A/N (Drum roll) Okay everybody, it's sad for me to say this, but this is the finale. I've finally milked this season as much as I could. It's always hard for me to end a story because I get so attached to them. But in this case I'm looking at the bright side as well. This might be the end of Rekindled, but it's not the end of the saga. I'm super-excited about diving back into What If and giving it an overhaul so that it will flow easily with this story. After that I still have three more seasons to play with. So this really isn't the end. Now let me hand out some hugs and we can get this party started. BIG HUGS TO:
Aurimeadre
a rose by any other name71591
Sailor Tala
jade2nightwing
Anjirika
sabina21
GoldenDragon326
MeganLeBlanc
Magic713
audreabro
CaughtInAFantasy
Tiny2008
KageNoNeko
A Battle Inside My Heart
Tons of thank yous to all of you guys for all of your wonderful feedback. And thank you to everyone who has put this story on alert. I hope this ending lives up to everyone's expectations. So with further delay, I give you the final chapter.
***Tissue Warning*** Just to let you guys know, I actually caught myself tearing up a couple of times while writing this. I absolutely hate writing death scenes. But in some cases it has to be done. So if you are the sentimental type like I am, you might want to take precautions.
ENJOY!
Rekindled : A Classic Sailor Moon Twist
Chapter 34
The Curtain Falls
For the first time in her life that she could remember, Sailor Moon didn't freeze in fear at the sight of an oncoming attack heading right for her. If this had happened to her only a short time before she may have been tempted to stand still and face death head on, but what a difference a few minutes could make. Despite all of her doubts and reservations, she had somehow broken through the spell that Beryl had placed on Darien, and now she had the man that she loved back by her side.
She felt Darien's hand on her arm as her feet began moving almost before her brain screamed at her to move, and she knew that he was there with her for every step. But the stone floor beneath their feet was damp and slippery, slowing them down as they tried to scramble out of the way of Beryl's attack.
'We're not going to make it,' Sailor Moon panicked. The giant crystal was closing in on them too fast. There was no way that they could get out of the line of fire in time. Nor did she have time to use her wand or tiara in an attempt to blast it.
Darien's fingers tightened on her arm a mere micro-second before something red flew past her face. She knew without really having to see it that it was one of his steel-tipped roses, and she felt a small flutter of relief. She knew from past experience that although those roses looked innocent, they were capable of doing a lot of damage. That move may just buy them a few precious seconds that they desperately needed.
Suddenly she was whipped around and thrown to the ground as a loud sound like shattering glass echoed through the chamber followed by a shrill scream. A heavy weight pressed down on top of her, making it hard to breathe. But she felt the metal breastplate of Endymion's armor digging into her shoulder and knew that it was Darien, covering her body with his.
There was a whooshing sound around them. And then abruptly, Darien's body jerked against hers as every muscle went tense. A low, pained moan escaped his mouth to brush her ear. Then he collapsed in a heavy, boneless heap against her.
All of a sudden, everything went deathly quiet. The only thing that Sailor Moon could hear was the rapid pounding of her heart in her ears. She lay there in shock as her mind raced to try to process everything that had happened in just a few short seconds.
After a moment her numb nerves came back to life, and she pushed against Darien's chest as she struggled to take a breath. But he didn't move off of her as she'd expected him to. In fact, he didn't move or respond at all.
"Darien," she whispered, hoping to get his attention. Still nothing. "Darien," she tried louder. Apprehension spiked through her when he still didn't respond.
She put her arms around his back in hopes of being able to roll them over, but pulled a hand back when she felt something wet seeping through her glove. She stared in disbelief at the palm of her glove that was now stained crimson instead of white. It was blood. Darien's blood.
"Darien!" she shrieked as she called on a burst of her scout strength to roll him off of her. She scrambled up onto her knees next to him, and cried out in dismay as she saw the pool of blood that was already beginning to form under him. "Oh! Darien, no!"
"You bitch!" Beryl's voice rasped harshly. "You stupid little bitch! Now Endymion has died again to save your pathetic hide. He would have been fine if you had just left him alone. But no! You just had to seduce him with your moon magic. You may call me a witch, but you were the one to cast a spell on him first. That is the only way he would have ever fallen for a pale little tramp like you. Endymion was always too good for you, and you don't deserve him."
Sailor Moon looked up through tear-blurred eyes to glare at the dark queen, who was on her hands and knees on the floor with Darien's rose embedded in her chest. "You don't have to tell me that I'm not good enough for him. I've always known that he was the better one of us, in both lives. But Endymion chose me then. And Darien chose me now. I hate to break it to you, but there was no magic involved. It was completely his choice. You are the was who has always been pathetic, running after a man who obviously wasn't in love with you. And it's always your fault that he gets hurt or killed. So what does that tell you about which one of us is the better woman?"
Beryl coughed and spat out a mouthful of black blood, but her reddish-brown eyes gleamed maniacally as she sneered, "Well it appears that neither one of us are going to get to have him. But don't think that his death means the end of our fight, Serenity. I still plan to rule the Earth with the power of your Silver Crystal. Don't spend too long mourning over poor Endymion. I'll be sending you to see him again real soon." And with those parting words she melted away through the floor.
Sailor Moon closed her eyes on a sob as tears spilled down her cheeks. She couldn't believe that everything in her life had come full circle to bring her back to the point where her previous life had ended. Her closest friends were dead. Her love was dead. And she was all alone with a madwoman gunning for her. It seemed that history was fated to repeat itself.
When she opened her eyes again, her gaze immediately fell on Endymion's silver sword, which was laying on the ground a few feet away from her. Was that the answer to this whole horrible nightmare? To escape it all, should she once more take her own life? Would she even be able to do it? She was no longer the princess she had once been. Serenity had seen suicide as being the only way out. But as Serena, she wasn't sure if she saw things quite the same way.
She shifted forward on her knees, reaching out for the sword anyway. Just because she touched it didn't mean that she was actually contemplating killing herself. Her fingers had barely brushed the hilt when a hoarse voice whispered, "Don't you even think about it, Meatball Head."
Her head whipped around and she sucked in a shaky breath as she found herself caught up in the gaze of a pair of hazy sapphire eyes. "Darien…"
He sighed heavily and closed his eyes, trying to hide how much pain he was in from her. "I know you weren't thinking about doing what I think you were," he rasped.
"No, no, no, no!" she exclaimed hastily as she shuffled as close to him as she could get, not caring that her knees and boots were becoming smeared with his blood. "I was just thinking about how all the bad things that happened to us in the past seem to be repeating. But I don't think I could ever go through with suicide."
It was getting hard for him to breathe, but he drew some air into his protesting lungs anyway so he could say what he needed to say to her. "Listen, Serena, we don't have much time. You've got to be ready. I'm sure Beryl has gone to Metallia to restore her energy. She could be back for you at any moment."
She shook her head. "Then we won't be here." She pulled her communicator out of her pocket and began tapping buttons. "There has to be some way to get this thing to work down here. If I could just get in touch with Luna and Artemis, I'm sure they could come up with a way to get us out. Then we could get you to a hospital and we would be fine."
He forced his eyes open to look at her. "Serena, you still have to defeat Beryl."
"Then I'll do it another day." Her lips trembled. "Right now you are the most important thing to me. I have to get you out of here."
He summoned as much energy as he could so that he could lift one of his hands to cover hers where it rested on his chest. He didn't want to hurt her, but he had to make her see the truth. He had been hit by several flying shards of that crystal when it shattered. They had torn through his body, shredding muscles, tissues, and vital organs. Even now he could feel his lungs filling up with fluid and a piercing pain in his heart.
"Sweetheart," he barely breathed, eyes falling closed again. "I'm not getting out of here."
Her face crumpled as she heard the certainty in his voice. She pulled his head and shoulders into her lap to hug him close as she rocked back and forth in grief. She moaned pitifully, "Please Darien, you can't leave me too. The girl's are all gone, and I'm afraid to do this all alone."
He took a shallow breath and drank in her scent. She always smelled like citrus and sunshine to him. He felt something wet on his face and opened his eyes to look up into the watery, cerulean depths of her eyes before saying, "You can finish this. Beat Beryl and then you can go back to living your own life again. Drink all the milkshakes you want and find a cool boyfriend. You won't have to deal with me picking on you anymore."
Blackness began crawling across his vision, and he struggled to keep her beautiful face in focus for as long as he could. But in seconds all was dark. Just before he slipped away, he felt her lips press to his and her say shakily, "But I don't want anyone else, Darien. I love you."
'I love you too, Serena,' he tried to say to her…but he was out of time.
Sailor Moon froze as she heard him exhale one final breath and felt the heart beneath her palm stop beating. Her lips were still against his, but his didn't move and were already turning cool along with the rest of his skin from blood loss.
After several long moments she pulled back with a shuddering breath to look at his face. His expression was peaceful and relaxed. He would have appeared to have only been sleeping if wasn't for the chalky-white paleness of his skin. Darien always had a slight tan, no matter what the season, since he spent time outdoors jogging and playing sports. Now he looked like a ghost.
A sharp wail tore from Sailor Moon's throat as the reality that her prince was dead slammed into her full force. Memories from her past life filled her head, intertwining with the present until she was screaming, "No! Not again! Endymion! DARIEN!"
Then she collapsed, sobbing wildly into his chest.
"Queen Metallia," Beryl croaked as she dragged herself across the floor of the evil entity's chamber. "Oh, Great Metallia! I beg of you, as your humble servant, please give me the strength to defeat our enemy."
The entity swirled in silence around its liquid prison for several long moments before a hollow chuckle filled the room. "So your prince turned on you and managed to get in a critical hit. And you were so worried about the princess being the biggest threat all of this time. I can't say that this is completely unexpected. I warned you in the beginning to kill them both. Instead you let your hormones override your common sense and decided to play with the boy. Now what do you have to show for it? Your army is gone. Your minions are gone. Your kingdom lies in ruin. And the moon princess still survives and still has the Silver Crystal. Serenity was right, you are pathetic."
The once powerful dark queen sat up on her knees and clasped her hands in front of her. "I'm sorry for not taking your advice, my queen. I must have been blind. I still don't know how Endymion was able to do this to me." She tried to touch the rose that was still protruding from her chest and jerked her fingers back with a hiss as the petals scorched her like fire.
Metallia laughed again. "For such a powerful sorceress you really don't know much about magic, do you? There are many different types of magic, my dear. The Dark Arts that you practice is usually one of the most powerful ones, but one that practices such must always be wary of the Light, like the power that the moon princess wields. But there is one power that has the ability to trump both of those if used properly, and that is the power of Love."
"Love!" Beryl scoffed. "There is lust, passion, and hunger. That is the only love I believe in."
"Which is why you failed," Metallia boomed. "Endymion loved Serenity enough to sacrifice himself not once, not twice, but three times now for her. When he chose to protect her above his own life, he invoked the power of Love. The love he had for that girl is infused deep into that rose, hence the reason why you cannot touch it."
"But he is gone now and won't be able to use it against me again. And Serenity must be shattered by his loss. Now is the perfect time to strike the killing blow," Beryl muttered. Then she begged, "Please, your majesty, I implore you, please give me the energy and the power I need to finally be rid of that moon twit. Then we will finally have the Silver Crystal the way we planned."
"We?" Metallia hissed.
Beryl realized her gaffe and quickly back-pedaled. "I mean you will have the Silver Crystal, my queen. And I will have the planet that I always wished to rule."
If Metallia had possessed physical eyes, they would have narrowed in suspicion at her servant. Of course she'd known for some time that Beryl coveted the Silver Crystal for herself. Just because she was trapped in this underground prison didn't mean that she didn't hear the grumblings of the inhabitants of the Dark Kingdom. Beryl's generals, in particular, had always been a great source of information when she'd had the opportunity to eavesdrop on them.
But she'd been planning on Beryl supplying her with enough energy to bring her back to her full power before the crystal was found. Once she had been restored to her former glory she would have been able to overpower Beryl in a snap. Unfortunately none of the Dark Kingdom flunkies had been able to deliver more than just a bit of human energy here and there. Still, there was a way to get around that.
"I don't have any energy to spare you," Metallia said, enjoying the way Beryl's face fell at her words. Now it was time to go in for the kill. "But there is still a way for us to be victorious. I would require your cooperation though."
"I'll do anything," Beryl stated immediately. "Just tell me what you need."
"Weelll…" Metallia drawled, drawing out the suspense. "You and I are both in a weakened state. If we were to merge together and combine our powers we should be able to take down the princess together."
"You mean that you would have to merge with my body?" Beryl gasped.
"Yes," Metallia stated simply. "Neither of us are strong enough to take her on alone. This is the only solution that I can see."
"I'd be better off if the stupid moon bitch would just go ahead and kill herself like she did before," Beryl murmured, not completely convinced of the plan. "And what does sharing my body with you mean for me?"
Oh, Metallia was glad at the moment that she couldn't grin. Because if she could it would have given her entire plan away. She was careful to keep her voice even and steady. "All it means is that your body will be a conduit through which my powers can be used. Once I have the Silver Crystal I will be able to assume a form of my own. At that time your body will be returned completely to you."
Beryl stared down at her clenched hands for several moments as she weighed her options. Finally she nodded. "Okay. I'll do it."
"Excellent," Metallia practically purred. A few seconds later her prison was shattered by a burst of energy and her inky, vaporous form flew across the chamber to descend on the dark queen.
Beryl sucked in a breath as a rush of power flowed through her, energizing her, and the rose fell from her chest. She stood up, feeling more powerful than she ever had before. She ran her hands down her dress, noting that it had changed to red from its usual purple. She supposed Metallia had a thing for red dresses. Well, whatever floated her boat. That shade was going to clash horribly with her hair though.
At least that was what she thought until she reached up and pulled a strand of her long hair over her shoulder. She gaped when she saw that her flaming red locks had turned a deep aqua-blue.
"Hey now!" she complained. "This is my body."
"Oh, that's right," Metallia spoke smoothly inside her head. "There was one little side effect that I forgot to mention."
"What do you mean a side effect?" Beryl demanded hotly.
A sinister chuckle echoed through her mind. "One thing to remember when you invite an ancient entity into your body is that we don't like to share, you stupid little girl. So I guess it's lights out for you, Queen Beryl."
Beryl clutched her head and screamed as pain shot through her, making her feel as if she were being broiled from the inside out. Her head felt like it was only seconds from exploding…and then…there was nothing.
Metallia smirked as she felt Beryl's soul disappear from existence and she became fully in control of the former dark queen's body. It wasn't her idea of the perfect vessel, being too bony and skeletal for her liking, but it would serve her purpose until she achieved her goal.
Her eyes turned a bright shimmering crimson as she turned and strode from the room. It was time to see what the little moon princess had. A millennium before, Queen Serenity had fought valiantly against her attempt to take over the moon kingdom. Now to see if the daughter could surpass the mother.
Sailor Moon lay on the damp stone floor next to Darien's dead body. He was still dressed in Endymion's armor, and her cheek laid against the cold metal of his breastplate as she rested her head on his chest. Her eyes were puffy and red, but her tears had long since run dry. One of her hands stroked the now icy skin of his cheek and jaw while the other one clenched tightly around the hilt of his sword.
No, she hadn't returned to thoughts of suicide. But there was something almost symbolic about her, Darien, and that sword being together at that moment. Truly their past had caught up to their present.
"Sorry, Serenity. You lose this time," she finally muttered and tossed the sword away from her. Then she reached up and framed her prince's face in her blood-stained glove covered hands. She knew she needed to get up and try to find Beryl to end this fight, but the thought of walking away and leaving his body alone in this dreary place tore her heart in two.
"I'm sorry, Darien," she whispered. "I came here to save you, and instead I just wound up getting you killed again. Some moon princess I am, huh? I'm almost glad that you and the girls are dead, that way you can't see what a failure I turned out to be."
And then suddenly, just like someone had flipped a radio on, voices filled her head.
'Oh! I know I didn't just hear those words come out of your mouth, Meatball Head!' Raye's indignant voice screeched.
Then came Amy's calm tone. 'Just give her a moment to collect herself. She has gone through a lot of emotional shock today.'
Lita snickered. 'That's right! Serena will get her game face back on soon and be ready to kick some ass!'
'If anyone can pull of a miracle, it's our Serena. Go, Serena! Go!' Mina cheered perkily.
Sailor Moon sat up and pressed the heels of her hands against her temples. "Oh great! I'm hearing dead people! Now I know I've lost it."
Suddenly she heard a loud boom and the chamber shook around her, causing loose rocks to shower down onto the ground. Uh oh, that couldn't be good.
She took a deep shaky breath. "I have a feeling that is Beryl's calling card."
Then a warm, secure feeling swept through her and she heard Darien's voice. 'I told you, Serena, you can do this. Now go beat that witch so you can go home. And don't forget, we're all with you. And we'll stay with you until the very end.'
She looked down at his face again, and then bent down to place one last kiss on his lips. "Okay, I'm going to attempt to do this…for all of you. That witch needs to pay for everything that she's done."
And with that she got up from the ground and, without looking back, walked onward toward her destiny. She left the chamber and found herself in a corridor that looked exactly like all of the others she had been down today. The exception being the large hole in the floor that looked as if it put there by a large blast of energy and the matching hole right above it in the ceiling.
Sailor Moon crept up close to the hole in the floor and the crane her neck to look up into the one above her. It was several meters high and passed through solid stone, but through it she could see gray sky and thin, watery daylight.
"I wonder if this is Beryl's way of telling me she wants to move the fight outside," she mused as she examined her options. Luckily the hole was wide and had large pieces of jagged rock jutting out from its sides like shelves or steps. It would be easy as pie for her to jump her way to the surface.
So that was exactly what she did. She pushed off from the floor and launched herself into the hole, landing on a wide ledge without even a wobble. She searched for the next best place to jump and leapt there. And then on to the next, and the next. In just a couple of minutes she found herself standing in the middle of the freezing cold Arctic once again.
But this time she didn't pay attention to the cold wind whipping around her body. Instead her attention was focused on the…woman , um…or was she a thing, that stood about a hundred yards away from her. There was no way that this…creature was Beryl.
She was gigantic, standing every bit as tall as a twenty story building. Well, that could explain the size of the hole. She wore a long red dress and had teal colored hair that stood straight up as it danced in the wind. She also had glowing red eyes, which she now had pinned on Sailor Moon.
"Well, well," she drawled in a smooth voice that was definitely not Beryl's. "Princess Serenity, we meet at last. What a pleasure."
"Metallia," Sailor Moon growled, knowing immediately who she was facing. "What happened to Beryl?"
An evil smile spread across Metallia's face. "You'll be happy to know that she is no longer of this world. I dispatched her myself after she so generously allowed me to have the use of her body. It is now down to just the two of us. So shall we begin?"
Sailor Moon didn't bother replying. She merely held out her hand, and with a power she didn't even know she possessed, she summoned her wand to her hand. The Silver Crystal seated inside of it flashed briefly once, and she felt a wave of energy wash over her as her fuku faded away to be replaced with her white princess dress. A spot of warmth on her forehead told her that her crescent moon birthmark had appeared once more. She was the moon princess once again…and she was pissed off.
"Very well, Serenity," Metallia practically purred as she held her hands out in front of her. Then she sneered, "Pitiful little moon princess. Do you honestly think you can beat me? Your mother failed before, and now you will too."
Then a large beam of negative energy shot toward the girl.
Serenity raised the wand in front of her and cried, "Cosmic Moon Power!" A wave of silver energy erupted from the wand and flew forward to clash with the dark energy that was bearing down on her,
The two powers collided with a deafening boom, causing the two opponents two stumble back bit. The power play between them continued for several minutes, both of them gaining and then losing ground. Serenity began to despair as she felt herself weakening, letting the dark energy start to creep ever closer to her.
In a last desperate attempt to win the battle, the reincarnated moon princess called out, "Please my friends, I need your help. I can't do this alone."
She felt their spirits as they surrounded her. She could even see the shadowy figures of the scouts as they stepped up, two on either side of her, and felt their power as they placed their hands over hers on the wand. Then she felt hands on her shoulders and knew that her prince was with her as well. Then she heard the voices of her friends call upon their powers.
"Mercury Power!"
"Mars Power!"
"Jupiter Power!"
"Venus Power!"
She felt the four planetary powers flow into the crystal as they intensified its energy. Then there was a surge through her body as she felt what could only be the power of Earth flow through her and into the crystal. She heard Darien's voice whisper, "You can do this Serenity. And remember, I'm always here for you."
She concentrated on merging those powers together with her own, and then with a mighty blast she sent them all shooting toward Metallia in a final strike. Metallia shrieked as she was swallowed up by the attack…and then she was gone.
Serenity fell to her knees, completely drained, as her gown faded back into Sailor Moon's fuku. And as she slumped to the ground the fuku melted into her school uniform. The crescent moon wand shattered, leaving her holding the glowing Silver Crystal in her hand.
Barely able to hold onto her consciousness, she whispered, "Thank you everyone. I wish I could have had a normal life this time, but I wouldn't trade you guys for the world."
As she passed out, the crystal flared with a pink light that encompassed the landscape. When it died a minute later, all six of the teenage bodies that had fallen that day had disappeared.
"Oh dear! This can't be good," Queen Serenity murmured as she stood in the time plane staring down into the river of time. "The Silver Crystal takes things literally when a wish is made on it while its powers are activated. Serenity may have just dug herself into a hole that may prove difficult to pull herself out of."
Sailor Pluto shook her head as she looked to her former queen. "Do not fear, your majesty. This is exactly the way that I have foreseen for time to go forward as it should. Yes, the princess has gotten herself into a bit of a predicament, but she will recover in time. Everything is on track for her future to unfold as it should."
Queen Serenity's lavender eyes narrowed on her former scout. "I hope you are right, Pluto. I sent my daughter and the others to be reincarnated in hopes that they would some day become the leaders that I knew they could be. I don't want that chance ruined because of a mistake."
Sailor Pluto merely smiled. "Don't worry, my queen. I can assure you that their fate is playing out exactly as it was meant to. In this life things will be different for them."
The former moon queen looked at her with tears in her eyes. Thank you, Sailor Pluto."
Serena groaned as she came back to consciousness. Every joint, bone, and muscle in her body ached and she was cold. But surprisingly she wasn't as cold as she had felt just before she had lost consciousness after she had defeated Metallia.
Metallia! That thought had her eyes popping open as she sat up and took in her surroundings. Despite the lack of bitter cold, she'd expected to find herself lying on the ice and snow at D-Point in the Arctic Circle. Instead she found herself laying on the cobblestones in the courtyard of the Hikawa Shrine where she and the other girls had performed the teleport to reach the Dark Kingdom.
She was also surprised to see that she had transformed back into her civilian form. She was grateful though when the late winter breeze whipped around her. Her school uniform skirt didn't do much to protect her legs, but she was grateful for the warmth her jacket gave her.
She glanced up at the sky and saw that it was night. And from the looks of how dark the sky was and the position of the moon, she judged the time as being somewhere around ten at night. She fished in her pocket for her cell phone so that she could check the time.
She froze when her hand encountered not only her phone, but something smooth and metallic as well. She pulled her hand out and opened her fist to reveal the star locket. She gazed at the piece of jewelry blankly for a few moments before she shoved it back into her pocket. She knew that if she dwelled the thoughts of everyone she had lost that day that she would break down where she was and probably not be able to get up until the men in white coats came and carted her away.
She retrieved her phone and checked the time, surprised to see that it was midnight. Wow! It was later than she'd thought it was. She'd told her mother that if her study group with the girls ran late that she would just stay the night at the shrine. But in light of the recent events she figured it was for the best if she just went home and snuck in through the window. If her mother questioned her in the morning she would just tell her that she had come in just after she and her dad had gone to bed. And maybe, if she was lucky, she would be able to convince her mother to let her take a sick day. It shouldn't be that hard to do. Her throat was sore and scratchy and she was sure from the burning in her eyes that she probably looked like someone had poured straight bleach into them. Heaven knew she had cried so much today that she was surprised that they hadn't swollen shut by now.
And tomorrow was Friday. If she didn't go to school that would give her three whole days to mope in her bedroom over the loss of her best friends and her would-be boyfriend. Of course she would have to face the inquisition at the hands of Luna and Artemis, and probably Andrew at some point, and fill them in on everything that had happened, but she would worry about that later.
She put the phone back into her pocket and then reached into another one to search for her gloves. It was only late February after all, and she was sure that her hands would be frozen by the time she walked home. She briefly thought about transforming into Sailor Moon, and then quickly squashed that idea. After everything she had been through over the last several months she didn't care if she ever transformed again. All she wanted to do now was grieve and try to put back together some semblance of a normal life.
She found her gloves and pulled them out. And as she did a small piece of white paper fell out of her pocket and fluttered toward the ground. She snatched it up and looked at it, and then felt the burn in her eyes increase when she realized what it was.
It was the sacred sutra that Sailor Mars had given her when they had first gone down into the Dark Kingdom lair. Her friend had told her that it would help protect her from the effects the dark energy had on her. And who knows, perhaps it had done exactly that. She had fought against the mother load of dark energy and had somehow survived.
She clutched the sutra to her chest and whispered, "Thank you, Raye."
Suddenly feeling the need to pay tribute to her friend's memory in some way, Serena turned and walked over to the wooden steps that led up to the porch that ran around the building where Raye, her grandfather, and Chad had their living quarters. Knowing that neither of the men were supposed to be home that night, she didn't bother to muffle her footsteps as she shuffled toward Raye's bedroom.
She slid the door open, figuring that she would leave the sutra on Raye's pillow or something. Maybe it was a childish sentimental gesture, but she thought it might make her feel well enough to make it through the night.
But as she stepped toward the bed, she was shocked to see that someone was laying in it. She bit back a squeal, thinking that some homeless person might have come up and, finding the shrine empty, had decided to bunk there for the night.
She peered through the dim light, trying her best to make out the person's features, but all she could see was a length of long black hair. Then a soft glow of moonlight spilled in through the window and their face was completely visible.
Serena's heart missed a beat, and then began pounding wildly. "Raye!" she screeched, dashing to the side of the bed and grabbing the priestess by the shoulders and shaking her. But the only response she got from her friend was a small snort and a incoherent mumble of words as she rolled over and settled into another position.
That was enough to convince Serena that her friend was at least alive. She looked Raye over as carefully as she could, but could find no sign of injury nor any evidence that she had been in a brutal fight earlier that day. In fact, the sleep she was in almost seemed to be magically induced.
"Of my god!" Serena whispered to herself. "Was mother right about the Silver Crystal? Did it listen to what I wanted and grant me my wish?"
With a surge of hope building up inside of her, she whirled and left the shrine, transforming into Sailor Moon without a second thought and taking to the trees and then the rooftops as she raced across town. The hope she felt expanded further when she reached Dr. Mizuno's high-rise penthouse and found Amy curled up in her bed in the same deep sleep state.
Lita's apartment was the next closest, so she popped in there next. The tall girl was sprawled across her bed with her auburn curls scattered around her as she snoozed away, oblivious to the fact that one of her best friends was squealing and doing a happy dance less than three feet away from her.
She was a bit quieter entering Mina's house, not wanting to wake up Artemis if he was there. But the white feline was nowhere to be seen. The same couldn't be said for his mistress however. The self-proclaimed love goddess was snug as a bug under her orange comforter and sheets.
She quickly made her way back a couple of blocks until she stood on the roof of the Crown Arcade. And then she focused her attention on the building she had been saving for last. Her chest felt tight as she dragged in huge lungfuls of air in an attempt to calm her nerves. She was ecstatic that her friends were alive and seemed well. Was it too much to hope that her prince had been returned too?
"Well, you're not going to find out by standing here all night." she chastised herself. Taking one last deep breath, she pushed off from the roof.
In less than a minute, she landed on what was now a familiar balcony. She reached out slowly and carefully slid the door open soundlessly. It was dark inside, but she remembered the layout perfectly and was able to make her way through the living room and down the hall in just a matter of seconds. She raised a trembling hand to the door, hesitated for only a second, and then pushed it open. Her already shaking knees buckled and she crumpled to the floor at what had to be the most wonderful sight she'd ever seen.
The heavy black curtains were open just a crack, enough for her to see Darien laying on his back in his bed, one arm crooked over his head and the other one flung to the side. Even from across the room she could see the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed and the flush of color on his cheeks.
Unable to trust her legs to support her weight, she crawled across the plush carpet until she could pull herself up on her knees beside his bed. This put them at eye level with each other. Uncertain as to whether or not all of this was real or a dream or hallucination, she reached out and placed a hand on his chest.
She cried out and tears that she'd thought had long run dry spilled from her eyes as she felt the firm thrumming of his heart beneath her palm. She'd felt that heart when it had stopped beating, and she'd thought that it would never beat again.
"Oh, Darien," she sighed as she moved up to sit beside him on the edge of the bed. She took one of his hands in both of hers and held it up to her cheek, feeling a thrill as she savored the warmth of his skin against hers. Then she leaned down and pressed a kiss against his soft lips.
She felt a sigh come from him, but other than that he didn't respond. It seemed that he was in the same deep sleep that the scouts were. But she didn't care. He was alive. That was all that mattered to her.
She sat there for almost an hour, watching him sleep and marveling over the fact that he and the girls had been returned to her. But eventually she was overcome by a wave of extreme exhaustion. She was tempted to just crawl into bed beside Darien and sleep there, but something deep inside of her told her that was a very bad idea.
So after a last murmured, "I love you," and a final kiss, she made her way back out of the apartment. As she traveled over the rooftops toward her home, she felt freer than she had in months. Now that this Dark Kingdom business was over, perhaps she and her friends could finally get back to their normal lives.
She wobbled unsteadily on her feet as she landed on the roof of her house, feeling more drained by the second. The need to sleep was tugging at her like an unrelenting siren. And for a moment she wondered if she even had the energy to make it to her bed.
Finally she managed to muster the strength to climb onto a tree branch and shimmy down to her partially open bedroom window. She pushed it the rest of the way open and practically fell through it and onto her window seat.
Luna, who had been curled up on the foot of her bed, jumped up with a startled meow. It took her a few seconds for her brain to process the fact that her princess had returned. "Serena! You're back! What happened?"
Sailor Moon pushed herself up off the window seat and shuffled slowly over to the bed. She patted her feline advisor gently on the head. "It's finally over, Luna. Beryl and Metallia are both gone and the Dark Kingdom is no more."
"What about the other scouts?" Luna continued with her questions. "And Darien? Were you able to free him? Is everyone okay?"
A small smile graced Sailor Moon's lips. "They'll all be fine." Then she reversed her transformation and pulled the brooch from the bow on her shirt and tossed it on her bedside table.
"I'm going to sleep now," Serena mumbled. Then she collapsed face-first on her bed, still fully clothed and wearing her jacket. Her bag, which had magically reappeared when she had turned back into her civilian form, thumped heavily to the floor.
"Serena!" Luna gasped as she scurried to check on her mistress. She breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered that the girl appeared to just be deeply asleep. Then she chuckled. "Yes, get some rest, Serena. I'm sure you've earned it. We can talk in the morning."
Now that she was satisfied that her princess, the prince, and the scouts were safe, she felt the worry and stress she had been dealing with all day melt away, leaving her exhausted. As she wandered back down to her spot at the foot of the bed, she briefly contemplated calling Artemis to check in with him. Her poor companion had left her only a half hour before when his frazzled nerves had finally gotten the better of him and he had said that he was going home to see if Mina had shown up yet.
After a few seconds she decided not to call him. Obviously he must have found Mina at home when he got there or he would have called her or come back by now. Knowing that he had to be feeling the same relief that she did, she decided to leave him be until morning. She was sure that they would all have a lot to talk about in the morning.
With that final thought, she curled up and almost immediately fell asleep. She was sleeping so deeply, in fact, that she never even twitched a whisker a while later when a beam of moonlight shone through the window and across the bed where the sleeping princess lay. Nor did she move a muscle when a bright flash lit up the room as a crescent moon symbol began to shine on Serena's forehead. After a few minutes it flickered and faded away.
Somewhere in the future
A woman who appeared to be in her early to middle twenties, with long golden hair that streamed down her back to almost brush the ground and wearing a long, pink silk, spaghetti strapped nightgown, stood on a balcony of a massive crystal palace. She shivered a bit in the brisk air as she looked out over the sprawling city around her. Although it was the middle of the night, lights still flashed and cars still traveled the streets. It was one of the largest cities in the world, so it never truly slept.
But soon it would. Her blue eyes grew clouded with worry at the thought. She had known for a long time what her future held. And as much as she had wished that the events that were now looming before her would never happen, she knew that they would. As a wise friend of hers had pounded into her head over the years, time must unfold as it was meant to.
She sensed another presence behind her several seconds before arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back against a firm chest. She sighed as she burrowed into the warmth.
Then a voice was whispering huskily in her ear. "Can't sleep, my love?"
She shook her head. "Not really. I tried for a while, but I kept having bad dreams."
He nuzzled her neck. "About what?"
"The spring that I was sixteen," she admitted reluctantly. "I know it wasn't all bad. I actually have some very fond memories of that time. But a lot of bad things happened to us then as well."
She felt him sigh against her skin. "Darling, there is nothing we can do about it. There are things that I did back then that I wish I could take back. But we made a pact promising that we wouldn't do anything that could impact the events of the past. That was the price we paid to keep all of our memories of that time."
"I know," she sighed, turning around and looking up into those dark ocean blue eyes that had always had the ability to suck her in. "And at the time I was okay with that. But this isn't just about us. It involves our daughter as well. She's just an innocent eight year old girl."
He pulled her against his chest and hugged her tightly. "She'll be fine, Sere. We all will. We've already seen how everything turns out, remember."
She buried her face into his t-shirt. "I hope you're right. We've done everything we can to ensure that things play out the way they are supposed to. I guess I'm just freaking out because it's almost time for things to happen."
She sucked in a deep breath, taking in the unique scent of him that she had always loved. Then she glanced up at him again. "It's going to be soon now, isn't it?"
"I'm almost positive it will be," he replied as he pressed his cheek to the top of her head. "It's been several weeks since we ordered the delegation from Nemesis from the Earth. So I expect that they will be attacking any day now. I'm sure they've had time to recruit their forces by now."
She shivered in his arms. "Then I guess all we can hope for is for things to go as they are supposed to. I just have to have faith that my past self can overcome the obstacles in her way. I really didn't understand the full power of the Silver Crystal back then."
He held her even more tightly as her words cut him deeply at a soul level. "I've always believed in you, my love. And that will never change."
She looked up at him again, her sky blue eyes shining with love. "I really don't know what I did to ever deserve you. But I am so glad that you decided to choose me."
"Hmm…" he hummed before he swooped down and captured her lips in a heated kiss. A few minutes later he pulled back and murmured, "Perhaps we should move this back inside to our bedroom."
She giggled shrilly as he swept her up into a bridal hold and pressed her face into his neck. "Whatever you wish, my king."
Tokyo - Present Day
Luna blinked her eyelids slowly as she came awake. She glanced toward the window, and judging by the light shining through it she figured that it would soon be time for her to start trying to wake up Serena.
Even though she knew the girl had been through what she could only assume had been a horrific battle, she had to have answers about yesterday's events. Sailor Moon had told her when she had crawled through her window in the wee hours of he morning that everything was fine, but she needed the details.
Her cinnamon eyes widened when she rolled to her feet and glanced toward the head of the bed. But instead of finding her reincarnated moon princess, all she found was rumpled covers. And the alarm clock on Serena's bedside table showed that she still had ten minutes before her alarm was due to go off. What the hell?
Luna turned as she heard the sound of the door to the bathroom that connected Serena and Sammy's rooms open. Then she gaped at the sight of Serena walking out, fully clothed in a fresh school uniform with her hair done up into its usual style. Serena never got up this early. She always hit her snooze button and stayed in bed until her mother had delivered at least three or four threats about her being late onto her, or until recently, one of the scouts had come in to wake her.
Luna continued to watch in wide-eyed amazement as Serena sat down on the side of her bed and proceeded to pull on a pair of socks. She looked bright and alert, much unlike the exhausted girl who had dragged herself through the window in the wee early hours of the morning.
"Serena," she stated cautiously. "We should really talk about what happened yesterday."
The reaction from the blonde teen was quite unlike any that she could have ever predicted. Serena squealed and jumped off of the bed to land butt first on the floor. Her sky blue eyes widened until they almost swallowed up her face. Then she whispered, "I must be losing it, because I swear my cat was just talking to me!"
Luna huffed an indignant breath. "Of course I'm talking to you, Serena. What else did you expect?"
Serena's sky blue eyes widened in panic. "Oh crap! My cat really is talking to me!"
"Oh, for the love of Selene," Luna muttered and ignited the Luna mind meld. She didn't know why her princess was acting as freaked out as she was, but she needed to find out what was going on.
She frowned though when a beam of light shot from her crescent moon symbol to land on Serena's forehead. Normally a mirroring crescent would appear on whoever the mind meld was used on, but this time it didn't. Instead it felt like her powers had slammed into a brick wall. How odd.
Serena whimpered as strange dream-like visions started drifting hazily through her mind. The people in them were blurry, so she couldn't tell who they were. All she could make out were girls wearing short-skirted sailor suits and a man who was in a tuxedo, which then melted away into a suit of armor. For some reason she felt happy and sad at the same time.
Then they disappeared to be replaced by a tall, skeletal woman with long, snarled red hair. She was wearing an extremely provocative purple dress. A maniacal laugh rang through her head.
"No!" Serena moaned as fear and revulsion filled her, making her start shaking. "Please stop! I don't want to remember. I just want to be normal. Don't make me remember that."
Luna grew concerned when she saw how panicked Serena was becoming, so she quickly reversed the mind meld, taking care to make sure that whatever barriers were blocking Serena's memories were left intact. The poor girl had obviously gone through something traumatic and was bordering on hysterical at the thought of remembering whatever it was. So it was probably best to leave her as she was until she'd had a chance to talk to the other scouts. Perhaps they knew what was wrong with her.
But as she was disengaging her power, there was a surge of energy through the link between them. And suddenly Serena's memories were in her head. Most of them were just fragments, but she was able to piece together a lot of what had happened at D-Point.
The scouts had all died in their attempt to clear the way for Sailor Moon to confront Beryl. And then when she had finally made it to the witch there had been a confrontation with Endymion. She'd broken the spell and reunited with him only to watch him die mere minutes later. Then there had been a final showdown with Metallia, who had taken over Beryl's body. That part Luna could see with perfect clarity. She heard the wish that Serena had whispered as she'd laid on the snow and ice, and then saw that all of the scouts and Darien had thankfully been returned to life.
The black feline shook her head as the bond between her and her mistress was broken. No wonder Serena didn't want to remember all of that. No sixteen year old girl should have had to go through what she had. But unfortunately she was the moon princess and the wielder of the Silver Crystal, and fate had chosen her to be the one to defeat the Dark Kingdom.
Luna retreated back a few steps and sat down on her haunches as Serena shook herself like she was coming out of a daydream. After a few seconds she shrugged, got up off the floor to sit on the bed again, and continued putting on her socks. Then she stood and picked up her school bag from the floor. She set it on the bed and opened it up to peer inside.
"Good grief! When did this thing get so messy?" she muttered to herself. "I better clean it out this weekend."
She pulled a paper out and looked at it. "That's right, I have a biology report due next week. I guess it's a good thing I woke up early this morning, huh Luna? Now I'll have time to drop by the school library to look up some things for it. I'm sure Mina will forgive me for not waiting to walk with her this one time."
"Meow," Luna replied, shocked to hear Mina's name cross her lips. It seemed that not all of Serena's memories were lost if she remembered her blonde friend.
Serena kept talking to herself. "I'm sure Amy can help me out with my report too. I'll have to ask her at lunch, although I'm sure Raye will have something sarcastic to say about it. Ooo, and I hope either Lita or Drew bring in something tasty today. And if that jerk-face Darien starts in on my eating habits I swear I will deck him for it! Where does he get off thinking he's so high and mighty? I can't stand that arrogant snob! Okay, so I'll admit that he's sinfully gorgeous, but he's such an ass."
She put the paper back into her bag and closed it up. Then she picked it up, along with her jacket, and patted Luna on the head. "Well, I'm off, Luna. Be a good kitty today."
Luna sat there in stunned amazement as Serena left the room, thinking hard as she tried to figure out what was going on. Serena remembered her, but not the fact that she could talk. She remembered the girls and Darien, although the way she'd spoken about Darien had reminded her of the way she used to talk about him months ago, before they had grown close and she'd found out that he was Endymion.
Her head snapped up. Was that what had happened? Had the past several months been erased from Serena's mind? It made sense since she'd known them all before she'd become Sailor Moon. But no, that could be it. If that were the case, then Serena shouldn't be able to remember her at all. And she also wouldn't remember anything about a recent school assignment.
Then it dawned on her. All of the memories that Serena had forgotten were tied to the sailor scouts, Tuxedo Mask, the moon kingdom, Serenity, Endymion, and the Dark Kingdom. It was if that part of her life had just vanished like it had never existed. In her mind, life had gone on as normal all of these months. But that was liable to leave some huge gaps and holes in her brain, and that could be a bad thing.
She glanced over at the bedside table and smacked a paw to her face when she saw Serena's brooch laying there. Of course! Serena didn't remember that the Silver Crystal was inside of it. But that didn't mean that it should just be left laying around. The Dark Kingdom might be gone, but the crystal still needed to be protected.
"Sammy!" Ilene's voice filtered up the stairs. "You better get down here soon, or you won't have time to eat."
A door down the hall thumped open, and then the sound of shuffling footsteps in the hallway as Sammy grumbled, "I'm up, I'm up. Why aren't you yelling at that idiot Serena this morning? She's the lazy one."
That was followed by Serena's voice, "Speak for yourself you little maggot. I've been up for a while. Well I'm off. I want to get to school early and see if they have a book in the library to help me on my biology report."
Luna jumped off the bed and crept to the top of the stairs. Looking down she saw Serena come out the kitchen with her book bag and her lunch in hand. She stopped to slip on her shoes, and then went out the front door. There was a long silence that stretched out after she left.
Finally, Ken spoke. "She didn't run screaming out the door."
Ilene's voice was barely more than a whisper. "She remembered her lunch."
"Serena…in the library…No way!" Sammy screeched.
That was all Luna needed to hear. Serena's family had picked on that something was different about her too. She needed to figure out exactly what to do about this situation, if she needed to do anything at all. Serena had said many times that she just wanted a normal life. Maybe now was her chance to have it.
She ran back into Serena's bedroom to call Artemis. She really needed a second opinion on all of this. But when her eyes spotted the brooch again, she skidded to a stop. Of course! Serena had still been holding the active crystal in her hand after the fight with Metallia when she had spoken of her friends and her wish for a normal life. So the Silver Crystal had granted her wishes. Darien and the girls had been brought back to life and her life had returned to the way it had been before she'd become Sailor Moon. That had to be what had happened.
"Oh dear," Luna muttered. "This could be both good and bad. I don't begrudge Serena wanting a normal life, but what if another enemy shows up and we need Sailor Moon. She is the only one who can use the crystal."
She dove under the bed where she kept a spare communicator and quickly pressed a button. A few seconds later the screen flickered and Artemis's furry white face appeared.
"Good morning, Luna," he greeted her. "Did Serena finally make it home last night? Mina did. She was actually in bed asleep when I got here. I need to remember later to scold her for not calling and letting me know that she was back. I was worried sick."
"Yes, Serena came home," she replied hastily. "But I have something to ask you. Does Mina seem to be okay this morning?"
Artemis cocked his head. "Mina is never okay. You know that. And this morning she is more neurotic than usual. She jumped up out of bed a few minutes ago like a scorpion had just stung her in the butt and began running around like a mad woman, muttering about Serena and cursing Beryl with every breath she took. I've retreated to the living room to save myself both physical and mental pain. Why? Is something wrong with Serena?"
Before she could answer, she heard the pounding of footsteps from his end of the line, and the Mina's voice call shrilly, "Bye, Artie!"
"I keep telling her not to call me that," Artemis grouched. "So what were you about to say, Luna?"
She heaved a sigh. "We have a problem, and it could be a big one. I'd rather talk to you in person about it. Can you meet me in the control room?"
His blue eyes turned serious. "Sure. I'll see you there in a few."
"Thanks, Artemis," she told him, and then she cut the communication.
Crawling back out from under the bed, Luna found a small drawstring bag that Serena sometimes used as a wrist purse. Picking it up with her mouth, she jumped up onto the nightstand and managed to push the brooch containing the Silver Crystal into the bag. Then she clenched it between her teeth and made her escape through the cracked window.
She quickly scurried down the tree to the lawn below. As soon as her paws touched the brown grass she shot off in the direction of the arcade. When she turned the corner onto a busy street, she jumped up onto the concrete wall that ran next to the sidewalk and took that route to avoid being stepped on by the morning commuters.
She frowned when she spotted a familiar head of black hair weaving through the crowd at a high rate of speed and saw Darien running in a flat out sprint in the direction that she had just come from. She tried to get his attention, but he blew right past her without even seeing her.
"Oh no," she whispered to herself. "I sure hope he doesn't manage to track down Serena before I get a chance to talk to him. He's going to be in for a nasty shock if he does."
There was nothing she could do about it right now. So she turned and continued on to here destination. She was sure that things would work out somehow. After all, the Dark Kingdom had been defeated. What were the chances of another supernaturally powerful enemy attacking the Earth?
What were the chances indeed.
THE END
A/N So that's it guys. This part of the saga is officially finished. As a lot of you know, I still have a couple of other stories I'm working on, plus I still get new ideas constantly that I have to write down then and there so I don't forget them, but I have already started on revamping What If and plan to start posting the new version in the near future. But if you are a new reader to this series and want to move on, feel free to go ahead and read the old version. Just don't be surprised if you find huge discrepancies between that story and this one. I originally wrote What If years ago and at the time I hadn't planned on doing any of the other seasons. But as you can see, I've changed my mind. In any case, I hope all of you enjoyed this little roller coaster ride of mine. It's been a blast sharing this adventure with all of you, and I look forward to future rides to come. As always, you guys are the best. Just because this story is finished doesn't mean I won't still treasure each and every review, so please feel free to click that button and tell me what you thought. Lots of love and hugs to you all!
For the last time on Rekindled, this is your humble author Sere-chan, signing out.