Gift of Friendship and Love

Sailor Raven and Shadow Moon were finally able to gather the Sailor Senshi, the Z warriors, Turles and Ryouga. They decided to leave anyone else of the past out of this discussion since they wanted to try and not kill anyone from the past line anymore than necessary.

It had been a week since the death of Rei, Luna and Queen Selinity, and Usagi seemed to be quieter than usual. She seemed to have blocked out the incidents of how it all happened, but deep down, they knew she remembered and at night she cried in her sleep.

Vegeta stood on his own at the back of the room and cursed at not having his mate nearby to hold. He tried to bury his anguish, but Usagi sensed it and often gave him a hug. She never mentioned anything, because it hurt her as bad as it hurt him to think of her friend that was gone. All the couples were close to each other, somehow feeling that this may be their last moments before it all falls apart. Pan, Rini and Bra were to be left out of the fight and were sent to take care of all the babies until the battle was over.

Piccolo was growing impatient and finally stood forward and coughed. "Alright. Now that everyone's done having their little sessions behind closed doors, can we find out what the hell is going on, who these two women are, what their intentions are, and if we can manage to save everyone and get back to our time line?"

Sailor Raven blinked at the long winded question of the Namek and wondered if he was always this suspicious of everyone and their motives. "I guess, I'll begin. At the beginning of time, before mortals were free to do as they wish like they do now, the gods and shadows were supreme. The balance was usually kept between the six realms. The gods, heaven, in between, the mortal realm, hell, and finally the shadow realm; these were the layers that divided up the universe. Because there was a huge war between the gods and the shadows, all immortals have stepped back so that they wouldn't end up causing everything to be destroyed into oblivion and to be placed into total darkness. The war waged for centuries, with neither side gaining the upper hand. Finally, we gained an upper hand when Hades and Jupiter made reconciliation with each other and decided to end the war. It wasn't easy, but Hades managed to suppress most of the shadows and keep them under his control. One, however, refused to listen and it took all the powers of the gods to lock him away forever in the shadow realm. Only one thing could release him from that prison and that was a family member."

A tense moment occurred as Raven turned to look at Shadow Moon who hadn't said much sense bringing them to the past. She wasn't going to say anything, but she felt a presence enter her mind. 'If you don't tell them what really happened, then their anger at you is partially your fault as well as theirs. I will not blame you if they still choose not to forgive you.' Raven was about to continue when Shadow Moon made her decision and stood up and placed a hand on Raven's shoulder. "I'll explain this and how it happened, since it was my fault in the first place."

"Shadow Moon?" Raven asked. Surprise was on her face, as her once long ago friend had never offered an explanation before. "Look, we can just skip over this part if you want to. I was going to anyway."

"No. They'll want to know and it's better they hear it from the source than make up their own minds about it. I owe them, you and most of all myself the truth. I've been hiding from it for so long, that until a week ago, I never would have faced what happened full in the face." Raven nodded and stood back to allow Shadow Moon to have the floor.

'Perhaps I wasn't forgiving enough. I don't think I've ever asked for an explanation on what happened in the past and it may be my fault she ran from the battle all those years ago. She could have been the deciding factor in killing her brother.' Raven sighed. Instead of listening or being supportive, I yelled at and judged her; giving her no chance to explain.

Shadow Moon felt hope that maybe she still had her friend. 'I better not jump the gun on that.' "When I was about fifteen, I found out by accident from a conversation between my mother and father that I had an older brother that I never saw or heard about. At first, I didn't know what to think. I was angry because I was under the impression I was an only child and that they had dared to keep a secret like this from me. It didn't take long for me to find out where he was at, because it seemed that every shadow in my domain knew of him, but they failed to tell me how cruel, evil and manipulative he was. I did something that I shouldn't have done at my age because it could have killed me if I had been anyone else's daughter."

I snuck down to the darkest parts of the shadow realm and found my brother. He didn't look anywhere like the kind of person that should have been kept in such a place and I took pity on him. Was I naive. At first he only ridiculed me and my entire family. Naturally, I assumed it was because my father shunned him and didn't want anything to do with him. The more I went down there, the less he yelled at me and the more he would find out about what went on at the top of the shadow realm and beyond. I didn't hide anything from him. Soon, he began making me hate my own father for trying to shut him out because he wasn't the son he wanted. Three years, I visited him, and for three years, I listened to his silver coated tongue. One day, I had come down there to tell him I had learned how to travel through the shadows from one time to the next and how to read minds. I was so excited that I foolishly said that I bet I could even beat him at the mind control game."

He accepted my challenge and with a promise that I let him see the outside world for a couple of minutes, to glimpse the stars that he yearned to touch. My heart ached to help him, but I knew he couldn't do it. However, I was so sure of myself that I could win, that I never realized the trap he had set up and it didn't take him long to overpower me with his mind and leave me shaking on the floor holding my head in my hands. I don't even know what he did to make me collapse like that. I tried to leave then, but he was quicker than I was and grabbed my arm and with eyes full of tears, he begged that I keep my promise and not be like my father who never kept his word. Making him swear that he would return the minute he saw the stars, I decided to trust him and snuck him through the shadows until he reached a point that blocked him from the other realms. Chanting the one spell he had been hoping for, I released a fate worse than hell on the universe."

Raven was shaking as she heard the story that had tormented the Shadow Senshi for nearly twenty millennium. Tears streamed down her face as her hands covered her mouth. Shadow Moon didn't do it to get back at them, but out of an act of love and compassion for someone she thought was being mistreated.

Shadow Moon didn't know if she could go on with the rest of the story, when she felt warm strength flow into her and she looked up startled to see the mate of Kakarot staring at her with understanding and friendship if she wanted it. 'She looks like Cosmos for some reason.' With a start, she realized it was Cosmos staring at her, but not yet awakened. 'Thank you princess.' "After a few minutes of him looking at the stars, I begged him to come back before we got caught. That was when I learned the full consequences of my actions. He turned to me, grabbed my throat and pulled me so close that all I could see were the insanity of his eyes." She shuddered at the memories of what happened as if it were yesterday.

"Sister, if you only know how much you have turned against your father and the gods by releasing me. I say you're more evil than I am." His hand brushed her cheek, instilling fear into his sister's young mind. He brought his mouth close to where only she would here and keep with her forever what he was about to do with everything he touched. "I will make sure everyone you know, trusted you, loved you sees how far down the path of evil you've tread. No one will believe that you didn't do this on purpose because you told yourself that Hades knew about your visits for the past three years. He warned you about staying with me, but you didn't heed."

Everyone in the room felt cold chills run down there spine as they heard her tell the most devastating past of her life. "With a severe blow to my neck, he rendered me unconscious while he traveled back down and killed my mother. He almost killed my father when he decided to let him live knowing that his precious little girl was the one responsible for everything. Then he started on the different planets in the mortal realm, killing off everyone that I considered friends. The last blow was with Amazon's planet, the one that Vegeta destroyed and him telling them that I was the one to thank for her new world of death and destruction. God, I couldn't even look at them, as he told them what happened. I knew what he told them wasn't true, but I hated myself at the time and their words only made it seem that much truer. I fled from the battle in anguish, refusing to ever come to the mortal realm again, or venture from the shadow realm." Shadow Moon went back to the window, holding her arms. "It wasn't until several centuries later, that I learned about Amazon's sacrifice to stop my brother, furthering the shame. I couldn't bear to face Raven, nor did I know if she had died herself. No one had mentioned anything of the time god's wife, only that she had been badly injured. I cried because Erebus betrayed the trust of the only one that would give it to him."

Raven rose to finish the story, a lot still needing to be said and done. "After Amazon and I thought that Shadow Moon had betrayed us and ran, we continued to fight and it seemed like a losing cause. Amazon was down and Erebus was about to deliver the finishing blow. I was injured badly, but I wasn't going to give up when a voice stopped and came up behind me.

"The only way you can help this battle now, is by making a sacrifice. Your soul to form a shield around the planet. You can't defeat him any other way. Erebus won't die, but he will no longer have the power to move throughout the universe."

"I was ready to do anything at that point, to stop Erebus from moving on to getting what he desired. The words were on the tip of my tongue when Amazon stopped me, her eyes sad yet determined. She had lost everything, her children, people and planet. 'Raven, you still have a daughter. Go home to her. This will be my final show, and gladly.' Chronos studied her for several minutes and finally nodded. I wanted to protest, but a great weight had forced me to my knees, rendering it impossible to stop what happened next. My husband slowly walked up to Amazon, a mortal that still had years left to give. Touching her brow, they began to pulsate, and small butterflies began to float from her body, surrounding Erebus and the planet."

"I wanted to scream for them to stop, but it was too late as everything was bathed in a white and beautiful light. My heart broke at that point, watching my closest friend fade. There would be no after life for her to go, her soul was one with the planet, trapping Erebus forever. That was until the planet was destroyed. Perhaps she now knows peace, I may never know."

"All I could remember after that point was crying and Chronos carrying me away. I was placed in the deepest and darkest part of the time stream, a place none but Chronos has seen or tread." Silence followed after Raven's and Shadow Moon's story, unable to say anything.

Vegeta was the first to say anything. "What do we do now?"

"Fight!" the unison cry came.

"Nice attitude," Shadow Moon commented, "but in this case it's going to take a little more than fighting to beat this enemy."

"I may have a partial solution to that problem Vegeta," Kakarot said.

Everyone turned to look at Kakarot, to see what the calm warrior had come up with. "What do you have in mind dad?" Gohan asked.

Kakarot looked at Pluto for something that seemed to be confusing him. "Pluto, with the way things stand, how do we merit in the time stream?"

"As it stands, we can't go back to the time we knew any longer. It doesn't exist. When we do travel back we won't fit in and have to relearn how to do everything."

"So basically, we have no place in any particular time anymore."

"No, none of you do. Not the children, not yourselves, and not your mates."

"How hard is it for you to keep an eye on the entire time stream Pluto?"

Pluto laughed, rolling her eyes. "You have no idea. Mirai Trunks slipped into the past to change his future, then you came to the future and now we're back in the past again. I'll say it's nearly impossible to do and sometimes a heavy burden on a soul."

Vegeta had never seen Kakarot so serious before, but it was obvious he was on to something if he was asking so many questions. "Kakarot, what are you up to?"

"Well, why don't we prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again?" Kakarot looked at everyone in the room and then the doors. "Everyone of you are to remain silent about this, especially Turles because he has the chance to be a part of this since he has no future in either time line, because I killed him on Earth."

"What do you mean Kakarot?" Pluto asked. "There's no way I can prevent things like this from happening, being only one person."

"That's just it!" Kakarot said getting excited. "You can't do it alone and I think your father was insane to think you can!"

"Kakarot!" Piccolo yelled. "Watch who you're speaking against! Chornos happens to be her father, you know!"

"I know who her father is, and if I was him, there's no way I would have given such a task as to watch eternity alone, with no one to talk to, cry with, or to even be with. Dammit! That's a fate worse than death, or hell!"

Raven raised an eyebrow and had to hold back a laugh. "At least he's being honest. Chronos is more likely to strike down a coward than someone who speaks his mind. What do you propose to do then, if we manage to defeat Erebus then, Kakarot?"

"I don't know, but there has to be a way we can help her watch the time gates so that she isn't in the predicament she was in with us. She couldn't get to us, because Android 17 blocked the path."

"She won't have to be," Raven said.

"What?" Kakarot and Pluto said.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm your mother dear and if I hadn't been injured in the battle against Erebus, I would have taken over the time gates instead of yourself so that you can find happiness and a person to love you. Kakarot has a good idea, but everyone here must go back to the time they came from. I will make an exception for Turles since he was dead, because I can't see myself separating him from Haruka."

"Mother?" Pluto asked. "Why would you want to do this?"

"I wouldn't be doing it alone. Chronos would have been with me, but after he placed myself in a long sleep, he probably had a good reason for leaving the time gates to you as long as he did."

"Not bad Kakarot," Piccolo said. "You actually had a plan that was well thought out."

"Oh well. Maybe my other idea won't be shot out the window."

Trunks blinked at Kakarot to make sure this was the same person they had all known for several years. "You mean you could actually hold more than one thought in your head at one time?"

"Kakarot it won't work," Usagi said. "Erebus is far more powerful than you can imagine and would destroy your mind before you even got to the point where you could defeat him. He's immortal and has lived far longer than any of us combined. Becoming immortal we will not solve this problem."

"Usagi," Ami said, "we have to try."

"Try what?" Usagi said jumping up, tears streaming down her face in a torrent. "Getting yourselves killed for a cause that you can't possibly win individually. I've seen what he's going to do to every one of you! And let me tell you something, I hope to god it doesn't happen. It's horrible to see it every night and I've been trying to keep it from Kakarot so he wouldn't see or worry about me anymore than him or Vegeta already do. There is another form I can reach and do you know that it's going to cost me the only friends I have known and thought about while I was in America? Don't act so surprised. There wasn't a waking moment, I didn't look out the window of the ranch house I was living in and didn't see your faces. I missed you guys so much, but I thought for years, you despised me and tried to be the person you wanted the most. That was a child's way of running from her problems and not learning to stick up to her friends when they're pushing her around. I lost Rei, and that nearly destroyed me! Can you do the same to your mates and me as well? How much pain do you want to cause me? I will not become Sailor Cosmos, and if I do, because you eight died, then I'm going to commit suicide!" Usagi ran out of the room sobbing and leaving everyone sitting in stunned silence.

Kakarot was about to jump from the table when Vegeta stopped him. "I'll go after her Kakarot. I understand more of what she's going through than anyone here." He left the room, leaving Kakarot feeling helpless. "There has to be away to prevent the others from dying."

Hotaru was thinking about something. "Why can't we just give her the power she needs?"

"What do you mean?" Pluto asked.

"Well, whenever we fought the enemies in the past and we couldn't get to Sailor Moon, our powers would somehow go to her when she called for them. The Sailor Crystals that make us the Sailor Senshi, can make Cosmos."

"I thought that could kill us if we gave up our Sailor Crystals?" Ami said. "Remember Galaxia?"

"I remember. However, she took our crystals by force, by ripping our bodies apart. If we don't damage our bodies, could we give her the crystals, without killing ourselves?"

"If we did that," Haruka said, "then we're practically defenseless without our magic and planetary powers to help fight any enemies that may attack us."

"What choice do we have? Usagi's right. We would only end up getting killed in the fight and further the pain she has already. This way, she can fight with the combined powers of the senshi, without having to worry about our safety. Come to think about it, none of us have ever actually finished a fight. She has always stood alone and will have to do it again. I'm not going and I will give her my power to fight."

No one knew what to say to Hotaru's idea and were wondering if it were truly possible to do this. "She's right. You can voluntarily give up the powers of the senshi, and give it to Sailor Moon. However, there is one catch you need to be aware of before you do it. Unless she willingly gives back the star crystals that has your powers, you will never again become the planetary senshi. You will be like every other ordinary fighter, with the exceptions of those who are half Saiya-jin."

Ami, Minako and Makoto thought about it and had made up their mind the minute Hotaru suggested the idea. "I don't know about you guys," Makoto said, "but we owe Usagi one for what we did to her in the past. If we go, we hurt her further and that was not my intention if we ever saw her again. Our job is to protect her and if that means giving our powers to do it, then so be it! I'm in. I'll give her the power of thunder and lightning."

"Right!" Ami and Minako shouted in unison. "Hope you guys don't mind us being ordinary fighters if we can't ever become senshi again."

Gohan laughed along with Trunks and Goten. They had to respect their mates for the sacrifice they were willing to make for their friend. It wasn't easy to give up power that you've had your entire two lives.

"Mercury Eternal Power!"

"Venus Eternal Power!"

"Jupiter Eternal Power!"

"Saturn Eternal Power!"

The four women clasped hands and looked into each other's eyes. "Are we sure we want to do this? Once we do, there's no turning back or regaining our powers if Usagi doesn't give it back to us willingly."

"Yes." The four women closed their eyes, and began to glow purple, blue, green, and orange.

"Sailor Moon. Have the power of lightning and thunder. Jupiter Power!"

"Sailor Moon. Have the power of wisdom and winter. Mercury Power!"

"Sailor Moon. Have the power over love and friendship. Venus Power!"

"My little sister, Sailor Moon. I give to you the power of death, destruction and rebirth. Saturn Power!"

With a gasp, four crystals left the bodies of Saturn, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter to float in the air shining brightly. With a flash they vanished to leave four exhausted women standing back in their regular forms. Haruka and Michuru looked at each other and smiled. "If the inner senshi have the guts to give up their power, then we can too. No one is going to say the outer senshi were stingy or a bunch of cowards. What about you Pluto?"

"I don't have much of choice at the moment. I can't guard the time gates at the moment, and we do need Sailor Cosmos. I'm in."

"Neptune Eternal Power!"

"Uranus Eternal Power!"

"Pluto Eternal Power!"

"My little kitten, have the powers of the wind and strength. Uranus Power!"

"Sailor moon, have the music of the sea and it's currents to keep you floating. Neptune Power!"

"Princess, have the power of time and calm. Pluto Power!"

Black, Turquoise, and yellow crystals appeared in the air, twinkled a couple of times and then vanished. The three of them had to be grabbed by Endymion, Turles and Ryouga as they nearly passed out from the exhaustion that swept over them. Kakarot was shaking at what Usagi's friends had done for her. He had often wondered what they would do to make up for the past and now he knew that she was wrong about how powerful their love for her really was.

Endymion looked at Kakarot and smiled. "I have a gift for you as well. It makes up for me being a jack ass to Usagi four years ago. I could never call forth its true power anyway." Concentrating on the power within himself, a golden crystal appeared and flashed in front of everyone. It floated for sometime in the middle of the room, until it came in front of Kakarot. "The crystal is something beyond my understanding, but I do believe there is someone that was destined to use its power."

"What makes you think I can use it?" Kakarot reached out a hand to touch it, when the crystal did something none of them had ever seen happen before. As everyone covered their eyes, the crystal split in two with one entering Kakarot's body while the other one vanished. Kakarot had never felt anything like this as he went through Super Saiya-jin 1, 2 and then 3 to stop right before he changed into four. When the golden light faded, Kakarot was standing with his hair grown out to the floor and looking around confused. "I'm a Super Saiya-jin 3? I didn't power up though." He tried to lose the transformation, but couldn't feel the energy that it takes to get this transformation. 'I don't feel drained either.'

Ami looked around the room startled, with Raven and Shadow Moon wondering how the crystal had done what it did. "That's never happened before," Raven whispered.

"The power of the golden crystal is suppose to go to those that can protect the one with the silver crystal the best." Shadow Moon said.

"Maybe that's why it split," Gohan guessed. "What if, just what if, the golden crystal thinks there's two people that can protect her most with equal power."

"There's only one person that has equal power to Kakarot," Piccolo said, "and that's Vegeta."

Kakarot had been silent since the crystal had entered him. "I do feel the difference in the power, but Usagi still won't be completely happy. Not until I take care of something. You guys, tell Usagi I'll be back in a day or so with a couple of surprises for her." Placing his fingers to his forehead he vanished without telling anyone what he was up to.

Piccolo had a good idea what Kakarot was planning on doing and had to admit that it was kind of foolish to be calling forth the dragon this early in the stage. However, if he only uses Shenron inside of him, then they could still use the Namekian Dragon Balls. 'Good luck Kakarot, and hopefully Erebus won't find you first.

Usagi was crying in a corner when she gasped in surprise and shock. In a flash, she was Princess Serenity, as blue, yellow, green, turqouise, purple, orange, black and the red she already had in her, joined together around the silver crystal completing its power.

Vegeta who had been searching for her, froze in his tracks watching his sister change completely. Her hair had gone completely silver, along with her eyes and tail. When she lifted her head, an eight pointed star was there as her eyes were impossible to read. Wings sprouted from her back that expanded to over twenty feet long. When she floated back down to the floor, the glow and dress faded, but the transformation didn't. "Usagi?"

Usagi looked at her hands, then her body as she felt and looked different. "I don't understand. My friends aren't dead, yet I'm standing here as Cosmos." With a flap of her wings, she could feel the icy breath of Mercury along with the hurricane winds of Uranus. On the tips of her wings, were the colors of the rainbow.

"Who are you? And what have you done with my sister?" Vegeta growled in anger and confusion.

"I am still your sister Vegeta, but different. It seems that I was destined to become Sailor Cosmos after all."

"Your friends aren't dead though. You said that yourself."

"No, they're not dead, but they will not be able to become senshi again as long as I hold their Sailor Crystals."

This girl did not act like the sister he knew. Pain, entered his heart at the loss of his innocent and happy Rena, but then she did something unexpected. She walked up to him and enveloped him in her wings and hugged him. "Oh Geta. Please don't be afraid of me. The power and outlook on things may be different, but I will always be your little Rena. I still need you Vegeta, because you're part of the support that is keeping me going. Remember the promise you and Kakarot gave me. You would never let me do anything alone, and I'm counting on that still."

Vegeta laughed at his sister and stepped back from her. "You're right." He was about to turn and leave, when he felt his body lift into the air and a golden light surrounded him. "What?" He couldn't explain it, but his power went to Super Saiya-jin 3 and remained that way as he drifted back to the floor in a daze. He tried to power down, but he couldn't, nor did he feel a drain on his energy at the amount it took to keep this form. "I don't understand. What happened to me?"

Usagi, came up to him and looked at him closely. "You have part of the golden crystal inside of you. Where is the other half of it?" She closed her eyes to figure out what was happening, when she opened them in surprise. "Kakarot has it! And, he's the same power level as you are." 'No wonder they could never beat each other. They were destined to be my protectors from the beginning.'

"Usagi, I have one question. Are you completely powered up at the moment, or is that your normal state from now on?"

"I'm not powered up yet, Vegeta. Why?"

"Because I really want to spar right now." With a smirk that matched his own, they ran off to go fight outside, since the training room wouldn't be able to hold their power.