The founding of Hotaru City
Hotaru city.
A large and thriving metropolis formerly known as Tokyo before it changed its name to honour the actions of the true hero who had liberated it from evil's grasp.
The capital of Japan and the right seat of its ruler.
No emperor, no queen and no princess but rather a democratically elected president who was chosen through votes and her heroic contributions that she had selflessly contributed to the world.
It seemed forever ago when things were very different.
The sailor guardians who today were hailed as celebrities worldwide chose instead to lurk in the shadows keeping their identities secret from the billions who owed these benevolent demigods their very lives.
Fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight was once their motto. They transformed into a form in which they were unknown to anyone and used their powers gifted to them millennia ago by the all loving queen Serenity to fight off the many demons that still plagued the world long after the moon kingdom they were created to destroy had officially ended.
Several times they nearly completely died but continued in their noble quest nonetheless.
Then they changed back to their normal appearances and went about their day to day life as ordinary citizens who had done nothing noteworthy to anyone to deserve either merit or praise.
It all changed one day.
And it begun with a much smaller change.
A change in their choice of team leader.
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"I don't think I am fit to bear the title of leader anymore." Their leader Sailor Moon known in real life as Usagi Tsukino had stated one day at a meeting in the team's favoured shelter the Hikawa shrine.
Her voice was firm and serious despite its clear tiredness.
"I believe that if I continue as our leader, we will soon become easy prey for our adversaries and as a result, I have decided that it has come time to pass on my burden. For someone else competent and able to receive my position and lead us to the glorious victory Chibiusa foresaw for us before she left us."
Each one of the Sailor scouts waited with bated breath for their leader's next words. Their faces a mask of fear and doubt.
Who could possible take up the all important duty of commanding their group as well as their founder who had united them all together under one friendship and team after all?
The saviour who had been there in their hour of need and helped them all meet each other to realize that none of them were alone in this wretched world and all had a purpose.
"I've been thinking over this carefully and recent events have only served to cement my decision. There really is only one of us whose actions have proven themselves more than worthy of my position. One among us who truly understands the burden of leadership as well as me as well as one who truly appreciates the value of kindness in a cruel and uncaring world."
And in the next moment from a shadowy corner of the room that the Sailors had not been observing very closely, stepped a young dark-haired girl wearing a slightly nervous but still self-assured grin.
She had traded her usual long sleeved black turtleneck for a no less attractive expensive dark purple t-shirt which proudly showed off the surgical scars left upon her by the operations her crazed scientist father had conducted upon her during her years as his experimental doll.
Every step she took was imbued with newfound certainty and pride that had not been present in her before this day.
It didn't suit the two-time saviour of the Earth to be timid on her big day after all.
Her selfless past decisions and unwavering morals were finally being rewarded and there was no reason for her to feel ashamed of anything anymore.
The idyllic looks of approval and admiration in the eyes of the other sailors as Sailor moon continued to give a brief speech summarizing the many responsibilities that their new leader Sailor Saturn in real life Hotaru Tomoe would have to undertake, reassured her that from today onward all ill will from that past misunderstanding which had estranged her from the teammates who were supposed to be at her side would be forever forgotten like dust in the wind.
She deserved to be Sailor Saturn, emissary from the abyss of death.
And Sailor Saturn deserved to live among her fellow Sailors as a paragon among them who could always be entrusted with the most important affairs and treated excellently for the exceptional service, she had rendered to queen serenity both past and present.
Shaking off her final vestiges of self-doubt, Hotaru Tomoe stood proud and warmly thanked her friends for their generosity and calmly reassured them that she too had long forgiven them as they had forgiven her.
They had long known her as a goddess of death but not rebirth. They had scorned her for the tough decisions she and she alone had been forced to make in their past lives, destroying the moon kingdom so that the universe could still be saved and one day give rise to another better version of the moon kingdom. So that the moon kingdom could continue to live on in the hearts and minds of its few survivors as a pleasant memory that they were glad to keep.
To have let the remains of the moon kingdom live on in that hopeless battle would have been to allow the forces of evil to continue to spread unchecked and unchallenged and Saturn's fellow guardians would have spent the next eternity cursing her as a coward rather than a murderer, with the exception that they'd never have ever forgiven her as they had now.
The prejudice against Saturn as an unworthy Sailor would have been permanent rather than temporary.
Everyone offered a polite round of applause as Hotaru took a humble bow and the group sat down for a beautiful lunch banquet consisting of an exquisite collection of dim sums which Makoto or Sailor Jupiter had prepared specifically for this occasion to make it truly special.
Of the many smiles that Hotaru Sailor Saturn received as presents in her first day as leader, the smile of Ami Mizuno Sailor Mercury was the brightest of them all.
Now they really were true buddies closer to one another than they were to even their other friends.
Two introverts who society had rejected who had both made it to the high ground despite having no one's approval. Two meek geniuses who stood as proof that clever people were not always bad or snobbish.
It was this detail Hotaru would always remember when she thinks back to the day of her ascension.
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Not long after this change of command, the sailor guardians finally came clean and revealed their identities to the world they had long protected but never received richly deserved gratitude from.
Hotaru still remembered the shy stutters in Ami's speech as she courageously overcame her fear of talking in front of a large crowd of strangers in front of a webcam, she knew would be broadcasted for all the world to see.
Ami would later tell Hotaru that she had been trying to convince the more dominant members of their group such as Usagi and Rei to do this for a long time but always been ignored, interrupted or downright refused and chastised for her silliness.
In fact it was because Ami had privately brought this idea to Hotaru while Hotaru herself was thinking the exact same thing about how a revealed identity would have many more advantages than drawbacks that Hotaru had decided this would be her first command as leader.
It took a fair bit of convincing the others but now after her undeniably selfless sacrifices and great display of control over even greater powers, the other Sailors had no reason to doubt their new leader's judgement.
The Sailors told everyone that they were the ones who had shielded Earth time and time again from the threats the authorities had no doubt already encountered but not been able to properly identify.
They told everyone that they were the group of girls in Sailor outfits who the citizens saw each time a new threat appeared to threaten their innocent lives.
They had concealed their identity using a spell which made them appear as completely different people while in their Sailor forms so as not to cause mass panic or draw unnecessary attention to themselves but now knew that the world needed to know the whole truth for the greater good.
They said that from today onwards the scale of their noble mission to rid earth of the threats posed by the remains of the moon kingdom's past enemies would be greatly enhanced.
For they would be setting up a hotline specifically targeted towards otherworldly threats that only they were equipped to fully deal with.
"If you see something that doesn't look right, speak to staff or text the Sailor guardians on 61016. We'll sort it. See it. Say it. Sorted"
Each of them then took it in turns to reveal their complete identities.
Their first and last names. Their addresses down to the postcode. Every other personal detail that would be of vital importance in distinguishing each of them with the greatest precision including their phone numbers, Email accounts, pin and phone numbers.
Their likes. Their dislikes.
Their aspirations in life such as Ami Sailor Mercury wanting to take after her mother and become a doctor and Makoto wanting to have a five-star restaurant and be on TV for her superb cooking skill.
Not a single bit of information was left out.
Their relatives were revealed with the warning that the evil forces would be out to get them and it would mean a great deal to the Sailors if their loved ones could be offered proper protection.
"Cut it as part of our reward" as Rei jokily put it.
The best part came next however.
Now that the Sailors were officially recognized as saviours of the world, they could freely share information concerning the threats they had until now been forced to face alone until now.
Hotaru was visibly grinning as she took out a data drive containing a secret file which she had obtained by seeing her crazed father type his login details onto his computer and using these details to login herself, which contained a complete list of all the criminals serving under his command (It paid after all to be the daughter of a crazed man that he loved in his own twisted sort of way).
They were not even demons or aliens but common human thugs who could now easily be captured now that their details and past crimes were out in the open.
These files were sent to every sharing platform that the Sailors had located including multiple police department websites.
Even as she did the honours of pressing the send button, Ami Mizuno now second in command very nearly shed tears of joy.
So many innocent people saved. So many demon incursions ended before they had truly begun and evil schemes foiled.
And this was only the first of many lists of criminals they as a team would reveal to the public.
If only they had done this so much earlier.
Her mother did always say that the best cure was prevention.
The Sailors got a fitful full night's sleep that night knowing that true justice and not half justice was finally being done.
The changes to their lives was almost instantaneous.
By the next morning the Japanese government had already sent them each a cheque containing a massive sum of money that would have made Steve Jobs and Bill Gates turn green in envy together.
Later that day, their families were moved from the crummy apartments they had been forced to contend with all their lives into far better Government funded mansions closed off to all but the highest ranks of society due to their finery. The girls themselves were of course welcome to them too.
Usagi smiled the most that day as a faint memory from her previous life as princess serenity echoed in her mind. The memory of a glorious royal castle whose size and glamour dwarfed every other building in the moon kingdom.
This beat having to sit through several years of lessons learning pointless information she would never use and then working minimum wage in a dead-end job trapped at a desk in a cubicle by a very long shot. She had always had a feeling her mother was wrong to place such undue emphasis on a couple of unimportant exams but been ashamed to outright say it.
It was as if it was yesterday once more as Usagi admired the golden gates and exquisitely furnished gardens around the building her family and her had been assigned.
No more exams, schoolwork or revision from now on for her. No more being nagged and being punished over failing to learn subjects a superhero did not need to learn.
Learning was only for the sake of having a job and food on the table after all. And what better paid job was there than working side by side with Government officials to secure the very fate of the Earth.
Saving the world was a lucrative job in and off itself. And it had taken Usagi this long to realize it.
Hotaru would never forget the afternoon after the day of her team's grand reveal when a huge comic-con was organized in the Juban district park.
Everyone wanted a picture with her and her friends and in that moment, the last of her self-doubt and insecurities vanished as she smiled at the camera and said cheese.
The number of bright flashes that day nearly blinded her.
The future was indeed bright just as Chibiusa had promised her it would be before going back to the future.
The following days proved to be just as perfect.
With more criminals and other dubious characters of questionable morality being outed by the now widely respected Sailor guardians, there were no monster attacks.
Monsters after all took time and effort to create as well as usually a human assistant, and with the relevant felons getting arrested in every corner of the country, the proverbial hell gate had indeed closed up.
Besides the very generous cheques the government continued to send as token of gratitude to the world's many time saviours, newer opportunities were opening for the previously completely unknown schoolgirls now that everyone knew who to thank for their salvation.
The girls were asked to be used as main characters for various works of fiction and documentaries all of which would obviously cast them in a positive light in return for a share in the royalties and earnings.
They graciously accepted. It was wrong for a villain to extort money in cold blood, but this was legitimate business which the world they had protected for so long had freely agreed to.
Just one of the many perks of being good over evil.
The sales of the already popular Sailor Moon franchise more than quadrupled in the next few days and now every Sailor guardian was given their own individual series of comics and films each in a different but equally effective style.
Sailor Mercury's series was more slice of life than action for instance and Sailor Venus was in a noir style which followed the tale of an already professionally trained police officer who did not need any starting filler episodes to get used to her duties and her powers.
Sailor Mars had many religious undertones and Sailor Pluto borrowed heavily from Sci-fi time travel films such as back to the future.
It went without saying that the most popular spin-off of the bunch was Sailor Saturn and that its key themes explored to struggles of being half machine and half human (The series was even later retitled Sailor Saturn: the bionic woman)
Never mind that later on there would be a legion of other works which while not as explicit were nonetheless clearly inspired by the epic sagas of the sailor guardians.
Ghost in the shell, a story of cyborgs and the potential benefits of mechanization the human body (Hotaru would later admit that while the operations were painful, it was her machined body parts which allowed her to survive if she did)
Violin Hero, the long-awaited sequel to guitar hero starring Michiru, Sailor Neptune as its main character.
Venus Wars and the Martian.
And so many more.
With less danger of random monster attacks and with everyone finally recognizing them for the heroes they were, the Sailor Scouts could begin to make the world a better place in other ways besides violence.
It was not necessary to describe the long but worthwhile processes they used in which their powers were finally good for more than just fighting.
Suffice to say that many countries in the world suffered from a lack of clean drinking water and extreme heat which killed off any attempt at agriculture.
And Sailor Mercury's powers revolved completely around water and ice.
Suffice to say that many countries still did not have access to the valuable commodity known as electricity nor the large electromagnetic networks that the greedy first world countries took for granted known as "the internet" and "the phone lines".
And Sailor Jupiter's powers revolved completely around electricity and thunder.
Other countries meanwhile suffered from being too cold instead. And so much pollution was caused each year by the need for central heating during winter months and for heat. And Sailor Mars carried the element of fire in her fingertips.
So much more efficient than those nasty fossil fuels which created so much pollution.
Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn became very effective doctors who could treat almost any disease and Sailor Pluto with wired funds from the top tech companies built a police box.
A special police box in which every now and again a curious and brave passer-by would venture into in order to join the first timelord in her time guarding missions.
She would also later build a classy white car capable also of traversing time.
These non-combat-based contributions that the Sailors had learned under Saturn to use their powers for brought a further decrease in crime that simple and pointless fighting could not.
As Saturn had put it, no one was born a criminal.
People turned to crime when it seemed more rewarding than abiding by the law.
When the legal sector of jobs across their country was just too bad.
When it seemed more attractive to steal money at knifepoint than ask for it nicely knowing their governments were too corrupt or uncaring to hear their plea.
Now with access to the basic comforts and foundations on which to grow from, the crime rates across the world dropped like a stone from the sky.
Adequate water with which to grow good crops, access to electricity and Wi-Fi so that the internet could be accessed for unlimited access to instant information and entertainment and an improved climate neither too hot nor cold were ultimately the biggest contributions the Sailors had made towards curbing crime rather than the petty as well as life-threatening fights they had spent far too long engaging in during their earlier days.
Then when it seemed that things could not get better for the world, the Sailors guided by Sailor Saturn commenced a project that neither Queen nor princess Serenity had considered ever setting up for the now deceased moon kingdom out of their short-sightedness and incompetence as rulers.
The Sailors begun to train the world in their magical arts.
Their powers were no good if they couldn't bring their benefits to everyone in the world.
And while it was true that powers could do great harm, it took only a short lecture from Hotaru to remind them that they could also do good.
Saturn reminded the Sailors that every one of their powers were potentially dangerous and not just hers.
Mars's fire could easily be turned on innocents and Pluto's time warping could just as easily destroy the timeline as save it. Even Mercury often cited to be the weakest of the scouts would have found it easy to kill by simply squirting a torrent of water in a person's face till they drowned.
It had been hypocritical of them to dismiss their own powers as safe while shaming Saturn's powers as "too dangerous". It was what very nearly led them to lose the battle against pharaoh 90 since had they gone ahead with their stupid plan of killing a defenceless and completely innocent sickly teenager, the world indeed would have been dead.
"I'm so sorry. Please forgive me for suggesting something so cruel and inhumane" Sailor Uranus had cried as Saturn finished her retelling of their unsuccessful assassination attempt against her.
"I forgave you long ago." Was the calm and sympathetic response which brought crystal tears of joy to the tomboy's usually desert dry eyelids.
Not to mention that the world was clearly not so evil for if it was, humanity would never have moved past the stone age locked in pointless conflicts and never banding together to form the great groups known today as countries.
Ami herself only further strengthened Hotaru's points by citing that in the typical country of the United Kingdom, less than 1 out of 100 people had terrorism potential and that an algorithm 99 percent accurate would have identified more terrorists incorrectly than correctly.
Her bookwork and extensive research hours really were paying off for it had been the final argument needed for the other sailors to throw their paranoia to the winds and begin with the recruitment process.
It begun with a few very gifted and devoted aspirants being taught to wield one of the many elements the Sailors were proficient with (Each person could usually only use one element or at best use one element far better than the others).
These few students once they had completed their training then set up schools around the world for others interested in joining together to fight injustice and protect humanity to learn the supernatural skills which had been kept secret for far too long.
Soon the use of magic became a widespread phenomenon that was accepted and embraced by just about everyone. Another tool humanity could use to further themselves to even greater ages of prosperity.
Waterbender, firebender, airbender and "earthbender" were just some of the titles given to those who had mastered one of the different types of magic available previously only to the Sailors.
Now the world needed not depend on just six girls and four young women for complete protection against the legions of scum that had continued to plague it despite the Sailor's best efforts.
Now the world really was united as one kingdom under one banner.
The banner of the Sailor guardians.
Queen Serenity had always kept such great knowledge reserved to her Sailor Guardians out of a mixture of unnecessary fear and complacency that eight elite magicians were more than adequate to guard the moon kingdom and that her time and efforts were better spent throwing one extravagant party after another oblivious to the oncoming dangers.
It was in part what had brought the moon Kingdom's downfall.
Of the many powerful orders and groups that had originated from the Sailor's teachings, one group continued to stand proud above the others long after the first founding.
A group of legends among legends and titans among titans.
The group that paid tribute to Sailor Saturn who at first called themselves the death dealers but later changed their name to the Sith after such a title caused too much outcry and unfriendly implications around their completely benevolent motives which aligned perfectly with the other magicians.
As token of their total dedication to the Sailor that they drew their power from, Sith were dressed head to toe in black and usually but not always wore jet black metal masks over their faces to reflect the struggle their founding Sailor had endured as a human on the edge of death's abyss only sustained by incredible force of will and a bewilderingly advanced set of technologies.
They carried a red glowing sword about to help stabilize and enhance control over their highly mighty abilities (originally a scythe would be carried instead but parents soon decided this was not kid friendly enough) and to reassure onlookers that their intentions were completely noble despite their slightly intimidating appearances.
By one year, the army of magicians had covered most of the first world countries along with the bottom ten countries in the world development index (Sailor Saturn had made it explicit that the best benefits should be given to the lowest first knowing full well that the top countries would get most of the greatest benefits first regardless of what she said)
During the first year, a few more very determined demons and their evil human henchmen did manage to briefly resurge but with Sailor Saturn now as leader of the team, they proved to be a cakewalk and a fun day out more than a challenge.
"Saturn death ray" shouted Sailor Saturn and the battle was over before it had truly begun. It took her one quick attack to fell a menace which would have withstood hundreds of charged projectiles pelted by every other Sailor both inner and outer combined.
Even Pluto's dead scream had nothing on Saturn's devastating arsenal of abilities.
In five years, all the third world countries had been placed under a firm and near complete lockdown by the magician armies they now had available along with the first world countries with the second world countries having a sizeable if not overly impressive group of their own.
It took 7 years for the complete lockdown of the world that Sailor Saturn had hoped to finish in ten years. She had underestimated her own leadership abilities greatly and the world could not help but take note. And her friends and her did not need to do anything at all during these years.
By this time a firmer appreciation for their past actions as a group had led to the renaming of their home city Tokyo.
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It was now Hotaru City.
The other Sailors did not mind this in the slightest. They knew that a modest and true evangelist who had known the pain of being neglected and abused first hand had no malice whatsoever for this renaming was not even decided by her.
They simply took it as another affirmation that Usagi's choice to abdicate her position was perhaps the greatest decision ever made in the history of mankind.
And that they really had been functioning with one hand tied behind their backs in the years they ignored the plight of the one Sailor guardian who could have brought their team to what they were now.
Especially since the other Sailors would soon also be given mention in the changing names of other cities.
London had become Minako-tropolis.
Hiroshima had become Amiville.
Fort Knox was renamed to become Fort Haruka while Michigan was predictably changed to Michirugen (a pun on Michiru and the Mugen academy which had now been re purposed for better intentions)
Osaka was now "Rei's Rays" while Shibuya became Makotograd.
Yokohama, a city near Tokyo that Usagi liked to visit in her free time was aptly titled to Usagiston.
While Sailor Pluto was given her recognition in the form of a landmark rather than a city in "Setsuna bay" formerly Tokyo bay.
None ever came close to the level of beauty and quality of life that only Hotaru City would come to possess however despite the subsequent equality campaigns that Hotaru would come to offer the world… after she had been elected president of Japan.
Hotaru had wondered about it for a little while as she saw the beautiful advances her choices were making to the world.
Now with evil lurking in only the darkest corners of the world and the powers of the sailors available to almost everyone the Sailors had had more time to live the "normal" life they would have lived if they had never discovered their true selves.
Only now they were backed by the complete support of the world they had worked hard to better as well as their newfound confidence in themselves and their friendships with each other.
Among them in no particular order, Haruka had taken home third place in the race car Grand Prix four years ago and then first place every year since.
Michiru had released an album helped by Rei's keen acumen for business and sales as well as of course her newfound personal fame. It went thirteen times platinum and was still selling like crazy three years after its release.
Makoto had finally accomplished her lifelong goal of having her own eatery with food cooked personally by her. But it didn't turn out to be the homely little café she had visualized it to be in her dreams.
It was the very first restaurant in the world to earn eight stars beating out Dubai's fanciest hotel's rating of seven stars.
Customers reported never wanting to cook again or eat anywhere else since eating there and always coming back there again for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Makoto's cookbook which would later be released to take advantage of that trend would be worth as much as a ruby the size of a tangerine. In other words, a lot.
Sailor Venus had worked alongside Michiru in their shared quest for stardom in the performing world. A perfectly matched violinist and singer in a perfect album. Truly the greatest show.
It mattered not that one was an inner sailor and the other an outer sailor who had once seen the inners as little more than an immature weakling.
Now they were just two partners to the very end watching each other's backs through thick and thin.
And Usagi had finally received the long vacation she had wanted to have to herself since the day she was dragged into the deep dark conflict of being a Sailor Guardian despite her protests and reservations against such a violent job.
She spent the first year in Hong Kong, grinning happily with closed eyes and her middle finger to the sky as she ate ice cream on the beach.
The next few years she travelled from country to country, making sure always to pick the route with the best hotels and the most breath-taking sights.
Through Asia, then through Europe before riding a fancy cruise liner (fortunately no iceberg) to the Americas which she proceeded to traverse from North to South never staying in one city for too long.
The seventh and last year she spent in Africa, once the impoverished underbelly of the world and now a thriving technological titan thanks to her efforts.
It had become visually undisguisable from the likes of United States and Japan with clean and tall buildings everywhere.
It felt good to have this simple time to herself after she had been through so much as both Usagi and princess Serenity in two lives back to back.
She had gone alone without Mamoru. He was a good man but she had not been deaf to Hotaru's wise warnings that he may for all his merits have been a bit of a toxic friend.
Always a little distrustful in his questionable manner and never much of a team player choosing only to swing in at a dramatic moment to contribute anything to the battle sometimes only after a lot of damage had already been done.
As much as she hated to admit it, he had been onto something when he had begun for seemingly no reason trying to push her away and refused to explain why.
She needed some time alone to grow as a person and he too needed this time.
Trying to push closeness in many relationships only got the opposite result while having separate spaces actually encouraged a healthy and completely voluntary bond to mature between both parties.
Hotaru's mother had apparently read this to Hotaru once.
Usagi knew that in her previous life she had been far too immature.
Instead of living the life her mother the queen and Prince Endymion would have wanted her to, she had committed the ultimate act of cowardice and taken her own life making both their sacrifices to her absolutely pointless and left the Moon Kingdom even more divided making it easy prey for its enemies.
She had viewed her prince as an addictive drug she could not be without rather than a lover, and that was no relationship. She wondered if he'd have done the same and taken his life if it had been her sacrificing herself for him.
Time away from each other would truly test whether she or he had learned anything in this life about how a true connection should have worked. Love at second sight was what truly determined true love and not love at first sight. There really was nothing romantic about the lamentable tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and she had been foolish to think there was.
A true lover should have wanted the best and brightest for their partner long after they left them.
And they should never have degraded themselves so low as to think that self-torture in their lover's absence would prove anything other than pure selfishness and masochism.
Romeo should have known when he saw Juliet's "corpse" that she would have wanted him to continue to live keeping her in his memory and continuing their mission of ending the pointless feud which had separated them in the first place without her (It went without saying that if he had, he would indeed have gotten his happy ending).
And Princess Serenity should have done the same seeing as how it was her death which finally broke the last morale of her people and they resigned themselves to their destruction forcing Sailor Saturn back then Princess Saturn to pick up the slack.
She needed to prove that she could be trusted to take care of herself in Mamoru's absence just fine. And he needed to prove the same to her. Only then would she finally know she was mature enough not to repeat her past mistakes so that Neo Tokyo or rather Hotaru City really could become Neo Tokyo and not the same flawed fake utopia that her past self-had ruined.
The years passed surprisingly well for her in Mamoru's absence. She met many interesting people, learned about many exciting new cultures she had never known existed and of course gotten much deserved downtime from her strenuous duties.
She could certainly say that without these few years away from Mamoru, her vision of the world she was sworn to protect would not be nearly as clear or concise.
And that it was Mamoru's absence which had truly allowed her to make the final steps towards maturity that a true princess needed. Though teamwork and community were important, individuality and independence were also a necessary part of life.
Variety was the spice of life for a reason after all.
A romantic honeymoon spent with her eyes fixed on her boyfriend constantly kissing and making out was not what a responsible up and coming ruler needed on her tour of her kingdom.
So many important details she would have missed out on. So many experiences she'd have only taken for granted in his presence.
The experience was pleasant in every way. Usagi saw that she could manage just fine for a time by herself and could once more enjoy some of the freedom that a relationship had deprived from her.
She saw the world through clearer lenses comprised completely of her own feelings without the white noise of others. But most of all, she eventually came to find herself more enamoured of him than she had ever been before.
While she could indeed survive without him and she had indeed grown more in the time she spent alone she had also come to realize that he was despite his flaws a beautiful blessing in her life.
Each time she sat down for one of her favourite things whether it was eating her favourite food or listening to her favourite kinds of music and seeing the sights she took most interest in, she could not help but feel as if Mamoru were still by her side taking in the experience with her and guiding her despite his absence.
It wasn't in the stalker with a crush sort of way but rather the warming and calming feeling that he would always be there for her whether he was really there or not.
That the good feelings he had given her were permanent and would never truly pass away as long as she lived. His sympathy, his wisdom and his smile would always live on in her heart and her mind.
Though she had travelled through more countries than she could count and seen more than she could remember, the day of her nearly four year vacation that Usagi would remember best was the day she returned to find Mamoru waiting for her with open arms and a big welcoming grin.
He had missed her and she had missed him. But now they both knew not to take the other for granted and that they really had grown as strong and independent as a future prince and princess should have been. They regrouped just in time to go and see Haruka take home third place in her first Grand Prix race. Neither could have predicted such a result for their race car freak friend and both nearly laughed at their friend's over the top reaction to the near victory.
The perfect reunion at the perfect time and place.
Rei spent most of her time fixing up the Hikawa Shrine. It needed significant changes to accommodate the millions of visitors it would now be receiving as a newly declared "world holy site".
A hotel needed to be built around the shrine itself to withstand the sheer number of pilgrims and the shrine itself received some badly needed repairs that Rei had never been able to gather the money for prior to her revelation as Sailor Mars.
While they still weren't the closest, the extra money the governments paid her meant that her father no longer needed to work to stay afloat and was finally satisfied with a high position being related to a world hero as he was.
Now when they spoke, his voice was almost always in a trembling and deeply regretful stutter as tears formed in the once aloof businessman's eyes.
He humbly begged his daughter for forgiveness, that he had not realized before just what she had gone through in her years away from him and that he certainly was not in it just for her money and fame.
Rei knew that the last statement was somewhat of a lie but decided he deserved another chance to prove himself anyway. If Hotaru could be merciful as she was then she could too.
She agreed to talk to him after they mediated together in the quiet corner of her grandfather's shrine together over a cup of warm tea and fancy sushi rolls.
She took time to patiently lecture the not completely sane workaholic that in his pursuit for money and recognition he had thrown down everything he once held dear and which once held him dear too.
Like how Judas betrayed his friend Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
"This is how most of the villains I fought ended up where they were" Rei angrily explained.
She then went on to school the well educated but still ignorant man on how money was just a piece of paper and that to work for money was not a smart move at all for it controlled you.
"Your intentions were good dad, but the way you pushed me away like I meant nothing to you was not"
"I'm so sorry Rei. So very sorry. I promise that from now on, I will never be blinded like I have been these past few years. I will never leave you again. And if you choose not to ever forgive me, that is fine.
I probably don't deserve it after all I've done to you."
"I forgive you dad. You are my dad and I am lucky to still have you here with me (considering the sad fate of my friend's parents). Just please, don't shut me out like that ever again. I'll happily pay for everything, but you need to give me the attention you never did."
"That I will Rei. That I will. I never realized you were going through so much (having to risk your life to save the world and all). And I know now what I did was wrong and stupid. But if you give me just one more chance, I promise that I will never be such an idiot again. Rei."
The father and daughter then embraced each other for an endless time. A simple but warming hug.
Their relationship was on the path to recovery at long last.
It was as Hotaru had reassured Rei that it was never too late to make a change for the better. Forgiveness really did a lot of inner strength, but it was well worth it in the end.
And while there were still occasional moments of slight bitterness between the duo even now, Rei could confidently say that she was not ashamed to call him her dad anymore and he was not ashamed to call her his daughter.
The pair came to slowly realize that each had been going through tough struggles that they thought had to be kept to themselves which had eventually manifested into the cold distance separating them now.
But now Rei could more fully appreciate the genuine importance politics had on a country's people despite the shady implications and her dad fully understood the struggles of being a super-powered heroine who needed to be alert and ready to risk her life twenty-four seven in addition to maintaining a shrine filled with so many important memories of the past.
The two could see each other for what they truly were. Two good workers who only seemed like awkward outcasts because of society's superficial views of its true hero's.
Ami opened a marine research laboratory which sought to further tap into the mysteries of both sea creatures and the element of water itself.
How the oceans could be preserved for future generations. Other ways in which water could be used to better life. Improved purification techniques which would allow seawater to be filtered much more efficiently and cleanly.
Her research would also finally make real the art of dredging, reclaiming land that had long ago been submerged by the sea. Unbeknownst to anyone at this point, this would be another important turning point in transforming the world.
Her mother had finally been able to retire knowing there were an abundance of new qualified doctors to take her place at the hospital and deciding now was as good a time as any to enjoy her own life with her own family. The two blue haired women spent their evenings at the beach watching the sun sink beneath the waves and the moon take its place.
From time to time a blue haired man came to join them and Ami's expression became one of pure bliss.
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While the other Sailors headed down very clear paths with their years off, Hotaru was largely undecided.
She had never had any proper ambitions in life prior to meeting Chibiusa.
Now that the world was safe from the Negaverse, she had returned to the state of confusion and lack of direction that she had been used to prior to breaking free from her well-intentioned but misguided papa's web of lies and deceit.
She travelled for a little while but never really found anything exciting. After seeing so many otherworldly abominations and unravelling so many mystical mysteries behind the truth of the world, nothing ordinary could amaze her anymore. It was too dull and unstimulating.
So eventually she returned to Japan after repeated trips had failed to amuse her and consigned herself to a simple life of waking up to spend the day staring out the windows wondering before going to sleep to repeat the cycle again. She once visited her papa who had been given life in an institute for his crimes against humanity and for masterminding a sinister crime cartel but had been unable to get much out of the broken man aside from a twitching and grimacing laugh which had quickly turned to a loud cry the second that she stepped out of his cell.
It would take that crazy man a while to recover from everything he had been through and despite his misdeeds, Hotaru did pity him and want him to recover.
She spent a few months trapped in this rut before one day finally coming to a realization whereupon excitement and eagerness seeped back into her bored expression.
Papa's research may have been done only for cruel intentions. He may indeed have been delusional when he continued his project after the science community kicked him out.
And some of the questionable methods he used to obtain his research may well have been despicable along with the band of thugs he had hired to help him conduct it.
But there was no denying that it was all very useful information. Information which had enabled the bionics which kept Hotaru alive when she should have died long ago.
With this newfound epiphany, Hotaru set to work to restore the Tomoe laboratories.
She would begin what he started and do it with a rational mind and honest intentions as well as knowing fully the potential dangers of what she was trying to do.
Professor Tomoe's efforts would not be completely wasted after all having done some good in his life when he used his science to save his daughter only to try and make her into a vessel for a monster.
They were nicknamed "flesh workshops" when they were first introduced.
A high-tech combination of hospitals, laboratories and factories where carefully tested bionic parts proven to have no ill-effects on the human body were added to willing patients who were terminally ill and could not be cured through normal means.
With extensive funding from governments that now held nothing but admiration for the most powerful and most adorable Sailor guardian of them all that in the seven years that it took the world to build its extensive magician army, the Tomoe laboratories had managed to create virtually an artificial replacement for every organ in the human body which worked at least as well if not better than those they were built to replace.
They were still only reserved for injuries and illnesses but Hotaru had a feeling that in a few years, people would start using them as enhancements with how popular they had become and how natural the world had come to regard them as.
A younger and saner but still eccentric Souichi Tomoe's bizarre prediction that Cyborgs would be the next level in the evolutionary tree of life after humans, was indeed beginning to fulfil itself. Hotaru did feel a tinge of guilt that the once brilliant scientist would not be able to claim full credit for his clever ideas but made a mental note to herself that she would tell papa everything when she next visited him and found him in a state to be able to fully listen (he was still very broken despite the best therapists doing their best to treat his insanity).
He at least deserved to know that not all his ideas were useless. That she was still daddy's girl and that she would take care of things for him. And most of all, that she still did love him.
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Along the way in the seven years while her friends enjoyed themselves, Hotaru had also become quite the diplomat. Many villains who the Sailors often held as irredeemable and bitter enemies had become useful trading partners who could even be considered allies in their quest for world improvement.
Some of them had even started entering into completely genuine and devoted friendships with the Sailor Guardians they once fought against. Many of these friendships were beginning to reach the romantic stage, their past sins forgiven but not forgotten and provided with fully enforced rights which gave them official protection from unjust treatment and official positions as welcome citizens of Earth.
With these trade routes in place and old grudges removed, Earth's marketplace was open to receive a bewildering variety of useful magical artefacts which only the villains had access to but never considered trading away.
Helium 3 gas, new spells capable of a variety of mighty effects, magical materials such as enchanted cloth and healing crystals and a wide list of other special items were added to Earth's storehouses, armouries and shop shelves.
Items which everyone thought had vanished with the destruction of the ancient moon kingdom but which its enemies had kept for themselves and continued producing and enjoying.
It was finally time for another golden age the likes of which had not been seen since the industrial revolution four hundred years ago.
While Sailor Moon and the others had been partying, reading and relaxing, Sailor Saturn had been speaking with her former enemies about the terms of a good deal. Showing them the futility of further attacks on Earth now that she, Princess Serenity's most deadly bodyguard had returned.
How their petty hatred was ruining their own kingdoms and how hating the past would not change the present.
But this was a story for another time.
With all these great policies in place, Sailor Saturn decided that there was but one more thing to do.
The Earth was safe and its enemies pacified but something still remained.
A personal mission a younger and more carefree Hotaru gave herself before the lab accident that irrevocably altered her life.
A last wish from the inner child within that had never completely died.
Hotaru took one last look out her bedroom window at the beautiful buildings and streets of Hotaru city formerly Tokyo. She took a look at the photo of her late mother whose selfless sacrifice had made all this possible.
From her desk drawer, she drew out a piece of paper on which she had written a carefully planned thousand word essay briefly outlining what she believed to be her greatest strengths and most admirable merits. She was careful to keep the wording modest and not to dwell on any single aspect of herself for too long but rather thanking all of Japan for taking her and her friend's suggestions to heart so as to make the country and by extension the world a more pleasant place for everyone.
The concluding paragraph took great pain to subtly emphasize how many more improvements she had in store for the glorious country she loved with all her heart in spite of its faults.
With this paper carefully placed into her bag, she gave herself a final mini-makeover in which she put on her best clothes before leaving her government funded mansion and getting into her modest but still stylish car and driving off in the direction of city hall.
It was time for Hotaru Tomoe to become president Hotaru Tomoe. And for Ami Mizuno to become vice president Ami Mizuno. Kind of ironic how the two least respected Sailors guardians would if everything went well become the two most influential figures of neo Japan.
Ami had been seen as nothing more than a scout whose job was to scan the enemy and then create diversions while Hotaru had been seen as no better than dead weight in the literal sense of the words.
The hierarchy had looked something like this prior to her rise to power.
Sailor Saturn: Prisoner of war (to be distrusted at all costs)
Sailor Mercury: Scout (Despite A* on every exam and being able to read every battle like a book)
Sailor Venus: Private
Sailor Moon: Corporal (Contrary to popular belief, Moon did not have as much power as she liked to think she did even if she was the moon princess)
Sailor Jupiter: Sergeant (It really was the fists which did the talking among the inner sailor guardians after all)
Sailor Mars: Lieutenant (Despite an excess of aggressive behaviour which Hotaru hated to admit did not make for efficient leadership)
Sailor Neptune: Major (And like Major Misato of Evangelion, completely useless in preventing Asuka's mistreatment of Shinji or in this case, the outer Sailors disregard of the inners and the general disdain that the other Sailors held for Saturn until recently)
Sailor Uranus: Colonel (Just below Sailor Pluto in command despite a cynic and cold attitude which did not really value the importance of teamwork or good communication as well as being a little trigger happy)
Sailor Pluto: The General. Who preferred to read "prophecies" or really messy writing from an ancient piece of paper than to look at what was really going on around her in the here and now. Who did not realize that the world had changed since the end of the moon kingdom or the need to roll with the times, pun intended.
As the grandest building of Hotaru City's centre of government came within sight, Hotaru took a look at herself in the front mirror and smiled confidently.
The living doll frequently dubbed "the puppet" by her bullies, her abusive caretaker and even her papa was about to become the puppet master.
A democratically elected and responsible puppet master who would not let her power go to her head, but a puppet master nonetheless.
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So here you have it. What my idea of a Neo Tokyo would look like.
See one thing that always gets on my nerves is every time the Sailors especially Sailor Moon who hates Exams say they need to pass their Exams and get into high school so they can get a job.
Every time they say that, I want to punch myself in the face.
No they don't. They've already saved the world like 100 times by now and that should already be a job in and of itself. At the very least they could be paid like CIA agents or special forces because that's basically what they do.
They don't need to waste 8 hours Monday to Friday learning skills they don't even need just to keep their parents satisfied. You don't need an A* when you're fighting a big monster trying to destroy the world and you have super powers. They can read and write and that's enough.
Furthermore, I don't like how the outer sailors completely diss the inners just because they are "more powerful" and so refuse to work together. When the world is in danger, working together is the only way. Every time the Sailors go off alone, it ends badly.
If they stuck together then so many near failures like Sailor moon's friends dying in their fight against Queen Beryl and then losing their memories wouldn't happen.
The Sailors don't need to pretend to be normal people. They're better than normal people and should be treated as such. They save the world on a day to day basis and should be rewarded.
Another thing that really bugged me was how every time I watched an earlier episode after watching the later ones I was always thinking if Sailor Saturn was around, the fight would be over so much quicker.
And I think that Saturn deserved a lot better. She's managed to keep an evil demon inside herself for years now and no one's ever reached out to her to try and help her.
Sailor Moon's friends at least had Sailor Moon to unite them together and help them regain hope in life but Hotaru, Nada. Even Sailor Pluto who was a student in Hotaru's school more or less ignored her until it was too late.
Also, there are a lot of ancient Kingdoms in these kind of series which were said to be so amazing. But if they were really so great, why are they always destroyed by the time the show begins.
The moon kingdom was probably too busy partying and getting drunk and that's why it fell.
The final problem I had was how the Sailors casually talked about how when they were going to eradicate the "evil". But isn't that similar to what the villains want to do to them. And has it occurred to them that maybe the villains don't want to be eradicated. It just makes them come off as being a little hypocritical since if they were truly good people they would be trying to make peace and negotiate instead. You cannot preach love and tolerance in a show where only certain people are loved and tolerated and other groups of people getting killed is treated as a good and heroic thing.