Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Crystal Trials ❯ Epilogue ( Chapter 10 )

Setsuna, who had been noting the progress of the workers and the expansion of the city, looked down at her. In the year that had passed since the events that had changed them all, Usagi had grown rapidly. Usagi had been two and a half years old when they returned, yet now, only twelve months later, she had achieved the mental and physical appearance of any other gangly eight year old. "Yes, Small Lady?"

By this time, Usagi had wandered over to a large pile of crystal set aside for building purposes and didn't respond right away. Impulsively, she began climbing, her attention devoted solely on the task at hand. Setsuna waited, watching with a small smile as the girl finally achieved the top. Grinning triumphantly, she said, "Look!"

Amused, Setsuna said, "Very good, Small Lady. But how will you get down?" A lesson could be taught here.

"Climb of course!" Usagi replied confidently. But, as she began snaking her way down, she gulped. It was a lot harder going down than it was climbing up. "Puu..." she started uncomfortably, but just then, the loose crystal shifted beneath her hands. Yelling and flailing her arms wildly, she fell. "Ouch..." she winced, picking herself up.

Setsuna, hiding a smile, brushed the girl off. "You're dirty now," she said with mock severity. "What will the people think of when they see their princess like this?"

Looking up from her skinned knees, Usagi said solemnly, "They'll think that, whatever I had done, I had fun." Setsuna laughed then, unable to keep it in. They resumed walking slowly along the half-finished streets. "What did you want to ask me, Small Lady?"

"Umm..." Usagi paused to pick up a discarded piece of smooth crystal and began turning it over and over in her hand. "Oh yeah...I don't think any of the others like me much."

"How do you know?" Setsuna asked. Of course, she had noticed the others' reactions to the girl, but she wanted to see what Usagi would say.

"Just a feeling..." Usagi replied vaguely. "Strange looks, strange words..."

They passed from the half-finished buildings and into the shaded streets. Other children played here, watched over by parents chatting amicably with each other. Usagi watched the children as well as they walked by, looking wistful. "Maybe you remind them of someone," Setsuna replied carefully, steering Usagi away from them.

"But I can't help that!" Usagi said earnestly. She tossed the piece of crystal away irritably. "I can understand if they were busy, but just because I remind them of someone? That's a dumb reason!"

"Usagi, your tone," Setsuna admonished. The girl drooped at the use of her name, and after she mumbled an apology, Setsuna continued. "We had an...experience a while ago, Small Lady. The others might still remember it."

"Puu, you sound sad," Usagi said in a small voice. "What happened? And what do I have to do with it?"

Setsuna was silent. They had passed into a quieter sector of the city, and not much could be heard other than the balmy breeze rustling the leaves overhead. Usagi walked at her side, casting unsure glances at the older woman. "We fought a battle that we had no hope of winning," she said at last. Seeing Usagi's puzzled look, she added, "We defeated the evil, to be sure, but that battle left us with scars and memories that will never fade."

Usagi walked in silence for a time, before stirring and finally saying, "My lessons in history once had a phrase that I remember. I asked my instructor what it meant, and he said that it meant everything we go through makes us better people in the end."

"What was the phrase, Small Lady?" Setsuna asked. She was surprised; she hadn't thought the princess paid attention to her lessons.

There was a pause while Usagi carefully recalled what was said. " 'That which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger,'" she quoted at last. "Or...something like that, anyway."

The irony of the statement made Setsuna smile wryly, but instead she said, "I won't be around much now. Michiru, Haruka, and I have to leave."

"What? Why?" Usagi demanded, stopping and staring at Setsuna in confusion. "Where will you go?"

"To our home," Setsuna said gently. "On our planets."

"People don't live on those planets. My teachers told me so," Usagi said scornfully.

Setsuna smiled faintly. "They do. I can feel them through the bond I share with my planet, and they need a ruler." "But...but you're the guardian of the Gates of Time!" Usagi protested. "How can you do both?"

"There are ways," Setsuna replied evasively.

They started walking again. "I...guess then you have to go," Usagi allowed reluctantly. "But you'll still come to visit?"

"I thought you would ask such a thing," Setsuna said. "So I left you a present in your chambers. It will allow you to contact me wherever I am. As long as you promise not to abuse it, you may keep it."

Usagi's eyes shone. "Really?"

"Really. It even has a name. Luna-P," Setsuna said with a smile. She really was going to miss her.

"Luna-P..." Usagi repeated, trying the word out. Suddenly, her expression crumpled and she threw herself at Setsuna, who barely caught her. "I'm gonna miss you, Puu," she said, her voice muffled against the woman's shoulder.

Setsuna patted the girl's back. "I'll miss you too, Small Lady. But you will have other friends..." she said soothingly. Just then, Setsuna felt a strange vibration in the air. Pattering footsteps approached from behind, closer and closer until Setsuna heard a startled exclamation.

"Oh...!" a girl's voice yelped, just before there was the sound of someone falling. Usagi pulled away and looked curiously over Setsuna's shoulder. Setsuna, too, turned. A young girl was sprawled out on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Are you alright?" Usagi asked urgently, breaking away from Setsuna and running to the girl's side. "You aren't hurt or anything, are you?"

The girl looked up, and stared at Usagi with wide eyes. "Princess!" she breathed, then flushed crimson. "F-forgive me. I was running, and I wasn't paying attention. I almost ran into you..."

"Nevermind who I am. Are you alright?" Usagi persisted urgently. When the girl nodded slowly, Usagi smiled. "I'm glad. I don't want to see people hurt because of me." Setsuna was silent, watching this exchange with calculating eyes. She shouldn't meddle, yet...

"What's your name?" Usagi asked, offering the girl a hand up which she accepted. Straightening the dark skirts she wore, she looked at Usagi with large violet eyes. Almost shyly, she replied, "Hotaru..."

The next day, Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna were absent from the palace. All assumed the three had left for a brief visit to the countryside, but after first one week went by and then another, it grew apparent that the three were not returning. Usagi knew, but said nothing. The girl figured that if the three senshi had wanted anybody to know, they would have explained. Oddly enough, she hadn't had to make up a story to explain the floating likeness of a cat's head that followed her wherever she went, the present Setsuna had left her. The moment her mother had noticed it, she seemed to understand.