Author's Notes: If you don't already know, everything before Chapter 9 has been rewritten. Now I would like to introduce a couple new characters. You may have seen hints of them in my other stories. Please welcome "Far Moon Warrior" Miyamoto (Palace True) Yuzuki (Gentle Moon), and "Sailor Ladybug" Chiba (Earth) Tentomushi (Ladybug)

Chapter 10
Pyre

The Call

Something was stirring in Shingo. Something he did not understand. He was sitting quietly, reading through the scroll of homework he had just completed with Hotaru. Professor Lupin had just set them their first combined attack, a defensive strategy geared towards those with overwhelming force, and they had worked for over an hour to get it right. According to Usagi it was more difficult because they were not yet Soul-Bonded, but with a little help from her and Mamoru they had done it.

He was glad his sister was doing better. And she really was. She looked a bit different now, but he was getting used to the new look, which actually rather suited her. The major difference however, was that she seemed to be healthier and have better balance. The curse that had been lifted had been set on her so long ago that none of them had ever been aware of it. They'd all long assumed Usagi just had problems.

Hotaru was just standing up from the table when the strange feeling overwhelmed him. He felt as though he were being drawn somewhere. Being pulled.

"What's happ-" he got out before he felt a tug around his middle.

Hotaru gave him a terrified look and grabbed his hand before they were both drawn away through...something. There was a moment when they were in complete blackness. Then Shingo felt it was time to step out and entered his own bedroom back in Tokyo. He stared in shock at his own figure sleeping in the bed.

"Is that...?" Hotaru whispered, shocked.

"Me," he answered just as quietly. "Hold on," he continued, and stepped towards the bed. There was something he needed to do. At first he was confused, and then it came to him as if he'd always had the knowledge. It was that way with his attacks sometimes, so he just let the words flow out of him.

"Blue Moon Whisper," he spoke, and a small blue light left his hand and hovered over the sleeping form of his past self. How he knew it was his past he could not explain, but he did know. And he smiled as the light reached the head on the pillows and flowed in.

"You're the one who lifted the block," Hotaru whispered.

"I am," Shingo said quietly. "Apparently this is how it happened." He glanced at the calendar. "This is the night before Haruki and I saved Takeo from the Youma."

"Okay, so how do we get back?" Hotaru asked.

"We don't. Not yet. There's another change I have to make. Something was missed." Shingo couldn't explain how he knew, but he did. Someone had tampered not just with time, but with his chronicles. Since he was their keeper, he had the ability to trace the change and prevent it. "You can help me," he whispered. "I'm sure we're about to step into an attack. A bad one. There's a person we have to save."

"We can use our new combined attack," Hotaru said quietly. "Transform," she suggested.

A moment later Blue Moon Knight and Sailor Saturn stood in his bedroom.

"Ready?" she asked.

Shingo nodded and grabbed her hand. Together they stepped forward, back into the blackness. Again he knew just when to step out, and he pulled Hotaru with him. It was daylight now. They were in what looked to be an apothecary shop or an herbalist's store. Two shimmering individuals were leaping over the counter towards a Youma with green skin and vines that stretched from it's fingertips.

Before they even landed the vines had wrapped around their necks, hardly touching them before they fell. A child was screaming somewhere, but Blue Moon Knight and Saturn stood together, her hand on his as they released their combined attack. "Blue Saturn Swarm," they cried together, and a blast of blue and yellow lights emerged from them in a wall. The Youma screamed once and turned to dust.

Saturn raced to the fallen clerks. Their skin, once a pale shimmering white, had turned blue. Their hair was red, and their eyes a glowing green color. Now the male was dead and the female dying.

"My child..." the woman whispered and Blue Moon Knight raced to the back to collect the young girl, who appeared to be around the age of seven or eight. The girl followed him back to her parents, screaming.

"Mommy!" she shouted and fell down beside the woman.

"Safe?" the woman questioned. The little one nodded. The mother's eyes flared and the girl's reflected the light for a brief moment before the woman turned to look at him. "Protect her?" she asked.

He released his henshin and knelt next to her. "I don't know how strong I am, but my sister and the others can help me. We will protect her. I promise."

"More assassins," she whispered, her strength obviously failing. "Two more... protect..." she seemed unable to speak another word. Shingo took her hand. The woman searched his eyes and then there was a flash as she released memories to him.

He watched their struggle to survive after their own planet was overrun. Their search for a place to call home, and then a message that one group had found a place of safety on Earth. They had relocated to Ireland where it was easier to blend in with the people. But then, ten years before, the Negaverse had begun attacking near their home. As a group they had fought the Youma off, taking them out as quickly as Beryl could release them.

Until she created three assassin Youma, specifically designed to take out their race. Families had fallen, one by one, until they had scattered. Shingo realized this time was much further along than the time he was in with his sister only an hour before. He was several years into the future. Something had changed their plans. They were supposed to have gone to Japan, but their every turn was blocked and so they had ended up in this place instead. He looked around. Everything was written in English. They were in America.

He felt her need to protect her daughter, her love for the child, and for the mate who lay dead beside her. Her soulmate. He saw her sadness that their own planet had been destroyed, and that her daughter's destiny had been erased.

Shingo bent down and whispered to her. "Don't worry, she has a different destiny now. She will be safe."

The woman blinked her eyes and tried to reach for her daughter's hand one last time. Her movements were weak. The little girl clutched at her and then bent and kissed her mother's cheek. "I love you mommy," she cried.

When the woman's eyes glazed Hotaru moved and lowered her lids, and those of the man who was her mate.

"She didn't tell me how your people care for your dead," Shingo whispered, putting his arm around the younger girl.

"They go to the sun," she said. "We all do. The sun takes care of us."

Shingo nodded. He had a perfect idea then. He stood and helped the girl up. "Hotaru and I will help you gather your things, and then we will take you and your parents to the guardian of the sun in our solar system. My name is Shingo. Can I ask yours?"

"I'm Yuzuki. Miyamoto Yuzuki. You're from Japan. We were supposed to go there..." the girl trailed off, her tone sad. He thought she was wondering if her parents would have lived had they gone. He didn't think they would have. Something told him she was always meant to be with Haruki and Setsuna. Though her name meant gentle moon.

"It's okay. We normally live in Japan, but right now, we are somewhere else for school. I think you'll like it there with us. Do you live here?" he asked.

She nodded. "Upstairs."

"Alright, gather what you need and we'll take all of you with us."

Less than ten minutes later Shingo placed his hands on the heads of the girl's deceased parents. Hotaru held onto one of his shoulders and Yuzuki the other. He didn't step this time. He simply willed himself into the blackness and waited for the right moment to will himself out. Back in time now, he opened his eyes to find himself in the common room. Everyone had turned to look at the new arrivals.

"What happened?" Usagi asked, rushing forward. She pulled out her Silver Crystal and tried to heal the two who were dead, but there was no bringing them back. It was far beyond their time. He had to be thankful though. In his mind he knew they had been granted many extra years because they had never gone to Japan.

"You can't save them Usagi," he whispered. "I'm sorry. They're gone. But I've brought them and their daughter here because their people are devoted to the sun, and when they die, the sun cares for them. Haruki?"

Yuzuki was crying softly. He was thankful she had held herself together long enough for them to get out, but now she was safe, and the reaction of losing both her parents was hitting her.

Haruki looked at the little girl. Her red hair and opalescent skin, her brilliant green eyes. She looked oddly like him. A look passed between himself and Setsuna and they both stepped forward to comfort the child. They sensed it too. The girl was theirs to protect and care for, and to love.

The Sun's Embrace

Usagi walked slowly towards Professor Dumbledore at the head table. She bowed low and asked with her eyes if she could approach. He seemed to understand and beckoned her forward. She stepped up and walked over still slowly. She needed his help, and she needed understanding.

"What is it Ms. Tsukino?" Professor Dumbledore asked, his voice gentle.

"I need your permission for several things Professor, and I am unsure if any of them would violate the agreement that was arranged." She paused. "This morning my brother and Hotaru disappeared for, what seemed to us, less than a minute. For them some time had passed however. My brother returned with three people. One, a child, is to be cared for by my cousin Haruki and his Soul-Bonded Setsuna. The other two, her parents, were deceased when they came. My brother promised the child that my cousin would perform the death rites as in their culture they worship the sun."

"What is required?"

"A funeral pyre. If we must, we will take it somewhere else, but we do not know where to go. Haruki is willing, but we did not want to act without your permission." She sighed, "we would also like permission to keep the child with us. Otherwise we will have to cut our visit short, I'm afraid, as there is a sort of assassin creature that was created to kill her kind and she needs our protection."

Professor Dumbledore was silent for a long moment. His eyes shimmered as though he was grieving with the girl. She understood. None of the others had come to the great hall for supper, as they had chosen to remain with her. In her own culture no one ate until the death rites were completed. She too would abstain from food until the girl's parents were cared for.

"As for the child, I believe it will be no problem to add her name to the register. Or the other child." Usagi nodded. "For the pyre, I will consult with Hagrid. We have a forest right on our doorstep as you know, so it will be up to him where to place it."

He waved the half-giant over. The man looked a bit depressed and Usagi knew he was worried about Buckbeak, his favored hippogriff, who was in danger of being put down for an injury that had been healed in moments from what she understood. Madam Pomfrey had complained about the boy's antics afterward, and she'd overheard some of it when she was in the hospital wing.

Hagrid reached them and Professor Dumbledore explained the need. Hagrid nodded and turned to Usagi. She bowed respectfully. Hagrid tried to stop her. He always did, as he wasn't one for such formality. She nodded to him instead.

"How soon?" he asked.

"As soon as possible. The girl wont eat until it is done. We're fasting with her to remember their culture."

"Would it be best ter do it at night, or during the day?" Hagrid frowned.

"I think perhaps during the day, as their people worshipped the sun in their solar system, and they turned that affection to ours."

"Alright then, bring 'em out and we can get them ready tonight. Firs' thing in the morning, as soon as the sun rises, we can do the pyre. Do you have one or two who can help me set it up? I'm strong, but not as nimble as you folks."

"Hie. I mean yes. I will send you the Shitennou."

"Alright. You do what you need, and bring 'em on out."

Into the Sun

Chibi-Mamo couldn't stop staring. He knew it was rude, but no matter what he did his eyes were drawn back to the little girl. She was so sweet and kind, and so very sad. She hadn't slept the night before according to Chibi-Usa. Instead she'd spent the whole night crying. He wished there was something he could do. But his parents were living. In two times they lived and breathed, and he could see them when he wished.

He remembered when he'd been uncertain that would continue. Not so long ago, in fact. Not for him. So he moved closer and closer to the girl, drawn to her side by something he didn't understand. He caught Minako glancing at him and the girl as he sat next to her, but he didn't care. He just sat there quietly, staying close to her.

After a time she turned and looked at him. Their eyes met and he felt as though he had known her for an eternity, though he didn't know her at all.

"Hello," she whispered.

"Hello," he whispered.

"I'm Yuzuki," she said, still quiet.

"I'm Chibi-Mamo." He reached out his hand and she took it. There was a small spark, like static electricity. "I'm very sorry about your parents," he told her.

"Me too." Yuzuki looked down at the floor and then met his eyes again. "I'm scared," she whispered. "I don't know what's to become of me."

"I'll take care of you," he promised. "My whole family will." He waved his hand around to indicate everyone in the common room.

They had all gathered to be with her in the last moments before they went downstairs. The men had returned from helping Hagrid. The ladies had finished their work creating burial robes the best they could to what the girl had described. Shingo and the other kids had worked to keep her occupied as much as they could, and when they couldn't they had simply sat near her, so she didn't feel alone.

"Haruki and Setsuna are both orphans," he told her. "They understand what it's like. They'll help you."

"Are they going to be my parents now?" she asked.

"I think, if that's what you want, then yes. But if you just want them to be people who love you and take care of you they wont mind that either. Like I said, they understand. Takeo does too."

"Okay," she whispered. "What about you?"

"I'll be your friend."

She gave him a small smile. The first one he'd seen from her, and he thought she was beautiful.

"It's time," Usagi said gently, coming towards them.

Yuzuki stood and grabbed Chibi-Mamo's hand, clinging tightly to him. He let her squeeze him, not minding the slight pain. Today would be a hard day for her. He walked with her to the center of the room where the older teens pressed them all together into a circle before they were teleported outside.

The sun was just above the mountains. There was only a single pyre, both of the bodies placed together. It was sad to see them both go, but Shingo had explained they were soulmates, and it was probably easier on them to go together, even if it was a very sad thing. Yuzuki moved closer to him and he wrapped his arm around her instinctively, giving her his other hand to squeeze.

It was Haruki who moved forward then, and in a flash he had become the Sun Knight. Yuzuki gasped and bowed instinctively. Chibi-Mamo helped her back up and hugged her.

"He's just like you and me," he whispered. "There's more to him than a normal human, but he doesn't want you to be afraid of him."

"Miyamoto Aki and Akane," Haruki said, and they all went silent to look at him. He continued, "loved their daughter, and they loved their home world. Much was lost to them in the struggle to survive. However, their daughter lives, and we hope that gives their spirits a sense of peace as they move on. In their culture, the worshiped the sun for bringing life, and we welcomed into the embrace of the sun at their death. Though I cannot give them the fire of their own sun, I can give them the embers of ours."

Yuzuki was sniffling in Chibi-Mamo's arms, and he tightened his hold on her.

Haruki moved forward and flame leapt from his fingertips. He trailed his hands along the edges of the pyre and the flames and smoke began to rise. "Join now our sun," Haruki said, "We will make you our people, and honor your memories," he added. And then he moved away.

When he reached Yuzuki she reached up for him and he lifted her into his arms, where she laid her head on his shoulder and wept.

Chiba Tentomushi was a bit worried. She'd never travelled into the past before. Not like her brother and sister. She was afraid of time travel. She wanted to stay home with her mother and father and her other siblings. But she had a job to do. A very special job. She was going to go into the past and learn to be Sailor Ladybug. And while she was there she was going to protect Yuzuki and be her friend.

Auntie Puu had explained everything. When she returned with Chibi-Usa and Chibi-Mamo, the other girl would come home with them. To safety. Because there were two more of the strange Youma who had killed her parents, and for a time it wouldn't be safe for her in the past.

Once they left the safety of Hogwarts, the younger versions of her parents would face many challenges. Things they could not do and also protect Yuzuki. She promised herself she and Yuzuki would be great friends. They were both (technically) seven, and that was a good start. She smiled at the thought of having a best friend of her own. She was sure Chibi-Usa and Chibi-Mamo already loved her too, and that was good.

She nodded to Auntie Puu and lifted the key above her head. "Guardian of time! Tear apart the sky and open the Door of Space-time to me! I call your true name, the almighty god of time, the guardian of time's father, Chronos! Guidance to me! Protection to me! The path of light to me!"