Author's Notes:

Okay, this is a crossover between Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon. I think the plot I came up with is fairly original, but that's only my opinion. I don't know practically anything about Gundam Wing, but a close friend of mine does and he will probably be reading this before I put it up on the Internet for some glaring oversights about Gundam Wing. It's like the exact opposite for him. If he writes a SM fanfiction, he gives it to me and I look for glaring oversights. Don't flame me about how I do the characters in Gundam Wing. Like I said, I'm new to the show.

This starts a month after Marie Maia's army is defeated in Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz. The Gundams have been destroyed. In Sailor Moon…well, you'll find out. I use references to and use manga attacks for Sailor Moon.

I don't own SM, or Gundam Wing so don't sue me. If you need to contact me with anything, flames, or even a one liner saying the story was good, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put Fanfiction in the subject line.

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The End Is The Beginning

Part 7: Raining In Heaven

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"If I had only BEEN THERE!" screamed Uranus as she paced the living room like a trapped animal.

Quatre watched her with a sigh. It had been barely an hour since they had installed the five sleeping girls upstairs in the guest room. As soon as everything was settled and the Outers and Gundam pilots had moved into the living room to discuss what had been agreed upon to explain, Uranus had burst out that she was a failure. When questioned why, she went on and continued on for some time about how she should have been there and failed the princess.

"Where were you? What were you doing?" asked Heero calmly.

She scowled at him, but answered readily enough. "We were fighting another youma attack in the city."

"And if you hadn't done that, the city would have been destroyed, right?"

"Probably."

"And you didn't know this would happen, correct?"

"Of course not!"

"Then how are you at fault? How are you a failure?" he reasoned. "If you hadn't been fighting the other…youma, then the city would have been destroyed. Not only that, you had no way of knowing what would happen. If you didn't know, how could you have prevented it? Furthermore, how could you have prevented it even had you been there?"

For a moment, Quatre thought that his unassailable logic would fall on deaf ears, but she paused in her pacing and seemed to think about it. He also didn't miss the grateful look Neptune sent at Heero, who just shrugged.

"He almost sounds like you, Pluto," the blonde commented.

Pluto, sitting in a chair and watching silently, blinked in surprise at her. "Huh? How so?"

"I…just the whole detached, calm thing, I guess. Always thinking about the clear cut facts and stating exactly that kind logic in a calm voice."

Pluto shrugged, a bit jerkily, and looked away. "Someone should check on the Senshi."

"You're right," Quatre said. "I'll go and look on Usagi—"

"No!"

He stared at the four women who had burst out that denial in complete unison. They looked at each other and back at him. "I will go," Pluto told them, matter-of-factly and stood up. "This is not because we don't trust you…"

Quatre simply smiled to show no hurt feelings. He understood, if not totally, but to some extent. Usagi obviously meant quite a lot to them and they were extremely worried about her.

Footsteps on the stairs made them start in surprise. Curiously, they walked out to find out who or what it was.

Minako staggered and leaned against the railing to catch herself. She clutched a weird kind of pen in hand like a lifeline and blinked blearily at them. "The princess…all right?"

At least that was what Quatre thought she had said. It was extremely garbled, so he could have been mistaken. But when Pluto automatically reassured her that the 'princess' was, he knew he had guessed right.

Duo hurried up the stairs just as she let go of the railing and proceeded to fall. He stumbled backwards, catching her entire weight in his chest. There was a tense moment as he reached out to clutch the railing, holding them both up there by the merest threads. Slowly he put one foot down on the lower step and righted them both.

"Come on, Minako, let's get you back to bed. Usagi's fine."

"Princess…fine?"

"Yes, absolutely fine. She's sleeping in the room right next to yours."

It wasn't precisely true. Rei's room was between Minako's and Usagi's, but it was close enough.

"…'kay."

And suddenly, the weird pen in her hand was gone. She grabbed Duo's shoulders for support and he somehow managed to lead her back to her room.

"What on earth would she be doing up when she's so exhausted?" he asked in wonderment.

"She is the leader of the Senshi;" Uranus responded absently, staring at where Minako had been, "it is her duty. It doesn't matter if she is near death or dying; her first concern will always be the princess."

"But I thought you said that Sailor Moon was the leader of the Senshi," Wufei protested.

Uranus froze and looked at her fellow warriors, Pluto in particular, for guidance. Neptune came to her aid as best she could. "Well, um, there's a situation to the leader of the Senshi depending on how you look at it."

"How would it change depending on how you look at it?" responded Trowa.

She hesitated. "Well, technically, since Sailor Moon is the princess and will one day become a queen, like you saw, she will no longer become Sailor Moon. Even before Sailor Moon was ever thought to exist, Venus was the leader of the contingent of Senshi, especially those that guarded the princess. Now, if you look at it from the stand point that we are at now, yes she is the leader. If you look at it from the stand point that Usagi, Sailor Moon, is the princess, then truly Venus is the leader; and she will become so again, soon. Right now, though, for Sailor Moon's benefit, she knows nothing of the Lunar Blade."

"What's the Lunar Blade?" asked Wufei, interested despite himself. It sounded like an extremely awesome sword.

"It is the blade that is made from the same type of magical crystal that the Ginzuishou is made of; it is also the symbol of the true leader of the Senshi. Venus is the only one who can handle it, even pick it up. Not even Uranus or Jupiter can pick it up. Well," she amended herself, "they could pick it, but I doubt they could hold it for long or use it. Besides, Uranus already has a sword."

"I think I'll check on Ami," Quatre said in the ensuing silence.

Trowa and Wufei followed him up the stairs a moment later.

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When Trowa entered Makoto's room, she was tossing and turning in her sleep quite violently. Alarmed, he touched her shoulder, but was unprepared for her reaction. She turned and looked at him straight in the eyes, grabbing his lower arm, but it was as if she wasn't truly seeing him at all.

"Sempai? Shinozaki told me you were going to be back in town and wanted to see me."

"Makoto," he protested, trying to release his arm from her amazingly tight grip.

She ignored him. "I know you said I was a too tall girl and wasn't feminine enough for you, but I can't be with feminine with—"

He admired the way, even in a delirium of sleep, she had enough restraint to not mention the Soldier that she was. Trowa also stopped struggling. Her comment about not being feminine enough had caught his attention; it could be the only chance he got to learn about what seemed to be bothering Makoto sometimes, especially around the guys.

"—there are things about me that can't be denied, but I can't change my height for you. Shinozaki told me that you didn't come to talk to me and say you love me, but I'd always hoped you would. But right now, after all I've been through, I can't say I'm sorry anymore. I am who I am."

Suddenly he was pulled down as she used him to lever herself up. Surprised gave way to shock as her lips pressed passionately against his. And so incredibly passionate, and he found himself not resisting at all.

In the end, it was she that broke the enchanting kiss. Slowly she laid down and closed her eye, a single tear tracking down her cheek.

Trowa left, and vowed to himself not to mention to a soul what had gone on in that room.

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Wufei found Rei awake and trying to reach for the night table beside the bed to lever herself to her feet. He sighed exasperatedly and crossed his arms over his chest.

His sound made her turn and look at him. Unlike Minako, she had some sense in those beautiful and strange purple eyes. They weren't dazed by sleep, or battle fever that was only just wearing off.

"Usagi?"

"Fine."

"Good. Where?"

"Asleep."

"Injuries?"

"None."

"Who?"

"Pluto."

She nodded as if a huge weight was pulled off her shoulders.

He, tired of their one word conversation, strode toward the bed and ungracefully tossed her feet back over the side of the bed so she was lying down again. She looked up at him in shock.

"You're going to stay in bed. Minako already managed to get to the stairs without being noticed and nearly tumbled down Duo and her, almost breaking the two of their collective necks. It is not something I wish a repeat of."

Rei rolled her eyes, but complied, though he knew her immediate reaction would be to argue. She looked back at the table and he followed her gaze. There on the table was the same weird looking pen that Minako had been gripping, only red instead of orange. His brow furrowed in confusion, he picked it up.

She drew in a sharp breath and looked at her. Her hand twitched as if she longed to snatch it out of his hand and was barely restraining herself. For a long moment, he thought perhaps that he might simply hold it out for answers, but decided against it. They would tell the Gundam pilots what they wanted to know; he couldn't precisely explain why believed that strange feeling, but heeded it anyway. After all, he reasoned to himself, they would have to if they wanted the pilots to help them in any way.

When he handed it to her, she took it slowly, as if she couldn't believe he had just handed it back to her without a fuss; without even a word.

He sat in a chair and looked her over critically. Her injuries weren't so bad that she was in danger of permanent damage or death, but they weren't something that could be taken lightly. He grabbed a bit a salve from the table and rubbed it on a cut on her arm that had opened when she had tried to get out of bed, from the judge of the tear.

Rei hissed in pain and looked away. "What are you doing here?"

Wufei affected to not know the real question she was asking. "This is Quatre's house; we're staying with him for a while."

She gave him a hard look that didn't faze him. "You know what I mean."

"I do."

"And?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Her taken back expression was enough of an answer for him. She had no idea why she had asked, just that she had. "How are the others?" she responded instead.

"Trowa has gone to check on Makoto and Duo took Minako back to her room."

"Where's Usagi's room?"

"The door next to yours." His voice was absent as he tied a bandage tightly around the slash on her arm. It occurred to him what question she asked and he looked at her sharply. "Why?"

"In case she needs me."

"Why would she need you? What can you do for her that we cannot?"

Rei sighed. "We have a long history, Usagi and I, and that doesn't include the Silver Millennium. I'm assuming from your blank expression that that hasn't been explained to you yet. It will in time." She paused and coughed. Absently he gave her a drink of water from the nightstand.

"After the Senshi, us, moved into the caves, we spent some time working and finding the extent of our powers. If you ever look closely at the walls, you'll see a number of unnatural deformities, not the least of which are burn marks from my attacks. Well, one day, about seven to eight years after we had taken up residency in the caves, I went back to the surface." Here she fought tears, fought and lost. Those tears streaked her cheeks and made a liar of the stoic expression on her face. "I went to a shrine that had been my home for my entire life, living with my grandfather when my mother died and my father abandoned me. I had thought only to get a glimpse of my grandfather before leaving, knowing I could not let him see me." She successfully choked down a small sob. "But out in front sweeping the shrine steps was someone I didn't recognize. I used Usagi's disguise pen, which I admit I borrowed without asking, to change my features enough so that I might not be recognized and walked up to him. His face didn't even twitch. If he recognized me, he didn't say anything. When I inquired about my grandfather, acting as if he was my priest, he told me the 'old man' had died nigh on six years ago." She bit her lip so hard it almost bled. "The doctors said it had been the shock of losing his granddaughter that did it. I felt so bad that I ran from the shrine without another word. Usagi was waiting outside the cave entrance for me when I returned. I knew the second I saw her face; she knew. I can't say even today how she knew that he was dead, but she knew. All she did was take the disguise pen from my hand and led me back down to my 'cave'."

Wufei sat as the silence stretched. He was about to speak, thinking she was done with her story, when she suddenly continued.

"I went insane, sort of, after that. I would always train long after everyone had stopped to make myself like the Outers. Trying to fight and feel without emotion. It was when I was nearly killed by a landslide my powers caused that I found out something I hadn't known before. Usagi saved me, pulling me out before I was either pressed to death by stone or suffocated. She wasn't angry, she wasn't crying. She was calm, and told me something I had never known, never bothered to notice." She wiped the tears from her face and forestalled any more, but her face was still sad. "I was always so jealous of the Outers powers that I never noticed how they fought. They didn't fight emotionlessly, not even Pluto, but rather just changed their emotions into something they could use. But it was ultimately the fact that Usagi saved my soul that really and truly changed our relationship. Before then, I was always prodding and yelling at her so she could change, be better, be stronger, be smarter, but then I realized that I didn't want her to be that. Didn't want her to change at all. She was just perfect the way she was, didn't need to be changed. She changed my entire life, my soul, my outlook. I…There is no way I can repay what she did for me, but I won't stop trying."

And her eyes, when she locked them with Wufei's, were hard and full of determination. They stayed, staring at the hard will of each other, for a long time after Rei's story.

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Quatre carefully opened the door to Ami's room, hoping not to wake her up. She didn't even stir. Her sleep was like calm waters, her eyes slowly fluttering in her sleep.

He touched her pulse and checked her injuries, and reassured, straightened the blanket around her shoulders. Her fingers moved and lightly touched his wrist. His eyes flew to her face, but she was still asleep.

The blonde boy glanced around the room to make sure there wasn't anything that he needed to do before he left and his gaze rested on the bedside table. There was a strange blue pen, like Minako's. It was a fairly simple design, except on top. The body of it was dark blue and had a small sapphire jewel at the bottom. Near the top was a small, cobalt harp encrusted with miniscule cerulean stones. Set above that was a small, round, blue and silver crystal with a symbol carved into that hard surface. The symbol engraved on Mercury's heart gem on her chest.

Hesitantly, he touched it. When nothing happened, he slowly picked it up, turning it over and over in his hands. On the back blue light briefly flashed and words appeared in a strange script. Then a little below it, a translated version slowly appeared.

" "Blue for the waters of Mercury, silver for the protection of the High Royalty of the Moon, heir to the Millennium of Peace, Serenity,'" he read quietly. Then that same blue light appeared from atop the blue orb with the symbol engraved on it. Shocked, he almost dropped it.

Shaped like an inverted pyramid, in that blue light more words appeared in that strange, elaborate script that changed itself into a language he could understand.

" 'This wand is bestowed full powers of the ocean blue planet of ice and fog, Mercury, to its chosen avatar and High Crown Princess, Senshi of Wisdom. Thy powers laid to rest in thy breast are given only for the protection of the Royalty of the Moon, now and forever. Thou art never to raise this power against anything not evil and against the peaceful White Moon. Use this power to bring another Millennium of Peace, such as the Silver Millennium fell.'"

He thought for a moment that would be all it would say, but more was yet to come.

" 'Though thou art High Crown Princess Ami, of Mercury, heir to the throne of Mercury, thou art also a priestess, such as all High Crown Princesses of the other planets are, trained in the way of summoning the spirit of their planet when in need. Priestess Ami, of Mercury, thou have received Hermes's favor, patron god of Mercury, and have been gifted with the knowledge of thy planet, the Ice aeon, Shiva. She will come to thy call, Princess and Priestess.'"

Then it was done, a much more elaborate version of the symbol engraved on the orb appearing in the dull blue light and fading away. Quatre was shaking in shock and glanced at Ami. She had not even stirred. Slowly she turned in her sleep to face the wall.

This was something the other boys had to know about. He felt extremely uncomfortable doing it, but he pocketed the strange pen and quickly left the room.

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End part 7