Serenity felt the barrier begin to fall. So...the Dragon Rider had managed to break through. As that barrier fell, so did the last remaining walls in Serenity's mind. Memory washed over her, and she closed her eyes as it roared in.
*****
"Mrworrr!"
She turned around quickly. "Oh, kitty! I stepped on you! I'm sorry! What's this bandage doing on you? Here, let me pull it off." She pulled the bandage off, and was surprised to see a golden crescent moon on the black cat's forefead. She shrugged, and dismissed as a strange, but unimportant, episode in her life.
*****
"Well, I finally found you!"
"Huh?" She woke up, surprised, from her afternoon nap. Then she saw who was speaking to her. "Ah! A talking cat! I'm still asleep!" She jumped off the bed, and peered over it uncertainly at the black cat. It was the one from earlier that day! The one with the crescent moon.
"I have a present for you, Usagi. What do you think?" The cat pushed forward a pretty brooch."
"Oh!" she squealed excitedly as she reached out to take it. She put it on and admired herself in the mirror, from one side, and then from the other. She heard that cat still speaking in the background, but ignored as she admired her new present.
"USAGI!"
She jumped. "What?" she whined.
The black cat shook her head. "My name's Luna. I want you to pick up the brooch and shout out "Moon Power....Make Up!"
Usagi shrugged. This was sure a wierd dream. "Okay. Moon Power...Make Up!"
She felt something strange, but not a all unpleasant, wash over her, and when she opend her eyes, she was wearing the strangest costume.
"EEEEeeeeeee! What's going on!?"
"You are Sailor Moon, and you have to fight evil, and find our princess, and the other sailor senshi."
"What!? How am I going to do that!?"
*****
"Nooooooo! Tuxedo Kamen-sama!" She ran toward him, ignoring Zoicyte and any danger to herself. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama! Don't go! Mamoru-san...." She'd just discovered who he was. Was she going to lose him now? She felt a tear begin to fall down her cheek, and then....
She looked down. She held it. Ginzuishou. What they'd been looking for so long. Why they'd fought so hard to get the seven rainbow crystals. Why Tuxedo Kamen-sama was lying on the ground before her. In her tears? All that time? As she crasped it within her hand, she stood on her feet. She felt something change. She looked down, and saw...she wasn't wearing her sailor senshi uniform. She was dressed like a princess....like. She was the princess they'd been searching for!
*****
"Why do you fight me, puny princess? There is nothing in this world world worth fighting for!"
She thought back to her friends. Mako-chan. Ami-chan. Minako-chan. Rei-chan. Mamoru-san. They'd all lost their lives to give her this chance at Queen Metallia. She couldn't give up. "Iie, I have faith."
She struggled to pull forth enough power from Ginzuishou, but she knew it wasn't going to be enough. "Minna! I need your help!" Maybe it was just her imagination, but she felt the other senshi near her. She felt them take the handle of the Moon Stick in their hands, and she felt them give her their power. She poured every last scrap of her strength in to the fight. Ginzuishou responded to their sacrifice, and a bright glowing sphere, pinkish red, grew from Ginzuishou. It swallowed up Metallia, Beryl, and the whole Dark Kingdom. She felt herself become Sailor Moon once again. She was tired. Her legs began to collapse. She managed to gasp out one final pharase before she died. "Minna, ariga...to..."
*****
Artemis shook his head in amazement. "Your last bit of strength was somehow enough to give you your life, and the lives of your friends back, Usagi. We don't know how. But now that you all remember being sailor senshi, we have these aliens to fight.
She just shook her head in surprise. It was hard to believe she'd actually died. She looked around at her friends and resolved never to let them hurt themselves again. They probably wouldn't get another chance like that ever again.
*****
Sailor Moon looked around. "Hey, where's Jupiter?"
Venus scanned the area at her words. "Oh no, I didn't notice she's not here! Does anyone know whether she was brought here or not?"
Mercury looked up from her typing. "I saw her transported with all of us. She should be here."
Mars gasped. "How'd you keep your eyes open? I didn't even dare try!"
"My visor protected my eyes, so I saw what happened. I'm working on this, you'd better look for her." Mercury's single-minded concentration centered once more on her faintly glowing computer screen.
The girls spread out. Sailor Moon heard a shout after a few minutes of searching. "I've found her!" She tried to run toward the source of the call, but it was too far away, and everything echoed so oddly in this weird place. Sailor Moon brought up a hand and coughed. This air was really getting to her. After a few more minutes of fruitless searching she decided to go back toward Mercury. She set off in what she thought was the right direction, but after a few minutes she realized the truth. She was hopelessly lost.
She put her hands to her mouth and was about to call out for her friends when she stopped to think. <Baka! What if that Silver Knight hears you and comes for you? What are you going to do then? You've just got to get through this on your own, Usagi!> She trudged stubbornly through the gloomy landscape for a few minutes. She felt panic begin to creep up on her. Suddenly her ears perked up. She'd heard something. She stopped walking so the squelching of her feet wouldn't mask the faint sound. Was it screams? It sounded like screams of fear! Throwing what caution she still retained to the winds, Sailor Moon put her hands to her mouth and called out, "Minna! Minna, where are you?!"
She didn't get an answer. Silence once again reigned in this strange world. Sailor Moon was coughing almost constantly now. She knew if she wasn't in senshi form, she'd be dead by now. Where were her friends?
Sailor Moon's throat closed up. She struggled to breathe. She fell to her knees. As she fought to pull in just one more breath, a faint silver shape began to form in the thick fog ahead of her. <The Knight! If he sees I'm a senshi, and this weak, he'll kill me and get Ginzuishou!> Sailor Moon closed her eyes and detransformed. Maybe, if he thought she was a nobody, he'd let her go....
The Knight walked up to her. She held her breath for as long as possible, since every breath now made dark circles appear in her vision. He looked at her quizzically, and she returned the favor. There were scorch marks on the armor over his shoulder, and a large piece was missing. Usagi strained to see what lay under the armor, and saw nothing but a glowing green cloud. For some reason, he seemed to be clutching his sword close to him, possesively. Maybe even....protectively?
"What is this? A mortal that is not only still alive, but conscious?" Usagi drew back from him. What was he made of? Why would a green cloud need armor? And why was holding that sword so close to himself? Usagi widened her eyes when she thought she saw a pale nimbus of darkness. A line of it stretched from the black jewel in the hilt of his sword to the broken piece of his armor, and Usagi also detected something, almost like a shield, covering the hole in his armor. She then closed her eyes to shut out the darkness swimming over her vision, and thought. The armor must mean something...something vaguely familiar tickled at the edge of her mind, and she strained with all her failing strength to remember what it was....
She had it!
Usagi weakly pulled herself to her feet. If this knight made it back to her world, there was no end to the harm he could do! The knight negligently lifted a gleaming hand and struck her in the face. Stars of pain danced in front of her, but she stubbornly held to her thought. All she had to do was...
"Where did you come from, little mortal? Why are you struggling to stand?" His voice sounded almost...amused...
"I must reward such bravery, don't you think? I'll give you a decent chance to get home. The wormhole's temporary end is already traveling, so I don't know where you'll end up-you may miss your puny little planet altogether, little one, but I'd give you decent odds of making it to your planet's surface alive. What do you say?" Without waiting for an answer, the Silver Knight raised his sword once more and began that fearful chant. Usagi gathered her flagging strength, and pulled herself to her feet as the black whirlwind began to howl once again. Despair tried to crowd in on her concentration, but Usagi clenched her teeth and pushed it back. She didn't have time for things like self-pity right now.
<Ginzuishou! I need your strength!> She didn't have the breath to say it aloud, but Ginzuishou appeared at her call and flickered in time to her labored heart. She let loose with a yell, and threw herself completely into her task. <That armor is important to him-it protects him from something-and the shield of darkness also protects him. I have to get it off of him, and I absolutly must put that sword out of his reach!> Ginzuishou's light pulsed brighter with each heartbeat, and a dangerous tinge of pink began to shine through. Usagi suddenly knew what that meant-she was throwing too much of her life into this effort. She probably wouldn't survive this....
The Silver Knight stood transfixed by the amazing sight before him. The small little mortal suddenly became a raging giant! "You!" His voice boomed out loudly, but Usagi heard the quake of fear it held. "How could you fool me like that?!"
Usagi didn't waste time answering. She directed all of Ginzuishou's considerable might on peeling off the Silver Knight's armor, piece by piece. As each metal piece fell to the ground with a muted clang, more and more of the Silver Knight's strength went into keeping his magical shield intact. He was losing the battle. "STOP!" The Silver Knight took a chance, and put all his remaining strength into to the whirlwind, and Usagi felt it drawing her into itself, away from the battle. She threw herself into her battle. She had to get theat jewel away from him. How....? An idea hit her. She concentrated all of her reamaining strength on the metal prongs holding the stone in the sword's hilt. When all of theat force was suddenly concentrated on such a small area, the metal disintegrated, and the jewel flew toward her. She reached out to snatch it from the air just as the whirlwind yanked her away, and she grasped nothing but thin air. She hoped she'd done enough...she closed her eyes....silence and peace enveloped her....
*****
When the flood subsided, not even a moment later, she began to think. So, somehow, the Dragon Riders depended on their armor and jewel. <That doesn't make sense!> she mused. If that were the case, the Knight wouldn't be able to meld with the humans-he'd need both of his tools....unless. Serenity's mind seemed to click as everything fell into place. She knew how to beat the knight once and for all.
She looked up again. Endymion's eyes were barely open as he looked down at her, but she could feel his worry as the barrier around the Black Knight began to fall. She forced a smile up for him. She didn't think he could feel what she felt-the wsenshi were stirring. Endymion began to gather himself, to place his body between herself and the Black Knight, but she already knew it wasn't necessary. He'd already done enough. Without him and his strength, she never would have been able to hold up the barrier long enough, but now...
She heard the Black Knight begin to speak in a voice filled with self-impressed certainty. "Well, Moon Princess, it seems you've failed after all. All you've succeeded in doing is putting me off for a few minutes." Serenity weakly turned her head to watch him as he continued gloating. If she could keep him distracted for just a little while longer. "Now you and your prince will pay the ultimate price for not submitting immediately to me." He lifted his hands theatrically, in preparation for some arcane motion, and the thought that he was overacting occurred to Serenity. She smiled peacefully, and slowly, painstakingly, began to lever herself up.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she responded conversationally, despite her shortness of breath. "From where I am, it appears you've lost."
The Knight angrily leveled his forefinger at Serenity's head, seeming to aim for the shining crescent moon on her forehead, but before he could do anything else, Serenity heard the sound she'd been waiting for.
"Mars Flame Sniper!"
"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
The huge blast that the senshi threw at the Black Knight caught him completely by surprise, and blew him off his feet. He landed with a resounding clang against the far wall, and for a second the senshi relaxed their fighting stances, but when he began to struggle to his feet, they tensed again. Serenity strained to make her voice heard.
"Minna! I remember how I stopped him last time, only I'm to weak now to do it!" The girls turned to look at her, but just then the Black Knight regained his feet.
"Can you guys keep him busy while I talk to Serenity?" Mercury called. At their nod, she jogged over to Serenity and Endymion.
"Are you guys all right?"
Serenity smiled a little. "We'll be fine, we're just a little tired, but you have to listen closely. The Dragon Rider's biggest weakness is that he cannot travel through the worm holes if much of his body isn't armored. They aren't solid matter in there, and when the grey fog mixes with them inside the armor, it kills them. You have to blast as much armor off of him as possible, and get him into a worm hole somehow. But there's a catch. They can pull power from the jewel in their sword to plug up any holes in their defenses. You have to get that away from him too."
"What about the grey fog kills him? Maybe we can recreate it here."
"I don't know-that's all I can tell you. Tell the others!"
Mercury nodded and jogged over to where Jupiter, Mars, and Venus waged war.
The Black Knight was running toward Venus with his sword held up, ready to attack.
"Oh, no you don't!" Jupiter bellowed as Venus took an involuntary step back. "Sparkling Wide Pressure!" She blew the knight off his feet, but as long as his armor was intact, he just seemed to keep coming. Mercury turned to Venus.
"You're the only one who's weapon is focused enough to start a break in the knight's armor! Aim your beam carefully at one of the seams. Once you've made a hole, the rest of us can concentrate our powers there and widen it! Then we have to find a way to get his sword out of his reach."
Mars overhead Mercury's instructions and said, "Have you forgotten my new power? I think it has a decent chance of punching a hole in that overgrown tin tan too!" Mercury smiled and shrugged as she reached up to pull down her visor and got out her computer.
"Go for it! We have to get his armor off before we can hope to beat him!"
"Mars Flame Sniper!"
"Crescent Beam!"
The two senshi aimed for different areas. Mars crowed with triumph as her attack peeled off one of the knight's shoulder guards. Venus's missed on her first try, and she angrily shouted again.
"Crescent Beam!" This time her beam caught one of the knight's elbow joints, on the opposite side. The Black Knight seemed to realize he was in trouble. He desperately tried to stop the girl's strategy in its tracks. Mercury watched the girl's progress as she began to get a wormhole ready.
"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter shouted, and her lightning crashed into the Black Knight's shoulder, breaking off another piece of armor. The Black Knight stopped fighting for a second, and concentrated on something. A shimmery version of the shoulder guard that had been ripped off began to reappear on his shoulder.
"Oh no, you don't!" Venus screamed. "Venus Love and Beauty Shock!" The new armor dissipated, and another chuck flew off.
"Fire Soul!"
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"
"Crescent Beam!"
The three senshi threw their powers together, and the combined ball of energy threw the knight against another wall, and half of his breastplate fell to the ground. The senshi gasped as a swirling, glowing purple cloud could be seen instead of a body. Serenity and Endymion were slowly pulling themselves to their feet. Mercury cried out instructions.
"Venus! Encircle him with your chain! I need you to hold him captive!"
"Venus Love Me Chain!" Venus wrapped it around the Black Knight, who screamed in frustration. A swirling portal opened next to him, and he began to struggle wildly, but he was too weakened from the prolonged battle for his struggles to accomplish anything.
"Minna, get into the wormhole, and then Venus, pull the Black Knight in." The girls obeyed Serenity's orders, but as Venus began to pull the Black Knight in, his struggles began to gain in strength and the sword he was still holding began to glow and quiver. Mercury gasped as she realized what was happening. She was about to warn Serenity, but she somehow already seemed to know.
"STOP!" Her voice echoed between worlds, shocking everyone, including the knight, into stillness. In his moment of confusion she wrenched his sword out of his grasp. She turned to Venus. "Pull him in, quickly! Before he kills the humans he's bonded with!" With Jupiter's help, Venus gave one last heave, and the knight flopped into the wormhole with them. He began to twist and scream in agony, and the senshi quietly watched as their nemesis melted away into the fog. Venus made as if to dismiss her chain, but Serenity held up her hand. "We're not done yet. We have to do one more thing, but not as senshi." She turned with a smile to face her friends. "We have to do it as princesses."
The senshi nodded with matching smiles on their faces, and closed their eyes. Sparkles caressed their body, and their senshi outfits became beautiful dresses, each in their own color. Mercury kept her computer out, but she took off her visor, and a small, sparkling sapphire tiara replaced it. Jupiter reached behind her head to finger the delicate hairstyle she now wore, held together with emerald pins. Venus's bow was replaced with an amber hair clip, and she smoothed an imaginary wrinkle in her shimmering orange dress. Mars's star earrings were now flaming rubies, and she delicately pulled her red velvet gloves up higher. With a happy cry, Serenity flung herself at her friends.
"Now you look just like I remember you! I'm so glad to see you all!" They hugged, their troubles forgotten for a second.
*****
Ron watched the building with a worried look on his face. Everyone outside could hear explosions and shouting, and every once in a while the television station rocked as if an earthquake were trying to tear it down. The news crews kept getting closer and closer to the strange force field that protected the station grounds, trying to beat their competitors for the best shots for the six o' clock news.
Ron was worried about Serena. She'd always struck him as sweet and fragile. Every once in a while he'd caught a glimpse of steel, well hidden, in her demeanor, but he couldn't help worrying about her. He clung stubbornly to his hope, despite the fireworks they were all witnessing before them.
Suddenly, an especially loud explosion rocked the city. As Ron picked himself up and watched others around him slowly try to get up, he realized something was out of place, but he couldn't figure out what. Someone else caught on before he did.
"Hey!" One of the cameramen eagerly pointed at the now dilapidated television station. "Look! The force field is down!" The pretty reporter he'd come with patted absently at her hair as she took in the scene. Finally she grabbed the cameraman.
"Well, what are you waiting for? We have to be the first ones in there! C'mon!" the two people ran in, and other news teams caught on and began to make their way in as well. That decided Ron. He ran as fast as he could toward where he thought Serena would be-in the thick of this mess.
"Serena!" He yelled, as he ran into the building.
*****
"It's so good to see you all again," Serenity sniffled softly, then continued, "but we have a job to do." She bent over to pick up the Black Knight's sword.
At her words, her friends wiped their eyes and loosened their stranglehold on each other.
"What do you want us to do, Princess?" Mercury asked, the first to recover.
"This is the second Dragon Rider in three years to come to Earth. Who knows how many more are left, hungering to get their hands on Ginzuishou. I have to do something to keep this from happening again. These are powerful enemies, and I can't let Earth be put in danger again." Serenity tossed her head, and her usually soft blue eyes looked as unforgiving as a stormy sea. "We are going to follow this worm hole to its permanent end, and warn the Dragon Riders off. Then we're going to seal the Solar system off from outsiders. Mercury?"
Princess Mercury looked up. "Yes?"
"I need you to come up with a way to prevent Dragon Riders from opening wormholes inside the Solar system."
"Something like that will take an awful lot of energy," Mercury said dubiously.
"Try to minimize the cost, but it has to be done." Mercury nodded at the snap of command in Serenity's voice. Serenity held up the sword. "Maybe we can use the Dragon Riders' own powers against them." Mercury looked thoughtful for a second, then continued typing. Venus lifted her arm, still holding her glowing chain in her hands.
"And what about this?" she asked curiously.
"That will be our threat. If we killed him, we'll kill others. A good warning to give them-a little added incentive to grant our request." Everyone looked a little taken aback by the hard edge in Serenity's voice. "If we scare them off, or keep the ones that aren't scared out," her bottom lip trembled a little, and Endymion took a concerned step toward her, "then we won't have to k-" she took an unsteady breath, and Endymion hugged her, "k-kill more." Her fists clenched. "I HATE having to do that!"
"Usako..."
At her name, she turned with a little sob and buried her face in Endymion's chest. Mars walked up behind her and slapped her gently on the back.
"Pull yourself back together, odango atama!" she said, not unkindly. Serenity sniffed a few more times and turned around to face her friend.
"You're always so mean to me, Mars."
"If you can't tell the difference between-" Mars stopped her self-defense when she saw the small smile on Serenity's lips. "Oh, that's what I get for helping you!" She tossed her head in a parody of her usual fits of spite, but the sparkle in her purple eyes betrayed her. Serenity drew herself up and assumed her air of authority again. Her friends were all more relaxed now that they realized the steel in her didn't mean she'd lost all of the love and kindness that made them love her so much.
"We're going to have to convince them to leave us alone. Maybe then we can have a little peace."
Jupiter seemed to glow with excitement. "It actually sounds like fun! I'm sick of being on the receiving end of threats. It will be nice to dole them out for once!"
Mercury looked up from her computer, though her fingers kept typing. "It looks like I have a workable solution to creating a defense around the Solar System, minna. C'mon, let's go get this over with. We don't seem to be affected by the strange atmosphere in here this time, but I don't want to stay in here any longer than necessary!"
Serenity nodded. "Let's go!"
*****
Mercury turned her head around to look back at all of them. "Get ready, minna. we're at the entrance to where the Dragon Riders live. They're sure to know that we're here, so be prepared for anything!" As they all watched, Mercury turned back to her computer and began typing. The fog in front of her began to swirl, and a portal began to open. Venus and Jupiter pushed out first, then the rest followed.
Serenity felt fear clutch at her as she stood in front of a crowd of Dragon Riders. More than a few looked like they were ready to attack. She held her head up high, and refused to feel any fear.
"I have come to deliver an ultimatum!"
She nearly jumped at how loudly her voice rang out. She could feel her friends and Endymion behind her, supporting her. She took a deep breath and continued.
"Two of your kind have attacked our world, and we will not stand for it!" She motioned at Venus, and Venus made her chain dissipate. The suit of armor fell to the ground with a resounding clang. "If any more of your people attack us, we will not forgive again! You will have war with the Moon Kingdom!"
"And with Earth." Endymion's presence seemed to surprise the Dragon Riders. They drew back a little at the quiet menace in his voice. Serenity shot him a quick look of gratitude for his support. She was not as comfortable with all of this as she tried to appear.
"We are sealing off our stellar system from the rest of the galaxy. Anyone trying to break through will be viewed as an enemy!" Serenity turned to Mercury and whispered soft and quick. "What do you need us to do to form the shield, Mercury?"
"We have to meld our powers, so it will only take a little from each of us to maintain the protection." Mercury reached out and took Jupiter and Venus's hands in hers. Following her lead, each of the others liked hands as well. When they were all holding hands, Serenity was filled with the knowledge of what she had to do through their link.
She lifted her face to the sky and cried out, "Sailor Planet Power!" A glowing orb of energy surrounded them, and Mercury and Serenity directed their joined powers toward creating a protective sheathe that would keep all enemies out of the solar system.
Serenity opened her eyes slowly. Only the final piece, the cornerstone of their defense, still needed to be laid. Mercury's plan was so clever! She looked out over the awed group of Dragon Riders that watched her and her friends. Most of their faces were filled with naked hunger at their great display of power. "Remember my warning well!" she said, and her voice echoed oddly through the translucent sphere. "It is the only one you will get!" She closed her eyes again.
<We have to go now. We have to be inside the defenses when they are finally raised, or we will be shut out as well!> Mercury's worried cry echoed across their link. Serenity directed them through the wormhole, toward the temporary opening that lead back home.
<Once we get back to Earth, then what?> Jupiter's voice came through weakly. <I think I speak for us all when I say that I am exhausted. What more will we have to do?>
Venus' sunny personality scattered through their link as she added her two cents. <I'm not up for much more myself, you guys.> A ghost of a chuckle tickled at the edge of her thought. <It's been a pretty exciting last couple of days!>
<We have to put the last piece of the defense up-the seal.>
<You sound worried, Mercury. Is it going to be that difficult, then?> Endymion's mental voice came through loud and clear.
<Yes.>
Serenity couldn't let it go at that. <We can do it. We're together again, and stronger than ever!>
Her confidence buoyed up everyone else, and their somber mood lightened considerably. The end of the dreary gray tunnel neared, and everyone was relieved to arrive back home. They flew out of the wormhole opening.
<Ahhhh!>
<What?!>
<Look down, minna!> Mars' voice had more than a little panic in it. <Why are we flying about a mile high in the air?!>
<Oh. Oops.>
Serenity laughed out loud. It wasn't often you heard that sheepish tone from Mercury.
<I forgot to anchor this end of the wormhole to a specific point relative to the orbit and rotation of the Earth. Our planet's moved a bit in the last few minutes.> Mercury actually managed to clear her throat in her thoughts. <Well, anyway, we have something more important to worry about now.>
<What could be more important than finding out we're hanging over a mile above the Earth?>
<We have to meld even deeper, minna.>
Serenity affirmed Mercury's answer. <We have to put the seal on the barrier, or everything we've done can be undone in a heartbeat.>
<Deeper.>
<Closer.>
<Together.>
<Melding.>
<One.>
<ONE!> Serenity's eyes snapped open and she concentrated on her task. She looked around, and saw everything from six points of view. They were so intertwined now that she couldn't even tell which was her own. She no longer needed the physical link. She held out the black Knight's magical jewel and leveled all their concentration and power on it. The power hummed through them into it, and they and it began to glow...
*****
Ron looked around at the mess on the ground floor. People were lying all over the place, unconscious. He could tell by the wild look in many of the emergency medics' eyes that the wounds they had were not normal by any means of the word. To judge by the scorch marks all over the lobby, there had been some sort of serious confrontation in here. But the girls were gone. Ron wandered toward the stairs-the firemen had shut down the elevators while they tried to determine how structurally sound the building was-and made his way up. Maybe they were up there.
He arrived upstairs, to be greeted by the acrid smell of burned paint. He followed it to an office. The title on the door said "Company President". He pushed his way in, and saw two unconscious women on the floor. One of them was the woman that had made the ultimatum on television. At least now they had their perp. Ron radioed in their location, and left the room. Maybe they were even farther up. He made his way up to the roof.
No one was up there, so he walked up to the edge and peered over. The police were vainly trying to keep curious reporters out of the studio compound. Suddenly one of the news reporters pointed up, and her cameraman followed her gaze, then scrambled to get his camera.
<Now what does she see up here?> Ron turned around and looked up.
A new sun had grown in the sky. A point of light, brighter than any star, but smaller than the sun. What could it be? It grew brighter, and began to look suspiciously like a rainbow. Red, orange, green, blue, purple and white light emanated from that point. The rainbow grew larger, and brighter, until it seemed to circle the whole Earth. Ron couldn't take his eyes off of the spectacle. There would never be a sunset to compete with the beauty Ron saw up in the sky that day. Suddenly the bright point of light, the origin of this wondrous light display, brightened a hundred-fold, and Ron had to close his eyes against the sheer beauty he saw. He rubbed them, trying to make the circles swimming thorough his vision disappear enough so he could see again. When he finally got his eyes to work, he saw them.
They were dressed beautifully. Even Mamoru's armor looked exquisite. They all gave off a soft glow now, dim enough so that Ron could see through the radiance. They stood at the edge of the roof, looking down, while the humans all stared silently, wonderingly, up at them in return. Serenity held out her hands, and her crystal appeared between them, hovering in thin air.
"Ginzuishou!" Her voice sounded the same. Somewhere within that magical creature that stood before him, there resided the young woman he cared about. He clung to that thought as her frightening splendor nearly blinded him. "Ginzuishou!" Her voice fell to a bare whisper. He actually heard fatigue dripping from her voice. The four sailor warriors, now dressed as princesses, and Mamoru all held hands, and Ron could feel their solidarity. It fairly sang though his bones. "Let them forget this all. Let them live with their peace a little longer...." Was that a tear, shining as bright as a diamond on her cheek? "Let them have their peace while we are here to give it to them." Golden sparks seemed to appear out of nowhere, to slowly float down, one for each person. The sparks landed on each person's head. Silence descended over everything.
Ron was almost frozen with the spectacle before him. Before he realized it, he dropped the radio he'd been holding as his hand went limp. The clatter it made against the roof's surface seemed like a rifle shot next to his ear. Serena whipped her head around, and all her companions turned to face him as one. Her eyes widened a hair as she realized that Ron had seen everything she'd done. She shakily raised her hands again, and out of the corner of his eyes, Ron saw the others slowly, almost gracefully, drop to their knees.
"Wait!" he shouted.
Serena paused, and cocked her head.
"Wait, please." Ron strode up to Serena. "Please, who are you?"
"Princess Serenity."
"So that's where Serena came from."
Serenity nodded, and brought her hands the rest of the way up.
"No, please, Serenity. I don't want to forget."
"But-"
"I won't tell anyone, if you want, but I would never want to forget this. It's been terrible and wonderful all at once, but I don't want to lose the wonder, just because of the terror."
Serenity smiled. "I understand. As you wish." She inclined her head imperially, every inch the princess. Then she collapsed at his feet.