Author's notes:

Next chapter is up! Thank you for your patience…as always, I am very appreciative of your support and feedback. I have quite a large number of readers who have followed or favourited this fic, so if you are one of those and haven't commented, I would love to hear from you!

Now, for your info, I use a Japanese word that has multiple meanings in this chapter, and somewhat 'pretend' that it is actually a Kinmokian word—rather than making something up, I liked the idea of paying some homage to the beautiful Japanese language. The word is 'kokoro'.

As always, make sure to check out the important notes from the Prologue if you haven't already. Enjoy!

Music rec – I have three for this one (because why not)…

River of Tears by Alessia Cara (lyrically irrelevant to the story but melodically stunning…highly recommended for a scene in this chapter…)

Lost in Paradise by Evanescence (also highly recommended)

POWER by Kanye West (for later on in the chapter)

Chapter Twenty-Five

"Raf…Raf…"

Hands, framing her cheeks, pulling her gaze away. "Odango, come on—we have to get you out of here—"

Fighting her, wrenching away; panicking. "I can't leave him Seiya—I-I can't—please, he needs me—"

"He's gone, Usagi, there is nothing you can do—"

Rain, slick on her skin. Blood, sticky on her hands. "No—no. I'll save him—I'll fix this—"

Her touch, firmer then, bundling her up, moving her away. "I'm sorry, Odango…"

"No—I can help him, let me try—"

Struggling, searching out his limp body. Crumbling as blackness enveloped him, stealing his body away forever. "Rafu…"

Cries, suddenly at her ears. Rini.

Helios.

Chibi Chibi.

And then nothing, as pain engulfed her.

Seiya stood in the shadows of her bedroom, leaning against the cool window that overlooked a city that had already forgotten the assault it had sustained that very evening. She tipped her head back to the glass and watched over the young woman curled in her bed, her sleep restless as her body and her mind tried to heal. "I'm sorry, Odango," she whispered.

Their apartment was close by, and the senshi had taken refuge there after the attack. She listened for the sounds of voices in their living space, but all was quiet—as it had been ever since their arrival. Just like before, she had carried the guardian inside and gently set her down to rest, unwilling to leave her side. She would be there when she woke—she had promised her that.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop him," she murmured into the darkness. "But I promise you I will."

Usagi stirred, fighting away the covers and gasping as she sat upright, eyes wide and panicked. "No, Rafu—"

"It's okay, Odango," she soothed, rushing over and kneeling in front of her. "It's okay…"

"Seiya?" She looked around, unsure of her surroundings. "Where…?"

"You're in our apartment," she said. "In my room…we came here after…"

Usagi released her white-knuckle grip on the sheets she had tangled around herself, letting them fall to her lap. "After," she murmured, and Seiya could see she recalled the moments before she slipped into unconsciousness—the moments when Rafu's bloodied body had been enveloped by black energy, disappearing forever. She could see the pain etched into her lovely features, and it killed her.

"Odango," Seiya said softly, "you should get some more rest—"

"What happened tonight, Seiya?" Usagi interrupted, her voice low. "What happened to Rafu?"

She hesitated. "Maybe now isn't the time—"

"You promised!" She burst. "You promised you would tell me!"

Usagi shook, breath laboured and eyes dark. Seiya moved to sit alongside her, taking her trembling hands in her own. "You lost control of your power," she told her, "you saw Helios die and Chibi Chibi disappear with him and it unleashed something inside you." She met her eye as Usagi shook her head—over and over. "You were angry, and we tried to stop you—"

"I killed him…"

"No." Seiya said firmly. "Chaos did—he forced your hand, you didn't have a choice—"

"I was the one who killed him…"

Seiya shifted closer to her, lifting her chin to look at her when she avoided her gaze and ignored her voice. "Usagi," she pressed, "Chaos was the one who took Rafu's life, not you. I was there—I saw it…he forced the blade." She pushed away the image of Usagi's hands on the crystalline blade; her scream as Chaos slid the knife across Rafu's neck. The black blood that cascaded from his throat. "He did that, not you."

Usagi shook her head slowly, eyes glassy and distant. "But it was by my hand—I was going to—I could have—"

"This is what he wants," she said, throat tight with emotion as she watched her teeter on the edge. "Don't let him win—don't let him win before we can take him down for what he has done."

Two round tears slipped over the curve of her cheeks but Usagi ground her jaw. "And what about for what I have done?" She scowled. "I saw the destruction, and I saw the people rising up from where they had been struck down—I know that wasn't all Chaos' doing—I can feel it." She looked up at her. "I know I had something to do with that."

Seiya let out a long breath, and when she finally spoke, her voice wavered in spite of how she fought. "You were a warrior on a warpath," she said. "You wanted revenge for what had been taken, and suddenly you commanded power unlike anything I have ever seen. Everything you touched turned to crystal." She could feel it; like ice in her veins. "I knew as soon as it started to take over the city that this was the end of Earth, just like you'd told me."

Usagi drew back, breathless. "Crystal Tokyo," she whispered. "No…"

She fought to keep Usagi's mind from spiralling. "But we stopped you—we stopped that from happening—"

"All this time," Usagi whispered, as though she hadn't heard her, "all this time Crystal Tokyo—that future—was a result of my actions." She squeezed her eyes closed. "A wasteland…"

"It was just another future," she told her. "Another future in which you conquered, Odango."

She tugged her hands away and slid from the sheets, crossing the room to stare out at the city's lights. "Another future in which the entire world suffered," she argued. She wrapped her arms around her torso. "And now this…Helios, Chibi Chibi…" Her voice broke and her shoulders hitched to her ears. "Helios is dead and Chibi is gone…and Raf…it's all my fault…"

Seiya rose and stood beside her. "The day Kinmoku was attacked, I had run to our desert—no man's land, as we call it. I wanted to escape—to get away from the duties of being a senshi, and hiding who I was from our people." She swallowed down the knot in her throat. "Taiki and Yaten came looking for me, and in those moments as they dragged me back home, Kinmoku was attacked." It burned to speak it aloud, and she imagined it always would. "Galaxia murdered my family because I wasn'tthere—I watched my Pama die right before my eyes. All because I wasn't there."

Usagi turned to her. "Oh, Seiya, that wasn't your fault—"

"And people will tell you the same," she said, meeting her eye. "I know it doesn't take away the blame and the guilt you feel—I do." She reached up to swipe at a tear as it tumbled down her cheek. "But you cannot lose yourself to this; you have to be strong and you have to fight—for the people you have lost."

Seiya, she could hear her Pama saying to her, fight for your future.

"You are the strongest being I have ever known—your love and hope gives you unfathomable strength. That is what you mustcall upon now." Seiya told her. "You have every right to be livid for what he has done, and every right to be devastated for what he has taken." She wouldn't let her give up—she just wouldn't. "There is no shame in whatever it is you feel."

Usagi was quiet for a moment as she shifted her gaze back out over the city she loved. "I feel so angry, Seiya," she whispered; words that had never fitted her before, suddenly spoken without hesitance. "I feel so angry for Rini, who has lost the boy she loved, and for Rafu, who had his entire life ahead of him." She closed her eyes. "And for me, who has lost a child; even if she weren't my own. I don't know where she has gone, or if she's safe…or if I'll ever see her again." She was fighting back tears; she could hear it in her voice. "Love and hope feel far from me now…"

"They're still there—they will never disappear; I know that," Seiya smiled, touching her cheek as Usagi turned to look at her. Her smooth skin beneath her fingertips caused a flutter in her chest, the blissful memory of their kiss fresh in her mind—a kiss that Usagi did not recall, and perhaps, she thought, it was for the best. "It's all those emotions that give you your strength, Odango, and that's why this solar system needsyou." She reached out to take her hand. "Rini needsyou."

I need you.

Usagi nodded—uncertain and shaken, but fierce nonetheless. "I've never given up before…"

"And you won't now," Seiya said. "We can defeat him—we will."

The silence of grief is deafening.

The senshi filled the space in Starlights' living room, among the instruments and quiet, with nothing but the sombre tinker of Seiya's piano tune at their ears. Usagi sank into the cushioning of the couch, cradling the pink-haired girl as she softly cried. She stroked her cheek, smoothed her hair, and fought back her own heartache to give everything she could to her future daughter.

Rini needs you.

She couldn't describe how she felt—the sick, twisted feeling in her gut; the ferocious need to lash out and destroy; the unsettling unfamiliarity with herself. She could barely fathom what she had done, much less determine how she would stop herself from doing anything like it ever again.

How can you control the uncontrollable?

"Shh…" She pressed her lips to the top of Rini's head. She couldn't think of the right words to say—she didn't know how to comfort her. She couldn't tell her it was alright, because it wasn't. She couldn't tell her that Helios wouldn't have wanted to see her suffer, because she was entitled to grieve.

But she couldn't stand to see her in such pain, either.

Hotaru reached up from where she was sitting on the floor at Rini's side. "Perhaps, one day, you will meet again…" She said. "We have all lived so many lives—Helios may be just the same…"

Something in Hotaru's words caused a fresh wave of tears, and Usagi could do nothing but hold her tighter.

"You will." Usagi looked up to Mamoru, who had moved across from the kitchen and spoken for the first time since their arrival. "You will meet again—there is no question of that now."

"How could you possibly know that?" Haruka asked coolly, supporting Michiru as Ami bandaged the gash across her abdomen with thick gauze. She had said little since Usagi had emerged, but she could see that she was ready to burst. "All that we know is that boy somehow conjured the power to stop time—"

"Because that was the power bestowed upon him at birth," Setsuna suddenly said, her voice cutting the room. She leant heavily against the wall, metres away from them all. "Inherited power."

Makoto frowned. "What are you talking about, Setsuna?"

She was quiet a moment, her distant, dark gaze trained on the floor. "The gem on Helios' forehead was a fragment of the Garnet Orb," she replied, and then shook her head. "He knew…there is only one way this can be…"

Michiru drew in a breath. "Oh, Setsuna…"

"Inherited power," Yaten repeated, furrowing her brow. "And that thingon his forehead—not the horn—was a part of your Garnet Orb? Doesn't that mean—"

"He's your son," Rei concluded. "That's why he could stop time."

Her son.

Minako shook her head. "But the symbol of Earth—we all saw it…"

The Garnet Orb. The Golden Crystal.

"No," Usagi said quietly, looking between Mamoru and Setsuna. "He's your son."

Mamoru met her eye. "Yes," he said.

Of course, Usagi thought, as though she had known it all along. Of course he is.

The tension in the room rose rapidly—she could feel eyes on her, and yet she felt nothing. Nothing but the tiny spark of hope that maybe Rini could have the boy she loved back.

"Your son," Rini whispered, ruby eyes wide.

Just maybe.

Haruka released Michiru, crossing the room to stand in the space between Mamoru and Setsuna and the rest of the group; separating them. "Gut instinct," she murmured to herself. She shook her head and narrowed her eyes at Setsuna. "This doesn't come as a surprise—I knew there was something more—"

Michiru shuffled, wincing as she tried to get to her feet. "Haruka—"

"You knew him in our past, you knew him in our future," she continued, her voice rising as she approaching the time guardian. She stepped eye to eye with her, and Setsuna merely stared through her. "I knew it—I've seen the way you look at him—"

"Haruka-papa—"

"No, Hotaru," she snapped, holding a hand out to silence her. She looked between Mamoru and Setsuna. "That may be the future for Helios, but I can see it has become reality for both of you." She shook her head slowly; disbelievingly. "Something has already unfolded."

Setsuna's expression was stormy and conflicted as she inclined her neck. "You're right," she said, and then met Usagi's eye. "I'm sorry, Usagi."

Haruka wasn't backing down as she drew closer, her temper laced with hurt. "How could you do this, Setsuna? How could you do this to our princess—your family? Our family?"

"Enough, Haruka," Usagi said, unable to take it any longer. She looped her arms around Rini's shoulders as they shook; a cocktail of grief, shock, and dangerous hope settling into her blood. "She has done nothing—they have done nothing."

"No, Usagi, that isn't true," Mamoru said firmly. "I kissed Setsuna, yesterday, before all of this happened. I did that."

Setsuna shook her head. "Mamoru—"

Haruka rounded on Mamoru. "It's convenient you're no longer our future king, Chiba—"

"I don't care," Usagi interrupted. All that was ticking through her mind was Rafu's limp body and the shards of crystal destroying her home and Chibi Chibi fading before her eyes. Helios' white robe soaked with blood. Rini's cries of utter sorrow. "I don't care," she repeated, her voice cracking.

Haruka growled, glancing across to the grand piano where Seiya watched on, silently, and then back to Usagi. "Can't you see how this is a betrayal, Usagi? Can't you see that?"

Usagi almost wanted to laugh. "You know our lives aren't nearly that simple, Haruka," she said. "This is just another destiny—more of our past and present colliding and influencing our choices." She looked between Setsuna and Mamoru. "The truth is, I think I've known for some time—the two of you share a connection that spans millennia, just as we all do."

She knew Mamoru too well, as he stepped toward her to apologise. To fix something that didn't need fixing. "Usagi—"

"Please don't," she said gently. "Our end was mutual, wasn't it?" He agreed—she could see on his face that he did. "You make your own choices and create your own future—if there's anything we have learned it's that we can't be defined by what we think we know." She watched the flutter of Rini's pink eyelashes, as she blinked away a few stray tears. "And perhaps, one day, this will bring Helios back to us."

More pressure. More destinies to fulfil.

A double-edged sword.

Setsuna moved past Mamoru to gingerly kneel beside Rini. "I want nothing more than the opportunity to bring him back," Setsuna said, her eyes glassy as she tried to meet Rini's gaze. "I listened to Chaos—I let my guard down and it is my fault that Helios is gone." The usually-stoic soldier's composure fell and her voice broke. "Small Lady I'm so sorry…"

Rini held out a hand to her and Setsuna took it gently. "It wasn't your fault, Puu," Rini whispered. "Chaos is the one to blame. No one else."

Don't let him win, Usagi could hear Seiya telling her at Rini's words, don't let him win before we can take him down for what he has done.

Usagi looked at Setsuna. "Rini's right," she said. "And no matter how much it hurts us, we can't let him get away with what he has taken."

"I'm sorry that it had to happen this way," Setsuna said. "I'm sorry that this is the only way to bring him back." She squeezed her eyes closed, pain lacing her olive features. "For as long as my memory spans, I have honoured and protected my queen, her family, and this solar system—I wish I could say that I have never strayed from my duties, but that is not true." She shook her head. "I have committed crime upon crime to alter our reality, and this is no different. I am not the senshi I was asked to be."

Hotaru shuffled closer to her adoptive mother. "You have saved this planet, and our friends, countless times," she said. "And now you have the chance to save Helios, too."

Usagi nodded. "It doesn't matter what you are, or what you have done," Usagi told her, "we need you, Setsuna."

Setsuna let a few lone tears fall and she bowed her head, saying nothing more. She gave Rini's hand a final squeeze and moved away—placing space between them once more. Usagi watched her as the shame and the defeat emanating from her in waves. What did Chaos say to you, Setsuna?

"Usagi," Rei said, "you are too good, too strong—you don't have to be alright with any of this right now."

Usagi looked up to Mamoru, into midnight eyes that she no longer loved, but she trusted. "But it is alright," she said.

Haruka's silence finally burst. "But the future—"

"It doesn't matter anymore, Haruka," she said tiredly. Her chest tightened as she remembered the start of her destruction—the lives she would have destroyed; the irrevocable change that she would have brought upon their planet. "Tonight should have been the start of that future, but thanks to you all, it wasn't…"

Suddenly, she could see it all as though she truly had lived it: isolated to her own castle, because she was too dangerous to leave. Her daughter's loneliness, as she remained a child, forever. The halt placed over the lives of her senshi, her family, and every person on Earth—forever stuck. Forever frozen.

"Usa," Minako said softly, breaking her from her thoughts as they captured her entirely, "you can't blame yourself for what happened tonight."

Ami nodded. "We could never have predicted the extent of your power."

The extent of my power.

There was a reason her future self never left that icy home. She was a threat to them all; to their Sol system and possibly beyond.

In a perfect universe, she would be destroyed.

But.

She looked down at Rini as she settled against her heavily. She had to live, for her, and because of that—somehow—there had to be a way.

"Sometimes sacrifice is the only path to salvation," Taiki commented from across the room.

Haruka let out a long breath, her eyes locked with Michiru's, as if they were having an entire conversation without uttering a word. Finally, she looked across at Usagi. "Rei is right—you are too good and too strong, Princess," she said. "Too good and too strong for afuture that confined you to a crystal prison."

What?

There was a lull in the melody Seiya played as the Starlight glanced across at Haruka, as surprised, Usagi's imagined, as she was.

"Never for a moment would any of us have thought that it would be you who brought about Crystal Tokyo—it was a shock to us all," Haruka continued. "But now that we know, it changes everything."

"That future is in your hands and your hands alone, Usagi," Michiru said. "None of us have the foresight to know anything other than what has unfolded tonight."

"Then it's time to act," Minako said seriously. "We help Usa channel her power into destroying Chaos, once and for all, and we let the future unfold as it should."

Makoto hummed uncertainly. "But now that Chaos no longer has Rafu as his host, we don't know where he is," she said. "Or what he truly wants…"

Quietly—so softly that Usagi strained to hear it—Haruka turned away from them and toward the piano, mumbling: "That may not be entirely true."

"It doesn't matter," Rei replied to Makoto. "We will find him and make sure he can't take away any more lives." In spite of how she had fought Usagi, disagreed with her and disapproved of her decisions, Rei looked at her with nothing short of pure loyalty. "We will create a new future—one that is safeand full of hope."

Hope.

The echo of Chibi Chibi's wispy voice stole her breath. "Hope," she repeated, and suddenly her eyes were filled with tears. "For Helios and Rafu, and for Chibi Chibi." She swallowed down the cry that nearly choked her. "The Light of Hope."

Rini curled herself up closer against Usagi and the room grew silent once more. It was strange; after all that had happened—after all that had been revealed—silence seemed to be what they sought. They could have fought, over what the future now held, or over one another's actions, or over what they could have done to prevent precious lives being lost so tragically. Instead, they fell into the comfort of silence.

After a moment, Yaten spoke from where she was perched on the windowsill, looking out at the starry sky. "Maybe Chibi Chibi is a kokoro," she said. She looked over at Taiki. "Like in our culture?"

"It is possible that is one of her powers," Taiki replied. He addressed the group. "A kokoro is somewhat like a spirit guide—a being who embodies such balance within their mind, body and soul that they can move through planes that others cannot. Kinmokian tales tell us these beings can accompany spirits across time and space; guiding them to rest."

"That's beautiful," Ami said. "Have you ever seen such a being?"

Taiki glanced at Seiya. "It is only legend," he said, but then added: "But we believe Seiya's mother was a kokoro."

Something skipped in Usagi's chest, as she watched Seiya's eyes fall back to the ivory keys. What else haven't you told me, about your family and your past?

"I hope she took him back to Elysion," Rini murmured. "I hope she helped him find his way back, and he's not lost and alone…"

She trailed off, and Usagi felt her body grow slack with grief and fatigue. "Rini," Hotaru said, "I'm sure Helios has found his way—there's no need to worry…"

"But what if he hasn't?" She insisted. "What if he's wandering on his own? What if he can't get back to Elysion, without his golden horn? What if he can never come back? What if—if—"

Her words dissolved into tears. What more could they say to her, other than the only thing that would heal her pain was time?

I'm so sorry, Rini.

Suddenly Seiya pushed away from the piano and moved across to them, kneeling in front of the heartbroken girl. She slipped a hand into her own and a silvery spark of light crackled between them—something Usagi had never seen before.

What was that?

Rini's swollen eyes looked back at Seiya before she let more tears streak her cheeks, and with a sigh, Seiya looped an arm beneath her legs and the other behind her neck, scooping her up from Usagi's embrace.

"Seiya…"

The girl's weak protest did little to stop the Starlight as she carried her across to the piano. She placed her down gently onto the stool and knelt down beside her.

"Play," she said.

"I-I can't—"

"Play, Rini," she said, the strength in her voice wavering. "Just play."

Galaxia murdered my family because I wasn't there, Usagi recalled, and she found herself wondering: did music heal you, the way you know it will heal Rini, too?

Rini's petite hands shook as they floated above the keyboard, and as she let her fingers finally fall onto the keys, two sounds rang out: a tragic, gut wrenching chord, and a sob of release. Of relief.

One chord melded into the next, struck heavily as the young girl gave in to the music. The soft patter of high notes accented each chord, drawing together a song that danced on the brink of paradise and sorrow.

Another beautiful tragedy.

Seiya turned from where she knelt at Rini's side, sitting on the floor and leaning against the leg of the piano, arms circled around her knees. She tipped her head back to the sideboard and closed her eyes, letting the music take her as Usagi had seen it many times before.

Ever so gently, as though it would shatter if she let it out entirely, Rini began to sing. Her voice was thick with pain and grit and exhaustion, seizing the room and everyone in it. She sung of her loss; she sang with anger and hurt, leaning in to the music and allowing her body to surrender in. It felt almost intrusive, to watch her feel so deeply, but Usagi couldn't look away.

"Oh, Rini," she heard Hotaru whisper, as tears coursed down her cheeks.

As Rini's pace increased, so did the cry of her husky voice and the strike of her fingers on the keys. Some words tore through clenched teeth, and some from the depth of her belly. She rounded the words at the height of the song, repeating them, and Usagi's breath hitched as Seiya joined her, supporting her with harmonies sung from her gut. Natural and emotive—just as she was.

It shook Usagi to her core, and for just a moment, as Seiya's sapphire eyes opened and locked with hers as she sang, all of her pain dissolved into the sound.

Rini ended the song, cheeks flushed and her breath shallow. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "Let me get you something warm," Seiya said, and disappeared from the room.

"Are you alright, Rini?" Ami asked quietly.

Rini curled her hands into her chest, gripping it tight. She nodded, but her brow was furrowed; as though something were tugging at her mind. "A song can sooth even the sharpest of hearts," she murmured.

Usagi stared at her. Where did you learn that?

"Here," Seiya said as she returned, draping her Three Lights jacket over Rini's shoulders. She smiled at her. "Better?"

She wasn't referring to the temperature, Usagi was sure. Rini nodded, grasping the edges of the jacket and pulling it tighter around her tiny frame. "Thank you, Seiya," she said.

"We should go," Haruka said, supporting Michiru as she stood up. She looked at Hotaru. "Come, Taru—you can see Rini tomorrow." She cast a look around at the Inner scouts. "We have extra space if any of you need a ride home."

Mamoru nodded. "I do, too—we can get all of you home."

The group arranged their journeys home, in spite of the tension that could easily have been—in spite of what had been revealed, Usagi felt proud that her team—her family—could put that aside. Even if only in that moment.

"Kitten," Haruka said, as she headed for the door, "I'll come back and take the two of you home."

"It's alright," Seiya told her, "I'll see that they get home safe."

Haruka nodded and brushed past Setsuna without so much as a glance. Perhaps they could put some things aside. Perhaps some things would take time to heal.

"Setsuna," Mamoru said quietly as he followed the rest of the group out, "I can drop you home…"

"It's fine," she said, waiting in the doorway. "I'll make my own way."

Taiki and Yaten busied themselves tidying up, and Seiya sat alongside Rini as she continued to play quietly. Usagi stood and moved across to Setsuna, whose face was still so pained. "I meant what I said," she told her.

Setsuna shook her head. "How could you forgive me—and Mamoru—for this? How could you forgive so easily?" She squeezed her eyes closed and reopened them. "It is one thing for our future to bring us together, but another entirely for what I allowed to happen between us…"

Usagi didn't know what more to tell her—she couldn't force her to believe her; she couldn't make her see that it simply didn't matter to her. "Have you always loved him?" She asked instead.

"Yes," Setsuna replied softly, her olive cheeks tinted red. "I think I always have."

"And let me guess," Usagi continued, "it's always felt like you knew every part of him? Like that empty part of yourself was waiting for him, for all eternity?" She knew—she knew exactly what it was like, when the influence of their previous life wove into the fabric of their current one. "Like you fell so hard and so suddenly that by the time you realised you were already a wreck on the ground?"

Setsuna nodded slowly. "It felt like I couldn't stop it, no matter how I tried."

"Then don't, Setsuna," Usagi said. "Don't give up something you have neverhad, when all you've ever had is loneliness and duty." She reached out and took her hand. "Please don't give that up."

The time guardian's garnet eyes were dark, as though she heard her, but would not listen. "For Helios," she whispered.

"No," Usagi said, "for you."

Setsuna forced a smile and squeezed her hand in return, breaking away to leave. "You are too good, Princess," she said, before walking out the door.

Usagi watched her walk down the hall, worried for her friend. "What did he say to you, Setsuna?" She asked aloud, even though she was too far gone to hear her.

"Hey," Seiya said quietly, appearing in the doorway. "You okay?"

She nodded and slipped past her to go back inside. Rini's sleepy eyes were tracking across her right hand as it fluttered over the piano keys, exhaustion screaming from every inch of her body. She would perhaps call her father; ask him to pick them up. She would prepare a story, like she often did, and then—

"You don't have to go home," Seiya said, as if she had heard her thoughts. "The two of you take my bed. I'll take the couch."

She turned to her, looking over her tired eyes and dishevelled clothes. "You don't have to do that, Seiya," she said. "You need a good night's sleep, too…"

Seiya shot her a lop-sided grin. "Sleep isn't going to be hard to come by tonight, Odango."

Usagi gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you," she said, and then turned to Rini. "We'll stay here the night," she told the girl, who nodded tiredly and rose from the piano stool. "Come on now…"

Rini went ahead, dragging her feet toward Seiya's bedroom, and Usagi started after her. Suddenly fingers grasped her wrist and stopped her, shooting electricity under her skin. "Usagi—"

"Hm?"

It wouldn't matter how many times Seiya called her by her given name, it would always tell her she had something important, or something serious, that she had to say. Seiya looked at her and drew in a long breath, opening her mouth and closing it again, as though she were rethinking her words.

"What is it, Seiya?" She asked her.

She shot her a tight-lipped smile and shook her head. "Nothing," she replied. "It's nothing."

Usagi looked down at her fingers, wrapped around her hand. Her eyes trailed the length of her forearm, mottled with bruises and hacked with cuts. Usually, Seiya's abilities would have accelerated her healing process, but they were still angry and red, coursing up her arm and beneath her t-shirt. She traced her touch along the wounds; barely hovering over her skin. "How bad are these, Seiya? How far do they go—"

"They're fine," she said quickly. "They'll heal."

Usagi fought back tears—she had been fighting so hard all evening. "I'm so sorry, Seiya. Again, you've risked your life to help me, and again, you're hurt."

She cradled her arm in her hand as tenderly as she could. She closed her eyes, summoned what little strength was left in her, and hoped for the energy that could take her injuries away.

But she didn't get the opportunity—Seiya tugged her in to her chest, wrapping her arms firmly around her. "Don't," Seiya whispered against her hair. "You don't have to."

"I do," Usagi argued thickly. "I have to make this right—I have to fix this, I-I have to—" She let the sob fall out of her, and felt Seiya's hold on her tighten. "I have to make this right…"

"We will make this right," Seiya said. "I promise…"

She closed her eyes, and she listened—to the sound of Seiya's heart beating beneath her breast, to the rush of energy under her skin. She listened to the voice inside her that said, this is where you belong.

Seiya pulled back and wiped the tears from her cheeks, and then leant in to kiss her on the cheek. Her lips lingered, and a shock of blinding white and pure silence filled her mind. Strange, Usagi thought, like a memory…

The Starlight pulled back and smiled at her—no cheek, no charm; just a beautiful, gentle smile. "I promise," she repeated. "Goodnight, Odango."

Once again, I am alone.

Setsuna ducked her head as she walked the city's hushed streets, as few cars drove by and lights dimmed in people's homes. The evening air was warm, but somehow she still felt a chill ripple through her. She felt sick, as Helios' amber gaze smiled back at her and his words rang over and over in her mind.

There is only one way this can be.

She felt like a part of her had been stolen, and, in a sense, it had. The instant she had heard those words, she had known who he truly was; like Rini, his fate had changed and he came from a new future. The glinting fragment of the Garnet Orb, held in safe-keeping with him, had been the final piece of the puzzle.

A piece of you, it would seem.

Someone so ethereal, so angelic, didn't deserve to die as he had—it ached to think of the blossoming blood on his white robes, at the corner of his pale lips. It ached to look down into his face and finally see Mamoru's smile; her own eyes.

She brushed away a tear and walked faster. "I'm so sorry," she murmured into the night.

Her feet were taking her somewhere—where that was, she wasn't so sure. She couldn't possibly go home; Haruka had made it clear she didn't want her there. For the first time since they had formed a family unit together, the four of them in their secluded home, she felt unwelcome—and of all the times she wanted to hold Hotaru, and have a cup of tea with Michiru, it was then.

Perhaps, in time, they would forgive her.

Perhaps, she wondered, I'm out of time.

The timeless master of time. The one who never dies. Daughter of Father Time himself. Walked this universe for millennia.

Didn't you ever wonder how your talisman was destroyed, and yet you did not die?

Pluto is not the ninth planet you believe it to be.

Who am I?

She found herself at the gates of her university, digging in her pocket for her key card. She scanned it and hurried to the laboratory entrance, letting herself in to the dark, clinical rooms. The door closed behind her and she leant against it like a dead weight, sliding to the floor because her legs could no longer carry her. She stared into the darkness, into the silent space filled with blinking machines and beakers and test tubes, and she cried. For the first time in her life, she allowed herself to truly fall apart.

In spite of how exhausted she felt, in spite of how her eyes burned and her vision swam, Rini could not fall asleep. She buried her nose into the pillow, inhaling the citrus scent that calmed her, and drew her knees high into her chest. It didn't seem to matter how small she made herself, she couldn't disappear. She couldn't fade away so she could see him again.

I can't do this without you, she thought, as a tear rolled across the bridge of her nose to absorb into the fabric. She thought of Chibi Chibi's cheeky smile and unruly curls, and her throat tightened. I can't do this without either of you.

She was sure she had experienced every emotion that night, but in that moment, she felt nothing but numb.

How could this have happened?

One moment, everything was perfect, and then next, it was hell. She couldn't stop playing it out, over and over, in her mind. She couldn't stop wondering what she could have done, if she'd just reached for her brooch a second earlier. If she had taken that risk, like he had for her.

She circled her fingers around the brooch and squeezed so hard that she hoped it would crack in two.

It didn't. Instead, the onyx and pink felt hot in her hand, and she could hear Helios' voice telling her: you mustn't let that strength disappear—you must persist, no matter what happens.

"I know," she whispered. "I will try, Helios…"

Beside her, Usagi stirred, a hand crawling across the mattress to rub her hip soothingly. "It's alright…" She mumbled, half asleep.

Rini smiled, just the tiniest bit, at Usagi's efforts to drowsily comfort her. She had helped her to bed and held her in the hopes she would fall asleep. She had done everything for her, in spite of being in her own pain.

She had been a true warrior that night.

She sniffled and dabbed at her eyes, staring out the window at the round moon peering back at her. Now, Helios' fate rested in two people she loved dearly—one who had been a father to her for years, and another who she had considered her very best friend, when no one else was. Together, they could bring him back into her world; back into their future, if they chose to.

If.

How would she ever stop wondering if?

She knew the answer: you have to find a way back, to whichever future you truly came from.

There weren't terribly many options to guarantee her passage back.

She shook off the thought, instead recalling the feel of Helios' lips on her own; the sound of his laugh; the warmth of his eyes. The pain was excruciating, but it was worth it for those fleeting memories of him. So suddenly, she could see the similarities to his true father: his gentle smile; his narrow jaw; his unruly hair. His soft eyes—the shape of Mamoru's, but a warm shade, like Setsuna's. His patient and kind nature; his sense of duty and loyalty. Heat flushed her cheeks as pieces began to fall into place after many years.

All those times I thought Mamoru was handsome…all those times I wanted his attention…

If she hadn't been in such pain, she might have laughed, or been mortified by the conclusion she had drawn about the odd fascination she once had with the Earth guardian. It made so much sense.

Perhaps, one day, she would laugh, or be embarrassed by it—but in that moment, she couldn't feel anything but sadness.

She rolled over to face Usagi, studying her as she slept; brow furrowed, mouth pulled into a worried line, breath uneven. Sleep wasn't coming easily for her, either, but Rini could see the way she roped her arms around Seiya's pillow, drawing it in to her body tightly, her nose against the very same scent she breathed in, too. She was certain it was the one thingthat was helping her rest, after all that had occurred. She was certain because she now truly understood the power Seiya had over her future mother; a reality that she wasn't sure Usagi fully understood herself.

Puu's arms had been trapped her as she cried, the trauma driving her to her knees, weak and broken. She had watched as Usagi lost control, rage consuming her and driving her every move. The way that cold crystal had permeated their planet and the people within it; the way she had screamed and begun to morph into someone Rini didn't know.

She had watched as Seiya risked her life for her, climbing the crystal cliff face and forcing her way through the barrier that stripped her protective power from her, and stopped it all.

With one kiss.

One single kiss that had exploded light and stillness and peaceacross their city. That was all it had taken.

She remembered the paleness in Seiya's cheeks as she had stepped out of her bedroom, after waiting for Usagi to regain consciousness. "She doesn't remember how she was stopped," she had told them, voice rough. "And that's the way it has to stay."

They respected her wish, for Usagi's wellbeing—it was only another complication in the mess that was strewn out before them. At least, that was what she knew the others believed—she, on the other hand, felt she had a right to know.

But it wasn't her place.

"You and Mamoru had such power, when you harnessed it together," she whispered, "but nothing like that…"

Somehow, it reminded her of Helios.

She closed her eyes, pain flooding her once more. If she ever saw him again…

No. She refused to believe it. She refused.

We will meet again, Helios' voice hummed to her, as though he were right by her, watching over her as sleep finally washed over her. We will meet again.

She sat on the edge of their mattress, slouched and exhausted as she watched the rise and fall of her lover's chest. She etched the memory of her long midnight lashes in her mind; the natural blush that tinted her fair cheekbones. The glow of her aquamarine hair, and the curve of the most sensitive spot on neck.

"I'm going to make this right, Michi—we are," she whispered. She rose to her feet, her car keys curled firmly in her fist so they wouldn't make a sound. "I promise…"

She bent to flutter a kiss on her forehead, and Michiru stirred. "Midnight snacking, Ruka?" Michiru mumbled, bracing her side as she shuffled under the covers. She managed a small smile. "You know there's only one kind of midnight snacking I approve of…"

Haruka grinned at her audacity, in spite of her injury and everything that had happened; her girlfriend always wanted to make her smile. For that, she felt like the luckiest woman in the world. "You're hardly up for that—rain check?" She ran a hand over her hair. "Just getting a drink of water—I'll be right back."

Michiru nodded sleepily and settled once more. Haruka turned away from her, stopping in the doorway to tell her goodnight, before leaving her behind—for the first time since their journeys as senshi had begun.

This plan may not end as you hope it will.

Seiya sighed and watched as the ceiling fan above him spun. He tucked a hand behind his head and glanced at the clock—another half hour, and he would meet Haruka. They would finish this.

The apartment was quiet and dark, except for the occasional snore he heard from his bedroom—but whether it was Usagi or Rini, he wasn't sure. It made him smile, and his heart clench. There had been so many things he had wanted to say to her as he stopped her from walking away, but an embrace and a promise were all he could manage.

I stopped you. I kissed you. I took it all away.

I love you.

He couldn't do it to her—her couldn't leave her with that, if he failed on this mission. Not when she remembered nothing of what he had done to stop her. Not when she was so shattered.

It wouldn't have been fair.

So, instead, he bid her goodnight—because goodbye was hopefully not his fate. If he could succeed, he would see her again—and then, maybe, she would one day know what had really happened.

He tossed back the blanket that was draped across his legs and headed quietly for his bedroom. He gently opened the door, spotting Usagi's long mane of hair that was bundled into a braid and hanging off the edge of the bed. Her pretty face was caught by the hall light, taut with unease as she gathered his linen close to her.

I would give anything to see you lying there, amongst my sheets, under different circumstances, Odango. I would give anything to see peace on your features, rather than pain. I would give anything to see you happy.

The words came out of him in a whisper; like the soft end to a song. "I would give my life, Odango."

She was floating, encased in a crystal-flecked storm; poised at the edge of harmony and anarchy. She couldn't see clearly; her vision was a marbled mess of brilliant white and the deepest black, cracked by lightning and spliced with crystal. She couldn't see, but she could feel, as her hair whipped around her body and blood dripped from her fingertips. She could feel the chaos outside her cocoon of power as it beat down on her, like a pressure that could burst at any moment.

"Usagi," she heard Seiya's voice say to her, "please, you have to stop this…"

"I can't," she broke. She would beg her to stop her, if that's what it would take. "Seiya…"

The turmoil raged harder and faster and she was blind; unable to stop it, no matter how she tried. She was trapped by a deep viciousness that implored her to destroy everything in her path.

Please, Seiya. Kill me before I kill anyone else.

Everything ground to a vibrating halt—like a pause; like something was missing. Amongst her peaceful dome that shielded her from the devastation she had caused, she heard Seiya's voice whisper to her once more:

"I would give my life, Odango."

The finality of those words shocked her awake, and she lurched forward, gasping and clutching her chest. She looked frantically around the room—Seiya's room—and squeezed her eyes closed. What had happened in those moments that she couldn't recall?

She looked across at Rini, who luckily hadn't been woken by her nightmare and was still sleeping soundly. She pushed the hair from her face and slipped her legs from the bed. A strange feeling of dread had settled in her gut, and Seiya's whispered words were playing over and over in her mind.

I would give my life, Odango.

We will make this right. I promise.

She was suddenly back in Seiya's embrace hours earlier, remembering how tightly she had held her. The way her kiss had loitered on her cheek. The way she had said goodnight, as though she were really saying goodbye.

It's almost as though she can harness kinetic energy.

She can absorb power.

And finally, Chaos' words. Contain me, perhaps, but I will not die.

No.

She wrenched back the covers and raced into the living room, where the moonlight streaming in through the window revealed a knot of blankets and an empty couch.

She knew where Seiya had gone, and she knew why.

Seiya leant against the railing of the bleachers, letting the moonlight sink into his skin. He tipped his head back to the night sky—clear and pierced with stars—and looked for the shine of Proxima. Its reddish glow caught his eye instantly, and nearby to it, Kinmoku and his cousins' stars. "Wish me luck, princess," he murmured. "I think I'm gonna need it…"

"Not doubting yourself are you, Kou?"

He heard the slam of a car door and Haruka walked toward him, eyes tired and stony. He shook his head, moving toward her as she approached. "Not in the slightest," he lied. "How's Michiru?"

"Fine," she replied, and they fell into step as they wove their way across the soccer pitch. "So are you ready?"

"After what he did," he replied bitterly, "I have never been more ready."

"There are no guarantees he will come," Haruka remarked moved onto the grass, out into the open.

Seiya could feel energy thrumming through him. "He knows," he said. "He will come."

Haruka held out her change rod and let her transformation take hold, quickly and quietly. She tucked the rod into the fabric on her hip and frowned, speaking gruffly after a few moments. "Sometimes," she said, "I hate the skirt."

He grinned. "Shorts make the job easier."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but it held little malice, and he wondered if it were her way of breaking the ice between them. "Thank you, for what you did tonight," she said tightly, as though it pained her, "and for what you're about to do."

"Well, you know what they say," he began, shooting her a sideward glance, "if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

"Don't give me that bullshit," she replied. "You know the lengths I would take to save our princess, and this planet—"

"Oh, I know," he quipped. "How could I possibly forget your tactics…"

She glared at him. "Screw you, Kou—you have no ideahow painful it was to mislead and betray our fellow senshi, only to have it fail. And I know how badly you want to help her, so don't you tell me you're doing me any favours by—"

"You're right," he interrupted loudly, in an effort to diffuse the woman's rapidly building temper. "You're right now, and you were right then; I do want to protect her." He met her eye. "That's the only thing you're right about, though. Ever. On any topic."

"Fuck off."

He smirked. At least, even at the gravest of times, he could still get under her skin. She stared out into the distance, scuffing her heel on the grass, and after a period of silence between them, said: "You're the only one who can protect her. We saw that tonight—no one else could save her," she said. "No one else could stop her."

"And how lucky you were to have managed even that."

The two warriors tensed at the threatening voice, and instantly their surroundings took on a cold, angry air as Chaos' dark form bleed into the open pitch before them, wispy and eclipsed by darkness. He retained the elements of his former host—tall and broad and strong, but without proper flesh and blood; like a shadow amongst the murky night. An imprint of the monster that once was, yet equally as powerful. "Aoi one," he rumbled, "I have been waiting for you."

Seiya tensed, fury coursing through him as he suppressed the desire to destroy, right there and then. "I'll give you what you want," he hissed, "but first, you have to tell me why."

"You already know," Chaos replied with a laugh. He cocked his head. "It is simple: I exist to create chaos in this universe. To tip everything into the balance of evil." It was a sardonic answer; to tease him—to try to break him. "With the strongest host, I can do anything."

Seiya shook his head angrily. "I don't care about that," he hissed. "I want to know why you have tormented her. Why her?"

The slash of a smile appeared across his face. "Because something so pure deserves to be broken so they can see."

He flinched, the burn of his power prickling up his arms as he nearly launched for the monster, but Haruka's arm shot out in front of him. "Fighter," she warned under her breath, "don't."

He ground his jaw and clenched his fists. He hoped that when he let Chaos in, that he could annihilate him, for good. Punish him, for everything he had done. "Fine," he growled, taking a step toward his fate, "let's do this."

"Seiya!" A voice cried out suddenly—Usagi's voice. "Seiya, don't!"

The patter of her shoes and the sound of her panting breaths rang out, but he would not be distracted. He glanced at Haruka. "You can't let her interfere," he said.

And then, channelling everything he had pent up inside him, he spread his arms open to the sky and let go.

His power roared to the surface like a blaze, igniting his body in fiery blue that emitted from him in pulsing waves—more power than he had ever summoned before, but it wasn't enough. He wanted a true offering—the part of himself that held his greatest strength. He pooled his flaming laser into his hand, and with a hard exhale, he pushed the palm against his heart.

"No!"

The tearing, gutting sensation caused pain that went beyond the physical, radiating into his mind. It felt like his chest was being cracked open as suddenly he felt lifeless.

Power.

His spiked, cobalt Starseed hovered in the air before him, glistening and sparking with light. He held out his hand to take it as his vision swam. It held the very same, deep sapphire centre as his dear Pama's, with the sharp, reckless points of vivid blue that were uniquely his own. He felt pride swell within him and he smiled.

I'm not afraid.

"Seiya," he heard Usagi beg, and he turned back to look at her, where Haruka held her back. Her features were twisted with heartache. "Please, don't do this…"

She struggled against Haruka's hold but the Uranian senshi simply gripped tighter. "Princess…"

"Don't you dare!" Usagi snarled at her. "How could you? You encouraged him to do this, you—"

"Odango," Seiya said softly, weakness crawling up his limbs, "I have to do this…"

"No—no, you're wrong!" She cried. Light flickered at the centre of her forehead, as the white gold star begin to shimmer on the surface of her skin. "You don't have to do this—I won't let you do this…"

He knew Haruka couldn't hold her for much longer. If she unleashed her power once again, he wouldn't stand a chance to finish what he had come to do. "Usagi…" He held his Starseed out in front of him, in the space between himself and Chaos—a threat that he detested. A threat that said: lose control and you will risk losing me, too.

She shook her head in disbelief. "Seiya…"

He forced a lop-sided smile. Something—anything—to lessen her pain. "You know me," he told her with a shrug, "I'm stubborn. Bold, cocky, full of myself—I can do this."

And I won't let you stop me.

Usagi's cerulean eyes shone with tears. "But what if you can't?"

The edges had begun to fade from Seiya's vision; the brilliant colour of the world around him dulling. Emptiness coiled inside him, and yet, somehow, he remained; somehow, his power lingered. His mother's words rang out to him then—so clear that she could have been right at his side. "The strength of a sharp heart lies in their song." He smiled at Usagi. "It's going to be alright, Odango."

He tore his eye from her and glanced at Haruka, who was staring back at him, wide-eyed. He didn't have time to think, to consider her faltered expression, and so he turned to Chaos. "This is what you want, isn't it?" He indicated to his Starseed, and then to his glowing body. "Body and soul."

Chaos grinned. "You think you can stop me," he mused. "You are a fool."

His dark energy rushed at him, splitting through the air, and Seiya steeled himself for whatever pain it would bring—he could do this. He knew he could.

But someone pushed him out of the way.

There was a grunt on impact and the wind was knocked from his lungs as he hit the ground, staring in shock at the person who had stoppedhim. "Uranus, what—?"

She was flat across the grass, unmoving after Chaos' energy had torn through her body on his quest for Seiya's. His blood went cold as he searched for the rise and fall of her chest, urging his limbs to move. Suddenly, he heard her mumble weakly: "Couldn't…let you…"

"The Starseed!"

Usagi stared hatefully at Chaos as he held the shining crystal in his outstretched hand. She shook with anger, but like before, there was nothing she could do without destroying his lifeforce, too.

"I may not have exactly what I want," he said, staring straight back at her, "but I have something I can use."

And he disappeared, taking Seiya's Starseed with him.

No.

He could feel himself shifting, his energy flickering in and out, and suddenly he was connected with his cousins—that visceral link that webbed them together. Suddenly he could feel her.

No.

In the disarray, Usagi had dropped to her knees alongside him, cradling him as he fought. "Seiya, Seiya…" He could feel her silvery light trying to warm him, to little avail. "What is it? Please, you have to tell me what's wrong…"

"Kakyuu," he breathed. "He's going to Kinmoku."

It was dawn, and as she so often did, Princess Kakyuu looked out over their churning ocean, as ruby waves struck the rock and the huge star above lapped with rolling flames. She sat on the cliff's edge, her royal dress bundled around her so she could feel the dusty earth against her skin. Grounding her, as she connected to the hum of their land and the whispers of her foresight.

Sacrifice.

It struck her sharply—dark, bruised energy bleeding into their world; splices of a sapphire warrior—Fighter—dimmed. Pain; deep, fracturing agony, and the blinding light of an eight-pointed star.

Look for what is before you.

She gazed up to the reddened sky, shielding her eyes as she rose to her feet. Tearing across their atmosphere, through the purplish clouds, was a stream of lights—at its centre, a cobalt streak.

Fighter.

What she didn't see was the black glow that coursed by its side.