The GoLden Rule

Heaven holds a sense of wonder
And I wanted to believe that I'd get caught up
When the rage in me subsides....
-Delerium, Karma






Chapter 6: A Fair Sacrifice for Peace


Placing her hands to the mirror's surface did no good. It remained, as mirrors were apt to be, still and reflective. Nothing shifted in a mirror, save what it revealed of the image on the surface of it. Yellowed light, the color of old paper, faded, hung in the room, and was thusly refracted in the looking glass. Kami's fingertips touched only stillness.
But I heard her....
She stepped away, running her fingers over the rim of polished wood, and let her hands fall to her sides as she contemplated the silhouette she made in the shadows.
And she needs me....
Her little slippered feet made little sound against the padded carpeting, uncrushed from lack of use. A fresh, unused room, only freshly occupied. Kami made a nervous gesture, clasping her hands together. Not quite wringing them, but lacing her fingers together as though to support herself. Biting her lip, she lifted her hands to her mouth. Had she worn her Chrysanthemum Rain, her sleeve would have delicately covered her lips in a ladylike gesture of thoughtful shyness. But though her old Heian gown had accompanied her to this new era, it now hung in plastic covering in her closet, to keep away the dust that time could accumulate. Instead, the delicacy relied on motion and grace, rather than elaborate layers of damask and silk.
I have descended into a haze, which grows dark as I wander in my own sorrows. I am my own foolishness. Hotaru-chan needs me. Kanashimi-chan needs me. Usagi-sama needs me. Yet I am here. I sit and I do nothing. I sit and I do nothing, because I trap myself within my own nightmares!
Her fingers slipped away from her lips, and trailed across her throat, where a thin silver chain hung. Blinking, she recognized the jewelry, the 'dreamcatcher' that Mamoru had given her as a 'birthday present.' A faint smile formed at the memory, of the cake and the pictures. The album Hotaru gave her sat open on her desk, Pictures dated and labeled, ready to be slipped neatly into plastic cases, to keep them forever. The memories they represented. Such things were uncommon to Kami, but she liked them nonetheless. The webbing within the silver ring glittered, catching bits of color, lavender and black, as light reflected in warped dimensions from its surface.
Hotaru and Kami had sat, each facing their own direction, kneeling in identical positions. Two powers, linked and the same, branching. Little death, sleep. Big sleep, death. The two were linked. Eyes closed, powers held apart by the width of a hair. Destruction, death, rebirth. A dream of a new life, and then destruction again. Such was life, often fleeting, often cruel. But as beautiful and graceful as a falling sakura blossom. And did not people go to watch the sakura fall?

"The beautiful mind is my home
Within the heart of someone who sees dreams
Inside a vacant heart whose hope is lost
My form will end up disappearing...."


She did not sing the words as Hotaru had, nor did she kneel or sing them for anyone but herself. They fell lightly from her mouth, tripping out, nothing more than a whisper in the silent room. The dreamcatcher caught at her fingertips, still uncallused from lack of practice with the koto. But she remembered the strains, and the way to pluck at the silken strings.

"Because of that, please have dreams
I will continue to see your beautiful dreams...."

Her fingers tightened on the webbing of silver, and she looked again at the mirror from her place before the window. The traceries of lace from her curtains spilled out across the floor in light and shadow from her feet. They stretched across the room, overlapping the mirror, and the perfectly still surface it reflected. But the light danced, and the images in the mirror shifted with it. A petal floated within the glass, and the pale lavender eyes did not miss its presence. Why do we suffer so in the world? Just regard life as the short bloom of the mountain cherry....
Crystal.
Mercury Crystal Power.... Venus Crystal Power.... These are the words they said when they went to fight. And my own words failed me. Why? I remember the tale of their power. Hotaru-chan, Setsuna-san...they told me. The sources of their power, crystals. I remember...the first time I wore that uniform. Something hot. Like a star. Here, in my chest, where this pendant lies now. That warmth is gone from me right now. I do not feel it. Yet I feel its presence. It is there, waiting. Deep within my heart, it lies in wait for me to understand it.
Kanashimi-chan, even in your despair, you did not lose your grasp of it. It is the source of your power. What, then, is mine? Not the same as yours. Iie, not even the same as Saturn's. My power....
She unfolded her hands from around the dreamcatcher, looking at the lines of her hands, the tracks that curved and crossed as she bent her palms and fingers. Simple, clean lines, where her hands flexed and turned lithely. She pressed her fingertips together, as though about to sit and pray, to hope for enlightenment, or perhaps epiphany. But the faint smile on her face showed that she already had figured out her own mind.
...my power is simpler than that....
The mirror no longer reflected anywhere real. Light reached surreal brightness, too sharp and staccato for reality. It whitewashed the room. Sakura fell, and the mirror filled with mist, whorling and brushing against the inner glass in a display of dizzying ability.
Lightly, she lifted her fingertips to the air, holding them over her head. Warmth began to build within her, the faint stirrings of the star in her heart. It began to glow, illuminating her, and brilliant light shimmered in the pale violet eyes. And in the silence around her, she let out a single cry.
"Weaver Dream Power.... Make-up!"

The star became a nova.
Lightness filled her, and she felt mist brush past her body as the world became another place, the world within the mirror. This was reality for her as her arm moved downward, her hand tracing a curve in the air, light marking its path. Down, descending, she floated into the energy, nerves glowing divine. Layers of soft fabric clothed her, and she felt her uniform replace the dress she wore. The scalding sensation of her symbol died away, replaced by the smooth coolness of a stone, perfectly placed between her brows. And as she returned to the world, something filled her white gloved palm, and as she opened her eyes, she saw the ebony shaft of a naginata, the blade revealed and sharp, down pointed in her hand.

In the mirror, she saw herself. Not quite the same as before. Now like the others. High white boots, the tops inverted. Two layers of skirt, though Saturn's dark on top, hers reversed, and light lavender. A star shaped pin, and long, immaculate white gloves.
But her reflection was an illusion, barely overlaying the images within the oval mirror across from her. Faintly, her eyes narrowed as she watched the small play unfold silently.
Yume spoke, her fingers tightly clutching the cards in her hands. Her face was contorted, confused and pained. Mirrors around her in a ring, and across from her stood Sailor Saturn and Sailor Moon. Shadows ghosted the place, casting darkness on the floor of the Hall of Mirrors. And through the silence, Dreamweaver saw a long shadow move, seated on the throne. It flowed, moving forward with the ease of a person who knew their place, and that place was Queen.
Another motion, startled, from the senshi, as this new figure came to their attention.
A scream from Yume, and a lifted card.
It takes only two long steps to cross a room swiftly. And with instinct, the naginata moved forward, piercing the mirror, creating ripples as easily as it would in water. No breath was taken as Sailor Dreamweaver plunged into the ice cold mirror. As she descended again into the darkness, she summoned that small star in her heart, and lit the world of glass with its power.

There was such happiness at the Moon Palace.
Today, after all, was the day the new princess would be revealed. Tiny and delicate, with a tendency to cry easily when unfed, the baby Princess Serenity was robed in white lace, buried in colors of sunlight and clouds. Cries of congratulations greeted the happy Queen of the Moon as she proudly displayed her daughter to her court.
In the shadows, Dreamweaver watched the images before her. They flowed like water, shifting and unfocused, as though the water were cloudy. The sweep of a back was before her, with black hair that fell in waves to her feet. A hand rested on the inside of a doorway, and a soft voice asked lowly, "Let me in, on this celebration!"
Little girls with familiar faces turned in surprise, as the Queen drew her daughter into a closer embrace. Strangers who walked too easily in the darkness were people to be wary of. From her place behind, the shadow senshi continued to watch, and hear the intruder speak. "The biggest event on the Moon, and you forgot me?"
The black shadow stretched forward as the figure stepped out of the darkness. Her beauty was obvious. Delicate features, beautiful features, with a gown that swept around her, making the illusion of her elaborate. But those same features were also too sharp. Rather than willowy, they were harsh and controlled, unnatural. The smile on her lips was cold rather than warm, and the eyes reflected only calculation, rather than kindness. The beauty of a statue. Perfect, unyielding, and stony.
The leader of the young girls called out, "Tainting our holy place! Who are you?"
"I live here too," came the easy reply. "I came from the deep Moon...."
Again, she was challenged, this time by the tallest of the little girls. "You're lying! You don't live here!"
The one in red pushed her way forward as the smallest clasped her hands together. "It's you, isn't it? Invading our Moon! Monstrosity of evil, spreading the darkness!"
The baby princess now safely within the arms of young Venus, the Queen stepped forward, before the girls. "If you seek peace, I shall welcome you. But I can't let you bring evil and darkness."
The reply was smooth, and the world around them seemed a haze of memory, floating on the darkened moonlight. "Queen...you need the darkness. Just lend me your hand. Welcome the darkness."
Impulsively, the Mars princess attacked. "Freakish one! Vanish at once!"
But the blazing light was only consumed by the pitch. "With light comes darkness. The dark calls the light...as the light calls upon the dark!"
And the darkness spread out, cloaking the room as the onlookers staggered backward. With swiftness, the Queen drew her weapon, and light glittered from within the Silver Crystal.
"I shall seal you away...in the darkness forever!"
And the result of those words was a feeling of hate. Hate that burned so dark and deep, Dreamweaver felt it even though she did not live it. It pressed heavily against her, leaning against her mind.
Shutting her eyes blocked the images from her mind. The curse that doomed the Princess to die before she sat upon her throne. The falling of the Silence Glaive, that sealed away the past forever. The eternity of being trapped within the mirror, mind, body, and soul.
Nehelenia.
The Queen of the Nether Moon, the dark that opposed the light, as part of her nature. It was a name Dreamweaver had only heard of, and had never seen. But undoubtedly, this was the woman whose eyes she saw through. These were the images that replayed over and over again for centuries of sleep, centuries to dream of revenge. Until the light was faded enough in eclipse to break though with all that hate, and to invade what was left of her memory.
Dreamweaver opened her eyes, and found herself in a withered garden.
Towers still rose overhead, but they were dark when they should have been light. This place was a reflection of the palace she had been in moments before. Shining and bright, this place was its mirror, but dark. Life turns to death, dreams to nightmares.
The stones of the path were dark, and moss and mushrooms grew on the rocks. Orchids and roses had grown here once, but now were blown away to dust. Cherry trees were only sticks, their branches warped and clattering against each other emptily. There was a bitter scent in the air, the perfume of flowers gone black. An empty pool lay to her right hand, the lily pads brown and withered in the empty pond. Cattails were broken along the edge, bent from time. Beyond them, there was the Earth, rising in its blues and greens, clouded in white. Stars blanketed the sky beyond the shine of the planet. Quietly, in this ghastly silence, a tiny light floated wide. A firefly, with its golden glow, softly rising and falling on the currents of wind. It was joined by another, and another. Dreamweaver lifted a hand, and a solitary light settled shimmeringly on her hand. She was careful not to crush it. Fireflies die so easily. But despite the tiny dance of glows, there was little light to see by.
Even the shadows did not distinguish themselves from each other.


"You like my memories?"
At the words, Dreamweaver turned around, lightly placing the end of her naginata to the ground and waiting. Her face reflected no emotion, but her eyes remained filled with quiet pity.
"You're a new one," the dark queen continued. "and you walk in my mind. Your friends are lucky, because if you didn't come when you did, they would be quite dead."
"My coming held you back, yes. But you over estimate your power."
Nehelenia seemed unaffected by the announcement and smiled faintly, looking at Sailor Dreamweaver with disdain. "I am the forever beautiful Queen Nehelenia, of the Dead Moon." She gave a mock curtsy, sweeping the folds of her dress around her. Perfect manners intimidate those unaccustomed to them. But to one who spent a lifetime studying such ways, it made little impression on Dreamweaver. The spite in the motion was not lost on her.
"You're terribly rude," Nehelenia informed her slyly as she returned to her full height. "I know how much you senshi enjoy your pretty introductions, and yet here I am, deprived of yours. I'd love to know who you are."
My name...and I know who I am now....
"I am the soldier whose power is that of the Dream. For your crimes of hate, I will let you know only nightmares....I am the pretty sailor suited senshi, Sailor Dreamweaver! And I will never forgive you!"
The smile broadened as Dreamweaver brought her naginata to bear.
Yellow eyes were exotic, but lethal. They were uncaring, and did not reflect anything, save the faint gleam of metal that faced her. "Upstart powers are worth very little. Dreams? This is my dream," Nehelenia gestured with her long fingers. The dead garden and the dingy walls of the palace were encompassed in her motion, as though this were the whole world. "I exist to bring the darkness. The old Queen was a fool. Only a fool would not understand that light needs darkness to exist. And so I am condemned to live beyond the mirrors...."
The old Queen a fool? For some reason, I find that difficult to believe. But there is no hint of lie in her words. She believes that. Then what is the difference? A subtle layer, something difficult to discern. This woman is intelligent, despite the evil she carries in her heart. The...evil she carries in her heart....
A hand was placed forward, palm outward, the sharp fingers displayed as darkness was summoned. Around her, light began to bend, the tiny waltzes from the fireflies extending into streams as the darkness summoned the light, then entrapped it within its abyss. It was a kaleidoscope of dying light. And it bent away, stretching, twisting.
"You are wrong, to think so poorly of the Queen!" Dreamweaver called into the warping world. Though her mind did not think consciously to do so, she braced herself, using the naginata for leverage. Resisting the pull of the wild abyss. Of the reversed star, that drew in light rather than gave it. "It was your own mistake. Darkness needs the light even as light needs the dark. But the darkness you bring is not a dark night of the soul, which brings knowledge and understanding in the end. Yours is evil, tainted and corrupt. It is that which was sealed away, the perversion of what you should have been!"
Sailor Dreamweaver said this, her voice rising as she fought the rising winds around her. I will fight. She claims to be the ruler of dreams. But such is my realm, as well. Iie, I can stand against the nightmare of oblivion...to be forgotten...what a hideous nightmare....
Her heels slid against the ground, but from her came a soft glow. Not a glow of radiance. It was subtle, shifting, demure. Not a thing of epic power or energy. But a simple brightness that grew from the heat in her chest. The brightness of a star that glowed within, giving light, not taking it away.
Around her, the world again stilled, growing soft. At her feet pooled clear stones, smooth and grey, lit as though by sunlight, though the stars above still shone deeply, with the light of heaven beyond them. A nightmare is a thing of fright. But it also is a dream, and it also shows the way within. A nightmare can be more useful than a dream in this way. I remember once, when a demon chased me as a girl in a nightmare. A dream I had so long ago. So long did it take me to see...and when again I fought it, a Fury, in the underworld.... Once I ran in fear. The second time I turned with a knife in hand, and I fought back. It was a relevation, to understand that I could fight my fate. To understand that I am not helpless....
Two figures stretched out across the space in the garden, the coldness of a black star facing the warmth of a bright one. Two stars, opposing stances. Reflections of life and death. One grew in fury, raging as her power grew less and less effective against the other, who slowly stood tall, lifting her weapon to the air with a hand. The starlight glinted on the tip of the blade, gleaming pure silver, stark against the darkness of the long grip.
"You have been made to suffer, and have in turn given pain to others. That I cannot allow. For such a sin, I cannot forgive you."
There was a scream of rage as the efforts ceased, and Nehelenia bought her hands around, darkness of pitch black fuming in waves of cold heat. Ripples of air ghosted though the garden, and the floating fireflies died away to nothing.
The words will come.
"Nightmare...."
Light glistened off the tip of the naginata, high in the air. With calm control, Dreamweaver swept it downward, letting it touch the ground with a soft tap.
"Relevation."
There was no sound.
Until the blackness within Nehelenia's hands stilled, and she saw her eyes narrow and a smile curve lightly on her red lips. "Your words do nothing to...me...."
Why must this be my power?
"Gomen nasai..." Dreamweaver said softly, bowing her head and feeling warm tears fall onto her cheeks. "Oh, gomen, gomen...nasai..."
She could not bring her eyes up. But painfully, she forced herself to. This was her action. Her own power, at its fearsome end. Going from one mind to another, as she had on that one night in the hospital...going into one mind, to another, between Kanashimi-chan and Usagi-sama...that work was pleasant. It was encouraging, and brought a smile to Dreamweaver's face. She remembered the wonderful feeling of seeing bravery in their eyes, and understanding. She had given them a small gift. The right direction. That was all. But this....
The blackness was burning away from within.
...this...
Her opponent crumpled away to the ground, her hands clawing weakly at her face, which was caving in on itself. The black hole in her heart was drawing her into itself. The abyss she shaped with its power drawing her body in as well. There was no breath in her to scream, though her mouth opened. Panic and terror refracted in the slit eyes. Her body became skeletal, shrinking and collapsing on itself. Small choking sounds emanated from within her, as the remains of Nehelenia began to catch on the stirrings of air, and blow faintly away. The ribbons of her black hair flowed as her body shrunk.
In the silence, only the dust floated, gleaming golden, like the faded fireflies that had fallen in the darkness.

I...
Dreamweaver staggered back a step.
I...
She sunk to her knees, holding onto the naginata to keep herself from falling. Flowing black hair coiled around her knees as she tried to breathe.
That was beyond death....
Tears flowed freely from her eyes, and she wiped them hastily, painfully. This was her duty, wasn't it? As a senshi?
That is worse than death....
Death is an escape. Whether that escape is release from a long life, lived well, or escape from a short, pained life. It is still escape. Good or bad. A new life, or a time in the Land of the Dead. She was dizzy, though the world around her grew brighter as the dark night passed, and dawn began to rise.
But this is the destruction of the soul....
Her hands clutched tightly around the shaft of the weapon she held. Pale purple eyes blinking, filled with tears, she looked up at the cold gleam of metal.
Is that, then, what happens to one who has lost all their dreams, and understands only nightmares?
Her stomach churned, and she fought the urgings of nausea.
That was not a body, but a soul I killed. Her body was gone long ago, fighting Sailor Moon. But that soul remained trapped here forever. And I...I...
She held a hand to her mouth, fighting bile.
This is my inheritance, from the planet of Death and Destruction. Destruction of the mind, the soul, not of the body.... Saturn, we are of the same power, but of opposite ends. And gods, I wonder which of us bears the heavier end....

Around her, the world began to fade and crumble. The rumbling of destruction was nonexistent, replaced with tiny sounds, as though sand blew away in the wind. The daylight was burning away the night, washing away the remainders of the dark dream. And eventually, all that would be left was a vague memory.
This is the remains of her mind. And it crumbles now to ashes.
Dreamweaver stood, using the weapon in her hands to stand. No rubble fell within the illumination she produced, but the vanishing world fell away, closing in towards where she stood, just under the pink petals of the sakura tree.
Lightly, she lifted the naginata, touching the pointed tip into the fabric of timespace, and made a small incision. Delicately, she tore into the emptiness, a long, vertical cut her own height. Her lavender eyes cast a quiet glance around her, and the destruction falling closer to her.
Then she stepped inside the rift.


Light played off the whirling coils of smoke, refracting idly off the sharp edges of cascading glass. Slowly the shards fell, clattering to the hard floor, and shattering into speckles of mirror. Thousands of tiny fragments reflected all corners, all angles, distorting, piecing together, a mismatched mosaic of emptiness. Frames without mirrors circled the room, and the throne within it. Three figures lay on the ground, dust and slivers of silver glass falling onto their shoulders and faces.
A soft crunching sound was heard lightly, as the first figure moved hesitantly upward, her white wings twitching in the cloudy air. Armlength away, the purple clad senshi lay, her head turned to the side, eyes closed lightly, flickering. Sailor Moon placed a hand to her forehead, touching it gently and looking at her fingertips, seeing the faint speckles of red blood against the whiteness of her glove. A tiny cut, just under her bangs, trickling slowly down her temple. She gasped lightly, turning her head to see Yume stir, the world around her shifting with the rising of her form. Motion from Saturn distracted them, as the younger senshi lifted her head and opened her eyes, slowly rolling herself over and half sitting, then standing, using her glaive as a brace.
Yume sat herself up, her cards around her hands, which she rested on the floor. Blue eyes watched the pair across from her stand, distantly and emotionlessly. Nebulous blackness hedged her vision, and she tasted blood in her mouth, biting too hard on impact with the ground. Echoes sounded though the room, the evidence of approaching footsteps, voices layering atop each other as they found their way though the remaining maze. No mirrors to distract, to trick and to fool. It was merely a chain of hallways, all eventually reaching the center. Here.
She bowed her head, and saw the card of the High Priestess lying at her palms, the crescent on her brow marred by a shard of glass. Lightly, Yume picked it off, dusting the card that represented mystical knowledge.
"She's gone," Yume murmured, as much to the card as to her growing audience. The two were joined by Pluto and Mercury, and the footsteps behind them grew quiet as more approached, stopping when they saw only a thin little girl, cradling a card in her hands. "Gone..." she repeated, picking up another card, Empress. Then Queen of Swords, Sun, Two of Pentacles...all the Major Arcana, the trumps, the suits, weakly picking up the mess she made. What a mess Yume always made, what a pointless mess. And what had stupid Yume accomplished, other than to hurt people? Stupid, stupid Yume, who didn't know what to do. There was something empty in her mind, far away and hollow. Something had been severed, sliced away. The Lady of the Mirrors...her voice was incessantly there, and now gone. Empty and gone away, far away....
Across from her, one of the senshi lifted a hand, and golden power surged around it. But as quickly as it was formed, it stopped. Neptune placed a hand on Uranus's shoulder, stopping the attack before it tore across the room. Startled, the sky senshi looked at her. Neptune only held a finger to her lips, asking for quiet, shaking her head. A silent plea for her partner to be still. It wasn't a thing Uranus liked, but trust won out in the end.
"Nehelenia controlled you, didn't she?" Sailor Moon asked lightly, and there were startled murmurs from half the group, bewildered eyes filled with question. Quietly, Mercury nodded, her suspicions correct. She imitated Neptune's motion, a finger to her lips, asking for silence. Now was not the time for explanations.
"Oh, was that her name?" Yume replied distantly as she shuffled the deck into a neat stack. "No, you're wrong. I decided to help her."
Flip...flip....
"But I saw her in the mirrors...."
Yume did not look up. "She was stuck in there, and hated it. So I helped her, since she helped me." Flip, flip. Shuffle. "You killed her a long time ago. But she was still trapped. She's gone now." Lightly, Yume began to lay her spread of cards, in a Celtic Cross formation. "Gone away," she sung in a whisper. "Far away."
Gently, their leader tried to walk forward, feet crunching the glass below. She offered a hand, empty and palm outward. "Yume, why don't you come with us?"
At that, her eyes snapped upward, cold and hard. "Why? So you can tell me about how happy I'll be outside this place? Don't you get it, Usagi-baka? All your beliefs about friendship carrying you through? It doesn't apply to me. I don't have anyone to live for. I don't have the perfect boyfriend, the perfect family, the perfect set of friends. I don't have anything at all."
"Yume," came another voice, and the movement of Saturn stepping forward to join Sailor Moon. After a moment, she walked quietly past her as Yume's face closed in on itself, gaze returning to the cards in her hands. "Yume," Saturn repeated as she bent down, kneeling and setting the glaive aside. "She held you in her grip so long. But this time, there were physical repercussions." Saturn placed a hand on top of Yume's, halting the worrying motions of the cards. Her breath came out sharply, shallowly, as Saturn continued, "Chibiusa-chan and I were taking Onee-san to the movies on Friday. Would you believe she's never been to the cinema?"
Puzzled though the distance, Yume looked at Saturn, who was smiling faintly, head tilted to the side in a birdlike fashion, almost curious. "If you like, you can come with us."
Rapidly, Yume's eyes blinked, taking in the words. Saturn was smiling kindly, and Yume felt her mouth open and close several times, in silence. But Yume was freakish. Tomoe-san chose to fight with the others. She wasn't on her side. Was she? No, of course not. But then why? After all this? Who would want to help the one who nearly killed them? The movies? How long had it been since Yume had been to the theater? Popcorn sticky to feet, sweet, golden butter. Calories. Fat. She shivered, and her thin hands withdrew from Saturn's clasp.
"I don't know...."
"Don't worry. We can get in contact tomorrow, ne? It'll be fun."
Fun? Yume? Fun?
"O...okay...."
"Promise?"
This time Saturn's face was serious.
Faintly, Yume nodded once. "H...hai...promise. Tomorrow."
The smile returned to Sailor Saturn's face as she stood, picking up her glaive and backing away, bowing slightly. "Ja ne, Yume-chan."
Quietly, she backed away from the still girl, sitting amidst the broken dream mirrors. One by one, they turned away, following the smallest of them. Some with mixed emotions, others with understanding, others with contempt. Sailor Moon remained, standing still and watching Yume as her head bowed again, fingers tracing lightly over the Tarot cards.
What about those who had no one?
It bothered her.
Loneliness was supposed to vanish in the future when she was Neo-Queen. The world would be a utopia. Peace and love, light and dreams. Emptiness would have no place. Something tugged at her memory. Wasn't utopia...wasn't the word utopia supposed to mean, 'nowhere'? It chilled the final senshi in the room. Could such a place truly exist, and still allow for free will? Nowhere, the utopia of the future....
She turned away, unsure.
And Yume remained in the room, with her cards.

There was no time or space in the dark room. But the pattern of cards gave it substance. A neat spread, clear in meaning, the images on the cards resounding off each other clearly. High Priestess, Sun, Magician. Queen of Swords....they blended and merged into one puzzle, and the image grew clearer as she looked at the pattern. Regularity, form, safety, knowledge.
Her stomach rumbled.
She wrapped thin arms around her waist, clamping down on her hollow stomach to keep it from growling noisily.
"I'm hungry," Yume decided after a moment. She said it aloud, hearing the words in her ears to reinforce it.
It had, after all, been a long time since she was hungry.
"I'm going to get something to eat."
So she gathered up her cards, piling them neatly, folding them into her hands.
Then she stood, and walked out of the dark maze.

Mamoru knelt down, handing the glass of water to Chibiusa, who was sitting still on the couch. Wrapping her small finger around the glass, she sipped at the cold water with relief and worry.
"Any better?" Mamoru asked her, eyes even with her own. She nodded, looking down and resting the glass in her lap. "I'm glad."
"How long ago did they leave? Can we catch up to them?"
Mamoru stood, frowning, looking at the top of the pink haired head, still bowed as she looked down into the floating ice. She was pale, but otherwise awake and alert. And he wanted to join the fight as much as she did. Being left out always left a feeling of emptiness. Not being able to help. They were as much a part of the team as any.
"I think so," he decided, and saw Chibiusa's face lift in surprise. She had been expecting him to tell her no. That she was still too weak.
Before Mamoru could change his mind, Chibiusa leapt up, setting the water down on the table, and lifting her hand to the air. But even as she completed this motion, there was a rustling sound in the distance, and a faint sound of a key sliding into a lock with a click. Footsteps sounded in the polished hallways, and Chibiusa's hand fell from the air as Usagi's face came into the doorway, moving to stand closer to her future daughter and husband.
"Chibiusa-chan? Daijobu ka?"
Chibiusa sighed, looking at the numbers of senshi filing into the room, one after another. As each face registered, Haruka bringing up the rear, she sighed and sat down again. "I'm all right. It went well, since everyone's back okay?"
"Yeah," Makoto sighed, tilting her head to the side and folding her arms as she leaned up against one of the armchairs. "We came back to check up on you."
"I'm better, really," Chibiusa urged, moving over as Hotaru joined her on the couch. "I don't think...well...." Chibiusa tried to decide what to say. She didn't know how the battle with Yume had gone, not yet. "...I just don't think she was trying to kill me...." Quietly, she looked around her. "Did you...?"
"No, Chibiusa-chan," Hotaru replied, guessing at what her friend was getting at. "Yume is going to be okay."
"I'm going to go check on Kami-chan," Ami said softly to Setsuna, edging her way aside. "Let her know everyone's back and all right." There was a pause as she hovered in the archway. "Which room?"
"The end of the hall," Setsuna murmured back, and Ami wedged herself out of the room, slipping down the darkened hallway. Only one room had its door closed, and so she approached it as there was more talking behind her.
"I still don't like leaving her off the hook," Rei mumbled, frowning as she stood beside Makoto. She made a fist, shaking her head. "It still doesn't fit right. And what about those girls in the hospital? We can't just-"
"Rei-chan," Minako interrupted. "For starters, I think those girls deserved it...."
"Minako!" Rei stared, disbelieving, but Minako was continuing.
"They're cruel. So was Yume. Neither of them were right, but...well...." the pretty soldier of Love trailed off, uncertainly, not sure what to say. She bit her lip, resting a hand to her chin with confusion. "And to top it off, Nehelenia was giving-"
She got as far as the name when Mamoru and Chibiusa both started, mouths open, both managing astonished questions. "Nehelenia? Nani? What does she have to do with this?"
Before a response could be given, Ami appeared back in the living room, looking a bit harried. Her eyes moved quickly around the room, and she burst out, "Kami isn't in her room. Mamoru-san, did you see her?"
Hotaru stood up, answering, "She's not in here. Did you check the library?"
"No, would she leave the house?"
"Ne, Kanashimi-chan, don't worry...." a faint voice said from behind, and the assembly of senshi turned, some leaning around others to better see the forming figure in the shadows. Though the lights were on in the living room, the halls were still in the dark. A gleam of silver reflected first, the tip of the naginata emerging first as the new figure stepped forward, Ami and Setsuna moving aside to make way for the newest member. Tired, her head was slightly bent, leaving long trails of black hair to hang over her shoulders.
"Kami-chan..." Ami blinked, then her face lit up. "You were able to henshin!"
There were smiles spread around the group, jostling forward to see the newest senshi. "What is it with your family and purple, Hotaru?" Haruka joked lightly, hanging back as the more curious Inners crowded around, examining the fuku. Minako was commenting again on earrings, or the lack thereof. Ami, however, was trying to push everyone back. "Minna, give Dreamweaver some space, onegai?"
"It's all right, Kanashimi-chan," Dreamweaver sighed, shaking her head and giving a small smile. "I just wanted to let you know I was back...."
"But you weren't there a second ago...." Ami replied, bewildered. "How?"
"I...I don't know...." she murmured, lowering her head again. "I just moved from one place to the other...."
"It seems," said Setsuna with a tone of professionalism, "that you're able to teleport yourself within subspace."
"Sailor Teleport?" several voices chorused in disbelief. Michiru was first to get out an intelligent question, raising her voice over the excited babblings of the younger, Inner senshi. "But I thought we needed to be together to do that...."
Setsuna shrugged. "I'm able to."
Blinks.
Then, wryly, Mamoru commented, "So that's how you're always disappearing."
Setsuna allowed herself a small grin, then brushed a stray lock of hair over her shoulder. "It would also explain," she continued, distracting them from further questioning, "how Kami arrived here after Hotaru-chan and Ami-chan found her." She glanced at Usagi, who had shifted herself closer to Mamoru.
"Minna...I'm very tired...." Dreamweaver tried to interrupt, so that she could politely leave. Manners were nothing but ingrained in her actions, and disappearing without warning was against her personality. But as she said this quietly, it went unheard in the next comment.
"I'd still like to know what happened to Nehelenia."
It didn't seem to matter who said it. As soon as the words were spoken, several voices were raised, from worried to unsure. It was a heavy cracking sound that interrupted them, silencing the newest round of conversation. Eyes swung to Dreamweaver, who had placed both hands on her naginata, and pounded the end of it into the floor, causing the loud sound. The pale lavender grey eyes did not meet any others, and her hands were tense on the weapon's shaft. "Nehelenia is gone," she said flatly, tonelessly, gently. "The spirit entrapped in the mirrors is gone." She paused a moment, in the silence, and took a breath, her shoulders shivering slightly as she gathered herself, looking up. "Gomen ne, if I worried you about being late. I went to the hospital. The victims should be awakening soon," she finished. Standing closest to her, Ami was able to see the tension in her arms and hands as she completed her speech. "Gomen nasai, if I worried anyone. I'm very tired...." she sighed, and the grip on her naginata relaxed, faint wisps of mist ghosting out around her body as the fuku faded away, returning to the simple, denim skirt and black blouse. Her tiny dreamcatcher necklace glinted slightly, the webbing trailing down under the fabric of the collar. "I'm very tired. I'm going to rest." Politely, she bowed, backing away and disappearing back into the dim hallway.
There was a moment as the remaining senshi watched her disappear, and they heard the sound of a door closing gently. "I'm going to go talk to her...." Ami began, turning to follow.
"Matte," Hotaru interrupted her before she could move. "I think we should leave Onee-san alone."
"But...." Usagi began to ask, obviously in agreement with Ami.
Hotaru shook her head, folding her hands before her. "She needs some time alone, ne? She was able to henshin...and she now understands her powers. I think she just needs a little time to adjust."
There were uncertain glances at Hotaru, but then, this was Hotaru, and if anyone would know, she would.

In her room, Kami pulled the loops out of her hair, and set the ribbon that held it in place on her dresser. Mumbled sounds were still audible from there, voices talking in the living room. After awhile, they grew quieter, and began to cease as the door began to open and close, senshi departing into the night. Kami slid open the door of her closet, and took Chrysanthemum Rain off its hanger. The folds of silk and damask were still rich and full, as though sewn yesterday. It smelled sweet, faintly of perfume, incense she had made with her own hands so long ago. Noiselessly and with familiar grace, she slipped into the clothing, feeling it drape over her arms and legs softly, the cloth rustling as she loosely tied it into place. The cuffs slipped over her wrists, layers creating an illusion of length and beauty. In such clothes, she floated, like a moon over willow trees, bare feet silent on the carpet as she went to stand before her lace-draped window.
And the stars will still shine, and the moon will still glow, and I will continue to lead this strange new life I have been given.
And the star in her heart glowed divine.




********************

The End....
lol, this one was such an oddity to write. First fic with Kami pretty much as central character. Early on in the fic, the song Kami sings is 'Miss Dream.' Which Hotaru sung to her in Japanese earlier in the fic. (I told you I'd use the song again, this time in English. ^_~) The scenes in the Moon Palace, the flashback with Nehelenia, is also an excerpt from the manga. I just transferred it to written format, and from Dreamweavers' perspective.
I wanted Kami, as the representative of dreams, to face off against Nehelenia, since she was the major villain in that type of story arc. So I borrowed the anime's 'Nehelenia Returns' idea and took it from there. In the anime though, in the Nehelenia Arc of Stars, she's much more of a sympathetic character. (And she makes such a kawaii chibi-Nehelenia! But who doesn't look cute in chibi form?) I didn't know how much to imitate the anime. And I decided that since the manga tends to be more direct and deadly, then I would go ahead with my original plan to kill her. The story operates pretty much on the assumption that Nehelenia's soul remains trapped within the mirror, even after Sailor Moon killed her (physically, at least) in the SS arc of the manga.
As for Dreamweaver's power, I've tried to keep her on an even keel with Saturn. Just the opposite end of the same power. Saturn's powers seem to revolve around death and rebirth, seemingly around the physical body. I've noticed that at times, Saturn will show bits of intuition about dreams. (ie, realizing there was something not right about the Amazoness Quartet in the manga.) It was from that idea that 'Nightmare Relevation' came.... (I thought of the attack before what exactly it did....o.O backwards of me, ne?)
And Yume. I'm not sure what to say about her. She is a very mixed up girl. But then who isn't? The 'Golden Rule' started out with Yume, though it took me awhile to give her a name. Her Tarot attacks, and the fact she was bulimic were early ideas, and the plot wrapped its way around itself from there. Like with Nehelenia, I wasn't sure whether or not she would live or die at the end. All in all, I decided I wanted her alive. So what happens to her from this point on will have to be resolved in other stories. After all, she does know the senshi's identities. Have to see what the Muses say for Yume's future....
And speaking of the Muses, at the moment I am idealess for future Kami fics. If you have any random ideas of brilliance, pass them along, even if off the wall. Inspiration is born of eccentricity, ne?
And on a final note, I'd like to thank Miss Dream, (the fanfic author, not the song I keep ranting about ^_~) for pre-reading and giving me feedback for 'Golden Rule.' Arigatou gozimasu. You've been an endless help....^_^
Well, for now, my tale is told. Feel free to email, even if it's been awhile since the fic was posted. I'm alive, I swear!
So then, til next storytime.
Ja ne.
-Queen

iceaffinity@hotmail.com