AN: I just updated two days ago, and now this is the final chapter. It's short, but it should wrap up the loose ends for the story. Guys, thanks for all the reviews last time. I really appreciated it.

Disclaimer: Two days ago, not mine. Now… no, still not mine.

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It wasn't much of a surprise when they found themselves in that place again.

The chamber of white marble where Usagi had made her choice. Saturn's prison.

They were once more between life and death.

"Why did you follow me?" Saturn asked.

"I wouldn't leave you like that. You deserve better."

She gestured. "This has been my world for millennia. I don't really know anything else."

"That doesn't make it okay. I promised you a normal life; I haven't forgotten."

"I do not think you have the strength now."

"I haven't forgotten," Super Sailor Moon repeated. "You gave us another chance. You sent us back so we could have that. Why should you be trapped?"

The smaller warrior shook her head. "Do not die for me."

"I'm not dead. You are."

"Then how are you here? Why are you here? Go back to your friends and family. You did it again. You were the true Messiah."

The blonde managed a tired smile. "I always knew. That the Grail was mine, that it was my job to stop the Death Busters- I knew."

"Why didn't you tell the others?"

"I didn't need to tell my Senshi. They knew it would be me. Pluto must have known. Uranus and Neptune? They would never have believed me. Or in me. If they did, they would have come to me a long time ago. I know they love me in their own way, but they don't see me as a Senshi. I'm still the fragile naïve princess in their eyes."

"Are you angry with them? For not trusting you?"

"No." She sat down, and Saturn joined her after a moment's pause. "Should I be? They haven't seen how much I've changed. They weren't there when I fought Beryl or the Death Phantom."

"You forgive so easily." Saturn frowned. "Even me. I killed Chibiusa-chan."

It was the first time she had sounded like a vulnerable young girl instead of an ancient soldier of destruction.

"Mistress 9 killed her, not you. You saved her, or my Ginzuishou would still have been fractured and I wouldn't have been able to go after you."

"Sailor Moon-"

"I'm serious. Now come back with me. Live, really live for once. Your Senshi spirit and human self. No more being only half of your true identity. Be Saturn and Hotaru. Both, together."

"I can't. I died."

"So did Pluto. Do you think she'll stay that way? Do you want to stay trapped?"

"…No."

"I didn't think so."

"Just- why?"

"I made a promise," Sailor Moon answered. "I should have kept it sooner. I should have looked for you the instant I had the Ginzuishou again, but I can't change what's happened. What I can do now is fulfill it. You'll have the life you wanted."

"Because of a promise?"

It took a second, but she caught on. "It's not just for the promise, so stop looking like you're about to cry. It's for you. This is what I want for you. I want all of us to be together. I'm not afraid of you or your power. I just want us to be friends."

Saturn abruptly left her Senshi form, returning to that of Tomoe Hotaru as she fell laughing and crying into her princess's arms. And together, they left Death's realm behind.

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The warriors, bruised and battered, dragged themselves from the rubble as the sun continued its inexorable ascent.

The darkness was gone, but there was no sign of Sailor Saturn… or Sailor Moon.

Mercury broke down and cried against Zoisite's chest as the others struggled with their own tumultuous emotions. Only Tuxedo Kamen kept his composure, but his eyes were all but dead.

"Are you happy now?" Mars shouted at Uranus and Neptune, unknowingly echoing their earlier sentiments. "If you had just trusted her, none of this would have happened!"

Jadeite caught her around the waist when she went to lunge and spoke too softly for the others to hear. The fiery Senshi began to sob as he turned her to face him, still talking despite the tears on his own cheeks.

"She's not gone," Tuxedo Kamen croaked unexpectedly. "She can't be. I would know, right?"

Kunzite began to respond, but his voice cracked on the first word. "I-"

"RIGHT?"

His answer came in a flurry of Technicolor butterflies. She appeared at the edge of the bay, eyes blank and her pure heart still shining against her broach. There was a baby in her arms.

Everyone ran for her, even Uranus and Neptune. Injuries were ignored. Her return was more important. They had to know she was all right.

"Take her."

Super Sailor Moon's eyes still stared blindly past them, but her arms extended unerringly to the Outer Senshi.

When they hesitated, she repeated herself even as she sank to her knees. "Take her. Uranus, Neptune… Take her."

Neptune accepted the tiny bundle, and she collapsed.

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It had taken three days for Usagi to feel well enough to leave her bedroom. She understood that Chibiusa and the others needed her, but she had been too exhausted to do anything other than sleep.

She opened her eyes as Chibiusa slipped into the room. "Chibiusa…? Are you okay?"

"I wanted to know what happened to Hotaru-chan." Her face crumpled guiltily. "I mean- I wanted to see if you were okay, and to say thank you."

Usagi slowly sat up. "Chibiusa-chan…"

The little girl burst into tears. "I'm sorry! If I'd stayed like you told me to, none of this would have happened!"

"Chibiusa-chan." The blonde waited until her future daughter met her gaze. "It's not your fault. Besides, I should be apologizing to you. I promised to protect you, but you still got hurt. Not just from losing your broach- I cost you your best friend too."

"Is she… Is Hotaru-chan dead?"

"What did the others tell you?"

The pink haired child shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't understand!"

"Hey, it's okay. Hotaru-chan is alive."

"She is? Where is she?"

"…I don't know."

"You don't know?" she repeated, confused.

"I'm so sorry, Chibiusa-chan. I really am. I brought her back, but I was so tired… I gave her to Neptune and Uranus, and that's all I can remember."

"Why would you give her to them? They tried to kill her!"

"Chibiusa, I-"

She stormed out before Usagi could even try to explain.

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I don't know what to do, Ami-chan."

The team had met to scour the ruins of Infinity Academy for clues, but no information had been forthcoming. Uranus, Neptune, and baby Hotaru seemed to have vanished entirely.

"Usagi-chan…" The genius girl shook her head. "I don't have the answers this time. I'm sorry."

The blonde sighed and flopped onto a convenient rock. "Chibiusa-chan won't talk to me, and she's barely said a word to Mamo-chan. What was I thinking, giving Hotaru-chan to them?"

Her friend shrugged. "You never told us, so I don't know. I don't think they would hurt a baby, though."

"Then where are they?"

"We're here."

Everyone spun around, and hands were soon groping for henshin wands or preparing to grab weapons.

Sailors Uranus and Neptune stood on top of a pile of broken masonry behind them, and their expressions were anything but friendly. 'Downright menacing' seemed to be much more accurate.

"You have some explaining to do, Sailor Moon," Uranus said coldly.

"Why don't you explain a few things yourselves?" Makoto shouted. "JUPITER STAR POWER, MAKE-UP!"

The others quickly followed suit, Shitennou included. Even Mamoru looked angry as he shifted to Tuxedo Kamen.

"Wait-" Usagi began, but no one heard her as the Guardian Senshi leapt at the Outers.

"We have nothing to say to you," Neptune stated as she pushed Mercury back. "Our business is with Sailor Moon."

"You go near her and we'll kill you," Mars snarled. "You've done enough damage here."

"STOP!" Usagi screamed. Power burst around her, and she was Sailor Moon an instant later. "That's enough! Don't hurt anyone!"

"Done being a coward?" Uranus growled.

Rather than being insulted, she only shook her head. "I'll always be a coward. I'm not brave like you are, Uranus. I just don't want anyone else to be hurt for my sake."

"Just the world!" the elder warrior snapped.

"It was my risk to take as the Messiah."

"You're not the Messiah!" Neptune shouted.

The two went after her at once, but she made no move to fight back. She just dodged their blows with an unusual degree of grace. And she never broke eye contact with them.

A cry went up from the others when Neptune managed to catch Sailor Moon and pin her arms behind her back, but Kunzite kept them from rejoining their leader.

"This is her battle. She must fight alone."

"Kunzite-!" Venus protested.

He shook his head. "Have faith."

Uranus leapt forward and launched her attack, but her World Shaking was obscured by a brighter light. When it cleared, Sailor Moon was hovering overhead as the attack bore down on the surprised Sailor Neptune. The Moon Senshi proceeded to deflect it away before it could harm the other.

In the stunned silence that followed, she back-winged and settled on the same pile of debris the Outers had stood on not too long before.

Her team had seen her wings once already, though they never ceased to amaze. Uranus and Neptune had not. They only stared.

"I don't want any more violence."

"…Princess?" Neptune whispered.

Sailor Moon shook her head sadly. "The Princess died a thousand years ago. I'm just a girl."

"Most girls don't have wings," Uranus commented wryly.

She ignored the statement and studied the aqua-haired warrior. "You're not hurt?"

"No."

"I'm glad. People I care about suffer too much already. Will you listen to me now? Will you really hear what I have to tell you?"

The two just nodded, unsure of what else they could say to the angelic figure.

"It was a gamble. A horrible gamble that put so much at risk, but I had to try… I had a plan when I gave Mistress 9 the Grail."

"You couldn't have clued us in?" Uranus managed.

"If she had realized what I was trying, I would have failed. I gave her the Grail knowing that if I was wrong, if what I was planning didn't work, we were doomed."

"A massive risk," Neptune said.

"It was terrifying, but I had no other choice. I refuse to let an innocent die if there's even the slightest chance of saving them. I wasn't going to abandon Hotaru to her fate."

"Isn't one person less important than the entire world?"

"She isn't just 'one person'. She's one of us."

"She's still one person that was a major risk to everyone else."

"The instant we're willing to kill someone for our cause, we're no better than our enemies. I told my Senshi that while we fought the Black Moon Clan. We don't deserve our powers if we use them to hurt others."

"That's still a stupid move," Uranus told her.

"I know. I realize it could have all blown up in my face. Still, the Grail was mine, and it was my choice. I gave it to her with a wish: that Hotaru would have the power to fight for herself. That she would have a chance to choose her destiny."

"You wished for Saturn?" Neptune asked.

"Not necessarily. I wanted Hotaru to be strong enough to take back her life. Saturn was just the way that was possible when Mistress 9 had Chibiusa-chan's Ginzuishou."

Uranus studied her. "You almost failed."

Sailor Moon nodded. "It was very close. If my Ginzuishou had been at full strength, I might have had more options, but I was using it to buy Chibiusa time. When the Grail broke, all I could do was hope that the wish I had made using its power would still succeed. And it did."

"It should have been impossible." Neptune frowned. "The Grail's breaking should have undone its power."

"I am the Grail's true keeper. It would have obeyed me through anything. Even its own destruction."

"If you were the real Messiah, why did it exhaust you?" Uranus asked.

She trailed her fingers along a few feathers. "The Grail triggered the growth of my wings. It wasn't that I was exhausted- I was in too much pain to keep being Super Sailor Moon."

Silence fell as the Guardian Senshi and the Shitennou released their henshins.

Uranus took a step forward- and knelt. "I offer you my sincerest apologies for my unseemly behavior. I should have come to you with my suspicions before I acted against you."

Neptune mirrored her partner's movements. "A thousand years ago, we swore oaths of fealty to the Queen of the Silver Millennium. Now we renew those vows and further swear our lives and service to the Queen's heir."

Sailor Moon blushed scarlet. "Stand up. You don't need to do that."

They didn't move. "To decline our vows is to declare us both dishonorable and untrustworthy," Uranus said. "We would understand, but we hope you can find it in your gracious heart to forgive us for our mistakes."

Her eyes went wide. "Um…" She shifted to Serenity's form. "You are warriors of my court, and I accept your generous oaths. Rise, Sailors Uranus and Neptune, guardians of the outer solar system."

The Outer Senshi got to their feet, but they kept their heads bowed in a show of respect and loyalty.

"Your Highness, we request your permission for a leave of absence, to begin at once and extending indefinitely."

"Of course it's granted, but why?"

The two exchanged glances before facing her with a smile.

"To raise our child."

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Even as they watched Neptune and Uranus walk away, Usagi- once more in her civilian form- put her hand to her heart.

"Pluto…"

The Time Guardian appeared and knelt at her feet, much like her partners had done only a few minutes before.

"I have returned."

"Pluto, you don't have to say anything formal," Usagi hurriedly stated. "Your presence is enough. Please, get up."

The eldest Senshi rose. "Neo Queen Serenity sends me with a message."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Her Majesty revived me and sent me back. I have a task in this time."

"What do you have to do?" the odango'd teen asked.

"I am to join Uranus and Neptune to raise Tomoe Hotaru."

It took a moment for the implications of her words to sink in. "You mean- you're free?"

A beatific smile lit the older woman's face. "I'm free."

"I'm so happy for you!" Usagi cheered as she threw her arms around her friend.

The others swarmed forward to surround them, but Pluto slipped free of the petite teen's embrace and stepped back.

"I must go, but do not worry. I will see all of you again. Good-bye."

She vanished before any of them could say something in response. Usagi paused, a strange look on her face.

"Usako? Is something wrong?" Mamoru asked in concern.

She shook her head and let her hand drop, baring her henshin broach to the others' sight.

Makoto squealed. "Usagi-chan, look at your broach!"

The blonde pulled it off her shirt and held it up so everyone could see it.

"It changed!" Ami gasped.

Usagi ran trembling fingers over it as she lifted it into the air. "MOON CRISIS, MAKE-UP!"

In a dance of feathers and light, she transformed.

"You're Super Sailor Moon!" Minako crowed.

"For a moment… All of our hearts beat together," Sailor Moon whispered. "Mamo-chan, look at me!"

"You look amazing," he responded through a suddenly dry throat.

Of all of them, he was the only one that could see the potential ramifications of that henshin.

If she had a new transformation, there was more trouble on the way…

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AN: I was initially going to end it on a really mushy note, but my sister/beta axed it. She was right; it was really bad. So a little bit of foreshadowing shall be my parting gift to you. As always, please let me know what you thought. I've been glad to write this for you (especially now that it's finished) and there is still more to look forward to. Just not yet. If you're interested, though, I may be posting the re-edited versions of my other stories sometime soon. Till next time!