When I Was A Little Girl

Epilogue

By: Chibi J

Rated: G

Edited by: Sailor Sista

Dedicated to Dre, L, and Kat. For although times may change, our spirits always remain the same. My little triplet sisters, we are family...now and always.

Umm, have I ever owned this yet? I don't think so.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was to become the story that almost every child would hear at bedtime. For generations people would speak of it. How, on one not so special day, a bright light filled the hearts and souls of every person on Earth. And no scientist, except for those paid by government officials, could testify that what they saw wasn't a miracle.

For within the bright white light that covered the world, all had seen a vision. An angel had come to Earth and enveloped the planet in her arms. She promised that peace would prosper and the minions of evil would never again befall the Earth.

And although none could ever identify the angel as an actual human, everyone knew that her words would hold true.

~*~

When I woke up this morning I was truly grateful for the sun that warmed my body through the window. I could hear birds singing as they flew through the trees and even recognized the sounds of Phobos and Deimos cawing at each other in a petty argument.

It truly was turning out to be a great day.

'It would be a better day if you would get out of bed, already.' The nagging voice of my beloved cousin rang in my head. The thought of ever losing her briefly crossed my mind before quickly fleeing. We would never be separated. Never.

With a sigh I pulled myself from the warmth of my bed. I trudged into the kitchen where I was met by more people than I had ever imagined could fit in the small space. With a bright smile and a small wave I made my way to the fridge, noticing how everyone seemed completely involved in their coffee.

Yet there was a face missing from the crowd. Mamoru.

With a brief search, I found him watching TV in the office next to Shingo's room. Quietly I sat next to him and without a word he wrapped his arm around me, still staring at the television. Intrigued by his attention, I began to listen to the anchorwoman.

"At 5:26 yesterday evening many of you may have witnessed what scientists are calling the event of the century. Alpha Centaur went supernova and exploded, causing light to cover the entire earth. Although they had not realized how close the star was to explosion, scientists have said that it was a mistake easily made."

"Alpha Centaur huh?" I asked with a slight giggle.

"Well, I think you're brighter than any star, personally." Mamoru said with a slight twinkle in his eye. "Although I am curious as to how they will explain the giant black cloud that was seen moments before the "star" exploded only to be gone moments later."

"Rain cloud misplaced by the local zoo?" I was now laughing outright and attracted the attention of several people pouring out of the kitchen.

"I don't know how you can be so chipper, Usagi. You act as if you save the planet everyday." Haruka said with a grumble, holding her coffee cup close to her body as if she was scared that it might leave her.

"Well, we kind of did save the world on a daily basis for a while, if you think about it." Makoto said, following behind Haruka.

Noticing that the small office space was no bigger than the kitchen, we all headed out onto the shrine steps. The air was crisp, yet clean and refreshing in my lungs.

"Yeah, but not like Usa did yesterday." Rei pointed out.

"True." I agreed, and thought back to the day before.

*~*Flash*~*

With a last effort, Metallia gathered all of her remaining strength and shot it forward.

"MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"

The black energy barely had a moment to move forward before the silver energy ripped it apart. Heading directly towards Metallia, the energy sliced through the entity.

A dark and terrifying scream ripped through the heavens as the black cloud known as Metallia was completely encompassed by the silver light. An explosion of light that was brighter than any exploding star covered the entire Earth.

And the young girl known as Usagi fell into unconsciousness.

Or so it seemed to those who were standing around her.

However, Usagi was very much in a conscious state of mind...wherever in her mind that she actually was. For it was certain that what she was seeing couldn't be reality.

Before her, surrounded in a strange mist, were the four generals who had fought against her with Queen Beryl.

A slight burning in the palm of her hand caught Usagi's attention and she opened her hand to find the four crystals that had been left behind by each general.

With an instinct of their own, the crystals flew above the head of each general. The crystals rotated in their spot, a soft glow emitting from each one.

"All you have to do is accept them back." A soft voice spoke from the mist. It was nowhere and everywhere all at once. The words reverberated from the walls, yet there were no walls.

The voice was quickly recognized. "Queen Serenity." Usagi gasped, startled once again by the woman. "Mother." She whispered, as if still believing this all to be a dream.

"Accept them into your heart, my daughter." The voice trailed off, leaving Usagi alone to look at the four men who seemed to dangle in the air in front of her.

"Accept them." She whispered to herself. With a nod, more to herself than anyone else, the crystals grew brighter until she could no longer see.

~*~

The Sailor Senshi, Mamoru, Shingo, Grandfather, and Akai were all huddled around the limp form of Sailor Moon. She wasn't responding to anything and Sailor Mercury's scans indicated that her body was quite weak. All feared that she would not be able to pull through. Mamoru held her tightly to his chest, whispering soft words that only she could hear.

Tears coursed down the faces of all present and soft weeping noises were the only sound carried on the wind. The world around them seemed not to exist, for their princess was their world and they could be nothing without her.

A gasp emitted from Mamoru, causing everyone to return their attention to the couple in front of them. Usagi's body was rising from the pile on the ground where she had fallen. A bright glow began to form around her body as she stood straight up. Yet her eyes did not open.

Time seemed to slow down to a near stop as all waited for something, anything, to happen. And when it did, it surprised them all.

Usagi's body began to spin in midair, as a child spins with their arms open wide. The light glow became brighter until everyone present had to shield their eyes from the light. Yet, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.

Princess Serenity stood before her Senshi, family, and the love of her life with a smile. And at her feet, kneeled four men in armor.

*~*Flash*~*

Slowly, everyone made it out onto the front steps, some looking worse than others. Of course, the worse, in my opinion, seemed to be poor Jadeite.

"Sorry again about that Jadeite." Haruka mumbled over the rim of her coffee cup.

"It's okay, I'll live. After all, I would have fired at seeing me too." Jadeite replied, although he secretly wished that it had been someone with a little less firepower to take the first shot.

Haruka, along with Rei and Makoto, acted immediately upon seeing the previous dark generals alive again. Their shots had fired out before I even had a chance to explain. Of course, it wasn't exactly like they were on good terms the last time any of the senshi had seen the generals. It had actually taken a good couple of hours to assure everyone that all was okay. In truth, I knew it would be a while until everyone could completely trust them.

A peaceful quiet covered the area of Hikawa Shrine. And although every mind buzzed with unanswered questions, only one had decided to speak out.

"So Usa," Minako started as I turned in Mamoru's arms to see her. "What do we do now?"

A smile covered my face as I looked at my good friend. I knew she wasn't asking about what we were going to do for the day. No, she wanted a long-term answer.

"To be honest, I don't know. But I'm sure this can't be the end of it all." I replied. Her smile indicated that she accepted the answer.

Silence reclaimed us and we sat and enjoyed what seemed to be the most peaceful day we had all experienced in a long time.

~*~

As the day grew warmer, so did the attitudes of the occupants of the Hikawa Shrine. To passersby, it seemed that there was a party being held. For why else would so many people litter the stairs of the sacred shrine chattering away.

Yet to those present, the only celebration was an ever-present internal celebration of the joy of life.

The End.