A silver white dome surrounded the group as Sailor Moonlight joined the senshi, staff in hand, and Neptune knelt beside her wife. "Haruka?" Tears filled her eyes, pain from her wife competing with the labor pains she felt moments before. "Haruka?" Uranus placed her hand over the gaping wound on her side, red soaking into her white gloves and staining her fuku, pooling on the grass and her wife. She held up her hand, tears in her green eyes as blood dripped to the ground and ran down her arms. "Blood," she whispered. "There's blood on my hands. I knew it. I saw this long ago." Neptune felt her blood run cold at her lover's words as Haruka's fuku changed back into her civilian clothes. She was losing strength. With some effort, Haruka pulled her transformation back, knowing that she had a better chance of surviving as Uranus. "There isn't any blood," the younger senshi whispered, taking Haruka's hand in hers. "Please don't leave me." From her position outside the transparent dome, the Dark Queen laughed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You could never understand," the shadow laughed. "The destiny of a princess linked so closely to Uranus is to die, her daughter unborn. The carrier of the Crystal of Uranus cannot live to see her child. Balance has proclaimed it thus. It's all your fault, Neptune. You got pregnant, condemning the woman you love to death. Again." "No," Michiru whispered. "Haruka, I can't lose you. Fight, baby. Don't leave me alone." Ailan, silver white staff held upright as it maintained the wall, locked eyes with the Dark Queen. "It's you," she whispered as Eternal Sailor Moon knelt beside the fallen senshi. "You aren't any of the embodiments of chaos. You're the Guardian of the Balance." "Yesss," the Dark Queen hissed. "And I am tired of having my plans disrupted by you senshi! Earth was supposed to fall into an extended dark age after the Silver Millennium fell, but those two birthed a male with the powers of a senshi, the one creature that could guard the stupid golden crystal! Chaos was supposed to rule with Mettalia and Beryl, but you thwarted that, too. And Mistress Nine and Pharaoh Ninety! You freed Saturn and saved the planet again!" Eternal Sailor Moon took the ginzuishou back, shaking her head. It would not or could not heal the wounded woman. "If you, Guardian of the Balance, wrote this destiny," Moonlight whispered, "then the ginzuishou can't save her." "Nothing can save her," Balance laughed. "The senshi will fall and the destined age of darkness will finally consume the Earth." Michiru stifled a sob as Haruka's breathing slowed, becoming more painful and ragged with each passing moment. If the ginzuishou could not help, nothing could. "Why? Why do you want her dead? She did nothing to you." "That child is not nothing!" Balance began to glow, her red eyes even more powerful. "I will not have any of you tamper with my plans ever again. I am fed up with you high and mighty senshi, so sure that you know what is best, especially you, Serenity, last queen of the Silver Millennium. I wasn't sure before, but I know now that you and my servant created the first Sailor Moon to ascend to the final evolution. That was forbidden. The Senshi were never meant to become so powerful, they were never meant to be reborn, they were never meant to take their stones. You disappoint me." Pluto looked up at Balance, her powers having failed to help the fallen senshi, ruby eyes glowing as brilliantly as the god's. She sensed some of her parents' power fill her, and she was seriously pissed. "I am NOT YOUR SERVANT!! You didn't want Helios," she growled menacingly, her voice only slightly calmer. "When you sensed his conception and the resultant power explosion, you broke the seals containing Mettalia. But why? Aren't the senshi needed to maintain the balance?" "Foolish child! Nothing is needed to maintain the balance save my will alone! It was Chaos's turn to rule the cosmos and you keep delaying his reign. Everything must be ended so that it can be remade anew." "Maybe we like the universe the way it is! You may have been given the power to moderate Order and Chaos, but you never let either of them really rule! Your job is to provide specific circumstances at intervals unspecified by the gods to facilitate the vacillation of power between the two aforementioned entities. But you don't do that! You take control in the name or order or chaos, whichever suits your needs at that specific moment. I was ordered to be your servant so I could watch you, but your actions have proven you unworthy of the power bestowed on you by the gods. You are not allowed to directly interfere. As the gods are not allowed to destroy that which threatens their people, you are not allowed to kill the Avatars of Order. And now we must stop your madness." "I do not fear you, daughter of gods. Your power may not touch me." "My God power may not, but my Senshi power can. As can my former wife's and daughter's." Balance sneered at the group. "That is another thing. I must kill your child. All children of two Senshi threaten my plans." "Because they have power greater than that of a normal senshi. Helios has the power to guard the dreams of the Earth, and Usagi has the power to control all of the energy of the ginzuishou as even her mother never could. Which means that Michiru and Haruka's unborn child . . . their daughter . . . by the Gods." Pluto spun to face the senshi, Garnet Orb glowing fiercely. "We cannot let Haruka die. Your child can be turned to evil as Galaxia was if she has only one mother, or worse, none at all. Maybe the ginzuishou alone cannot save the child, but all of our powers combined might be able to. We are Avatars, Chosen of the Gods, and we can save her." She closed her eyes, the symbol of Pluto appearing in the center of her forehead, as all of the Inners and the other two Outers followed her lead. Tuxedo Kamen let Endymion take control as he accessed his power, and Eternal Sailor Moon let her power join her senshi's, the gold crescent moon on her forehead glowing. Sailor Moonlight, sensing something was terribly wrong, just watched, maintaining the shield. The colorful power flew at Haruka, touching her prone, semi-conscious form as it fluctuated between mundane and senshi, but a brilliant light more golden than Haruka's power exploded from Michiru, throwing the other senshi back as it blocked their power. Ailan's eyes widened. "Don't try again! She won't accept the raw power! It has to come in a form she knows will not endanger her mother." "Nani? Wakaranai." Moonlight stuck her staff into the ground, letting it hold the Silence of the New Moon Shield against Balance's curious minions while she knelt beside Neptune and Uranus. A silver crescent moon glowed from her forehead as she cupped her hands, pulling the tiny pearl out of its star-shaped locket. "I'll explain in a minute, Setsuna. Everyone, send your power to me. If that child is who I think she is, she will not allow raw power near her mothers." Confused, the senshi sent their power to Moonlight, who closed her eyes, straining under the effort of redirecting and focusing so much raw power into the Moonlight Crystal. It glowed more and more fiercely until it was blinding white, glowing like a newborn star. Sailor Moon waited until last, slowly feeding the enhanced power of the ginzuishou into her birth mother. As the immense power of the guardian crystal of the Moon entered the glowing pearl of the Silver Moonlight Crystal, the white star Ailan held between her white gloves began to turn silver. When all of the senshi's powers—marine blue, aqua, white, orange, red, green, purple, and dark garnet—were held within the tiny crystal, Ailan leaned forward and added her own silver power, holding the pearl over Haruka's heart. Sailor Uranus gasped, the dark gold symbol of her planet glowing from her forehead as her tiara vanished. The child in Neptune womb, oddly quiescent after her initial struggle to enter the world, did not object to the altered energy, and that made Ailan very uneasy. The wound on Uranus's side slowly healed, the blood vanishing from gloves, fuku, the ground, and Neptune. Dark lightning assaulted the shield and Ailan flinched at the onslaught, hands shaking. Sailor Satrun's "Silent Wall!!" echoed in the small space as a dark purple web reached up to reinforce and sustain the faltering shield. Moonlight relaxed and finished healing her fallen companion. Uranus stirred and sat up, emerald eyes glowing as she embraced Neptune before both stood, knowing that the battle was far from over. "Can we kill her?" "No," Pluto and Moonlight replied simultaneously. "We cannot lose the moderator of Balance," Moonlight continued as she took her staff again, glancing at Neptune. "But there used to be a power to send her away, fight off chaos, to take our destiny for our own once more. She has been meddling in mundane affairs for far too long." She glanced up as the light from the sun seemed to flicker, and her purple eyes widened. "Mercury, scan the sun," the former queen whispered breathlessly. "Um . . . wow. Massive sunspot activity and solar flares that you would not believe. It's a far more intense version of the readings I took when Mettalia broke free in the Silver Millennium and years ago. Galaxia initiated the same response, but not nearly as powerful as this." "She's here," Moonlight sighed, glancing up at Balance. "She has returned to get rid of you as she has so many times before." "Impossible! She cannot be born unless . . ." The Dark Queen trailed off, eyes flying to Neptune's distended belly as a brilliant golden symbol flashed, a symbol only she and Ailan recognized. Screaming in fury, she renewed her attack, desperate to eradicate that symbol once and for all. Ailan gasped at the symbol as she pushed Neptune in front of her, purple eyes fierce. "Give me your power again! All of it that you can spare and live!" Instants later, the Moonlight Crystal was pulsing silver again, in time with Ailan's heartbeat. Endymion and Helios fed her the power of the Earth as Eternal Sailor Moon sent the energy of the ginzuishou, and Ailan knew that there was no power left. She looked at Pluto, tears in her eyes, and the Senshi of Time finally realized what her beloved was planning. "No," Setsuna whispered, but it was too late. Ailan poured every ounce of strength she possessed into the pearl, opening her fingers like a flower opening its petals to catch the sun, and the pulsing crystal flew to Neptune's side, eager to be put to the use for which it was created. Ailan fell to the ground, her life's energy in the crystal, her transformation fading as the shield fell, leaving the group of weak senshi vulnerable to Balance's attacks. She instantly threw her black lightning. But Ailan's plan had worked. Neptune, no longer in control of her own body, rose off the ground, floating in the silver white filigreed sphere the Moonlight Crystal created. She began to glow in a white-gold too brilliant to look at, and a tiny crystal formed between her hands. The golden light around her flowed into and focused through the crystal as the Moonlight Crystal began to fly in tight circles around Michiru's hands, so fast that no one could see it anymore. The golden light burst forth, webbed in silver-white from the combined powers locked in the tiny pearl, and intercepted the dark queen's lightning. Ailan felt cold tears run down her hot cheeks as she watched the silver-gold struggle against the black, her vision blurry as her body lost the fight to keep living. "It won't be enough," she managed. "It was never going to be enough and she knew it. We've lost." Setsuna looked up from her place by her lover's side, tears streaking her cheeks. Ailan had relinquished her stone and she would die for nothing if Balance could not be defeated. She stood, determined not to let her beloved sacrifice herself for nothing. "There is more power. We have to give the stone more power." "We have none left," Sailor Moon whispered from her kneeling position. "She has it all." "Even Helios has nothing left," Endymion murmured. "What can we do?" "The stone doesn't have all of our power," Pluto corrected, pointing at the broach on Sailor Moon's bow. "The crystal you carry, the ginzuishou, has a life force and an awareness of its own. Send it to join Neptune." Usagi, opening her broach, whispered a command to her stone, watching as it flew up to spin around Neptune's hands and her transformation faded. "But it won't be enough." "Yes, it will. Min'na, call forth the stones of your planets that you reformed by absorbing the Keystones in the Silver Millennium. They contain part of your planets' life forces, and they can channel as much energy as possible without killing their wielder." Mars held her hands in front of her breasts, concentrating, and a fiery ruby red crystal appeared in her palms. The colorful, faceted gem held tiny striations in its depths, cracks colored in gold and orange. Whispering a word as her transformation faded, she sent the Fire Dust Crystal to join the ginzuishou and Silver Moonlight Crystal spinning around Neptune's hands. Venus closed her hands and concentrated, smiling when a small, round orangey gold gem, the Heart Shock Crystal, appeared. Jupiter's Thunder Cry Crystal and Mercury's Aqua Song Crystal sped to Neptune's hands, and all three new colors joined the web of magic defying the black lightning, three more senshi returning to their mundane forms. The point of contact between the colorful golden beam and the black one moved closer to Balance as Neptune's attack gained power. Saturn held out her white-gloved hand, and the purple Silent Night Crystal joined the fight, Hotaru falling back to the ground. Balance's red eyes widened as she finally began to realize that she might lose. Pluto, reaching deep into her heart, called forth the Time Stop Crystal, a garnet stone with black imperfections in its depths. It joined the fight as Endymion sent the Golden Crystal of Earth and both returned to mundane forms. The golden power reached Balance, but she held on, determined not to lose. Uranus jumped into the air, determined to join her wife, and the silver filigree of power pulled her into the sphere. She held her dark gold stone laced with navy, the Space Turbulence Crystal, in her right hand, and she felt another stone appear in her left hand, the Sea Melody Crystal of Neptune. The last two stones joined the fight as Haruka wrapped her arms around Michiru, sensing that the power flowing from and through her wife was not from the musician. The Dark Queen screamed in fury as the power sent her back to her home in the void between galaxies, the Chaos power she had amassed dissipating to the cosmic winds, her power depleted enough that she would be unable to meddle in mundane affairs for quite some time. Her minions vanished like so much smoke as Haruka and Michiru sunk to the ground and all of the crystals returned to their owners, save two. The Golden Crystal vanished into Elysion once more, and Michiru held both her Sea Melody Crystal and a strange white-gold one. The Silver Moonlight Crystal, its power spent, fell to the ground. Setsuna reached for the quiescent stone as all of the senshi found star-shaped lockets in their hands and coaxed their crystals into the necklaces as the stones shrunk to fit. The tiny silver crystal, tired of fighting and mundane affairs, rolled away, unwilling to deal with power and senshi again. "Ailan," she whispered, tears choking her, "call it back." "Sh-she won't c-come," Ailan whispered, her weak voice faltering. "She's f-finished with m-me. Forever." "I won't believe that! I can't." Setsuna sat beside the fallen senshi and pulled her head into her lap. "I can't lose you." Neptune closed the tiny necklace-hung locket and smiled at her wife. The smile turned into a grimace as pain shot through her, announcing her daughter's arrival. The girl, having helped banish the dark guardian, was ready to see the world she saved. Haruka helped her wife back to the ground, draping her jacket across the woman. "Do we have time to get to the hospital?" "No," Michiru gasped, clenching her fists. "She's coming too fast." The senshi gathered closer, all eyes turning to Setsuna, and she closed her eyes, accessing the powers she received from her parents. A flash of dark red moved the entire group to the empty guest room in the Outers' mansion, including the exhausted Moonlight Crystal. Haruka grabbed a pillow and placed it under her wife's head, covering her with a sheet as Ami pulled out her computer and the other Inners reached for cloths to clean the child. Mamoru, a practicing doctor, sent Usagi for the kit of medical supplies he kept in the mansion as he washed his hands and deputized his fiancée, declaring her a nurse. Amid the buzz of activity, Setsuna ran her fingers through Ailan's silver hair, crying as her lover's breathing slowed. Michiru screamed at the next contraction, and Haruka closed her eyes, feeling her wife's pain. Cracking one violet eye, Ailan waved her finger with the last of her fading strength, forcing the sleeping pearlescent crystal to land on Michiru's breast, and the woman's sapphire eyes widened as the pain eased. Setsuna held Ailan in her arms, crying as she felt her partner's life force leaving. "Don't die," she whispered. "I just confronted Hades to save you; don't leave so soon." Ailan, completely unconscious and falling closer and closer to death, twitched, her hand in Setsuna's tightening convulsively. But she was too far gone to hear anymore. Setsuna leaned over the silver haired woman, her tears dripping uninhibited for the first time in her life. "I love you so much," she whispered. "I watched you die once and I barely survived. I can't do it again. If you die, I'll follow you this time." Makoto reached over and took Ami's hand in hers, seeing that the tears in her eyes were shining in her lover's, too. Rei wrapped an arm around Minako's shoulders as she sensed her partner begin to cry at the emotions they could sense from the oldest lovers in the room. Setsuna shouldn't have to be alone again. Michiru gasped as one final contraction pushed her tiny daughter into the world. Mamoru caught the child who had a dusting of gold hair on her head, smiling as the senshi cleaned her, amazed at her silence. The round silver pearl, the last of its energy and all of its will spent. Michiru collapsed into her wife's arms, tears in her eyes, smiling in relief. Setsuna held Ailan as her destiny on Earth ended, and the woman who had sacrificed herself in order to lock Balance away and ensure the birth of Haruka and Michiru's daughter breathed her last. Setsuna pulled the limp body closer, sobbing. "NO!! Ailan, please don't leave me! I only just figured it all out. You were right all along." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I was ready, Ailan. I wanted to marry you. I can't live without you." Unnoticed by the senshi, a tiny red light glowed briefly from the heart of the Moonlight Crystal. The golden-haired baby opened her baby-blue eyes and let out her first cry. Michiru sat up and took her daughter as Haruka leaned forward to caress the tiny child, an errant heel nudging the sleeping crystal. It rolled away from the family and the senshi, slowing down as it crossed the floor and stopping as it just brushed Ailan's cold finger. The woman jerked as if shocked, the Silver Moonlight Crystal lifting itself off the floor as it began to glow once more. Ailan fell out of Setsuna's arms, curled around the tiny stone as her eyes slowly opened. "Setsuna?" Gasps filled the room as the woman presumed dead sat up, her crystal returning to her hand. She looked at Setsuna, lavender eyes confused. "Why am I still here?" She turned toward the giggling infant and visibly paled. "I wasn't supposed to live to see this. My destiny was to die to pave the way for her. That is how it has always been." Setsuna pulled Ailan into her arms, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "I don't care about fate or destiny," she sobbed. "You can't leave me alone." Ailan smiled as the pair embraced, pulling away to glance at the crystal in her hand. "I guess something changed her mind. She returned my life force and wishes me luck with you." Her eyes sparkled as she leaned over and smiled at the golden-haired infant. The girl looked up at Ailan with baby-blue eyes as Ailan touched her forehead. A brilliant golden light enveloped the child as a fiery symbol appeared on her forehead. A beam of light shot out from the child, one end of the energy chain linking to Ailan while the other wrapped around Setsuna. Ailan fell into her lover's arms as the child released two more chains, one binding Ami to Makoto and one linking Minako to Rei. The women were thrown against the walls of the house, stunned. The six senshi bound by chains began to glow with their power, and Setsuna felt something deep inside her shift, change, and move along the child to Ailan. Ailan's silver power absorbed the garnet-tipped chain, and the younger woman gasped, the stone in her hand glowing fiercely. Across the room, Rei began to glow fiery red, a color absorbed by her lover's orange as the chain between them faded into Minako. Makoto caught the end of the emerald-tipped chain as it struggled to enter Ami's blue-wreathed body, having already guessed its purpose, but the strongest of the Inner Senshi lost her grip, catching her lover as the senshi of Mercury fell back into her arms. The senshi stared at the newborn, safe in her mother's arms, and Michiru raised an eyebrow. "What is this symbol on her forehead? Is it her senshi symbol?" Ailan nodded. "Then what is she the senshi of?" "What else?" Ailan opened her hand, and her crystal returned to its locket. The white-gold crystal Michiru had dropped on the ground floated into Ailan's hand, the tiny golden starburst in the center identical to the one on the baby's forehead. "The name of the sun in ancient reckoning is Baby Song because she was the first born to fight chaos. When Eurynome created my crystal to maintain order, she called crystals from the stars to help her, and the stars called for crystals from the planets. As with the crystals of the planets, the crystals of the stars called for Bearers, but they were more powerful and the bond more demanding. The Baby Song Crystal called for a carrier during the Shadow Wars to banish the darkness, and Sailor Moonlight died birthing the girl who became Sailor Sol. After the Shadow Wars, another warrior was called during the Sailor Wars, and again Sailor Moonlight died birthing Sailor Sol and her twin sister. Star Senshi can only be the children of one or more Planet Senshi, and Sailor Sol can only be the child of two. The girl's twin chose not to represent a single star, becoming instead the legendary strongest Sailor Senshi, Galaxia." She paused to let the gasps silence. "The mother of the twins was the Princess of the Moon, and children of the daughters of the Moon Royal Line and Sailor Moonlight were expressly forbidden. She gave the crystal to Hades and begged him never to return it, never to let another mother of Sailor Sol live alone, and gave the twins to the Sailor Pluto of that time. Her younger sister succeeded her as Pluto." "But you're Sailor Moonlight," Michiru whispered. "And she's Sailor Sol. You didn't birth her, Ailan-san." "That was not required, but the death of the carrier of the Moonlight Crystal is required. Or was. It seems that we broke that tradition, too. The sun called for a carrier, and for the first time since you were reborn, a convenient explosion of power allowed a soul to assume that power." She raised an eyebrow. "She looks like your mother, Haruka-san." All eyes turned to the baby, who opened her eyes again. The bursts of power she had given off had changed her eyes from blue to green and blue specked with gold. Light and power. "We should give her a name," Michiru whispered. Haruka looked up, her green eyes filled with tears. "Can we name her Kazeko?" "Yes, beloved. Yes. It's perfect." Setsuna pulled Ailan into her arms. "Are you back to stay?" "Yes," Ailan whispered. "The crystal would not have allowed the power surge if she did not intend for me to live." "Power surge . . . what was that, Ailan?" Everyone turned to the silver-haired senshi, who blushed. "Usagi, I hope you're ready for a sister." "Kami-sama . . . Mother, you don't mean . . ." "This I would never joke about." "Why, Ailan-san?" Rei wrapped her arms around her lover's waist, placing both hands on Minako's flat belly. "I think it's fairly obvious, Ami-chan. Sol is not the only star, and if the guardian of Baby Song is needed, the other stars are, too. So Kazeko has chosen us to breed her partners." "Not all of them," Ailan clarified as shock spread through the room. "Some of them have been born elsewhere, but not every star has a suitable planet. Minako-san, Ami-san, and myself will birth the first of the Star Senshi needed to help Sol." Ami looked up at Makoto, sapphire eyes sparkling. "Are we ready for a child, Mako-chan?" The brunette nodded. "Of course we are. We're both out of college and we've got decent jobs and we have futures. We can move in together, if you'd like." "Very much. And in this life we don't have to be afraid to marry." Rei and Minako embraced silently, needing no words to express their love and wonder, as Haruka lifted her wife and new daughter, carrying them into the bedroom for some silence. Ailan, finding Setsuna's arms around her, smiled as she created a locket for the Baby Song Crystal. "We'll have to watch after this stone until Kazeko is old enough to wield it. It would never have materialized so soon if its power weren't needed to push Balance away." "I guess so. I'm more worried about our child. I wish you weren't the one Kazeko chose to carry the baby. I've given birth before." "So have I, Setsu-chan. Serenity was an easy birth, and this girl probably will be, too. I'm not worried." Setsuna turned Ailan around as she felt a suggestion in the back of her mind. "Ailan, when you were dying, I realized something. I have nothing left to be afraid of, and I love you so much. We have no laws or traditions left to fear, and I can't live alone anymore. Hikarino Ailan, will you marry me?" Ailan chuckled as she kissed her lover's cheek. "Of course I will." *~*~*~*~*~*~* "Ura-kun! There you are! You naughty boy!" The Cupid shrugged as his grandmother appeared by his side. The Goddess of Love tried to appear angry, but he knew she was proud of him. "What? All I did was shoot that stubborn stone with an arrow. I wasn't really sure it would work. But it has a heart and has labored for so long against Chaos that it had forgotten the power of true love. When it was hit by the arrow, the crystal realized that it was breaking apart two soulmates, a pair that might never be reunited. And I guess it decided to break Balance's rules." Aphrodite shook her head as she pointed at the newborn. "Now that Eurynome released the soul of the last Queen Serenity, all of the old senshi's souls are free to be reborn." "And since I am in charge of the team dedicated to the senshi, I will be able to distribute the souls. I think I chose correctly with Kazeko." Aphrodite smiled and hugged her grandson. "You did well, Urakaze. I'm proud of you." *~*~*~*~*~*~* In their bedroom, Haruka pushed Michiru's hair behind her ears. "You are so beautiful. I still can't believe you're mine." "Believe it, beloved. And so is our little girl. And this baby we are allowed to raise." They looked at the babe, the golden starburst on her forehead slowly fading. "Are you ready to face this world, Ten'ou Kazeko?" The baby, Sailor Sol, gurgled. Her eyes sparkled, seeming to say "bring it on."
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