Disclaimer: I own nothing! I own nothing! (Sing along!)

A/N: WARNING! GRAPHIC CONTENT! It's not Kill Bill graphic or anything, but it is a little icky in places. You have been warned.

"The stars?" Usagi asked.

Queen Serenity nodded, her face softly sad. "Everything that begins, little one, ends. Everything that is born, dies. Even our beautiful kingdom fell to ruin. That is just the way our universe is made. Do you understand?"

"But that is terrible," Usagi whispered. "Everything we have ever known will one day be no more?"

"Hai," her mother said. "But everything that dies must have been, at one point, alive."

"I don't understand." Usagi shook her head. "What does this have to do with stars?"

"Everything." Queen Serenity looked down at the silver floor, and the solar system reflected in it. "You and the Senshi receive your power from your guardian planets. Has it never occurred to you why?"

"Because…you gave that power to us."

Serenity smiled. "Iie. I am not responsible for everything, you know. Even I first received my power from my mother, who received it from…Well, we don't have time for that. But the Senshi are each tied to a planet that gives them their power, because that planet loves them."

Usagi blinked in confusion. "What do you mean? A planet doesn't have feelings."

"It does. A planet is a living entity," her mother told her firmly. "And so are stars."

"Stars are…alive?"

"Very alive. And like everything alive, they will someday die. You see, whenever something dies, even something as tiny as a butterfly, it creates a rift, a tiny fissure where once there was something, but now there is nothing. Do you understand?"

"Um…kind of."

Queen Serenity smiled. "Don't try to follow it with your head, dear. Follow with your heart."

Frowning, Usagi said, "I guess it's like, when someone dies, someone you love, there is a hole in your life."

"Precisely. When it is a butterfly, it is a tiny hole. When it is something bigger, like a star, it is a much bigger hole."

"A black hole," her daughter breathed.

"Sometimes. A black hole is the remnant of the death throes of a star not ready to die. It is generally a star that died in pain or grief for some reason."

"And the Abyss?"

Her mother sighed. "So much evil in one space grows a mind of its own. It became a living entity, something cunning and calculating. It became everything our parents tried to stop. And as it learned, it acted on evil's first instinct."

"Hatred," Usagi guessed.

"Iie, my love. Envy." Queen Serenity touched her cheek. "Do you feel that? It is the one thing true evil can never have. Pure, unconditional love. It is what evil fears the most, and what it desires the most. But since it cannot have it, it will destroy it."

"And the stars?"

"Stars are filled with love. They may burn, but they are gentle and kind. They are the very basis for the existence of life. They are the guardians of their planets and any creatures that may be born there, and though they are not always loved in return, their love never sways."

Queen Serenity let her hand drop. "Now, listen to me, darling, because this is important. When a star dies in pain or grief, it leaves a black hole. The Abyss thought to control the holes, but the idea backfired. So it is stuck in a realm of never ending hunger. It consumes everything in its path, but nothing can satisfy it."

"Can a black hole be closed?"

Her mother pursed her lips. "It is going to be painful, me dear. You are going to have to let go of something that you are not going to want to."

Usagi trembled. "I can be strong, Mother. I promise."

"I know you can, darling."

Queen Serenity took a step toward her, raising her hands towards her daughter's face.

The sky shattered. The Queen's eyes widened with horror, then exploded. Her flesh unraveled, and her blood sprayed Usagi's face.

"MAMA!" she screamed.

"Mama!"

The weak echo came from deep within the Abyss. Young face trembling with agony, Chibiusa stretched out a little, bloodied hand through the jaws of evil. "Mama!"

Usagi gasped. "Hold on!" she shouted. "I'm coming!"

"Serenity, stop!"

Bare muscle worked Queen Serenity's bones. She held up her hands to hold her daughter back. "It's not real! It is an illusion from the Abyss!"

"Mama!" Chibiusa wailed again. "Mama, it hurts!"

Usagi hesitated for only a second, then lunged past her mothe'sr dripping body. "Hang on, Small Lady! Mama's coming!"

"IIE!"

Silver light caught her, and spun her back around. Queen Serenity stood whole, her face stern.

"It is playing with your emotions, Serenity! Look through the lies!"

Usagi looked back down. Chibiusa stretched both hands to her.

"Mama!"

"Look through the lies, heir to the Silver Millennium."

Closing her eyes, Usagi took a long, calming breath. She looked again. The child was gone.

Its trap thwarted, the Abyss roared with rage.

"Mother!"

"Listen to me!" Queen Serenity shouted over the chaos. "The only way to close the door to the Abyss is through the star!"

"What star?"
Usagi turned, but all she could see was black.

"Mother!" she wailed. "What star?"

"Everything that lives must die!" Her mother's voice sounded distant, and rang inside her skull. "Return the balance, Serenity!"

"Mama!" Nothing but the dark. "Don't leave me!"

"Don't be afraid! And don't be sad! Everything must die, but everything will always—"

A scream cut through the dark.