Chapter 36: Happy beginning

"I can't believe you proposed to her!" Ken said.

"Yeah, in these days and age, who proposed to a 14-year-old girl?" Zac said.

"Hey! During Silver Millennium, people get married at 14!" Nate argued.

"We are not in Silver Millennium anymore, Nate." Junichi said.

"I don't care. I love her, she loves me, and I know we are going to end up together anyway. What's the harm in proposing a little early?" Nate said.

Zac smirked, "You just want to declare to the whole world that she's yours. You're afraid anyone will hit on her while you're gone."

Nate was a bit upset that his brother-in-arm knew him so well. "Can you blame me? Look at her!" Nate gestured to the girls talking, while Makoto showing them the ring.

Nate was back in his thoughtful mode. "She's the most beautiful, strong and independent woman. I want to be here everyday. Protect her. Support her. It pains me so much that I can't be here."

"I don't think Makoto needs anyone to protect her," Mamoru chuckled.

"Come on! Mamoru, you know what I mean!" Nate said.

Nate was noticing Zac was looking at his blue-haired angle and lost in his thoughts.

"You're not afraid someone's going to ask Ami out while you're gone?" Nate asked, bringing Zac out of his temporary trance.

Zac raised his eyebrow. "I'm not insecure like you, Nate. I trust that Ami will wait for me." Of course, he wasn't going to tell Nate about their little 'agreement.'

"So sure of yourself, huh?" Nate asked.

Zac smirked and nodded. "Plus I'll be gone for only one year anyway." Zac shrugged and moved closer to Nate. "Not four years like you."

Ken pulled Zac's shoulder to move him away from Nate's face. "Don't rub it in his face. This is difficult for him as it is."

"Thank you, Ken. You're still the most mature of us all." Nate looked at him gratefully.

"I think you meant the oldest." Junichi said casually while working on his hang nail.

"Fine! Don't come beg me to buy you drinks when I'm at legal age." Ken shrugged.

Junichi poked his brother's side with his elbow. "Oh come on! You're not going to be mean to us. You have a soft spot for me." Jun slightly pouted and looked at his brother with his sad-puppy look.

"Now that I remember you were, and still is, a warrior, no more babying you. No matter how much mom forces me to!" Ken waved his hand.

"Yeah, you need to grow up a bit, Jun." Nate chimed in.

"Hey! I helped rescue you both, remember?" Jun said to Nate and Ken.

"That was the evil's doing, not our faults." Nate crossed his arms.

"And we agreed not to bring it up." Zac chimed in.

Mamoru watched the good-natured brotherly bickering. It reminded him of the old days, back in the Middle Kingdom. It felt good to have his them back again.

I'm thankful. I finally have my brothers back again. With Usagi by my side and my brothers back in my life, I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I can't believe how everything worked out. I wish Ferdinand was here too, but that would be too selfish of me. Ferdinand deserves to move on. He deserves to have a new life, free of fetter of the old past. As for me and my brothers, I'm grateful we can make peace with the past and enjoy the presence now. We've had so much happiness in our lives before they were destroyed by the war between the Moon and the Earth. It has taken two lifetimes, but we have finally arrived at our happy ending, or rather, a new beginning. Our memories are there, but they no longer trapped us in our past. We now have a chance to design our new beginning, and we will definitely make it a happy one.

—End—

AN. I can't believe it's the end of the story already. I'm thinking about writing an epilogue for each couple, so keep an eye out of that. I also have an idea for a new story featuring senshi/shitennou. If you want to get an update, please favorite or follow me as a writer.

Thank you so much for all your readers. I almost didn't finish this story, but with encouragement and support from all of you, I finally finished it. Thank you for reading!