Nope, I still don't own Sailor Moon…depressing, I know.

Epilogue

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"Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Ms. Johnson."

Ms. Johnson beamed at her well-behaved third grade class. She was lucky to be teaching an elementary grade in the well-known and extremely rich Tokyo Elementary School. It was everyone's dream job and the class could be any teacher's haven. She loved each and every child as her own and could really say that she saw them grow up.

"As you all know, we're going into our heroes unit. For this unit, we will be learning about different kinds of heroes, especially those heroes everyone look up to, like the firefighters and policemen around us. However, are these the only kind of heroes out there?" Ms. Johnson asked her smart class.

Everyone answered her uniformly, "No!"

"That's right. Heroes are everywhere. They don't always have to be saving lives…they could be people in our lives who have made a difference."

A little shy boy raised his hand and asked quietly, "Can our parents be heroes, too?"

"Of course, Timothy. Our parents are probably one of the most important heroes out there. Without them, you all wouldn't be here and I wouldn't be able to teach such a wonderful group of children."

Everyone smiled proudly at her sweet compliment.

"Before we learn more about heroes, I want to find some heroes around you. For tomorrow's homework, please go home and come up with a short presentation for class. You can ask your parents for help, of course. I just want you to look around you and find an everyday hero that you extremely admire…and if it is possibly, please invite them to class tomorrow. This is a mini project slash show and tell."

Everyone became quite excited at the mention of show and tell…

"I'm going to bring my Uncle Bob. He's a firefighter." Little Thomas Mizuno announced with an air.

"Hm…I don't know any firefighters or police officers but my Dad is my hero…he saved my fish from drowning in the toilet." Little Michael Hino added.

Little Robert Aino got all excited and started bouncing up and down in his seat, "I'm going to bring my Dad too. He's better than your Dad."

"Is not…"

"Is too…"

"Is not…"

"Okay, children…enough." Ms. Johnson warned gently.

"Who are you going to bring, Rini?" A voice demanded, breaking Rini's train of thought.

"I still haven't decided yet. I guess you will all just have to find out tomorrow." Rini answered, raking her mind for ideas.

"Aww…come on Rini, just think of something. I want to know. I told you that I'm going to bring Uncle Bob…" Amy Mizuno's boy whined annoyingly.

Before he could make another sound, Ms. Johnson announced that it was recess time so they could all go outside and play, saving Rini from further questioning from the insistent boy.

"Thank you, Ms. Johnson." Rini gratefully said.

"No problem, Rini. Hm…since most of the other kinds are bringing their fathers, why don't you bring yours? It would be very interesting."

Rini nodded hesitantly and walked out into the playground, asking herself quietly, "What am I going to do?"

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"Hey, sweetie. How was school today?" Rini's old, plump nurse asked her.

"It was okay, I guess…" She answered.

Rini ran into the living room, while her nurse chased after her, trying to unzipper her jacket.

"Mommy!" Rini shouted excitedly, always happy to see her mother.

"Rini…how was school?" Serena asked while tickling her little daughter, eliciting giggles and hiccups from her laughing daughter.

"It was okay…"

"Well, that's good to hear. Why don't you settle down and start any homework you have." Serena advised her little daughter.

"Mommy…"

"Yes, pumpkin?"

"Um…uh…"

"What's wrong?" Serena asked, slightly worried at her daughter's stuttering.

"Oh, nothing's wrong. It's just that for tomorrow, Ms. Johnson wants us to do a presentation."

Serena laughed at her own silliness, "Well, that sounds like fun. What is it on?"

"Heroes."

"That's a wonderful topic. Why don't you do it on your Aunty Rei, who's a wonderful lawyer that helps all those people who are poor. Or…how about your Aunty Amy…she's a doctor who treats little children all over the world.

Rini contemplated for a minute and shook her head, "Nah…I don't want to."

"Well, do you have anyone in mind?"

Rini nodded timidly and whispered in her soft baby voice, "Daddy…"

"Excuse me…" Serena asked, not quite sure she heard correctly.

"Everyone else is doing it on their Daddy and I want to do it on my Daddy, too."

Serena collapsed onto the sofa, feeling as if the energy had been abruptly sucked out of her slender body.

She was still in awe when all of a sudden, she heard Rini scream, "It's not fair! I want to do it on Daddy but I don't even know who Daddy is. I have never seen him in my whole life…where is he, Mommy? Did he leave us? Why did he leave us, Mommy? Why doesn't Daddy love us?"

"He does love us…"

"How do you know Mommy if he's not here with us? If he loves us, why are we alone?" Rini shouted angrily.

Serena could not find her voice to respond.

"Never mind…I don't care about my stupid Daddy. He's not a hero...and he'll never be my hero." Rini screamed at her mother before storming out of the room, leaving Serena sobbing loudly at her retreating back.

"Serena…I think it is time you tell her about Young Master." The old nurse advised.

Serena looked up at her and questioned, "Do you really think so? Is she ready to know?"

The old nurse walked over to Serena and hugged her tightly, "She's as ready as she'll ever be. It's now or never…"

Serena nodded and dragged her feet up the vast stairs, trying desperately to gather enough courage to talk to her daughter.

'I guess she's right. Rini has every right to know who her father is, and he deserves to be her hero.' Serena thought as she timidly knocked at her daughter's bedroom door.

"Rini, are you in there?"

"No…"

"Please let me in…I need to talk to you."

"I said no!" Rini answered stubbornly.

"Open the door right now!" Serena demanded said in her stern voice.

Slowly, the door opened, revealing a red-eyed Rini with a tear-stained face.

"I'm so sorry Rini…I didn't mean to yell at you." Serena hugged the sniffling Rini and led her onto her bed.

"Lie down here with Mommy. I want to tell you a story."

"I don't want to hear a story."

"Sh…be quiet and just listen. This isn't any story…this is a story of our hero…your father."

Rini looked up at her mother and nodded slightly, "Okay…"

Serena smiled and breathed a sigh of relief before starting her story, "Once upon a time…"

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Once upon a time, there lived a young boy named Darien. Although he was a good boy, he was always quiet and loved to play alone. One day, he met a little girl named Serena and he fell in love with her at first sight. She slowly brought him out into the world and taught him to enjoy life…more importantly, life with her. After many years have gone by and they both grew up, he finally gathered up the courage to ask her to marry him. She said yes.

After a while, Serena became pregnant and they were blessed with a baby girl. They named her Rini. She was a pretty little darling, taking after the wonderful traits of both her mother and her father.

One evening, when she was still young, her Daddy invited her and Mommy to go to a pier. They got all dressed up and they went there immediately, waiting patiently for him to arrive.

They waited for a long time but he did not come. Instead, an evil monster named Diamond came. He wanted to take Darien away from Serena and Rini and make him too bad things just like he did himself.

Serena wouldn't let Darien go because she loved him too much so Diamond decided to hurt her. He counted…from ten to one. One number at a time. During those ten seconds, poor Darien was supposed to choose to either kill his beloved wife or his precious daughter.

The evil Monster started to count, "Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two… one."

Suddenly, a shot ran out, blood spurted everywhere, and crying could be heard everywhere.

Darien had shot himself. He couldn't bear to see his loved ones die so instead of having to face the guilt for an eternity, he chose the only thing he thought was right…to sacrifice himself to protect his family. Even though it was a very dangerous move, he had to take the risk because it meant that there would be a millionth of a chance that both Serena and Rini would live.

When Diamond saw that his only son just killed himself and it was partly…no, all his fault, that was the last straw and he lost his mind completely. His underlings did not have enough time to turn their attention to the mother and child. By the time they fully comprehended what had just happened, the police officers had arrived.

Darien chose to die that fateful evening…he chose to surrender his own life in order to save his wife and his daughter.

Darien…was my father.

He is not your everyday hero who saves lives on a daily basis…he is not someone whom many people admired…few knew him…and few really understood him.

But that night, he proved himself to be a ready hero, always prepared to give up his life for others. That night…he had become a hero, a true hero.

That is why he is my hero. He isn't the greatest man alive…oh no…he's far from that. He was my father…he was the greatest man ever to live. And now, he is, and forever more, my hero. I love you Daddy..."

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I hope the ending was passable. I know it wasn't that great but at least the story comes to an ending. Some of you asked why Darien couldn't have just shot Diamond. Well, I forgot to make this clear but he (Diamond) had guns aimed at Serena and Rini already so one bad move and they all die. Please forgive me if this story seems too far-fetched. After all, it did come from my silly imagination, hehe. Thank you for reading! And please tell me how I can improve for future stories.

Ladie of Avalon