A Sailormoon fan-fiction. Disclaimer: These characters are not my creation: Crystal Tokyo, Tsukino Usagi/ Sailor Moon/ Neo-Queen Serenity, Mamoru Chiba/ Tuxedo-Kamen/ King Endymion, Mizuno Ami/ Sailor Mercury, Hino Rei/ Sailor Mars, Kino Makoto/ Sailor Jupiter, Aino Minako/ Sailor Venus, Setsuna Meiou/ Sailor Pluto, Ten'ou Haruka/ Sailor Uranus, Kaiou Michiru/ Sailor Neptune, Tomoe Hotaru/ Sailor Saturn, Oosaka Naru, Nephrite, Umino Gurio, Tasukino Shingo, Chiba Usagi/ Chibi-Usa/ Small Lady and Ellios are the Property of Naoko Takeuchi, Toie Animation, DiC, and others I cannot remember. NOTE: This fan-fiction is a responce to another fan-fic, "Tsukino Usagi is Dead" by Sarah Lynne Thank you, Sarah, for inspiring me.
As preparations were being made in the Grand Ballroom, Chibi-Usa hid herself in the loneliest part of the gardens. She had made her way here to make a decision, and she hoped no one would find her yet. Sailor Pluto was waiting for her.
"How goes your preparations, Small Lady ?" Pluto asked.
"Setsuna," Chibi-Usa said flatly, "you, as much as any other, should realize how I despise that name !"
"It is the name your mother gave you." Pluto said.
"I know." Usa sighed. "And I oftened wondered why? Why does.. okaasan.. Fear the name 'Usagi' so much?"
"You cannot run from destiny, Small Lady." Pluto said matter-of-factly. "This is the best way."
"When seen from a safe distance," added Chibi-Usa, "it seems best. But then, from a safe distance, the true dangers can't be seen."
"But the path you've taken has made you stronger !" Pluto reminded Chibi-Usa, a bit
too-pointedly.
"Only those parts it hasn't killed." Chibi-Usa said coldly. "I'll see you at the
ceremony."
"Do what you feel is best, then!" Pluto said.
"I shall. Good bye. Sayonara, Meioh-Hime."
Chibi-Usa turned sharply and walked away quickly from the Gaurdian of Time. She would show no tears for Sailor Pluto. Not today. And nevermore. The tears that were shed were those of Setsuna. She knew what would come. And she had done nothing to stop it. Nothing for over a thousand years.
And now, she would reap the reward of her works.
Ikiko met Chibi-Usa as she emerged out of the garden. "It is time", she told Usagi.
"Hai", Chibi-Usa whispered in a shaky tone. "Is everything ready ?" she asked.
"It is." Ikiko said to try to calm the Princess. "I saw Pluto from the shadows. What did the Time-Witch want ?" Tomoe Ikiko never did mince words. The Chibi-Court knew her feelings about Pluto well:
"The Gaurdian of Time is the perfect propagandist for thoes who wish things as they are. 'It is fated'." Ikiko would say. "As my mother was 'fated' to host that parasite Mistress 9 ? As it was 'fated' for my grandfather to play host to Pharoah 90 ? A time traveler COULD have changed things ! COULD have stopped jiji's experiment. But, no. It was 'fated'."
It was a hard accusation for many to hear, but one the Princess and the Chibi-Court agreed with. There were parts of Chibi-Usa that, as she had told the Senshi of Time, were now dead, buried in the hardest of rock. Chibi-Usa was surprised to find any part of her- self that was still alive. Parts that were still able to care. She was certain the inno- cent part of her had long-since withered, although it surprised her to still cry over it's grave.
"Usagi! Are you alright ?" Naoko asked, as Keiko stared into her eyes. Kyoto and Yuko sat nervously at Usagi's side.
"Iie.. Hai ! I am alright." Chibi-Usa slowly crawled back from the graveyard of her soul. She wiped the tears away. "Just.. memories. Ghosts.. of what could have been."
"Baka !" Yuko said to no one in particular. "We should have BEEN in the garden! We should have intercepted Setsuna !" Tears were coming from her eyes.
"Iie, Yuko-chan !" Chibi-Usa said. "She would have found me at another place. It does not matter, now. After tonight, none of the Queen's Senshi will ever bother me again."
"You have a plan, Chibi-Usa ?" Keiko asked.
"Hai!" Chibi-Usa answered. "They expect me to just fall in line, to continue The Crystal Millenium in a nice unbroken line. But, I have other plans." She looked to her fellow-conspirators.
"You DO realize," Chibi-usa asked the other Princesses, "you'll more than likely be fighting your own mothers?"
"Some of us will." Kyoto said. "Mom's Captain of the Inner Senshi !I know I'll face her, Whatever the problems, Mom's place is gaurding the Queen."
"I know my Mom !" Yuko said. "She's stuck by Serenity for centuries. She'll stick by her now. Especially if it appears the Queen's life is endangered."
"I don't want it to come to that !" Chibi-Usa cried. "But my mom MUST be freed at LEAST one more time ! Keiko ? Naoko ? What of you ?"
"My mother will be a peacemaker as long as possible, I think." Keiko said silently. "But. Her place has always been by her Queen." Naoko nodded in agreement.
"My mother and I know what must be done." Ikiko stated.
"Hai", Chibi-Usa said. "Then we must be ready to move. Fast." She whispered. "Okaasan, tonight you shall be freed from your torment!"
Sailors Mercury and Jupiter were talking in the hall outside the Fire-Room of Sailor Mars. The Priestess had felt uneasy about the day of the Ceremony for some time. And she had spent the entire morning in meditation. She had done several fire-readings over the past few days. The findings were all the same. There would be trouble during the ceremony. And it centered on Serenity and Usagi. All three Senshi knew the reasons behind the trouble. All had dealt with the same things themselves. Those of the Silver Millenium were long- lived, although they were not immortal. The inhabitants of Earth, in contrast, were rela- tively frail. But, frail or strong, each spirit was an individual.
"Jupiter ?" Sailor Mercury asked, "How have you been able to share this world with Makoto ? And stay so calm through the centuries ?"
The Senshi of Jupiter looked into the pleading eyes of the Princess of Mercury. " I am lucky. Makoto has always been a sister to me- and a friend. She has never been afreid of standing up for herself, of facing the uncertainties we face. But, she has also known that I am needed here. So, Makoto has been willing to stay nearby, to help Naoko and I. What of you and Ami ?"
The Senshi of Mercury sighed lightly, letting fall a tiny tear. "She is afraid, and hides from our world. Where others only saw shyness, I saw terror. Usagi saw it, too. I think. So, when my time of dominance came, she willingly retreated. Neither Keiko nor I can get her out into the sunlight. And we have tried. I have tried. I still try. But she stays- blanketed in her coccoon. Where she feels safe.
"I am now afreid to even try to coax her. Mizuno Ami has become a delicate crystal. One I am afreid to touch, lest it shatter. In truth, I seriously doubt I could ever help her. Only Usagi could do that. And now she's gone."
Jupiter stared in dibelief. "Ami-chan does not even know about Keiko !!" "Iie. She knows." Mercury said softly. "Keiko was that last bit of happiness she allowed herself. But, when she found there were none to share her joy- no Usagi, no Rei- she withdrew. Only rarely does she peek out. Then, she retreats again to the shadows. Retreats to the womb. And cries. The sadness she feels is mine, too. But not the refuge."
"You feel helplessness, Mercury. I feel rage." Mercury and Jupiter turned to the Senshi of Mars. "Yes. Rage. Rei's spirit is very alive in me, always asking 'why?' Why the senshi still look after Neo-Queen Serenity for the sake of the Crystal Millenium when the Kingdom is killing our Queen and friend ? Why we have kept the Small Lady a prisoner of her own fears and loneliness ? And why we haven't asked ourselves 'why'?"
"All important questions !" Said the voice from the shadows. "Why haven't you asked them of yourselves ? Hotaru constantly asks 'Why ?'. Even more than me." "Sailor Saturn !" Sailor Jupiter exclaimed. "How long have you been here ?" "Long enough." Said the Dark Senshi. "It is amazing what you can learn in the shadows. Our daughters are preparing themselves for the Presentation. We best assume our stations. The other Senshi will not be as understanding as we to what our daughters must do."
"Do they know ?" Mercury asked. "How ?"
"Pluto went to speak to Chibi-Usa in the garden, to try to get her to accept her fate."
"DAMN !" Mercury cried out. "Why does that bitch have to bring the Old Ways into this? It was the ways of the first Millenia that LED to this misery ! I guess Serenity now knows ?"
"Have no doubt of that !" Mars replied.
"Has anyone ever thought," mused Saturn, "that the Senshi of Time as a position in the Courts was a joke thought up by a particularly SADISTIC ancestor ?"
To be continued in.
Part 3