AN: Thanks for the reviews! Makes me so happy that you like it :) Enjoy this new chapter!

"Where are we?"

When their eyes adjusted to the light, they realized that they were standing in front of a giant marbleized door decorated with moon symbols. The Inner senshi and Tuxedo Kame recognized it immediately from their previous visit; the Outer senshi had never seen it before but also knew where they were. The Starlights however had no idea where they were and Yaten had asked the question on behalf of his two friends.

"We're at the Time Gates." Pluto answered simply. Her back was to the group as she examined the gates. She frowned at the damages – there was no doubt that Endymion and the wraiths had tried to destroy it but failed. 'Why were they trying to destroy it?' She sighed and decided that it was pointless to dwell on it.

"Wait," Maker looked around when she noticed someone missing, "where's Miya?" Upon her words, everyone else had just noticed that the girl was not amongst them.

Pluto bit her lip. "She's still in the park." She hugged her body.

"What!?" Maker and Mercury practically screamed.

"She asked me to give this to you two," Pluto responded calmly and pulled out the letter Miya had written and handed it to the two. "She asked me to temporarily seal us here. You will understand soon." She turned around once again to hide the tears that were forming on her face – no matter how calm and stoic she may seem, Pluto was extremely upset about sacrificing the girl to save everyone. But she knew they had no other choice and only hoped the others would understand after reading the letter.

Everyone looked curiously at the letter as Mercury and Maker opened it.

Dear Papa and Mama,

I have asked Auntie Pluto to take all of you to the Time Gates dimension. If you are there without me, you will be protected when I release the energy of my star seed. As the star senshi of ice, my energy freezes whatever it touches. And now with the help of the Golden Crystal, my energy has increased and may freeze the entire Earth. Once all the wraiths are frozen, Sailor Moon can destroy all of them simultaneously.

As a senshi, it is my duty to die protecting the Princess if necessary. But more importantly, this is something I must do to protect everyone I love. I am very happy to meet you two from this time (and everyone else) but I was never meant to live here in this time. After this mission, I would have nothing to return to in the future nor can I live with the terrifying memories of the life I had. This is for the best.

I just hope that you will be proud of all that I have accomplished. My hope is for everyone to have a better future. It may never be a perfect future because nothing is perfect but at least it will be a happy one. No matter what happens, your heart knows what it wants most and it will never fail to bring you happiness. Even if the happiness is short and brief, you will live with no regrets. My only regret in life is condemning one of my best friends. But Small Lady lived with no regrets and she sacrificed herself for the ones she loves as well. She wants everyone to live life to the fullest and embrace each and everyday with happiness. So with that, I also wish that everyone will be happy everyday and be with the person they love most. Don't ever give up on finding happiness!

I love you very much and I am happy to die protecting you. Promise that you won't forget me and all the fun times you had with Seito Naomi. We will meet again someday.

I love you.

Miya Kou

Mercury flung herself at her lover as her tears fell onto Maker's chest. Tears were also falling down Maker's face as they held each other. Her grip tightened around Mercury's shoulder and hair as they cried over their future daughter. Even though they were not yet her parents, they were nevertheless extremely proud of her – they were proud that their daughter grew up to be selfless, willing to die protecting the people she loves.

Everyone else was proud of her too. Even though the Inner senshi and Stalights had known her primarily as Seito Naomi, they had fun together and the girl had always given them good advice as a friend. Now that they know what she was doing, they couldn't help but feel a sense of loss… as if they lost a family member. Some of them were also a little disappointed that they didn't spend more time with the girl as Miya, not as Naomi. Even the Outer senshi were weeping quietly, lamenting the death of the brave girl.
Although upset, the others could only imagine what Mercury and Maker were feeling.

Although he hadn't known the girl, Tuxedo Kame was still touched by her words and what she was willing to for everyone. But upon reading the letter, he had so many questions. He had to ask the question that concerned him the most, "What did she mean when she said she had help from the Golden Crystal?"

It was Pluto who answered him, "Proximity to the Golden Crystal must have allowed it to pour some of its power into her." She had never understood how Miya had obtained the power when it was initially mentioned. But ever since she had heard that the girl was with Mamoru that night, Pluto suspected that the dark energy had inadvertently transferred some of Mamoru's energy to Miya as it tried to corrupt her as well. She realized now that Miya's increasing irritability these past couple weeks was possibly due to the dark energy that seeped into her.
Nevertheless, Pluto decided not to tell Mamoru that it was Miya he was with that night... Mamoru was still a kind man even if Endymion had become ruthless – he did not need to suffer the humiliation. "It is similar to the time when Nehelenia took control of the Golden Crystal. It enhances the powers of its yielder."

Mamoru wasn't completely convinced – he still wondered how she would have contact with the Golden Crystal, his star seed. He wanted to ask but gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he saw Pluto shake her head as a sign for him to stop questioning her.

"It is time to return."

Everyone nodded. Pluto raised her staff and a bright red light surrounded them once again. When the light faded, they were in the park again. But everything was different…

Everyone felt warm even though the sky was still bleak and everything they could see was encased in ice. Black figures of the wraiths, the trees, the ground, houses… the Earth stood still… everything was frozen. But despite the Earth being frozen, it wasn't cold. In fact, it was warm – the warmth that wrapped around them was comforting… almost like it was protecting them.

Then a small noise was heard. They all ran towards it.

There, they found Rime Star, on her knees as if she had just fallen. Her uniform was torn and tattered and she was bleeding from numerous wounds from when the wraiths attempted to attack her before she released her energy. She detransformation and fell face forward onto the ground, unmoving.

Mercury and Maker rushed to her side and knelt next to her and lifted her into Mercury's arms. The water senshi cradled her, 'Her body is so cold…' The light brush of Taiki's fingers on her cheek was enough to rouse Miya.

"Mama, Papa" She turned head from Mercury to Maker and smiled back at their loving faces. "I thought I'd never see you again." She closed her eyes briefly as her body started to fade. Every cell in her body ached and she barely had enough energy to stay conscious.

Tears poured from their faces as Mercury held her tighter and Maker held her hand. The others were also crying silently as they watched Miya continue to fade from the arms of her parents. No one knew what to say or do to comfort them…

Then, a tune interrupted the silence. Fighter was singing – she remembered that a particular tune soothed the girl to a peaceful sleep. Her voice was trembling from sadness as she started but she was determined to sing for Miya… her friend and future niece. It was her final gift to Miya.

Maker recognized it as the old Kinmouku lullaby and joined in to sing. Healer joined in as well. And as the three Starlights sang for her, Miya looked up at the stars and smiled softly.

Her voice was barely a whisper, "I feel… so warm." She closed her eyes for the last time and vanished into the darkness.

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