Another 10 days later, Sailor Neptune is walking toward the Crystal Palace, she could not wait to see her beloved Haruka and daughter, Holly, after a long and stressful day of work as a nurse and being a Sailor Senshi, but she swore she heard something strange as she passed an alleyway. Although her mind warned her to be ready for anything, her heart told her it was not a threat, even though she gripped her Deep Aqua Mirror.
Next to her, the humongous dumpster rattled, and she knew: It was in there! Already in her Sailor Neptune form (thankfully providing gloves), she took a deep breath and flung open the lid! Thank goodness she could stop herself before she attacked as what she was looking at was the farthest thing from an enemy.
A look of disgust and shock crossed her face and her stomach twisted in horror as she reeled away from what she assumed to be the body of a dead baby! Neptune's eyes were as wide as saucers, and her hands covered her mouth, managing to help her not scream. Who was this? Why would someone do this? When did this occur? What happened?
These questions cycled, awful scenarios flying through Neptune's head until she calmed down enough to hear weak cries. Holding her breath, she peeked back into the dumpster: The baby is alive! Pulling nurse gloves on, Neptune dug the baby out of the trash; she is wet, cold, dirty, bloody, bruised, and emaciated! As Neptune reached for her, the baby jerked away, obviously frightened. Neptune could not blame her, so she just tried to show she had no intention of harming her.
"It's OK now. I'm not going to hurt you." Michiru stroked the baby's cheek with the back of her hand tenderly, and the baby calmed. De-transforming "You poor thing, your a brave, little one. Let's get you some help." Michiru held the baby tightly to her chest to warm her up as she rushed to the Crystal Palace.
No one would be working at the hospital, and Michiru wanted to take care of the baby personally anyway, to make sure she would survive. So, she cleaned, dressed, fed, and sang the baby to sleep without alerting anyone...except Neo-Queen Serenity!
"Michiru, you're home late." Neo-Queen Serenity, heavily pregnant, walked into the kitchen to get something to calm her pain.
"Sorry. Long day, as you can see." Michiru showed Neo-Queen Serenity the baby.
"Did you and Haruka adopt again?" Neo-Queen Serenity asked.
"No. I just...found her." Michiru admitted that not wanting to go into too much detail, Neo-Queen Serenity was not in the mood and never pushed her friends to reveal what they were not comfortable with yet.
"I see. Well, you should get to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a big day." Neo-Queen Serenity smiled.
Michiru nodded and headed to the bedroom she shared with Haruka and Holly, wondering how she would explain this to them. Not a moment too soon, Hotaru with Emily and Setsuna with Trisha burst out of their bedrooms and altered Michiru, Haruka, and Holly. Neo-Queen Serenity is giving birth and wanted them to be there for it! Racing down the hall, they went, waking up and informing the other Sailor Senshi and had not noticed Michiru holding a baby! How had they not noticed? And she had just seen Neo-Queen Serenity a moment ago, and she appeared fine, right? Oh, well, it did not matter now; Neo-Queen Serenity needed her, and she would bring this baby with her!
Michiru wracked her brain for an idea on what to name the baby as she followed the others (Melody? Harmony? Marina? etc.), but none of them stuck. Maybe she would ask around. Also, Michiru rocked the baby as the commotion had awoken her. In the birthing room, where there were servants to help the queen, her Sailor Senshi stood by just outside, worried as it was taking some time for news.
"Michiru, what are you carrying?" Haruka asked, concern in her voice. Michiru showed everyone the baby, which seemed to calm the dramatic tension, which had been stifling the area. However, Haruka was upset and angry at Michiru. "We can't afford to feed another mouth, and you didn't even consult me. What about Holly?"
"Haruka, how can you say that?! I didn't have time to consult you. She was dying! I have enough love for two kids." Michiru snapped.
"Haruka, you needn't worry about food, of all things. The Crystal Palace has enough food for an army." Setsuna tried to calm the rattled soldier of the sky.
"Hmph." Haruka scoffed and turned her back on them. Refusing to talk to Michiru.
Michiru did not understand what she did to make Haruka so angry with her, but she guessed it was just stress. After all, their queen is taking an awfully long time to give birth, but it was not like Michiru planned to find this child. "Anyway, I can't think of a name I like for her. Does anyone have an idea?"
"Joke," Hatuka commented in a teasing yet cruel manner.
Michiru just glared at her. Faith, Aqua, Rose, Autumn, Flora, and Indigo were all good suggestions. Still, Michiru could not choose.
"Alexis." Holly chirped.
"What, Holly?" Michiru knelt to her older daughter.
"Alexis!" Holly repeated happily, so proud of herself for thinking up a name suggestion.
Not knowing where Holly heard it, Michiru thought about the name and liked it. "You know what? I really like the name, Alexis."
Everyone admired Alexis's beauty until King Endymion walked out.
"Everyone, I regret to inform you, we cannot let you meet our daughter. She's been taken to NICU. She was born very small." Endymion informed, pain clearly evident in his eyes.
"Is...Neo-Queen Serenity, OK?" Minako asked as Alan and Urawa tried to keep Gracie and Crystal calm.
"She's distraught, of course, but recovering," Endymion replied.
"So, that's why it took so long..." Ami mused, calculating how long it must have taken to comfort the devastated queen.
"I know you and Neo-Queen Serenity well. Your daughter has a mix of powerful genes. She'll survive," Rei assured the distressed king as Yuichirou held Christen.
"Thank you, Rei." Endymion sighed.
"She's right. Though the Princess's condition may be delicate now, I can sense the Underworld is not scheduled to take her." Setsuna aided in comforting the sorrowful royal.
"I'm relieved to hear that." Endymion gave her a pained smiled.
"Can we see the queen?" Hotaru questioned.
"Yes, but please, be gentle with your questions," Endymion warned.
One by one, everyone offered their sincerest sympathies to the queen after having her assure them she is unharmed. It is nice to have such good friends. Michiru let Neo-Queen Serenity hold Alexis, hoping to make her feel better about her daughter. Sadly, day by day, Chibiusa's chances of survival seemed less and less likely. So, Neo-Queen Serenity hatched a daring plan, but the new Sailor Senshi got to play a part in it.
With Gracie and Crystal in her arms, Christen and Ariel in Trisha's arms, and trusting Holly with Emily and Alexis, the queen and young girls sneaked into the NICU of the Crystal Palace! Placing the babies on chairs so that they could see tiny Chibiusa in her monitoring capsule, Neo-Queen Serenity took out the Crescent Moon Wand and Silver Crystal!
"Neo-Queen Serenity...?" Trisha asked, tentatively, knowing the last time a queen did this, Queen Serenity died!
"Trisha, I need you and Holly to get the others to focus on their Sailor Senshi energy. Hurry, I'm uncertain how much time she has left..." Neo-Queen Serenity urged.
Without another word, Trisha made a game out of it with the Inner Senshi.
"Girls, listen: We're going to play a little game. OK? I'm going to show you a neat trick, and then you try it, alright?" Trisha focused, making her symbol for Pluto shimmer, showing them how she did it, and getting them to achieve it quite quickly.
Holly had a harder time as she was not one for games, but encouraging Emily and Alexis as Sailor Senshi, they picked it up when they saw Trisha and Holly do it.
"Moon Healing Escalation!" Neo-Queen Serenity tried not to shout too loud.
The Silver Crystal glowed, gathering energy from the girl's symbols and, accidentally, bestowing a long life span upon them! The lights zoomed into Chibiusa, making her body glow too, and her golden crescent moon shimmered on her forehead for just a second! The girls were spent after this, and Neo-Queen Serenity had to carry each of them back to bed. The next morning, Neo-Queen Serenity got to introduce her completely healthy yet small daughter to all of Crystal Tokyo! For 3 long, happy years, the girls grew and bonded, even Christen...to a certain extent, Haruka began accepting Alexis as her daughter and reminded her of Michiru.
However, this is not the end.