AN: Hi! Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy this new chapter! ;)
The appearance of Fighter and Sailor Moon had given the senshi a renewed sense of hope. All those who were growing weak had stood back up to fight once again. They surrounded Sailor Moon and told her to hold back until they had immobilized most of the wraiths.
"Mercury." Miya caught her attention. Mercury looked at her curiously, "When you get a chance, use Shine Aqua Illusion instead. That will freeze them in place long enough." Although Mercury didn't know how the girl knew her attacks, she understood the logic behind using her old attack.
The wraiths charged at them and the senshi paired up to attack the wraiths, one would be the decoy as the other attacked. Once a wraith was down, Mercury would freeze them with Shine Aqua Illusion and soon half of the wraiths were encased in ice. But the senshi were weakening as well. Mars and Venus had been blasted off into the distance and as they skidded to a stop on the concrete, their skin were scratched roughly. Uranus had attempted to slice through a wraith with her Space Sword when it grabbed the blade and swung her violently towards a tree. Pinned against it, the wraith prepared to drive its hand into her body. Miya had ran to help Uranus when the wraith decided to merely throw the older girl at her. Uranus landed on top of Miya and knocked her out as they slammed into the ground. As Sailor Moon tried to protect the wounded two, the wraiths went after her.
"SAILOR MOON!" Everyone's cries rang through the air. She turned to look in horror as she realized her imminent capture – their twisted gray hands reached out… inches from her.
Suddenly a rose shot through the air between Sailor Moon and the wraiths. They turned to look at the new figure standing on a lamp post at the edge of the field. All the wraiths turned to look… they all stopped their movements.
His dark cloak billowing in the chilled air, Tuxedo Kame yelled at Sailor Moon, "Sailor Moon, NOW!"
Baffled at their sudden lack of movement, Sailor Moon nevertheless took out her Silver Crystal to start purifying the wraiths. The wraiths that were encased in Mercury's ice were destroyed easily. But this time she was having difficulties maintaining the power to destroy them all – her energy was fading quickly. Sailor Moon was struggling to keep the bright light from fading, but she couldn't feel the warmth that she sought this time. It was as if something… or someone… was clouding her heart, and thus her energy. Guilt and confusion crept into her heart, darkening the light… 'No! I have to keep going in order to protect everyone.' Determined, she looked at her friends that surrounded her.
The wraiths had started to attack once again and those who were still engaged in battle were fighting to their last breath. Some of them were staggering from all the injuries while others lay unconscious. Her eyes rested on Fighter as the Starlight dodged an attack. It brought her back to the conversation she had with the Starlights during the battle with Galaxia.
"But you'll never give up. Everyone believes in you!" Healer said looking away.
"That's why they rest their hopes on you." Fighter continued, "…I believe you too."
"Me too." Maker said as she smiled at her.
"Same here." Healer added.
'That's right! I can't afford to lose now. Everyone believes in me so I have to keep going. I have to protect my friends… I have to protect the people I love.' She closed her eyes to concentrate on releasing more energy. Images of Seiya had unconsciously floated into her thoughts and her lips curled into a smile as the light grew brighter and brighter.
When Sailor Moon opened her eyes again, it was all over. She did it – all the wraiths had disappeared. She watched as Saturn and Jupiter had ran to carry Mars and Venus, Maker was supporting Healer, Neptune went to pick up Uranus while Pluto had rushed to pick up Miya burying the girl's face in the crook of her neck. Sailor Moon smiled knowing that her friends were alright… then she started to fall forward. Fighter was instantly by her side and swiftly scooped her up into her arms. They looked at each other and smiled lovingly. Though tired, Sailor Moon still smiled weakly at Fighter before snuggling closer to her chest to rest.
Tuxedo Kame had kept his sights on Sailor Moon throughout the whole fight. He had seen her start to fall and wanted to go help her but he stopped himself… 'I'm not the one by her side anymore.' He looked bitterly at the couple, balled his hands into fists, turned around and walked into the night.
All the senshi had returned to Hikawa Shrine, patching themselves up and taking care of the unconscious ones. Rei and Mina were laid down to rest. Yaten was slipping in and out of consciousness but insisted on staying by Mina's side. Ami was sitting on the floor next to Taiki as she rested her head on his shoulder with his arms around her. Haruka had woken up moments ago and clutched her head in agony as she sat propped up against a wall with Michiru by her side, tending to her wounds. Hotaru and Mako were going around bandaging everyone's injuries. Pluto was resting in a corner with Miya (still in senshi form) passed out in her arms. Seiya had insisted that Usagi rest a bit so she fell asleep in his arms on his lap as he sat on the floor.
Everyone was too tired to say a word – they knew there would be another time for an explanation.
In the middle of the night, Pluto had woken up. She looked at the girl she was still cradling. It was the first night in more than a year that Miya has slept so peacefully. 'It must be because she's around them.' She thought to herself. So without waking her up, Pluto had gently laid Miya on the ground as she stood up herself. Setsuna crept outside to get some fresh air and found Luna and Artemis were outside as well.
"Don't you think it's time to tell the others?" Luna raised an eyebrow at the woman, "especially now that they've seen her."
"You know what's going on Luna?" Artemis questioned and Luna nodded, "I thought so." His voice was soft but he wasn't angry.
"You're not mad that I didn't tell you?"
"I figured that you would have had a good reason to keep it a secret." He simply stated and smiled at her. He turned to Pluto and his face was serious again, "But given what has happened, I think you should tell everyone the truth."
"Yes, I think it is time as well." Pluto looked at them. "I will wait until Miya wakes up first though. She needs to rest. We all do." With that, she swiftly went back into the room and sat down next to Miya and drifted back to sleep.
"Pluto! Pluto!" At dawn, someone was shaking the Time senshi to wake her up. "We should go before the others wake up. Mako, Michiru, and Taiki are already awake and in the kitchen, but the others will wake soon."
"I think it is time we told them. He will be coming soon and they need to know everything. Usagi is not strong enough yet and we are running out of time. She needs to understand what is at stake now." Miya looked questioningly at her – she knew it was the truth but she still thought it was a foolish decision to tell everyone.
"We don't know how Usagi-san will react to it though. What if she chooses to return to him?" Miya pleaded, only to be responded by Setsuna shaking her head. But she refused to back down. "What if Usagi and Seiya just feel forced to be together, just like the destiny they were following before? What if they don't believe us? What if they don't like me…?" Miya stopped talking quickly as her eyes grew wide in disbelief in what she had just said – she had accidentally slipped out her true fear. Though she was concerned with everything else, she had recently begun to wonder whether or not her teenage parents would accept her willingly. Naomi was friends with them, but it was different to be friends than to be their child…
"Miya-chan." Her voice was stern. Setsuna chose not to address Miya's fears so as to refocus the girl. And Miya noticed Setsuna's tone and knew that she had no other choice. The girl bit her lip in defeat – there was never any arguing with the older woman. So she then transformed back into Naomi and sat back down quietly, worried about how the others will react when they reveal the truth.
Mako, Michiru, Taiki had decided to prepare breakfast and wait until the others woke. They figured that they will question Pluto and Miya once they were well rested. As they re-entered the room, they saw Pluto and Naomi there. Mako and Taiki stopped abruptly and exchanged a look of confusion – they could not understand how a 16 year old Naomi was the child senshi they fought alongside the night before. After a few moments, they silently continued to place the food on the table while often glancing at Naomi.
The five of them started eating the pancakes that was prepared. Michiru simply asked how everyone was feeling; since she had lived with Pluto for a long time, she knew that the Time senshi will not reveal anything unless she was ready. Pluto had given them a slight nod and everyone understood that they were to wait until the others were awake. But from the delicious smell of food, the others were already starting to stir.
"NAOMI-SAN!?"
"Mou… Mina you're so loud. Your voice is giving me a headache." Yaten was rubbing his head, clearly annoyed at being woken up so soon. But his comment earned him a slap on the back of his head.
"Meany!" Her attention returned to Naomi, "So what are you doing here? Are you that…?" Mina proceeded to ask but was stopped as Michiru gracefully raised her hand to silence her.
"We'll eat first." She smiled warmly at a grateful Naomi. No one argued with her since they were all starving. Usagi's stomach had growled so loudly just moments before she woke up that everyone laughed and they all enjoyed breakfast together in Rei's room.
"So are you going to tell us what's going on now?" Haruka had managed to keep quiet until everyone was finished eating after a little 'persuasion' from Michiru and Hotaru.
Naomi sighed. She was about to begin talking when Setsuna interrupted, "Why don't you show them who you are. It will be easier to explain that way."
The young girl bit her lip and looked around, as if wanting someone to stop her. No one did though. So she sighed again and touched the earring stud. It poofed into the Luna Ball at which the Sol senshi either gasped or frowned in confusion. And Naomi began to glow, transforming her back into Miya. Everyone's eyes bulged and stared speechlessly as they finally had the chance to really take in her appearance. The young child before them had large pale azure eyes with a slight tint of lilac. Her short, straight chestnut brown hair framed her heart-shaped face in exactly the same fashion her mother had her hair.
"You look like…" Usagi pointed to two of her friends but everyone had already turned their heads to face the couple who just stared dumbfounded.
Miya sighed, "Yes, you guys are right. I am the daughter of Taiki Kou and Mizuno Ami."
**Please review**
AN: So? Were you guys right about who Miya is? :) Her senshi name is coming up! It was super confusing when writing with it but I didn't want to give anything away before now :P