"Well done."

That voice again. Her father's rich voice woke her. Usagi lay in the void of space suspended between Earth and the moon, a bubble of power shielding her from the frozen nothing beyond. Earth hung as a beautiful orb below, the sun illuminating continents with a touch of life.

"What happened?" She couldn't see her father, but felt his presence wherever the sunlight graced her.

"You proved me right."

Usagi waited, then said, "What do you mean?"

"I have many daughters in many worlds, most from the goddess of the Moon, but only one that I've allowed to harness my power. Not every world can be saved, or should, but there are so many that suffer and struggle; ones that need your touch."

"You can see all universes?"

"I will guide you to the worlds in need, but you will always have access to your birth world. My daughter, it's time to go home."

Usagi held her staff and felt the whispering power of her senshi. "I need to release them first, they must be reborn here. Let me see them flourish."

An accepting silence was all Usagi needed. She opened her staff and watched the beauty of her senshi falling back to Earth as shooting stars. Time seemed to speed and morph as she watched, untouched in the cradle of her father's protection.

Then Usagi saw herself, the child she'd truly been when first awakened by Luna. She watched from afar as they grew and met, then battled foes within the solar system. A shadow of Metalia and Beryl had awakened as well—Usagi couldn't hold them forever, but Usagi—Sailor Cosmos—knew they would be defeated his time.

But with Usagi's touch, she made sure the four generals awoke with Momo-chan. They met as young men, drawn to each other just as Usagi and her senshi had been. Their devotion, their selflessness changed the tide of the war against Beryl. Both Beryl and Metalia fell as the senshi and Earth generals joined together.

It was hard to tell if Usagi was watching it all in real time, or catching glimpses of the world below as it developed. Whatever sphere her father's held her in was distorting her placement in time.

Finally, Haruka and Michiru awakened. Usagi felt a desperate pull to see them again. Her father's hold relaxed as he silently consented, and she flashed down in a band of plasma and light, landing not far from Haruka and Michiru. Usagi felt nauseated as the backlash of time caught her. How did Pluto stand it?

Usagi stepped out from the treeline. Haruka and Michiru were kissing in the privacy of the grove. It warmed Usagi's heart, and she forgot she still presented as Sailor Cosmos.

"Who are you?" Haruka went on the defensive, shoving Michiru behind her. Her deep voice made Usagi shiver. Then Haruka flipped out her transformation pen.

"Wait! I'm a senshi like you. Here." Usagi released starlight embedded within her staff—their memories, returning their time together in this universe. Past lives were important to remember. If Usagi had known all of her past, she might have been ready for the day Sphalerite called her away.

What, to Usagi had happened only hours ago, was twenty years of time on this revived planet. Metalia's destruction had been healed, the ash cleared from the atmosphere, and even the trees had regrown.

As the starlight faded from her staff, Haruka blinked, shook her head, then stared at Usagi. She stepped from Michiru, then dashed forward and swept Usagi into her arms. Usagi laughed and when Haruka set her down, Usagi enveloped Michiru into her arms as well.

"I'm so sorry, I couldn't leave without letting you know what happened… without saying goodbye. I can take the memories back if they're too painful."

"Leave them. Michiru and I can use them to guide us, all of us. Our pasts are precious. The memories of you..." Haruka trailed off and wiped away one of Usagi's errant tears as she spoke. There was so much to say, and nothing to say at all.

"Love this world's Usagi just as much as you loved me."

"Of course," Michiru said and gripped Haruka's hand. Haruka smiled, her eyes glassy.

Usagi felt the plasma at her fingertips and knew it was time to return home. How much time had passed on her world? It didn't matter. For the chance to say goodbye, the chance to see them live—it was worth it.

All she could do was grin and cry, her hand over her heart, the other gripping her staff as the neon plasma grew around her..

In a final inspiration, Usagi tore off the studded star emblem at her waist and threw it at Haruka. She caught it, and her surprise was the last thing Usagi saw before the plasma and light overtook her, yanking her away from this world.

Maybe she'd return and find them again.

Usagi landed in the same crystal dome where she'd left. Sunlight echoed through the many facets of the crystals and filled the circle with golden light and scattered rainbows. She could feel a presence with her—Sphalerite—and his hand on her cheek before the light dimmed and his touch disappeared.

She was home. She'd made it home and yet…

Usagi hugged herself and started to cry. The tears rushed out and stole her breath. Soon she was sobbing, great wracking, hitching breaths and the whole Palace hummed a resonating pitch with her joyful sorrow.

She could hear everyone shouting, running, searching for the source of the Palace's upset. Usagi stayed huddled into herself and waited for the tears to stop. It took a few minutes after that to realize she was still Sailor Cosmos. Here, in this world, she was only needed as Queen.

The Silver Crystal warmed at her touch and collapsed into its standard form. Usagi calmed the frequencies within her, slowly matching them back to her home world. It was like stepping into slippers after a long day of heels, and she adapted easily. She let her connection to Sphalerite sleep and her affinity with the moon surge. Her senshi uniform faded, and her gown and crown fell back into place.

Placing her palm against the crystal, it opened a doorway and she stepped out as Neo-Queen Serenity. King Endymion found her first, his face alight with relief. He nearly ran across the courtyard and embraced her in a crushing hold. Small Lady followed, then the rest of the senshi. It felt right. It felt like home. Usagi relished their touch, their familiar scents of water and wind and fire. The way Makoto always zapped her with a tiny electric shock. Rei's scoffs. Ami's timid kindness, and of course Minako's enhuberence.

Right then Usagi decided she'd remake what it means to be Queen. She had hundreds of years ahead of her to create the kind of life she wanted, and what she wanted was to be one with her senshi, not just their Queen, not just their duty, but their friend—their equal.

Haruka knelt before her, gently taking Usagi's hand and kissing it. The reverence and adoration from such a formal motion made Usagi hold her breath. Haruka's sky-blue eyes captured Usagi's. Then with a smirk, Haruka winked.

Usagi palmed her face, her laugh clearing away the rest of her melancholy.

EPILOGUE

Time was both fluid and fixed, but certain points, Usagi learned, were essential.

When Sphalerite called on Usagi again, she thought she was ready, but when she arrived at another version of her world, it was past her reign as Queen. Time on this world didn't align with her own. She and her senshi were gone. This future was based on the same foundations of her own—the senshi had been reborn, raised, awakened, and triumphed. Neo-Queen Serenity had reigned, healed, and passed off the throne to her daughter.

Usagi met her alternate-world daughter, who was both a senshi with her own complement of protectors, and a Queen. They referred to her as the Lady Queen, and she was as glamourous and regal as Usagi had ever been. Yet upon seeing Sailor Cosmos, Lady Queen bowed and addressed her with reverence. Usagi saw the glimmer of fear and awe in the Lady Queen's eye.

Somehow, throughout the universes, Sailor Cosmos had become a fearful myth; her power and abilities unfathomable. She was supposedly linked to life itself and could control agents of death. The myths weren't entirely misleading, but being seen as otherworldly was lonely.

This world was tasting the results of a betrayal from an allied planet. The senshi had been corrupted, and were attacking each other. Without knowing how the future of this world was intended to unfold, Usagi could only quell the insidious seeping rage and heal the wounded. From there she sought out the root of the cause and found an old nemesis.

Chaos—like time, death, and even life—had a will that surpassed the boundaries of universes. It knew Sailor Cosmos, knew their history, their future. It knew one would never truly defeat the other because they needed each other. They were a part of each other.

Eventually, Usagi was able to cast Chaos back to the Galaxy Cauldron to await a new beginning.

When Usagi returned to her world it took her six months to recover from the expenditure of battling Chaos. As she regained her strength, she understood that her own future in this world was nothing to be feared. In a few hundred years she would face the Dark Moon and allow herself to be encased in Silver Crystal. In this timeline she had to let Sailor Moon—her past—come forward to grow into who she is now.

The Neo-Queen Serenity Usagi had met as Sailor Moon was doing her duty as Sphalerite's daughter. She had been maintaining life in the timeline, and probably taking a well earned rest. She hadn't been weak, hadn't been unable to fight, she'd simply known when the battle didn't belong to her.

Usagi smiled and leaned on Mamo-chan's shoulder. Everyone was gathered in their finest gowns and suits to commemorate the anniversary of the King and Queen's coronation. Mamo-chan looked crisp and regal in his flowing cape and suit. He kissed her temple.

Soon they'd present themselves at the top of the Crystal Palace for the world to see. Haruka, who'd chosen a deep blue, floor-length gown this year, stood at Usagi's side, her fingers brushing Usagi's hand. They shared an intimate smile and then as the crystal doors parted, Usagi righted herself and stepped out to face her people.

She was the Queen. She was Sailor Cosmos. But most of all, she would always be Usagi.