A tall, willowy woman with silver hair and amethyst eyes, clothed in a flowing white dress trimmed in gold met Haruka, and, for just a moment, she swore that she saw white feathered wings folded sedately along the woman's spine. But that was impossible. "Ten'ou Haruka, Sailor Uranus, Protector of Princess Serenity?" Haruka nodded, not in the least bit wary. Something about the woman seemed so familiar, so right, and Haruka instantly trusted her. "My name is Tenbano Tejina, and Meiou Setsuna sent me to help you. Call me Tejina." "Tejina-san?" The woman, smiling in amusement, nodded. "Yes. What is your question?" "I am in love with someone, and we've been together since Junior High, and we've been lovers for almost the entire time we've lived in Tokyo, but it was being Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus that introduced us to each other and brought us together. She sought me out because of the approaching Silence, and I finally followed her along her path for the exact same reason. We've been fighting side-by-side for years, and we really do make a great team, but it isn't enough just fighting together. I have to know if it's our destiny or our duty as Sailor Senshi that keeps us together. Do we really love each other, or just depend on each other so much that it feels like love?" "You two have been through a lot together, Haruka-san, and that kind of closeness, being able to read each others' minds in a fight as you do, can't be just because you're Senshi. After all, in the Silver Millennium your planets were forbidden to be together." "I remember. But we defied those orders." "So what's wrong?" "It was the fight back then, too," Haruka whispered. "We died in each others' arms in the final battle and we never really knew for sure back then." "And your child? Helios? Do you think he was a product of duty?" Haruka, never stopping to wonder how this woman knew what her own princess did not, shook her head. "He may have come from our love, but it was our Senshi power that made him possible. I don't want to ask Setsuna-san because I know she won't answer." "Did you ever stop to wonder if Michiru-san thinks about this fight or fate thing?" "We can wonder all we want, Tejina-san, but nothing is going to answer our question." Tejina sighed and clasped her hands together. She had tried everything, but nothing more than the most extreme demonstration could pierce a stubborn senshi's heart. "I can. I have a way to answer your question, but I promise nothing. I can tell you that you will discover if you and Michiru-san would have been together anyway, but any change in one person's life changes everything. I cannot promise that no one will be hurt or that any of you will even survive. If you are willing to take this risk, if you are willing to subject the people you love and the people who love you to this change, I can answer your question." "I'll do anything," Haruka whispered, emerald eyes fierce. "Granted." *~*~*~*~*~*~* Usagi gasped, hands clasping her heart, as she fell to the floor, blue eyes blank and empty. "Usako!" Mamoru cried, catching his girlfriend, gasping as blood began to drip from an unknown wound on his shoulder, covering the blonde girl in red. "Usagi!" Rei fell down beside her best and closest friend, placing a hand on her belly as pain exploded out from her stomach. Her hand came away coated in blood and she whimpered. Usagi's brooch glowed red for an instant, exploding as the crystal shattered and she breathed her last breath. "Usako!" "Usagi," Rei gasped, falling to the ground, her blood pooling under her. Michiru fell to the ground, the Aqua Mirror in her hand a mass of shards. Her sapphire eyes searched desperately for her lover as the life faded from her body. "Ruka . . . " Then reality shifted.
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