Author's Note: This is the last installment of the story arc! Yay! A LOT happened in "Autumn". If you haven't read that story... then this one will make you scratch your head and go, "WAT?!" The first story of this arc is called "Winter". GO READ IT... and then read "Spring", then "Summer", and finally "Autumn" before checking this bad-boy out. It's going to be intense. As always, your reviews encourage me to continue writing the story. At the end of this chapter, I will give a suggested review count needed before the next chapter is posted. I know, I know... many of you hated that. But it tells me who is interested enough to see this story continue on.
So... without futher adieu, here is the story!
Seasons
It was beginning again.
Her senshi were being targeted and killed off once more.
Did her enemy know her well enough to know how much that killed her on the inside?
"Usako?"
Turning up her sapphire orbs to the love of her life, her king, and she forced a smile on her lips. "I'm okay," she uttered in a soft voice as she nodded her head. Her focus came back, and she turned to her teammates. Each and every one of them sat in her and Mamoru's apartment. Some sat on the couches, others pulled in chairs from the table, and a couple stood in the background. What a mess this was.
"I can't believe they got Setsuna," uttered the leader of her senshi. She saw the blonde with a sad expression as her husband, Kendal held an arm protectively around her shoulders.
"It makes sense now why she never came when we summoned her," added Rei from the couch as well, her newly wedded husband beside her and their daugher from the future being held protectively in her arms. The young girl had fallen asleep. Jay's frown spoke loud enough for him and his wife.
"Who was that woman?" questioned Nephrite, "If you don't mind me asking? I don't ever remember meeting her before."
Ami took care of that tid bit of information. Zach had teleported both he and she to the apartment for this emergency warrior meeting. Ami carried their little daughter in her arms as the little one was snuggly swaddled in blankets and a hat. "Setsuna, or Sailor Pluto, was a senshi we met shortly after Chibi Usa came to visit us from the future."
"That's another person I keep hearing about in conversation," inserted Kendal.
The blue-locked woman nodded her head, "Yes. We had an enemy who almost completely destroyed the future. A little girl, Usagi and Mamoru's future daughter, came to the seeking help. She tried taking the Silver Crystal of the past and use it with the Silver Crystal of the future to help restore the future timeline. That is where we met Sailor Pluto."
"She was the gatekeeper of time," added Usagi, her eyes beginning to well up with tears. "I don't know what happened, or who this new enemy may be, but it was strong enough to take out one of the Outer Senshi."
"And it sounded like the enemy kidnapped and brainwashed all of our children from the future," spoke Jay spitefully. He couldn't imagine anyone ever kidnapping children to enact a revenge or an attack on their sworn enemy. His and Rei's future daughter being freed from the bondage of evil hit too close to home. Especially with the new information about his and Rei's son that would be born before this precious girl asleep in his wife's arms.
There was silence for a good minute as the Queen of the Senshi thought about her next step of action. "I..."
She was at a complete loss of words.
"Usako," spoke the dark haired King as he looked to the blonde queen before turning to address his men. "We need to stay close. If they have our children from the future, they can easily find each of us in civilian clothing. We need to discuss the best place for us all to reside. There is safety in numbers. Men, Women," his steel blue eyes gazed upon each of his Shittenou and the Senshi. "We will not be going out in public alone. We cannot afford that luxury with one of our Outer Senshi dead. Everyone will need to pair off if we go out in public." He looked towards Jay, " Since Zach, Nathan, and Kendal all work in the same office and can keep each other accountable, that leaves you by yourself without anyone. I understand that might be challenging for you especially since you travel everywhere for your job-"
The blond man's grim features turned into a smirk, "I'm supposed to be on my honeymoon. Rei and I are good for a month."
The King of the Earth chucked, "Of course. But I give you an order; if anyone comes and tries to challenge you or Rei, you are to immediately teleport back to me."
The Shittenou bowed his head in respect to his monarch. "Yes sire."
"Rei?"
The fire senshi looked to the King. "With your permission, I would like to ask if we all could reside in the Temple until we find a more secure location."
She nodded her head in agreement, "Yes."
"Usako?" The man's voice softened as he glaced down to his wife. "It might be best if we call Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Saturn."
Of course! The petite leader nodded her head and bit her lip. Of course she needed to make sure the rest of her team was accounted for! "We will reach out to them and summon them."
Her husband nodded his head before turning his gaze back to the team. "It's going to be a challenging battle ahead. Rei and Jay. I hate to do this to you both, but we need your help. I need you two to remain in town. Since your future daughter is here with us, we might need you both to assist Ami in watching the children. Ami, Zach?"
The two turned to face their king. "We need your brains and gifts of strategizing for this new threat. Ami, you might have to entrust the care of your babe to Rei for the time being so you can focus on planning." Ami paused for a second before speaking.
"Mamoru, when we go to battle... is there any way that I may be able to remain behind with the children instead? My skills are more defensive rather than offensive."
He shook his head, "For now, let's let Rei and Jay care for the children. Both of them are a strong team for offensive and defensive strategies when an enemy strikes. I need you and Zach to help strategize for the time being."
She nodded her head in understanding.
"Nathan. I need you and Makoto to find us a new residence to house all of us. I also need you two to assist with making sure the building we reside in is secure."
The two brunettes nodded their head in agreement.
"Kendal. Minako, I need you both to join in strategizing for battle since you both are our second-in-commands."
The two leaders nodded their heads.
Usagi gave an affirming smile before nodding her head, "Thank you everyone." She paused before nodding her head, "I'm going to summon the Outers. Nathan, Makoto- please include them in our count of guests to reside in our temporary home."
"I can't believe this," groaned Rei as she and Jay retreated back to Rei's room... now their own personal room at the temple. Though two seperate futons were provided, the couple knew they both would be sharing one that evening. Chibi Rei was in the adjoining room. They knew she might wake from a night terror and join them while they rested... which would be challenging considering they wanted to enjoy their time together, alone. "How can an enemy show up like this? How could they do this to Pluto?"
"She was close to you all?" asked her husband as he began shedding his suit jacket and tie.
"She was a good friend," spoke Rei carefully sitting on her futon, her eyes down cast. She almost forgot she was in her white wedding kimono from their earlier ceremony in Vegas. She began reaching into her hair to pull out the flowers and combs. She had no luck. "Jay, could you help me remove this stuff from my hair?"
He gave a hint of a smirk seeing the curve of her exposed neck and her carefully pinned up hair. "Sure."
She sat there as he began picking out the pins and combs. Her face was long. "That presence surrounding Pluto... It was so sinister. So evil..."
"She fought till her dying breath I'm sure," spoke her husband, his voice starting to become a bit deeper, softer, more soothing...
The priestess bit her lip feeling her hair finally tumbling down her back and being pushed aside to one of her shoulders. "Thank you," she muttered.
She gasped when she felt his lips kiss her neck softly. She felt his hands begin to untie her Kimono Obi and toss it to one side of the room all while his lips traveled from her neck to her jaw. She felt her robes begin to open as his hands began assisting her to get ready for bed.
As he helped her to turn around to face him, his gaze landed on her amethyst orbs. His lips curved up and began ravaging her lips.
Looks like they were going to have a honeymoon after all...
"What do you think will happen?"
Zach turned to his wife, as she gently placed their sleeping babe in a crib. He made sure to bring this along since they were no longer residing at their condo. "We will fight the enemy and defeat them."
Ami's deep blue eyes lowered as she gazed to the tiny infant resting. "It bothered me earlier... to hear that the children from the future were kidnapped."
Her husband came behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her thin waist. He felt her sobs as they formed in her chest. "That means... our daughter was kidnapped too."
"The enemy used a low blow," spoke Zach in her ear, "They took over Pluto's corpse to steal the children. I know those kids would have never gone willingly with someone they did not know."
"Will they be the enemy we will be fighting against next?" whispered Ami.
"Perhaps."
"What will we do?"
The blond photographer kept silent. His emerald orbs unsure of how to direct this conversation. "Perhaps... perhaps the Golden Crystal and the Silver Crystal can remove the brainwashing and the evil from the children."
"Like with Chibi Rei," concluded the water senshi, her mind starting to clear a bit. "That's it..."
"Hmm?"
She turned around looking at the taller man, a man who persistently sought after her the day he met her at that coffee shop-bookstore almost a year ago. She gave him a smile as her hand cupped his jaw, "You, my dear husband, are a genius."
He raised an eyebrow. His ego was puffed just a bit at the compliment, but he was curious to why she gave him such praise. "And why are you acknowledging what I already know?"
She smiled and placed a chaste kiss on the lips of her husband, "Because now we can form an effective strategy to restore the brainwashed children."
"Two futons, huh," commented Nathan as he crossed his arms once entering into the room assigned both he and his girlfriend. "Not that we will need two..."
The lightning senshi blushed when he made that comment before she dragged her over-night bag to the side of a futon. She pulled out her night clothes. "We really need to get our sleep this evening Nathan. We can't stay up all night. We have a very real threat to face."
"Yeah, yeah," he uttered running a hand through his dark, chocolate brown locks of hair. "Here's to wishing though."
Makoto didn't reply back. That was a red flag to the Shittenou as he saw her turn her back to him, quickly take off her blouse and replace it with a long night gown. Though he knew there were many nights night clothese were not necessary any longer for the two of them, he saw this behavior as strange and out of character to her.
Something was wrong.
"Mako-chan?"
She paused while folding her day clothes. She didn't say anything.
That was a definite alarm bell in Nathan's mind.
"What's wrong Mako-chan?"
She turned around to face her love, her eyes looking fearful. "Nathan, I... I-I don't know how to share this with you."
"Share what?" he asked softly, the worst beginning to fill his mind and an ache filling his gut. Was she keeping a burdening secret from him?
She looked down touching her stomach. "I'm pregnant."
The silence was deafening to the senshi as she looked up to the shittenou. "When I heard they kidnapped all the children in the future, I became so afraid... afraid for our little one. I-I don't know what-"
"When did you find out?" the warrior finally asked cutting off her rant.
She blinked her emerald eyes before blushing, "Last week. I-I wanted to make sure it wasn't some fluke or false test. The doctor gave me the final lab results this past weekend and said I was expecting. I was planning on telling you this evening before this whole fiasco happened-"
Makoto felt her body tightly hugged by the big, strong arms of the man in front of her. She felt her lips ravaged by his as he laid her down on the futon. He gave a wide grin and kissed her fully once again. She smiled and gave a small laugh at his eagerness. He looked down into her eyes lovingly. "I am the luckiest man alive."
She smiled coyly, "You're not nervous at becoming a father?"
"With you as our child's mother, I am estatic," he proudly replied. "How far along are you?"
"About eight weeks along."
"Then I will make sure to protect you and our child with everything I am. Nothing will stop me."
She gave a small laugh, "You don't have to tell me twice, my love. You already sacrificed yourself for me some months after our previous fall-out. I already know you would be willing to sacrifice yourself for our safety."
His reply to her was a kiss.
Nestled carefully in the arms of her husband, Minako began drawing circles on his chest with her finger. "It feels like the calm before the storm."
"Hmmm."
"Everyone seems to be taking this rather well, but I don't know what I would do if we were faced with a brainwashed child of ours from the future," confessed the love senshi.
Kendal remained silent.
Minako sighed, "I wonder how our friends are taking this... I wonder if Michiru and Hakura are okay."
She looked up to the face of the man she was resting beside. His eyes were closed. "Kunzite?"
He opened one eye after a moment looking down at her. She felt his arms shift around her tighter. "I would advise we take this time to rest. If the enemy strikes tomorrow, we need to be alert and ready for battle."
She scoffed, "Always work and no play! Hmph."
She squeaked when he rolled on top of her. "All work and no play?" he uttered between kisses, "Perhaps I can make an exception this one time."
She smirked, "That's more like it."
Standing outside the shrine, a young teen waited. Her light brown eyes looked up at the charms and papers that covered the entrance and walls of the sacred ground. Her unique-colored hair was carefully hidden inside of a hat to prevent recognition. Her body was covered from top to bottom in neutral, blend-in colors. She released a shaky breath remembering this old Shrine all to well.
"What is this place?" asked a small voice to her side.
She looked down, her white gloved fingers held the hand of a little boy, just barely six years of age. His hair was like that of his father's, though it barely was visible with the low lighting. She smiled, "We are at a safe place. The priestess here will take care of us."
"They will take care of me and my sister?" asked the young boy.
The young woman felt a shifting on her side as a young girl, no older than four years of age, began to stir from her sleep. Lucky for the teen, she didn't wake quite yet. "Yes. These people we are visiting are old friends of mine... and they'll become your friends too."
The young boy smiled as he followed the teen onto the dark, peaceful grounds of the old temple. Little did they realize, the lives of the men and women at that temple would be changed for a life time.
Author's Note: ALRIGHT! First chapter up! A lot has happened. If you are lost, I'd suggest reading Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn before continuing with this fanfic. If you want me to update soon, I need reviews. 10 reviews=24 hour later update.
I'm keeping myself accountable. When that review goal is reached, you'll see a new chapter out within 24 hours!
Ready, set, GO!