A/N: So I will offer many excuses to why this chapter is so late. I got a new cat that demanded a lot of attention, I totaled my car (loved dealing with insurance people, they were actually pretty nice), and my uncle is in the hospital (but he is okay now). So my month has been pretty crazy. But now as you all can see, I have finished R&D: H&N so I hope that you all enjoy the conclusion to the story. This is the reposting of the story and I believe that I caught most of the errors.Please review and let me know exactly what you think.And in case you guy are interested, I have more stories with the Starlights in the works, so check up on me occasionally and see if I have any new stories out.
As always I own nothing.
Romance and Dreams: Here and Now
Epilogue
00-00-00-00
This was wrong… all wrong. He didn't love her, not the way that he did, not the way that he loved somebody else. He shouldn't be here, but she demanded, told him to leave, vowing that she couldn't be happy when her princess was so sad, not if she could do anything to help her. But she was wrong in this sense. He knew that Usagi didn't truly love him, but he would have to prove that to his new love. It seemed that she was very hard headed and very loving to her princess. He knew that Usagi wasn't dumb, not by any means, and she would understand quickly. But for right now she needed to be held, and being that she had saved the world times over it was the least that he could do.
"You shouldn't be here." She whispered pulling away and looking up at him. "There is nothing for you here."
"Usako…"
"Setsuna, made you do this. She would give up everything that meant anything to her to make me happy." She said a tear she thought hadn't existed, "What did I do to make her so…"
"Loving. She loves you Usagi, you are her only family and she cherishes you with every beat of her heart." She had told him that herself before forcing him to come and see Usagi..
"Mamo-chan, I don't want to make three people miserable, because of my selfishness. Go to her, love her, and marry her, as long as I get to be in the wedding." She said putting a bright smile on her face.
"Usako…"
"Mamo-chan, I love you, but I am not in love with you, I love him." She said looking to the sky where she saw a shooting star fly across the sky, but already knowing that it wasn't him. He was never coming back.
"You always did, a little bit." He admitted. She had changed after the battle with Galaxia and it wasn't the battle that changed her, it was him, Seiya, Sailor Star Fighter.
"Thank you Mamoru-san," she said rolling his real name across her lips. "But I don't belong with you, she does." He nodded and disappeared. She walked into her house calling out a greeting to her parents and then walked to her room, closed the door and then leaned into its strength, as she fell to the floor. Luna looked up from the place she laid on the bed concern filling her sleepy eyes.
"Usagi-chan, are you okay?" She asked jumping down and walking over to her charge.
"No." She said as she gripped Luna and sobbed into her fur. "Nothing will ever be okay again."
00-00-00-00
"I told you that it wouldn't work. That she would see right through you." Mamoru stated as he appeared behind Pluto. She turned quickly tears still present in her eyes.
"I had to try something… the future; it's so bleak, so dull. I can't be happy knowing that she is so heartbroken…it seems wrong!" As she finished tears were steaming down her face.
"She wouldn't want us to be sad, she told me herself."
"But her pain is my pain, she is my princess," she cried clutching him tightly as her own anguish and Usagi's seemed to pour out of her.
"It's okay to cry for her… She's already run out of tears," he told her knowing amazingly that no matter how strong Sailor Moon was, Usagi was a heartbroken girl in love.
00-00-00-00
The next day at school the three seats were found once again empty and, no one seemed to notice. Then life seemed to go back to normal. Ami was concentrating on her studies just like normal and Minako just acted as though nothing happened. She seemed to be good at making everyone think that she was okay. The only one who knew any difference was Artemis. Usagi was different, often going off into her own world, staring off into space and drawing broken hearts in her notes. She drew everyone's concern, and the others spent as much time with her as possible. Weeks passed and she never seemed to heal. Physically she was fine, but Makoto guess that she wasn't as good at hiding her feelings as the others. She watched all three from her seat placed behind them all. Ami, there was nothing that looked bad there. She looked healthy, ate, and studied like normal, but something was off. She was sad and you could tell only when you looked deep. The frowns on her normally smiling face the sad eyes that could match Hotaru's sadness. Minako on the other hands was filled with false happiness. Her eyes were filled with a light that wasn't really there and she worked too hard, doing homework, working out with the team. While she looked healthy just like Ami, she didn't eat in front of others. Mako-chan looked over the three and knew she had to do something. If they went on this way they would honestly die of a broken heart and it had only been a month.
00-00-00-00
"How do we get there?" Rei asked looking at Hotaru, Sanlen, Haruka, and Michiru.
"She always just appeared to us." Mako-chan said. Both Jed and Nathan were in America preparing for the move over to Japan.
"Maybe I can get us there with my crystal?" Sanlen said.
"Do you even know its name?" Rei asked the sarcasm present in her voice.
"Red Guardian Crystal." He said looking at Rei smugly.
"Does that mean that there are more of those things?" Mako-chan asked indicating Sanlen as though he was the crystal.
"No, the others were destroyed. I think…" Hotaru said.
"Red Guardian Crystal!" He said and crystal came out of its hiding place in his body, "please take us all to the gates of time?" He pleaded; a glow surrounded them all as the air around them changed growing foggy.
"Pluto!" Rei yelled, "Its Mars."
"Yes," she said as she walked through the mist that she called home. Mamoru followed behind her as Tuxedo Kamen only with out the mask and hat.
"We need to see the Starlights." Mako-chan explained.
"Why?" She asked but already she knew the answer…they were here because they all had the same thought.
"Well, have you looked at the others lately? Setsuna?" Haruka asked. "Those girls are in so much pain. Granted I don't like the lights, but…"
"They are no good like this," Michiru said, "If we met an enemy, we would surly parish." She finished honestly.
"I know, I can take you, but don't think that it hadn't already crossed my mind. It won't work. Their Princess is not like our princess like that."
"You know that you have to." Tuxedo Kamen whispered to her. She nodded.
"Let's go," she whispered as a crimson glow filled the mist around them, and they disappeared.
00-00-00-00
She couldn't help but wonder what happened on Earth. Her lights were slightly off base. She watched as they prepared something together, she had no idea what, but she would know later. They were back, and that was all that mattered. Yet she had a feeling that they no longer belonged to her. The month that they had been back had flown by. Maker had been working in the labs and had made leaps and bounds in technology. Healer had taken up her old habit of sketching. Her pad actually lay in on the table in front of Kaykuu. Seeing that it was not bound shut she opened the first page shocked at what she saw. Sketched memories of the Moon Kingdom lay before her, and as she paged she saw that it all focused on one girl. She recognized her. Kaykuu slammed the book shut blocking out the image of a girl with long blond hair on a swing, a lonely tear caressing her cheek. This was what had changed. It all came together in that one moment. She looked up as she sensed the people around her. She recognized the outer Senshi along with two of the inners and the Prince. She had met him only once; he was as dashing as ever. His blond hair falling rakishly over the crescent moon on his forehead. Beside him was the one she remembered as Endymion. They all bowed their heads at her.
"Princess Kaykuu, we wish to speak with the Starlights." Sanlen said expressing the plea.
"They are presently busy." She told them. "What is your business?"
"We wish to speak to them of the ones they left behind." Saturn said.
"Left behind?" She asked more of the puzzle was falling into place. "No, they will not be allowed to return, they have a sacred duty they must fulfill, you are dismissed." She said waving her hand, and like she had done with her Senshi only a couple of months ago they were gone.
Rei looked to the others. "Well that was rude." She said.
"I know, she was scared." Michiru said softly. "I would be too." She said softly.
"But she didn't need to she knew why we were there." Haruka said.
"We had no right to go and ask for her Senshi." Pluto said, they looked to her confused. "How would we feel if they tried to take them away?" She finished softly.
"If it meant their happiness you know that she would let them go," Saturn said stunning the crowd, "But as you said, she it not at all like our princess."
00-00-00-00
Maker reviewed the tape again. She had thought she had heard the voices of their friends on earth, but when she had got the others and they had walked in they were gone. So she had come here just to make sure that she wasn't going insane. Then she saw the tape, almost in tears she got the others and now, now they all watched the damning tape again. They were there all right, and she had sent them away, it was her magic that had pushed them away.
"Why were they here?" Healer asked. They all noticed that they ones they loved were not present in the group that had come to see them.
"I don't know." Fight said softly. "Maybe they are as bad as we are." She said referring to their heart broken state.
"She told me not to come back." Healer said.
"They would never ask us to stay, or to come back, but the others would only if the others weren't okay." Maker concluded.
"What do we do?" Healer asked, but no one knew.
00-00-00-00
The chords played from her radio drifting to her ears soothing her breaking soul. She could feel the message in his song. Her blue eyes filled with tears and she dashed them away, and then bushed her blue hair out of her way. She was foolish to think that just because she didn't say the words they wouldn't be understood. Ami never had listened to music that much, but this touched her soul, because she knew that it was her. The Lights music was her own. She put her chin in her hand and wondered about everything. She loved him, she knew it, and now she wished she had told him. She wished that he was here, but he wasn't and she knew that she would feel this way forever. The cold in her heart, the loneliness that was constantly pulling at her. He had told her once, kissed her twice, and told her to remember and she did. She heard a knock at her door and smiled. A package had come, another pack of sketches from her father. She pulled them out slowly then stopped on one. It was a picture of a night sky, with three shooting stars. She smiled as she took down the one now hanging over her bed and replaced it with this one. She went to the window to see a star racing across the sky. She knew that she wasn't eternal yet, but she knew that she would, and that this feeling would always linger. Ami looked around her room. She wished that he was with her, holding her, but he could never even tell her that it was okay. She had cried for nights and was glad that her mother was hardly ever home. The others were too lost in their pain to notice and the others just weren't hiding it as well. So she cried alone, stared out the window to watch the moon and remember how all this started.
"I wish," She said in a whisper, "that I could be with the one I love." The star glowed brightly before fading from sight. Little did she know two other girls on earth had made the same wish on the same star? A star that Kaykuu had once told Serenity about.
00-00-00-00
Her lights knew. That's why they looked at her as though she had betrayed them. Their eyes filled with anger as she watched them pace, trying to find where to start. It didn't surprise her that Healer was the first to make an outburst.
"Why the hell didn't you tell us!" Healer yelled, angrier than she could ever remember.
"I think that we deserve to know why they were here." Maker said calmly crossing her arms.
"You have a duty." She told them. "They would interfere."
"Screw duty!" Healer yelled picking up the phrase Minako had used, "I don't care, all I can think about is her. I left everything that meant anything to me on earth. Compared to her, you are nothing! Nothing! She needs me, I can feel it, right here, and I can't go, because of you." She seemed so full of pain, and she couldn'tbelieve the words that were pouring out of her mouth. But as she yelled she felt free. She turned to storm out but was stopped to find the door locked magically by the Princess.
"Do you really mean that?" She asked wanting her to take it back. Wanting all of them to take back the pain and truth in thier eyes. To bring their hearts back to their own planet. Not only that but be who they used to be, but she knew that that wasn't possible. Not anymore.She knew that she was being selfish, but they were hers. HerSenshi, her friends...HERS. But she also understood heartache. And that was a feeling that she wouldwish on no one.
Then she felt it, a wish, made on her planet, her star and she knew instantly who it was, she felt it all as the three girls who loved her Senshi were in pain, and in that one moment she could feel the girls' pain, their heart ache, and their tears. And in that one moment her heart broke, three times over.
"Yes, what I feel for her is hundreds of time greater that what I feel for you. Trust me, I have had many nights to consider. And I can feel her, in my heart, I can feel her pain, her broken heart. She needs me." She told her, tears threatening almost falling from her cat green eyes. She could feel it in every sense of her body. Her empathic abilities had been useless since she came back, because all she could feel was her hundreds of thousands of miles away. The princess looked crushed. "You wanted the truth." She justified the hurt that her princess was feeling.
"You all feel the same." She watched as the looked at each other, all hanging their heads in shame. She knew that the earth Senshi felt the same; their wish had told her that. "Why did you come back?" She asked.
"Duty." They told her as they looked down and at each other. It seemed they would look at anything but her. Healer tried the door again to find it unlocked, she turned and left.
"Maker, Fighter," they looked at her, relieved that the truth was out. "Start looking for you replacements." She whispered.
"What?" They asked amazed, unsure...not wanting to get their hopes up.
"Did I not teach you to always follow you heart." She whispered. "So follow it home, where your heart is," They shut the door quietly listening to her tears and thier own joy broke their hearts.
00-00-00-00
It took time, quite a bit actually. The each searched the planets and stars in the surrounding systems looking for unawakened Senshi. It was hard out of so many people finding the chosen one to serve that planet. They now almost felt like Galaxia, searching through a planet trying to find a star seed. They needed to be back on Earth, but in some cases of finding the chosen, they couldn't bear to have that innocent girl, or that small child carry a duty like they had. They went back to their Princess, unsuccessful. She was sitting in her thrown room after they returned. She knew instantly the result of their search. The each fell to one knee bowing respectively.
"The search was unproductive?" She asked.
"Princess, we found many who carried a seed that could be a protector of you." Fighter started.
"But we could not tear them from the lives that they had already created for themselves." Maker continued.
"So we will continue our duty here with you, a duty, we can wish on no one else." Healer finished. She could see, even with their heads hanging low tears were threatening for them all.
"Lights, you may remember, these three Senshi." She said waving her hand to her left. "They have searched many years to find the planet that Galaxia had taken away from them, but proved unsuccessful, so they came here in search of a new home. Sailor Iron Mouse, Sailor Aluminum Siren, and Sailor Iron Crow," each stepped forward from the shadows as she said their names, "They will train with you until you believe that they are able to take over your post. I have found your replacements. You may start immediately." Her lights looked up to her shocked that she would help them. Have I hurt them that much? She wondered.
00-00-00-00
They stood at the airport waiting. It had taken a long time for Nathan and Jed to take care of everything in the states, and even more to try and apply for citizenship here. After two months they were finally done and could stay over here to be with they ones they loved. Sanlen stood by Hotaru holding her hand in his occasionally bringing it up to kiss it lightly making Hotaru blush. It was sweet to watch, but it hurt, too, Usagi thought, would Seiya do that to me if he were here. She often caught herself thinking like that. Well if Seiya was here, or what would Seiya do. Minako rushed up beside her and grabbed her hand.
"Hey girlfriend!" She said overly happy. She smiled, she was getting used to this overly happy Minako. She had rode with Sanlen and Hotaru, she had ridden with Rei and Ami in Jed's car while, Mako-chan drove Nathan's car over. "It will be nice to have those two back, then they might stop hovering over us all the time." She said. Usagi smiled genuinely.
"I know the feeling." She did worry about the others though, Minako had lost weight, and most of her clothes were baggy on her, but she hardly ate anymore.
"Well they are just concerned for us." Ami said standing beside Usagi.
"It has been two months, almost three" she started until she was interrupted.
"Two months three weeks and five days." Ami said almost automatically.
"Okay, I think we have had long enough to deal with that fact that they can't come back and that we will feel like this most of our adult lives," Minako finished cheerfully.
"I wonder if this may have been easier, if I had told him I loved him. I know he knew, but..."
"Ami, you never told him?" Usagi asked, and Ami shook her head. They looked over as the gates opened and the people off flight 127 from the United States, started unloading. They stopped talking as they watched Rei and Mako-chan watching.
Rei walked closer to the people getting off as she recognized the blond man walking down the ramp. He stopped when he saw her smiled, and then opened his arms. She ran to him throwing her arms around him, as he picked her up and swung her in a circle. Her laughter could be heard throughout the airport. He stopped spinning and set her down for a kiss.
"Miss me?" He asked raising a brow.
"Baka, of course I missed you." She said hugging him again. "I brought your car." She said dangling the keys in front of him. He visibly paled.
"And she's not totaled?" He asked grabbing the keys. She landed a punch on his shoulder.
"Well there is a little dent…" She started then laughed at his look of horror.
"Nathan was a little bit behind me." Jed said looking to Mako-chan, who was still waiting.
"I know I think I see him now." She said. He looked so serious as he walked down the ramp, his eyes, calm and his face neutral, until he saw her of course, then a smile crossed his face. He saw Jed receiving hug from all the girls welcoming him back. He walked over, grabbing Mako-chan in a hug. He felt her sigh of relief and he couldn't have been happier that he was back.
"I missed you Mako-chan." He whispered into her hair. She smiled and hugged him a little tighter before letting go.
"I missed you too. How are the girls?" He asked still whispering.
"They are dealing." She whispered.
"Well, you are not gonna believe who was on the flight with us." He said smiling down at her, while he nodded in agreement at her wide eyes.
"No way." She said then turned around and caught Rei's arm. Then explained to her.
"Why didn't they come to Japan?" She asked.
"Something about how they left at night instead of the day so the calculations didn't match up right and they were off by a continent."
"Luckily, they came down in the New York area at night and we kinda guessed something was up when we saw a purple, blue and green shooting stars, so we went to investigate and then we found them." Jed said with a smile.
"I don't think that they really were expecting America to be like that." Nathan said no longer containing his laughter. Jed then laughed with him.
"They had extra seats so we brought them along."
"So where are they?" Rei asked.
"Being attacked, by girls." Jed said
"Hurry Ami's leaving with Sanlen we have to get them out here now." Rei said pushing her way.
00-00-00-00
Usagi stood back watching as the others laughed. She wished she could have that again, but she had a feeling that she wouldn't. She shook off the feeling of loneliness as it once again grabbed at her. She heard Minako behind her laughing maybe a little too loud, but no one seemed to notice that she was always hurting just like her and Ami. Ami hid it the best, but no one ever saw Ami mourn at the loss of Taiki's presence but she was sure they she did. She heard the conversation end and waved by to Ami as she walked away. She looked to see Rei walking towards the gate, but Jed grabbing her and stopping her. Usagi looked to the gate to see what had drawn her attention. She stared as her blue eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. She must be imagining things, she had done it before when she was sad. But there he was, his six-foot form coming from the gate, his dark blue eye searching for something, then they stopped searching when he found her. He smiled at her waving his hand, as more girls seemed to gather around him. She walked away from the rest of the group and walked toward him. He walked through the girls who were grabbing at him and trying ineffectively to get his attention. They stopped with just a little distance between them. She reached out her hand barely touching him. The cool fabric of his shirt brushed against the tips of her fingers. It was real. He was real. She launched into his arms and Seiya smiled at the force of her hug hit him pushing him back.
"Seiya!" She yelled over the crowd then snuggling into his shirt.
"Hi Odango, I'm back." He whispered in her ear as he hugged her running his hands up and down her back, trying to soothe her. He could hear little muffles and sobs coming from her. He could feel the hot tears running down her cheeks and soaking his shirt. "Hey hey, I thought this would make you happy." He said. He had been so happy to see here, that when her eyes had met his, every thought of the pain that he had been through disappeared, but he never thought that coming back would make her sad.
"I am. I love you and I miss you I just can't believe your back." She said hugging him tighter. He pulled her away and looked into her tearful eyes. "I've dreamed of this." She told him. "But I never thought it would come true."
"I love you too, and this time I will never leave and make all your dreams come true." He told her leaning down and gently kissing her and healing her broken heart.
00-00-00-00
Minako watched as she walked away, then she saw him, the same man that Usagi had seen. Seiya. If he was back, then… She started scanning the crowd looking for him. She saw the white hair as he walked by Seiya and Usagi who were at the time blocking traffic. She stopped and just looked at him. He looked sad, a little on the tired side and confused. Then it all went away when he saw her. He smirked at her. She smiled knowing that he was still normal, all right. Why was he back? She thought. He walked toward her, smiling when he noticed that she was frozen in shock. He did so love surprising her. He stopped right in front of her, dropping his bag at their feet. He took his hand and brushed it down her cheek.
"Why are you here?" She asked catching her voice, finally. He looked at her, his cat green eyes watching her reaction.
"You." He told her, surprise flared in her eyes, surprise and joy.
"Why, what about your princess…" Questions, he knew that there would be questions.
"She has other Senshi now, that meet up to our standards. All we have to do is visit them, keep in touch. You could say taht she is like a mother letting go."
"Visit?" She asked, wasn't that what he was doing now, visiting? She must not have heard the rest of what he had said. He smiled
"Yeah, I told you I would come back,"
"But I thought…" She stopped, shookher head, thenfigured that it would be best to clear up the confusion, "Are you visiting?" She asked the dreaded question, not wanting to really know.
"No," He said crossing his arms over his chest, "I'm here to stay."
"Stay?" She repeated.
"Stay." He confirmed. He watched as her eyes went from confusion to shock to joy.
"Stay!" She exclaimed a smile crossing her features, happiness taking over as she jumped at him wrapping her arms and legs around his lean frame. She felt his arms wrap around her to keep his balance. "Forever stay?" She asked whispering in his ear.
"Forever stay." He said nodding. His smile couldn't be contained at the joy he could feel. He was right, she had needed him. She was wrapped all around him, arms and legs and she wasn't coming off. He could hear her childish, giddy laughter of joy as he simply held her. "I love you Minako."
"Oh my god, I love you too, so much, oh my god, I can't believe you're really here! Never leave me again, please?" He started to answer but found himself kissing her instead. But the meaning was still there, 'I won't.'
00-00-00-00
Taiki looked around the airport for her but didn't see her anywhere. He stood inches above everybody and didn't see a single head of blue hair. He saw Mako-chan look to the door and he figured out that she had already left; he started for the door, passing the others, and the many three lights fans that still recognized them. He pushed out the doors and looked around for her. But he didn't see anything.
"Stop!" Ami yelled once the car was moving. She could feel it something was wrong, or good. The ache in her heart was gone. That could only mean one thing. She looked to Hotaru. "Are they back?" She asked her friend who was holding hands in the front seat with her boyfriend. She nodded sensing their power, but not sure how Ami had managed to feel it. Sanlen stopped the car and pulled over. She was out of the seat and running back to the airport as fast as she could.
"How'd she know?" Sanlen asked as his green eyes watched the petite girl run from them.
"Love," Hotaru said, "She loves him," She looked over at him smiling. "Let's go we have a welcome home party to set up for."
00-00-00-00
She pushed her small legs as fast as she could, how could they have gotten so far from the airport in that little of time. She pumped her legs hard willing them to take her there faster. She weaved between the people, then she saw him. His long hair pulled back and his back to her. He looked as though he was searching the crowd, for her she hoped. He heard the footfalls just before two arms wrapped themselves around his middle. He knew it was Ami. She was pressed against his back and he could feel wet spots forming on his shirt. Her hands were clasped together over his waist and he put his hands over hers, not wanting to startle her. He pulled the hands apart then turned in her embrace. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders pulling her into a hug and holding her, while she continued to cry. He used one hand to comb her hair and the other to rub slow circles on her back. He could hear her muttering something, but it wasn't to clear. He laid his cheek on the top of her head and closed his eyes happy to hold her. He listened carefully to hear what she was saying.
"I'm…sorry… I didn't want to get hurt…I love you…I really do…I really love you and I…I remembered…I was just…scared." He listened smiling at her words knowing they were heartfelt. He slowly pulled away from her tipping her head up to look into her eyes.
"I know, I love you too." Then everything was okay, with those six words, her world came back into focus and everything became all right.
"I love you." She said again, this time without tears, they were still there, but just not falling.
"I know." He said bending down and kissing her, this time she didn't fight anything, just let her heart take over and kiss him back. His hands moved to her cheeks keeping her trapped but she really didn't mind, not really. She heard laughing around them and then some cheers. She pulled away and looked to see her friends along with many strangers clapping at their kiss. A blush spread across her cheeks and she felt his arm wrap possessively around her holding her to him as she tucked her head into his chest. She could feel his laughter as he held her to him.
He looked to the other lights that looked just as happy as he felt each one with their arm around the girl who had their hearts. They knew that they had made the right choice, besides what could go wrong when you followed your heart?
The End
Well let me know what you think? And for those who wonder… I get the Pluto/Mamoru pairing from one of the Sailor Moon mangas I have. It speaks of her everlasting adoration of her king, its right before she stops time…sorry I can't remember the volume number.
The end…do you hate it? Love it? Is it all wrong? Or should I have killed them off? Review and let me know.
Thanks for reading
Cat