"The revolution is getting worse!" sobbed Serenity and hold the crumbled paper tighter in her shaking hands. It was the writing of her love. Of a prince who was in great danger and maybe she would lose him.
She couldn't live with the thought of ever living without him.
"I have to go back to rescue him!"
"We have to go back." Said Rei who sat next to Serenity and handled her an handkerchief. The Mercury sisters and Makoto sat around the glass table. There was coffee steaming in front of them but no one wanted to drink anything. Not after they received the short, but desperate message.
Dear Serenity,
the revolution is getting worse. I don't know how long I can defend the earth and the moon. Your mother still didn't listen to me and my people are angrier with every day.
Still I hope for a wonder, but I guess the earth is going to be destroyed by the mob.
In eternal love,
Your Endymion.
"And what will you do there? To fight against millions of people?" asked Haruka with a cold voice and watched the sandstorm outside. It got worse and worse and suddenly it remembered her of the storm she experienced about seven months ago when Hotaru was born.
"No, against their leader. They all say that she has special powers and that she forces the people to react so crazy." Explained Ami who was very well formed about everything that was going on in their universe.
"Okay, against their leader. And how will you do that?" Haruka clenched her fists. She wanted to help the sobbing Serenity. She wanted so badly to help, but she simply didn't know how. Only the queen had the real power to end this revolution, but she didn't want to help.
We're only some princesses. We can't simply step into the revolution and shout that they all shall stop to fight each other!
"We're senshi. We have special powers. That should be enough..." started Rei to explain, but she was interrupted by Haruka who turned around. Suddenly she was very pale.
"No!" she said with a dangerous quiet voice and looked over to Michiru who fed a hungry baby.
Sailor Neptune. Sailor Saturn.
"That's not the best solution. No one is able to use these bloody powers in the right way and we aren't complete."
"I know that Setsuna has to watch that portal." Ami sighed deeply. "I tried it the whole afternoon but she simply doesn't answer. Maybe it's caused of this sandstorm. Maybe she's to busy staying around at the portal and cursing at the universe."
"And we don't have a Sailor Uranus." Agreed Minako and looked curiously at Michiru. "Or are your pregnant?"
The sea princess blushed deeply.
"Don't think so..." she whispered and smiled tenderly as Hotaru grabbed for the bottle to hold it, too.
"But we're at least six senshi and the princess." Said Rei. "That should be enough."
"Six?" asked Haruka as she counted silently the persons around the table. "Oh no!" she shook her head and stepped before her wife. "Michiru and Hotaru won't go with you. It's too dangerous just to step in there and to shout around. You could get killed!"
"But..." helpless Minako pointed over to a still sobbing Serenity.
"Whom of you is able to use her power without fainting shortly after she used it?" Haruka remembered how much it hurt Rumiko whenever she had to transform in Sailor Saturn.
"Hell, Himme-chan's only seven months old! How shall she help you!"
At that moment Serenity rose from her pillow and went over to Haruka. Watery blue eyes looked for a long time in a redden face.
"When the earth dies, the moons dies with it. And when the moon dies this whole universe is going to die." She said with a calm voice that doesn't seem to belong to her. "I know that it's a hard, that it's an impossible fight, but we have to risk it. The whole future depends on us. And if we really believe in ourselves we're able to defeat the evil and to rescue our world."
Serenity sobbed quietly.
"I don't want to lose my Endymion. Do you understand me, prince Haruka?"
The tall woman swallowed hard. Shortly she looked over to Michiru who let Hotaru do her burp and smiled sadly up to her.
"Hai..."
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She closed her eyes and spreat her arms. The fresh wind played with her clothes. Her turban flew away but she didn't care about it. Strands of her short blonde hairs stroke over her cheeks and a happy smile appeared on her blushed face.
Hai, here I am free.
Free of all guilt. Of all pain. Of all sorrows. Of all fears...
"Higher!" she screamed with a happy laughter and stood up. She was used to it, she wouldn't fall down. The saddle was small and the dragon huge. But she rose for so many times on Fluffy, she simply knew how the animal would react, what she would do. And she knew for sure that the dragon would have never hurt her.
She opened her eyes and looked up into the cloudless sky. It was already night and she could see her breath before her mouth. The dark sky was covered with blinking stars and two small moons. The third one would rise in a few minutes.
I love it to be here. To be independent.
The desert was several hundred meters beneath her but she didn't care to fall down.
I am the desert's child.
She screamed again and mighty wings carried her higher and higher into the sky. She spread her arms wider as if she wanted to embrace the whole universe above.
I am the wind's child.
"Ruka...?"
The calm, frightened voice brought her back into reality. She turned her head and saw into scared blue eyes. Michiru sat in the saddle and tried hard to seize on everything she could find. The white turban laid in her lap but she didn't look as if she would hold it if it would fly away.
"Michi-chan. Everything okay?" Haruka did a little jump and sad suddenly behind her wife. Carefully she embraced her and hold her tight as she felt how Michiru shivered.
"Gomen, I didn't want to scare you." She whispered. Actually she wanted to share something with her. Something special. Something really important. Something that was called love. Love for her planet, love for her people. Love for Uranus.
They ate their dinner in silence and Haruka didn't say anything to the other princesses again. Finally they went to their sleeping room to go to bed. But Haruka had other plans. Instead of stripping her clothes, she took her wife by her hand and leaded her towards the stables. Shortly they looked after the baby dragon. Then they took Fluffy and flew away.
It was in incredible feeling to be high over the clouds. Over an endless desert. With her Ruka by her side. Michiru enjoyed it. It was almost as great as diving into deep oceans.
Until the tall woman stood up with a sudden, spreat her arms and walked along the mighty neck of the dragon. Fluffy didn't care and surely she would have done everything to save the wild princess, but even dragons could be too late sometimes...
"Don't do such a silly thing again!" answered Michiru and took Haruka's hands in her owns and leaned back to feel the warm body next by her side. It was in the middle of the night and it could be very cold on Uranus at this time. She shivered slightly but with her Ruka by her side she couldn't be really cold.
"I don't want to lose you." Michiru swallowed hard and squeezed suddenly icy hands. "Himme-chan needs you, daddy . And I need you, too. You mustn't fall off."
"I won't." declared Haruka silently and hold her wife tighter. She leaned forward and covered soft cheeks with loving kisses. "Never, Michi-chan. Never."
At that moment the third moon rose from the endless horizon. First it was red from the reflected sun's light. Then it got paler and suddenly it started to shine in a mysterious, blue shimmer. The sky seemed to fade away and all that remained was the blue light with it's still white centre. The shine covered the grey desert beneath and suddenly it started to live. There was no sand anymore. Suddenly Michiru could see waves. And endless, always moving ocean that covered the whole of Uranus.
"My..." she whispered fascinated and felt how Haruka laid her head on her shoulder to watch together with her Uranus' nature.
Almost Michiru could hear sea birds crying high above in the air. Almost she could smell salty water. Almost she could feel wet wind playing with her sea green hairs. Almost she could see her dolphin swimming among the waves.
"That's beautiful..." Michiru swallowed hard and suddenly the underground started to shimmer in a golden light under deep, blue water. Just like the ground that owned a lot of treasures. From sunken ships. Pirate ships.
I wish I could dive into those soft waves...
Michiru leaned forward and stretched her hand. Haruka hold her tighter, but didn't interrupt her nice thoughts. Her dream. Her personal heaven.
It's even more beautiful than Neptune's oceans...
Then at the next moment it was gone. The third moon shone in a normal, white light and accompanied the other two moons to watch over the desert planet for the rest of the night.
"Wow... that was..." Michiru shook her head in disbelieved and stared now at an endless desert again. The waves were gone, just like the water and the dolphin. Just like the birds. Just like the rushes she missed so much during the past months.
"That was another face of Uranus. Hai, it is a desert planet, but it's got its beauties, too. The whole nature is a great secret and a myth."
"Just like you."
For a moment Haruka kept silent. Then she kissed Michiru's cheek again and buried her face for some moments in sea green curls.
"I love this planet and the people here. It's Himme-chan's future and it'll be our home, for all times. It was the place were my parents lived and it's a wonderful memory of my own childhood." Haruka breathed deeply and sighed slightly. "I don't want to loose it. I wouldn't survive to lose my family again." Again she squeezed Michiru in her arms tighter. "I don't want to lose you nor Himme-chan. Nor my planet. It's my home, the only home I ever had..."
Again she thought at the conversation they had this afternoon with a crying Serenity who hold a crumbled paper tight in her shaking hands.
"I want to help Serenity, too. But..." Haruka shrugged her shoulders and took another deep breath. "But it's too dangerous if anyone finds out that I am a girl."
Michiru frowned.
"But how shall they find out? Didn't we discuss this already? That you'll come with us – as the prince to watch over his wife and his daughter?"
"They'll find out. Because I am not only the prince of Uranus." Haruka shook her head. Then she raised her voice and shouted something to the dragon Michiru couldn't understand. But the huge animal did. One wing trembled impatient as Fluffy turned a bit around and suddenly the sea princess saw the oasis they had been one day after the Mercury sisters arrived to stay for holiday.
The oasis I wasn't allowed to touch the water and almost died, because I had to feel it...
Michiru chewed on her lower lip, but knew that she would never disobey again. She didn't want to see her father again – even if it was only in a nightmare.
"Only the prince? I don't understand..." Michiru's voice died away as Haruka let her go and jumped from the back of the mighty dragon. The smaller woman followed her carefully, but Haruka already stepped some metres back and her green eyes were a shade darker than normal.
It was warmer in the oasis. Michiru stopped to shiver and walked slowly over still warm sand. She stripped her shoes and laid the turban besides them. Haruka's hairs were messed and she loved to see them like that. So wild. So sleepy.
She looks cute this way.
"Do you know what I asked you to promise? I asked you, never to use your powers. Alike what will happen." Haruka blinked and suddenly tears burned in her dark green eyes.
Michiru nodded slightly. Of course she could remember.
"I don't want to break my promise, Ruka. You know that. I only want to help Serenity. And her prince. To let her become as happy as we two are. To let her lead a life in peace, friendship and love. Just liked we said during our wedding ceremony."
"Hai." Haruka swallowed hard and watched silently, how her wife floated over the white sand towards her. "I know what Serenity's feeling right now. I don't want her to lose the person she loves most. I want to help her, too. Because she's our future. She'll be queen one day. Without her and the moon, Uranus wouldn't be able to exist any longer. We need the power of the far away moon and we need the Silver Millennium." Haruka took a deep breath. "I want to help her, too. Not only as a princess or a servant from the outer planet Uranus. I also want to help her as a friend. I like her a lot. She's simply too young to looks so sad every time I see her. She should look happy and innocent. Not so desperate..." Haruka took a deep breath and sighed. Suddenly she took a golden staff out of her pants and rose it high into the air.
"I want to help her, but it's still too dangerous for Uranus, Himme-chan and you..." She shook her head and closed her eyes.
"Sailor Uranus, make up!" she screamed with a loud, low voice and felt again the winds playing with her body. Sand swirled around her figure and her hairs hang into her eyes. Her clothes changed into a uniform Michiru knew herself too well.
"You..." the sea princess gasped hard for breath as the wind died finally away and all that remained was obviously a girl, at tall girl in a senshi uniform. It was light than her one. It was more golden. Just like the desert around the small oasis...
"You're Sailor Uranus?" Michiru's eyes grew wide as Haruka nodded and plucked nervously on her skirt. It seemed to be too short for the tall woman, although Michiru liked it to see her wife's long, naked legs under it.
"But I thought she died together with your parents."
Haruka swallowed hard and suddenly turned towards the fountain. Still holding the henshin tight in her suddenly shaking hands. Silently she observed the poisoned water falling down and wondered if it was the right way to decide to show Michiru that she was a sailor senshi, too.
Is there another way?
Haruka lowered her head and sighed again.
She deserves to know the truth. The whole truth about me. She's not only my wife by law or by the goddess high above, she's also my wife by heart.
"I didn't lie. She died with them." Her voice was nothing but a whisper. "This senshi thing is evil, Michi-chan. It only hurts other people than it really helps. Wherever I see a senshi I see a lot of pain these days. We're all untrained, powerless and unwanted..."
Automatically Haruka clenched her fists and looked so far away that Michiru didn't dare to interrupt her. Even if it was by embracing her and holding her tight.
"Rumiko was Sailor Saturn. She had the power to change destiny, to destroy the whole universe with her scythe, but her body was too weak to carry such powers. She didn't know how to use them probably. She always had a weak heart, but after she tried to save her Jimmy with her powers and failed she became weaker and weaker with every day and we all feared that she would die even before Himme-chan's birth. Now Himme-chan will be Sailor Saturn one day and I don't want that this all happens again." Haruka raised her head and looked again up to the sky. She could also see far away stars between the moons and near planets. Other planets. Outer planets.
"Setsuna of Pluto is a kind person. I like her a lot. You can talk to her seriously. She listens. When I was younger I used to visit her a lot. Until they found out that she was Sailor Pluto and that it was her task to guard the portal of time. The rest of her life. Every day, every minute. Every bloody second. What did her powers bring her? A life in loneliness. She'll never have the time to marry a nice prince. She'll never have any children. Where shall she give birth to them? In front of that damn portal? Setsuna didn't only lose her childhood because of her powers, she lost her future as well. Her whole life. Being trapped in a duty that isn't hers."
Haruka shook her head and suddenly two tears ran down her pale cheeks. She shivered and crossed her arms before her chest. The bandage was gone and Michiru could suddenly see her breasts under the thin cloth.
"Minako was happy before she found out that she's Sailor Venus. Before she found out that her real parents didn't want her, even after she found out the truth about them. Surely Mina-chan is a very wild and always laughing person, but even she is sad in the night. Even she sits before her window and cries the whole night, because it hurts to know that your real parents didn't want you. Ami tries hard to comfort her, but often she fails. And Rei... she was such a loud person you simply had to like whatever she said about you. She could make you laugh and she was Serenity's best friend. A loyal friend. Until she went almost insane, because she couldn't help her dead ill mother with her powers. She tried hard to save her, but she failed. Just like Rumiko. And now she's broken inside and creeps into her own world, trying to forget reality. Trying to forget that she was already alive..." Haruka turned suddenly around and threw the henshin before her into the sand. It sparkled for some seconds golden in the moons' light, then it was as grey as the sand beneath.
Haruka's clothes changed from the strange costume into her man's clothes again but still she shivered like leaves in the autumn wind.
"To be a senshi only brought pain and sorrow over us all. Rumiko's dead, Rei doesn't want to take part at life any longer and Setsuna lost it a long time ago. I..." there were again tears shinning in deep green eyes. "I don't want to see you sad again, Michi-chan. You went through hell with your father and if anyone finds out that I am Sailor Uranus... they'll see that I am a girl and then you'll be forced to go back to Neptune and Rumiko's parents will take Himme-chan away and raise her the same unloving way they rose their daughter. I don't want to let her grow up this rude way. And I... I don't want to lose you, Michi-chan. I never want to lose again the ones I love. It's enough, Michi-chan. Do you understand? It's enough now! I can't bare it any longer. To have new hope, new faith and then it's all falling apart again..." now Haruka sobbed and Michiru could free herself out of her trance to went over to her. Carefully she took the trembling tall woman in her arms and rocked her gently.
"You'll lose nothing, Ruka. I'll never leave you, I promise. And Himme-chan will always be your daughter. No one will ever take her away from us." Michiru felt how Haruka embraced her in return and hold her desperately tight.
For a long while they stood there. Listening to Fluffy's munching noises as she ate some leaves of the palms and to the rushes of the poisoned fountain. Its water sparkled in all colours of the rainbow and three moons were reflected on the shivering surface.
"We can hardly use our powers. We aren't trained well enough. We're simply too weak." Whispered Haruka against Michiru's shoulder. "But I can't see Serenity so sad. Every time I see her pale face I ask myself what I'd do if you'd be on earth with that dangerous revolution. Of course I would want to free you, too. To take you to a place were we both could be happy." Haruka swallowed hard. "I want Serenity to be happy. But I want to be happy myself, too. At last. After ten long years. And I want my people to be happy." Suddenly Haruka raised her head and looked directly into deep blue eyes.
Just like an ocean...
"What shall I do, Michi-chan?"
Michiru smiled sadly and raised her hands to wipe away those warm tears tenderly from Haruka's cheeks.
"Let your heart speak." She whispered and gave her wife a short kiss and shaking lips.
"It's the heart, afraid of breaking..." answered Haruka and her voice was shaky as she remembered their wedding day. How they sung together on the stage.
"... but with the sun's love in the spring becomes the rose."
Michiru pulled her Ruka closer and kissed her tenderly. Tasting salty tears on warm lips. Haruka took her tighter into her strong arms and the kiss became more passionately. She winced as she felt how Michiru unbuttoned her shirt and slowly opened her bandage. The white cloth fell on the ground next to them and the tall woman took a deep breath. Partly because she could breathe free again after she was freed from the narrow bandage. Partly because Michiru touched her intensive skin tenderly and the wind princess started automatically to shiver.
"Guess you're right. No one should turn his or her back from a friend. Especially not from a friend like Serenity." Whispered Haruka and groaned silently as Michiru started to kiss her neck.
"Don't worry, Ruka. We'll defeat them all and then we'll go back to Uranus to live happily here until the end of our lives. Just like in all those silly fairy tales." Smiled Michiru and kissed her again. The shirt fell on the ground, too and Haruka shivered even more.
"Are you cold, my sweetheart?" asked the smaller woman with a wolfish grin and slowly kissed Haruka's upper part of her body.
"Well..." whispered the tall princess and giggled as Michiru started to tickle her tenderly.
"Then it's my task as your wife to warm you." Michiru put her arms tighter around her lover's waist and pushed her carefully into the still warm and very soft sand.
"Nice task." Grinned Haruka back and started to strip Michiru's skirts. "But I think it would be more effective if you wouldn't wear so many clothes." Two skirts fell on the ground besides them and Haruka blinked as Michiru still wore five or six of the almost transparent silk. "Help! How many of those things do you wear?"
"Enough to tease you a little bit." Smiled Michiru and took Haruka's hands for some moments tight in her own ones although the tall woman tried hard to escape her and simply to rip her skirts. She was the prince. She was rich enough to buy her wife another ten thousands of those silky skirts.
Shortly deep blue eyes looked into dark green ones.
"I love you, Ruka." Whispered Michiru and leaned again closer over her wife. Haruka swallowed hard and her hands squeezed the smaller ones tighter.
"I love you, too, Michi-chan." Haruka pulled her wife closer and again they kissed each other passionately. Every thought disappeared from their minds as they loved each other in the warm, soft sand near the fountain.
Even the thought that this could be the last night they'd share.
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It was in the middle of the night when the small girl started to scream. The rims of the horizons already changed their colour into a dark blue, but still dawn was more than two hours away.
"Hey, small honey. You can't be hungry. Nor wet." Carefully Michiru took her daughter into her arms and cradled the little baby in her arms. Hotaru watched her with big, frightened eyes.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Michiru gave her daughter a light kiss on the forehead and looked for some seconds into the cradle. Then she gave Hotaru her bunny and went over to their bedroom.
For a long moment she stood in silence before the huge mattress and watched her wife laying under the thin blanket. Still she slept deep and tight. Still.
I love her so much!
Michiru swallowed hard, then she crept under the soft blanket. Two very tired and very small green eyes opened shortly and a smile bloomed on a sleepy face as Haruka took her wife in her arms who was still holding their daughter. The little girl fell fast asleep on her mother's chest and dreamed a nice child's dream while tender arms embraced her and a warm blanket covered her tiny body.
"She's a little blackmailer, isn't she?" Haruka's voice was full of sleep and Michiru leaned forward to kiss her tenderly. Her lips were so wonderful warm.
"She's as wild as you. And I love you two." Whispered Michiru and leaned her head against a warm shoulder. Feeling strong arms being wrapped around her waist. Feeling a fast heartbeat against her own.
Hope, everything will be fine.
Haruka swallowed hard and squeezed her small family tighter.
Because I won't survive a third time to lose the persons I love.
"Don't worry, Ruka. Everything will be fine." Whispered Michiru and gave her another kiss, feeling how Haruka was almost asleep again.
"Know..." answered the tall woman and slowly relaxed again besides her lover. Michiru watched her for some moments in silence. Then she leaned forward and have her and her daughter a loving kiss on slightly blushed cheeks.
"Don't worry, Ruka. Whatever will happen during the next time, we're a family. Forever."
A happy smile appeared on the smaller princess' face as she settled back into sleep again.
Here's all I ever wanted. All I ever needed.
Tiny hands grabbed for sea green curls and a little baby girl looked in her sleep like the happiest child in the whole universe. Being together with the persons she loved. Being together with her family.
Outside another sandstorm begun.
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The dress felt strange. The whole uniform was known but yet so strange. Michiru hold a still sleeping Hotaru in her arms tighter while she entered the coach. She would travel with Serenity and Haruka while the other senshi took another coach of a wonderful, strong dragon with blue scales. It was a son of Fluffy and would follow her wherever she would go.
"I can't remember the last time I used those powers." Said Michiru and sat down opposite to a very pale Serenity. It looked as if the princess didn't sleep the whole night.
"I've seen you once. When I had been a small child and you had to speak that silly oath. That you're a senshi and that it is your duty to fight for the Silver Empire and all this stuff."
"You can remember?" Michiru frowned slightly. "Gomen, I can't. And I am a lot older than you."
"For me you was a friend and I was lonely. Maybe I wasn't so important for you that time." Whispered Serenity and looked suddenly even sadder.
"No, I was simply to busy to survive the hell my father created for me than to take care for anything else than to hide each time he was rude to me. There wasn't much time left to dream about friendship or being a Sailor senshi..." Michiru leaned forward and took Serenity's icy hands for some seconds in her warm ones. The princess only smiled thankfully.
At that moment Haruka entered the coach. She wore a long white cape and her green eyes sparkled angry. But not angry about the princess or her wife. But angry about herself. About the queen. And about the destiny that forced her to do such crazy things and to bring her family in great danger.
I want to help Serenity and I want to see Himme-chan and Michi-chan happy. I want to stop running away any longer. From my own ghosts, my personal nightmares.
But still she wasn't sure if this whole idea was the right decision. Maybe they should have waited and...
One short look into watery blue eyes told Haruka that they did the only possible thing, that it was the best decision they could do between two wrong ones.
If it was Michi-chan on earth I'd go without any hesitation. We should give her love for Endymion a chance. She's our future. Without her no moon, no Silver Millennium and no secure future for Uranus. For my people. For my family.
After a short shout the dragons rose into the air to leave the planet and to fly straight to the earth. It was very hard to leave Uranus and the whole coaches trembled in the increasing sandstorm. It was already dark outside as if it was dusk again. But it wasn't. It wasn't even noon yet.
"Until we're back the doc will take care for Uranus." Said Haruka and it sounded very tired. She slept the hole time after they returned from the oasis. But it had bee to less time and too many nightmares hunting her down. Until she felt two warm bodies by her side.
Shortly Haruka looked at Michiru who nodded and smiled encouraged. Again she looked at a still sobbing Serenity and knew that she could trust her. Completely. Their future queen. Their future. Their hope.
So she stripped her cape with a determined expression and Serenity hard for breath as she saw the similar uniform. Her blue eyes grew wide while Michiru rocked her daughter tenderly in her arms. The little girl was already asleep and Haruka denied her. Slightly she had to yawn and felt really embarrassed in the uniform. The skirt was simply too short and the top too narrow. You could see every of her female outlines and she had to grin a she saw a special sparkle in deep blue eyes she had seen just ten hours ago.
Is it just this short time that we were at the oasis? That I showed her that I am Sailor Uranus? That she understood it and comforted me? That she loved me...
"Then you are Sailor Uranus." Whispered Serenity and swallowed because she knew that Haruka only transformed to be there for her and for her small family. To protect them and to bring them back to Uranus – healthy.
"But you've always told that she died with your parent's death..."
"She did." Answered Haruka and sat down behind Michiru and embraced her and her daughter tenderly. "Those powers couldn't rescue my parents nor could they help me nor Rumiko. So I decided that I don't need her."
"So, you are a girl?" asked Serenity and frowned. She knew that all Sailor senshi were girls. But all those years she never saw a sign that Haruka was a princess, not a prince. She behaved like a wild boy, she dressed like one, she cut her hairs and ruled over a land.
And she married just some weeks ago. And she has a small child...
"Hai." Haruka lowered her head and buried her face at Michiru's shoulder. She felt Michiru's hands on her own ones and smiled a sad smile.
Serenity looked from the smaller princess to Sailor Uranus and back and frowned even more. Then she looked down at the baby sleeping deep and tight in Sailor Neptune's arms. Trusting the young woman completely. Both women.
Serenity looked out of the window and saw how the palace became smaller during sand swirling around their coach. But Fluffy was old enough to guide himself and her son through the dark, with sand and clouds covered sky. Serenity saw burning sand and endless deserts. Here and there were small oasis. Not the dreamplanet, but for the people who lived on it, it was perfect. They loved it.
Love...
The moon princess looked again back to the two women and remembered how happy they had been at their wedding. How they sung this love song with all their heart and how they giggled about Minako's gift. She remembered how Michiru welcomed her Haruka when they finally arrived Uranus just a few days ago. Only dressed in her cape and her thin night shirt she had embraced Haruka and kissed her tenderly.
She only does it for me. And for her family.
Serenity swallowed hard as she met deep blue eyes.
You love Endymion, although you know that he's from earth.
And they certainly love each other...
"Arigato for your help, Haruka." Smiled Serenity although there were again tears burning in her eyes. Her fear to loose her one and only love was too big than to stay calm.
"Your secret is safe with me."
Shortly after they left Uranus the sandstorm increased. It became worse. It became wilder. It became ruder than it had been seven months ago. It was the worst the people ever experienced. It damaged the stables and the palace. It covered the oasis and the small fountain. And it destroyed a rose garden. Not a single flower survived as the wild wind took the petals with him. Like red veils they curled around in the raging sand. Like blood...
It seemed as if this storm would never end again.
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It was warm in the coach. Haruka fell asleep a long time ago and laid next to her lover, her head rested in her lap. Michiru stroke through blonde strands while she observed how Hotaru slept in her baby seat. Serenity only stared out of the window and tried not to sob so loudly. The handkerchief was crumbled in her shaking hands.
I wish I could help her.
Michiru looked her strange uniform and wondered for the thousands time if they were really able to help the princess.
Maybe it's all senseless as Ruka said?
The young woman leaned forward and kissed tenderly on Haruka's cheek. The tall woman smiled but didn't awake.
But we have to try it. If we only sit down and wait it may be too late.
"We're almost there."
It were the first words Serenity spoke after they left Uranus. In almost ten hours. Michiru talked a bit to Haruka until she felt asleep. Obviously the tall woman didn't find any the last night and now her body gave in her tired feelings. Then she talked a bit to the other girls in the other coach and they told her funny jokes and exciting stories about their childhood. Then they got silent, too. They were getting nearer to the earth and they all were very serious when they travelled by their home planets – without having the time to say something to their parents.
Maybe to say good bye.
Michiru swallowed hard and shook her head. This wasn't their last journey!
"You love him a lot, don't you?" asked Michiru and suddenly Serenity's eyes started to sparkle and her cheeks were redden. So pale cheeks over the last days. A dreamy expression appeared on her face and she had to giggle between her tears.
"Hai." She declared and blushed even more. She turned her head and looked again out of the coach's window. "I love him. Truly. I want to share my life with him and to have my own children one day – with him. I want to grow old with him and rule over my empire together with him." Serenity turned again towards Michiru and watched silently Hotaru in her child's seat and a sleeping Haruka on Michiru's lap.
"I want to live with him, just like you live with Haruka and Hotaru. I want to have a real family and be happy. I..." she sighed deeply. "I just don't understand why my mother's so against him. Why she doesn't want to accept that I love him." Now there were again tears sparkling in light blue eyes. "I only want to be happy. That's not to much what I demand, isn't it?"
Michiru smiled friendly at the girl and nodded her head.
"You're right, Serenity. It's not too much. It's normal. Everyone will be happy."
Happy. Being welcomed. Being loved.
They both looked again out of the window until Serenity rose suddenly and seemed to be very excited with a sudden.
"There's the moon. And there's..." Serenity pointed to the blue planet in front of them. "there's the earth..." she wanted to say something more, but at that moment Fluffy started desperately to scream. Haruka was awake and up the next second. She stood beside the window and stared out to the universe. At the darkness, the shinning planets and the sparkling stars. And the hot burning sun in it's centre.
"Shit!" she cursed and tried to give a new order to the dragon who screamed even louder.
"What's wrong?" asked Michiru and almost fell from the pillow as the coach started to shake.
"We're attacked!" said Haruka and crossed the coach to get to the weapons. She wasn't helpless. And she didn't like to travel without the right protection. Not when she had as powerful enemies like Hotaru's parents and the queen. And since three months Michiru's father.
Only three months that I know this beauty...?
But there was no time to think as she fired her weapons to an unseen enemy.
"He is somewhere on the moon!" cursed Haruka and Serenity's eyes grew wide.
"She wouldn't, would she?" gasped the princess and tears wetted her cheeks. "She would never attack her own daughter!"
Michiru swallowed hard while Haruka cursed once more. Louder. The senshi of the wide ocean took a now crying baby in her arms and hold her tight. Hotaru was used to dragon's screams, but the whole coach trembled too much. And the desperate sobs of the princess let her instinctive fear increase.
"You little bastards..." whispered Haruka as she found the aim. It was the crystal palace of the moon who attacked them.
Then the enemies were suddenly visible. As if someone lightened up a candle they appeared right in front of them.
"Those are my mother's guards." Whispered Serenity and her tired face got even paler. "They want us to follow them to the moon. To the queen." The moon princess looked suddenly a lot older than her fifteen years and too desperate for the innocent, happy person she used to be.
"That means a big argument..." Suddenly Serenity started again to cry. Haruka sat down besides her after she shouted the commands to Fluffy and handled her an handkerchief.
"There's going to be a great argument, Serenity." She said with an angry voice and stared determined on her clenched fists. "But I am sure that this time YOUR mother won't yell at YOU any longer!"
dbdbdb
It was very cold in the palace. The corridor was huge and the windows high. Enough sunlight shone through the sparkling glass, but still the moon palace was cold. Empty. It looked abandoned, although many people lived here.
Michiru looked over to the servants who watched a still sobbing Serenity with sad eyes. They couldn't help her. Even if they wanted to.
No, here don't live many people. The servants go home after work and Serenity stays alone in her room when her mother doesn't want to see her.
The sea princess swallowed hard as she remembered all those evenings she spend all alone in her small chamber. Crying in silence. Begging for an end of her suffers.
But the queen never beat her.
Shortly Michiru looked up as she felt how a cold hand reached for her left one. Sad blue eyes looked for some seconds into angry green ones.
She's going to kick the queen right into the ass. This time it was enough. The queen went too far.
Michiru sighed slightly and tried not to shiver too much. Of course Haruka would give her immediately her white cape, but the smaller princess didn't want it. Behind the clothes the tall woman hide her Sailor uniform. The secret about her gender and Michiru didn't want the queen to find out.
"It's so silent here." Whispered Minako and automatically stepped closer to her sister who watched the architecture with big eyes.
"Hai..." answered Rei and gave Serenity another handkerchief. The moon princess only nodded and kept sobbing. Desperately. Frightened.
It is silent here.
Michiru shivered even more and hold Hotaru in her right arm tighter to her chest. The baby slept deep and tight and felt very comfortable with her mother. Shortly Michiru looked into a happy smiling child's face and rocked her automatically gently. Little Hotaru yawned but didn't wake up. She munched and tiny hands grabbed for sea green curls.
Here're no other children. No small girl running through the corridors and screaming out loud for her daddy to catch her. No small boy climbing into trees and stealing apples while his mother stands under the tree and tries to catch him if he'd fall off.
Here're no animals.
No dog welcomed its family with loud barking and a shaking tail. No baby dragon tried to lick her cheeks. No dolphin laughed when it splashed her with water.
This planet looks dead...
Michiru saw how two giant portals were opened and they stepped right through into a huge throne room. The sea princess could remember how she went to Uranus for the first time in her life. How she went through the hot, crowded room there and thought it was endless and giant. Now she knew that the throne room on Uranus was small compared to this huge room. It was almost as huge as a cathedral and she had some difficulties to see the throne at the end of it.
A shinning person sat in it.
Candles burned to each side of the throne and light shone through the high windows on the marbled ground. There was a red carpet leading towards the throne and everywhere sparkled gold in the white marble.
Still it looked cold. Empty. Dead.
"So you brought your silly friends with you, brat." Said the queen with a calm voice and Michiru shivered even more. She heard how Haruka took a deep breathe beside her and let go her shaking hand. Shortly they exchanged glances and Michiru formed silent words.
Be careful.
Haruka nodded, then she stepped protectively before Serenity.
She won't hurt her again. None of us!
"So, you finally returned. Wasn't nice on Mercury, was it?" The queen took a glass in her hands and watched the red fluid for some seconds. "All of you, you can go now. Nice that you brought my daughter back. But I am to busy to be a good host. So just go!"
"Never!"
Dark green eyes sparkled as Haruka spreat her arms before the princess.
"We'll never leave her like that. Not with you. Not alone." Haruka automatically clenched her fists. Ready to defend the moon princess. To defeat her family. To defeat herself against the queen.
"We're going to the moon." Minako stepped next to the prince of Uranus.
"We're helping Serenity." Ami followed her younger sister.
"We're going to end the revolution." Rei looked suddenly very tired, but also very determined.
"We're defending her against all harms of this world." Makoto shook her head.
"That means, we're defending her against you, too." Michiru hold Hotaru tighter in her arms and now the senshi stood between the queen and the daughter. Like a wall.
At that moment the queen started to laugh. It was a low, threatening laughter. The woman put her glass away and clapped slowly, provoking in her hands.
"Great show, all of you. But it won't help you. You're too weak to defeat the revolution or even me. You aren't trained enough to use your powers properly. Instead of helping you your powers hurts." The queen rose from her throne and stepped down.
"I cared that you never got to know your real powers and now you're just some bloody teenagers in short skirts and narrow blouses. Your staffs sparkle, but they can't do anything else. Maybe to produce a small, weak planet that doesn't even reach the enemy."
Again there was an evil laughter.
"I simply couldn't kill you. You who threatened MY powers over the universe. Your parents were there and of course the powers were reborn in noble princesses. But I could do everything to hinder that you found out about the whole plan. About the senshi tradition. About the prophecy. About me.
"About the prophecy?" asked Ami and frowned. She knew all books but never heard about a prophecy on moon.
"Hai, Mercury genius. The prophecy that this bloody girl there will defeat me one day!" screamed the queen and pointed over to the princess. But now she won't. She'll never defeat me."
"About you?" whispered Serenity and her blue eyes grew wide as her mother laughed again and spreat her arms. Suddenly she was wearing a narrow, black dress. The white one disappeared and the golden hairs fell down over shaking shoulders.
"You never noticed? Oh, you're so blind! I am your mother, but at the same time I am the most powerful person in the universe. And I want to stay it. You'll never overtake the moon. Only you and the earth's in my way. The prince is weak and the people there very stupid. It was easy to influence them. Even his guards are against him!" There was another evil laughter and Serenity only shook her head in disbelieve. More tears were running down her cheeks.
"So the earth's almost dead. And you'll follow it soon."
With those words she wanted to turn around and go, but the silent, angry voice hold her back.
"Do you really think that we're so weak? Do you really think that we couldn't defend ourselves? Do you really think that we'd have survived all those bloody years without growing strong!"
The queen's eyes narrowed as she looked at the prince. Still he spreat his arms before the princess and his green eyes sparkled with rage.
"Of course you're weak. Hope you can remember that Saturn's girl. She was weak, wasn't she? No one told her how to use her powers and then she had to try to rescue her damn boyfriend. Of course she'd been to weak to change the past and to use her powers properly. So she died." The queen smiled an evil smile as she saw how the prince got pale. "Do you really think it was just an accident that the dragon's coach crashed into the gorge? Poor James, he looked really frightened." The queen observed Hotaru in Michiru's arms and bit on her lower lip. "I thought this Saturn girl would be weak enough to die during the pregnancy, but Sailor Saturn is too small to be a real threat for me."
That's not true. She's lying!
Haruka clenched her fists but still she didn't dare to leave Serenity's side. No one knew what the queen would do next and she didn't want to give her any chance to hurt the princess again.
"And you, future queen of Uranus, you aren't any better. What do you think why I didn't help you? Your father did a great job to keep you weak. Your mother was a threat but she did me the favour to die during your birth. And I talked for a long time to your desperate father. It wasn't easy, but I convinced him finally that you was evil and that it was your fault that your mother, his beloved wife, died. So he hated you and you stayed weak. Don't you tell me that you want to beat me with your crippled body!"
Michiru blinked and hold a still sleeping Hotaru tighter.
She remembered two angry shinning eyes as he hit her again and again. With his hands. With his belt. With the furniture. How she almost died on her seventh birthday. How he pushed her away whenever she needed help. How he tried to sell her to the prince that would pay the most money for a useless, ugly, unloved daughter.
"How I can see are two senshi missing." The queen grinned madly. "It's a real pity that Sailor Pluto has to watch over the portal of time. And it's really pity that she doesn't know that it's closed. No one can open it and so there's nothing more to guard than a bloody shut door. No one will ever step through it and so the Pluto girl won't ever be a threat for me."
Silently they all thought at a tall woman who looked always seriously. Lonely. Lost.
"Your mother was very ill, Rei, I know. I could have helped her, but I didn't. It was easier to let her die and to see how you went slowly insane than to care that she wouldn't help you with your training. She was a powerful priestess and I didn't want you to become so powerful, too. It was easy to let her suffer of a undefinable disease no one knew. Do you know how it worked? It was the tea she got every morning with her medicine. It was poisoned."
Rei's eyes grew wide. Again she saw a beautiful woman before her eyes. How she raised a small laughing girl high above her and danced with her around in the temple.
Mommy...
The Mars princess lowered her head and went on her knees. Then she covered her face with her icy hands and started desperately to cry. Serenity was by her side the next moment and tried to comfort her.
She tried it in vain.
"First your mother wanted to keep you. She was very young when she fell in love with some guy from another moon and she had a hot temper, just like you, too. She was pregnant the next month, but he didn't want her any longer. So she felt ashamed and didn't dare to say her parents. She came to me. And I told her that it was the best to give you away. So she went only two weeks after your secret birth here on moon to Mercury and you was raised there. So you kept weak, too. Because after you found out that you was Sailor Venus, you knew that your real mother didn't loved you. To be full of hate and pain is really good to forget everything you ever learned about your powers."
Minako chewed on her lower lip and suddenly tears sparkled in her eyes. Again she saw the young woman sitting opposite in a small room so that no one could see her. Not her family, not her servants. No one. Again Minako remembered how her true mother shouted at her. How she argued with her. How she throw her out. Again. For the last time.
"And you've been too concerned about your sister than to become strong."
Ami embraced her Mina-chan and hold her tight as the smaller girl started to tremble. Again she saw her sitting in her sleeping room. In the middle of the night. Staring out of the window to the far away moon. Again she saw the tears sparkling in the dimmed light. Again she heard the desperate sobs and again she saw the always laughing, always joking, always happy princess cry as if the world would end.
"Once your mother wanted to have a big, lively family. She told me when I was on her wedding almost twenty years ago, Jupiter girl. Now it's alike what she does, she's always pregnant. Every year. She's simply too busy to care for your or your powers."
Makoto frowned but didn't leave her place before the moon princess. She could remember an always weak, always exhausted woman. Always she tried to support her huge belly with her hands and every time she got pregnant again the doctors feared that she wouldn't survive the birth. Makoto remembered all her brothers and sisters. A lot of them survived. But a lot of them simply died shortly after the birth.
"So you're all weak and useless. It'll be simply to get rid of you."
"Didn't you forget someone?" Haruka's voice was very silent and her mouth was nothing more than a small line.
"You mean Sailor Uranus? I can remember your mother's happy face too well when she declared me that she was pregnant. That she hoped for a boy. But when I touched her belly I knew that she carried a girl. So... well... I needed a small accident. Your parents were simply too perfect. They had you to take over the tradition and they were happy on Uranus. Their people loved them and it would have been very difficult to let them raise the future Sailor Uranus. She would have been the strongest of all of your and she would have been a real threat. So it was easier to let her never be born at all."
So it was all my fault that my parents died! Because the queen thought that I was a boy. That I wasn't that senshi. That...
Haruka's mind spun around. Again she saw her laughing mother who took her in her arms to let her feel her huge belly. Her sister kicking in it. Again she felt how her father embraced them, too and declared with shinning eyes how much he loved them.
Again she saw the cold grave stone and how they slowly closed the grave. Ten years ago. How she stood next on the ground and watched on the stone with blank eyes. How she felt alone. Abandoned. Left.
She killed them! My family! My parents!
Suddenly tears sparkled in her eyes as she raised her henshin. The queen's eyes grew wide but she didn't notice. Nor did she notice how Serenity let go of Rei and screamed loudly.
"Earth shak...!"
The planet died away and Haruka felt how someone embraced her and grabbed for her henshin. To hold her back. To stop her. To hinder that she used her powers with her endless rage and hate. And sorrow...
"Serenity?" Haruka frowned as she looked into watery blue eyes.
"Don't do it, Haruka. She my mother. I can't beat her. I can't hurt her. I can't..." desperately she started to cry and her hairs moved on her back as she shook her head.
"But... after all she'd done to us. To you."
To me!
The queen stared at them in disbelieve for some moments. Then she started again to laugh wicked.
"So you're Sailor Uranus? So the prince of Uranus is a girl? A girl with a small daughter and a wife? How pervert! Guess your people will be very curious to hear it. And to punish you!"
Haruka closed her eyes for some moments and took a deep breath.
Now, everything is over.
Suddenly she felt a tender hand on her shoulder and turned her head. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked directly into Michiru's sad smiling face. Still holding a sleeping Hotaru tight in her arms. But the baby looked restless and the dream seemed to be a nightmare.
But still there's the possibility to fight.
"So you're defending me? That's cute, and silly, you brat! I am not your mother. Okay, I gave birth to you, but I am not your mother. I never wanted to have any children. Your father was just... well, he was nice, but after I got boring I killed him. I wanted to abort you, but the doctors told me that it would have been too dangerous for my health. So I kept you. I hoped for a calm, silent child and what did I got? YOU!"
The queen clapped in her hands and suddenly guards stood at the doors. Ready to beat them. Ready to kick them. Ready to kill them.
"But now it's finally over. You won't get living from the moon. Endymion won't survive this day, too and then I am finally able to rule over the whole universe. Without you being in my way!"
Endymion...
Serenity swallowed hard and let go of Haruka. She shook her head as she turned around towards her mother.
My love...
"NO!" she screamed and suddenly a sceptre appeared in her shaking hands. But she didn't use it on her mother. She used it on the guards. To get the way free to their coaches. To the dragons. To get to earth.
Jupiter and Minako grabbed for a still crying Rei and they all run through the huge palace. Ready to go to earth and to free the prince. Ready to return afterwards and defeat the evil queen. Ready to let this nightmare end. At last.
The raging voice of the queen followed them while they climbed into their coaches and left the moon quickly.
dbdbdb
First it was calm in space. Fluffy and her son did a good job and soon the moon was behind them. The earth was becoming bigger and bigger and soon they would reach the earth's atmosphere.
"I can't believe it. All of it..." whispered Serenity and again tears ran over her cheeks. She wondered for a moment if the tears would never stop falling, but then she reached for her handkerchief and sobbed quietly.
"Why didn't we see it?" Michiru hold her daughter tighter. But she knew the answer as she looked into green eyes that were a shade darker than normal. The queen explained them why they didn't notice it. Because they all had been too busy to survive.
Michiru took Haruka's shaking hand in her own one and gave her a quick kiss.
I love you.
Haruka nodded and returned her kiss. Thoughtfully she stroke over fluffy dark hairs and prayed that everything would be okay by the end of the day. That they would be able to defeat the evil and return to Uranus. Healthy. That her secret would still be a secret and that she would be able to grow old with her Michi-chan. To raise Himme-chan with her and to be simply happy. The happy she hadn't been for the past ten years.
I love you, too.
At that moment the blue dragon screamed a loud screamed that disturbed the universe's peace. It was as if it cut through the empty space and left deep scars.
This is a dead scream...
Haruka shivered and her eyes grew wide as she saw the huge fireball coming towards the blue dragon who was very dangerously injured by the last shoot. One wing was bloody and the white eyes shone with despair.
"No..." whispered Haruka and rose. Then ran again through the whole coach and let Fluffy turn around to fire against the huge ball. But she knew that it was senseless. And she knew that it was senseless to try to get four girls out of the coach before the fireball would hit them.
"No..."
"What's going on? Do they attack us again? How can we defend ourselves? Help! Haruka! We need help!" they heard the frightened voice of Minako from the other coach while Makoto screamed out loud. There was somewhere Rei's calm voice speaking one prayer after another. Ami sobbed desperate in the background.
"No..."
The voices died away in the moment the fireball hit them. All weapons Haruka used were too weak and so she had to see helpless how the ball hit the coach and took away four persons she liked a lot.
"NO!" she screamed and suddenly tears ran down her pale cheeks.
Again she saw how Ami looked up with a puzzled expression from her book and then smiled while she tried to explain what she was reading. That it was really great and that she should read it, too.
Ami-chan!
Again she saw how Minako jumped in her golden dress on the stage and sung with all her heart that she was the best, that she didn't need all those silly men behaving like crazy. That nothing impressed her much. How she had grinned wildly and danced until she got everyone's attention.
Mina-chan!
Again she saw how Makoto made something really delicious to eat and blushed deeply when everyone told her that it was the best meal they had eaten.
Makoto-chan!
Again she saw a wild priestess who chased a certainly crying Serenity through the whole palace. Before her mother died. Again she looked into dark eyes, empty eyes. Sad eyes. Shortly after her mother died and she crept back into her temple and wanted to be left in peace. Again she saw how Rei tried to comfort a sobbing Serenity who feared to lose her Endymion.
Rei-chan!
"NO!" It was a desperate scream. It wasn't human anymore. It sounded like a wild animal. Being trapped. For all times...
"No..." she sobbed desperately and tears ran down her cheeks. She returned to the others and saw how Serenity looked at the still burning coach with big eyes. She certainly didn't understand what just happened. Certainly the shock was too big to let her scream or shout. Or cry.
Michiru only cradled Hotaru in her arms and cried in silence.
All senshi... we don't have a slight chance.
All senshi...
She sobbed quietly.
All friends...
All senshi...
Shortly she looked in watery green eyes.
What shall we do?
All senshi...
But before she could say anything there was another fireball coming directly towards them. Michiru took a crying Hotaru tighter in her arms and tried to protect her with her body while Serenity stared at the ball with big eyes – not realising what it meant.
Haruka shook her head and sat down next to her love.
Only three months!
She lowered her head as she embraced her and hold her tight.
That's too less.
The next moment Fluffy screamed its last scream as the fireball hit her.
dbdbdb
Her whole body ached and stars danced before her eyes. The underground was hard and very cold.
Haruka frowned and tried to open her eyes.
She coughed. The air was sticky and used. She could smell fire burning and heard somewhere the crackle of flames.
It took her again some more time until she was able to open her eyes. Shortly she looked around, groaned and closed them again. Around here there were bits of the destroyed coach. Some wood was still burning and she laid somewhere besides it. There was no Fluffy. She probably died by taking them save to the next planet.
Planet? Where am I? On the moon? On earth?
She heard somewhere the noises of a bird, then a high and loud scream.
That's Serenity's voice!
Haruka sat upright and groaned as her head seemed to explode.
So they're alive!
She looked around and came hard to her feet. Her stomach hurt and she threw up her breakfast. Then she fluctuated over to the remaining of the coach. But it was empty. There was no body of Michiru or Hotaru. Or Serenity.
Thank goddess!
Haruka took a deep breath as she saw something golden on the ground. She stretched her trembling hand and looked critically at the jewellery she once gave her Michi-chan.
Is it just two weeks ago?
Haruka's eyes watered.
Are we only three weeks married?
She swallowed hard.
Do we only know each other for just three months?
She knew that it had been too short.
She opened it and looked at a laughing family. A happy family.
My family...
A smiling daddy and a happy laughing mommy who looked loving at their daughter in their arms.
I wish I had have more time with them...
Again the scream crossed the air and she turned around. And froze in motion. And opened her mouth to shout. And shook her head instead.
This was the earth – or at least what remained from the once so proud planet. The ground shook slightly and heavier earthquakes destroyed the ground. Volcanoes burned the landscape and now the earth was grey and dirty. The city fell apart and the huge skyscrapers were broken. Overall dead people. Dead animals. Death all over a dying planet.
We're too late! Dammed!
Haruka shook her head again and tears burned suddenly in her green eyes.
I couldn't help them. Just like I couldn't help Jimmy and Rumiko. Just like I couldn't help Ami, Mina, Mako and Rei. Just like I couldn't help myself!
Haruka clenched her fists and started to run although she felt really exhausted. He whole body trembled. But if Michiru was still alive – and Hotaru, too – she would take them, find another spaceship and return home. To Uranus and hope that death and the evil on earth wouldn't reach the desert planet. That they still had a chance to live in peace.
Again she remembered the wedding and tears ran down her cheeks.
Only three months! That's too short. I wanted to share my life with her. In all eternities. As I promised during the ceremony. I want so badly to grow old with her. To love her so many more times. To see how Himme-chan grows up. Gods, that isn't too much what I am asking for, is it?
But there was no answer from above than lightening and thunder.
Haruka jumped over a broken staircase downstairs to a balcony and gasped hard for breath. Again she saw dead people laying on the ground. But this time she knew those people.
No...
She shook her head and now the tears streamed down her pale face.
NO!
Again she saw how Serenity took Himme-chan in her arms and hold her tight with the proud smile on her face. How she congratulated them and wished them all luck of this universe.
And where's this luck now?
Serenity!
Endymion!
They both laid on the ground. In a small lake. A red lake. A bloody lake.
So the queen achieved what she always wanted...
"We found him here." Said a very quiet voice next to her. "He was still alive and it had been a trap. There was someone here who wanted to kill Serenity because the enemies expected her to come. He escaped them and rescued her." Michiru sobbed quietly. "He took the shoot and died in her arms. " Michiru swallowed hard. "I tried to calm her down. I told her that we had to look for you and a space shuttle. Suddenly she smiled and said that I should search for you. I went over to the staircase and suddenly she... she took Endymion's sword and killed herself before I could react. She... she's so stupid, Ruka! She killed herself before I could help. Before we could..." Michiru lowered her head and cried desperately.
Only three months...
Haruka swallowed hard and walked over to Michiru. She saw the bundle in her arms and sighed deeply but relieved as she saw that Hotaru was still alive. Her forehead was bloody and the baby whimpered, but she was still alive.
"I told you that I don't believe in this senshi stuff. We couldn't help her. We couldn't save her. We couldn't protect the earth, nor the moon. We're too weak." She whispered and embraced a trembling Michiru.
Only three months. That has been too less!
"It wasn't our fault. We did what we had to do. But it had been too late. There was no one who taught us about our power. There was no one who showed us how to fight as a whole team. There was no one who believed in us in return." Michiru sobbed and felt how Haruka embraced her tighter.
"And now everything is over."
Again there was an earthquake and the whole ground shook. Stones fell to the ground and Haruka hold her Michiru tighter.
"But there has to be another way." She said very quietly.
Three months! Gimme more time with her! Please, gods my ancestors believed in!
"I won't give you up so easily! It can't be over just like that! There must be a second chance. Or..."
Hotaru whimpered even louder and there was a similar sign shinning on her forehead Haruka knew too well from her real mother.
"There is another way." Declared a high voice Haruka knew too well. She raised her head and stared in disbelieve at a young woman with long dark hairs and a dark blue uniform. She hold a scythe in her hands.
The scythe of death...
"Rumiko?" whispered Haruka because she knew that Hotaru was still too young to act as a senshi.
"She's Rumiko?" Michiru's eyes grew wider while she watched the shimmering appearance for some seconds. She was transparent and the senshi of the wide ocean could see a volcano exploding behind her in the far away countryside.
"I am partly Rumiko, I am partly Hotaru. But on the whole I am Sailor Saturn." Said the appearance and raised her scythe a little bit so that it stood on the ground right in front of her. "And this world is going to end. The whole universe is going to end and I am the one to stop this endless suffering. I am the phoenix and this world is in ashes. But don't worry, it'll stand up again. It'll be bright again. And there'll be a new princess. In another world. Hopefully a better world."
Dark eyes looked sad at the bodies of a once shimmering Serenity and her love, prince Endymion.
"No, Rumiko! You can't do this! It isn't over now! There must be another chance! A second chance..." shouted Haruka and hold her Michiru tighter.
Three months are too less! Please...
"This isn't the end, Haru. This is the beginning. You'll get your second chance. In a far away future. As a new Sailor Uranus. With a new life and a new hope to defeat the evil at least."
The appearance stepped closer and transparent hands stroke through blonde strands and sea green curls. Dark eyes suddenly shimmered with tears as Sailor Saturn bowed and kissed a still crying Hotaru.
"I am glad that you finally found someone, Haru." The appearance smiled tenderly at the two women and their child. "Be sure, you'll find her again. What ever may happen in time, you belong to each other. As I belong to you, too." Two tears run down pale cheeks "Mommy and daddy."
With those words she turned around and raised the scythe over her head. To let this world end. To let the whole universe stop to exist. To let time change from past into future. To let the pain be over. At last.
Three months are too less. Please, gimme more time!
Haruka embraced her Michiru tighter and gave her a quick, but desperate kiss that expressed all her deep feelings.
Just some more days or even hours.
"For peace and friendship." Whispered Haruka and swallowed hard.
Just some more minutes.
But as Sailor Saturn swung her scythe she knew that they didn't even have some more seconds left.
"And love. Forever, Ruka." Sobbed Michiru.
"Forever." Answered Haruka and buried her head in the shoulder of the woman she loved most in the whole universe. "Forever, Michi-chan."
Sailor Saturn swung her scythe down to the ground and the whole universe stopped to exist. From one second to the next there was nothing left. Only emptiness. Until it would be filled again with the beginning of a new galaxy. Of a new time. Of a new hope.
There was a loud crash and the senshi of death screamed out loud as she took all the pain of this world. Then she vanished suddenly. Silence was all that remained. Silence and the sweet whisper of one single word:
Forever.
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