Crystal Tokyo prepares to celebrate the 30,000th Anniversary of the Golden Kingdom. Everyone in the palace is bright and abuzz with activity and excitement. Everyone except the King Himself. Manga canon, but functionally this can also (mostly) count as Crystal canon too. Post-Stars.

Rated: T - Drama/Angst/Friendship/Hurt/Comfort/Family - Words: 2,504 - Mamoru C./Darien S./Tuxedo Kamen, Setsuna M./Sailor Pluto, Ittou A., King Endymion, Shitennou/Generals, Neo_Queen Serenity, Helios, Sailor Quartet, Michiru K./Sailor Neptune, Usagi T./Serena/Bunny/Sailor Moon, Diana, Jadeite/Jedite, Kunzite/Malachite, Nephrite/Neflite, Zoicite/Zoycite, Haruka T./Sailor Uranus, Queen Beryl, Galaxia, Wiseman, Black Lady/Wicked Lady, Prince Endymion, Inner Senshi/Inner Scouts, Minako A./Mina/Sailor Venus, Ami M./Amy/Sailor Mercury, Rei H./Raye/Sailor Mars, Makoto K./Lita/Sailor Jupiter

Trance-like, Endymion journeyed to Chibi-Usa's chambers; the one place he was reasonably sure he wouldn't be disturbed. Briefly he noticed how, despite having the room to herself, his daughter's wardrobe was as large and packed as the one he and Serenity shared. Compared to her mother's side of their own wardrobe, Small Lady's was much more tidy, albeit still messier than his own half. He took a seat on the bed adjacent to the wardrobe and removed the mirror from the confines of his cape, though he made sure to keep it face down.

Guilt flooded him. How many times had he sat in this very spot and scolded Chibi-Usa about misbehaving? And yet, here he was, having lied and stolen from two of his friends. Alright, that was maybe a little over-dramatic; a trait he admitted Chibi-Usa hadn't exclusively inherited from her mother.

But the fact remained that he hadn't handed the mirror over as Michiru wanted. Had a part of him (a particularly unflattering part) always planned to do that? After all, the idea that the mirror might be stolen or damaged was highly unlikely, but he'd kept it out of sight all the same. It was a feat made easy by the nights he'd spent on the prowl for the Mystical Silver Crystal. Those days were long behind him, but those skills were apparently so ingrained, so honed, that they'd even fooled the royal spymaster. Or perhaps, that same unflattering part of himself subconsciously exploited Asanuma's admiration of him, knowing he'd never suspect his idol of deception?

And for what? Why had he, at the very least, skirted an ethical line with people who cared about him? Whether memory, psychometry, or both, the answer was swift in coming…

Mamoru halted upon hearing the clattering noise upon the street.

"Oh! Excuse me," he said apologetically.

He bent down to retrieve the mirror from the ground. Simultaneously, the mirror's owner lowered herself too, the tips of her very soft, delicate fingers brushing against his hand. Suddenly embarrassed, Mamoru swiftly withdrew his hand, blushing slightly.

The turquoise haired stranger straightened up, but kept her gaze fixed upon the mirror; and Mamoru's reflection upon its surface. "Your eyes.. are very noble in colour," said the stranger serenely. Smiling, she looked up from the mirror to stare into Mamoru's face. "Perhaps you were a prince in a former life?"

Mamoru's apparently noble eyes widened in disbelief. "How… could you know a thing like that?"

"This mirror." She began, stroking the object with those same soft, delicate digits. "It reflects people's past lives…"

His past life. The very thing everyone was, in effect, supposed to be celebrating soon. The very thing that had been ceaselessly needling him every day and night since Usa had put the wheels in motion.

He didn't care what Diana had said. For him, Crystal Tokyo was not a 'revival' of his old kingdom. It might represent a reinvigoration of the promise and values the Golden Kingdom had represented. But it was not, could not, be the home he knew and loved.

At least… not without them.

His eyes bore into the mirror clutched in his hand, its surface still averted from his gaze. A slight twist of his wrist. That was all it would take for him to see them again. To see them again alive and well, and happy and with him.

Except it wouldn't.

They would be no more alive than the trees reflected in Elysium's lake. In truth, they would be less alive than the stones he kept imprisoned in his drawer. They were as much shadows as they had been in his dreams.

His body practically numb with melancholy, Endymion placed the mirror upon the soft bed and turned his gaze away from it altogether, instead staring into the depths of the adjacent wardrobe. Like her parents, Chibi-Usa was something of a hoarder and Endymion recognized various items littered amongst her clothes. A rabbit-head rucksack, an (all too familiar) puppet garbed in a tuxedo, and, at the very front of the clutter, a black beach ball topped with cat ears.

The sight of the relics manifested a new, very different kind of melancholy within him. Though he knew he was far from the first father to feel so, he nevertheless desperately wished to go back to when his daughter was just a little girl. Back to when she had first received Luna-P from…

Suddenly, a mad inspiration took root in his mind!

Swiftly, he hurried away from the room, abandoning the mirror altogether.

As King of Crystal Tokyo, Endymion was entitled to go practically anywhere he wanted. Nevertheless, every step he took through the blank, misty void made him feel like a child who was breaking school rules. The sensation was not alleviated when he finally came to his destination, and face-to-face with the woman who could dash his hopes entirely.

"My King," said Setsuna with a curtsey.

Endymion couldn't help but notice that Setsuna held his gaze as she bent then straightened her body. For anyone else, that might have been unusual; typically people lowered or closed their eyes when greeting members of the royal family. Setsuna, however, had almost always ignored that particular royal protocol, or at least she did whenever the two of them had spoken privately. The act had always stood out to him, but somehow he'd never gotten around to asking about it. There had always seemed to be something more important on his mind. And, as his eye caught a glint of silver and red from Setsuna's waist, he knew today would be no different.

"Hello, Setsuna, how are things?"

She cocked an eyebrow.

Endymion suddenly felt as if the surrounding void was imposing itself upon him; or perhaps it was simply embarrassment. "Sorry, I haven't been thinking very straight today."

"Oh dear. Is there anything I might do to help?"

"Actually, you just might. I…" Endymion stopped, taking a moment to gather himself . "… I want to borrow one of your keys. I want to go back in time."

Setsuna's face remained unmoved, save for the faintest furrowing of her eyebrows.

"You know I can't do that." Endymion couldn't help but note the absence of his name or title from her response.

For an instant, he was sorely tempted to simply swipe one of the keys, as his daughter had so very long ago; a chip off the old block, he thought ruefully. He didn't go through with it, of course, partially because of his own good sense, but largely thanks to Setsuna's next words.

"My King… If you will permit me to say so… this isn't very like you at all. You are not usually so rash."

The sentiment was simple and spoken plainly. And yet, it proverbially smacked Endymion about the face.

"I… I've been known to act rashly… when driven by dreams…"

Unlike its real life counterpart, the newspaper Tuxedo Mask was smiling. Already garbed in his 'work clothes' Mamoru scanned that day's J û ban Times once again.

' What is the "Mystical Silver Crystal"?!

Worth Hundreds of Billions of Yen?!

Man of Mystery

Tuxedo Mask

Confesses to Crimes Committed in Search of Lost Treasure '

'Now, maybe… I can get some information.' He thought to himself. 'I'll do whatever it takes… to get my hands on the Mystical Silver Crystal!'

"Dreams? What are you talking about?"

Endymion almost left right then and there. But for whatever reason, he had opened up to Setsuna. Not by much, but now that he had begun, he found it easier to keep going, to let someone else in; or at least let her in.

"... Ever since Usa decided to have these celebrations, I've… I've been having this recurring dream. Details change, but no matter what I always fight monsters, I always win, I always save people who matter to me… except for… for…" Inhaling through his nostrils, he closed his eyes and looked away.

"Do you have any idea why you might dream of something like that?" Setsuna asked gently.

"... Because I failed them." Endymion gritted his teeth. "I failed everyone. If I had been stronger back then, a better friend, a more dutiful Prince…" He opened his eyes and locked his gaze with Setsuna's. "The Golden Kingdom, the Moon Kingdom, the entire Silver Millennium… I should have saved them all."

Setsuna's free hand twitched, as though she meant to extend it to Endymion but thought better of it. "But… But so much of what was lost back then has been restored."

"I know, I know," Endymion muttered, almost childishly. "But…" He exhaled through his teeth and shook his head, as if disappointed in himself. "My parents died when I was six. I lost all my memories of them. I was all alone until I met Usa." Setsuna's hand gripped her Garnet Rod a little tighter. "After that, suddenly her friends and family were my friends and family. Then came Chibi-Usa, Crystal Tokyo, and so much more." He paused, gathering himself to continue. "For countless years I've been happy and grateful for all I have, all I've gained, all I've recovered…" Endymion bowed his head. "...until the last few weeks."

"...When you began arranging the celebrations?" Setsuna encouraged.

Head still lowered, Endymion gave a slow, sad nod. "Suddenly, all I was hearing and seeing was'30,000 years this' and 'Golden Kingdom'that and… And it made me realize how much of what I had lost back then I'd gotten back… But that just made the holes all the starker."

"The holes? You mean… what you didn't have?"

Endymion did not reply. "I know it's foolish, and selfish, and all the rest, but… Family is important to me. Family is my world. As King, I have Usa and Small Lady. As Mamoru Chiba, I had nobody until I was sixteen. And as the Prince of the Golden Kingdom, the Kingdom we're supposed to be commemorating now… they were my family. And I let them down." Endymion, at last, raised his head back up. "So forgive me if I don't see much to celebrate."

His cracked voice seemed to echo through the void, the bite of its sarcasm and self-loathing practically palpable in the air.

Setsuna remained silent as the reverberations gradually faded, fixing him with a strange expression. Endymion thought he recognized it from somewhere, but couldn't quite place it.

"... My King… Perhaps it isn't my place to say this, but… I do not think you should feel guilty, nor a failure. You are kind, intelligent, an ever dependable ruler, a wonderful father to Small Lady and endlessly brave… And I think they'd say so too. If you asked them."

"... I don't think they know about the celebrations." Endymion's voice was barely above a whisper. "They only appear when my life is in danger or when I call upon them."

"... Then, may I suggest you call upon them now?"

It was only then that Endymion remembered where he had seen Setsuna's strange expression before…

With every cough, every splutter, King Endymion's heart broke a little more.

"Just… Just a little longer," he pleaded to Pluto, her weary head supported by the teenaged Sailor Jupiter. "If you can just hold on a little longer, then maybe…"

"... My King. I must face the consequences of my actions... I… I took great pride… in the role I had been appointed…my King."

Pluto's gaze was fixated solely upon his kneeling form by her side. It was a gaze that carried a weariness Endymion couldn't even begin to describe. And yet, far more potently, he saw a sad, aching regret emanating from her gradually dimming eyes. And something that almost seemed like… longing…

Amidst the blank, eerie void, Endymion finally realized it was at last time to face the consequences of his own actions…