Never Gone R

By: Jecir

Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Journey Begins

"OH NO!" Usagi screamed. She threw her covers off and jumped out of bed, disturbing her cat, Luna, in her scramble. "Why didn't somebody wake me up?" the young girl wailed as she ran down the hall to the bathroom. "I'm going to be late for school!"

Luna sat up and yawned. This was their morning routine. Usagi would leap out of bed in a panic and scramble about trying to get ready for school. Luna stretched, yawned again, and curled back up on the rumbled bedding. Usagi would be flying back into the room at any moment. Luna preferred to be comfortable and warm before she did so. As the ancient feline drifted between wakefulness and sleep, she wondered at what her life had become.

She and Artemis had sent the girls off to finish Beryl, and then...something strange had happened. She had woken up just like this: Usagi screaming after looking at her alarm clock and jumping out of the bed, effectively burying Luna in blankets and chaos.

That had been a few weeks ago. Life in Tokyo was quiet and peaceful, and Luna had no idea how or why. She was grateful for it, though. Her Princess deserved a normal life. All of the girls did. That thought was the last one she remembered before she fell back asleep.

Tsukino Usagi, second year student at Juuban Junior High, ran out the door of her house; her long pigtails—a signature look of hers—flowing behind her and a piece of toast shoved in her mouth. She was always late! It just wasn't fair! Then again, being forced to go to that torture trap known as school wasn't fair either. She just wanted to stay in bed and dream about her prince. And cake. And about her prince feeding her cake. Mainly, she dreamt about eating cake.

The thought of cake made her stomach rumble. Toast was not very filling. She knew she'd be hungry long before lunch. School was cruel!

"Good morning, Tsukino-chan!"

Usage shrieked and threw her hands up in shock. Her bag and lunch flew over her head. The satchel hit the ground, but her lunch landed safely in the long fingers of Yukino Tamaki III.

"Tamaki-sempai!" Usagi snapped, turning to face him with a scowl. He did this to her every morning. The young exchange student enjoyed sleep as much as Usagi, but he never seemed frazzled when he was running late. Maybe it was because he enjoyed the run. Tamaki was a part of the school soccer team. He knew how to run.

"Good, you're awake," Tamaki teased.

"Give me my lunch!" Usagi demanded.

"Sure," Tamaki said. "If you can catch me."

Usagi groaned. He said the same thing every morning, too. The grouchy girl knelt down to grab her bag. "Please, Tamaki-sempai, not today. I haven't eaten yet!"

"Oh you poor dear," Tamaki said in mock compassion. "It's a good thing I have some bangers and mash in my bag!"

"What?" Usagi asked.

"It's British food. You'll like it." Tamaki's grin twisted into the regular mischievous imp look he often donned. "And you can eat as much as you like...if you catch me!" With that, he took off down the street.

Usagi groaned in indignation before chasing after him. "But I hate running!"

Mizuno Ami stood at the front gate of Juuban Middle. She looked down at her watch, her glasses slipping down her nose as she did so. Usagi was running very late this morning. The school bell was going to ring in exactly three minutes. The blue-haired student sighed heavily. It was like this every morning. When was that girl going to learn the importance of getting up in the morning?

"She still not here?" Kino Makoto asked. Makoto was a full head and shoulders taller than Ami and much less ladylike. She carried her bag over her shoulder and had a paper cup in her other.

"No," Ami said. She glanced at the cup. "Is that coffee? I didn't know you drank coffee."

Makoto blushed. "It's...uh...a new thing," she said.

For all her tomboyish tendencies, Makoto could dissolve into a giddy school girl in seconds. Ami deduced that it had something to do with the boy she secretly met every day after class. Ami did not let on that she knew. If Makoto was not ready to tell them than she would not pry. Ami looked at her watch once more. One and a half minutes.

"There they are," Makoto said.

Ami looked up and sighed again, accompanying the action with a shake of her head. Every morning, she mentally lamented.

Usagi ran, huffing and puffing, behind Tamaki. They came to an abrupt halt in front of the school gate with a full minute to spare. "Hm, to school in ten minutes!" Tamaki said with a smile. "Well done, Usagi. I'll make a runner out of you yet." He handed over her lunch bag.

Usagi snatched it with a glare. "Not likely," she said.

Tamaki laughed.

The warning bell rang. It signaled all students to come inside. If they did not get to their classes before the next bell, they would be marked as tardy and would spend the afternoon in detention.

"Got to go!" Tamaki said. He bent down to place a quick kiss on Ami's cheek and then saluted Usagi and Makoto and headed inside. He stopped short a few steps from the door. "Oh right!" He turned back. "I forgot." He pulled something from his bag and threw it to Usagi.

Usagi scrambled to catch it. Thankfully, Makoto's athletic skills came in handy in that moment. She caught the projectile and handed it to Usagi. It was a Tupperware bin filled with something Usagi had never seen before. "What is this?" she asked, but Tamaki had already disappeared inside.

The trio made their way inside. Makoto took the bin and opened the top. A waft of spices and potatoes filled her nostrils. "Bangers and mash," she said with delight.

"What is that?" Usagi wondered, taking her prize back from Makoto. "Tamaki said I could eat it. Is it good?"

"It's basically sausage and mashed potatoes," Makoto said. "It's a British pub dish."

Usagi's reply was muffled by the sausage sticking out of her mouth. Makoto laughed and Ami shook her head. They came to Ami's homeroom. "This is me," the young genius said. "I'll see you both at lunch?"

"On the roof?" Makoto asked. "It promises to be a beautiful day."

"Yes," Ami said. "Now go! The last bell's going to ring!"

The friends parted ways and headed to their classrooms, ready for another normal day in their normal lives.

Across town at another school, Hino Rei walked with Sanada Ryu. Ryu was her grandfather's ward. He took classes online and spent his days at the Temple helping her grandfather. Every morning, he insisted on walking her to school. It was a chivalrous act that Rei secretly loved. She would not let him know that, of course. It would put a damper on her reputation. The girls at her prep school thought she was a cold-hearted goddess who lived high above love.

They would be quite shocked if they knew that she was engaged.

Rei fingered the gold chain that held her ruby engagement ring. She and Ryu had agreed that only they and her grandfather should know for now. It was a bit unorthodox to be engaged at fourteen, but Rei was never one to deny what she wanted, and what she wanted was to spend her life with Sanada Ryu. They would just need to wait until she graduated high school.

"We're here," Ryu said.

Rei broke out of her thoughts and scowled. She hated her school. If not for the fact that her grandfather wanted her to get the best education, she would have dropped out so that she could stay at the Temple. Ryu was making due with online courses, why couldn't she? Her ire was partially assuaged by the fact that her father was footing the bill for this extremely expensive school. Wanting to distract herself from her unpleasant thoughts, Rei turned to her secret fiancé and said, "You are strangely quiet this morning. Is everything alright?"

Ryu blinked in surprise but then smiled fondly at her. "I can't keep secrets from you."

"No, so don't even try," Rei said.

"You need to get to class."

"I have a few minutes." Rei looked pointedly at him. "What is it?"

"I'm not really sure," Ryu said, giving in to her intuition. "Just a bad feeling that somethings coming. Something that might...prove challenging."

"Well, whatever it is, we'll face it together."

Ryu smiled and once again wished that he could kiss her in public, but rules must and he would not dare ruin the reputation she had developed for herself at this school. He contended himself with her smile and waved her off as she passed over the threshold.

"Oh man, Haruna-sansai was brutal today!" Usagi whined as she stretched. School was finally over! She, Ami, Tamaki, Umino, and Naru were on their way to Naru's mother's jewelry store. Naru had said that her mother had gotten a few new pieces in that were quite exotic and had invited them to come see; plus, she promised Usagi more of the delicious pie she had brought to school. The pie was why Tamaki was coming, and Umino was Tamaki's friend, so he, of course, tagged along. Usagi wondered if there was another reason for Umino's accepting of Tamaki's invitation; something that had to do with Usagi's red-haired best friend. The blond teenager would have to be more vigilant when with the two to confirm her suspicions.

Usagi had wanted to invite Makoto. Makoto loved pretty jewels, but the tall girl had disappeared after the final bell. She had been doing that a lot lately. Before the small band of friends could gather together to make afternoon plans, Makoto would scuttle off with barely a word. It was so weird!

"How do you think you did in yesterday's math test?" Naru asked.

"Ugh!" Usagi scowled. Math was the worse! "I don't even want to think about it."

"It was really easy," Umino said. "Especially questions 5-9. I found it invigorating—"

"Yeah, but not every is a math and science prodigy, Umino," Tamaki chided lightly. "Well, accept Ami." He smiled at the girl beside him. Ami blushed under his praise. Tamaki looked back at his friend who was walking a few steps in front of him. "We know you did well, so let the girls lament."

Tamaki had a knack for curbing Umino's more annoying qualities. Before Tamaki had moved to Tokyo, Umino was constantly boasting about how smart he was and how easy school was and blah blah blah. It had made Usagi so mad. Now, though, Umino often deferred to Tamaki's leading in conversations and if he trailed off, Tamaki would bring him back on track. In turn, Umino was an outlet for Tamaki's brainier side. Tamaki was known as a jock, but he was, in fact, quite smart. He and Umino spent hours discussing the latest breakthroughs in science and technology.

The group paused at a crossing. Naru's mom's shop was just across the street. Usagi was so close to pie!

Speaking of pie, what was that heavenly scent? Usagi turned to sniff the air to her right. That was definitely the smell of pastries! She opened her eyes to see a coffee shop and sitting at a small table outside the shop was Makoto! She was sitting with a guy! The guy's back was turned to her, but she could see his hands moving animatedly. Makoto was smiling and laughing at whatever he was saying. The strange man was wearing a white coat and had long brown hair.

After a minute, Makoto stood up and took the guy's arm. She helped him stand. He pulled something from his pocket as she did. He flicked his wrist, and the thing he had taken out of his pocket flipped open into a long silver stick. Makoto looped her arm through his, and he used his free arm to tap the stick along the ground.

Oh wow, Usagi thought. Makoto's dating a bling man. That's so sweet! Her glee changed after a second when she thought, Why wouldn't she tell us? Rude! She turned around, intending to tell the others the whole thing, but instead of seeing her friends, she came face-to-chest with a stranger.

"Oof!" They collided, and something painfully hot poured down the front of Usagi's uniform. "Ouch!" she yelled, jumping back away from the stranger. "Hot! Hot! Hot!"

"I'm so sorry!" the stranger said.

Usagi looked up at him, ready to tell him to watch where he was going, but her indignation stuck in her throat as she became lost in the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. The stranger was a young man wearing a school uniform that she did not recognize. He had thick black hair, a very pleasant smile, and, of course, his gorgeous eyes framed by a pair of thin-rimmed glasses. "I...I...I..." Usagi stuttered. Think, Usagi! He just spilt coffee on you!

"That looks bad," the young man said. "If you'd like, my friend's place is just around the corner. We could wash that." He indicated the coffee stain.

Usagi looked down and reality came crashing back in around her. "Excuse me!" she said, embarrassment causing her to flush and outrage at his offer driving her to retort rudely. "Only creepers pour coffee on innocent maidens and then invite them to a stranger's house to get them out of their clothes!"

The young man had the audacity to laugh. "That's not what I said," he said. "But, when you put it that way, it does sound rather creeperish." He smiled charmingly.

Usagi was finding it hard to retain her hurt feelings.

"I'm Chiba Mamoru," he said, extending his hand.

"Usagi," Usagi found herself saying. She slowly took his hand and shook it. "Tsukino Usagi."

"It's a pleasure."

Usagi's flushed deepened as his smooth voice rolled over her skin.

"You really should wash that," Mamoru said.

Usagi looked down again at the stain on her uniform. "Oh...oh! Right. Well, my friend's place is just, uh..." She looked around, having momentarily forgotten where she was.

"Are you lost?" he asked.

"No!" Usagi said. "I just—"

"Usagi, there you are," Tamaki said as he trotted up behind her. "We were wondering where you wandered off to. Come on. Naru won't let us have the pie until I bring you back." Tamaki grabbed her shoulders and steered her away. He pushed her toward the crossing; before they stepped off the sidewalk, Tamaki called over his shoulder, "Ta, Mamoru!"

Mamoru waved them off.

Usagi looked up at Tamaki in horror. "You know him?"

Tamaki just smiled and ushered her on.

Later that night, uniform freshly washed and dried, Usagi fell into her bed and sighed happily. It had been a good day. Good if not weird British breakfast. Good lunch on the roof with her friends. Wonderful pie! And a handsome guy. Usagi giggled to herself as she thought about Chiba Mamoru. She wondered if he frequented that coffee shop. She would have to ask Makoto if she saw him there; that would be after she interrogated her friend about her secret boyfriend!

Her eyes drifted closed and she was ushered into her dreams on a wave of happy thoughts. Another perfectly normal day closed.

The Tiger's Realm had closed an hour ago. The tables were cleaned. The bar had been broken down and cleaned. All the chairs were put up, and the closing server was vacuuming the floor. The only people left in the restaurant were Chiba Mamoru and a persistent young blond who sat at the sushi bar. She was smiling at the stoic young sushi chef who was trying and failing to close the sushi station. Mamoru grinned to himself. Kyouya could try all he wanted, but that girl was not going to back down. She had eaten at each of Kyouya's grandfather's restaurants on the respective nights that Kyouya was working. She'd come in near closing time, and after each meal, she'd wait until the last of the guests left before she asked to see the chef. Kyouya would come out to see her, and they would talk for hours.

Mamoru enjoyed watching them dance. It allowed him to finish his homework while fitting in some entertainment.

The young girl finally stood. She stretched her arms over her head, her body realizing what time it was long before her mind. She reached into her bag. As she did, Mamoru noticed a disgruntled white cat hiding in her throw. The cat looked at him and seemed to scowl even more. Mamoru smirked and shook his head. The girl withdrew a very generous tip, placed it slowly and deliberately into the tip jar, and then smiled brightly. "Ja ne!" she sing-songed.

"Have a good night," Kyouya said.

The girl added a little extra sway to her hips as she walked away. Mamoru would not let Kyouya know that he saw his friend admire the little vixen's swagger. Once the girl was gone, Mamoru took her seat at the bar. "She seems happy," Mamoru said.

Kyouya glanced up at him but didn't say anything.

"That's, what? Her third full tour of the restaurants?"

"Perhaps," Kyouya muttered. He was very intent on cleaning up the sushi bar.

Mamoru's lips twitched as he tried to fight his grin. "At least tonight you didn't have to break the chef's golden rule. Chefs don't come out of the kitchen."

"Typically, no," Kyouya answered noncommittally.

"She must really like the food," Mamoru continued, undeterred.

"We are five stars," Kyouya said.

"And she likes the chef, too."

Kyouya shot him a look. "Don't speculate," he said.

Mamoru smiled softly. "And don't give up."

The two friends lapsed into companionable silence; Mamoru doing some extra reading while Kyouya finished cleaning up. Almost an hour later, the two walked out into the quite Tokyo streets. Mamoru liked coming to the restaurants at night. The hours weren't great—Kyouya often got about four hours a sleep between leaving work and getting up for school—but the walk was always worth it. It was a rare time at night where the city was at peace.

Tonight's peace, however, was shattered by a ball of fire falling from the sky.

"What the?" Mamoru exclaimed as the fiery object flew over his and Kyouya's heads.

Across town, in a Temple hidden on a hill, Ryu's eyes shot open. He was sitting in front of the sacred fire. The mystical flames flared in their grate and that feeling that something bad was coming intensified, letting him know in no uncertain terms that the thing he was dreading had arrived.

Seiya ran down the street, his stick tapping and swiping at the ground in front of him as he went. Not many people were in the streets tonight, but they would be soon. If his calculations were correct, the meteorite was going to hit somewhere in the Juuban district. His students had been tracking it for the last few hours. An unnatural anomaly appeared in the sky the night before, and tonight, it was crashing into the city. This, he had to see!

The meteor slammed into a dark street on the outskirt of the Juuban district. The shockwave rocked the surrounding buildings. Tamaki jerked up from a dead sleep and looked around. A flare of light passed over his window. Tamaki scrambled out of bed, threw back his curtains, and forced open his window. The flare was fading. He could see a trail of smoke rising into the sky. Something was up. He grabbed his jacket and shoes and ran out the door.

Usagi stood at the edge of the crater, her pink robe pulled tight over her body. It was cold tonight. She wished she had thought to put on some better clothes before racing out the door, but she had wanted to see what was going on. A nice-sized crowd had already gathered by the time she had arrived. She had shouldered her way to the front of the crowd and was now looking down into the crater. What could have caused this, she wondered.

"Hey Usagi."

Usagi looked up at the sound of her name. "Ami!" she greeted. "Look at that," she continued, pointing to the gaping hole in the ground. "What happened, do you think?"

"It was a meteor," Ami said. "That is what Unami-sensai said anyway."

"Who?"

Ami nodded to the other side of the crater. Usagi looked across the way. There, she saw a man with long brown hair wearing a lab coat. He was kneeling on the edge of the crater and scraping something into a jar. He handed the jar to Makoto!

"Hey! It's Makoto's secret boyfriend!" Usagi exclaimed. "What's he doing here?"

"That's Unami-sensai," Ami said with a laugh.

"Makoto's dating a teacher?" Usagi gasped at the scandal.

Ami laughed again. "Yes, but he's seventeen."

"Oh," Usagi deflated a bit. "Hey, wait, you knew about this?" Ami nodded. "How are you not angry about it?" Usagi demanded. Now that she knew Ami knew, she wanted someone to commiserate with.

"It is Makoto's choice whether or not she tells us," Ami chided. "She has her reasons, I'm sure, and when she's ready, she'll let us know."

"Ok," Usagi whined. She had been really looking forward to ambushing Makoto at school and getting all the juicy details about Unami-sensai. She would just have to content herself with the little she knew and allow her imagination to do the rest.

"Hey ladies," Tamaki appeared at Ami's side and immediately dropped a kiss on her hair. "What did I miss?"

"Makoto has a secret boyfriend," Usagi announced proudly.

"Really?" Tamaki seemed intrigued.

"Uh huh," Usagi confirmed. "He's right over there, see?" She pointed across the clearing.

"Um, no I don't," Tamaki said.

"What?" Usagi looked; Unami-sensai was gone. Makoto was still standing there holding his jar, but he was gone. "That's strange," she said. "He was just there."

"Was he?" Tamaki asked. His tone was odd. He was always jovial and chill, but right now, he sounded, well, concerned, which was weird because nothing concerned Tamaki.

Usagi was a touch disconcerted by the whole thing. A meteor crashed into her district and woke her up and then Ami knowing about Makoto's secret boyfriend before her and now Tamaki getting concerned. Usagi crossed her arms and frowned. This night was getting weird.

A flash of black caught her eye. Usagi narrowed her eyes. It was the guy from earlier! Chiba Mamoru! He was standing next to a stoic-looking teen with long white hair. Neither of them looked too happy at the moment. Usagi wondered if she should go over and say hello. It would be the polite thing to do since they had been separated so abruptly that afternoon. She needed to tell him that her uniform had been cleaned. He would want to know that, right? Since he was so concerned about it earlier. Usagi made up her mind to go over there and tell him, but when she took her first step in his direction, she found that he, too, had vanished along with his friend. What was with people leaving so quickly?

"Excuse me," Tamaki said in that same strange tone. He kissed Ami's cheek and quickly ducked into the crowd.

Usagi watched him go and came to a swift conclusion.

This night was definitely weird.

Ryu paced the length of the sacred fire room, his hands clasped behind his back. He was anxious, nervous, and impatient. Something was happening; something new and, he suspected, dangerous. But what? What was causing the fires to agitate and his heart to ache? He pivoted and crossed the room again, his eyes fixed on the bamboo floor.

Across from him, sitting cross-legged on a matt, Hino-san watched his ward with knowing eyes. "Are they coming?"

"Of course their coming," Ryu said. "They've felt it." He paused and looked up at the double doors expectantly. "They must have."

Mamoru and Kyouya ran down the dark streets, taking the familiar path to the Hikawa Shrine. Neither had stepped foot in this Temple for weeks; neither wanting to risk it. The smallest thing could trigger Rei's memories, and they had all sworn not to awaken the girls.

Mamoru's mind drifted back to that night before the battle, where they had realized that all they had built could come to a crashing end.

After the last strategy session, Seiya had pulled Mamoru and the others aside. He said he had something important to tell them. The Heroes of Tokyo had gathered inside the room of the Sacred Fire, and that was where Seiya had dropped the bomb.

"I believe that, by the end of the battle, Usagi is going to use the Silver Crystal to reset time," Seiya had said.

"What?" Ryu exclaimed.

Tamaki followed swiftly with, "Why?"

Seiya sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "The Scouts," he confessed, his tone grave. "I have been casting my vision into the future in hopes of gleaning some information that will give us the advantage. The future is in flux; nothing is certain; but I keep seeing the same thing no matter which probable future I explore." The blind scientist captured their focus with each word. He fixed his clouded gaze on Mamoru. "Princess Serenity will reset time when the Scouts fall in battle."

A heavy silence fell after that; each of them taking in the revelation with heavy hearts.

"Are you certain?" Kyouya asked, daring to break the silence.

"Nothing is certain until the choice is made," Seiya said. "But the probability of that outcome is very high. If the Scouts fall—even just one of them—Usagi will reset time, and then everything we have experienced till now will be wiped away. It will be as if the Dark Kingdom never attacked."

"You mean," Tamaki looked around at each other them. "You mean I wouldn't know any of you?"

"Yes," Seiya said.

"But...but! She can't!" Tamaki protested.

"She can and she will," Seiya said, his voice heavy. "Trust me, I don't like this any better than you do, but if she chooses to make the wish, we can't stop her."

"What do we do?" Tamaki asked, desperate for some sort of reassurance that their lives were not going to be rewritten. "We have to stop her. We can't let her—"

"No," Mamoru said. His firm command silenced the objections of his men. Mamoru looked at each one in turn, feeling the gravity of the decision before them. He knew that whatever they decided here would change their fates. His gaze landed on Kyouya. His friend's face was impassive. "No matter what happens," Mamoru concluded. "It's her choice, and we'll need to honor it."

"And what about our choice?" Tamaki lamented. "I don't want to go back to the person I was before I knew you guys."

"Neither do I," Seiya said.

"None of us do," Ryu concluded. "But Seiya is right. The Silver Crystal is powerful enough to do exactly what he's saying. We cannot interfere." The blond priest looked back at Mamoru. "Right?"

"Right," Mamoru said. "I know it is difficult, but it was what her mother wanted for her; it was the reason Queen Serenity sent them here in the first place—to live normal lives safe from the Dark Kingdom. If Usagi wants to fulfill her mother's last wish, I will not stop her. But," he continued before Tamaki could interject. "That does not mean we don't warn the Scouts. Don't tell them the whole of it; no matter how high the probability, there is still the chance that it won't happen. Let's not worry them over nothing; however, we can warn them to be careful and do all in our power to protect them."

That had been the end of it. Mamoru had dismissed them to seek out their soulmates and present the warning in the best means possible. He had not known the outcome, but that was irrelevant now. All their hopes and plans had been washed away in a blaze of purifying light.

Mamoru smirked as he thought about those last moments before the Silver Crystal reset his life. He and Usagi had just released the power of the universe against Beryl. The power had been too much for them to handle. It had destroyed Beryl, but it had also consumed them. He and Usagi were sucked into the power and lost to it. It was in that moment that Mamoru knew that Usagi was going to wish. It was also the moment that Mamoru made a wish of his own; after all, his Crystal was just as powerful as the Silver Imperial Crystal. It could grant his little amendment to Usagi's wish.

He had known his wish had been granted the moment he woke up in his bedroom with all of his memories and his magic still intact. His hopes had been confirmed when a pounding at his door had disturbed his morning. Kyouya had burst in a moment later, followed by Tamaki, Ryu, and, finally, Seiya. They had been anxious to see who remembered, and, when they were finally together again, the truth had sunk in to their hearts. Usagi had reset time, but Mamoru had preserved their lives.

That was when they vowed to protect the integrity of Usagi's wish and make sure the girls never, ever knew the truth. It was that promise that drove them to the Hikawa Shrine. There was something not right about this meteor. They needed to find out what it was quickly and deal with it.

Mamoru came back to the present just as they arrived at the Hikawa Shrine. He and Kyouya stopped at the base of the stairs for a moment.

Kyouya looked up at dark expanse. "Are you ready?" he asked.

"For another battle?" Mamoru probed.

"For the end of our normal lives," Kyouya answered.

Mamoru grinned, amazed at how things had changed. At the start of the war with the Dark Kingdom, Mamoru had hoped to return to his normal life as soon as possible. Now, however, he could not fathom living a life that was defined as "normal". He clasped Kyouya's shoulder and declared, "Normal is boring. Come on. They'll be waiting."

Mamoru and Kyouya ran up the stairs. A thrill rose inside of them with each step they took. Their magic hummed in anticipation of use, having lain dormant for too long. The Heroes of Terra were gathering. It was time to write their destiny.

They reached the room of the Sacred Fire. Mamoru grasped the door and, with one last look at Kyouya, threw them open. "What have we got?" he asked.

"The meteor isn't a meteor," Seiya said the moment they crossed the threshold. Kyouya shut the door behind Mamoru as Seiya came forward. "The entire area was dull in my eyes; the aura of life barely there. I took some samples at the site. The dirt is dried out. Not like desert dry where the dirt was cut off from water because of the concrete, but something more. It was as if the life force of the ground had been stolen."

"There wasn't anything left at the scene by way of space debris," Mamoru said. "Tamaki, can you find anything?"

"Already on it," Tamaki said. He was typing away at a crystal laptop. "Searching street cameras and security feeds."

"Good." Mamoru turned to Ryu. "I didn't see you at the crater."

"There was no need," Ryu said. "I sensed something coming. The meteor confirmed it."

"A threat?" Mamoru asked.

Ryu nodded. "Most certainly."

"Is it the Dark Kingdom?" Kyouya asked.

Ryu shook his head. "They are gone forever. This is something new."

"Another threat from space," Kyouya mused dryly. "How refreshing."

"Got 'em!" Tamaki clapped his hands in triumph. He turned his laptop. A collection of video feeds played on the screen. It showed the meteor hitting the street. It showed the same meteor rising from the crater and flying through the streets. It followed the meteor from camera to camera until, finally, a security feed from a construction site captured the meteor hovering in front of a recently finished apartment complex. There was a flash of light, and the meteor was gone. "What's the likelihood that these aliens travelled all the way here for the real estate?" Tamaki asked with a cheeky grin.

"Very slim," Seiya said.

"Any predictions?" Mamoru glanced back at Seiya with a raised eyebrow.

"A few," Seiya said. "But nothing is certain until they choose."

"Well then, let's go force them to make that choice," Mamoru said. "Tamaki."

"Got the address and sending directions to your phone."

Mamoru's mobile beeped. "Thank you." He looked at his friends and brothers in arms and smiled. "What do you say? Shall we welcome these aliens to earth?"

The Heroes of Tokyo exchanged grins.

Kyouya waved his hand, and, in a flash of light, summoned his sword. He lifted the sword and pointed it at the door. "Let's," he said.

"The Heroes of Tokyo back in action!" Tamaki cheered as he slammed his laptop closed. The device shifted into a compact wrist computer that clicked into place on Tamaki's arm. He leapt to his feet and pulled out his sai.

Jadeite sheathed his katana.

Seiya shouldered his staff.

Mamoru smirked and turned, throwing open the doors and stepping out into the quiet Tokyo night. It was time for the Generals of Terra to defend the planet.

A.N: The End.

Needless to say, I overshot my deadline to finish this before New Years day. I hope the wait was worth it. Thank you to everyone who read Never Gone R. A very special thank you to everyone who read and took the time to send me a review. Biggest thanks and cyber hugs to everyone who read and reviewed multiple times. You are the reason I write.

I may come back to Never Gone R and write the Crystal Tokyo arc because, technically, Sailor Moon R was Crystal Tokyo and not Beryl, but for now, this is where I leave you. To those of you who are fans of Dr. Who, I recommend going into my profile and reading "Unwritten" and "Of Blood and Battle" because I am about to start the final installment of that trilogy: "The Marriage Of..." And fear not my faithful readers, this is not the end of the Never Gone universe. There is one more installment in store for you: Never Gone Crystal, coming (tentatively) this spring. Keep an eye on my profile or follow me.

Once again, thank you for all your love and support. You make Never Gone possible.

Until next time.

Jecir