Disclaimer: Just in case you all thought anything had changed…No. I still down own a thing. XD

Note: Sorry if the whole, Usagi/Small Lady/Serenity/Chibi-Usa things gets a little confusing from time to time DX lol.

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If Only I Had Met You Sooner

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Epilogue: Because Every Fairytale Deserves a Happy Ending!

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"SEIYA?" The ferocious shout echoed throughout the crystal palace. Many moon inhabitants looked up in fright at the curses being screeched, but the few who were present at Small Lady Serenity's birth recalled her behavior then and just chuckled.

"SEIYA!"

A raven-haired woman looked up at the strangled scream, her face overflowing with some indeterminable emotion. She grinned and pumped her fist, gathering her skirt up and getting to her feet. The fellow queen was about to run to the medical wing when she turned swiftly on her heel to go back and snatch up a little four-year-old girl who looked like her spitting image.

"SEIYA, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I HATE YOU RIGHT NOW!"

"Mama, why is Mother screaming mean things?" the little girl asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"Because," Seiya enunciated, struggling not to trip on her long gown and hold her daughter up on the same time. "It's not so great being in childbirth. Don't worry, she said the same thing when you were born," she teased. "And she loves me all the same, doesn't she?"

"I guess," she mused, tightening her arms around her mom's neck. "Is it gonna hurt if I have babies?"

"It depends," she huffed, skidding around a corner. "They have some mighty fine drugs for it nowadays, but Mother insists upon having 'natural' childbirths and all that." She kissed the girl's forehead sweetly. "Says you both are too precious to risk it."

"Mother's cool," she said happily, giving Seiya a sloppy peck of her own. "We there yet?"

"SEIYAAAAAAAAAA!"

"We better be," Seiya grimaced. The two finally made it to where Queen Serenity was being held. "Don't worry, my love! I'm here for you!" she called. A vase sailed out of the room and crashed into the wall behind them. "Watch it, Odango! I've got Usagi with me!" Chibi-Usa giggled brightly.

"Sorry, honey!" she whined painfully. "But it hurts!"

"I know it does," Seiya said, setting their daughter in a chair by the bed. She reached over and squeezed the blonde's hand. "But it'll be alright, ne? We've done this once before."

"You're right," she muttered, wincing as another contraction hit her. "AMI-CHAN WHERE ARE YOU?" She looked over to Seiya again. "When are Haruka-chan and the others arriving?"

"Within the hour," she promised. "They had some last minute complications receiving the party invitations we sent out."

"Coming, coming!" The blue-haired doctor rushed in, mask, apron, and gloves already on. "Oh my, you're almost at seven centimeters! Have you been doing your breathing exercises? Taiki-san!"

"Yes?" Taiki poked her head in, still in the process of putting her gear on.

"I need towels and hot water!"

"And ice," Serenity groaned.

"And cupcakes!" the Princess Usagi giggled.

Taiki snorted. "Ice, water, towels, and cupcakes." She bowed gracefully. "As you wish, your majesties," she drawled with good humor, winking at Seiya. "I'll try to be back before your wife throws something else at you."

"You should've been back by now, then!" Serenity growled, forcing a pained smile on her face. "Go, go, go!"

"Touchy!" Taiki said on her way out.

"Odango, try and be nice," Seiya soothed, brushing a hand through her hair.

"You try pushing a watermelon out your—"

"HEY, Chibi, want some cake? Let's go get some," Seiya said loudly, grabbing her daughter's hand and leading her out. "We'll be back, Ami!"

"Isn't Aunt Taiki getting me cupcakes?" the little girl asked suspiciously.

"But not cake!" Seiya reasoned.

"Do send the other girls over if you find them, would you?" Ami shot back, reappearing from between her queen's legs. "Mako-chan especially, since she's the only one who can really hold her down."

"I resent that!" Usagi hissed, fighting back another scream as she began to contract again.

"Mother's so ang-r-y," the smaller Usagi sighed. "Did I do something bad?"

"Nah, you didn't do anything, Chibi." Seiya ruffled her hair. The alien queen reached down and grabbed her daughter, cuddling the little princess to her chest. "She'll be better by tomorrow. It didn't take long with you, so it shouldn't take too long with your little sister."

"That doesn't mean a thing! Every pregnancy is different," Rei supplied, coming out of some random door in full priestess garb. "You'd think since Ami-chan is the level-headed one she'd have the presence of mind to actually call us all." She smirked, flipping a tendril of hair over her shoulder. "Luckily I managed to get some heads up from the Great Fire."

"You just have to blame the fire on everything, don't you?" Seiya quipped, shifting her daughter in her arms. "I can understand when you're wrong because of it, but when you're right, too! Can't you take any credit?"

She laughed loudly behind her hand, the edges of her locks curling eerily. "I'll take plenty of credit when it's due to me, Seiya." She grinned at him. "I'll take the credit of calling Mako-chan and Minako-chan over to the hospital wing, how about that?"

"Oh thank goodness," Seiya huffed. "Odango is super scary when she's in labor. Minako and Makoto-san are the only ones who can stop her from trying to take a swing at me."

"Why would Mother hit you?" Chibi-Usa piped up.

"I'll tell you when you're older, squirt."

"You always say that!" she pouted. "Not cool!"

"Ladies don't say 'cool', Small Lady," Rei reprimanded softly, wagging her finger. "Seiya, you're going to soften her if you keep carrying her everywhere!"

"Mou, have a little heart, Rei," Seiya urged. "She's my baby!"

"I'm not a baby!" Usagi wriggled out of her mom's arms and crossed her own over her chest.

"And if she's going to be queen of the moon one day, she's going to need to have a strong backbone! You don't get that by getting coddled!"

"Oh you're just jealous because you never got hugged as a child."

"I did so!"

"Odango was coddled! Have you ever even met her?"

"Usagi is a special case!"

"Man, you guys are boring," Chibi-Usa commented offhanded, wincing as she heard the fiery aunt yell, "U-SA-GI! I don't hear you doing your breathing exercises!" Sneaking around the corner, the princess quietly pumped her fist in victory at the escape. She grinned when she saw a familiar lavender fluff-ball darting by. "Diana!"

"Your Majesty!" she squeaked, bowing low. "How are you today?"

"Bored. Wanna play?"

"Of course, your Majesty!"

"Tag?" Chibi-Usa grinned.

"My favorite! Who's it?" she questioned, her tail flicking back and forth in excitement.

"You are!" she laughed, dashing through a moonlit door and out of sight. "Catch me if you can, Diana!"

"You bet I will, your Majesty!"

It wasn't until the raven-haired queen and priestess were finished arguing did they realize that the princess had scampered off. "Chibi?" Seiya shrieked, clutching either side of her face in horror.

"Small Lady?" Rei called, opening the doors beside them in search of the little firecracker.

"Oh Kinmoku-sei, don't tell Odango I lost our daughter!" Seiya pleaded, grabbing Rei's arm tightly.

"You can't lose her in your own palace!" Rei squawked, bristling up. "She ran off, like she always does! She's four for crying out loud! She has no attention span." The woman began to stalk down the hallway, opening each door she passed. "Princess Serenity the fifth!" she yelled. "You get your butt here right now or Mercury will be giving you extra tutoring sessions for a month!"

"What about that little ball you told me about? The one that looks like Luna?" Seiya tried.

"Pluto hasn't made it for her yet," Rei groaned, raking a hand through her frazzled locks. "I'm getting too old for this."

"I'm not sure I feel completely comfortable hearing one of my personal guards is too tired to find a child," Seiya taunted, feeling around in her hoopskirt for something long forgotten and yet so familiar at the same time. "Wouldn't searching go quicker if we henshined?"

"You are way too old to be doing that. Usagi doesn't even transform anymore."

"I resent that!" Seiya said with a spark of annoyance in her tone. "I am not old."

"Mamoru doesn't even transform anymore," Rei reasoned.

"I'll show you who's old," Seiya muttered, pulling her microphone out and clipping it to her ear. She smirked at Rei, shouting, "Moon Fighter Power…Make up!" A wonderful breeze swept over her body and the moon queen felt her gown melt away, stars and crystals shooting forth to cover her frame. The only differences this Fighter had from the old one were a crescent moon nestled upon her brow and stark white leather instead of black. Living on the moon for so long had transformed her to a being more lunar than alien.

"We're competing now, are we?" Rei groaned. "Mars eternalu…MAKE UP!" A Sailor Mars with beautiful ruby wings stepped out of the flames. "Last one to find Small Lady has overnight duty with the newborn for two months," she challenged.

"What?" Fighter growled. "That's your job anyway!"

"Then you better find her first!" she cackled, taking flight.

"Oh, you dirty cheater," Fighter grumbled, sprinting through the crystalline hallway. "Usagi!" she called upon entering one of many lobbies, startling both maids and court officials alike. She stopped one girl with a feather duster. "Have you seen Small Lady?" the white-clad senshi asked.

"She is not with her Majesty in the hospital wing?" she questioned.

"Ah, ha, ha, when Odango started screaming filth, I decided to spare Chibi's ears and took her out." Fighter sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "And now…"

"Now you can't find her," she supplied with a quirk of her brow and an amused grin.

"You got it," Fighter confirmed. "And if I don't find her before Mars does, then I've got diaper duty for two months!"

"I saw her running towards the courtyard with the kitten," another maid piped up, giving her queen a salute. "Good luck, your Highness."

"Thanks." Fighter smiled those dazzling teeth of hers, and strode to the other side of the room. She threw back the curtains and pushed apart the brilliant glass panes, hopping up on the window sill. With a wink towards her moon-people, she shouted, "Who's old now, Rei?" and launched herself off the fifth story ledge. She landed gracefully on the ground below and smirked, a little shiver of excitement running down her spine. "I'll always be Fighter," she whispered, continuing her search for the misfit youth.

"Now, now, Usagi-chan," Makoto reasoned, her strong arms trying desperately to keep her queen from flailing. "You've done this before, yeah? It should be a cake walk this time around, no surprises, eh?"

"Oh my god, I want cake," Serenity moaned, sweat glistening on her brow.

"I'll bake you a cake when this is all done," Makoto promised. "It'll have eight layers!"

"Will there be strawberries?" Taiki asked with a little gleam of hope in her eyes, taking a handkerchief out and dabbing the bunny's forehead.

"Sure," she vowed, cringing as another contraction hit her queen.

"Where's Seiya?" Minako squawked. "We can only hold her down for so long!"

"We?" Makoto shrieked. "You're reading a magazine!"

"Mako-chan, I gotta stay on top of the latest earth fashions!" Minako said, horror-struck. "How else will I know which dress to get for the new baby's celebration ball?"

"Mina, perhaps you should help Yaten finish getting the baby's room together," Ami suggested before disappearing under the curtains again. "Oh, I think that's the head!"

"It feels like it!" Serenity choked out.

"Chibi!" Fighter called nearly forty-five minutes later, darting through the courtyard. She skidded to a stop in front of the rose-entangled shrubbery that led to their maze. "Oh, if you've gone in there, you are so dead, missy!"

"Mama, you shouldn't talk t' yourself."

"Chibi!" Fighter exclaimed and with a flurry of moon dust her dress was back. She swooped the little girl in her arms. "Now I don't have overnight duty!"

"Says who?" Mars demanded, striding up. "I saw her first!"

"Well I got her first." Seiya stuck her tongue out. "So there."

"Everyone!" Diana's mousy little voice interrupted them. "Queen Serenity is about to give birth! I can feel it!"

"Oh, shi—"

"I'll fly everyone up," Rei insisted, grabbing hold of the kitten, queen, and princess. "Hold on to your skirts, ladies!" And with a squeal of excitement from Diana and Chibi-Usa, the warrior of Mars surged skyward, swooping up and busting right into the medical wing. Queen Serenity gave a short burst of air that could have been a shriek had she had any energy.

"You guys are like peas in a pod," Makoto remarked. "Always got to make such a grand entrance."

"Seiya…?" Serenity murmured.

"Yes, Odango?" In a whirl of stars, the fuku disappeared and the Queen of the Moon rushed to her wife's side, taking hold of her hand. She pressed it lovingly to her cheek. "How're you doing, dear?"

"Better," she remarked. "Now that you're here."

"I'm so glad that you waited until I got here to have birth," Seiya teased.

"Oh yeah, it was totally intentional." Despite her weariness, she smirked up at her love. The two shared a sweet kiss.

"You guys are gross," Chibi-Usa remarked with a gagging noise.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Queen Serenity let out another ear piercing wail. Minako jumped forward to shield Usagi's little ears. Seiya continued to hold her queen's hand, even as she felt the bunny cutting off all circulation. Makoto bit her lip. Taiki held Yaten as the silver-haired alien began to faint.

Ami cried out, "Here we go—!" Another wail joined that of the moon queen and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "You're so lucky you're blessed with such short child births, Usagi-chan," the inner complimented, brushing a stray lock from her face. "Most mothers stay in labor for an average of four to eight hours."

"Yes," Usagi said weakly, giving everyone a thumbs up. "I'm so lucky."

Ami giggled, patting the newborn infant in an effort to stop its tears. "Would you like to see your new daughter?"

"Goddess, yes!" Usagi cried, suddenly full of energy. She scooted up somewhat, reaching her arms out. "Oh, my – look at all that hair!" Little blonde tufts stuck out in every direction, but she might've been the second most beautiful thing Serenity had ever seen. Chibi-Usa as an infant being the first, of course. "She's so beautiful," the queen cooed, holding her in her arms. "Chibi-Usa, come here and meet your new baby sister!"

"…Kinda dirty," Chibi-Usa mentioned, wrinkling her nose. A brief chuckle echoed throughout the room.

"So what's her name?" Hotaru, who had just entered the room with the rest of the Outers, piped up. Silence ensued. It seemed as if all the senshi in the room had one unanimous sweatdrop.

"You mean to say," Haruka started, "that you guys haven't thought of what to name her?"

"Well uh," Serenity giggled. "See, normally our family only has the one heir, so she always gets named Serenity. Not much thought there, right?"

"How about Hoshiko-chan?" Seiya offered, suddenly looking shy. "You know, 'star child'?"

"Hoshiko Little Lady Cynthia," Serenity mused with a small smile on her face. "I like it." She pecked Seiya on the cheek. "She is from the stars as well as the moon; we can't forget that."

"Odango…" Seiya sounded choked up.

"Hoshiko-chan." Chibi-Usa had crawled on the bed beside her mother and sister. "I'm your big sister. Usagi Small Lady Serenity," she introduced, placing her open palm unsurely on the baby's brow. Hoshiko made a little face. "She's boring, why'd you guys have her?" The room burst into laughter.

Seiya leaned down and kissed both of her daughters on the forehead, and then her wife on the mouth. "Because, Chibi," she reasoned. "Every fairytale deserves a happy ending."

A/N: TADA! It is finally finished! What do you guys think? :D I'm thinking of a cute sequel some time in the future. Any yays or nays?