Ailan smoothed her hand over her silvery white dress, feeling the expensive silk caress her fingers as Setsuna would at night. She giggled at the thought of her green-haired lover. They had both changed so much since the Silver Millennium, but their relationship had evolved into one as powerful and eternal as the one Haruka and Michiru shared. And they shared a bond as close. Ailan touched her flat belly, her senshi powers allowing her to sense the babe growing within. Setsuna's child. Hundreds of years ago, after Serenity was born, the former queen had vowed to never again bring a child into the world, yet here she was, ecstatic to be the mother of Setsuna's daughter. Michiru and Haruka's daughter Kazeko had given the senshi the power to combine their energies to create children. Perhaps at will. And now Ailan was pregnant with one of the ancient Star Senshi, soldiers not seen since the Sailor Wars. The birth of Kazeko, Sailor Sol, indicated that soon all of the Star Senshi would be needed, and Ailan had no idea why. She could sense her child reach out to comfort her, but there seemed to be something strange about the voice. It seemed to be babbling, two strings of thought woven together by a single unifying force. She concentrated, not quite finished dressing for her wedding, and tried to make contact with her daughter. What she found made her collapse against the wall. "What? What is it? Mother?" Usagi, who had been preparing her soul mother's jewelry for the wedding, dashed to the silver-haired woman's side. Ailan smiled at her daughter as she rose to her feet. "Nothing, Usagi-chan. I just felt a little faint. It's one of those wonders of pregnancy you will soon experience." Usagi blushed, shaking her head. "Mamo-chan and I have decided to wait until Crystal Tokyo to worry about Chibiusa." Her blue eyes clouded, one hand straying to her belly. "I miss her, though. It's hard to wait for your daughter to be born." "Or reborn," Ailan added, smiling. She caressed her daughter's cheek and kissed her forehead, over the spot where her golden moon would appear. "It was worth the wait, though, and you'll understand that, too. Come, now; I need to finish getting ready. Setsuna has waited millennia to marry me for real, and I don't want to keep her waiting." *~*~*~*~*~*~* Setsuna was incredibly nervous. In all of her centuries as Sailor Pluto, for as long as she could remember, she had never been nervous, but the thought of marrying the woman she had loved for two lifetimes made her shiver in the light breeze. Haruka, Makoto, and Mamoru stood beside her as her three "best men", while Rei, Minako, and Ami stood as bridesmaids. Usagi, as Ailan and Setsuna's soul daughter, had been chosen as maid of honor once again, and Hotaru—though not a child—was flower girl. She loved that duty. She had told all of the expecting mothers that she didn't mind, as a matter of fact, she was beginning to enjoy it. Usagi and Mamoru, who had always seemed the most eager to marry, no longer spoke of the subject, holding each other silently while their friends planned their weddings. Setsuna looked at the soldiers standing so formally behind her. Mamoru wore black, Haruka wore dark navy blue, and Makoto wore deep emerald green while Setsuna's dark red suit looked almost black. They couldn't all agree on one color, so they all wore their choice. The women across from them wore the dresses Ailan's Moonlight Fashions had designed for Haruka and Michiru's wedding months earlier, though Michiru wore an elegant but far simpler sea gown. She had elected not to participate in the wedding, instead sitting in the family row with her two-month-old golden-haired daughter in her arms. Kazeko was asleep, but she could be quite active if she so chose. Haruka's eyes kept straying to her wife and daughter, remembering how they started everything with their wedding eleven months earlier. Setsuna caught her breath as Ailan entered, walking with Usagi behind Hotaru. Ailan was wearing the silver white dress Setsuna had given her in the Time Vortex, altered through her own design skills and covered in tiny silvery diamonds. Her hair was down, held back by a silver net studded in every type of gem she could get her hands on, curling its happy way down her bare back. She held white lilies, their pink centers adding color to her ensemble. She stopped in front of Setsuna, handing her bouquet to Usagi before slipping her white-gloved hands into Setsuna's. Setsuna's dark red eyes glowed softly, a light matched by the sparkle in Ailan's purple ones. "Aishiteru, Setsu-chan." "Stop that," she whispered back, repeating the priest as the pair continued their mental conversation. "And I love you, too, Ailan." "I now pronounce you bound for all eternity." The priest, the same one who had married Haruka and Michiru almost a year earlier, smiled at the pair as he touched Setsuna's shoulder. "You may kiss the bride." Setsuna leaned down and let her lips touch Ailan's, feeling fire course through her frame as she wrapped her arms around the slender woman. She could feel the tightness around Ailan's middle, and she wondered that their daughter was already so large. She pulled away amidst the cheers, raising an eyebrow at the joy and anticipation shining from her wife's eyes. "What?" Ailan glanced at her daughter as she pulled Setsuna's arms around her. "Like the last senshi to answer to my stone, I carry twins." "Twins?" The squeak in Setsuna's voice caused Ailan to break into a fit of giggles. Her wife, daughter of the gods, wasn't ready to have two babies. *~*~*~*~*~*~* Three stars shot across the sky—one red, one blue, one yellow—heralding a new era and giving stargazing lovers a wish. Makoto and Ami, sitting on the balcony of the large apartment they now shared, smiled at the three falling points of light. "Make a wish, Ami." The blue-haired woman chuckled, pulling Makoto's arms around her waist. "I have everything I ever wanted, Mako-chan. I don't have anything to wish for." "There has to be something, Ami." The genius grinned. "I hope our daughter looks like you." Makoto laughed and leaned back, letting her girlfriend get comfortable. "Ready to marry me, Ami?" "Mochiron." *~*~*~*~*~*~* Rei and Minako watched the stars shoot by, both lying on their backs outside of the shrine, trying to find the will to go back inside. "Nagare boshi. Utsukushii, ne?" "Everything seems more beautiful now, Rei. Maybe it's one of those things that come with being pregnant." Rei laughed as she rolled onto her belly and leaned over her lover. "No. You throwing up every morning is because of our daughter. Beauty comes with love." She leaned down and kissed the woman she loved so much, marveling again that they were lucky enough to meet after they were reborn. "Everything looks better when you have someone to share it with." Minako slid her fingers through Rei's raven black hair, smiling as it caressed her hand and passed over her golden diamond engagement ring. She had no idea where Rei found the money to afford such a beautiful jewel, and she never asked. "I hope we can be good mothers. I mean, she's a Star Senshi. How are we going to deal with that?" "We're senshi," Rei reminded her fiancée. "We are the only people who could raise a Star Senshi." She stood up and lifted the Senshi of Venus, turning back to the shrine. "Let's go inside." *~*~*~*~*~*~* Usagi started at the knock on the door, looking past Mamoru's shoulder as the sound was repeated. "Go away," she whispered, acutely aware of the placement of her boyfriend's hands. When the three stars shot through the sky, Usagi wished that she could spend the night with Mamoru, not just in his bed, and she did not want to be disturbed. The knock sounded again, and Usagi jumped off the couch, straightening her shirt before stomping to the door. Jerking it open, she found an empty hall. When the knock was repeated, she realized that the visitors had to be at the balcony. Her anger fading to curiousity, Usagi glanced at Mamoru and headed for the balcony, opening the door without bothering with the curtains. Silence filled the balcony and room. Usagi's legs gave out, only her boyfriend's arms around her waist preventing her from falling. "Seiya," she whispered.
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