Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Seleine P.O.V.

"Can't you just give us a couple more hours?" I whine. Diana looks at me as if she was saying 'really?' "Small Lady just lost her mother; she has no one here to help her."

Diana sighed. "Just a few more hours, we really can't let you stay here much longer," she reasons with me.

"Thank you," I said. Diana fidgets for a moment. "What?"

She looks up. "There's more," she says.

I stare at her intently for a moment. "For the love of Gods, Diana. Spit it out," I shout. She jumps and closes her eyes.

She inhales and exhales, then opens her eyes. "The queens know who the next evil to arise is and so do you," she said staring down at me. "They want you to take care of it. Mistress 9 cannot comeback and attempt to resurrect Pharaoh 90."

I stare at her. She looks at me expectantly. I turn on my heel and head towards the barrier.

"Seleine," she says forcing me to stop.

I surge energy toward the leash she tied to my arm and snap it. I turn toward her. She steps back.

"No," I say. "My daughter is not evil. She is not Mistress 9. She is Tomoe Hotaru, Sailor Saturn. She is Princess of Saturn. She is the soldier of death and rebirth. She is the daughter of the heart of darkness. But she is not Mistress 9."

Diana gulps and begins to vanish.

"Diana," I say. She stops and stares at me hesitantly. "Make sure to let the queens know that if they threaten my daughter again, I will raise hell that lives in the darkest corners of Hades."

Diana's eyes grow wide. She nods and vanishes. I turn back to Small Lady. The waterfall separating us dissipated.

"How did it go?" She asked me with hopeful eyes.

"Wonderful. She could only manage to give us a few more hours, though," I sigh. "It would appear that the senshi and I being here is throwing the world out of balance."

Small Lady nods her head and looks down. She was wearing the same dress she wore when I was announced. The pink and white gown hanging loosely on her frame. The bow on her back was the size of her buns from when she was a child. Her hair was long like her mother's was. Long and beautiful.

"I still can't believe she's gone," she said somberly. Her crimson eyes became blank. "I still expect her to come right through those doors."

Her bottom lip began to quiver. Tears burst out of her eyes. She wrapped her arms around herself and cried hysterically. She screamed and cried at the same time.

I wanted to comfort her, but the fear of rejection stopped me. I wasn't the one she wanted comfort from. I wasn't the one she needed at this very moment in time. She accepted my presence because I was her aunt, not because she loved me.

A sound came from the door. Small Lady looked up and forced herself to stop crying. I walked to the door as she wiped her tears on the sash of her dress. I looked back at her before opening the door.

"Your Majesties, if I may," Julian said from the other side of the door. I turned to Small Lady asking a silent question. She nodded her head and stood up. The trails from her tears were still evident, but she looked regal even when she was in mourning.

Julian bowed his head. "Your Majesty, I have some news," Julian's gaze cast over Small Lady's face. He had taken a step back before he reached to comfort her. He cleared his throat. "It would appear the late Queen made arrangements for this moment. She had sent letters to your senshi in training and your fiancé. They will be here within the day."

"She planned this?" I asked.

Julian turned back to me. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out some letters. I grabbed them and saw my sister's address. I looked back up to him quizzically.

"It would seem the Queen feared the inevitable. She wrote to the princesses and the prince just in case the worst happened. These are letters that the Queen received yesterday," he answered.

I looked over his shoulder to Small Lady. Her face was still blank, but her shoulders relaxed just a fraction. Julian followed my gaze. "There is also someone waiting for you in the ballroom as we speak."

Small Lady's eyes focused at that. She ran past Julian and out the door. I turned to go after her when Julian caught my sleeve. I turned back to him to give him a good lashing, but the seriousness of his eyes stopped me.

"There's more," he said. "The council demands to know who will take the throne."

"Excuse me?" I asked. Surely, I misheard him.

"They demand answers. They seem to have the notion that you wish to take the throne instead of Small Lady," he said.

I brought a hand to my forehead. "There are more important things to worry about right now, your highness. I just wanted to make you aware of the situation," he assured me. "Surely, the situation can wait till tomorrow."

I looked back up at him. I nodded my head and exhaled. I walked out the door and headed to the ballroom. I felt Julian behind me watching my every move. They think I wish to be queen? My sister just died, and they can't think of anything else other than who will take the throne first?

I shook my head to clear the thoughts from my mind. This was not the time to be thinking about that. Small Lady needs guidance right now. I'm not exactly the person to be giving it to her, but I'm all she's got at the moment.

I reached the ballroom and searched the area for Small Lady. My eyes landed on familiar jet-black hair. To my dismay, I smiled. Small Lady let go of the royal and backed away.

Fighter reluctantly let go of her embrace on the princess. She looked across the room and found me. At first, confusion flooded her face, then recognition. I could tell she wasn't certain how to think. She looked at Small Lady. Small Lady gave her a sheepish smile.

Small Lady grabbed Fighter's hand and walked over to me. They stopped before me. Fighter looked at me uncertainly.

"Fighter," I said.

She inhaled. "I don't understand. I've never met you, yet I know you. I remember you," she said.

I sighed. "We knew each other very well in another lifetime," I answered her. I turned toward Small Lady. "My question is, how do you know about Fighter?"

Small Lady snorted. "Are you kidding? My mother was incapable of keeping a secret. A few years ago, I caught Fighter and my mother sneaking around," she said haughtily.

Fighter blushed at the memory. I held back a chuckle. I could only imagine. Small Lady looked into Fighter's face and latched onto her arm. "My mother and father didn't work. At first, I hated you. But then I saw how happy you made my mother and I understood," Small Lady looked back to me. "Right now, she's the closest thing I have to family. She's my mother too."

That jolted my body. She's the closest thing I have to family. I pushed back the tears and nodded. "Well then, I'll let you two catch up."

With that, I turned on my heel. I bit my lip to keep the tears from coming out. I'll never be an aunt to her. I'll only ever be the aunt no one told her about that came into her life all of a sudden.


Author's Note:

Hello everybody! I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update. A lot has been going on in my life the past few months. I moved to a different city and started school again. It's been a lot. This chapter was difficult to start. I thought that I should atleast give you guys something, so hear you go! I'm sorry it's short, but it what I can manage at the moment. Hopefully, I can get back on some sort of schedule to start posting regularly again.

-J