AN: Wow, this is it. This is the finale of Changes! Although of course a special thank you goes out to my reviewers - Can' . .name, Sirius-Black-is-not-dead, LoveInTheBattleField, AngelEye, and WhiteWinterStar (also, 5 reviews? You guys are amazing.) - I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has read this far.
I started this story just about three and a half years ago, and I know updates have often been slow, but you guys have stuck with me. This story has really evolved a lot over the past 3 1/2 years, and it's also my longest project to date. Sooo, I'm pretty proud of it and myself, for finishing it. And I am so grateful to everyone who has read this story. I love you all.
I will be posting a short epilogue to wrap things up, but this is the real end. This chapter is where all the action is at, so please please please review. It means the world to me.
It was the middle of the night, but the five Senshi, Luna, and Artemis were all gathered at the Hikawa shrine, all wide-awake.
"Usagi…" Luna began. "You don't have to do this. We can find another way to stop Beryl and the Dark Kingdom."
Usagi shook her head. "We don't have time. Youma attacks have been increasing in frequency, and the Dark Kingdom continues to get stronger. If we don't stop them now, it will be too late."
There was a brief moment of silence as everyone considered the weight of Usagi's words.
Finally, Rei said, "We'll be with you the whole way. Maybe we were wrong. Maybe, if we're with you and help you fight, things will end differently."
Usagi leaned back on her elbows, looking up at the ceiling. "It's okay. I've accepted this. I mean, once I thought about it, me dying or the whole world being taken over by the Dark Kingdom… it's not really much of a choice. Besides, have any of us ever really thought we would live long lives?"
She looked around at the other Senshi, who remained silent.
"We fight evil on a daily basis, constantly risking our lives. Ever since we were called to be Senshi, it kinda seems like our fate was sealed. At least this way, I'll go out saving the whole world and defeating the Dark Kingdom. That's better than some random youma attack."
"I'm really proud of you, Usagi," Luna said. "You've matured so much. I know that the life of the Senshi hasn't been easy for you, but you've really risen to the occasion."
"Thank you, Luna," Usagi said, her voice a near whisper and thick with unshed tears.
"Okay, I'm ready," she said after a moment, all traces of sorrow gone from her voice. Suddenly, she was the fierce warrior Sailor Moon, ready to defeat evil, instead of Usagi, the young girl grieving her lost future.
"Let's go, then," Makoto said, standing up.
The girls all called out their transformation sequences, and a moment later, the mighty Senshi were standing in the middle of Hikawa Shrine.
"Good luck," Artemis said.
The Senshi bid farewell to Artemis and Luna, and teleported to the North Pole, right where Luna had told them the entrance to the Dark Kingdom was. A moment later, they arrived.
Queen Beryl smiled to herself as the Senshi appeared in the crystal ball of her scepter. It didn't matter that they had discovered the location to their kingdom. In fact, she was glad they had. They thought this a victory, their discovery.
But this was her kingdom. She was strongest here, and she would defeat the Senshi and Sailor Moon once and for all. Besides, she had a secret weapon they weren't expecting. Endymion. He was stronger now, and entirely loyal to her, and her only.
"My youma!" she called out.
"Yes, my Queen?" A group of five youma appeared before her a moment later.
"The Senshi have arrived. Go now, and kill them all, except for Sailor Moon. I want to kill her myself."
"Of course," the lead youma said, bowing deeply.
The Senshi walked in silence for several minutes, trying not to shiver from the fierce winds and biting cold.
"Stay alert," Venus said. "They probably know we're coming, and could attack at any minute."
"I have a bad feeling about this…" Mars muttered.
"What's that up ahead?" Sailor Moon wondered, peering into the distance. "Is it… Tuxedo Kamen?" She rushed forward, the Senshi hurrying to keep up.
A battered and bruised Tuxedo Kamen hung by his hands from a tree branch; his head drooped, seemingly unconscious.
"Mamoru!" Sailor Moon shrieked, rushing forward.
"Careful!" Mercury said. "It could be an illusion."
"But what if it isn't?" Sailor Moon said. "I know he was brainwashed and working for them before, but I healed him. Maybe once they brought him back, and he was good, they tortured him."
"Give me a minute, I can figure this out," Mercury said, pulling out her computer. "I should be able to calculate whether what we're seeing is indeed Tuxedo Kamen, or an illusion by the enemy intended to trick us."
Hesitantly, Sailor Moon stepped forward, and placed a hand on Tuxedo Kamen's cheek.
"Look out!" Jupiter said, shoving Sailor Moon out of the way. 'Tuxedo Kamen' opened his eyes, and the illusion faded, revealing a youma. The youma struck out with its tentacles, hitting Sailor Jupiter.
"Jupiter!" Sailor Moon cried out, picking herself up off the ground, and running towards her fallen friend.
"Stay back!" Jupiter yelled, fending off the youma. "Sailor Moon, you are the only one who can defeat Beryl. You have to stay safe."
Suddenly, another youma appeared from behind, sending a burst of electricity towards the Senshi. Venus threw herself at Sailor Moon, knocking her out of the way of the blast.
"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter yelled, but her attack barely seemed to hurt the youma. Three more youma appeared to join the fight, and Jupiter cursed.
"Okay, I've had enough of this!" she grabbed one of the youma, picking it up over her head, ready to hurl it away. But before he had a chance, the tentacles of another youma struck her, circling around her waist.
Sailor Moon grabbed her tiara, ready to cut Jupiter free from the vine-like tentacles, but she froze a moment later. The youma and Jupiter were too intertwined. If she tried to strike at the youma, she would likely hit Jupiter.
"Wait!" she said, halting Mars who has been preparing an attack. "We'll risk hitting Jupiter if we attack."
The Senshi looked on in shock and horror as they stood idly by, while Jupiter was being hit by blast after blast of lightning.
"Heh, using electricity on me?" Jupiter said, smiling weakly. "You should really know better. Supreme Thunder!"
The blast hit the two youma she was caught between, but it seemed to do little damage.
"I said, Supreme Thunder!" she cried out again. This time, the electricity grew bigger and bigger, much more powerful than anything Jupiter had produced before, until it completely enveloped her and the two youma attacking her.
"Jupiter!" the Senshi all cried out, rushing towards the crater which had been created as a result of Jupiter's blast.
"Makoto?" Sailor Moon asked tearfully.
Jupiter slowly opened her eyes, as if it took great effort. "You must be strong, Usagi. There's no time for tears."
"Quick, Mercury, attend to her wounds!" Sailor Moon ordered.
"It's too late for that," Jupiter said, weakly shaking her head. "Please, Usagi. Remember what Luna said. You are the only one who can defeat Queen Beryl, so you have... to… stay… strong." She trailed off, and dropped her head.
"Makoto!" Sailor Moon screamed, clawing at the frozen earth.
"Usagi, we have to keep fighting," Mercury said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"But Jupiter… she's dead!" Sailor Moon said.
"We all knew that would be a strong possibility," Mercury said. "Rationally speaking, the chances of us surviving the defeat of the Dark Kingdom are quite small. But we all made our decision a long time ago, and so did you."
"I don't think I can do this," Sailor Moon said.
"You don't have a choice," Mercury said simply. "Now hurry, the enemy is coming back. Jupiter killed two, but that means there are still three left. Mars and Venus, you continue on with Sailor Moon, make sure she reaches the end safely. I'll fend off the youma from here."
"No, Ami, don't do this," Sailor Moon said, her voice desperate. "You can't die!"
"I won't," Mercury said smiling. "I'll see you again, that's a promise."
Reluctantly, Sailor Moon let herself get dragged away by Jupiter and Venus. "I hate being lied to," she whispered to herself.
Mercury faced down the incoming youma. She knew she wouldn't survive this. But Venus and Mars were stronger fighters, and the only thing which mattered was getting Sailor Moon to Beryl, alive.
A wave of lava came flowing over a hill towards Mercury, but she stood calm. "Shabon Spray!"
She managed to freeze the lava, but she still had three youma to deal with. Before she even had a chance to go on the offensive, vines hit her from behind, pulling her into mid-air. She gasped as the vines tightened around her waist, crushing her.
"Shine Aqua Illusion!" she tried to call out, but she couldn't free her hands, and unlike Jupiter, she could not attack without using them.
A blast of dark energy hit her, and she cried out in pain. With a burst of strength, she managed to free one arm, and she grabbed at her computer. If she could just find a weakness, maybe she could kill one before she was killed.
After a couple seconds, she found something. It wasn't quite a weakness, but it would do. The gem in the center of the forehead of the youma that appeared to be the leader was the source of the illusions. Another blast of energy hit her, and her vision started to darken.
Focus, she told herself. She couldn't die just yet. Mustering up the little strength she had left, she raised her computer and smashed the gem which was in control of the illusions. The youma angrily backhanded her, and sent her crashing into a rock.
At least I destroyed the illusions, she thought as everything started to go black. I hated seeing Usagi so torn up over that illusion of Tuxedo Kamen. Perhaps now she can focus on fighting.
Venus, Mars and Sailor Moon were walking along in the frozen tundra, when suddenly Sailor Moon stopped.
"Mercury is dead," she said. "I... I can feel it. She's gone!"
"Then that means the youma will be coming for us soon," Venus said. "We must be on the lookout."
"Didn't you hear me? Mercury is dead!" Sailor Moon screamed. "Our friend! Our teammate! She's gone, and she's never coming back! Why doesn't that affect you?"
"Of course it affects us," Mars snapped. "But we're warriors. We fight, and sometime we die. What you said earlier was right. None of us really expected to live long, full lives. Our line of work is dangerous, and we've made our peace with that."
"But I meant me, not you!" Sailor Moon was screaming again. "I'm the one who is supposed to die! Not you! I can't stand it, I just can't!" she broke off, sobbing.
"Look out!" Venus cried out as the ground beneath Sailor Moon began to glow with an imminent attack. She ran forward, shoving Sailor Moon out of the way.
"Venus!" Sailor Moon cried out in despair.
The youma snatched Venus, pulling her underground, and hitting her with blast after blast of dark energy. A moment later they resurfaced, Venus hanging limply from the youma's grasp.
"I won't give in so easily," Venus said. Her eyes set with steely determination, she raised a hand, and placed it on the forehead of the youma torturing her. "Crescent Beam!"
The blast exploded with breathtaking power, killing both Venus and the youma.
"No no no no…" Sailor Moon said, trailing off. She couldn't even find it in her to scream anymore, she just felt… empty.
"Usagi."
"Go away, Mars," Sailor Moon said. "Go far, far away. Get away from here, it's not too late. You don't have to die!"
She shook her head. "You know I can't do that. I have to keep you alive so you can defeat Queen Beryl and save the world."
"Please," Sailor Moon whispered.
"We don't have much time before they come back," Mars said. "So before I go, I just wanted to say that it's been an honor. I know we've fought a lot, but you're a good friend and a good leader, and I really respect that about you. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay." She smiled slightly. "Go be a hero."
The words had barely left her mouth when two youmas attacked her from behind. They disappeared underground a moment later, and Sailor Moon stood, shell-shocked.
"Mars?" she whispered.
One of the youma reappeared, Sailor Mars nowhere in sight. But before it had a chance to say or do anything, a blast of fire hit it, and it screamed in agony before perishing. The second youma surfaced with Sailor Mars, attacking her one last time before turning towards Sailor Moon.
"I have orders to bring you to Queen Beryl," it said, smiling evilly. "I cannot kill you myself, but Queen Beryl didn't say anything about pain."
It prepared an attack, but was suddenly halted. It looked down, where Sailor Mars had grabbed ahold of one of its trailing tentacles.
"Did I say I was finished?" she said weakly. "Fire… SOUL!"
The last youma died, and Sailor Moon rushed over to her fallen friend, but it was too late. Sailor Mars was already dead, leaving Sailor Moon completely alone.
Sailor Moon wandered around the wastelands of the North Pole, not even paying attention to where she was going. She knew she should be heading towards the headquarters of the Dark Kingdom. She had a job to do, she had to defeat Queen Beryl and destroy the Dark Kingdom. And yet… she had never felt so alone before.
In her life as Sailor Moon, she had faced many difficult things. She had faced death on a daily basis; she had struggled to keep up with her life as Usagi Tsukino, ordinary schoolgirl. She had dealt with the loss of Mamoru, right after she finally figured out what he meant to her.
She had thought that losing Mamoru was the hardest thing she would have to do. Even when she had learned that she would have to die to defeat Queen Beryl, she had managed to make her peace with it. She understood that she had a greater purpose.
But she never imagined she'd have to do it all alone. All of the Senshi were dead. Her friends, her teammates… they had died protecting her. And she just didn't think she could go through this alone.
"You promised me you'd be with me the whole way," she whispered. "You lied! I can't do this alone, I just can't."
She collapsed on the ground, curling up into a tight ball. Oddly, she didn't even feel like crying. Normally, she was a bit of a crybaby, crying was her reaction to everything negative. Disappointment, anger, sadness… she would cry. But now she couldn't even cry. She just felt numb.
Suddenly, Usagi could have sworn she felt the presence of someone standing behind her. She whirled around, tripping in her haste to get to her feet, sure she would discover another youma. It wasn't a youma. She wasn't sure if it was the cold making her see things, but she could clearly see the Senshi standing in front of her.
"You're not alone, Usagi," Mars said. "We are still with you."
"And we'll stay with you, right until the very end," Venus said. "I promise. You won't ever be alone."
"But you have to stay strong now," Mercury said. "You've got a job to do, the whole world needs to be saved."
"I'm proud of you," Jupiter said. "You've come a long way, and you're so close to the end. You can see this through."
Wiping away the tears that had finally started to fall, Sailor Moon nodded her assent. They were right, she couldn't give up now. And even though she knew they weren't really there, that they were all dead, she could still feel their presence if she concentrated. She would never be truly alone.
"Thank you," she whispered to the already-fading spirits of her friends. With new determination, she set forth, towards the entrance to the Dark Kingdom headquarters.
After what seemed like an eternity of walking, she found the location of the headquarters. She took a deep breath to steady herself, knowing that the hardest part of her journey was still to come.
Suddenly, before she had time to react or even process what was happening, a ball of light hit her from behind, whisking her off into the distance.
A moment later, she found herself being dropped off in what appeared to be the throne room of the Dark Kingdom. The teleport released her, and she fell to the ground with a thud.
"The little Moon Princess, come to die," a voice said. "Welcome."
The shadows parted, revealing a woman with long red hair sitting upon a throne, a wicked smile on her face.
"Queen Beryl," Sailor Moon whispered.
"Indeed, I am she," Beryl said. "And this is my loyal servant an partner, Endymion."
The remaining shadows dissipated, and Sailor Moon gasped in shock. Tuxedo Kamen knelt by Queen Beryl's side, his lips pressed to her hand.
"Tuxedo Kamen!" she cried out, rushing towards him.
"Endymion," Queen Beryl said, sounding almost bored. "Kill the Moon Princess."
'Endymion' stalked towards Sailor Moon, as if he were a predator, and she his helpless prey. There was an evil glint in his eye, as he stepped towards her, and then kicked her in the ribs, sending her flying across the room.
Sailor Moon gasped in pain, both physical and emotional. This was clearly not the Endymion she had faced before. In the past, although he had been cold and cruel, Endymion had never truly tried to kill her. He had even helped her once, when she was at the lake resort with her family. But this time… this time he had murder in his eyes.
"Moon Healing Escalation!" she cried out, putting as much strength as she could muster into the healing of Endymion. It had worked before, maybe it could work again.
And yet Endymion stood there, unchanged.
"Your attempts at healing will not work," Queen Beryl said. "I realized my mistake from last time, and ensured it did not happen again. Now he is truly and completely a member of the Dark Kingdom. If you hand over the Silver Crystal, your death will be quick and painless."
"Never," Sailor Moon said. "I won't let you win."
Queen Beryl just smirked. "Don't you understand, Moon Princess? I've already won. All your Senshi are dead, your prince is mine. You lose."
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Please, Tuxedo Kamen! Please!"
But her cries fell on deaf ears as he picked her up by her throat, lifting her off the ground. She clawed at his hands, gasping for air as he choked the life out of her. Tears streamed down her face. Was this how she was going to die? Killed by her one true love, before she even had a chance to fight back?
Just as the edges of her vision began to darken, the hand wrapped around her throat released her, and she fell to the ground, clutching her throat and gasping for air.
"Don't do this," she whispered to him. "Please, Tuxedo Kamen, remember who I am! Please, Mamoru!"
He pulled out a black rose, and dropped it to the ground in front of her. "Die, Sailor Moon."
Vines sprouted from the rose, wrapping around her arms and torso, and a second later, dark energy burst through her veins. Sailor Moon screamed in pain, as the thorns bit into her skin and the dark energy coursed through her. It felt like every fiber of her body was being torn to shreds.
Again, just before she succumbed to unconsciousness or death, Endymion stopped his attack. Tears streamed down Sailor Moon's face. How could he do this to her? She knew it wasn't really Tuxedo Kamen, it wasn't really Mamoru. It was some mindless, brainwashed servant of the Dark Kingdom who had once been Mamoru. But it looked exactly like him, and his voice sounded exactly like him, and she couldn't give up hope that maybe somewhere deep inside there was still the man she loved.
She knew she should fight back, kill Tuxedo Kamen. Endymion. She couldn't let her personal feelings get in the way; she had to save the world. And yet… she knew she couldn't. She just couldn't.
"You're all alone, Moon Princess," Beryl mocked. "Your friends are all dead, your prince is gone. Who's going to save you now?"
As Endymion's sword swung down, Sailor Moon brought up the Moon Wand, blocking the blow.
"Me," she said. "You haven't defeated me just yet."
She threw off Endymion's sword, and used the second's delay to grab her tiara, and throw it at Endymion. It hit him right in his chest, and he screamed in pain. For a second, her resolve weakened, but she soldiered on.
It would be so easy to kill him. She knew that's what she should do, and if Tuxedo Kamen were still here, she knew he would want her to kill him. And yet… she couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't accept that Mamoru was completely gone, and she couldn't destroy the last shreds of hope she had. So, she couldn't kill him.
But she could weaken him. And so she pushed her tiara a little further, hoping that at least it would injure him enough so his attacks would be less brutal. And maybe, just maybe, weakening his body would weaken the control of the brainwashing.
A moment later, she dropped her tiara, anxiously waiting to see what would happen next. Endymion stood hunched over, gasping in pain and clutching his chest.
"Tuxedo Kamen?" she tentatively asked. "Mamoru?"
He looked up at her, his eyes completely blank and devoid of any emotion. A second later, his eyes cleared, and pure rage and destruction showed clearly in his expression. With a primal scream, he lunged towards Sailor Moon with his sword.
She rolled out of the way just in the nick of time, although his sword did catch her side.
Exhausted, bloodied and bruised, it took great effort for Sailor Moon to haul herself into a sitting position. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at the man she loved standing in front of her, pure rage and evil etched into his face.
He raised his sword to attack once more, and Sailor Moon knew that it was only a matter of time before he killed her.
"Please!" she cried out in desperation. "Don't do this!" Without even realizing what she was doing, she pulled out the star locket.
"Please," she said again as the melody started to play. "Please, you have to remember. Remember how you were Endymion, not of the Dark Kingdom, but of Earth, and I was Serenity of the Moon Kingdom. We were so in love. I gave you this locket before you went off to fight in the war, so you would remember me as you fought.
"Remember how you used your sword not to kill me but to protect me from Queen Beryl, the very woman who is brainwashing you. You have to remember our lives as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, as Usagi and Mamoru, as we found each other and fell in love again. I know you can remember. Please!"
There was a short, awful moment of silence as Endymion stood before her, seemingly unchanged by her words, his sword still hanging in midair. Slowly he lowered it, and hesitantly reached out to touch the star locket. The moment he touched it, a bright light enveloped his body.
"Tuxedo Kamen?" she asked quietly, afraid of what the answer might be. "Mamoru?"
"What's been happening?" he said, and as he looked up at her, she saw the brilliant blue of his eyes again, no longer corrupted by rage and hate.
"Mamoru!" she breathed. "Is it… is it really you?"
"Yes, it's me," he said. "Thank you, for healing me. I remember everything."
"No!" Queen Beryl cried out in anger and frustration. "No! I will not let you win, not again! Endymion was mine!" She summoned a giant crystal and hurled it at them.
Tuxedo Kamen threw a rose, which was red again, hoping to deflect the crystal. It broke into millions of small shards, and he shielded Sailor Moon from the blast. One of the shards hit him, and he cried out in pain.
"Tuxedo Kamen!" Sailor Moon cried out as he collapsed into her arms.
"Fools," Queen Beryl seethed, eyeing the rose which had implanted itself in her chest. "I will be back." She disappeared, leaving Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen alone.
"Mamoru…" Sailor Moon said tearfully. "Please, don't leave me. Not you too."
"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't really have a choice in it. But please, don't cry over me. You still have a job to do."
"I can't do it alone," she sobbed. "I've lost everyone, you can't leave me, too. Not when I've finally got you back."
"You're not alone," he whispered weakly. "I'll be with you, even if you can't see me. Just… be careful, okay?"
"I love you," she said tearfully.
"I love you too," he said with great effort, before his head fell back and his labored breathing stopped.
Cradling his corpse, Sailor Moon let herself cry for a minute. She knew she couldn't grieve for long; she still had to defeat Queen Beryl. But for now, she cried.
Queen Beryl knelt before the great ruler of the Dark Kingdom, Queen Metalia. All of the Dark Kingdom's effort to revive the entity had been relatively successful, but Queen Metalia was still incorporeal.
"The time has come, Your Majesty," Queen Beryl said. "Please, lend me your power, and take me as your host. Together, we can defeat Sailor Moon and destroy the Earth!"
"Very well," Queen Metalia said. "My power shall be yours."
The sky began to darken, despite the fact that it was only mid-afternoon. There was something eerie about it, it didn't just seem like an ordinary storm. Something was going on.
Ikuko shivered. It had been unseasonably cold lately, and it seemed that the monster attacks which plagued Tokyo had increased in frequency lately. Something was definitely going on, and Ikuko didn't like it.
She thought back to her earlier conversation with her daughter. Could Usagi really be Sailor Moon? It seemed impossible. As sweet as Usagi was, she was more than a bit airheaded and ditzy. She hardly seemed like the superhero type.
And yet… it was true that Usagi had seemed more mature lately. There was also a darkness that seemed to haunt her, some sort of horrible responsibility, as if she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders.
Ikuko shivered again, but this time it wasn't because she was cold. Suddenly, she feared she had made a big mistake, telling Usagi to never come home if she left the house. She hadn't really meant it, she had figured Usagi would show up again in a couple of days, perhaps finally ready to say what had been going on that was causing all this trouble.
But she had explained herself, and Usagi had never been one to lie. Ikuko pulled her sweater a little closer around herself. She didn't even care what was going on with Usagi anymore. She just wanted her daughter in her house where she belonged, happy and safe.
If Usagi was indeed Sailor Moon, then she was probably fighting whatever was going on. In that moment, Ikuko couldn't have been more proud of her daughter, or more terrified for her safety. She hoped that wherever she was, Usagi was okay, and that she would return to her.
Sailor Moon walked outside the collapsing cavern, where she had left the body of Tuxedo Kamen. She didn't know where Beryl had went, but she didn't have to wonder for long. She saw what she assumed to be Queen Beryl, right before a blast of dark energy hit her.
The Silver Crystal formed a shield around her, and Sailor Moon felt a pillar of ice rising beneath her, raising her up to the level of this new Queen Beryl. The top of the pillar shattered, and she stood there as Princess Serenity, the Moon Wand held confidently before her.
"Die, you insolent Princess!" Queen Beryl said. "You will never defeat me, not here, not with the power of our great ruler, Queen Metalia, running through my veins. DIE!"
She sent a great wave of dark energy towards Sailor Moon, but she held up her Moon Wand and blocked the attack. Even though she had the greatest control over the Silver Crystal in her form as Princess Serenity, she still struggled not to succumb to Queen Beryl's attack.
She recalled the words Luna has said earlier. In order to defeat Queen Beryl, she had to use the full power of the Silver Crystal. But how? She had been so focused on the part where she had to die that she hadn't thought about how the battle might actually proceed. What if she couldn't do it? What if she didn't know how to use the full power of the Silver Crystal?
"Do you feel my power, little Princess?" Queen Beryl asked with a cackle. "This is but a fraction of my strength. I could go on forever, and once you are dead, I will use my power to take over the Earth."
"No," Sailor Moon said.
"No?" Queen Beryl repeated, sounding amused. "You don't have a choice. You may have defeated me a thousand years ago when I failed to conquer the Moon Kingdom, but I guarantee that will not happen again. I will not lose!"
"No," Sailor Moon said again, a little louder. "I won't let you win. This is my planet, and I will defend it until my very last breath, which I assure you, will come after yours."
"Your friends are all dead," Beryl spat. "Your lover is dead. You are powerless against me. You are all alone!"
Sailor Moon winced in pain as the attack encroached further and started to hit her. She closed her eyes, blocking out the pain, and thought of her friends words from earlier. She wasn't alone.
Even now, if she closed her eyes and concentrated, she could feel the presence of the Senshi, and she could feel Tuxedo Kamen's presence, too. She could hear their words, promising her they wouldn't ever leave her alone, promising to stay with her until the end.
She smiled. She could feel their strength pouring into her, she could hear their words of encouragement and reassurance in her ears. She would never be alone, they were all a part of her, and even though they were dead, they weren't truly gone. She opened her eyes again.
"Moon Cosmic Power!" she called out, and she could feel a power stir within her like never before. She could still remember the rush of power she got when she transformed into Sailor Moon for the first time, or when she first used her tiara, or her moon scepter. She had gotten used to them over time, and hardly noticed it any more.
But this… this was different. She had never truly known power until now. It pooled deep within her, its reserves barely tapped, and she understood that all this time she had only been skimming the surface of her true power.
Summoning all of her strength, she called upon every ounce of that power and poured it into the Silver Crystal. It worked, and slowly, the tides began to turn. Beryl's attack dissipated as the power of the Silver Crystal took over.
"No!" Queen Beryl cried out. "I will not be defeated!"
But it was too late, and as the attack hit her, she disintegrated. The power of the Dark Kingdom was no match for the true power of the Silver Crystal.
Sailor Moon fell, no longer able to feel her legs. As she lay on the ground, she knew she was dying. And yet, it wasn't as bad as she thought. It was peaceful, even. There was no more pain, she couldn't really feel anything. As she lay dying, she could almost hear the voices of her friends whispering to her.
"You did it," Mars said. "You really did it! We've won."
"I knew you had it in you," Mercury said. "You've been so strong."
"You were amazing," Jupiter said. "You kicked the butt of the Dark Kingdom!"
"It's all over now," Venus said. "You did an amazing job."
"I love you," Mamoru said. "I'm so proud of all that you've done. It's okay to let go now, you can rest."
And as she faded away, Usagi, now de-transformed, thought about the future. She thought about a typical day in the Tsukino household. She'd wake up late, her mama would yell at her, and Shingo would make fun of her.
At school, Ms. Haruna would yell at her for being late, and make her stand outside in the hallway. At lunch she'd complain to Naru, and after school she'd meet up with her Rei, Makoto, Minako and Ami at the arcade. She'd flirt a little with Motoki, and he'd give her a free milkshake.
As she left the arcade, she'd accidentally bump into Mamoru, and they'd bicker for awhile. Of course, she'd pretend she hated it and hated him, but secretly, she'd always been glad for their encounters. She would stomp off, complaining about the stupid baka to her friends as they all rolled their eyes, knowing how Usagi truly felt about him.
She'd return home in time for one of her mama's delicious home-cooked meals, and she and Shingo would bicker over the dinner table, while her papa sighed and shook his head and her mama threatened to hit them both with her spatula.
After dinner, she'd try and do her homework, before getting too sleepy, and finally giving up and going to sleep. And tomorrow would begin anew.
With her last, dying thought, Usagi wished to just be normal again. She wished to have a life where she and her friends could go shopping, and not have to worry about youma attacks. She wished to have a life where she and Mamoru could properly court each other, after they both gave in and admitted that their bickering was hiding genuine feelings.
Even as she took her last breath, Usagi smiled. Somehow she knew this wasn't the end.
AN: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW. Epilogue to come shortly.