"I see...that is unfortunate."

"The Pope sends his gratitude for offering your services, but he has decided it would be best if we went our separate ways," Shaina explained to the hooded leader of the Sailor Senshi's enemy. "If Sanctuary has a need for you, they will contact your forces, but for now, it is recommended that you stay out of our way. Spectre Pures are difficult to create and we wasted too many of them for a plan that didn't pan out."

"There's no need to be so crude about it, Ms. Shaina," Fiore said with a grin. "I told you just how dangerous the Sailor Senshi could be, and the Pope gave me several details about the competence of the Bronze Saints. We probably would have won if the Princess-"

"The Princess was your end game, one that you didn't tell the Pope about. That is why he has terminated our professional relationship," Shaina interjected, pulling her hand away when Fiore tried to exchange a handshake. Turning away from the alien, Shaina clenched her fists. "Maybe if you anticipated her arrival, I could have finally taken my revenge on Seiya. Now I have been doubly disgraced by my defeat...and my unmasking to another man."

"...Gesen," Fiore called his subordinate who had been watching nearby. Waiting for the cyborg to walk towards him and give a salute with his arm crossing his chest and a bow of his head, Fiore gave his order before teleporting away. "Settle your differences here and return to the base. We'll prepare our next plan this evening."

"At once, Master," Gesen bowed once more as Fiore vanished and he turned to Shaina. Though their time together was short, Gesen considered Shaina more of a comrade than he did Uranus and Neptune. Unlike the rogue Senshi, Shaina was a loyal ally in their fight against their enemies, and it wasn't until Seiya became directly involved that she deviated from the plan Fiore laid out for them. Gesen was quite aware that Shaina was a renowned strategist in her own right, but her honor prevented her from stepping out of line.

Gesen also realized that he had inadvertently wronged her by catching a glimpse of her face when he potentially saved her life from Serenity's wrath. He remembered the tense conversation they had in Shaina's apartment about what the secrecy of her true face meant to her, and being that it was unlikely they were going to see each other again after this, Gesen came up with a way to make things right with her.

"Ophiuchus Shaina, please turn around."

"I'm not in the mood to fight you, Gesen," Shaina growled. "Leave now, and I won't have to rip out your power core and shove it up your backside."

"Your warrior code demands that you must kill me because I saw your face. I would like to offer a resolution so that we don't have to come to blows," Gesen replied with uncharacteristic softness to his metallic tone, caused Shaina to turn around and face him as he instructed. "I told you earlier, the reason no one has seen who I am behind my helmet is because somewhere out there, there's a younger me waiting to be exploited by my enemies. By showing you what's under the mask, I am entrusting our safety to you."

"...you do realize that if I wished it, I could hunt down that younger you if you showed me your face?"

"I do...but you are a warrior of honor. You understand that what I'm about to show you is something that only you and Fiore will have knowledge of," Gesen said lowly as he reached for the clips of his helmet. As he pressed down on them, a loud hiss emerged from his head along with a blast of highly pressurized air. "You asked me earlier...what my connection is with Usagi? Why I always call her by her first name rather than 'Sailor Moon?'"

The helmet was removed and held at chest level, and Shaina and Gesen were finally even. Shaina had hypotheses about what was underneath Gesen's mask, but she didn't figure him to be such a handsome specimen: apart from a handful of wires and tubes attached to his neck and running into the interior of his suit, he had soft dark hair and a beautiful complexion and his eyes…

...his eyes, were the same as Sailor Moon.

"I am Shingo Tsukino," Gesen said before putting his helmet back on. "I bear the cursed fate of being Usagi Chiba's little brother...and her executioner."

It was an enjoyable evening, but all things had to eventually come to an end.

After the defeat of Kodoku Adamant, the Saints and Senshi celebrated at a Greek restaurant several train stops away from the battlefield in Shinjuku, being careful to de-morph in a private area so that they wouldn't have unnecessary stress in the morning. The food was delicious, and more importantly to the more voracious eaters on the two teams, being paid for completely out of Mu's deep pockets. The main highlight of the meal was a wine that Mu recommended, and as such several members of the team woke up the next morning with a nasty hangover.

After a day of recuperating, the two teams agreed to meet together in the late afternoon with one final discussion on how they could help each other in the future. Given the way Sanctuary operated, it was unlikely that Fiore would be collaborating with them again anytime soon, especially given the sound thrashing they received at the hands of their enemies. Therefore, the Saints and Senshi were going to spend the remainder of the day exchanging contact information, but also preparing to say goodbye in case this would be the last time they worked together for the foreseeable future.

"Seiya."

"Hey, Saori," Seiya said quietly as he looked out into the harbor. "Were you able to help Usagi's husband?"

"Whatever happened to him is something that even I can't undo, at least not at my current level.," the violet-haired teenager lamented as she stood next to Seiya leaning against the railing of the walkway and looked out into the sea. "Hopefully the Senshi will be able to figure out what's wrong with him and come up with a solution: it's clear that he still loves his wife and his daughter, but he can't go back unless he remembers the life he had before he became the Moonlight Knight."

"Hopefully," Seiya repeated distantly as Saori moved closer to him. "Saori...that transformation Sailor Moon went through against that Spectre...that was the entity from the nightmare that psychic virus showed me. I shrugged it off because I figured it was a trick from the enemy to turn us against each other...but now I wonder if it was just Fiore showing us the nightmares he's gone through in his own time."

"Well, you've spent more time with her than I have. What do you think are her true colors?"

"...I don't know anymore," Seiya said with a sigh. "When I looked into her eyes, it confirmed everything that nightmare was trying to tell me, that inside of Sailor Moon is a monster that will destroy the universe in a fit of rage. For a brief second, I thought about using the Gold Cloth's arrow on her, because the depth of her cosmo frightened me that much."

"But you didn't, and everything is OK," Saori said cheerfully. "Stop worrying about what might happen and focus on what's already happened. You and the others have made strong allies that are willing to help us the next time our paths cross, and you sent Sanctuary packing again. Soon we'll be strong enough to go to Greece and stop the Pope personally, but for now…"

"...for now, let's worry about finding another safe hiding place for you, Saori," Seiya said with a smile as he turned away from the view of the harbor and walked back to the group. "I haven't even told Jabu that you've been hiding with Zamir Industries, he's been going nuts wondering where you are. You should have seen Tatsumi yell at us when he started a duel for me trying to pry the information out."

After saying her goodbyes with the Moonlight Knight, Usagi turned back to her friends and the Saints while they waited for Seiya and Saori to come to them. Seiya wasn't the only frightened by Serenity's return: Usagi had experienced many nightmares about her alter-ego consuming her since Fiore had revealed his mission for being in the present. Unchecked, Princess Serenity would destroy the Earth and every other planet within her reach, and this was something that made Usagi wonder many times if she was better off surrendering to Fiore and taking whatever punishment he had in store for her.

But as she held her daughter in her arms, Usagi realized that she had too much to live for to let things come to that. Princess Serenity did not define her, nor did her life as Sailor Moon. She was not Princess Serenity, nor was she the cosmic tyrant Galaxia like Fiore and Gesen claimed. She was Usagi Chiba, loving wife and caring mother, as well as the guardian of love and justice Sailor Moon. Next to her weren't just fellow Sailor Senshi, they were friends she met in junior high school that had become almost like sisters to her.

And across from them was Seiya and the Bronze Saints. Like Usagi, Seiya's legacy was woven into the stars as he was preceded by many other Pegasus Saints with similar roles in the stage of history. But Seiya was more than just the latest in a line of Pegasus Saints: he was a kind young man and loyal, courageous friend that not only fought for the protection of Athena, but for the well-being of his fellow Bronze Saints. To him, Saori was not a goddess that needed to be worshipped, but a foster sister who was very much dear to him, and would have protected regardless of his destiny as a Saint.

On this evening, the Inner Senshi and Bronze Saints shook hands and said their farewells, but the young men and women behind the costumes swore that if they ever needed each other, they would always have their backs. It was more than just a rivalry now: it was a bond of friendship that would no longer be broken by simple spells and tricks. And that bond of friendship, Usagi and Seiya swore to themselves, would be one that lasted long after their legend ended.

"Everyone...let's celebrate!"