The Ball
Darien watched Serena finish. She'd been planning and preparing a ball for all the Starlights. The ball Serena was to be a surprise for them, for they were the guests of honor—she was trying to thank them for being there for her in everything. She'd been doing the project for months now, and they haven't had to do anything because of the specter. For it hadn't been seen or heard of since then.
Serena smiled as she thought of the look on Ami, Mina, Rei, and Lita's faces when she gave them their dresses and jewelry. She had made them special dresses for the party and had sent the other dresses she had ordered for the other scouts to their homes. She thought of Chad's expression when he saw how beautiful Rei would look and of Greg's face when he saw Ami. Serena wondered a how Mina and Darien's friend, Steven, were doing on their umpteenth date. The two had hit it off wonderfully, even if Mina had screamed all the way to the door in a stubborn refusal to go on a blind date. But once she laid eyes on Steven, the protests died in her throat. They've been going steadily together for a year and a half now! Serena remembered Haruka's face when Lita had told the story to her and Michiru.
Serena grinned as she thought of Lita and Diamond. Who would have thought those two would become an item? They seem so incompatible, but you couldn't separate them! It definitely seemed like love was in the air. Last time they had checked on Hotaru and Setsuna, they had new boyfriends. Serena smiled as she thought of the ball that night. Greg, Chad, Diamond and Steven all knew about the party she was planning, but neither had told their girlfriends about it. She had been worried that Chad would spill the beans, but he was completely closed mouth about it. Not only that, but the other scouts said they were going to make an appearance as well! Michiru and Haruka were coming together and Hotaru was bringing her knew boy-toy and Setsuna said she had a new beau she was bringing. They were the only scouts she had told about the party. She had even sent them dresses as well! Wait till her friends saw the dresses she had had made for them!
Darien sneaked up behind Serena and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into him and gazed tenderly at the ring around her finger. Darien had finally restated his proposed and as soon as Serena turned twenty they were going to get married. Serena was counting the days. She grinned at her love. Their lives seemed so perfect. How long would it last?
At that moment the door swung open and four women stepped through wondering at why Serena had asked them to come. Serena quickly grabbed the four boxes that she had stacked up on the table and approached her friends. Darien leaned against the wall and grinned.
"What is it, Serena?" Mina asked curiously.
Serena said nothing; she just deposited each box into the arms of each friend. She grinned at their perplexed faces and motioned to the room. "These are presents for each of you. I'd like you guys to open your present and try it on so I can see if anything needs fixing, okay?"
Still confused the women did nothing. Serena then began to usher them into the next room, where they finally decided to humor their friend. But when they opened their gift and stared at the beautiful dress in each and the jewelry that accompanied it, they wanted to die of amazement.
When they emerged from the room, in full attire, Serena admired them. The dresses all fit perfectly on her friends!
Ami came out first, a look of astonishment on her face. Her dress was a brilliant ice blue, the sleeves were off shoulder and loosely long and Ami's gown was embroidered with dark cobalt blue and her jewelry was of silver, sapphire and aquamarines. Her hair was decorated with aquamarine flowers that glittered an icy blue and around her neck hung the sapphire emblem of Mercury. She looked beautiful.
Rei followed with the same expression on her face. Her gown was like Ami's only the dress was a glowing fiery red and the embroidery was maroon-red. And instead of silver, sapphire and aquamarine jewelry, Rei was decorated with gold, ruby and garnet stones that glittered with fire. But unlike Ami she did not wear color-coded flowers in her hair. Instead Rei had a thin gold and ruby tiara that was intricately designed. And the sleeves of her gown were also different. She had no sleeves at all, only three braided straps that showed off her shoulders and arms. Around her neck hung the ruby image of her planet, Mars. Rei felt complete.
Lita followed with a look of stunned disbelief on her face. Her expression was much more comical than either Ami's or Rei's. But her dress was just as beautiful. A green gown with dark forest green embroidery and jewels of silver, emerald, and jade. Her sleeves were long and tight and the end wrapped itself around her center finger. Jade and emerald held her hair up as a tiara with an emerald of lightning dangled from it. And around her neck dangled the symbol of Jupiter, glowing with brilliant emerald. Lita felt like a princess and looked like one too.
Mina followed; a look of awe on her expression. The gown was a dark beige with orange embroidery decorated her gown with sleeves the resembled flower petals and were short and graceful. Her hair was decorated with hearts of golden topaz and amber. Mina looked like the goddess of her respective planet, Venus. She glowed with the radiance of the gold, topaz and amber as the charm around her neck glowed with the brilliant amber of Venus. She also felt like the long ago princess she may have been.
The four looked in awe at themselves and then in disbelief at Serena. Their mouths all hung open in amazement and shock. Rei was the first one to regain her tongue.
"How on earth could you afford all this, Serena?"
Serena grinned. "With the money I was supposed to use to get myself an apartment."
The four blinked. Lita stared down at herself and then back at Serena. "Are you trying to give us away or something? The necklaces you gave us practically announce who we are!"
Ami nodded. "Lita's right. Won't these give us away?"
Serena shook her head. "Everyone will assume that those are your zodiac planets or something like that. Don't worry about it."
Mina lifted an eyebrow. "Everyone?"
Darien grinned at Serena, knowing that there was no way she could keep it from them any more. Serena only scowled at him and succumbed to the inevitable.
"Yes. Everyone."
They waited for her to elaborate. But when she said nothing, Rei scowled. "Excuse me, Serena, but why did you buy us these outfits in the first place?"
Serena sighed. "I want you all to wear them to the party in your honor tonight."
All of them stared at Serena as if she had lost her mind. Lita's eyes looked confused. "A party? In our honor? How did this happen?"
Serena grinned. "I'm giving it. All your boyfriends know about it. In fact, they should be arriving at any minute to take you guys to the banquet hall I rented for the party. I have to get ready too, you know. I am hosting the thing."
Mina's eyes narrowed. "Our boyfriends knew about this? And they didn't tell us?"
Darien grinned. "It was supposed to be a surprise."
At that moment the doorbell rang. Serena grinned. "Well, I guess that's them." Darien wasted no time and answered the door before the scouts could protest.
Into the apartment came four men that looked more handsome than ever. The women were held in spellbound awe. Ami's Greg stood in a dark blue tuxedo, his eyes glittering with pleasure as they gazed at her. Rei's Chad wore a black suit with a closed neck and his hair was worn back in a ponytail, his beautiful eyes holding her captive. She gasped as she looked at him in awe. Diamond stood before Lita in his princely white clothing as he gazed at her appreciatively. Lita's breath caught in her throat as she looked at him. Mina's Steven with hair as dark as Darien's but much longer than Chad's and eyes of blazing violet stood before her in a dark gray tuxedo, his hair brushing his shoulders. The four of them looked positively gorgeous, and they were thinking much of the same thing about their girlfriends.
Darien gave them the cue to drag the awed women out and the four couples left, unheeding of the two people behind them grinning like fools.
* * *
Serena and Darien arrived at the party an hour later. Serena had worn her Silver Crystal gown, as Darien jokingly called it, but at his insistence she also wore the crown he had bought for her. He said it reminded him of the crown used by her in the future, and he wanted her to wear it on this special night. Serena agreed, but she had told him she didn't want to outshine the guests of honor. Darien only grinned at her.
The guests of honor in question were in no fear of being outshone. The eight of them were dancing in the center of the floor with their boyfriends, their eyes full of happiness and each one feeling like the princess they were. Haruka and Michiru sat down in one of the tables after the dance was done and both Hotaru and Setsuna went with their dates to private tables to talk about who-knows-what. Darien and Serena watched them from a distance as the other four went of the dance floor and toward the four balconies that were at the four sides of the ballroom.
Greg gathered Ami close in his arms. She looked so beautiful; it made his blood race. How he wanted her. Her eyes were glistening with the thrill of the dance and with the light of their love. She was so precious to him.
"Greg?"
Greg stared down into the bottomless blue eyes and drowned in their depths. "Yes, Ami love?" he whispered hoarsely, knowing he soon wouldn't be able to control himself from kissing the breath out of her.
She knew it too and gave him a heart-stopping grin. "What are you thinking?"
He smiled and knew it was know or never. "Of how much I want to kiss you and how I'm going to propose marriage."
Ami blinked in surprise. Propose marriage? Her eyes widened. "Greg, did you say what I thought you said?"
Greg nodded uncertainly. Ami leapt into his arms and kissed him passionately. Greg was almost knocked down by her enthusiasm. Between kisses he could hear her gasping the words. "I love you, Greg. Nothing would make me happier than to marry you."
Happiness flooded through him. "Same here, Ami. Same here. I love you." And he kissed her with all the love in his heart as he slipped on the diamond and sapphire ring onto her finger. All their dreams had finally come true.
Rei and Chad settled themselves into the northern balcony and just held each other in the night. Chad's silent rain of kisses on her shoulders, neck and hair were driving Rei crazy. She was getting hot all over. He was the only one who could have ever made her feel this way. But Rei sighed, knowing that it was now that she had to tell him, if their relationship was going to go any further.
"Chad?"
"Hmmm?" he murmured against her throat. Rei shivered and turned in his arms, staring at the beautiful face before her. He had lived with her and her grandfather in the temple for six years, and since then he has become a master of the martial arts. Now he's the one who teaches the people who come to the temple to learn. They had both changed so much over the years. How was she going to tell him the truth about herself?
"I have to tell you something, Chad."
He only gave her his expectant goofy grin that pulled at her heartstrings.
"I have…I have to tell you who I really am."
Chad lifted an eyebrow, but said nothing. He waited patiently to hear what she had to say.
Rei gulped. "I'm… I am… uh…" Rei swallowed as she gazed up into his eyes and murmured in confusion, "I'm…uh…" Chad's eyes glittered with laughter.
"You want me to say it for you, Rei?" Chad grinned. "You're Sailor Mars."
She stuttered in amazement. "How…how did you know?"
Chad rolled his eyes. "Come on, Rei. I may sound stupid, but it doesn't mean I am. I've lived with you for almost seven years. If I hadn't noticed by now then I would have been dead. It's so obvious." He grinned, but as Rei began to sputter, he quickly silenced her with his mouth and tongue. Rei sighed and gave in to his mastery. Well, at least she had gotten that out of the way… and, boy, did she love the way he kissed!
Lita and Diamond were not having any kind of discussion. Their mouths were blending together in a fury of passion. Lita had thought that there was no man alive who could arose her senses to this extreme, but then Diamond appeared… for the second time. She had wondered what would happen when he attacked the future Neo-Tokyo with himself a part of the people there, but she then realized it wouldn't really matter. He would be asleep like everyone else in the kingdom, so the Diamond attacking would never know that there was a double of himself locked in a sleeping spell. But all thought left Lita's mind as Diamond pulled her closer to him and fed the lightning licking up her body.
They stared into each other's eyes as their breath mingled, their lips hovering over each other. Diamond stared into Lita's beautiful green eyes and knew there would never be anyone for him but her. He, the Prince of the Nega Moon people, had fallen in love with Sailor Jupiter. He wanted to laugh with the irony of it, but instead took her beautiful swollen mouth once again in his. She was the most wonderful woman he had ever known. No one had ever tried to protect him before. Yet she had protected him from danger when it was she who needed the protecting. He pulled his lips away from hers and touched his forehead to hers, their breathing ragged with rapture, her body sagging against his.
"Believe it or not, Lita. I love you."
Lita felt her heart burst in her chest as her eyes filled with tears. Her words came out in a hoarse gasp as she pressed herself closer to him. "And I love you, my Diamond."
Mina and Steven snuggled together as Mina pondered life in amazement. Darien's friend was a hell of a knock out, and she couldn't believe that they had gotten so close in such a short amount of time. He was so sensitive to her feelings and yet she wondered how sensitive. One of his favorite nicknames for her was 'Venus' the goddess of Love, but she couldn't help shivering beneath the penetrating eyes whenever he called her that, wondering if he had guessed who she was. But did it even matter, if he had? She had never felt this way about anyone before. Could he be the one? The man of her dreams?
"Steven?"
"Yes, Mina?"
His voice always made her tremble and this time was no exception as she shivered in his arms and he held her closer to him, his mouth settling on the nape of her neck. Once Mina got back her breath she turned to him, and his eyes glowed with a fire that made her burn.
"Do you know about me?"
Steven smiled down at her. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her namesake didn't even do her justice. Venus was an old hag compared to the beauty before him. Mina's big blue eyes gazed at him in question and he knew the time had come. Darien had told Steven of his past once he had remembered. Darien had told him who he really was and who Steven really was. At first he hadn't believed Darien's crazy story, but the ring of truth haunted him. Both he and Darien had grown up in the same orphanage and with the same problem. Amnesia. So when Darien had told Steven about the Moon Kingdom and the entire story, Steven could not deny the truth of his friend's words. But in his heart, he still did not completely believe it…until he met Mina. At the sight of her his own memories came rushing back. Know about her? Steven smiled more widely. He knew everything about her.
"Yes, Mina. I know who you are, where you're from. I know everything about you."
Mina's big eyes blinked up at him in shock. "But how could you?"
Steven's eyes took on a faraway look. "Because I was Prince Darien's closest friend and most trusted advisor back in the times of the Moon Kingdom." His glowing eyes returned to hers. "That is how I know who you are. I fell in love with you then."
Mina's memories flooded into her mind and she gasped with the overwhelming motion. Yes. She remembered now too. They had been so in love. And Serena had given her blessing. They were going to married. Prince Darien had also given his blessing to the marriage. How could she have not remembered? He was her world.
"Steven."
His eyes and lips smiled down at her, before he took her lips in a sweet kiss that sparked the reawakened passion and knowledge between them. Mina had held back because she hadn't known him. Now, all she knew was he.
But it was then. In these moments of happiness, as Greg proposed, Rei confessed her love to Chad, Lita and Diamond confessed their feelings for each other, Mina and Steven finally regained their memories of each other and Serena and Darien danced in the center of the ballroom that the chaos began.
The specter that had sent assassins for the Sailor Starlights and that had set a trap to kill Eternal Sailor Moon appeared in the midst of their celebration and began destroying everything and everyone. The four Starlights and their men came running into the ballroom as the sound of screams and crashes resounded throughout the room. Darien and Serena were trying to usher people out as well as defend them from the fury of the flying mist of evil. By the time all the guests were safe, the Starlights stood beside Serena and the men stood behind them. None had transformed. They faced the enemy as they were. Human.
Ami stepped forward and glared at the specter that had paused before them with eyes of blue ice. "I am Ami Mizuno, the Princess of Mercury with the power of Ice at my side." Crystal shards of ice grew from beneath her feet, the energy pulsing around her.
Greg stood behind her, a pillar of strength giving her will. "I am Greg, a Shadow Warrior."
Rei also stepped forward, taking Mercury's lead, her eyes dark with furious fire. "I am Hino Rei, the Princess of Mars with the power of Fire at my side." Rings of fire emerged from the ground and circled her, her own energy glowing.
Chad stood behind her, his strength emanating from him. "I am Chad, Master of the Martial Art of Flame."
Lita stepped forward, her green eyes blazing with righteous rage. "I am Lita Kino, the Princess of Jupiter with the power of Lightning and Thunder at my side." Lightning crackled from behind her and it began to pulse through her limbs as her energy grew.
Diamond stood behind her, his power giving her strength. "I am Prince Diamond of the Nega Moon."
Mina stepped beside Lita, glowing, her blue eyes glistening. "I am Aino Mina, the Princess of Venus with the power of Spirit at my side." Shimmering stars appeared from behind her and wrapped itself around her, giving her the energy that pulsed through her.
Steven stood behind her; he was her confidence. "I am General Steven, the leader of the Army of Earth."
Hotaru stood beside Mina and her dark eyes flashed. "I am Hotaru Tomoe, the Princess of Saturn with the power of Silence." A dark mist twisted around her from the ground beneath her as she began to glow with her energy.
Setsuna stood beside Hotaru and her red eyes glowed with fury. "I am Meiou Setsuna, the Princess of Pluto with the power of Time beside me." Gray light emerged from her body growing with the energy in her as it became more pronounced and visible.
Haruka and Michiru stood beside Ami, Haruka speaking first, rage emanating from her. "I am Tenou Haruka, Princess of Uranus with the power of Sky and Wind beside me." Gust of wind came from behind her; billowing her gown and making her energy grow with power.
Michiru spoke immediately after, her sea-green eyes boiling. "I am Kaiou Michiru, Princess of Neptune with the power of Water beside me." Torrents of water emerged from the ground beneath her and began to twist about her body as she glowed with the energy inside of her.
Serena emerged from behind them to stand among them. Her eyes blazed into the eyes of the specter. "I am Serenity. Princess of the Moon. I hold the power of Hope and the magic of Life. You will not win, whatever you are." The Silver Crystal shimmered and power began to radiate from her in waves.
Darien stepped beside Serena. "I am Prince Darien of Earth. And we will fight you till your end." His own magic came forth of deeply hidden within himself and his body pulsed with it.
The evil
specter laughed at the group of people before it. "Fools. Do you actually think that you can defeat
me?" Its laughter grew. "And
even if you could, you can not stop the inevitable."
"What is this 'inevitable' you speak of?" Serena demanded.
It laughed again. "Demand all you want, Princess. But all you can do now is defeat me or die. Either way, I win."
"Not if I can help it."
And the battle began.
Eternal Sailor Moon called upon the power of the Silver Crystal as the Sailor Starlights called upon the power within themselves and the powers of their home planets to defeat the evil before them. The men also used the power within them. Greg used the hidden power of the Shadow Warrior inside him and blasted it with Mercury's ice power. Mars and Chad gathered their power of fire and blasted the creature before them with all they had. Diamond used his dark power of the Mega Moon with Jupiter's power of thunder and lightning. Venus and the General Steven used the power within themselves as well, blasting the creature with all they had. Darien stood beside Serena and used his own power against the creature. The powers mingled and joined. The creature fought back with all it had, trying to penetrate and destroy the love and the friendship in the group, trying to destroy those who could and would stop it. It tried to move, the evil specter tried to escape the wrath and the power of the Starlights and the men with them, but it was no match for the power they had deep within them. They called upon everything they had. And as the creature's laughter began to fade away along with the rest of it as it was diminished, it could be heard mocking the people with the words… "Too late."
Something clenched in Serena's chest as the specter vanished and she ran to the balcony. The cold was here. Everyone ran outside with her to see what was coming. And as the wave of ice and death drew near they knew.
It was the ecological disaster that would freeze the world till the thirtieth century. And they had no energy to stop it. Serena lifted the Silver Crystal high above her head and then pressed it against her chest. Each one of the Princesses ran into the arms of the man that they loved as they watched the inevitable and the unstoppable freeze their world and seal them in cold hibernation.
They froze in the arms of each other. Greg and Ami, holding each other close. Chad and Rei with their foreheads pressed against each other in loving comfort. Diamond and Lita, their lips about to touch. Steven and Mina, their faces rubbing lovingly. Haruka and Michiru were holding hands. Hotaru and Setsuna, hugging each other like sisters.
Serena and Darien. Their mouths sealed tightly with their love, frozen in that position for a millennium of ice and coldness. Locked in a deep sleep with only dreams of the past for comfort.
But between them there was a glow. The glow of Hope and Love and Life. Between their frozen bodies pulsed the Silver Crystal… slowly melting the sheets of thick ice that kept them from life. Slowly melting the icy prison around them. Slowly melting it…for a millennium.