Epilogue
WARNING: Read at you own risk! Seriously, this isn't a typical epilogue that you'd read at the end of a story. (It's pretty long too) I don't even know what it is, maybe it's "KissingHand-has-gone-crazy-and-wrote-this-just-to-ruin-everything". Anyway, I do want to bring closure to the story and connect a few dots, but in order to tie back to the beginning and follow the timeline, it had to be a bit closer to the ending that I originally had in mind. If you were content with how the story ended in the previous chapter, you'll probably be disappointed with this one.
I know that warning label isn't going to do much, or worse, it's more like "Don't think about the pink elephant!" What are you thinking right now? Yes, the pink elephant! If you decide that you are still ready for a super dark and twisted closure, read on…
And this would probably be rated T so if you can't read teen fic, please skip this.
Once again, Guest Guest, Guest, RoyalBlood, and Jenn, thank you so much for your review and support!
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980, Moon Kingdom
The days of peace and prosperity in the Moon Kingdom had come to an end.
Queen Beryl, influenced by Queen Metaria, the mastermind behind the Dark Kingdom, manipulated the citizens of Earth to fight against the Moon, destroying the entire Moon Kingdom. Prince Endymion, Princess Serenity and her four guardians were fallen during battles; all of the castles in the Inner Solar Systems were completely obliterated.
Nothing could have been saved at this point.
As a last resort to prevent the Dark Kingdom from taking over and starting a new era on its own, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto decided to unleash the hidden power of their talismans to awaken the last senshi, Sailor Saturn, and her Silence Glaive, the weapon of death and destruction which upon lowering it, would bring the end of all existence.
Time was running out. By midnight, the guardians of the outer solar system would gather at Titan Castle to perform their last duty.
Triton Castle
Standing on the west wing of the castle, overlooking the dried cataract waterfall where surging water once falling endlessly over the cliff, the Guardian of the Sea had no more hope left. Her sorrow and pain were indescribable, and she was counting down by the second for the night to be over so that she could be free of her guilt and torment once and for all.
Maybe not quite yet.
A warm breath was felt on the back of her neck. It was the only warmth she could feel and needed for this bitter and frosty night.
"Neptune."
Why did she deserve any more joy when she was supposed to sacrifice herself and suffer the most agonizing pain?
She turned around to her partner, her destined partner whom she 'met' only a little over a year ago. As she gazed at the flawless marine blue eyes and the handsome face, her vision quickly became hazy and her nose tingled.
"Uranus," she said weakly.
The blonde princess ran her fingers through her soft, aqua curls.
"I'm sorry, Neptune. I know I shouldn't have come but-"
She put a finger over her partner's lips, gesturing her to speak no more.
"I have something for you," Neptune whispered.
Uranus understood and nodded; she immediately closed her eyes.
The aqua-haired princess picked up her crystal violin. She rested her chin on the chin rest and started drawing the bow across the strings. Lovely melody and angelic sound produced from the delicate instrument and echoed between the cliffs. It was definitely not appropriate for the occasion and their current condition, but it was the song she had longed to play for her.
When Neptune finished playing, she noticed that Uranus was sniffling slightly.
"It's beautiful as always, Neptune," The blonde princess said, swallowing hard.
"Uranus, thank you for being my senshi partner this past year. I can't tell you how fortunate I feel having to meet and fight with you," Neptune said, trying to stay strong, "I-"
Before Neptune could speak another word, she was interrupted. Uranus had pulled her closer and embraced her tightly. The blonde princess buried her face in her sea curls, whispering warm breath that fanned her neck.
"Neptune," the blonde princess said painfully, "is that all you have to say to me? On our last day?"
Unable to resist her partner's proximity and warmth, Neptune felt her limbs weakened and she had no strength to hold onto to her violin anymore. "I'm sorry Uranus, I meant to tell you that the only regret I have is not meeting you earlier, so I could..." she sighed softly. "The song I just played-"
"I already know, Neptune. You don't have to tell me," Uranus said, taking a deep breath. "That was the Neptunian way of declaring love – playing a love song on an instrument."
Neptune closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around the blonde princess's waist.
"Uranus," she whispered, "I never came forth with my feeling. I thought there could only be senshi partnership between us and I never dared to dream of anything more. Truth be told, I wanted to court you. And as long as you hadn't found the right girl I would have always waited for you..." Neptune voice began to tremble. "That night on the ring of Saturn, I did wish upon the shooting stars that we could be together. I know it's silly-"
Uranus held her even tighter, "You didn't need to make that wish. I would never have to consider you – I don't want to be with anyone but you."
Neptune's heart warmed yet ached. She finally decided to ask the question that she always wondered in her head.
"Neptune? or Michiru?"
Uranus drew herself back so that she could look at the exquisite beauty that she once knew as two separate identities, looking into her tearful eyes, she said, "That night when I raced to the garden looking for Michiru, when I saw her injury, I already had doubts that Michiru was Neptune."
"How did you know?"
Heaving a sigh, Uranus spoke softly, "Why would a strong guardian like Neptune need a bodyguard?" She then offered a cheerless smile. "I was ready to tell you who I was at that time, even if you hated me as Uranus."
"I never hated you, Uranus," Neptune could not hold back her tears anymore; she pulled Uranus forward and pressed their lips together. "I love you."
The blonde princess lifted her hands to cradle Neptune's face, before returning her partner with a loving, yet bittersweet kiss.
"Neptune, if we can reborn, I want us to be Haruka and Michiru again. Live a normal life, just me and you. I'll ride with the wind and you'll play your violin." Uranus said dreamily.
"I promise, Haruka. I'll be your Michiru again."
"It's time to go."
The two princesses held onto each other's hand. They raise their talismans and teleported to Titan Castle.
1995, Tokyo
Sitting on the spectator seat at the racetrack, Michiru watched as Haruka prepared for her practice session, while reminiscing her own past life from a thousand years ago.
Last night was just another night she had to fight a monster alone. She didn't know how much longer she could do that by herself anymore.
She had exhausted all her options trying to get Haruka to face her destiny and accept her duty as Sailor Uranus (and hopefully remember their days during Silver Millennium). She tried using interesting words to get her attention; she tried asking her to be her model for a painting; she tried impressing her with her violin; and she even tried recalling her memory with a painting that resembled the end of Silver Millennium. Nothing worked. Haruka either didn't remember a thing or wanted nothing to do with her past life as she claimed, or both.
Could there be any other possibility?
Perhaps she remembered everything but chose to run away from it?
"If we can reborn, I want us to be Haruka and Michiru again."
Michiru silently repeated Haruka's last wish over and over in her head. Then something finally hit her.
Why did she try so hard to make Haruka Sailor Uranus and accept her destiny? Why would Haruka ever want to carry that responsibility again after having to annihilate the world in her past life? Didn't Haruka just want to be…Haruka?
If you loved her, why not set her free?
Something didn't feel right. Michiru sensed a monster in Haruka's garage. She quickly raced down there to check it out.
Her suspicion was correct. A monster had claimed a crew member and was about to lunge at Haruka. The blonde tried to defend herself but was knocked down onto the ground.
Just then, a transformation pen appeared next to her. She seemed to know what it was and tried to reach for it.
Michiru's heart ached seeing what Haruka was about to do. She remembered their last wish at Triton Castle, and was determined to fulfill it for her. She told herself that she would bear the burden alone instead. Whether Haruka was running away from her destiny to pursue a normal life, or even a life without Michiru, she didn't care anymore.
"Don't touch it!" Michiru yelled painfully. The blonde girl looked up and found Michiru standing at the door. The aqua-haired girl then continued, "If you do, you'll never be able to return to a normal life!"
Michiru transformed instead.
Neptune hurled her Deep Submerge attack to the monster, and as she was about to send another attack to vanquish it, Haruka stopped her, telling her that the monster was only a boy moments ago.
As the two were debating, the monster rose again and lunged at the Haruka. Neptune immediately dove to push Haruka out of the way. The monster slashed Neptune with its claws but the Guardian of the Sea used her Deep Submerge to defeat it.
Feeling weak from her injury, she slumped into Haruka's arms.
"Why did you protect me? If you hurt your hands, you can't be a violinist." Haruka asked the injured Neptune lying in her arms.
Why? I love you, Haruka! I'm Michiru! Neptune thought. Of course Haruka knew she was Michiru, but she obviously didn't know she was also the same Michiru from her past life. Neptune needed to say something more relevant and current, so she decided to confess her feelings as one of her admirers.
"I didn't snoop around just because you're a soldier. Before I knew that you were the one... I was watching you from nearby when you were racing for the first time. I always wanted to ride in your car along the coastline just once...You never asked any favors of anyone. You are always faithful to your feelings." Neptune said.
"I'm not faithful; I'm always running away," Haruka responded innocently. She didn't seem to have doubts in Neptune's answer.
It's okay, Haruka. Neptune thought again. She desperately wanted to tell Haruka all about their past during Silver Millennium, but as painful as it was, she would rather sacrifice everything in order to allow Haruka to live her life as Haruka and nothing more.
"I know more about you, than you do... because I watch you all the time! I don't want you to take the same way as I took. Still, I was happy when I found out that you were the one..."
980, Titan Castle
The guardians of the outer solar system used their talismans to awaken Sailor Saturn. As the young Princess Saturn stood under the Space Sword, the Deep Aqua Mirror, and the Garnet Orb, she transformed into the last senshi, Sailor Saturn. She held onto her mystic weapon, the Silence Glaive, the ultimate tool that was going to annihilate every surviving remains of the Moon Kingdom.
It was midnight.
Without a word spoken, Saturn lowered her Glaive determinedly. With the sharp edge of her weapon pointing towards the ruins of the Moon Castle, everything started going up in flames.
"Farewell, Haruka my love."
"I'll see you again, Michiru."
Soon there was nothing left but ashes.
1997, Tokyo
After Galaxia was defeated, the Outer Senshi bid farewell to Sailor Moon and the Inner Senshi, before moving on with their own lives. At this time Michiru had already given up trying to recall Haruka's memory about their past life during Silver Millennium. She told herself that after all, she was still able to be with Haruka, they were still Haruka and Michiru, and Haruka was still riding with the wind (racing) and she was still playing the violin, so what was the difference? Plus, why bring up a painful past where the ending vastly overshadowed the happy times they shared?
The Outer Senshi were riding home in Haruka's sports car along the coastline. As Hotaru spotted a meteor shower, she asked Haruka-papa to pull to a stop so that they could all make a wish.
"Setsuna-mama, what did you wish for?" the young girl asked.
"I can't tell you," Setsuna smiled and said mysteriously. "What did you wish for?"
"I can't tell you neither," Hotaru said matter-of-factly. The curious child then looked at her Michiru-mama. "Michiru-mama, what did you wish for?"
The question brought back memories from Silver Millennium again. Michiru hesitated. She still remembered the Michiru from a thousand years ago had wished to be with Haruka, but that obviously didn't come true, at least not at that time.
Heaving a gentle sigh, with a bittersweet smile, she said to Hotaru, "There's nothing to wish upon! Now is our happiest moment! Isn't it, Haruka?"
"Yes," Haruka agreed.
When they got home, Haruka asked Michiru if she wanted to take a ride with her again, along the coastline, just the two of them.
"Sure, Haruka," Michiru said smiling as she put on her coat again. "Always."
The two drove back to the same place where Hotaru spotted the meteor shower. They stood outside of Haruka's convertible and looked at the sky together quietly.
"Tired?" Michiru asked softly.
Haruka looked the aqua-haired girl and shook her head.
"Hmm?"
Michiru waited patiently, she knew Haruka was pondering upon something.
"Michiru, now is indeed our happiest moment."
"I know Haruka. You have confirmed it already."
"I actually made a wish when we were here earlier," Haruka informed.
"You did?" Michiru asked, surprised.
Haruka nodded.
"What did you wish for?" The aqua-haired girl was now curious to find out.
"I'm not telling you," Haruka said half-jokingly in her deep voice, she then looked up to the sky again.
Michiru was slightly disappointed. She looked up to the sky as well. Suddenly that conversation flooded her senses. It reminded her that night when they stargazed on the ring of Saturn.
She shut her eyes, trying to suppress the thoughts and memories in her head again.
Suddenly, her hand was gently lifted and something was placed on her palm.
She quickly opened her eyes.
"This is what I had wished for," Haruka said with a smile.
Michiru looked at her palm and was absolutely shocked.
It was a golden flower. The one that looked just like the Skyflower, the floral emblem on the Uranian planet during Silver Millennium.
Her lips shivered, she did not know what to make of that. Was it just a coincidence?
"Michiru," Haruka said, "I'm glad that we are Haruka and Michiru again."
Michiru's vision began to get cloudy and her nose tingled.
"Haruka, did you…did you remember?" She wanted to ask Haruka if she remembered everything from their past life but was too shock and emotional to form a complete question.
Haruka nodded with a smile. "You are Michiru, I knew it." She used the same line when Haruka was chasing after Michiru in Rosalind Garden.
Feeling emotional, Michiru lunged forward to Haruka and held her in a tight clasp, burying her face against her shoulder.
"I am sorry," Haruka said, stroking her sea curls gently, "I never got to give it to you that night, and I made you waited this long."
"It's okay, Haruka. It's okay," Michiru assured, her eyes filled with tears of joy. "I would always wait for you, even if it's another thousand-"
Haruka put her finger over her lips, making her go silent.
"No. Our bond is everlasting, and we will never be separated again."
Haruka's lifted her hands to cradle Michiru's face. With a warm smile, she leaned down to give her everlasting partner a loving kiss.
Thank you for reading and following the story! I hope you enjoyed it!
I know it's not the happiest closure for a rather lighthearted story. I apologize for the vast and unexpected twist from the ending on Chapter 8.
The original idea was that this would strictly be a friendship story but the interactions between Haruka and Michiru changed my mind. I did purposely make their pseudo names Haruka and Michiru in Silver Millennium because that was ultimately how it tied back to their future civilian identities and stories.
I appreciate any feedback you have - Thanks again!
April 2018 Update: I just started a new story called Unfinished Melody which is a side/supplemental story to this one and took place between Ch 8 and the epilogue!