What Becomes Of Us

Epilogue – Part 1

Darien sighed as he stood on his veranda. It had been a month since Serena's return and though a lot has happened during that short period, Serena had yet to say a single word to anyone. She moved about silently as if haunted; only she knows the darkness she had had to suffer for the past almost 9 years.

As he watched the moon rise to it highest peak, memories of the past events clouded his brain like a fog.

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Everyone had been shock with Sailor Moon's appearance during the battle against Chaos but they didn't have the chance to ponder the shock when she suddenly disappeared with Pluto. This alarmed them and Rini started to cry. But minutes later she reappeared with Pluto who was crying. Everyone was shocked, what was going on?

"I was such a fool." Pluto cried, making them wonder what had brought out this sudden confession.

"No, we were all just victims of his manipulation. Pluto help me, together we scatter Chaos far and wide, the next he form will be many years from now when we are prepared against him. Will you help me?" Sailor Moon's soft and gentle voice reached their ears and they leaned forward like eager dogs, wanting to hear the voice they had missed so much. Yet there was muskiness in it as if it had not been used for a long time, as well as a world of patience. The sexy drawl in it called to their broken hearts like a balm, healing and intoxicating them.

"Yes. I will." Pluto had said gentle.

"Then take my hands."

Then they watched with avid interest as Pluto took Sailor Moon's offered hand and immediately a light blossomed to reveal Pluto in a lovely dress of silver decked in her individual color magenta. She was gorgeous, like a goddess. Most of the men's hormones were racing. Her hair was layered into silky waves with some framing her oval face. Her lips a stunning hot pink and her deep set eyes so vibrant with life. The dress fitted her every curve, exposing a bit of her voluptuous breasts. Her feet were covered in magenta sandals with flowers of magenta tulips winding around her legs. Dark magenta wings sprouted from her back and her forehead blazed with the symbol of her planet. This woman before them, they could tell was not just their everyday Pluto but one with power, beauty and grace surpassing her human and scout form. What was she now?

"Pluto, we have both suffered for far too long. Let's put the suffering behind us now and move forward to a better future. In this form you are now the enchantress of Pluto, this is your ultimate and strongest form. You must only take this form on extreme emergency because it drains a lot of power and if you are not careful it can kill you." Sailor Moon cautioned kindly and Pluto nodded. The two were lost in their own conversation hey did notice the awe they inspired in the other scouts.

"Enchantress, I've only heard about it but I never knew it was real!" One of the universe scouts said with excitement.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"Well the legend says that for a scout to gain her Enchantress form, she must give up all darkness within them, accept who and what she is and must come into a great power! The Enchantress form cannot be reached just by anyone though all scouts have it in them. Yet while a few reach that high level of power, most never get there and sometimes when you even gain the enchantress form, you loose it easily. It is suppose to be the ultimate form a Sailor Soldier can posses. So far in our history, only two people have managed to gain that level of power; Sailor Universe and Galaxia, none else." Fighter explained.

"Wow, it must feel so amazing when in your enchantress form!" Venus added.

"It does. To feel as if the universe could never hurt you no matter what hardships it throws your way. Even fate and destiny has no control over an enchantress. You feel so safe and secure, so beautiful beyond words, so powerful and so dependable. The feeling is so indescribable; you have to experience it for yourself!" Galaxia said with reverence. Her first battle against Chaos, she had only won because at the last moment her enchantress powers awoke to aid her but after that battle she had never been able to turn to her enchantress for again. But she didn't mind, she was just happy to have experienced its awesome power!

"But if it is this amazing how could Pluto reach it so easily? I mean a few minutes ago she was using us as target practice!" Jupiter asked.

"Sailor Moon. A part of the legend says that there is one scout or light who has the ability to awaken a soldier's enchantress, that scout is sailor moon. Alone Pluto would never had turned into her form or she probably would but that would be years from now, but Sailor Moon has awakened it within her." Galaxia answered.

"Then we will get her to awaken ours!" Iron mouse said cheerfully.

"No, she can't and wont. And I wont let her!" Serenity spoke up for the first time after Sailor Moon's appearance.

"Why not?"

"Because, she must have a cause to do so. And she can only awaken the enchantress form at the cost of her own life. Every time she awakens an enchantress form, whether by acknowledgment or by accident, she looses a portion of her life." Queen Serenity explained and they all gasped in horror.

"And besides, there is no fun it letting someone else do all the work for you. All of you must find a way to awaken yourselves." Helios told them and they nodded. Sailor Moon had suffered enough. 8 years alone in the womb of the greatest darkness of evil in the universe was a punishment even too cruel for someone who murderously destroys a whole planet with its inhabitant.

They watched as Pluto looked down at herself, trying to get use to her looks and most importantly, her sudden increase of pure and raw power.

"Now what am I suppose to do?" Enchantress Pluto asked.

"Do the first thing that comes to your mind." With this said, Sailor Moon's outfit was replaced with a pure silver dress unlike her princess outfit. This dress with its elegant beauty was made entirely of moonlight and it flowed around her like flashes of light. Her wings were a transparent rainbow. If Pluto's enchantress form had taken their breaths away, Sailor Moon's enchantress form left them gasping and rasping for breath. Her airily attire was see through though they couldn't see her skin, her hair a golden halo flowed down past her feet in thick curls that framed her heart-shaped face. Her lips, a full bloody glossed crimson and her azure eyes had turned to silver with specks of sapphire. The debt of it could swallow anyone. Her feet were cover with spiraling white roses snaking her legs and ended at her feet with silver sandals. Her transparent wings blazed with grace at her back. An angle and goddess combined made their mouth water as if she was some delicious delectable.

"By the spirit of time, that which is not of this world return to the darkness of thy fathers!" they ware taken out of their trance when Pluto chanted.

"That which walk with the living, depart to you domain!" the enchantress of the moon added and together the two enchantress glowed brightly, spilling over the universe like a healing balm, restoring the scouts back to their full strength and the corrupted stars and planets back to their natural beauty. With widening eyes, they witnessed the defeat of their enemies were and Chaos one last futile resistance before he was cast into the abyss of his own darkness to suffer years alone.

They did not stop glowing until their light reached every surface of the Universe. Suddenly, a heat blossomed in Saturn and Mars and the other scouts watched in awe as the powers of the Moon and Pluto Enchantresses awoken the enchantress within Saturn and Mars. Saturn was wearing a beautiful silver gown just like Pluto's with violet colors thrown in and sandals with purple Dichelostemma capitatum flowers zigzagging her legs. Her lips were shining in a beautiful purple gloss and her eyes were shining brightly. Her hair was twisted into a French braid and styled around the aback of her head while a few were let loose to crowd her face. Mars wore the same silver dress with scarlet decorating it. Her hair was styled into a curly chignon at the base of her head. Her feet were fitted into red sandals with Casablanca flowers twisting around her legs. her lips was dark red and her eyes stood out on her features. The two of them too was a lovely and gorgeous sight to behold. Without hesitation they joined in on the display of light.

The remaining scouts watched with gaping mouth, each wishing for their own Enchantress to be awakened.

Finally the enchantress powers died down the four winged enchantress stood together holding hands. Look at each other they suddenly threw themselves in Serena's arms, all trying to hug her at once. Space light up once last time before it returned to its normal radiance, the universe was safe once more!

The other scouts watched the beautiful enchantresses silently. They didn't know how to interact with them. They wanted to hug Sailor Moon too but for some reason they felt shy and out of sort, like they didn't belong with these heavenly beauties.

But then…

"Moon!" Pluto's urgent cry alarmed them. Serena had collapsed and her enchantress for vanished. With it the other's also returned into their normal sailor scout form. Serenity teleported to where they were and took Serena in her arms.

"We are heading to earth. Thank you to all who came when the call for help was sounded, you have proven once and for all that you truly are the best and most dependable scouts of the universe. We may live in different galaxies but we all have the same mission; keep the universe safe. Should a need of us to gather again come; I hope to be able to count on all your help. Let's keep in touch; we are stronger when we are together. Let us all work hard to achieving our highest forms so that the whole universe will recognize us and know that for all time we are here to defend it. Thank you." Serenity made her speech and they all nodded with grins and shy smiles.

"Can we come to visit earth now? We want to be sure that Sailor Moon would be alright. This is the second time she has saved us all." Sailor Aluminum voiced what the other all wanted. Serenity nodded before taking off in the midst of her guardians and headed toward earth with the others behind her.

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That had been a month ago and Serena had yet to say a word. Darien sighed and headed back to his sitting room to sit on the couch. She hadn't said a word to him, nor smile. She never glared at him or accused him of anything! Her stare was empty and unnerving and being near her hurts him more than anything but he was determine to make amends for all his wrong doing…just as soon as he gets her talking.

In another room in the big mansion the scouts had put money together to buy so they may all live under the same roof since none wanted to be away from Serena, Rei sat before the sacred fire. Thanks to Serenity they had manage to move it into the new house. Every day for the past month she had been using the sacred fire to try and find a way to help Serena. She wasn't blind to the damage being in the darkness for so long had done to Serena, she understood it better than anyone but she could find nothing that could help her friend.

Since their return, she stayed away from Serena if it was possible and only went to her when needed for something. She felt ashamed and unworthy to be near Serena but at the same time her heart longed to be near her. Jadeite had been around her but she realized that after her enchantress for that she could no longer turn to, that her mind and heart were open. She didn't bite him when he came closer. In fact they had had several civil conversations together, she wasn't so prune to anger anymore though she was still the same Rei only with her darkness defeated.

Now she thought back to how she lost the darkness within her.

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After their returned to earth, Serena was immediately rushed to the hospital. Though the doctors could not determine whether she was ill or not. Three days later she woke up. The scouts had all been at home then, planning to buy the mansion so when she woke up in the hospital no one was there. She walked to the room containing her mother and wordlessly put her hand over the older woman's head. Mrs. Tsukino's overly aged appearance from days of worrying returned to that of how she would look if she had never had to worry so much. Though some would say she looked younger than her age. feeling the soft warmth pass through her, the older woman woke up to see her daughter. At first she thought she was seeing a ghost but then after carefully touching her face and hands and feeling how real she was, the woman broke down and cried. The doctors had said that she clung to Serena for hours until they all got there. Ever since she never left Serena's side, even when Serena used the restroom. It was like a dog following his master everywhere and though it was cute, it was also heart breaking. Serena's return had brought a lot of people back to see her. Molly, Melvin, Andrew, Elizabeth, Reika and all of her school friends and teachers. They were shock to see Serena look no older than when she had first disappeared. Granted her face had wisdom and deep knowledge hidden and she had a look of maturity about her, she still looked no different from before. Though her eyes had deepened from the crystal blue to dark violent blue that spoke of dark wisdom. Even greeted by all these people Serena didn't say a word. Sometimes she would give a little smile but those who knew her knew it was a polite smile to assure her worried classmates that she was fine. It was not a real smile.

She left the hospital after waking up and lived with her mother in their own house for a week until the older woman relented to have Serena live in the mansion but with strict rules that she would be there too for as long as she wanted.

The best room was given to Serena, a room fit for a goddess. They all went out of their way to make things easier for her but they soon realized that no amount of material things could ever give her back the 8 years she had spent in darkness.

She would wake up, take a shower and dress in loose fitting airily dresses and sit at her window staring at everything and at nothing. When presented with food she would not eat. She hadn't eaten for the whole month; she didn't loose weight or look like she was dying.

After making sure that she was ok, the scouts of the universe with the exception of Galaxia, Chibi chibi, the Starlights and Serenity's group all left for their homes with promises to visit whenever they could.

Those left on earth were left with the duty of helping their lost friend and bringing back the warm hearted leader they had so readily betrayed.

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Thinking about this, Rei realized that it would take years for Serena to be healed, the pain of 8 years can't be taken away in mere days or weeks. They just had to believe that someday Serena would smile for real.

Setsuna sat on Serena's bed as the younger girl slept. Like Mrs. Tsukino, she had barely left Serena's side. She took Serena to her job place and came back home with her or sometimes she wouldn't go to work at all. she feared that taking her eyes off of her princess would make her disappear again. Like Rei, she couldn't turn back to her enchantress for but in the brief moment that she had been the enchantress of Pluto, she had come to understand what was most important to her. She liked Darien, yes, but Serena was foremost in her heart, followed by Ezekiel though she would never admit it to anyone. Her brief enchantress form had made it had to deny all she thought or in her heart to her self, but she could deny it to the others. Sometimes when she was with Serena and Ezekiel would enter to talk to Serena, she saw that Serena was sending her messages. She knew Serena wanted her to talk to Ezekiel and work things out but she was afraid of what the working out would be. After queen Serenity had adopted her, her first real friend had been Ezekiel, but the passion that had half been hers and half not for Endymion had destroyed their relationship. What could possibly come out of their working things out but Serena seemed sure that something was waiting to happen. Though she did not speak, her eyes were good enough to communicate her thoughts. Finally she had gotten the courage a week ago to confront her old fiancé. She wasn't hoping for a chance to be together again as she knew it was impossible after all she had done, she just wanted his forgiveness, so a week ago she had confronted him.

Flashback

Ezekiel was leaving Serena's room after their session. He was a therapist and councilor so he had taken it upon himself to talk to Serena and see what he was capable of doing for the one girl who he had loved and cared so much for and received an equal amount of care from. No one knew that his real affection had lied with the moon princess but Serenity had once given him her blessing for Pluto and though he loved Serenity, he had accepted his fate to be with his best friend which had been Pluto at the time. Because of Serenity he had come to view Pluto as a woman and one he desired, his affection for the princess though it was still love, it was not so overbearing as before and he knew that with an effort, he could love Pluto more than anyone. And he had, he had come to love Pluto so much so that Serenity felt like a sister to him. But that day their engagement had been announced, she had spurned him; she had not given him a chance at all. He had been hurt badly but he had hid it well, only revealed it to Serenity and she had held him. For the first time in his life, the leader of the light knight cried bitterly in the arms of his princess.

He could still remember her words from the silver millennium.

"You will suffer Amethyst, you will watch her continue her fight for someone she can't have in this generation and another lifetime but things will get better. The happiness you so long for will come to you, lose not faith." Serenity had said with vacant eyes, as if she was in a trance. When she came to she could not remember what she had said but he had taken her words into his heart and true to it, another lifetime had come and Pluto had still worked for Endymion's heart. But now she was free from the influence of Chaos but still, so much hurt and pain had committed and he wasn't even sure if he had the heart to love again.

With her eyes, Serena had been telling him to talk to Setsuna but he hadn't the nerve for it and like every other therapeutic session, he was done and was leaving without saying a word to her.

But then…

"Ezekiel." Her soft voice stopped him right in his track. She was calling him with the same soft she used to call him before Endymion ever came into the picture and it had such an affect on him that he couldn't move even if he wanted to. He breathed softly and turned around to face her with a raised brow. He was using every will within him to show that he was unaffected by her.

"Yes?" Setsuna seemed to struggle for words, she looked back into the room to get some encouragement from Serena and for the first time Serena gave her a genuine smile. That was enough encouragement.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked nervously.

"Anywhere in particular you have in mind?" he asked.

"In the garden."

"Very well." He had said and waited for her to catch up with him and they walked silently to the beautiful garden that Darien was taking care of. It was at the back of the mansion, decorated with many flowers and many colored roses. Darien had specifically planted only roses on the side of Serena's window in many colors but the white roses dominated. Using his earth powers he had made them grow faster than normal.

In the guardian, they had sat on the cushioned bench in momentarily silence, each trying to find the words to express their thoughts.

"It began when I went to earth on the queen's errand. Our last two weeks before we were to return to the moon, I met Endymion in his rose garden. We talked; I had liked him but only as a friend or someone I respect because we both shared the same hope for the future in regards to the peace treaty. I had not expected to fall in love with him from the first encounter but on some unannounced thoughts, we meet every evening in the garden. At the time, what I hadn't known was that after the first encounter, the following encounter was not with him but with someone else." She sighed at this part.

"What do you mean?" this was the first he was hearing of this. From the queen he had heard about why she had been locked in the dark room until she was 16, her grandfather was Chaos. He had felt sorry for her at first but when they became friends, he saw how strong she really was.

"My first encounter had been with Endymion but from the second encounter it had been with Chaos. He took Endymion's form and fooled me into thinking that I was with the earth prince."

Ezekiel blinked. So much he had not known but this was hard to swallow, so the person she had really been in love with was actually her grandfather in the guise of Endymion.

"The night before I returned we made love." Ezekiel wanted to shut his ears but he kept silent and listened to her. How must it feel to know that you had been sleeping with your own blood? Especially the one responsible for her dark upbringing?

"At the time I had truly fallen in love with whom I thought was Endymion, he promised me eternal love and everything, the one thing I had always wanted. But I didn't know that through the love making he had planted a dark seed of madness in my skull and from it I had constructed so many atrocious sin. This was no the future we were suppose to have but this was a future I saw would end me up with Endymion. So I broke time's laws and directed us into this time. In my madness I hurt and betrayed so many people. The queen, my princess, you and even Endymion as I took away from him his happiness with the princess and the scouts as well. I am not making excuses for the evil acts I have committed; I am half responsible for them. I am really sorry for it and I hope to spend the rest of my life making it up to those I had hurt." She said as tears fell down her face. she stood up and faced him, took his hands in her own and fell on her knees with bowed head.

"I sincerely apologize for all the wrong I have committed against you. Please forgive me. I know it is not my right to ask for forgiveness but I beg you all the same. Please, move on from the pain I have caused you, find someone who can heal it and live a happy life. I wish I can say I will personally lead you into a happy future but I can't. I will no longer look into the future unless it reveals itself to me and even that I will tell Serena about it. But if there is anything I can do for your happiness in the present, I am at your beck and call. I will do all that is within my power to ease the misery I've put you through." she begged, her head still bent waiting for judgment. He listened to her heart felt confession, he wanted to feel nothing for her but the love he had harbored for her was too strong an emotion to forget or suppress. She had suffered too and will for the rest of her life. The guilt would always weight on her and without proper care she might go crazy. Yes she had hurt him, but life had it ups and downs. If one hurt prevents you from reaching out, you would loose the thing that made life so precious and worth living.

"Look at me." he said softly and hesitantly she looked up, expecting hating eyes glaring at her despite the gentleness of his voice.

"We all make mistakes, others more than most but that is what reveals us to be living breathing humans. Well aliens to the earth people." He smiled and she nearly did so too.

"I was hurt but so are you. Lets use this time healing out wounds. I…I…" he sighed. Then his eyes reflected a determination he didn't really feel but needed in the moment.

"I still care a lot for you Sets, you will always be my other self. Lets give ourselves a second try. If it works out then good, if not we will move on. We were able to live as friends before and we can again if things don't work out. You're all I want; I can't see myself with anyone else." He said looking away. His heart was breaking, the thought that she wanted him with someone else hurt. He doubted she would accept his offer to start again but he really wanted a second chance, there was still time to fix the broken pieces of both their hearts.

"I'm not good enough for you." the outer soldier of time cried. She wanted to believe in his words but how could she? After all she had done to him, if the role was reverse she didn't think she would have the heart to accept him back, so why should he?

"Let me be the judge of what is good and not good enough for me." he said and abruptly hugged her. After a moment she hugged him back tightly as tears fell from her eyes. She really was no good for him but he still chose her.

End of Flashback.

A week has passed since their new relationship began. In the evening he would take her out for walking. He took things slowly, making sure she was comfortable with him. She appreciated his gesture and she loved him all the more for it. She would talk to Serena about her fears, but Serena's eyes would give her all the encouragement she needed to put her fears behind her.

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Lita and Amy had returned back to their normal routine only as soon as work was over they would rush home to greet Serena. Lita always baked some sort of cake or pie pr some delicious desert, hoping that one day Serena would eat it but every day Serena would not touch it. She did not loose hope and continued to bring it though. The Amazon girls also came to see Serena a lot, their vivacious attitude would soften Serena's eyes and a ghost of a smile would appear. They confided in her about Lita's budding romance with Nathan (a.k.a Nephrite) and Amy's slow progress with Zach (Zoicite).

They would discreetly follow the two couples and take pictures to show Serena which Lita found out about it and gave them severe warning to stop and though they promised to, they never did. Lita and Amy had been the first to go on their knees and apologized profusely to Serena for all their wrong doings. Serena had nodded; a sign of acceptance of their apologies. That single act had gone a long way to restoring a bit of the hope and happiness they had lost.

Mina had kept her distance at first, feeling unworthy of being in her presence but one day when she had been leaving for work, Serena had come across her and the two had stared at each other in silence. Mina had wanted to run but Serena's stare pinned her to the floor. Then Serena moved her lips in silent talking and left.

At first she had not discern what Serena had said but after work when she returned home and saw Kunzite in the Library, the words became clear to her.

"Fix it or you will loose the chance of a lifetime of love." That had been Serena's message. So following that advice she had approached the earth leader and boldly asked him on a date. He had raised his brow at her and though she wanted to smack him across the face, she held her hands back. He may have been her past fiancé but they were strangers trying to find a way back to how things use to be. He had accepted the invitation for the date to her surprise and shockingly warmth blossomed in her chest. She had gone in search of Serena then and after apologizing for her own wickedness against her, she had told the silent girl about the date. Ever since she would come and tell Serena about whatever date she had with the general. For some ironic reason, she and Kunzite seemed to be in the same kind of relationship that Serena and Darien had had when they first met. Throwing words of insult at each other but it was apparent that the two loved and appreciated each other; it was their stubbornness that was preventing them from being as lovey dovey as Mina would have been.

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Amara and Michelle had been avoiding each other. They knew it was time to make clear that the relationship between them had to come to an end since their feelings for the moon generals were growing though Amara rather die than to admit her attraction to the Topaz general. Akkadian was infuriating to her, he would purposely kiss her in public when she wasn't conscious of his presence, go on the radio and sing love songs for her, take pictures of her and edit it to put his own pictures next to her in scandalous poses and publicize it in the magazines and the net. And each time he would dodge her attack and pinned her down, reminding her that no matter what he was the man in the relationship and stronger than her. That act alone infuriated her to no ends but it was the sweet gestures he would do when he thinks she wasn't looking that won her heart for him. He would go to her races and her piano performances, he sent her flowers without writing his name though she knew it was him, fixing her motor cycle when it broke down and every time she felt confuse he was always there and she found herself spilling secrets she had never told anyone, even to Michelle. She wasn't a fool that she would keep denying her attraction to him but admitting it to him would never happen. When she was most frustrated, Serena would beckon her to come talk to her about it and though she never said anything, her silent support and gentle patting of her shoulders were enough for the wind soldier. She too had apologized for her own part in Serena's pain.

Michelle too had apologized to Serena and had even sought council with her princess about how she could break her relationship off from Amara. She had avoided Amara for two weeks and now she did not know what to do so she had gone to Serena and explained her problem. Hecate's silent companionship called to her soul memories of days spent in each other's arms in the silver Millennium, those sweet memories made her feel nostalgic. The need to taste and feel it again bubbled in her a desire that would not be suppressed. So she had packed up her nerves and talked to her princess about it. As she had done with Mina, Serena had mouthed her advice and Michelle had listened.

"Do nothing, just accept Hecate back into your life. Amara will move on before you know what happened."

And true to her words, she and Amara were back to talking as they had always been. There was no more awkwardness and Amara had even told her that she must not loose Hecate to anyone. Most of the time Amara would hunt Michelle down to complain about the injustice Akkadian was doing to her. They were a comedy show for the Jubban district. They were even offered to be filmed, though why should people pay to get cable before they can watch this couple when they could watch them live for free?

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This is the end of PART 1

Part 2 of the Epilogue will be the last.

I realized as I was typing that the Epilogue was too long so I split it in two. I will finish part two as early as I can and post it, until then enjoy this one^^

Thank you so much to all who have Reviewed and been by my side through this whole story, I am not the only Author of this story^^

Your encouragement and advise has shape this story to how it is now...believe me when I started this story, this was not at all how i had wanted the story to go but somehow this is how the story has turn out to be.

THANK YOU AND I WILL WAIT FOR YOUR REVIEWS!^^