The rights to the popular Japanese animation series, otherwise known as anime, "Sailor Moon," belong to none other than the Mistress Naoko Takeuchi, TOEI Animation Co., Ltd., and VIZ Media LLC. My apologies. I grow rather tired of the redundancy that is associated with writing disclaimers.

Usagi wakes up to a cold, black room, her toes grazing the cold, metal floor. She curls them, groggily trying to see in the darkness. It isn't long before she notices the reason why her toes are barely grazing the floor, why she's upright, and why her arm joints hurt like hell; her wrists and ankles are chained to the low ceiling and floor. She takes in as much of the room as she can, but it's not much since she can't see what's in front of her face. Or maybe there's nothing there. She can't tell. She can't see.

She yanks at the chains, then suppresses a shriek as sharp daggers of pain strike her arms, legs, and back. She settles on a yelp, and bites down on her lower lip so hard it bleeds. She moans in pain, and lets herself hang, depending on the support of the chains. Even if the chains broke, her bones and muscles were too sore from the wrenching of the chains for her to move much more. She hates being the "damsel in distress," but right now, she can't do much about it. She thinks to herself about what she could do:

If I can muster up the strength, maybe I can yank the chains so hard they break. No, that only happens in anime.

Maybe if I try hard enough, I can call up my tiara and it will cut me free. "Moon Tiara Action!" she calls out, but nothing happens. It was a good try.

Maybe I can focus my chi energy to break the chains telekinetically.

She sighs to herself. That's too desperate. That's a far cry from actually working. What should I do?

To her dismay, nothing magical or miraculous happens when she asks herself what she should do, although that was just like the last few attempts at freedom. She doesn't want to just give up, though. That's too easy, and Lucifer would win. Lucifer cannot win this battle by any means.

But this isn't your battle in the first place, a small voice in the back of her mind whispers. You shouldn't even be here.

She ponders on that. Lucifer's battle, as he said, lies with the King. Usagi's reason is to keep the earth from falling, because that's her job, but she wants to give that job to someone else. She's done playing Superman, now she wants to play housewife. She wants to settle down, get married, have a kid or two, become Queen of the World, whatever. She just doesn't want to do battle anymore, and she's done. She's sick and tired of endless battles where her loved ones are lost, she has to give up her life, only to be revived by the Silver Crystal or whatever.

She makes a sound that is in between a groan and a scream of frustration, and tries her first option, viciously jerking at the binds, but the result is fruitless. She knew it would be to start with. Her body howling in protest, she gives up for the time being. As much as she hates to admit it, she might have to wait for someone to come to her rescue.

And that someone is more than likely her very own Prince Charming, her personal knight in shining armor.

Endymion.

She's not mad that it would be him. She's not sure how long it's been since they shared that blissful moment in the clouds, but she hates having to be rescued all the time, hates being the butt of Rei and Akira's mean jokes, hates feeling like one the weakest links.

She just really wants to save herself for once.

Terra and Endymion run up the stairs at break-neck speed, but they don't tire, especially not Terra. Endymion can tell that the situation at hand is much, much more important to her than their lungs or endurance capabilities. He soon finds himself nearly unable to breathe, unable to move his legs anymore, but he knows that Terra would leave him if he were to stop, and doesn't want to be alone. In light of this, he presses on.

Despite the excruciating pain in every muscles in his body, he feels comforted that it's possible he could meet Serenity on the way. Any pessimism in his body left from the three years that she was gone he suppresses; he doesn't want to feel anything from that time ever again, not while she's back. He doesn't want her to see him like that, ever.

Mamoru sighed as he left the school late, once again. He checked his watch for a split-second, catching the time before he caught the reflection of the moonlight. He'd avoided the moon as much as he can, but that night, it was like it was mocking him. He scowled at his shoes, just at the onyx shade of his Vans, focusing so that he didn't have to notice the Super moon behind him, in all its huge, silver glory. He bit his tongue against the confused screams of agony that threatened to reveal themselves, showing the world how much he missed... her. It wasn't fair. She didn't mail him or talk to him in anyway. She had addressed this before she left, but it still hurts. He doesn't even know if she's trying.

Then Rei's words began to ring in his ears, words she'd told him when he complained about it for the first and last time.

"Like we don't feel the same pain? Grow up, and stop being so selfish!"

He'd never said another word after that. Rei has a way of being blunt to the point of shutting people up.

Mamoru sighed, and continued on his long trek to his car in the nearly-vacant lot, desperately wanting to close his eyes so that he wouldn't even have to catch a glimpse of the beautiful light in the cool, early-autumn air. He looked up at the stars instead, seeing planets among them. Jupiter, strong and bright. Mars, fiery and fierce. He looked up further, leading his eyes back until he saw luminescent white—the moon.

His body shook with heartache, its grandiosity striking him like a punch in the stomach. He swallowed syncopated, shallow breaths, gasping like a fish thrown into a rock on shore, sharp edges digging into its stomach, his mind swimming. He shook his head to banish the black spots seeping into the corners of his vision from lack of oxygen.

Once he got into his car, he turned on the radio, only to be frightened by the high volume of the soft pop radio he had been listening to, that was then blasting his old song, "Dakishimete Itai." He quickly shut it off in his fight-or-flight reaction, then scowled at the technology that had once been his friend.

He didn't listen to their old songs. They reminded him of a happier time, which worsened the pain he felt in his heart.

Sighing, he put the car in reverse and backed out of his parking spot, trying to distract himself thenceforth with driving carefully.

He wouldn't want to get killed or otherwise permanently injured before she'd even gotten the chance to write "hello," however long it takes her.

She never wrote.

When she was sure they had all been distracted, Princess Serenity of Crystal Tokyo snuck away from the battle taking place. She wanders the building, wondering where her uncle's soul could be. She closes her eyes and imagines the layout of the building, Tall—maybe over 100 stories. She imagines hallways, staircases, and rooms, orderly lined up and stacked around the lobby in which you can almost see the ceiling, but you can't because this is Hell, and things don't work the way they should.

If I were my uncle's body, where would I be?

She scoffs at herself. "Now that's a stupid question, if I ever heard one."

She pulls out her carillon. "Twinkle Yell!"

Helios appears, bowing with his right hand over his heart and his feet together. "My maiden," he greets her.

Serenity frowns. "What's that for? Stand up." She rolls her eyes as he stands up, an indifferent expression clouding his usual smiling face. "That's right, this time period is different. What a pain."

He cocks his head. "What do you mean? What's the future like?"

She smiles, and her cheeks warm a few degrees. "Sorry, I can't say. It's against the rules for a person to know too much about your future."

"In any case, what did you call me for?"

"I need your help to find my uncle. Do you know where he is?"

"Shingo-sama? Yes, I know where he is. Pardon me for a moment."

Helios leaves, and in two short seconds, he's back, holding Shingo's body in his arms. "As for his soul, I believe it's in your father's possession."

She groans, rolling her eyes. "You've got to be kidding me. We have no idea where they are!"

"'They?'"

"The ones who went to rescue my mom when Lucifer threw her out the window. That would be my dad, Mako-chan, Haruka-san, Akira-san, and Jose. Do you know Jose? He's-"

"I know Jose," Helios says, his teeth gritted.

"...What?"

He looks away, his face slightly pink. "Nothing. I know the boy."

"No, what? Do you hate him?"

"...no."

"Then what? Do you have some bias against him?"

"No, it's just- I got…" He takes a deep breath, and then, looking down at his shoes, whispers "...jealous…"

Serenity softens her voice, too. "Jealous? Over me?"

Helios looks up and away, not wanting to meet her eyes and she can tell. It's cute, really; young Helios jealous over her, and can't even meet her eyes because he's so embarrassed. She smiles. "Come here," she says, and he obeys. Like a sheepish puppy, he slinks over to her without looking at her. She hugs him to her chest and strokes his soft, white hair. "You're so cute this young," she says endearingly. She feels his face heat up, and she laughs.

When she releases him, he asks, "How far into the future did you come from?"

She smiles. "I'm twenty-one."

His mouth gapes; she knows that at this time he's only sixteen. He shakes his head, dismissing some thought, and says, "In any case, we should go to find your father and mother. We must be quick; they might be in danger."

Serenity nods. "Lead the way."

"Endymion," he hears, and slows down, looking around him for a sign of a source. Terra keeps strong, so he catches up to her. Must've been his imagination.

Now that his body knows what it's like to slow down and take a breather, he has to stop again. This time, he grabs Terra to stop her from continuing on.

She screams and struggles against his hold, but Endymion's much stronger than she is. She gives in, sinking to the ground.

"What… gives?" she says between breaths. "You… know… we can't… waste... time!"

"If we… continue…, we'll both… die…. Don't you… see? It's… a trap!"

"It's not a… trap…. She's… dying!"

"We won't… make it… in time… Now can you… explain to me… why we just… ran for… an hour?"

"Like I… said…, Haru's in… danger… She has this… power that"-swallow-"the Blonde Queen-Serenity of... the future-gave to her. It's called Super...nova, the ultimate… attack. While it defeats… any of its caster's… enemies over the whole… planet, it takes the… caster's life… in return. I was… rushing because I… don't know what to do without… her. Almost every childhood memory… I have includes her. We were neighbors when we were 2; her mom and Gramps'... late daughter were almost… like sisters. We've always been together… I could always rely… on her." The pauses in her voice now are cause by hiccups and sniffs. Nostalgic moments are flooding her thoughts and causing her to ponder her life, Endymion could tell. "She was the one… constant in my life, you know? No, she is. Well, now…"

Terra's face crumples, and a curtain of grief creates a shadow over Endymion's heart. He knows he that is. Even though he hasn't known her very long, not long enough to know exactly how often she cries, he knows she shouldn't cry like that. Nobody makes his little sister cry like that, and especially not Lucifer. He will make sure that Lucifer goes down, for everything Lucifer has down to Endymion's family, comrades, and loved ones. Especially Terra and Serenity.

He stands erect in one swift movement, pulling Terra with him. "What?" she says, her voice shaking.

"C'mon. We're finding a way out of this place. We can't do it on our own, but I know someone who can help us." He turns away, and calls to the open skies, "Come on out. I know you're here."

Sure enough, a silhouetted figure appears about 20 yards from where they're standing, becoming more solid as it approaches.

"I knew you had heard me, but I suppose sweet Terra did not," a woman says. She is tall and majestic, with flowing brown hair and green eyes. She wears a blue gown with a light-green under layer. She wears a jewel necklace made of golden sort of crystal and sapphires, with earrings and a crown to match. She smiles sweetly. "My name is Queen Gaia of the Golden Kingdom. Do you understand how happy I am to see you both? I am your mother."

Whaaaaaat?! Yup. I actually had this planned for once. Most of the time I've been just writing, but this one was planned. I guess I wrote it faster because of it. Anyways, yep. It happens.