Disclaimer: I own nothing blah blah blah.
Everything seemed so quiet.
Usagi looked around nervously. The Abyss grew more powerful with each passing night, but tonight she did not even hear tempting whispers in her ear. The whole world seemed to be holding its breath.
"Hello?" she called out in a little voice. "Monster-person who looks like me? Are you there?"
Not surprisingly, nothing answered her. Her shoulders slumped with disappointment, and she lowered herself onto the curb with a sigh.
I can't believe Mamo-chan let me leave like that! Couldn't he see how upset I was? Why hasn't he come after me?
She wiped a single tear off her cheek, then froze.
Black slippers stood in the road in front of her, almost hidden by the long black skirt. Very slowly, she followed the line of that skirt up, over the small waist, the slight swell of breasts, the slim neck, to a sweet, heart shaped face with black eyes.
"Uh, hi."
The Creature stared down at her, expression almost puzzled. "Why are you here? You know it is dangerous in the dark."
"I do, but, um, I wanted to talk to you," Usagi explained haltingly.
It tipped Its head at her. "You wished to speak to me?"
"Hai. If you're not, uh, busy." She winced, and tried again. "I promise not to attack you! So, please, won't you sit down?"
It looked down at her in wonder.
It smiled.
"I will sit with you."
It sank down onto the pavement beside Usagi, close enough to touch her arm. Usagi shivered, but did not pull away, which seemed to please the Creature.
"And I will speak with you."
"Arigatou." Usagi swallowed hard, then cleared her throat. "What are you?"
It turned Its eyes straight ahead, and sat quietly for a long time. Just when Usagi began to regret asking, It said, "I am a monster."
"Are you really? Because I've met a lot of monsters, and you just don't seem as evil as most of them," she explained.
"Oh, but I am, my sweet young friend. I am the most evil of all monsters."
"Why do you say that?"
It smiled again. "What is the most evil thing you can think of?"
Usagi paused, thinking hard. "I guess… killing someone."
It threw Its head back, and laughed. "That's it? No, no, sweet one! There is worse!" Those terrible black eyes closed. "So much worse. And I have done it."
"But what did you do that was so terrible?" Usagi asked earnestly.
It shook Its head. "It does not matter now, child. Is this really what you wished to speak to me about? It is not something I wish to remember."
"Gomen," Usagi whispered earnestly. "I did not mean to hurt your feelings."
"Strange. You are probably the only one on this planet who would worry about my feelings." It returned Its gaze to her face. "You wish to know about the Abyss, don't you?"
"Can we stop it?"
"If you can, I do not know how."
"But that's where you came from, isn't it? If you can open a door to this world, you can close it, too!"
"Can you?" The Creature thought this over, then shrugged. "Perhaps. But I cannot help you. I know very little about it, to tell the truth. I just know it is terrible, and I will never go back."
Usagi reached out, hesitated, then gently took Its hand. It stared as she laced their fingers together and squeezed.
"I know you're afraid," the moon princess said. "So am I."
It reached out with Its other hand, and touched her face.
"You remind me so much of my own daughter."
Usagi relaxed into this strange being's caress. "You have children?"
"No. Not any longer. But once I had five. Four sons, and one daughter." It laughed a little. "They were so beautiful, my children. They danced around me, and we were happy."
"What happened to them?"
The Creature shuddered. "Please, do not ask me that."
Usagi just nodded, and let it rest.
The two sat there together, the Creature smoothing her hair in a way so similar to her mother, and she felt her head fall onto Its shoulder, and her eyes begin to droop.
"Why do you kill people?"
"I feel so cold inside," It whispered, beginning to rock her a tiny bit. "You humans are warm. Some have been kind enough to share that warmth with me. I don't suppose you would believe that I loved them, would you?"
Usagi frowned in thought. "It is kind of hard to believe."
"Ah, but my sweet one, you are very young, and I am very old. I do not like killing. I need to kill. Their light carries me onward."
"You don't need to kill them," Usagi corrected firmly, snuggling closer to It. "You are afraid not to. You are afraid of the cold."
"If you had ever been inside the Abyss, sweet one, you would be more than simply afraid of the cold."
"I have been inside it," Usagi murmured, her head nodding. "In a dream…"
"A dream? My poor darling," It cooed. "I won't let it haunt your dreams tonight."
"If I fall asleep, are you going to eat me?" Usagi forced the words through the growing wall of torpor, though she did not really care. The Creature had a very gentle touch.
"I will never hurt you, my darling child. So sleep safe."
She tried to raise her head. She needed to learn more about the Abyss.
It began to hum, managing several chords in one voice, singing with tenderness and longing and deep, ancient love.
"The Abyss is going to kill everyone," Usagi whispered, clinging to this thought desperately. "It's going to destroy this world."
"I know, dear. So close your eyes and sleep, and don't worry anymore."
She wanted to fall asleep in this maternal embrace, to let the world drift away and dream of the song It sang, of burning stars and dancing planets, of the beautiful creation of love. She wanted to be at peace, the way she was when her mother used to sing to her as well. But her friends needed her.
"I can't." Usagi dragged her head up, swaying a little, her eyes still closed. "I can't just let this world end. I love this world. I always have, even before it was my home. I can't let it end this way."
"It is going to end someday," the Creature told her soothingly. "Your sun will expand, and swallow this world. Then there will be nothing, not even ash, to prove you ever existed. Everything you have done, everything you have felt and loved, will be reduced to rubble, and even this will shatter into pebbles. It is inevitable."
Usagi forced her eyes open, and stared into her own dark reflection. "Maybe. But I will keep this world safe, and protect it until I die." Her eyes shimmered like stars.
It opened Its mouth, then paused, trembling with uncertainty. Usagi took Its other hand, and held them both tightly.
"Please. Someday, I am going to have a daughter. I have seen her. She's beautiful, and I love her very much." She pressed both Its hands against her heart. "For my daughter's chance to live, for your daughter's memory, won't you help me?"
It tried to free Its hands once, then clung to her with all Its strength. Its grip hurt, but Usagi did not falter.
"I…" It shook Its head, and a single tear rolled down Its face. "For my daughter I will- NO!"
Usagi found herself flying briefly through the air, then landing hard on the sidewalk, on her face. She pushed herself up on her hands, moving her head woozily, and saw blood on the pavement. Her shirt was torn, and her knee skinned.
"What happened?" she asked, trying to turn back around. "What did I do?"
"Princess? Are you alright?"
She raised her head in surprise, to see Sailor Pluto standing there, her staff in her hand. The Creature stood in the road, claws extended, teeth bared. A huge chunk of the curb was missing, lying in shards around Pluto's feet, and peppering the head of her staff.
"Pluto! Wait, we were talking!" Usagi explained, pushing herself up. "It might help us!"
"Don't be an idiot," Pluto ordered. "It is using you, trying to get you to drop your guard so It can destroy this planet!"
"You don't understand!" Usagi wailed.
"I understand, my princess." She spun her staff, and pointed the garnet orb at her. "You never listen, and now you have gone too far. Don't worry, I will take good care of the Senshi, and I will be a good wife to Mamo-chan, and a good mother to Small Lady."
"Nani?" Usagi stepped closer, her face fixed in confusion. "But I am going to be his wife, and Chibi-Usa's mother!"
"Not anymore. It is time to change that, and protect the future."
"What are you-?"
"PLUTO DEAD SCREAM."
The gem at the head of her staff glowed. A dark, deep purple ball gathered there, then she swung, and it shot towards Usagi.
"Pluto!"
The dazzling light hit her full in the chest, and the world went black.