AN: Ha, another update in less than 12 hours! Take that! … Ahem. Anyway, thank you to the readers who were kind enough to review so quickly; I really appreciate it. I meant to make this the last chapter, but I ended up deciding there will be an epilogue. I should post it within another day or so.

Disclaimer: It's dark, and I don't own anything Sailor Moon. DAAARK!

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A dazzling flash of light filled the chamber, momentarily blinding the Guardian Senshi. When it cleared, they knew Cosmos had succeeded. It was Mamoru slumped by her side now, not the evil prince who had been both her enemy and lover. He looked pale and a little worse for wear, but they thought he'd be okay. It was Jupiter who realized how bad Cosmos looked and called out for the others.

Her skin was ashen, and color began to leech back into her hair as it returned to its natural gold. Her transformation faded, flickering through the stages until she returned to Sailor Moon. Her shrieks had stopped, but she was barely moving or breathing. Blood-colored tears rolled down her cheeks.

Mamoru was the first one to say anything. "Usa! Sailor Moon, wake up. Look at me. Look at me! I need to know you're all right! Tell me how to help. I can heal you, right? Mercury?" He shifted Sailor Moon into his lap before glancing helplessly at her guardians. "What can I do to make her better? There has to be something!"

"Too late…" the blonde whispered. "No time. Only long enough for one… last… wish…" The second crystal appeared in her hand again, as dull as she was. "Give them their future… Build their eternity…"

I don't want to die. I've spent all these lives wishing I'd sacrifice myself for a cause and never wake up again. Now that it's happening, I want to stay. I know I can't. It's too late, but I can make everything the way it should be. I've accepted who I am, including the warrior I've always despised. I've accepted my fate. If I come back, so be it.

In that moment, she knew it was the last life she'd ever have. Carefully, she lifted her free hand and caressed Mamoru's cheek. "I love you," she whispered before holding the Cosmos Crystal up. Another burst of its light surrounded them, lifting them out of the Dark Kingdom and setting them in the park where they'd met. "I'm sorry… it took me so long… to save you…"

"What did you do?" he demanded, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"Darkness… has to go somewhere… I chose to take it… so you'd be free…"

Mamoru's gaze latched on Mars, who was shaking and pale. "Won't it just turn her to the Dark Kingdom? Can't we save her like she did for me?"

The fiery Senshi shook her head. "It's poisoning her from the inside. Between that and using those crystals- she's dying."

"No. No, she can't die. She'll be okay, right? She's strong enough for that? Can't I heal her? Isn't that what my power is for?"

"She's too far gone," Jupiter said gently. "She knew what would happen."

"Then why do it? She didn't have to come back! She shouldn't have come back!"

"Don't cry…" Sailor Moon told Mamoru gently. "It doesn't hurt much…"

An icy chill ran down his spine. "You're giving up?"

"I made my choice… Jupiter's right… I knew what I was doing…"

"I can't lose you," he said desperately. "Tell me how to fix this. I don't care if I end up your enemy again; just tell me what to do. Don't die, Usa. Please."

"It's too late… I'm sorry…"

"No, there has to be something!"

"Sorry…" Her Ginzuishou fell into her hands before she gave it to him. "You'll know… what it's for… I love you."

With her last breath, she threw the Cosmos Crystal skyward. It shattered as she went limp, filling the air with shards. The fragments began to grow, forming a massive palace of crystal around them. The foreseen future, the paradise of Crystal Tokyo, had been born, but she'd been the tragedy that sparked it.

"No!" Mamoru shouted. "Usagi!"

"It's too late," Mercury said as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. "She's gone, Mamoru-san. She's gone…"

"She can't be gone," he snapped. "She'll come back. She always comes back; she told me so herself! There has to be a way!"

"She made her choice," Jupiter told him. "You know that."

"It doesn't matter! She promised she'd love me forever!"

"But you did this to her!" Mars screamed. "You're the one who pushed her into this! How dare you act like you're the only one hurting!"

"Mars, stop," Venus ordered, rubbing her eyes as if she were forcing herself not to cry. "We all knew it would end this way."

Sailor Pluto stepped out of a gate set in the room they were in. "This is not the end. Your duty is not yet complete, Sailor Senshi. There is still a task at hand."

Mamoru ignored her, only holding Sailor Moon more tightly. It was Mercury who finally responded after several long, tense seconds. "And what would that be?"

"You have to build your future and guard her child as you would have her."

"Child?" Mamoru repeated. "She never had a child. I would've known."

"The princess kept her secret well, Endymion. She left to protect your daughter. She came back to save you."

"I'll follow you," he whispered as he caressed her hair, not even hearing what the Time Guardian had said. "I deserve to die anyway. You should have let me die so you would've survived."

"Enough," Pluto said sternly, drawing his attention back to her. "You cannot abandon life so easily, Endymion. You have a task to complete as well. If you wish to rejoin her in the paradise she has earned, you must live long enough to make amends for what you have done."

The distraught hero finally looked at her. "If I do whatever it is, I'll be with her again? What is it?"

"You have to live."

"That's it? Just live. YOU EXPECT ME TO LIVE AFTER THIS?"

"No. You have to live to do the things she would have done had she survived. You have to raise your daughter and rule your kingdom. This is your planet, Endymion, and a responsibility you have failed to uphold for too long. She gave you a second chance. If you can prove you deserved it, if you can do what has to be done, you will go to her when you die."

"Do you think I deserve to be a king after what I've done? Do you THINK I can do this without her? I can't deal with any of this! A child you claim I have, one I've never seen- you think I can be a parent?"

A bundle of blankets appeared in her arms, and she extended them toward the grief-stricken man. "She is named for her mother. The Ginzuishou Sailor Moon gave you is for her. When she is old enough to take it up and rule as the Moon Queen Sailor Moon would have been, your task will be done. Can you accept that, Endymion? Or will you resign yourself to an eternity without the one you love most?"

Mamoru accepted the baby in shock, looking down at a face he somehow knew would be a perfect replica of her mother's some day. "I- I can't call her Usagi. I can barely say the name as it is."

"Before she died," Jupiter said, voice cracking, "Usagi-chan called her Chibiusa."

"Chibiusa," he repeated hoarsely. "Gods, she looks just like her." He shot a horrified look at Pluto. "I don't know how to raise a child. I don't know how to be king. How can I succeed with all this when I can barely remember how to be human?"

"It is up to you to find the answer, Endymion, because you are a king and a father now. This palace was built with Sailor Moon's last breath, but you must guard the kingdom she has given you."

She vanished, leaving them to their grief and their tasks.

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AN: Yes, I realize this is very sad and probably not what anyone expected, but as I said when I started this story, it's an experiment. I'm just writing it as it comes to mind, and this is what came to mind. If you don't like it, I'm sorry, but I felt like it worked with the premise I've been developing since the first chapter. Please review, and I'll see you in the epilogue.