man and somewhat more than he had said. Tears were falling from their eyes. The spirit smiled sadly at them.

"My daughter knew that I loved you, and knew that I was royalty, but my family and history are lost and it's not for you to know at this time," he stated, looking back at the sword.

"My beloved Serenity, this gift that I have made for you also belongs to one other, and she is the only other one who can use this sword and its power," he stated with kindness and a small smile.

"My Venus," stated Bunny, slowly walking up to the sword and caressing it. It glowed at her touch.

"Yes, because her father had made it, she was, and is still will be, able to use this sword to protect you for time and eternity," he stated.

It was then she felt it, the symbol of Saturn appeared on her forehead under her birthmark.

"Saturn..." she stated worriedly.

"Bunny, Saturn is in trouble, we have to go," stated Luna, also feeling that one of her queen's senshi was in trouble.

Bunny was about to leave when the spirit of her father stopped her.

"Serenity, take the sword with you, it will help you find her and the ones who have lost their way," he stated kindly but also out of deep worry for her.

Serenity walked shortly over to the sword and pulled it out of the floor with care. The images of her late father faded.

"Be careful, my daughter, for this is the only thing I could do for you," stated his voice from all around the room.

Bunny smiled sadly. She then picked up Luna with her free arm. Luna licked her face to bring her some comfort.

"Thank you, Luna. Now let's go, I'm not losing any more of my Senshi."

She then called on her Ginzuishou and disappeared.

Earth- A Park near Hikawa Shrine

How did this happen? She and Small Lady and gone down to earth to see if they could find their fellow senshi and ask them why. Small Lady wasn't in a right state of mind when she found out that her mother could not feel the other senshi. So without saying anything they headed back to earth. They were just on their way to Rei's place. It wasn't until they heard screaming that they took off to see what was going on. A random youma was attacking the people in the park. They both henshin and engaged.

It wasn't long before this fight became a little too much for them. It was right before an act on Chibi Moon, that some people saved her. It was her own senshi.

Not long after Bunny's senshi showed up but couldn't henshin themselves, Saturn cast her Silence Wall attack. She wasn't about to let this thing hurt her family, even if she wasn't very happy with them at this point in time. The youma kept attacking her wall over and over again.

"Saturn!" yelled Chibi Moon. Next to her Sailor Senshi, Sailor Ceres was holding her back from running over to her.

"Let me go, I have to help...save her," Chibi Moon stated with tears running down her face.

Saturn knew she didn't have the energy to keep the wall up anymore, and knew that something about this was going to hurt. The youma hit the energy wall again and this time it broke through and headed straight at her.

She closed her eyes, waiting for the pain to come. She felt something warm around her. She slowly opened her eyes.

Her eyes grew in shock; the person was holding her with one arm around her and the other blocking the attack.

"Sailor Moon?" Saturn asked, not sure if her mind was playing games with her.

Sailor Moon glanced over to her and gave a small smile but what Saturn saw in her eyes was not peaceful at all but a rage she had one seen once before and that was back in the Sliver Millennium.

She shook her head at the image that flowed in her mind of the past. She then saw what was blocking the attack, and this worried her even more.

"No, not that?" she screamed in her mind.

As if reading her senshi's mind,

"My beloved Saturn, do not fear, I don't plan to take my life with it," she stated in a tone that was very much that of a future queen. There was no fear in her voice but worry, pain, and a little happiness in it.

Sailor Moon glanced to her left to see that her only daughter was alright and her senshi from the future were watching out for her.

She then glanced back at the youma and narrowed her eyes at it. She used her strength to push the youma away from her and her youngest senshi.

The youma yelled in fury and got ready to attack again.

"Sailor Moon, I will take her to safety," stated a deep male voice.

Tuxedo Kamen appeared out of nowhere and moved to take Saturn from her arm, but before he could even get near her something odd happened.

"Don't touch her!" Sailor Moon yelled with a commanding voice, moving her and her senshi away from him.

To say that this shocked him and everyone else would have been an understatement. Tuxedo Kamen didn't move from where he was. He looked into Sailor Moon's eyes, which were glowing along with her birthmark through his mask. It was then what he saw within those lovely eyes that he understood. He didn't know how he knew; only that he did.

"My Beloved Princess, I understand," he told her with all the love he held for her. He saw her glance at him and smile in return to him, then glance back at the youma.

He glanced at the youma as well and saw it was about to attack, and some little part of him felt sorry for it, but he knew what he needed to do.

"Sailor Moon, please allow me to take Saturn over to Chibi Moon, she is very worried about her," he stated calmly and nicely.

She still didn't let Saturn go and, in a way, held her closer. Saturn felt safe in her princess's arms but she, too, knew that she was just in the way but something inside her told her this had happened before. She glanced at the Prince and slowly shook her head as if to tell him not to try again.

They didn't get very far as the youma attacked the three of them right then. The two jumped out of the way, and landed a little ways from the youma.

Chibi Moon could feel what her mother was going through, somewhat. It was like every part of her body wanted to protect her best friend and not let anyone else touch her. The part that made her blush a little was the other thoughts that came to mind but she shook them away.

"You alright, Small Lady?" asked Sailor Pallas, seeing the small blush on her princess's face.

Small Lady nodded and glanced back at the fight and it was then, when she saw the sword in Sailor Moon's hand, that she got a look of worry in her eyes.

"No, it can't be." she stated with worry in her voice and a little scared for her future mother. Her body started to shake and she gracefully fell to the ground.

"Small Lady?" her senshi yelled.

This got everyone to turn to them. Sailor Moon knocked the youma away again before turning to see what had happened to her future daughter. She saw her daughter holding herself and worry overtook her. She jumped over to her with Sailor Saturn still in her arms. She let Saturn go nicely on the ground but not out of reach. She placed the sword down and slowly took her future daughter in her arms.

"My dear Small Lady, don't fear; everything will be alright," she stated with a deep calming voice sounding very much like Neo Queen Serenity.

She got up and glanced at Saturn and then her daughter and smiled a little at them. She then felt something. She glanced at the sword. It was glowing a deep yellow. She knew that this was the sign that her father was talking about.

She picked it up and gripped the sword and slowly turned with tears in her eyes. There, not too far from her, were her senshi—all of them. Even though she couldn't feel them, she could see the worry and helplessness in their eyes.

"Sailor Moon, deal with the youma, first," Luna advised.

"You're right, Luna," she replied, turning to see her boyfriend keeping the youma at bay. She could tell this youma was fast, but when it came to speed no one was as fast as her Uranus. She moved her sword in front of her.

She closed her eyes and the symbol of Uranus appeared under her crescent moon and then, like the wind, she moved, hitting the youma with the force of the wind making it flop around on the ground like a rag doll.

Everyone just blinked, and couldn't believe what they'd just seen.

"Did anyone see her move?" asked Makota, glancing at everyone.

The inner senshi shook their heads. Everyone turned back to the fight as the youma yelled while getting up.

Michriu and Haruka glanced at one another and had a feeling that they knew where their powers went, too. They glanced at Setsuna and she nodded that what they were thinking was right.

"Are you happy now?" asked a very upset short dark haired senshi.

They all turned to Saturn who was slowly getting up. She was holding herself and had her head down.

"What are you talking about Saturn? Of course we're not happy we can't help our princess," stated Minako.

Saturn started to giggle darkly. Everyone who wasn't fighting got shivers down their back, other than Chibi Moon—she was looking from Saturn to the other girls and then back again. It was then she looked back at her future mother and father.

That's when she knew what had happened and she held herself even more.

"Why?" she asked, the same thing her mother did before she left to go to the past.

She then remembered something her mother told her in one of her lessons.

Flashback

She was in a room full of artifacts from the past with her mother. One artifact was what they were talking about today: The Holy Sword of the Moon. The craftsmanship that was put into it was done by a master blacksmith with years of experience.

"Small Lady, this sword was made by your grandfather and Venus's father of the Silver Millennium. They made this sword so that I wouldn't die if my senshi ever died or didn't want to be my senshi anymore," stated Neo Queen Serenity with a deep sadness that she had never heard before.

"I don't understand, Mother, why would your senshi want to stop being senshi?" asked Small Lady.

Neo Queen Serenity kneeled down to her daughter's height and looked into her deep blood-red eyes with love for her.

"I don't know, my daughter, I love my senshi with everything I have, and then some..." she stopped talking and glanced at the sword and then back at her daughter.

Small Lady could tell her mother didn't want to think about why they wouldn't want to be with her, but some part of her knew that there was more to this than if they just stopped being senshi.

"Oh my beloved daughter, the only way I would use that sword would be if two things happened—if my senshi died, or if they...broke the sacred bond that they have with me," Neo Queen Serenity stated with sad eyes as if it had happened.

End Flashback

Chibi Moon had tears in her eyes. Her Senshi each put a hand on her to give what comfort they could. They didn't really know what was going on, but something was making their princess very upset.

"Saturn, did they?" asked Chibi Moon, looking over and up at her best friend.

Saturn didn't look back at her, but just nodded.

"Saturn..." stated Chibi Moon with worry in her voice.

The asteroids senshi glanced at Saturn and felt her power on overdrive. The cold stone eyes just looked ahead as if into another world or life.

Chibi Moon's Pink Moon Crystal started to flare and cast a barrier around her and her senshi. It then floated out of her locket and landed softly in her hands.

"My crystal?" stated the Princess of the Future with confusion in her voice.

Sailor Moon felt her youngest power as did everyone else around. She knew that she needed to finish this, fast, before something bad happened.

The youma knew something wasn't right about this, and didn't understand, just knew that it needed to kill them. It was about to attack again when something kept it in its place. It looked down and saw that it had heart-like chain tied around its legs and arms and it was coming from the ground.

It tried to get it off, but every time it tried to touch it, it was set on fire.

She looked over at this Sailor Moon person and saw that under the birthmark were two new symbols, those of the planets Mars and Venus.

"You tried to take what is mine and now you will pay for it!" yelled Sailor Moon, raising the stone sword into the air high above her head.

She closed her eyes.

"Father, thank you for the love and wisdom you have given me through this gift, and I promise that I'll use this sword with great care," she stated in her mind. The tears keep falling from her glowing eyes.

"MOON TEAR SLASH!" she yelled. The blade started to glow with power unforeseen in ten thousand years.

The princess threw the sword down and a pure light shot right at the youma and hit it dead-on. It screamed as it turned to dust.

She sighed as her powers calmed down, somewhat. She felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced behind her to see her boyfriend smiling at her.

"Sailor Moon, you alright?" he asked softly.

"I will be when I can feel my senshi again," she replied with a small smile of hers. They both then turned to the group that was watching and saw something they wish they didn't.

"Saturn..." Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen stated at the same time.

As Sailor Moon finished off the youma, the inner senshi started to move but were stopped by a loud voice.

"I have had enough!" Saturn yelled with her powers flaring around her. Her own birthmark appeared.

Everyone around started to move away from her. Her stone cold eyes started to glow.

"Titan Castle of my mother star Saturn, release my true form!" she yelled while a dark purple light covered her in a dome. Everyone watched as the area around them started to change. The park that they were in was now gone. Around them was a crystal-like sky. Under them it looked like the darkest part of the ocean. They could see their own refractions within the water-like floor.

The dome around Saturn slowly started to fade away and within its mist stood a very elegant looking woman. Her black and purple dress fell around her like it was part of her skin. She showed off her body very nicely.

Her hair was a little darker than before, but the same length. She slowly opened her eyes. What they saw was deep power and sadness. Her stone cold eyes were still glowing but in a way that stated death.

"It's Princess Saturn," stated Setsuna with worry in her voice.

"You should be worried, Pluto, for what you all have done to our princess is forbidden, and I should end your lives now," stated Saturn with such a deep coldness and calmness that it was scary, to say the least.

"What are you talking about? We have not done anything to the princess," stated Amy with fear and confusion in voice.

Princess Saturn walked ghostlike over in front of the bigger group, her back to the Prince and Princess, as if to guard them.

"The fact that I have to tell you, tells me I should end this all," Saturn replied.

"You wouldn't do that, Hotaru," stated Michriu, holding her lover's hand.

Princess Saturn's eyes flashed with power.

"Do you know who you're talking to?" she yelled. The world around them started to shake.

"I'm Princess Saturn, the Senshi of Death and Rebirth. Hotaru is just an earth name given to me, but not who I am," she stated with deep anger.

The inner and outer senshi could feel the power coming off her.

Luna knew that this was bad and shouldn't be happening now. She ran over to her queen. She knew that Saturn watched her but didn't say anything.

"Sailor Moon," she stated to get the Princess to turn to her.

"Luna, what has happened to Hotaru?" she asked with worry for her youngest senshi.

"Somehow Hotaru unlocked her true and final form; this form is what she will be like when you and the prince take the throne," stated Luna.

Sailor Moon nodded that she understood. Something inside her could understand why people would fear her, but this final form of Saturn's was, well, hot, if not a little sexy.

She knew that she needed to do something, but she knew, as did everyone else, if Saturn just thought the words this world would end. Sailor Moon turned to her boyfriend.

"Mamo-chan," she stated to him. They both looked into one another's eyes and it was like they knew everything would be alright. They held each other's hand as their Silver Crystal and Golden Crystal washed over them, and turned into their final forms, as well.

Saturn felt the power of her queen and king. She turned slowly to address them. When she saw them she knelt on one knee and bowed her head to them.

Neo Queen Serenity smiled at her.

"My beloved Saturn, please arise," stated the Neo Queen.

Saturn slowly got up and saw the love that her queen and king had for her, which made her even more upset at what the others had done. The Neo Queen saw this and frowned.

"My dear Saturn, what has made you so upset?" asked the Neo Queen, for she didn't like seeing anyone she loved more than anything upset.

"I'm sorry, my queen, but your so-called Senshi have done the most forbidden and have broken the sacred bond they have with you," Saturn stated with a deep sadness and hate.

Neo Queen Serenity closed her eyes as a couple of tears fell from her lovely blue eyes. She gripped the sword in her free hand as the other one was holding her boyfriend's hand. She reopened her eyes, looking right into the stone cold eyes with love and understanding. She then glanced behind Saturn and saw the shocked looks on some of her senshi's faces. Most coming from her inner senshi, but it looked like her outer knew at least to some degree, anyway.

"Oh, my beloved Saturn, I'm aware of what they have done, for I wouldn't have their powers if they didn't, for that is why I have the gift that Venus's and my father made for us," she stated with a deep sadness and love.

Minako glanced at the sword and every part of her body shook in fear. It was like she knew that sword better than anyone other than her queen herself. The others didn't understand. They thought that sword was lost in the battle with the Dark Kingdom.

Chibi Moon and her Senshi watched now with understanding on what had happened. Her pink moon crystal was keeping them safe. Chibi Moon still had tears in her eyes but her eyes were now glowing with power.

When her best friend turned into her final form, it was like everything else didn't matter: just her. She didn't understand what was going on, but something inside her knew that she wanted to very close to her Saturn.

This new feeling was like nothing she had ever felt before and her crystal was keeping it at bay. She glanced at her future mother and saw her looking at her with a look like she knew something that she wasn't telling her, or like she understood what she was feeling.

Neo Queen Serenity glanced back at Saturn. She then felt a pulse through her crystal and knew that she needed to get out of this form, and fast. She turned to the love of her life.

"Endymion, you would please go over next to Small Lady," she asked him nicely.

He glanced at her and nodded, but before doing so, he kissed her. She smiled into the kiss. She loved that about him. He knew that she needed that and welcomed it.

He then walked over to his future daughter and smiled at her. She smiled back, but didn't take her eyes off Saturn. He thought this was odd but knew in time that everything would be understood.

Saturn and Serenity looked at one another—one showing great love, while the other showing power and hope.

Serenity walked calmly over to her youngest senshi and placed her hand on her cheek. She watched as Saturn moved into the hand, placing one of her hands over it.

"Saturn, I love you, so please, for me, do not destroy this world or my other senshi," stated the queen with love and hope in her eyes. She then pulled Saturn into a hug and held her there.

Saturn started to shake at the love she could feel from her queen.

"Saturn, I would show you how much I love you, but I believe my only daughter would kill me," she stated, half playfully and half being very serious, in her senshi's ear. She felt Saturn stop moving altogether.

She stroked Saturn's hair and calmly pulling away, she kissed her birthmark on her head. It was too much and Saturn passed out with her power and form disappearing. The queen held her.

"Luna," Neo Queen stated, looking at her guardian.

Luna nodded her head and closed her eyes, letting her powers flow and turning into her human form. She took Hotaru from her and just held her in her arms.

"Luna, take Hotaru over to my daughter before she loses what little control she has," she told her with amusement in her voice.

Luna nodded and did what she was told. As she was doing this, Serenity turned to her other senshi. The amusement left her eyes and sadness took its place.

"I don't know why you broke that bond with me, and I hope it wasn't because I did something, but please know that I love all of you," she stated as the crystal's power washed over her and returned her to her human form.

Thing started to blur. The world around them started to change back to the park it was. She still was holding the stone sword. The sword glowed and turned itself into a bracelet before she, too, passed out.

"Thank you, Father," she thought as she gracefully fell to the ground.

"USAGI!" they all yelled but before any one of them could get to her Luna was there, picking her queen up and holding her. Her cat-like eyes glared at them.

"Stay BacK!" Yelled Luna