AN: This is the FINAL chapter. Thank you to those of you who stuck with me through this. I appreciate it.

Chapter 27

"He looked at me like I was the stars when all I'd ever felt like was the dark nothingness between them."

― Ranata Suzuki

The bark was rough against his skin; tearing it quickly without prejudice. Mamoru still put a hand out to touch it as it flew past him and around. His palm was scratched up but he needed to touch it; feel it. Mamoru hadn't thought of this plan, Endymion had. And Endymion wanted to control the damn tree.

If it was a tree from Earth, Endymion could bend it to his will. He had once made a topurie in an exact replica of his mother. Birthday present. But this tree? It was not from Earth, not even close. It took a bit more energy than usual to break through and Mamoru's breath caught as soon as he did.

Because this tree was alive.

More than a regular tree, it had thoughts and feelings. Its main thought? Survive. It wanted to live. That was why it was fighting them so hard, they were the threat. But Mamoru didn't really have issues with the tree, he had issues with its minions.

As that thought passed from Mamoru and into the tree (slipping through its bark and seeding itself into the tree's consciousness) the branches and roots that surrounded him retreated. Revealing his guard, Jadeite losing his sword as the root he had it plunged into took off with it.

Zoisite was at his side first, making sure his Prince was steady on his feet before cracking a smile. "See? A sword would be really helpful right now, wouldn't it?"

"Or an ax," Nephrite added, coming up from behind.

"Where the hell were you?" Kunzite growled at the brunette.

Nephrite threw a thumb over his shoulder, nonchalant. "Back door."

Mamoru wasn't listening; looking for Usagi instead. "Where the hell is Usagi?!"

"Her guard has her," Jad answered.

"The fuck they do," he growled, pulling on Usagi's cord and heading towards the source, "the last time they 'had her' I was picking her bloodied body off the floor."

They glanced at one another and then back to him. "Endymion?" One of them asked and he quirked up a brow. "Great, that's just great!"

He didn't need anything more to distract or hold him back; racing towards Usagi and pulling hard on her silver strand. She tugged back and he breathed a little easier. But not much. The tree was massive and it was curling around itself, flinging roots and branches all over the place. It looked more like an octopus with its tentacles flailing.

It was trying to escape.

oOo

Tux disappeared in a mass of tree parts and the Shitennou raced after it. While the Senshi pulled her in the other direction. Only to get wrapped up in the same mess of roots. They wrapped around her ankles and pulled Sailor Moon up from the strange floor. Dangling as she had months ago, Sailor Moon pulled up with her abs and got her hands on the gnarly bark. Giving it a shock of her energy got it to squeal and release her.

Jupiter caught her before she hit the ground hard. Mars burned back what was too close while Mercury froze the rest in place. Venus was breaking the frozen branches into harmless shards when something flew over the pile that surrounded them. It fell to the ground but landed on its feet. Then snarled back at them.

"You took her from me…"

Sailor Moon recognized the voice but it didn't make sense. The creature in front of them looked nothing like the male monster they had been fighting this whole time. "What… what happened to you?"

The Senshi surrounded Sailor Moon as the monster moved towards them. Its blue skin now looked purple and its hair was blood red. Its eyes… were black.

Jupiter attacked first, lightning cracking in her hands. It made Sailor Moon cringe but not as much as when the creature caught Jupiter's wrists and bit her shoulder. She screamed and blood seeped down. Sailor Moon had to hold in her own scream as well as her vomit. Especially when the monster pulled back and sneered at them, showing his blood-covered mouth.

Tossing Jupiter, Mars caught the bleeding Senshi and handed her off to Mercury to look at. Then stepped up to the beast. "What the hell are you?"

"I'm your worst nightmare." It answered back.

"It's the male," Mercury cried out, her computer screen across her eyes, "but he mutated or something. I don't understand, it's as if part of him is… a tree."

"Oh god," Venus whispered.

It just laughed. "That's right. I've taken the Makai into my flesh. We are one now."

"Why? Why would you do that?" Sailor Moon screamed.

Even less human now that he had changed, Sailor Moon just couldn't imagine it. Becoming a monster willingly? He spat back at her question. "Because it took An already. This is the only way we could still be together."

Jupiter was holding her shoulder together while it healed; taking a long time due to the deep bite. She growled back at the creature before them. "If you loved her so much then why the hell were you so intent on Usagi?!"

"That… was a mistake. She never loved me. It was her energy I was drawn to but An… she's my soulmate."

Mamoru was Usagi's soulmate. Could she do what this creature had done for him? Mamoru would never put her in the position to make such a choice. Venus broke Moon out of her thoughts with a ray of light she shot right at the creature. It was meant to pierce the skin but instead, it tossed him back. He hit the surrounding roots hard with a sickening smack that made Moon's stomach turn.

"Sailor Moon, now!"

Mars was already setting everything around them to ablaze. Moon wasn't sure who was screaming, the creature or the tree. At this point, it would be mercy; putting both creatures out of their misery. Just as she began to draw her energy up, the roots began to quake and pulled back at a frightening speed. Vines wrapped around the male and they all watched as he dissolved into the tree's bark. He didn't even fight it.

Something hard slammed into Moon's back and she screamed as everything went white.

oOo

He was following the strand to Usagi but found the Senshi first. They were all at the base of the massive tree. Standing on roots and branches; they all pounded on the trunk. Mars had a flaming fist that drew his attention first then Mercury with her long blade of ice. Jupiter was kicking and screaming obscenities and Venus bounded to their side.

"Sailor Moon… she's…"

Distracted by the strange Senshi, Tux took notice that Moon wasn't with them. But he could still see and feel her cord… coming out of the tree.

"Oh shit."

"Inside the tree?" Zoisite raged. "How the hell are we going to get inside the damn thing?!"

Kunzite removed his blade and it sang out in the quiet. "We cut our way in."

"NO!" Mercury shouted. "We have no idea what the tree did. For all we know, Moon could be somewhere under the bark!"

"Then we cut the roots until the tree caves and gives her back!" Jadeite growled.

They were all fighting on the best methods but none of it sounded good enough to Tux. It all involved waiting or cutting. And neither was an option in his book. So instead, he walked up to the tree and placed a hand on its bark again; invading its mind. A few minutes ago, he had thoughts of killing the tree and its psychotic minions. After he transferred those thoughts into the tree, the minions disappeared. Tux had to hope that he could transfer his thoughts again and get to Usagi.

"Let me in." When nothing happened, Tux started imagining setting the tree on fire and watching it burn. "Let me in, now."

"You won't do that. I have your mate." The tree's voice was strange and garbled but was understood.

"Let me in or I'll burn a hole to her then."

Everything went white and Tux thought he was blind for a moment. But then it was all pinks and blues. They swirled together like colored smoke from a lazy fire. His lungs felt weird and he had to assume he wasn't breathing in regular air. It was air that was high in oxygen; too much for a human to breathe for long.

Vines stretched out around him so he grabbed one and used it to pull his weightless body deeper into the strange mist. With his vision already starting to blur, he didn't have long in the bad air and neither did Usagi.

"Usako!" He called out to the nothingness and got nothing back. She might have already passed out from the lack of air. "Usako, where are you!"

He was getting desperate, again. His hold on Endymion was already weak and he had lost it so many times today. What was worse, Mamoru wasn't so sure that was a bad thing.

Endymion had plunged his fist into the female monster's chest and Endymion had raged at his men when they easily gave Usagi over to her Senshi. Mamoru was pretty sure he would have done the same without Endymion's help. And it had been Endymion's idea to tap into the tree in the first place, which was why he was inside it now. But if he didn't find Usagi soon, Endymion would take over and go nuts this time.

He pulled on her silver strand but it was weak and kept cutting out. It was also all he had so Tux pulled hard on the vines to speed his way to her. It was her golden hair he saw first. She was kneeling in the air with her hands out to her sides. This was why her energy was so low. The thin air in combination with using her power. And when he got close enough to see what she was doing, he had to cage in Endymion again.

"You're not serious. You're not seriously healing these monsters!"

Under her hands were the two creatures they had been fighting for months; Usagi was healing both of them. The face that turned to look back at him, made his heart skip a beat. It wasn't Usagi or Sailor Moon looking back at him; it was Serenity.

"I'm not going to leave them to die. Not when I can help them."

It was eerie. This must be what it felt like for Usagi when he went full-blown Endymion. He knelt beside her, knowing better than to try to pull her hands off the creatures. The female's chest sewed together before his eyes and the male shed the strange new coloring to his skin. As well as the large welts on his arms and chest. Both were looking a lot better than what he last remembered, so he gently grabbed Serenity's shoulders and pulled her back.

"That's enough, you'll exhaust yourself and they're going to wake up with fight faces." He snuck around inside her, feeling just how much energy she had left. When he saw she was pushing herself as it was, he cursed under his breath and stopped being gentle. "They'll live, Usako, and that's far more than they deserve!"

To his surprise, she listened and stopped; her hands pulling free like suction cups. "They had no choice, Mamo. Not with what they went through."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

The air shimmered and it was as if a screen was turned on before them. Usagi closed her eyes and looked away. And Mamoru could see why. Violent and bloody, he was shown the past of the two creatures next to him. Ending with the brutal murder of their parents.

Right before their young eyes.

Mamoru said nothing, collecting Usagi in his arms and preparing to fight their way out if he had to.

"Wait!" The tree begged but he ignored.

"Mamo…"

No, he wasn't going to stop, not for the tree and not for Usagi's begging. They were leaving right now.

"Please. Don't you understand? They did what they were taught…"

"So?!" Mamoru spat, turning back to the nothingness to speak to pinks and blues. "My parents died violently right before my eyes and I grew up, passed around like a bad pet for most of my life. Do you see me killing innocent people or selfish reasons?"

"No, but you do have an outlet for your violent urges now don't you?"

"Shut up! It's not the same!"

"Because you had me," Mamoru looked down, Usagi/Serenity's innocence shining like an angel, "I would never let you become a monster, Mamo. So you never did. Because I love you. They had no one."

"They had each other!"

"Two wrongs can't make a right."

Usagi was making sense and that only made him angrier. He wanted out of this hell hole and to blast it all to rubble. And the tree knew this. So did Usagi and neither were going to just let them go to do as he pleased.

"I just want a second chance to raise them right… please?"

The tree wanted to start over with its creatures. Which seemed impossible to him but it could be a way to get rid of them for good. "Just how do you expect to start over? Their hands are far too bloodstained."

"If Serenity were to purify me…"

"No. Hell no! She's already weak from healing your monsters!"

"Mamo, you can help me." Usagi was already pushing on him to sit upright. "We can do it together."

He growled but Usagi just kissed his frown. Steadying her as much as he could while they floated on the air, he wrapped his arms around her waist but stopped there. "We do this, and you're gone. Understand? Usagi and I are to be set back on Earth unharmed and you and your monsters never step foot on Earth again."

"I understand…"

"If you do, if you so much as hover in the atmosphere, Endymion will turn you into space dust without breaking a sweat." He promised.

His peace said, he funneled energy into Usagi. Not to help the tree but to help her. That's what he told himself; he wasn't helping the monsters that killed others he was keeping the love of his life alive. It was a pretty sight, Usagi's energy as it spiraled out of her. She just lifted her hands and beautiful silver glitter flowed out of her. Usagi made it look so easy but he had a front-row seat to the drain it was on her. He had to push doubly; Usagi was running out of her energy faster than her body was converting his energy for her.

The pink and blue began to fade and the two monsters that were floating (motionless) disappeared. Everything went a brilliant white again and Mamoru knew they were passing from the consciousness of the tree back to Earth. He didn't focus on anything other than Usagi though; pulling her back at the last second into his arms and cradling her to him. He didn't like how drained she was especially when it was from helping those who didn't deserve it.

Mamoru had never hidden his single-mindedness when it came to Usako though.

He would choose her every time and the only reason he helped others this time was for her. However, now that she rasped in his arms, struggling to breathe, he regretted it. He unfurled the rest of his energy inside her, healing the damage of her depleted energy stores even with her whimpers of protest.

"Hush. I'm fine and you're not. You used too much energy!" He hissed down at her.

She stretched a tired arm up and cupped his cheek. "It was the right thing to do."

"Tell that to the people that had to bury their family." Her face crumpled and his soul followed; falling to his knees in a combination of exhaustion and guilt. Voices called out to them but he ignored, too intent on his small angel. "I'm sorry, Usako. You're just far more forgiving than I will ever be."

He was in her neck, rubbing his cheek against hers, letting himself feel relieved that she was in his arms and safe for the first time in hours. The hand she had cupping his cheek now gripped his hair, her strength returning. "I'll be the forgiving one and you can be the iron fist. Together, we'll balance out. And catch each other when we fall."

A few tears fell and he rubbed them into her skin. For the first time, they had survived together.

oOo

"Usagi, dear, can you come help me with dinner?"

She could hear her mother all the way inside her room, rolling over from the manga she was reading on her bed to call back through her open door. "Coming, Momma!"

It had taken a few weeks; Mamoru wanted to be sure the threat was completely gone first. Luckily, Ami had collected so many samples and although she warned Usagi's cleansing might affect the results, there were still no signs of any enemy threats in the atmosphere.

Then it was the task of getting Mamoru to let her go. She had been so weak when they returned to his place the first night. No one fought him on it, not her Senshi or herself. And with her sleeping a straight thirty-six hours, there was nothing to really fight about.

Until she tried to return to the Shitennou's place.

Days of fighting and then some… pretty amazing make-up sex and they came to an agreement. Usagi would go home to her parents and Mamoru would keep them all safe.

It was their last night together before Luna returned her parent's memories to them and she went home. Usagi rolled over to him, placing her arms over her chest since the covers were only up to their waists. Mamoru's arm went out like a planned dance to receive her, laying her on his chest. "I'm surprised you're not trying to talk me out of leaving?"

"Why? Would it work?" He said, grinning wickedly.

"Maybe." She whispered, but not playfully.

He sighed and brushed a long golden strand off her shoulder. "It's going to be fine. And if a threat returns, you can move back in here with me."

Mamoru was serious but he still smirked with his words. She shook her head at him and laughed with relief. "I guess that's why you're not trying to keep me. You know I'll be back."

"Usako… it's going to be fine. As long as we have each other, we can handle anything."

Usagi believed him. It was why she walked into her kitchen now and stood next to her mother, washing vegetables. She noticed the large number of ingredients and balked. "Geez mom, we feeding an army?"

"Pretty much."

Their doorbell rang and Usagi heard Shingo answer it, hearing the warm tones of Mamoru's voice. She was already acutely aware of his location at all times in addition to having his golden strands twisted with hers. He gave her silver a tug as he entered and she giggled. Her mother gave her a small nudge and a smile while Usagi turned bright red.

The doorbell rang again and it was a guess as to who it was. But her options were limited. Who would be first was really the question. Tonight, it was Minako and Kunzite, hearing her but not him as the silent soldier undoubtedly followed behind his girlfriend. The rice maker dinged just as the last arrived and Usagi helped her mother plate all the food. It looked like a buffet, there was so much. But it would all get eaten.

Zoi was giving Neph a nuggy when she entered and Shingo was taking notes (to her horror). Mamoru, Ami, and Rei jumped up to help serve the rest of dinner. And once placed, Usagi's father stood and called everyone to quiet down.

"I'd like to thank Momma for another beautiful meal," everyone cheered and Ikuko blushed while Ken continued, "we're so happy to have our family extended so much. You're all amazing young people and I'm glad to have you at my table."

There was love sent around the table to all and Mamoru grabbed Usagi's hand under the table to give it a squeeze. One condition to her return was constant watch from all her friends so Usagi invited them all into her home. The girls were easier to get past her dad than the boys but it didn't take long for all of them to win over her family. And now, they were all her family as well.

And they would always be together.