Surprise! This has been sitting in my drafts for ages and I finally got around to editing it. I appreciate everyone who read, shared, commented, and messaged over the years. An extra thank you to those who checked in on me just to make sure that I was okay. Thank you so much for your support!
##
Chapter 21: An Epilogue in Snippets
This place was starting to feel like home.
Usagi hummed softly along with the rhythmic pop music that floated softly from the speaker near the bed. Her hands moved carefully as she neatly folded the last shirt in a pile that felt neverending. Sometimes she felt tempted to haphazardly roll the items and shove them into the back of the drawer to deal with some other time. Still, since moving into her boyfriend's surprisingly tidy apartment, she felt motivated to be as neat—most of the time.
When she moved in, the apartment had felt bare, with only splashes of Seiya's personality. Sure, the upscale apartment was beautiful, but once she looked past the chic minimalist furniture and the indulgent silkiness of the sheets, she realized that Seiya had never really made the apartment his own. Together they picked out paintings and photographs, sheets, towels, and furniture that felt more cozy and welcoming. Seiya helped Usagi find spaces for her things and even managed to clear out half a dresser and one of the two walk-in closets in the main bedroom for her.
As each day passed, it felt a little more like their home.
Ready for a break from her monotonous folding, she cautiously climbed over stacks of clothing and set her feet on the floor.
"Seiya-kun?" She called, slipping her feet into soft house shoes and padding across the wooden floors.
She paused in the doorway of the kitchen and smiled. Her eyes rested on the man who sat shirtless at the kitchen table, his hair loose and draped down his back. His blue eyes were sharp and focused on the paper before him. He seemed to be thinking intently about whatever he was writing, the top of the pen nested between his lips. Her heart fluttered.
He's so beautiful, she thought with a soft sigh.
"What are you working on?" Usagi asked curiously. She stepped behind him and lowered her head, placing a kiss on the top of his head.
She felt his body tense slightly, the surprise on his face quickly turning into a welcoming smile.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
"No, it's okay. I'm just writing a letter," he murmured, setting the pen down.
Usagi leaned over his shoulder and looked down at the paper below. Her eyebrows scrunched as she tried to understand the symbols on the page. The writing, reminiscent of Japanese hiragana but still so foreign to her, was made up of elegant lines and curves. It looked like art rather than a written language.
"Is that your language?" She asked.
"Yes," he said and lifted the letter so that Usagi could see. She pressed herself close, her lips curved into a pout as she concentrated on them.
"What does it say?"
"It's a secret," he said with a sly smile. At once, he rolled the letter neatly and tied it with a small piece of brown twine. She studied the small green pot before him as he carefully removed the ceramic lid. The burner was a deep, olive-toned green elaborately decorated with golden filigree.
Her frown deepened. "Since when do we have secrets?"
"Since today," he answered. His change star, which lay on the table beside the letter, began to glow a soft gold as he gently pressed his hand to it. When the familiar smell of olive leaves filled the room, Seiya laid his hand to rest on the table, the gold light no longer emitting from his talisman. He turned and gave Usagi a playful wink.
"I'll tell you what it says when I get a reply."
##
Usagi pushed open the door to the roof of her old high school, looking around carefully as she stepped outside.
"What are we doing up here?"
"What do you think of when you come up here?" Seiya asked gently.
With a sigh, Usagi looked over the edge of the building, out onto the field and the city beyond it. She thought of the final battle with Chaos and the sight of her friends dying before her, but then she thought of Seiya. She thought of him confessing his feelings as she cried in the rain. She thought of saying goodbye to him. Two years later, it was the place where she got to see him again for the first time. "You," she said softly.
"This place reminds me of you too," Seiya said, a slight tremble in his voice. Noticing the change in his demeanor, Usagi reached out to touch his hand.
"Are you okay?" She asked gently.
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and looked at her with careful, intense eyes.
"I got a reply to that letter I sent," he began. Suddenly Usagi's stomach sank. The letter was to Queen Kakyuu-that she was sure of. Was he asking to return home? Unable to meet the man's eyes any longer, she closed her own and tightened her grip on his hand.
"And?" She asked. Just do it, she thought. Just tell me the bad news.
"The queen gave me her blessing to marry you. And so did Yaten and Taiki."
Her eyes shot open quickly. "Huh?"
"And so did your dad and mom. And Shingo. And your friends," he said, his grin growing wider. His eyes were twinkling with amusement and mischief.
"Okay, most of your friends," Seiya added cheekily. "I couldn't risk Tenou ruining the surprise."
"What?" Usagi gasped out. Suddenly, Seiya was gracefully bending with one knee on the ground. He released her hand to open the box he held in the other to reveal the most perfect little platinum ring inside. Perched upon the black velvet was a slim, silver-colored band lined with petite diamonds. In the middle, surrounded by the small glittering stones on either side, was a blue sapphire that shimmered brilliantly in the light of the setting sun.
##
Usagi sat on the living room floor, her legs crossed and hands in her lap. Eyes closed, she focused on the feeling of her fiance's hands in her hair. With a look of deep concentration in his eyes and multiple bobby pins poking out from his lips, Seiya gathered Usagi's hair into a ponytail and then began the work of twisting it to make a round bun. She let out a soft sigh, pleased at the feeling of his fingertips brushing against her scalp.
"I have an idea," Usagi said suddenly. Seiya mumbled a response around the bobby pins clenched between his teeth.
"I was thinking about ways for you to get to know the other senshi better," she began. "You're the only one of us who has had formal tactical training and I think it would really benefit everyone if you could train us too."
"Really?" He asked, carefully slipping a pin into her blonde locks. "I'll have to get to know their abilities a bit more, but… wow, thank you, Usagi-chan. I'm honored that you asked." Holding the bobby pins in one hand now, he used the other to carefully tilt his fiance's chin upward. She looked up and accepted the grateful kiss that he placed on her lips.
"I thought about that part too," she added timidly. "Minako trained us at first through the Sailor V game and knows us pretty well, but, she thought... well, okay, we thought it would be a good idea for you and Haruka to work together."
"Odango, no way."
"Haruka knows everyone's skills pretty well and she's one of the best fighters on our team. Just give it a chance, okay? How bad could it possibly be?"
##
The inner senshi watched with amusement, amazement, and a tinge of horror as Seiya and Haruka stood red-faced and chest-to-chest, arguing loudly.
Rei, dressed in tight stretchy black leggings and a matching tank top, leaned toward Usagi and mumbled, "This is a shit show."
Usagi laughed nervously. "We just have some differences to work out."
##
"Having a Kinmokuan ceremony is really important to Seiya," Usagi explained as she eyed herself in the mirror. The more she took in the red dress with its bell sleeves and tightly laced bodice, the more it grew on her. The large headdress that sat upon her head - black with embroidered golden flowers - would have concealed her buns, so she opted to curl her long hair and let it flow loose, the soft waves framing her body.
"I quite like this," Ami piped, swaying in the orange dress that touched her ankles. "How often do we get to be immersed in a tradition of an alien culture?"
"Yeah, but, this dress is butt ugly," Rei grumbled, raising her sleeves.
"It's not the dress that's ugly, maybe it's what's in it," Usagi retorted.
As she and Seiya stood together, their hands bound together by a cord braided with black, red, and gold, Queen Kakyuu's melodic voice recited words in an otherworldly language that stoked a soothing warmth in her chest.
Later that week, Usagi walked along the aisle dressed in a shimmering white gown that truly made her feel like a princess. Yaten and Taiki, who had attended the private alien ceremony in beautiful gowns, now stood near Seiya in black tuxedos. She smiled through tears at the sight of her brother standing with them.
##
"So like, what kind of equipment is Seiya working with?" Mina asked suddenly.
Usagi coughed, choking on a fat boba pearl and covering her mouth to keep milk tea from spraying into her friend's face.
"Minako-chan! You can't ask people questions like that," she rasped out, grabbing a napkin and dabbing at the tea on her chin and then on the table.
"What! Can't a girl be curious? Like, do you two do it like–"
"Stop, stop, stop," Usagi said quickly, making an 'X' with her arms. Minako – whose hands were moments away from forming an incredibly obscene gesture - dropped them into her lap.
"His body is completely male when we're together if that's what you're asking," she whispered hurriedly.
"Always?" She asked, a grin on her face.
Usagi scowled. "None of your business either way. Think what you want, pervert."
Minako's laugh was loud and warm, but she quieted quickly, her expression taking on a more serious form. "Okay so indulge me on this," she began,
"Can he give you children?"
"Oh, um," she paused, thinking briefly. "I don't know, I just assumed… but I guess I don't really know."
Minako looked thoughtful for a moment and then her face settled on a kind smile. "I'm sure that you two will figure it out, no matter the situation."
##
"Seiya?"
Usagi's loud whisper into the dark bedroom was met with soft snoring. With a frown, she gently shook him.
Startled, he mumbled, "What?"
Are you awake?"
"I am now," he murmured in response.
"Seiya?"
"Uh huh?"
"I've been thinking about us having a baby."
Pulling her close, flush against his chest, he kissed the top of her head and murmured sleepily into her ear, "Whatever you want, Odango, just put it on the credit card."
With an annoyed huff, she pulled back and put her hand on his arm, giving it a shake.
"Will you stop? What the hell is wrong with you?" He grumbled out, his eyes wide open now.
"Did you hear what I said?" She asked.
"You said you wanted something! Come on, Usagi, I'm so tired," he whined.
"I'm talking about us maybe having a baby! I've been thinking about it all night and I just can't sleep,"
The sleepy haze was beginning to leave his blue eyes.
"What… you mean, like now?" He asked, confused. "Are you..."
"No, no, I'm not pregnant. I was just... thinking about it."
She suddenly felt silly for not having this conversation before they got married.
"I… I would love that, Usagi," he breathed out. "It would make me so happy to start a family with you. Do you think we're ready for that?"
Her eyes lowered as she thought quietly about where her life was at that moment.
"Maybe not in the next five minutes," she joked with a smile. "But I'd like to soon."
Seiya's hand gently cupped her cheek as he leaned up to kiss her.
"Can I ask a very personal question?" She asked shyly.
"Anything," he murmured, placing another kiss on her lips.
"Does the… I guess, the magic that makes it possible for you to be yourself – does it mean that everything works as a biologically male body should?"
He paused, and for a moment Usagi worried that she had crossed a line.
"I can't be sure until we go to the doctor and have it confirmed, but I'm pretty sure it's functioning the way it should." With a smirk, he took her arm and pulled her toward him. Closer, he put his hands on Usagi's hips and settled on his back. Usagi closed her eyes, a soft sigh falling from her lips as she pressed down against the hardness in his pajamas.
"There's another way we could find out," he said.
##
"A world tour?" Usagi asked curiously, wide eyes taking in the schedule displayed on the screen of Seiya's phone.
"Yes! They're booking shows in North America, South America, Europe, Australia… I never got to see so much of Earth when I was with the Lights," Seiya gushed excitedly, a childishly happy grin on his face.
Usagi flashed a weak smile as she scrolled through what looked like endless numbers and locations.
"What's wrong?" Seiya asked.
"I just… I'm going to miss you, that's all," she said quietly. "I'm so happy for you Seiya-kun, please believe me. This is just a really long time for us to be apart."
Her husband looked at her as if she had grown another head.
"What are you talking about? You're coming with me, silly."
"I— uhmm– what? Really? You want me to come with you?"
"Of course, that's the only reason I agreed to such a big tour. You're done with college and I think it's time for you to travel and actually see the world. You told me that some big event is coming that triggers the creation of Crystal Tokyo, right? So why not see it before it all changes? See what you have been protecting all this time."
"Yeah," she said with a growing smile. Her stomach flipped at the idea of traveling so far away from home (despite having been to the moon and all), but she was so eager to see more of the beautiful planet she had given up so much for.
"You're right, Seiya-kun. I want to go with you. I'm ready."
##
"You'll be okay without me?" Seiya asked curiously. Production crew in black t-shirts and tight jeans moved back and forth along the stage, setting up equipment and tuning guitars. The lights in the venue were all turned on, illuminating the concrete floor and rows upon rows of empty seats. Usagi could hardly wait to see what it looked like packed with screaming fans.
"I'll be fine, love," she said with a smile. Truthfully, she was nauseous and nervous, but oh so excited.
"Yes. I'm just going there and back," she promised.
"Okay… well, call me or Emika if you need anything."
Her feet tapped nervously against the floor of the Uber as she kept her eyes out of the window, doing her best to take in everything.
"You-say-jee?"
"Usagi," she corrected sheepishly.
"Ah, beautiful! Are you from L.A.?" The driver asked, his eyes finding her in the rearview mirror. She shook her head and answered in careful, thickly accented English, "No, I travel from Tokyo, Japan."
"Oh, that's far away! What brings you to America?"
"Yes, very far. My husband is a musician and he is performing tonight."
"Ah, that must be a lot of fun," the man said, smiling warmly.
It wasn't too long before the car stopped in front of a restaurant.
"Here you are," he said. "Enjoy your visit! And welcome to L.A."
She spotted them immediately on the patio. There was a woman with long, wavy black hair that met her hips. She had large brown eyes, wore round glasses, and had skin that reminded Usagi of creamy caramel candy. Beside her was a familiar face—tanned skin, a thick head of black hair, and blue eyes that recognized her immediately.
"Mamo-chan!" She called out with excitement. There was the scraping of metal chairs against the concrete, and suddenly the two were in a warm embrace. It ended quickly, with Usagi turning her attention to the woman beside him.
"Sunita desu," he introduced in Japanese.
Usagi smiled and said in her practiced English, "Hello, Sunita. It is nice to meet you."
"Your English is getting better!" Mamoru complimented. Turning to Sunita, he said with a proud smile, "And this is my dearest friend, Usagi."
It was Sunita's turn. With a respectful bow, Sunita said, "Konnichiwa. Watashi wa Sunita…"
"Desu," Mamoru helped her. Usagi couldn't help but fall in love with the way her accent intonated the Japanese.
"...desu. Hajimemashite!"
Usagi clapped with excitement. "Hai! So good! Can you say in your language too?"
"En peyar Sunita. Ungalai sandhithatharku mikka magilchi," she said smoothly. The Tamil words rolled off of the woman's tongue, and all Usagi could do was swoon.
"Sugoi!" She cried out. "Mamo-chan, kanojo wa kawaii!"
Sunita gave her boyfriend a confused smile. He laughed warmly and took her hand.
"She thinks you're cute."
##
Mamoru called months later, just after Seiya's world tour had ended and the couple had returned home.
"I need to ask you something," he said seriously.
"Okay," she answered.
"I'm going to ask Sunita to marry me."
"Oh," Usagi breathed. How did she feel? She looked for jealousy, but couldn't find it. There was a lingering image of a young girl with pink hair and red eyes, but she closed her eyes and tried to let it pass. Admittedly, she was still making peace with that loss. However, mingling with that pain she found relief and happiness. Mamoru was moving on.
"That's wonderful," she said gently. She hoped her happiness sounded sincere. "What's the question though?"
"Do I have your blessing?"
With eyes wide, she answered, "Of course, but why do you need that from me?"
"Because you're my princess, Usagi. And my best friend."
"I, well… thank you, but you know that you don't need my permission. You're a prince." Thinking of Endymion, she wondered aloud, "Does she know?"
"About you? Of course-"
"No, I mean Serenity and Endymion. The past and the future. Who we are. All of it."
He was silent.
"Mamoru," she whispered. "I think you should tell her. She needs to be prepared."
"It's better if she doesn't know," he said.
"It happens soon and you know it," Usagi chided. She couldn't believe it - she was the one giving him the advice!
"I'll tell her. I just need time to think of how to say it without sounding like I'm insane," he said.
He didn't have the time.
It was weeks later when Usagi called back, her voice heavy with worry. She felt sick as she clutched the phone, with nausea and a dull throbbing in her stomach that had stayed with her for weeks.
"I'm not telling you this because I want you to drop your life and come back home," she said into the phone. "But there's a new enemy."
##
It was a bloody battle, but thankfully, no one had died. She had grown so close to the crystal, that she surprised even herself with the power she had. Damaging rays of light flowed through her hands at will, and with less effort than she'd needed in the past.
There was a moment when she thought she might fail. When all her energy was gone and her senshi, tired and tattered, sat heaving behind her. The enemies lay fallen except for the leader- a woman with pale white eyebrows and a sharp glare.
"This planet and that crystal will be mine," the space witch spat. She narrowed her eyes and with a small smirk, noticed something that even Usagi had only confirmed days ago.
"I'll gut you and rip that brat in your belly to pieces. Your power is nothing compared to mine, Sailor Moon."
Sailor Star Fighter, with wide eyes and a newfound look of determination, stood on her feet and closed her eyes. Her body began to glow, and Usagi could feel a new kind of energy enter her body. The Silver Crystal began to hum. The other girls, invigorated by Star Fighter's actions, followed. Sailor Moon closed her eyes, focusing on the strong pulse of the crystal, and then focused its power on the woman before her.
But before she died, in a blast of light and pained screams, the witch emitted a large blast of energy that went into the sun.
##
It was as if everyone was holding their breath. The room was hot, full of people, and yet incredibly silent. Usagi was aware of Seiya's eyes fixed on her, and she knew that the hushed conversation they had in the hallway moments earlier wasn't over.
"How could you keep something like that from me," he asked in a rushed whisper. "You could have fucking died out there and I never would have even known!"
"Exactly! I knew that if I told you that you wouldn't have let me fight–"
"You're damn right!"
"-but you guys needed me out there! This world needed me and if I hadn't been there, there would be nothing left for this baby," she said firmly. "I know you understand that."
Suddenly, Makoto's loud voice called out, "In the main room, everyone! We're meeting now!"
Mamoru, who looked more tired and stressed than Usagi had ever seen him, was the first to break the silence.
"What are our options?"
"The sun is unstable," Ami said gravely. "At this rate, it's going to burn out or even explode."
Luna was the next to speak. "We're lucky the solar flares haven't done major damage yet. I'm sorry to say this, but the only option we have is to leave."
"Leave? You mean abandon Earth?" Usagi chimed in, her eyes wide.
"Not just Earth," Artemis quipped. "If the sun phases into a red giant, it will consume everything around it."
"There has to be something we can do," Usagi pleaded.
"I can't think of another option, Usagi-chan. Theoretically, the silver crystal could repair the damage, but it would take time we don't have. It would be a huge undertaking, even for someone like your late mother, Queen Serenity. Earth will burn in the meantime. Perhaps we could go to Kinmoku," Luna said hopefully, looking to Seiya. He opened his mouth to respond but was quickly cut off.
Usagi shook her head. "No, I'm sorry, but I'm not leaving everyone here to die while we escape to another galaxy. It's wrong. Our jobs are to protect the solar system, we can't just run away."
"I can't accept that either, Luna. This planet and the life on it is my responsibility. No matter what, I must stay," Mamoru added firmly.
"So we're just going to ignore the elephant in the room? Our job is to protect you, and we can't protect you here, Usagi, and you… you're…" Rei stuttered, her brain still struggling to process the information that had been dumped so abruptly on them.
Seiya placed a gentle hand on his wife's shoulder. "She's right, Usagi. I understand and respect what you're saying, but you have to think about our child," he said, his voice almost apologetic. He wanted to support her, but he felt the need to protect the life inside of his wife's belly.
"I am. I'm thinking about every child. Why should our baby live and all the others die? We can't let them all die, I wouldn't be able to live with that, and I know you all - neither would you. So we need to figure this out."
The black cat sighed, her body sullen as she looked down. "I don't know what else to do. Like I said, it would take a lot of time to fix the sun using the Silver Crystal. Time that we don't have." Her voice dropped as she whispered sadly, "If only we could freeze Earth to buy us time."
Usagi gasped and clapped her hands together. "Luna, that's brilliant!"
Artemis cocked his head. "And how do you plan to do that?"
"I don't know yet but I can do it, I know I can!" She rested her hand gently on the broach clipped to her chest. It pulsed, sending a wave of energy throughout her body.
Yes, we can, it told her.
"Even if you do, Usagi-chan, there's no guarantee that it would work," Luna argued.
"No, there's not, but either we fail and we die, or we don't try anything and we die anyway, right?" Usagi's eyes glanced around the room, quickly taking in the pensive expressions of the men and women around her. "We have to try something, but I can't do this without you all. If you want to go, I won't stop you, but my power and the Crystal might not be enough. I need all of you."
"Oh my God. This is it," Minako gasped. "This is why the Earth froze. This is the beginning of Crystal Tokyo."
##
For some time, the Earth lay sleeping beneath a thick blanket of ice.
Except for one woman.
Conscious and aware, Usagi sat with the Silver Crystal, her body a conduit for magic. She drew energy from her dearest friends who lay sleeping, encased in ice formed to protect the living. Absorbed into her body, their star energy mingled with her own, and then poured into the thrumming crystal. A beam of glimmering light coursed into the large star that sustained their galaxy. Though she closed her weary eyes, she was able to see what felt like everything at once. Sometimes she felt like it would never end.
##
"Seiya-kun…"
Seiya lay comfortable in bed, the feel of a gentle, warm breeze tickling his forehead.
"My love," a voice spoke. When Seiya opened his eyes, he felt a wave of confusion hit him. Instead of the grey wall he expected to see, he saw what looked like hard opaque quartz, its surface glowing in the light that touched it. He turned his head slightly, noting the subtle shift of the iridescent colors.
The sun...
Finally, it hit him that someone had been talking to him. He looked toward the sound of the voice, his stiff body staying still, and looked at the woman beside him.
His wife looked different. Her long, flowing golden hair was now closer to white. It gleamed with a soft, ethereal haze in the light. Her face hadn't changed. Her peach skin was smooth and soft, and her eyes were as blue and bright as he'd ever seen them. Her eyebrows were wrinkled into a furrow, but her eyes - now pooling with tears - were happy.
"Seiya-kun, I've been waiting for you for so long," she said softly, stroking his eyebrows with the back of her fingers.
"What happened? I remember… there was a solar flare… and… I don't," his face tensed as he scoured his memory for any clues.
"Seiya, don't exert yourself," Usagi warned gently.
"The freeze!" He looked up hopefully. "It worked?"
She smiled softly. "It did, Seiya-kun. We're safe."
"And the baby?" He asked.
Usagi gave an amused smile as she placed a hand on her round stomach. "Waiting for you to wake up."
"You've been here, alone, all this time?"
She smiled. "I had my belly to keep me company," she said gently. "He grew very slowly over the last nine hundred years, but I think he'll be ready to meet us soon."
"Nine. Hundred. Years?" Seiya gasped, jaw dropped.
His wife began to laugh. "It was a huge undertaking, Seiya-kun. I had to rebuild the sun from the inside out and keep everyone frozen at the same time. And then I had visitors from Mau, so I had to wake Luna and Artemis, which was a blessing because then there were some first contact situations that I had no idea how to handle, and that issue at the Time Gate, and then there were negotiations for the Information and Technology Trade Agreement of 2300." She counted on her fingers as she listed events that delayed her. "And not to mention fixing all the environmental damage and crumbling infrastructure. Now that was a disaster! Being a queen was a lot more work than Other-Timeline-Neo-Queen Serenity made it sound."
She seemed to pick up on how lost and overwhelmed her husband looked. With a soft smile, she reached out to him. "I'm sorry, I don't get to talk to other people very often. Come see what I've been up to," she urged. He stood up on shaky legs, feeling his wife's grip tighten as she steadied him. Standing up, he took a moment to take in her entire appearance.
Gone were the cozy sweaters and trendy outfits she used to wear. Usagi wore a floor-length flowing white dress with golden details on the bodice. A golden crown encrusted with jewels and pearls sat regally upon her head. The thing he found most comforting, however, was that her hair, though lighter and longer, was still styled in the odangos he was used to. A large bow, delicate and transparent like fairy wings, was perched upon her back.
"Are you Queen Serenity now?" He asked curiously, dredging the name up from his memory.
"I suppose. I guess it sounds better than Queen Usagi. Queen of what, I'm not quite sure yet. Mamoru and I have a lot to discuss." Seiya noted the uncertainty and thoughtfulness of her voice as she gazed at the city before her. He could see her trying to process the fear of having such a big responsibility. As if she could sense his thoughts, she turned to look at him with a strong smile. "But I'm still your Odango, and I know we'll figure this out together."
He looked down at himself - dressed in a fine black suit with orange embroidery and golden epaulets, buttons, and trim. He noted the little golden olive flowers.
"This is from Kinmoku," he said, confused.
"Kakyuu-chan brought it for you," she said casually. "She came all this way to help me lift the spell. We can go see her when you're ready."
He closed his eyes, squinting in the bright sunlight as she led him onto the balcony. Once his eyes had time to adjust, he placed his hands on the cool crystal railing and looked at the landscape before him. He breathed in an awed gasp, eyes welling with tears and he took it all in.
The landscape was surreally picturesque. The sky was blue, and the birds waking from their sleep were beginning to chirp. Outside the castle-a magnificent structure made from crystal that grew from the ground- were clear rivers and the greenest trees he'd ever seen. A gentle breeze tickled his neck, and he took that moment to breathe in the purest, most satisfying breath of air he'd ever felt. It took him a moment to realize that different parts of the city were separated by water, but connected by long crystalline bridges. He couldn't hear the usual honking of cars or chattering of people–just nature and the soft sound of wind teasing the trees below.
"What is all this?" He asked, amazed. He knew that his wife could accomplish magical things, but he never imagined anything on this scale.
"This is Crystal Tokyo, my love."