Mercury stepped forward. She knew she
was the weakest, and that if he wasn't bluffing, she would hurt Setsuna much
less than anyone else. True, her attacks were very good when used as defense,
and she was incredibly smart, but it was well known that she was quite weak
physically. It didn't bother her anymore—she knew that her brainpower was much
more needed in the Sailor Scouts than her physical abilities, and that in odd
situations like these, she was most helpful.
"Mercury Aqua Illusion!!!" Water burst
forth at incredible speed, painfully loaded with strong energy.
"Aaaahhh!!!!!!" Setsuna let out a
scream, her body going rigid with pain.
"The bastard's right! Damn it!!!"
Serenity swore.
"As if this won't be hard enough."
Diamond sighed with distain. "We already have to find a way to destroy Nemesis
without killing Ebony, and now before we can even do that, we have to free
Setsuna. From this standpoint, he's untouchable."
Booming laughter errupted from the
thrashing midnight around them.
There was a silence; silent words
betwix enveloping darkness.
"I have an idea." The queen announced,
then pulled the Senshi to the side.
"Setsuna has a pure heart, therefore
she would relish the light of the Ginzuishou and it's healing powers, ne?" She
asked excitedly.
The scouts nodded, seeing where she was
going.
"If the light of the Silver Crystal
does no damage to her, it would be no different if I were to use it with all of
you back ing me up—damn, why didn't I think of this before? We could use our
power through the Ginzuishou—then it would be safe and healing for her—and it
would get rid of Nemesis!"
"But what about Ebony? Won't she be
killed, also?" Jupiter asked with worry.
"Whether she is now or not, she was
born of the Moon, thus, the power of the Silver Crystal remains in her blood,
along with the power of Diamond, need
I remind you, not Wiseman, but Diamond. I see no reason why he would be so much
of an impact."
"Because her soul is entertwined with
that of the Black Crystal, not Diamond, not Wiseman. When Nemesis' evil is
conquered, so is that of the dark crystal." Diamond stated.
"When the evil of the Black Crystal is conquered. Ebony has no evil in her,
only the effects of the crystal. As far as I'm concerned, I don't think it
concerns Ebony at all."
It sunk into Diamond's mind, and his
face grew more and more ecstatic. He turned around and flung his arms around
Ebony, about to cry with the newfound knowledge.
"Oh, Ebony!" He cried, twirling her in
his ebrace.
She wrapped her arms around him and
held him tight, laughing.
"Now you don't have to go…" He
whispered in her ear. "You don't have to go…"
"Diamond, I'd never leave you if I had
to..."
"I don't know what you fools could
possibly be laughing about." Nemesis huffed.
Neo Serenity assumed the stance of
attack, followed by the others.
"Remember, your friend." She could
almost see his ugly grin.
"Moon Crystal Activation!!!" Serenity
hollered. Setsuna flinched, but instead of feeling pain, she felt gloriously
renewed. Ebony and Diamond joined hands and contributed their force, as well.
"Mercury Star Power!!!"
"Mars Star Power!!!"
"Venus Star Power!!!"
"Jupiter Star Power!!!"
All the energies entertwined with one
another until they all flowed through the power of the Silver Crystal. As much
as Nemesis tried to work against the power, he couldn't manage to fight them
and hold Setsuna at the same time. Although he was strong, he wasn't good at
multitasking. With that, Setsuna dropped like a rock. Ebony saw her fall, and
raced after her, catching her just before she hit the ground.
Red eyes stared into red eyes as
Setsuna and Ebony finally saw the friend in one another again. She pulled
Setsuna to her warmly.
"Setsuna! I'm so sorry… I've been so
oblivious to everyone and how much they actually love me—I was foolish to ever
think that you guys didn't care and that you all didn't deserve respect until
you showed it to me… you're always shown it, and always treated me wonderfully…
I don't know why I've been too stupid to notice… I'm sorry… so sorry…" Ebony
held her friend tightly against her, trying not to sob in happiness.
Setsuna smiled. This was the Chibi Usa she knew, her best friend and eternal
companion. Maybe she hadn't been brainwashed at all. Maybe it just took her a
little longer to expres herself through her new emotions and all.
"It's alright, Lady." She relished in
the warm embrace, while making sure not to call her 'Small Lady'. "I'm sorry, too. I should have understood."
Setsuna shakily stood up, then extended
her arm toward her friend. Ebony grinned as she took her hand and pulled
herself up.
"Thank you, Serenity; all of you."
Setsuna nodded, then turned to face Nemesis.
A harsh wind bashed down upon the
sailors as Nemesis slowly regained its strength.
"Is that all?" Nemesis taunted.
"We're not even started!" Mars shouted,
positioning herself to an attacking stance.
With Serenity's nod, they all extended
their force to him once more. Nemesis was weak from their previous attack, and
his power lessened quickly. Suddenly, there was a quick flash of light, and all
went cloudy.
Ebony clasped Diamond's hand, and he
smiled as he admired her touch of affection.
As the fog lazily cleared, the Black
Crystal was dark, and the pulsing glow had diminished to almost nothing at
all—but it wasn't dead.
"Diamond, what's that?" Makoto nudged
the prince with her elbow.
"I—I'm not sure…" he strained to look
at a silhouette that was gradually making itself more and more visable.
Finally, the shadow had been brought to
light.
"You shady bastards!!!" Wiseman's voice
rose, crackling. He was once more in the human form Diamond had grown to hate.
"Can you even imagine how long it took and how much of Diamond's energy I had
to take to take on my true form?!?"
"Why won't you die?!?" Serenity
screamed.
"Same reason you won't, Queen. I'm
going to protect what I'm going to protect, and there is nothing that can stop
me from doing so. Nothing." Wiseman grinned and gave out a cackle.
Rei and Minako stood in front of the
queen, and Makoto and Ami positioned themselves to her sides.
"Oh, don't worry, it's not the queen I
care about. I'll go for someone who ruined my chance for power." Ebony stood in
front of Diamond, sure that Wiseman was talking about him.
"It's you, Ebony!" He shot a burst of
energy at her. Diamond barely pushed her out of the way before Wiseman's shot
hit her. It hit him in the side, and he bit down the pain.
"You came to the palace, and somehow
undid all my brainwashing in a matter of hours! All my years of work, you came
and undid it all~!" He thrust another shot at her.
"Stop it,
Wiseman!!!" Neo Serenity yelled, the senshi gathering to protect their queen.
Diamond moved Ebony to the side again,
taking the heat of Wiseman's wrath.
"Diamond, don't do that! Stop it!" She
yelled as he ran with her to escape the shots. "I refuse to let you take my
pain!" She hit him uselessly with her fists as he practically picked her up and
ran.
Another shot fired, hitting him square
in the back. He pressed his lips together to keep his cry from ringing out.
This time, his wince was more evident, and his pain much more effective on his
body. He slowed almost to a halt, and his head bowed momentarily.
"Diamond!! Damn it, stop!" she pleaded.
He looked up to her and smiled
lovingly.
"Ebony, you know I won't do that. I'll
do anything to keep you from pain. You understand, right?" He began running
again.
"Wiseman! Don't you dare hurt my Lady!"
Setsuna shouted as she lunged toward Wiseman with her Time Key.
"Don't even try, Pluto." He replied
bluntly, throwing a strong blasty of energy at her, thrusting her to the ground
as she let out a hearty yell.
"Setsuna!!!" Ebony screamed.
Serenity pulled out the Ginzuishou, but
as she began to call out the her henshin, she fell soundlessly to the groud.
The scouts all rushed to her side, almost as weakened.
"We've attacked strongly twice, and the
queen attacked Ebony earlier on. She's been drained of energy, as have we." Ami
informed, pulling out her pocket computer.
Ebony gazed at the weak senshi, and her
instincts told her what to do.
"Moon Crystal Activation!!!" Ebony's
voice echoed through the palace. A golden aura of the Moon surrounded her as
the Ginzuishou flew to her hands.
"What the hell?" Wiseman snapped.
"I am daughter of the
Moon Goddess, Wiseman." A smile errupted on her face as she she sent the
crystal's force to Wiseman, who didn't have enough time to defend himself
against the quick and increduous power. Letting out a shriek of defeat, his
body went rigid and then shriveled to
dust.
Slowly letting down her arms, the
crystal fell to the floor with a ka-chink. Her eyes stared wide in surprise.
I…
I just defefated Wiseman… She thought, beginning to tremble
slightly.
Serenity was beginning to come to.
Glancing around, she saw that her guardians were all perched around her, but their
attention was else where. Setting her eyes in their direction, she gasped.
There stood her her daughter, glowing with the aura of the moon, yet with the
Black Moon Symbol still embedded on her head. The Ginzuishou was a cold bead of
glass on the floor beneath her, and she quivered a bit.
"Wh-what just happened?" She questioned
groggily.
"Oh! Queen! You're alright!" Minako
embraced Serenity heartily and rocked her for a moment.
"Yes, Mina. I'm fine…. What happened?"
She asked again.
As Makoto began telling of what happened, Ebony turned around to be
enveloped by Diamond. She let out a startled yell, but pulled him tight to her
once she knew who it was.
"Ebony, I'm so, so proud of you." He
whispered. She pulled him to her for a
kiss.
"Thank you… thank you…" She said
tearily.
"For what?" He inquired.
"You-you protected me… you—oh!
Setsuna!!!" She gasped and ran to her friend, leaving Diamond momentarily
surprised by her sudden departure.
Kneeling by Setsuna's side, she was
soon accompanied by the others.
"Setsuna! Are you alright?" Ebony
grabbed onto her hand and squeezed it.
Wincing in pain, she tried to smile.
"Setsuna, you saved me… you… you risked
your life for me…. Why?" She asked in tears.
"You-you know why… mm…You're my best
friend… always have… always will be…" She uttered between holding in moans of
pain.
Ebony tried to say something, but
couldn't save herself from sobs if she did.
"And besides… your boyfriend was taking
it in pretty hard…" A harsh chuckle emitted from her bleeding mouth. "You know,
Lady… I've—nn—I've always… been afraid of you… making other friends…
falling..in love… I thought that if.. another person had you, then you'd-you'd
never see me…"
Ebony opened her mouth to speak, but
Setsuna put her shaky hand to it.
"But now I know… I was so stupid… so
stupid to think… you'd be so unkind…"
"Setsuna… You.. you.." Thick tears
rolld down her cheeks, making her bite her quivering lip.
"The-the point is, Lady.. is that I'm
sorry I didn't understand… And I wish you the best… You and Diamond…" She
smiled exhaustedly, and the light in her eyes died out.
"Setsuna, please! Don't leave me!!"
Ebony's head bowed. She began to sob and Diamond took her into his arms,
cradling her with love as well as his body.
The senshi all bowed their heads in
mourning for their lost soldier.
Suddenlty, the wind began to blow
extremely hard.
"What? What's happening?!?" Mars looked
down to her legs—one could see halfway through them. The area around them
became distorted, and the wind became more and more harsh.
"Serenity, what's going on?" Venus
called out through the howling wind.
"It's time distortion! It occurs when
something happens to the Guardian of Time." She stated sadly, tears flowing
heavily.
"Queen, this world will be destroyed!"
Ami shouted.
"And the Earth, and the Moon…" She
spoke gravely.
"So what will happen to us?!?" Mars
asked, clinging to Minako.
"We shall all be destroyed." Her voice
choked up.
"Isn't there any way to stop it?
Couldn't we provide another Guardian?" Mercury suggested.
"Only if that person knew the Time
Gates. Nobody is qualified, for no one spent so much time inside as Setsuna."
A light in Ebony's head clicked on.
"Wait! Wait! I have spent hundreds of
years visiting Setsuna in the Time Gates! I know it like I know my own heart!
How long would I have to be there?" She stood against the unbearable wind.
"Only until Setsuna was reborn."
Serenity said with new hope.
Turning to the prince, she looked him
thoughtfully in the eye.
"You will wait for me.. won't you?" She
asked kindly, lovingly
"Forever… I would wait forever,
Ebony.." Was all he could say.
"I'll go." She announced.
"But Ebony… The Time Gate must know
you, as well." The queen's voice dropped.
"It knows me fine!" She smiled.
"No… it knows Chibi Usa…"
The smile on Ebony's face fell into a
look of panged worry.
"You mean…?"
"Yes… you would have to return as Chibi
Usa… But you could never become Ebony… ever again…"
"Why not?!?" Her matured voice cracked.
"Diamond's power to transform you… came
from the Black Crystal… Which we destroyed…." Serentiy's voice became
sympathetic, yet pleading.
"Diamond said he'd wait forever… If I
grew naturally, and came back to him…?"
Serentiy shook her head.
"The—the reason Setsuna was so lonely
was that the Time Gates made her forget that she was in love… She had once
fallen in love with a wonderful man… but she because Guardian of the gates, and
the guiding of time somehow tripped a switch in her mind that made her forget
her lover…" A tone of pity sounded in Serenity's voice as tears cam forcefully
to Ebony's eyes.
"So.. if I went… I would not only
become Chibi Usa again… but I'd forget Diamond completely?" She sounded so
desolate, Diamond wanted to comfort her. But Diamond was in a state of
paralysis—the woman he loved could leave… forever.
"and if I stayed?" She asked with hope of a better future.
"Then all will be destroyed."
Ebony swallowed hard. She loved
Diamond. More than, she knew, she would ever love anyone. But if she stayed…
she would kill everyone in the world, in the universe…
Trying to take a deep breath without
sobbing, she walked slowly over to Diamond. She knew what she had to do.
"Diamond… oh, Diamond, this is breaking
my heart…"
"You're leaving, aren't you." He tried
holding back tears of his own.
"I can't let everyone else die… Diamond,
you have to understand." She took hold of his hand.
"I don't want to be without you." Tears
began to fall freely, but he didn't care.
"I can't halt time and let everyone
else fall in oblivion!" She replied pleadingly.
"But-but you can't leave!!" He held
onto her tight. "I-I love you…"
Ebony rested her head upon his
shoulder, holding his body tightly against hers for the last time.
"I know, Diamond. I know."
He rested his head upon hers, letting
his shimmering tears fall into her hair, her soft, soft pink hair.
"I love you, too." Her words came soft,
and the de-tranformation began.
Her pink hair sunk back into the soft
odangos as before. Ebony's came closer to Diamond, and she realized it was
because her breasts reduced to their previous size. She felt herself shrinking,
but she held fast to Diamond's body. Her muscles' bulge decreased; her skin
brightened to the pale ivory of before. The dress she wore suddenly felt as the
sheet she had worn on her first night with Diamond. Trying not to cry as she thought
about it, she stroked his back with love.
Finally, the transformation was
finished. All the strength of a woman's body she had felt was gone—she felt as
small and innocent as before.
Separating from Diamond, she instantly
loathed the look upon his face as he saw her in her youthful body once more.
She bowed her head.
"I know… I'm not beautiful anymore… my
lovey body is gone, my long hair, my dark pretty skin.. I'm ugly now…" She
wrapped her arms around her body.
Diamond brushed his hand across her cheek,
which seemed odd, since she was now a child once more.
"You're not ugly. You're as beautiful
as you ever were." He gazed into her eyes. They looked so different! He tried
hiding his disappointment from her. He didn't want her to think that he loved her
because of the way she looked.
"Thank you, Diamond… thank you so
much." Her impish eyes filled with tears, and she embraced him again.
"I don't want you to forget me, Ebony…"
More tears slid down Diamond's face as he whispered into her ear.
"The heart never forgets, Diamond." Her
lip trembled again. "And… I'm Chibi Usa now." She smiled sadly, but the broke
into tears and fell to the floor. He bent down lovingly and scooped her into
his arms.
"Shh, shh… Don't cry." He crooned,
struggling to follow his own advice.
She clung onto him tightly, never
wanting to let go.
When she finally released him, she
realized he was crying as well.
"Diamond, you're crying." She smiled.
He opened his mouth to speak, but
nothing emerged.
"Will you kiss me…. One last time?" She
questioned beggingly.
He closed his eyes and leaned to her.
Then opening his eyes, he let out a sob. This wasn't Ebony anymore, and a part
of him felt wrong kissing a child, no matter if he was in love with her or not.
"I'm sorry, Small Lady… I can't…" He
covered his mouth with his hand to stop the pathetic sobs emerging from his
mouth.
"Then close your eyes." He did as she
told him. "And let me."
Diamond gave into the kiss. Her body
may not have been Ebony's but the kiss was all too familiar. It belonged to the
woman he loved, and he gave her a loving kiss, wishing they could make love one
more time. Chibi Usa held his head fast, relishing in the smooth kiss as long
as she could.
As they parted, Chibi Usa let her hand
brush against his face once more.
"I love you, Diamond. My heart won't
ever forget that." She smiled, and let go of his hand, walking to the senshi.
"I love you, too." He whispered,
knowing that she was well aware.
"Ready to go?" Serenity asked her
daughter, rubbing her on the shoulder.
"Yeah…" She mumbled, starting at
Diamond the whole way.
The Scouts formed in their
teleportation circle, and placed Chibi Usa in the middle.
As they were calling out their
transformation calls, she noticed something wet on her hands. Gazing at them,
she was horrified to find it was blood. But she wasn't in pain, so it must have
been from something she touched… But what could she have touched?
Suddenly, it hit her.
Her glance flitting frantically back to
Diamond, she knew.
"Sailor Teleport!!!!" Serenity shouted,
and with that, they were gone, headed to the Time Gates.
Diamond stood, staring in awe.
Turning slowly, he let the tears flow.
He didn't care.
Walking to his bedroom, he picked up a
bottle of champagne to dull the pain and entered. Behind him was a thin trail
of blood. The last blow Wiseman had shot at Ebony hit him in the back, and made
a horrendous gash. The pain and loss of blood assured his fate.
Laying down gently on his unmade bed,
he thought of the reason it was unmade. He thought of their lover's rendezvou,
and how wonderful her body was, and her she helped him, and how sad it was the
way it all had to end. Her, never remembering him, and him, well…
He clicked on his holograph with the
last bit of energy he had. Diamodn realized how exhausted he was, and only
glanced up at the holograph for a moment before closing his eyes. Instead of
there being a picture of Serenity, it was a portrait of Lady Ebony, sleeping,
in all her beauty.
Diamond's head rested soundly on his
soft pillow. In the last of his mind's thoughts, he thought of Ebony, and how
much he loved her. How he absolutely loved her…
Sad, ne? The ending's kind of a bit
like The Outlaw Josie Wales—The man walks away, bleeding, thinking of the woman
he loves even in his last dying moment… Except Diamond didn't leave by
horseback… And he loks nothing like Clint Eastwood…
Hey, thank you all for reading my
fanfiction!!! I love you all!!!
*~*~*Selenity
Time*~*~*
P.S. I hope you review it all! I love
feedback! If you want to see pics of Ebony and/of cover for the story, please
e-mail me at: goddess_selenity@hotmail.com Peace, Love, and Bulletproof Marshmellows!~!