"Odango!"

Usagi turns around, not at all surprised to be followed home this evening. She gives Seiya a pleasant smile. "Couldn't get enough of me today...at school, after school, in Crown Fruit Parlor?" He shakes his head, grinning like a happy-go-lucky boy.

"Of course not. Have you forgotten what I said already?"

Her smile fades, and instead she almost looks...sad. "About the one-sided love?" He nods solemnly. "Seiya, I..."

"I know. You have your Mamoru." He sighs. "What's so special about him? What makes him better than me, Odango?"

"...Destiny..." she whispers.

"Destiny?" He lays one hand on her shoulder gently. "Odango...nothing is written in the stars. Believe me. The Starlights and I...we thought our destiny was to stay on Kinmoku, protect Kakyuu-hime, but...we're here now. We have nowhere else to go. Already the next generation of Senshi on our planet has awakened, and the princess is focusing her attentions on that. We're...retired, I suppose." Usagi looks up at him. He laughs bitterly. "Part of me knows I'll never get my chance with you, Odango, and yet...she could sense it--my will to return here. The princess could feel how much I desired to come back to Earth, to see you...You taught me to hope, Usagi, and to never let that hope die. I understand you will never be mine, but that hope still lives on!"

A few feet above them a bright, pink light flashes. It forms into a three-foot flashing orb that descends slowly between them...

Earth--That Same Night

Usagi and Seiya jump apart, startled at the small figure appearing between them. Usagi stares in wide-eyed disbelief. Can it be...?

"Chibi?"

Usagi yells, startled. "Chibi Chibi? You're back?" she asks incredulously.

"Chibi Chibi!" the toddler responds gleefully.

Much later, all the senshi, including the Starlights, are gathered in the Hikawa shrine, regarding Chibi Chibi.

"Wasn't she Galaxia's star seed?" Minako asks.

"That's what we heard her say," Yaten replies. "Though when she said it, she was an adult..."

Taiki speaks up. "That 'adult' became a sword, and the sword was destroyed. And anyway, Sailor Moon saved Galaxia from Chaos and returned her to her former self. If she didn't have her star seed, how could she have survived?"

Setsuna, who had sat quietly in the corner choosing her words, finally throws her lot in. "I know why the girl is here," she says in her quiet way. "Galaxia regained her star seed when Sailor Moon saved her. Chibi Chibi was merely the embodiment of the star seed while it was on Earth. The star seed had no more need of a body, so the body--Chibi Chibi--was returned to the Galaxy Cauldron. But now destiny has brought the girl back, as her own person and not a star seed. The Chibi Chibi you see now knows nothing of Galaxia or what went on before. She comes from the future, as a child of Seiya and Usagi."

There is a collective gasp, and Haruka and Rei rise to their feet.

"That can't be so!" Rei exclaims. "Usagi marries Mamo-chan, and Chibi-Usa is their daughter!" Setsuna nods.

"That was one possible future for Usagi, yes."

"Possible future?" Usagi repeats. "What do you mean?"

"When the Starlights came," Setsuna continues, "they opened up an entire new set of possibilities for the future Neo Queen Serenity, one of which is that Serenity will marry Seiya and theire child will be Chibi Chibi." She sighs, and prepares for a long story--something she would not normally reveal, but under the cirumstances believes to be the right decision. "Chibi Chibi Serenity is the more correct name. In this future, Mamoru-san marries Rei-chan, and the two become King and Queen of Earth. Their relations with the Moon Kingdom are impeccable, being that Mamoru-san is on friendly terms with Serenity and Rei-chan was Usagi-chan's best friend." Usagi and Rei smile at each other.

"But what about Chibiusa-chan?" Ami butts in.

"Chibiusa-chan is the daughter of Rei-chan and Mamoru-san, named after Usagi. Chibi Chibi was born much later and so was called 'Chibi Chibi Serenity' to follow 'Chibi Serenity.' Do you see?" There are a few nods from the group.

Avoiding looking at Seiya, Usagi asks, "I...have a choice in my destiny now?"

"Yes," Setsuna responds, smiling. "When the Starlights returned to Kinmoku I no longer saw the possibility when I looked into the future, but since their return..." She looks poignantly at Chibi Chibi.

Usagi stands, head bowed. "I...I think I need to go home now. This is all so much, so fast. Chibi Chibi, let's go home," she says, grabbing the toddler by the hand and leading her out.

"Bye-bye," Chibi says as she leaves. Seiya starts to go after them, but Taiki and Yaten bar his way.

"Give her some time, Seiya," Yaten says quietly. "The last thing she needs is to feel pressured by having you around right now."

"And don't expect an answer by tomorrow, either," Taiki adds. Seiya sighs, and the three musicians head home to their apartment.

Minako turns to the others. "Wait, how is that possible? Aren't the Starlights really girls?"

"They were," Setsuna says. "When Kakyuu-hime sent them to Earth she stripped them of their Senshi powers, which also stripped away their femininity. On their homeworld they were never detransformed, so by picking male forms as their 'normal' forms they chose what they would be when detransformed. In the future they've gained abilities as Knights, like Tuxedo Kamen, but..."

"But what?" Haruka urges.

"I'm not quite sure how they got those powers," Setsuna admits sheepishly. "I've looked everywhere between now and then and I don't see anything. Something so important should be easy to find." She shakes her head sadly.

"Time will tell."

Author's Notes: Wow, you reviewers are A-mazing! I've gotten so many positive reviews that my head is so big it hurts! I hope this chapter and the next live up to expectations. I've spent more time making AMVs than I have writing this story lately, so I may have gotten out of my groove on it. If any of my explanations in this chapter are confusing just say something and I'll do my best to address it in the chapter after next (I actually wrote the next chapter before this one. Talk about prequels!)

One thing, though: one of the reviewers brought up my use of the present tense rather than past tense, like most other stories use. Well, to answer that, I must say that by using present tense the reader doesn't know much more regarding the story than the characters in it. My intention was to make it like the reader is part of the story without making it one of those make-your-own-adventure things. That, and I like to be different.

As always, please review! Thanks!