The fighting is done. The war has been won…but not for Sailor Cosmos. She is, as she has been for so very long, utterly, and eternally…alone…Manga Canon. Written for the 25th Anniversary of Sailor Cosmos and the 30th Anniversary of Sailor Moon. Epilogue to 'The Last Sailor War' a.k.a. 'Sailor Moon: The End
Rated: T - Romance/Friendship - Words: 1,382 - Usagi T./Serena/Bunny/Sailor Moon, Sailor Cosmos, Neo-Queen Serenity, Princess Serenity
A/N: This story is a sequel to my other story 'Stripes' and a midquel to 'The Last Sailor War a.k.a. Sailor Moon: The End', taking place between the penultimate and final chapters of that fic. However, if you don't want to read 'The Last Sailor War a.k.a. Sailor Moon: The End' then you should be able to follow this story just by reading 'Stripes'.
Many thanks to SinJazz for betaing this fic! She can be found on Instagram as sinjazz1327 and on Ao3 as SinJazz.
This story is a gift for my friends RiverLethe9 and Goddess_Althena
A lone figure stood upon the Moon, surrounded by the barren surface and the empty void of space.
She was exhausted. Not just in body but in her very soul.
Somehow she had done it. The Enemy had been stopped. The Last Great Sailor War was finally over.
The thought brought her little solace however. The universe had paid an immense price before she had finally sent Chaos back to the Galaxy Cauldron.
And now that she had…what was left? Not much. And for her…utterly nothing.
Nothing, save her duty. Her duty to help the scant survivors rebuild. And her duty to guide the inevitable new stars that the Cauldron would birth. Her trials had prepared her for this. She had learnt, then re-learnt, the importance of bravery and belief; she would not soon forget them again. She was ready, willing, and able, to carry out a task destined to be long, difficult and…lonely...
Sailor Cosmos gripped her staff. Her breath caught in her chest before she finally focussed herself. It was inadvisable to be distracted by the past given the great debt she owed to the future.
Still…one last look. One last walk down memory lane. One final, fond farewell to the universe as she had known it before she let it all go and helped build the new one.
Planting her staff into the craggy ground, she took a knee and cast her gaze down. The nine coloured stripes stood out stark against her mostly white uniform. Although, now she was really paying attention to them…they seemed far less stark than she remembered.
She frowned, and glanced at the rest of her uniform. Exhausted though she was, her uniform had by now restored itself. Her fatigue must be causing her to imagine things. Nevertheless, something compelled her to take a second look at…the...nine stripes…?
The blue stripe. It had practically disappeared. A moment later it had vanished completely. She was so shocked by this that she almost missed the gold stripe following suit.
Cosmos went so far as to squeeze her eyes shut for a few seconds before re-opening them. By the time she had the navy and turquoise stripes were gone too. The green and purple stripes meanwhile had faded and were rapidly giving way to pure white.
Trembling, she raised her head and looked out across the dark and empty void.
Only…it wasn't so dark or empty anymore.
Far, far off she could see two tiny pinpricks of light. Spinning around she found two more. She shot her head back down and saw an almost completely white skirt.
Hastily, all dignity forgotten she swiveled her head all around, spotting another, noticeably bigger, pinprick of light pop into existence in the distance. An even larger, crimson dot did the same only a moment later.
Her breath caught again. Slowing her movements down, she spun all the way around. As she turned, more and more pinpricks of light began dotting the black void. Finally, she stopped moving and distinctly saw a bright golden orb ignite into existence far beyond the first two points of light she had first spotted.
Its light was blinding but that was not why she turned away. She took one final look at her skirt and saw the last stripe dissipate completely. The pink stripe. Tentatively, her bottom lip starting to tremble, she raised her head and beheld the dead space immediately before the Moon.
What looked to be a veil of glittering silver and gold dust was swirling around and around, gathering in size and speed. As it finally coalesced into a massive, beautiful, blue planet, the Moon itself lit up.
.
The same glittering dust rained down upon the barren surface and, almost out of thin air, ornate buildings of crystal and silver-white marble began to spring up. Immediately behind her a palace, topped with a crescent Moon, materialised into being, water gushing forth to flank the promenade.
.
"Well done, Usagi."
As if in a trance she looked to the left. Within the arms of a blunette woman, a black furry face smiled at her with utter pride.
Mercury's smile however was as gentle as a summer rain. "You were utterly brilliant, Usagi."
"I have to admit…" began a disembodied voice. "…for a moment I wasn't sure if you'd pull it off." Mars finished, her form solidifying, Phobos and Deimos perched upon her shoulders.
"Speak for yourself," countered Jupiter. "I always knew Usagi would find a way to win."
"That's our girl!" cheered Venus, Artemis draped around her shoulders.
She did not go over to them. She didn't even dare.
"...Is this a dream…" she whispered.
"If it is…" still trancelike, she looked to her right. Uranus and Neptune gave a little nod towards Pluto who promptly continued. "…I know two people who would be able to tell you."
Shifting her gaze to directly in front of her, Cosmos saw Saturn accompanied by Vesta, Ceres, Pallas and Juno. They all bowed and parted to let two people walk to the forefront of their group.
One was a man with silvery white hair carrying a beautiful grey cat.
The other was…
Her palms flung to her mouth as she let out a sob.
She stood stock still as the Lady approached her and gently took a hold of her hands, lowering them from her face. Even amongst the colourful group, the Lady's pink visage particularly stood out.
"Mama…" she felt a warm pressure as the pink haired Lady squeezed her hands. "…There's someone else here to see you too."
With her eyes, Lady indicated something over her mother's shoulder.
Cosmos began to turn around, her daughter gently nudging her on.
There was nothing though. Nothing but a gentle shower of golden dust. Like the Earth though, the golden sheen coalesced and solidified, taking shape. The shape of a man.
His blue sapphire eyes locked onto hers. "Serenity…Usa…" He smiled and extended his hand. "...My odango-atama…"
Wordlessly, she stepped forwards. Her uniform glowed as she approached him. Upon touching his hand it unravelled into a stream of shining threads surrounding her body, the threads re-weaving themselves into a flowing white and gold gown.
In that moment, as they moved in perfect synchrony, she felt wonderfully safe. Wonderfully happy. Wonderfully not alone. And she knew, from her very core, that her lover felt the same way too. That they were even sharing the same dream. A dream of planets, stars and people reappearing throughout the entire universe. Only it wasn't a dream.
And, for an instant, she heard within her heart a sweet, childish laugh.
It was a laugh that filled her with pride.
Pride in the title she was finally worthy of.
And pride in her other title. The title that had lived in her heart of hearts since that fateful day. The fateful day when a fourteen year old schoolgirl had met a mysterious black cat…
A/N: THE END
Thank you so much to everyone who has commented, kudosed or just been kind enough to lend their time to this fic, and all the others in my anthology.
I wish you all a very Happy New Year!