A/N: Huge thanks to all of you who've reviewed, added to alerts, and faved. Hope you'll enjoy the next and final chapter of this story. The next chapter will be a doc where I'll be answering all anon reviews, so the anons won't have to travel to other sites to find a reply to their reviews. :)

Epilogue

To say that the atmosphere was awkward was an understatement. It wasn't as if Ami hadn't noticed Unazuki and Motoki whispering amongst one another or the couple of times Motoki wanted to approach their table but decided against it after taking a look at Rei's expression.

To be fair, Ami couldn't really blame Motoki. She was certain Rei's gaze was probably sharper than the knives they had in the kitchen. It was rather amazing that Junya managed to maintain that calm exterior while being at the end of one of those looks from Rei.

They had chosen to put together two tables. Kyosuke sat at one end of the table, while the rest of the Shitennou sat on one side and the girls on the other, leaving two seats for Mamoru and Usagi.

Though Masato and Makoto could be quite talkative, the discomfort was so potent in the air that they remained stoically silent. Usually, Minako would be one of the two people who would break the ice; however, she opted to remain quiet, staring at her drink as if it were the most interesting thing in the world as she stirred up unknown pictures in it with the straw. Kyosuke sat next to her with his eyes closed, as if he were either sleeping or meditating. Nevertheless, Ami had the sharp feeling that if anyone were foolish enough to attack him, they would be in for a nasty shock.

The other person who could be expected to chat up a storm was him, but for some reason, he decided to stare out the window and keep his mouth shut as well.

Inoue Teruo.

That was the name Kyosuke had introduced him with. Somehow, she couldn't decide whether to ignore him like he had ignored everyone else or if she should try talking to him. Either way felt awkward for her.

Seeing all four of them sitting here was strange, to say the least. She should feel uncomfortable, but somehow, she didn't. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that despite the ridiculous situation she had run into because of the one time Kyosuke couldn't keep his calm, she had come to believe that they were different from the people who'd chosen to unknowingly betray their planet.

The sounds of the sliding doors opening caught their attention, and Rei's glare flickered, softening when they landed on their Princess.

"Hi, everyone!" Usagi exclaimed before she bounced over to counter. "Motoki onii-san! Can I have a hot fudge double chocolate cherry sundae?"

Relief washed over Motoki's face upon seeing Usagi. "Sure! Two of them?"

"Can I have one now and the other one later?' she asked with a bright smile.

"Of course!" Motoki answered. He took a glance at Mamoru before deciding against waving his greetings to him.

Because Mamoru wouldn't have noticed him.

The Shitennou noticeably stiffened upon their arrival, even Teruo, who was pretending to look out the window, and Kyosuke who finally opened his eyes but didn't turn his head to look.

None of the Shitennou dared to look behind their backs.

But somehow, Mamoru had recognized them. Perhaps it was the same way the Senshi would always feel a connection to their Princess, in one way or another.

Seconds passed with Usagi oblivious to the situation behind her while she waited for her sundae. She chirped out a "Thank you" to Motoki and turned around with that brilliant smile still etched on her face before noticing that Mamoru hadn't taken a step from the place she'd left him after they'd entered the store.

She tilted her head to one side before her eyes followed his gaze to the table the Senshi and the Shitennou were sitting in.

"Oh!"

Much to their surprise, she skipped forward, grabbed Mamoru by the arm, and pulled him towards the table.

"You're back!" she exclaimed excitedly towards the Shitennou.

Everyone stared at her.

"You knew?" Rei asked in disbelief.

Usagi blinked at her in confusion. "About what?"

"You knew that they were back to life?" Rei amended her question.

"Of course not!" Usagi replied, plopping down on the seat at the end of the table while Mamoru gingerly walked over to the last seat at the table.

Masato, who was sitting in the seat next to his, visibly stiffened before he stood up as one would when they were to meet their liege.

Makoto groaned while Kyosuke sighed.

"Sit down, you oaf," Teruo muttered.

Masato shot him a glare before slinking down into his seat again, almost as if he wanted to disappear out of embarrassment.

"Then why did you say …?" Ami trailed off.

Usagi shrugged. "I'd suspected they should've been reincarnated, so to speak. Remember when I made that wish that everything would return to normal? I had wondered if that would mean if the Shitennou would've been given a second chance, too, after I remembered them being Mamo-chan's guardians."

She grew more uncertain with each word as she took in the unreadable expression on Mamoru's face. He wasn't saying anything, nor was he looking at Usagi. Ami couldn't tell if he was angry or happy, and from the looks the Shitennou were sporting, they weren't certain either.

"Mamo-chan …" Usagi placed her hand gently on his arm.

As if he had been a trance, he snapped out of it and gazed at her, a soft warmth in his eyes. Putting his hand on hers, he gave it a squeeze before he looked back at the Shitennou, renewed determination in his eyes.

"Since you've contacted the girls first, I'm assuming that suspicions and mistrust had been discussed and resolved," he said.

"Mamo-chan …" Usagi called out again, though this time a small frown accompanied her words.

"Your Highness …" Masato started to say.

"Making him suspicious isn't the best way to put yourself in his good graces," Rei hissed after she checked around to make sure that nobody had heard him.

"We realized … we acknowledge that we were wrong, and we are greatly ashamed for what had happened," Kyosuke finally spoke up. "We had thought that what we were doing was for the well-being of our home. We hadn't realized that by doing so, we were moving even further away from our initial goals. While we had good intentions, there was no excuse for the wavering of our loyalties to you, of what we had sworn. We had hoped that we would be able to redeem ourselves in some way or another before we approached you and asked for your forgiveness, but … due to unforeseen circumstances—"

Rei made a loud disparaging noise upon hearing this, causing a pink tinge to appear on Kyosuke's cheekbones. Mamoru glanced at her, surprise and curiosity swimming in his eyes. However, he quickly managed to hide his emotions behind an indifferent mask once more.

"... At the end of the day, we are here in front of you now. We dare not ask for your forgiveness. We merely wish to have one last chance to prove our loyalty to you, to serve as your protectors, and pay for our sins while earning your trust once more. This time, we swear upon our lives that we will not fail you again," Kyosuke said.

Mamoru didn't immediately answer. His deep blue eyes were tumultuous with uncertainty and fear. The same emotions were mirrored on each and every Shitennou's faces.

The motion was small, but Usagi slid her hand downwards and grab hold of Mamoru's. He gazed at her again, and something unseen, unknown to others passed between them. For the first time since he walked through the doors of the store, he smiled. It was a bittersweet smile, filled with regret and sorrow, but it also held the tiniest bit of hope and longing, as if he had just encountered something that would make his memories into reality.

After another short while, he swallowed and looked at his Shitennou once more. "We were young back then. While I can't say it didn't hurt me that you'd chosen to believe in Beryl's words rather than mine, I can understand what the four of you were thinking. Jadeite, Zoisite, and I always looked up to you, and you always saw us as children. I could understand that you saw me as a young boy losing his mind because of love."

Rei crossed her arms over her chest and gave Kyosuke a judging look, making him shift in his seat.

Minako saw this interaction and shrugged. "He thought that he was much more in control of himself."

For some unknown reason, Makoto giggled upon hearing this. Her face reddened as she muttered "Sorry, sorry!"

"At the end of the day," Mamoru said, steering the conversation back, "we've all done something wrong because of bad circumstances, and we've all done something we regret later on. I will be a terrible hypocrite if I didn't allow you a second chance."

"You mean …" Masato breathed out, his eyes wide with disbelief, fear, and just a spark of hope.

"As Endymion, I regret that I hadn't managed to gain your confidence, and I regret that I hadn't managed to persuade you to believe in Serenity and the others. In retrospect, perhaps I should've tried different methods. But like I've said, we were young and naive. The only thing that had mattered was getting our points across and getting things our way. We, including myself, hadn't sat down and thought of different methods with which to put one another's minds at ease, which made it all that much easier for Beryl to persuade you," Mamoru said. A small smile appeared on his face. "But as Endy, I'm glad that you are back. I'm glad that Queen Serenity has granted us the chance to try again, to not repeat our mistakes. We have the experience now, and I hope that my trust will be well-placed this time around."

"Master …" Junya breathed out.

"No kneeling in public, please," Rei said with her lips barely moving when she saw Masato making the move to get out of his seat.

Masato stopped moving and huffed out a sigh of resignation.

"We're in a new era right now … though I suppose we'll be in another one soon enough. Please, do call me by my name in public. I'm known as Chiba Mamoru this lifetime," Mamoru said.

"We don't deserve your forgiveness yet, Mas—Mamoru-san," Kyosuke said, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Mamoru shrugged and gave Usagi a smile. "Prove me correct then."

Usagi gave out a squeal. "I'm so happy for you, Mamo-chan!"

She gave him an enormous hug while Rei snapped her fingers for her to keep it down.

"You're going to make everyone look at us," Rei hissed.

Usagi giggled. "But they're done talking about you-know-what. And I'm just so happy that Mamo-chan got his brothers back." She turned towards the Shitennou. "So … we have so much to catch up on! I know you probably want to have some alone time with Mamo-chan, but I think we should at least know your names first!"

~-0-~

Night had fallen over the city of Tokyo by the time Usagi's supply of questions got exhausted—though to be honest, Ami couldn't be certain if she was truly finished. However, they stayed nearly half an hour after the closing time of Fruits Parlor Crown, and Ami had to remind them that Motoki and Unazuki still had to close up the store. Nonetheless, it still took another ten minutes in front of Game Center Crown before Usagi reluctantly gave up chatting with her newly acquired best friends.

It was almost like watching a magic show to Ami, when she saw how each and every one of the Shitennou relax while they talked with Usagi, and she thought she heard Masato curse when he realized that it was far too late and they couldn't continue their meetup.

"It was nice meeting you, Kyosuke-chan, Teruo-chan, Masato-chan, and Junya-chan! Let's have a picnic this weekend!" Usagi turned her head around to call out to them as she walked down the sidewalk with her arm looped around Mamoru's.

"It will be our pleasure," Kyosuke answered.

"We'll bring lots and lots of food!" Usagi said.

"She knows how to cook?" Junya asked, surprised while the others either nodded and answered with "okay".

"Oh yes. We'll make sure to reserve the dishes she cook especially for you ," Rei replied.

Junya answered with a placid smile which seemed to make Rei narrow her eyes.

Minako cleared her throat and gave Rei a warning glance. "Anyway, now that we know where we stand, you should probably attend our weekly meetings which sometimes turn into practice to increase our fluidity as a group. There's no immediate threats right now, but every once in a green moon, we still get small troubles, and a rope is only as strong as its weakest knot after all."

Masato snorted at Minako's complete butchering of adages and idioms. He opened his mouth to say something, but when Kyosuke fixed him with a look of calm and mild interest, he snapped it close again.

"So what day do you usually meet up on?" Junya asked.

"We usually work around Ami's schedule, since she's working at the hospital," Makoto replied. "Minako-chan usually sends a text message to all of us at the beginning of the week."

After they'd given Minako their phone numbers, Rei spoke up.

"Well, if that is all, I'll be heading home now."

Junya immediately excused himself as well, his destination surprisingly (or rather, unsurprisingly) in the same direction that Rei was heading towards.

"He's going to get himself burned," Makoto commented. Tilting her head to one side, she added, "Again."

"I'm not particularly surprised," Kyosuke replied with a barely noticeable shrug.

"It was going to happen sooner or later. You know what they say, early chickens get the corn, so he might as well get cracking," Minako said.

Masato's urge to correct her was again stopped by Kyosuke's rather seemingly friendly stare.

After Minako and Kyosuke left, Masato slung his arm around Ami's shoulders while he grabbed hold of Makoto's hand with his other hand. The narrowing of Teruo's eyes was so fleeting that Ami wondered if it had been her imagination or if it was her memories from the Silver Millennium playing tricks on her mind.

"It's too late for you to go home by yourself, pixie. Mako-chan and I will take you home so that you won't be snatched away by dangerous men," Masato said.

Ami though about reminding him that she was the Senshi of Mercury and therefore there weren't many men who could snatch her away. However, she knew that it was his way of showing care towards her, and so she nodded with a small smile.

And of course, it would give something for Makoto to talk about and give Rei a better impression of the Shitennou as a whole.

"Thank you," she replied.

It took her a short moment, after Masato started leading her away, that Ami recalled she had forgotten to say good-bye to Teruo. It wasn't common for her to forget her manners. During their whole meeting, she had grown accustomed to his silence, forgotten about the contrasting feelings of wanting and not wanting to talk to him, but now, it all came back to her in a rush.

She whipped her head around to look at him and found him still standing there, facing towards their direction. He had his back to a light source, so she couldn't quite make out his expression, but it was almost as if he had a shroud of loneliness and vulnerability. Her lips parted, but suddenly, she didn't know what to say.

"Don't worry about him," Masato spoke up.

Ami looked at him and he gave her a smile.

"I'll be the first to admit that he's a difficult one to deal with, but judging from experience, I'd say that sooner or later, you'll have him at your beck and call again," Masato said.

"Masato!" Makoto slapped him on his arm as a furious blush appeared on Ami's face.

"What? It's true," Masato said. "He couldn't keep his eyes off her."

"T-that's not true!" Ami sputtered.

"Of course it is," Masato said. "He's staring at you whenever he thinks you aren't looking."

"H-he kept his eyes on Mamoru-san," Ami protested.

"Ah-ha! So you were looking at him, too," Masato said.

"Stop teasing her," Makoto said, slapping him on his arm.

"I'm not! I just want them to be happy," Masato said.

"Just let them work things out first," Makoto said with a sigh. "I don't think either of them is ready yet."

"Knowing him, he's more than ready. He just doesn't know if she's ready, so he's trying to play it safe for now," Masato said with a shrug. "Watch him pretend to be a Casanova again once he knows she's interested."

"That's not exactly the best comparison there, Masato-chan," Makoto said with a frown. "Didn't Casanova have a lot of lovers?"

"... True," Masato said, scowling, too. However, it disappeared the next second. "But you get the gist of what I'm saying. Watch him try to butter her up, shower her with affections, and—"

"Please, stop," Ami squeaked.

The images his words brought to her mind made her face burn. She didn't even want to imagine if it were to come true. A small voice at the back of her mind reminded her that it did happen in the past and that she didn't necessarily find it as horrifying as she would've thought it would be. She promptly attempt to shove that voice into the farthest, dark corners of her mind.

"That's enough for now, Masato-chan," Makoto said, shooting him warning look.

"Fine, don't believe me," Masato said.

"I believe you, but you're putting Ami-chan under too much pressure," she pointed out.

"Hey!" Masato said, stopping in his tracks and placing a hand on top of Ami's head. He looked at her straight in the eye. "If you ever, ever get annoyed by Teruo's antics, you tell me straight away. Got it?"

She stared at him in surprise. The shock from Makoto's face, on the other hand, soon melted into a soft smile and what was probably synonymous to heart eyes.

"I mean it," Masato said seriously. "He's like a brother to me, but I'm not allowing him to pester and upset you." A grin appeared on his face. "I know what you're thinking, and I know you can probably whip his ass before he knows what happened to him, but it'll probably be less shocking to the general public for a big bear of a man to beat him into a pulp rather than a dainty, little thing like you."

Ami and Makoto laughed upon hearing his words, and it took them a small while to control their laughter.

With her eyes still glistening with mirth, Ami nodded. "I will. Thank you."

He patted her on the head again with a satisfied look before swinging his arm around her shoulder again.

She didn't know which part it was, but the conversation had somehow broken down the boulder that she hadn't known had been on top of her heart. With a lighter gait in her steps and renewed confidence for the future, she continued home with Masato and Makoto.

Somehow, she had a gut feeling that things would eventually work out in the future.

~-0-~

Fin.