take on a life of it's own about a third of the way through. I

hope you all enjoy the end as much as you seem to have enjoyed

the rest.]

Chapter 17: "The Beginning"

-

[Summer 2005]

"It is done. Please return to Tokyo."

Still bound by the energies that they had all shared, each of the

Sailor Senshi invoked their Sailor Teleport power, appearing in a

circle surrounding their fallen queen as she lay in the arms of

King Endymion. Rei was the first to move forward, kneeling by

Serenity's side.

"Will she be all right, Mamo-kun?" she asked quickly. Even as

she did, though, she could sense something wrong. Looking up,

Rei noted the purple armor, the flowing cape, and, most

importantly, the expression in his eyes. This was Tuxedo Mask no

longer. "I'm sorry, your Majesty."

Endymion smiled, "It's ok, Sailor Mars. I am still who I was,

but, more now I think." His gaze rose into the sky and lost

focus. "I can sense them now," he whispered. "We both can. All

of them. So much pain and sorrow in the world." Tears swelled

in his eyes for a moment, but then he lowered his head to look

upon Rei directly. "She will be all right; she just needs to

rest," he told her. Rei rose silently and moved to stand beside

Mina, their hands coming together unconsciously.

As they all waited, still drained from the experience, Ami

activated her goggles and scanned the King, Queen, and then the

horizon. "It worked, as near as I can tell," she finally said.

"The negative energy from the sun is being reflected back into

space."

Suddenly, Serenity stirred. "That's not all, Mercury," she

murmured. Endymion helped her to her feet, letting her rest her

weight on his arm. "I can feel it, the negative energy. It is

in everyone, everywhere." She paused and closed her eyes,

concentrating. "I can... I can move it."

The senshi exchanged puzzled glances. Ami refocused her

attention on the pair before her even as Serenity turned to face

Endymion. He locked his arms behind her waist and she leaned

back to gaze directly into his eyes.

"We can make them better, my love," Serenity told him.

Now Endymion focused himself, just as Serenity had. Makoto

gasped as a light glow began to emanate from the two of them.

"The negative energy," Ami announced, looking up sharply, "it is

flowing through them and up into the sky..." The impact of this

hit her all at once. Ami moved backwards into the arms of Makoto

and let her love hold her tight.

-

It had been a very strange day. Oh, it had started out normal

enough. Elizabeth had snuck out of bed, careful not to disturb

her sleeping partner. A half hour later, she'd been in her

office with a stack of papers that needed grading. She'd wanted

to get her work done early so she'd have more time to visit with

Ami, who'd just arrived in town earlier that week.

Her work had been disturbed by a bright light shining outside.

It was as silver and cool as moonlight, but it made her feel

warm, as though she were lying out on the beach on a sunny day.

Even as she got ready to move to the window to see what was going

on, however, she'd begun to feel lethargic. Time slowed down and

she couldn't seem to move.

Normally, Elizabeth would have been quite disturbed by such a

feeling, but something in the back of her mind told her that

there was nothing to be afraid of, that everything would be ok.

A memory sprung to the surface of her mind of when she had been a

child and her mother would tuck her tight and snug into her

blankets at night. She felt safe, secure, and loved.

As she fell into a deep sleep, content and protected, a vision

flashed inside her head. It would become quite familiar over the

long years to come. Atop a mountain or a spire, a beautiful

blonde woman in flowing white robes, with the wings of an angel,

smiled at her. Beside this woman stood a knight in shining

armor. In the very core of her being, Elizabeth knew that the

Queen and her Knight would protect her and would make everything

right with the world again.

-

"You know, for the first time in my life, I'm not hungry at all,"

Serenity observed.

The Senshi had left the tower and returned to Haruka, Michiru,

and Setsuna's house. That in itself would not have been unusual.

The means by which they got there, however, were a bit atypical.

They had flown.

"Ami, what is going on?" Haruka demanded when they settled into

the living room. "I thought we were just going to freeze the

world. You didn't say anything about these other changes." She

paused and gazed up into the sky. "I flew. Like the wind," she

murmured, eyes full of wonder. Michiru drew her into a tender

embrace.

Ignoring the question for a moment, Ami continued to punch keys

on her computer, occasionally leaning down to consult with Luna

and Artemis in a fervent whisper. Eventually, she took a deep

breath and addressed her friends.

"A lot of things have happened, in addition to what we had

planned," Ami began. "Though my theory was obviously sound, with

so much energy being channeled, there were some unanticipated

consequences." Ami paid no attention to Rei and Mina rolling

their eyes.

"Though we've completed the ritual, in a very real sense, we are

all still bound together and to the world and everyone in it,"

Ami continued. "As I said before, there is both positive and

negative energy everywhere. I think that we are now all tied

into the network of positive energy that runs throughout the

entire planet. This is why you aren't hungry, your Majesty. The

positive energy will sustain our bodies completely.

"I believe that we have also completely unlocked all of our

powers as Sailor Senshi. We can fly. I also am quite certain we

can travel from world to world and survive in outer space. That

is a good thing, since we now need to begin the next part of our

mission."

"What's up next, Ami?" Makoto asked. There had been some vague

discussion of what was to come after the ritual, but everyone's

attention had been geared toward the act itself.

"Well, what we have done is to set up a barrier that will prevent

negative energy from reaching our world from the sun. This will

keep the world safe until the negative energy cycle is over. We

now need to construct the crystal matrix that will enable us to

store positive energy and prevent such a crisis from ever

occurring again." Ami turned to Serenity once again.

"In addition to the negative energy from the sun, however, there

are also great stores of it on Earth already. The cycle has been

on the swing toward the negative for hundreds of years. While

I'm not certain, I think it's likely that people need moderate

amounts of all kinds of energy to survive, but over the last few

centuries, everyone has been inundated with far too much.

Hypercancer was just the most extreme example of that trend.

Based on what their Majesties have said, though, I believe that

they can use their special powers and the Millennium Crystal to

siphon that excess away from people."

Serenity and Endymion nodded. "We can, but it will take a very

long time," the Queen stated.

"Fortunately, we have a long time," Minako pointed out. "Looks

like you two will have your hands full while the rest of us

gather these crystals."

Setsuna, Haruka, and Michiru shared a look and moved to stand

together. They were joined almost immediately by Hotaru. "That

job will have to go to the four of you," Setsuna declared,

gesturing toward Ami, Mina, Makoto, and Rei. "With the world

frozen and the King and Queen busy healing everyone, someone will

need to guard the solar system to make sure no one takes

advantage of the situation. The four of us have known for some

time that we needed to return to our traditional posts. Now that

the ritual is complete, it is time."

Queen Serenity bowed her head. "I will miss you all so very

much, but you're right. It is time for all of us to assume our

duties. She glanced toward the bedroom down the hall where

Chibi-Usa now lay in the same deep sleep that held the world. "I

will make a better world for my daughter to grow up in."

Setsuna moved to Serenity's side and laid a hand gently on her

shoulder. "She will be fine, your Majesty."

"But she's not a normal person," Serenity replied. "She's a being

of pure energy as we are."

"I have done a great deal of analysis, your Majesty," Ami said,

moving over to join them. "She will indeed be fine. When she

awakens, the positive energy will linger in her body. She will

not age properly right away, but eventually she will. We all

knew that about her, now we just know why. She'll have a long

and loving childhood with you both."

"Is there anything we can do to prevent the events that will

come, the Negamoon attacks?" Endymion asked.

"No, nor should we try," Setsuna warned. "All things happen for

a reason. If we change the future, we also change the past and

threaten what we will build here."

Ami sighed deeply. "I know we can't change things, but I think I

know where they come from. There are pockets on the Earth where

the negative energy is most deeply concentrated. Those who had

the misfortune of being near those areas will never fully recover

from the exposure. I'm sorry to say there is nothing we can do

for them."

"We will do what we can," Serenity said firmly. "And we will do

our duties." She turned to address all of the senshi. "The

Outer senshi will return to their posts, but I insist that you

each check in on Earth on a regular basis. The rest of you will

take Ami's detectors and harvest positive energy crystals from

the rest of the galaxy. You will not travel alone, however. We

have no idea what dangers lurk out there and I will not send you

out by yourselves." A slight twinkle lit her eyes as she

continued. "Ami, you and Minako will travel together. Makoto,

you are with Rei."

As jaws dropped across the room and everyone struggled to come up

with a reply, Serenity laughed joyfully. "Just kidding!"

Endymion sighed and rolled his eyes as the rest of the senshi

glared at his wife.

Makoto moved to hover protectively over Ami, arms resting on the

shorter woman's shoulders. "Damn right you're kidding! We

wouldn't want to start Crystal Tokyo out with a revolution!" Ami

giggled and snuggled back against Makoto as everyone shared a

laugh.

-

[Spring 2054]

"Don't you two ever get sick of each other?" Mina asked her queen

as they moved along the pathways of the palace. Using their

powers, the senshi had had no trouble taking the crystals and

building the palace that would symbolize the new era. Though

there was still a long way to go, the construction was making

good progress according to Ami.

"I could ask the same of you and Rei," Serenity replied. "Even

though you've found different civilizations, the trips between

systems must be long."

Mina looked fondly back toward the wing of the castle where their

apartments were located. Rei would be busy with Michiru helping

Ami get ready, probably much more so than Haruka would be with

Makoto. "There is always something new to see," she replied

carefully. "Sure, sometimes things get a little tense, but

that's to be expected. Still, I never get tired of spending time

with her." Mina sighed happily.

Serenity chuckled and squeezed Mina's hand. "It's the same for

us, Mina-chan. There is so much to do. Besides, we have

everyone in the world to talk to, so we are never truly alone."

Their slow meandering had finally led them to the main part of

the palace. Unlike the outer buildings, the core of the palace

was complete for the most part. The grand hall beckoned the two

of them. Serenity had been afraid that the size of it would

dwarf the ceremony to come, but Mina and Makoto had decorated it

in a way that made it seem quite cozy.

As she examined the decorations one last time, Serenity turned to

her friend. "You know that they didn't want us helping them get

ready because they were afraid we'd klutz it up, don't you?"

Minako laughed, "I know, but that's Ok. You need to concentrate

on what you're going to say and I'm glad to keep you company."

"I wish I could offer them a better honeymoon than just another

trip into the stars," Serenity noted ruefully.

"Someday you should go yourself," Mina replied with a dreamy

expression. "You could never guess how wondrous it is."

Serenity simply smiled in reply, not bothering to mention the

obvious. She would never be leaving the Earth again.

Up ahead, Endymion sat on some stairs chatting with Hotaru.

Seeing his wife, he called out, "It's almost time. Are you

ready?"

"Yes, I am. I've only been waiting fifty years!" Serenity

answered. She kissed Mina on the cheek and shooed her away.

"You better get going. They'll be waiting for you. And remember

to take good notes. Next year, it's your turn!" Mina blushed,

bowed, and headed outside.

As Serenity joined Endymion at the back of the hall, Setsuna

finished making the final adjustments to the flower arrangements

around the podium. She motioned to Hotaru and the two of them

headed to the area at the side of the room. Within a few

moments, Haruka and Michiru appeared and joined them. Just as

the four Outers had picked up their instruments, they noted Mina

waving frantically from the entryway. Michiru gestured with her

bow and the quartet began to play. To the melody of Bach's Air

in G String, Rei and Mina led the happy couple down the hall

toward Serenity and Endymion.

Endymion took Serenity's hand in his own and gave it a tender

squeeze, even as Rei and Mina placed Ami and Makoto's hands

together and urged them forward into their places. "We've done

well, I think," he whispered to his wife.

Serenity nodded, but never took her eyes from her two friends.

Each looked absolutely radiant and as happy as Serenity could

ever recall seeing them. "We did what had to be done, my love,

but I think we've all earned a little reward." Looking around

the hall at all of her friends and seeing their shining, smiling

faces, she thought, "Reward indeed." With a sense of total

satisfaction and contentment, Serenity launched herself and her

friends into the next stage of their lives.