Chapter 11
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'Oh. My. God.'
The three words ran through her head over and over until the never-ending mantra streamed at an unimaginable speed. She shook violently where she knelt, trembling even as she folded Setsuna's hands over her chest. A mere thought dispelled the killing blade and the wound it had created now slowly seeped blood. She blotted the crimson liquid with her own clothes until it was as gone as it could be. Ami stared at her hands, now tinged with a red she knew she would always see. Then, standing, she lifted Pluto's garnet rod and whispered a few words, pointing the staff at the body. Slowly, it sunk into the depths of time.
She then turned. Heero still knelt on the ground, crouched where he had been under attack by the hounds and cradling his left hand. He had held it out as if to protect himself and the little finger had been taken by the spatial displacement. Still trembling but calm, Ami lifted the rod--once more following the instructions it fed directly to her mind--and another quick spell healed the wound. The finger was still gone, but it no long bled nor caused him pain. She smiled weakly. "Congratulations, Heero," she told him. "You're now as immortal as I am. Pluto healing tends to have that effect on people."
He just stared at her. "What do we do now?"
Sighing, she shrugged. "I guess the senshi need to be reborn. Crystal Tokyo needs to come around. The Time Gates need to be guarded until Setsuna grows up again. I think we can manage it." She bit her lip. "I actually have an idea of what we can do about all this," she told him. "But Time won't allow us to mess with people's lives without their permission first. In that last world, I saw soul mates together. Don't you think we can help make that happen again?" With a genuine smile, she told him her idea. He agreed.
With another flick of the garnet rod, four people appeared in front of them. From their own world: Quatre, Trowa, and Duo. From the realms of the dead: Wufei. Before the confusion could start, Ami spoke. "Yes, I am the Ami most of you know. And yes, that is the Heero you know. This is the domain of Time, it is not a dream. I'm offering you the chance to be with the soul mates you never got to meet."
Duo began to laugh. "Yeah, right. I just had a few too many tequilas before bed."
Heero's eyes hardened. "Omae wo korosu."
The braided man gulped. "Never mind, it's him."
Wufei was the next to speak. "Crazy as it sounds, onna, I'll take your offer. It beats being dead."
Quatre studied Ami carefully. "Something tells me you're telling the truth. And if this is a dream, my decision means nothing in the read world. But tell me this--where will you two end up? And what is this about our soul mates?"
"We will be here until the Guardian of Time is able to regain her position. When she arrives, we will be joining you in our rightful places in Crystal Tokyo," Ami explained. "If you accept the offer you will start over completely in this world. If you decline you will not remember this meeting at all. And as for your soul mates, they will be reborn with you. I doubt you will have any trouble finding them." After all, it would be difficult to miss a princess. "Are you in?"
"Anywhere there's a chick that wants me," Duo said with a smile. He walked to where Wufei stood and patted his dead friend on the back. "Wu-man, long time no see."
"Don't call me that."
Quatre shrugged. "I don't see why I couldn't go along with this."
Trowa nodded his consent. "How can you do this?" he wanted to know.
Ami smiled and bowed. "Super Sailor Mercury, last of the sailor senshi, at your service."
Four jaws dropped but before they could say anything they were sent spinning off into their new homes. Ami pretended to dust off her hands. "That was easy enough. Now for the others." Again she followed the instructions given to her by the staff, sorting souls from the realm of the dead until she had the ten she was looking for. Dark, royal purple for Setsuna, the youngest there by millennia. Then black for Hotaru, anguish etched in deeply. Red for Rei, as red as violent blood and then a gossamer pink that was the faded Chibi Usa. Mamoru was as gray as the night, dull and listless compared to the shining silver of his Usagi. The green for Makoto was darker than expected, a forest green deadened with denial. Yellow and aqua, Haruka and Michiru, each tried to out-shine the other, one as flame the other as sparkling waters. Lastly the oldest, Minako as an orange so brilliant it put any other to shame. Guided by the staff, Ami brought them all to the time that was Crystal Tokyo.
From the Gates, Ami and Heero watched them all grow up. Watched them meet and fall in love. Watched as Princess Minako of Venus was helped back onto her horse by a kind stable-hand named Quatre after taking a nasty spill. Watched as Princess Rei of Mars screamed at Wufei, the Martian First General, for interrupting her fire reading. Watched as Princess Makoto of Jupiter threw cookie dough at Prince Duo of Pluto as he chased her around her own kitchen. Watched as Princess Hotaru of Saturn snuck away late at night into the arms of Trowa, Chancellor of Mercury.
And when the time was right, they stepped in and joined their world.
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that's all folks. sorry for those of you who kept reading and wanted more but i really couldn't go on with it--too much school and too much pressure and too many other stories to write. someday i might come back in and add in a few more adventures for poor ami and heero, but i think i've put them through enough already. if you liked this enough that you'd be willing to carry it forward yourself, i'd love to see what happens to these guys in crystal tokyo--whether you keep the focus on ami and heero or take it to some other character. knock yourselves out explaining why saturn is sneaking off to sleep with trowa, or what was so important that wufei had to interrupt a fire reading, or what duo said that made jupiter throw the cookie dough, or why venus was even riding a horse in the first place. just email me if you want to continue it.